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

He hurriedly returned to Hong Kong and stayed at home for three days. Having more women was troublesome, as all the "public taxes" (a traditional Chinese custom of paying taxes) were crammed together, and Wang Yaotang's body was starting to feel the strain. But thinking about his grand wish of having a hundred children, he had only had 13 so far, so he could only grit his teeth and persevere. In the end, he decided to take two with him when he went north, which was a barely acceptable arrangement.

While eating and drinking with his brothers, Wang Yaotang couldn't help but complain that he had to finish cultivating the land even with tears in his eyes after finding a woman to marry, which made his brothers laugh until they cramped up.

Although it was supposed to be a meal and drinks for the brothers, they still invited a lot of people from various companies over, in waves, to report to Wang Yaotang during the meal. Using a satellite phone is not as convenient as talking face-to-face, and some things are hard to explain.

Fortunately, I set up a simple projector and PowerPoint presentation, which made the report much more intuitive to listen to.

Businesses in Hong Kong are progressing steadily. The renovation of Hong Kong's largest nightclub, which we had planned before, is now complete. It is named "Night Spark" and is located on the basement level of Peninsula Centre. It covers more than 70,000 square feet (6500 square meters) and can accommodate 2000 people at the same time. The daily capacity exceeds 4000 people, which is enough for small concerts. The second and third basement levels are parking lots, so parking is also convenient.

As the largest audio-visual chain company in Southeast Asia, Yaoxing has to be respected by all Chinese celebrities. There will be celebrities coming to warm up the atmosphere every day, and the business will definitely be booming.

The minimum spend in the main hall is HK$500, and the minimum spend in the VIP room is HK$3000. This store can generate HK$300 million in revenue per day and HK$10.8 billion in revenue per year!
After deducting rent, labor, utilities, depreciation, taxes, etc., there is still a 50% net profit. This kind of business is indeed easy to make money. But people who can afford to come to this level of nightlife arcades are all rich. They drink and cause trouble every day, fight over women, and secretly seek thrills. There are too many troubles.

This kind of money can only be earned by people in the underworld.

Once this "nighttime electricity" service is operating stably, it will be replicated in Bangkok, Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta. In particular, the latter three cities will be used to extend the reach of "Sheng Yi" and pave the way for future business.

These days, in doing business overseas, being "good quality and low price" and "honest and trustworthy" isn't enough; you also need to be able to "reason with people."

Fleets and aircraft carriers are used to reason with the officials of various countries; 'protective umbrellas' are used to reason with local conservatives; and 'Shengyi' is used to reason with 'gangster' forces, petty thugs, and local bullies.

Only when the principles are clearly explained can a business be done well.

There's not much to say about the two power companies; they haven't made a single profit. Hong Kong Electric's profits were all invested in the Lamma Island thermal power plant, and CLP Power invested in Sