Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

The orders from Siam were relayed back to the capital and reached the emperor's ears, causing quite a stir. Wang Yaotang's name was mentioned repeatedly. He could no longer be simply called a "patriotic businessman"; he was clearly a "patriotic hero." He expanded trade and influence, and solved a great problem for the country and its people. No amount of praise was too much!

Of course, Wang Yaotang also made a lot of money from the two Sino-Laos trade fairs. Although the 10% commission was not high, the amount of such national-level orders was enormous, amounting to US$1.5 million. Based on the current exchange rate, that's a gross profit of HK$11.25 billion. After deducting various costs, he still had more than HK$8 million in hand, which was quite good.

For Wang Yaotang, this was also an unexpected source of income, which greatly alleviated his financial difficulties.

The follow-up work in Siam after the trade fair was much easier than in Myanmar. Wang Yaotang's reputation was there, and this was the second time the trade fair had been held, so his credibility was quite strong. Therefore, the entire wrap-up work was completely completed in February 1987, just in time for the commendation conference for advanced collectives and advanced workers.

With the strong recommendation of China Resources and his own solid contributions, Wang Yaotang, an overseas Chinese representative, was fortunate to participate in the commendation ceremony. When he went on stage to receive the award in the Great Hall of the People, he thought he would be very calm, after all, he had seen all kinds of storms.

But when I actually went up on stage, looking at the national and party flags hanging behind me, and when I reached out to receive the certificate, my chest was still heaving with excitement, my eyes were a little red, and I kept cursing in my heart, but I just couldn't calm down.

Old Wang can now say with a clear conscience that he has lived up to the expectations of the country and the Chinese people!

This must be recorded in the family genealogy, the certificate must be framed, and the videotape must be locked in a safe!
In the audience, Ah Jie, Ah Ji, Ah Wei, and Four-Eyes clapped enthusiastically. They had put in a lot of effort for these two trade fairs and were invited to attend. They were equally excited.

Standing in Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall of the People, one can't help but compare them to places like the Government House in Hong Kong. They can't even describe it in words; a single word is "big," a couple of words are "magnificent" and "majestic." There's simply no comparison.

To witness his glorious moment, all the women in the family came. The mansion they bought in Beijing was large enough and had been renovated long ago. It was an old house with more than 200 years of history, and the whole thing was made up of antiques. Although it wasn't as modern as the villa in Deep Water Bay, the feeling of living there was completely different.

The mansion, with its deep courtyards, layered terraces, green bricks and black tiles, carved beams and painted rafters, lacks the dazzling gold of modern villas. However, its luxury is classical and profound, carrying the weight of time. The understated elegance it exudes makes it all the more luxurious and noble, while the modern villas in Deep Water Bay seem like products of the poor suddenly becoming rich.

Teresa Teng, Sally Yeh, Cherie Chung, Yammie Lam, Li Meiren, and even Ah Jie and Ah Ji's wives all come from the entertainment industry and have a touch of artistic freshness. Now that they have money, they pursue things that make them feel like they come from a "prestigious family." They have absolutely no resistance to old houses like these and wish they could move the whole thing to Hong Kong to show off.

Ignoring them, Wang Yaotang and his brothers set up a copper pot in the pavilion in the freezing cold, laid out mutton rolls, and started hot pot. Snowflakes were falling outside, and the brothers ate until they were covered in sweat, feeling both cold and hot, which made it a particularly special experience.

Cool!
The next day, I made a special trip to climb the Great Wall. I didn't have the courage to "compete with the heavens," but it was still very necessary to experience what it means to have "a thousand miles of ice and snow" and "looking out over the Great Wall, all that remains is vastness."

It's great to see the beauty of our motherland. If you always stay in that small place like Hong Kong, you'll develop an island mentality, and your vision and perspective will be completely ruined.

Having experienced the grandeur of the North, though it was a bit chilly and I had a runny nose, after a day of rest, Wang Yaotang took everyone to Liulichang. This time, we were accompanied by people from China Resources, who had made prior arrangements. We visited 'Baoguzhai' and 'Rongbaozhai' for their calligraphy and paintings, round fans, and folding fans; 'Qingyuntang' and 'Hongjiangge' for their historical steles and rubbings; and 'Yunguzhai' for its bronze and stone inscriptions, ceramics, calligraphy, paintings, rubbings, and woodblock prints…

Wang Yaotang was like a bandit entering the city. He didn't care whether people understood or not. He took out a box of US dollars and began to sweep it up frantically, categorizing them by type and scarcity.

This scene stunned the people at China Resources. They had received many overseas Chinese businessmen, and most of them would come here after arriving in Beijing. Some liked porcelain, some liked calligraphy and paintings, and some liked bronzes and stones. They would pick out some things they liked to buy, but they had never seen anyone like to "sweep up" everything.

It has a strong impression that they want to completely empty out the major vegetarian restaurants.

It's clear that a lot of money was spent, but it still gives people the feeling of wasting resources.

The master craftsmen in each workshop looked utterly miserable. These rare treasures had fallen into the hands of such people; it was a waste of their talents!

If it weren't for the fact that this was a state-owned enterprise and they weren't obligated to sell it for money, they would have loved to kick this person out immediately!
孽 孽!
Wang Yaotang felt only satisfaction at this.

A kind of exhilarating pleasure in ruining good things!
If you're rich, show it off!
He plans to set up a 'private museum' all over Southeast Asia to decorate his image. What the hell is this so-called cultural heritage!

Besides, at that time, although people in my hometown also knew that these 'antiques' were very valuable, their prices were relatively 'high'. For example, Rongbaozhai sold Wen Zhengming's 'Landscape Scroll' for 1200, Shen Zhou's 'Colored Landscape Scroll' for 800, Bada Shanren's 'Flower and Bird Scroll' for 600, Chen Daofu's 'Peony Painting' for 450, Wang Shimin's 'Landscape Scroll' for 1200, and Zheng Banqiao's 'Bamboo and Rock Painting' for 200...

What troubled him most was that Qi Baishi's paintings were priced at 10 yuan per square foot, Wu Zuoren's at 5 yuan, Li Keran's at 8 yuan, and Liu Bingsen's at 6 mao...

Wang Yaotang didn't know if it was rare or not, but the price alone made him have no choice but to buy it!
Due to their status, some "high-value" treasures that were only sold to foreign merchants were also brought out, including Wang Hui's "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River" priced at "as high as" 5000 yuan...

Yongle blue and white porcelain plum vase with lotus scroll design: priced at 1200 yuan at Rongbaozhai; Sweet white glaze bowl with incised dragon design: priced at 800 yuan at the Municipal Cultural Relics Company; Wanli polychrome jar with dragon and cloud design: priced at 1000 yuan at Rongbaozhai; Blue and white porcelain celestial globe vase with dragon design: priced at 2000 yuan at Friendship Store…

Of course, what you can buy are antiques and cultural relics from the Ming and Qing dynasties. You can't buy anything from the Yuan dynasty onwards, or you can only buy restored but damaged pieces. There's not much you can do about that.

Wang Yaotang could only ask people from China Resources to help him look for opportunities among the general public, since he wasn't short of money!
After spending the Spring Festival in Beijing, Wang Yaotang and his group returned to Hong Kong and began to get busy again. Many years of work had piled up in front of them, which was enough to give them a headache.

After a few days of dealing with it, Eliascohn came over. When he saw Wang Yaotang, he was momentarily stunned. He hadn't seen this squid for almost a year and had almost forgotten about him.

Eliascohn truly admires Wang Yaotang. The grid integration of CLP Power and HK Electric, the second phase of the Castle Peak Power Plant, the construction of the HK Electric Lamma Island Thermal Power Plant, the entire Hong Kong power grid system—such important matters were ignored for a whole year. He's simply insane!

He had handled the power grid integration before, but later Wang Yaotang simply handed both companies over to him to look after. A year had passed in the blink of an eye. Even when Kadoorie was in charge, he had never done it so thoroughly.

Of course, Eliascohn did not hold any position in either power company; he was merely Wang Yaotang's representative, which, from this perspective, also served as a check and balance.

In addition, although Wang Yaotang has not appeared in Hong Kong much in the past year or so, ordinary people may have gradually forgotten the once famous "Little God of Wealth". However, those in the upper echelons of Hong Kong do not think so. The opponent is stronger, the reputation is more prominent, and the methods are more ruthless.

At least for the past year or so, the two power companies have been developing very steadily.

After listening to Eliascohn's account of the two power companies and the Peninsula Hotel's operations, Wang Yaotang was fairly satisfied. However, after a moment's thought, he said, "Just let them know that I will arrange for a financial audit of CLP Power, HK Electric, and the Peninsula Hotel this month. I'll make them fill in all the holes so that everyone can save face."

"If anyone disrespects me, I'll sell them to Indonesia as slaves, and you'll be no exception!"

Under Wang Yaotang's gaze, Eliascohn's heart pounded, and he nodded hastily.

"What else?"

"The Lao-Chinese side is urging again for the Shajiao B power plant, which has been delayed for almost two years."

"Oh, oh, oh." Wang Yaotang slapped his forehead. "Isn't that councilor already rotten? Can't he still pull strings?"

“It’s feasible, of course it’s feasible,” Eliascohn said, patting his chest. He had originally come to complain about the difficulties of the job, since you have to let your boss see the work you’ve done, especially a ruthless person like Wang Yaotang who is always ready to turn on you.

But the warning he had just received gave him a chill, and he decided to do more work, since his hands were not clean enough, even though he was dealing with Kadoorie's legacy.

"What's the problem?"

"No problem! I'll get the contract signed in half a month at most."

"If it's something that can be bought locally, try to buy it locally. My money doesn't grow on trees."

Eliascohn hesitated slightly. "Boss, the French procurement is to win over allies. Only with more stakeholders can we force EDF and Parliament to make concessions."

"What value do small companies that produce screws, steel bars, and cement have in winning over others?" Wang Yaotang asked irritably.

“Boss, these small companies are the most valuable to win over. They don’t actually produce anything. The beneficiaries behind them are the politicians and civil servants. On the contrary, the main equipment suppliers don’t need to be won over. They are more interested in selling their products.”

Wang Yaotang laughed in anger. "Damn it, a bunch of insects!"
"Do you think my money grows on trees?" Wang Yaotang pointed with his finger. "Let them speculate on China Power in the stock market."

"Uh... they'll definitely do it."

Wang Yaotang grinned, gave a thumbs-up, and said, "You blond stock market guru, huh? Get back to work."

"Yes."

The world is a giant makeshift operation, and there's not much Wang Yaotang can do about it. He can't exactly go door-to-door shooting them all, can he? Bringing in a new batch of people will only make them swindle more money; they need to recoup their investment.

However, he couldn't manipulate the stock market to cheat people, and he also had to help these people get out of their predicament if their funds were trapped, since they would need to contribute to the nuclear power plant project later.

It's really infuriating.

Meanwhile, Eliascohn returned to the Kadoorie Foundation office and immediately made a call to France. "My boss has agreed to the terms. The contract must be signed within ten days!"

"My God, Cohen, are you kidding me? This is impossible. Don't bring that Hong Kong work ethic to romantic France. Life is more than just work, that's too boring. You have to learn to enjoy life, don't you?" The person on the other end of the phone said with a smile and a relaxed demeanor.

“I’m not discussing this with you, I’m informing you,” Eliascohn said calmly. “My boss is a very young man, and that’s how young people are. He might ignore something for over a year, but once he remembers it, it has to be done immediately.”

"Then let him do it," the other person said dismissively.

"Some money allows you to take it without doing anything, while some money requires you to do something."

"You're threatening me!"

“No, no, no, I’m helping you, buddy. The last person who didn’t believe it was Kadoorie. Some of his family members were in England, some in France, some in Switzerland, and some in Greece, but they all died on the same day, around the same time.” Eliascohn said with a smile, “After that, he became my new boss. Isn’t that funny?”

The other side couldn't laugh anymore.

“I remember that some officials from the Ethiopian government came over at the time. You know what kind of people they are. Two of them died the next day, and the others were arrested and imprisoned. They caused a scene for more than half a month before being deported.”

“The new boss doesn’t have any connections in France, so this matter can only be handled through us squid. But precisely because he has no connections, he doesn’t need to consider the consequences of his actions. After all, if he can’t do it, what is there to worry about? Don’t you think so?”

"Life is more than just work, but without work there is no life."

The person on the other end of the phone spat and muttered a few curses under their breath, "Okay, I understand, but time is too tight. This isn't just my problem. Do you know how many people the hell need to sign this?"

"I know, that's why I need to hurry."

"Damn it," he cursed, and the phone was hung up.

Eliascohn was still worried, so he had his secretary buy him a plane ticket to Paris so he could go there in person to urge them on.

When they met, the French squid's face was full of surprise. "Really in such a hurry?"

"I don't want the next time you want to see me, it to be at my tombstone. If you don't yet have a concrete image of my boss in your mind, then you can take Adolf as a reference!"

The French squid gasped, paused for a moment, then quickly chased after it. It opened its mouth as if to say something but couldn't utter a word. After muttering for a while, its face turned pale.

Adolf degreaser, renowned worldwide for a century!

The analogy alone made him quicker in his work.

But... those French people are so damn slow at doing things!
After 10 days, Eliascohn kept urging him on and on, making him dizzy and exhausted.

Various signatures, seals, and meetings dragged on until the 14th day before it was finally almost done. There was still a lot to do after that, as we needed to send a delegation to Hong Kong to sign contracts with the three parties.

In any case, the matter was mostly resolved within 15 days, and I was able to give Wang Yaotang an explanation when I returned.

When it came to the formal signing of the contract, Wang Yaotang was no longer in a hurry. He knew that once the funds were in place, the construction period would be long, so a day or two wouldn't make a difference. However, he would not forget how the French had cheated him out of his money.

I can order from you, but the delivery time in the supply contract is very short. Even if I don't use it all and it rusts in the warehouse, it has to be delivered in advance.

At this point, the Frenchmen quickly relented. They were about to make money, and if problems arose due to disputes over the delivery schedule, they would regret it terribly, since they didn't have to handle the delivery themselves.

The ministry was very pleased that Wang Yaotang had settled things. The contract was signed in Hong Kong, and a grand press conference was held to discuss it. Except for the fact that even a single screw had to be sourced from France, the ministry made significant concessions on matters such as technology, maintenance, and management that did not involve the interests of the members of parliament or the French power group.

This kind of private collusion can only be done by private individuals.

The Chinese didn't spend much money, and they resolutely implemented the core principle of "market access for technology."

After the contract was signed, Wang Yaotang was very happy. He had finally finished dealing with another important matter and could give his hometown some closure.

After resting for a few days, Luo Wenhua called to invite him to dinner. At first, Wang Yaotang thought that Luo was thinking of continuing to promote the 'exhibition' in Southeast Asia. However, he found out during dinner that he was just relaying a message for someone else.

The South China Sea authorities want to discuss cooperation with him.

"That's good news! You can tell from my style of doing things," Wang Yaotang said immediately with a smile. "The only problem is, aren't they against doing business over there?"

"Huh? What do you mean you can't do business?" Luo Wenhua was taken aback.

Wang Yaotang was also stunned. You didn't know about this?

"Money and guns...this..."

Upon hearing this, Luo Wenhua looked at Wang Yaotang with a strange expression, "Your idea is dangerous."

"What does this have to do with me!" Wang Yaotang exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"You have outdated warlord thinking. Soldiers who lack conviction are easily bought off by warlords. We are the people's party, and this will never happen to us."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes." Wang Yaotang nodded, pursing his lips.

Actually, he got the timeline wrong; the order wouldn't be issued until 98.

The message has been delivered, and Wang Yaotang is willing; that's enough.

It's inconvenient to come from over there, so Wang Yaotang flew directly to Zhanjiang on his private jet and is based here.

This time, there wasn't any extravagant hospitality. Instead, they took Wang Yaotang on a tour of the base and warships, which broadened his horizons.

In an instant, Wang Yaotang felt that 0, 3, and 7 were no longer appealing!
I want this!
Yes, that's how fickle they are! (End of Chapter)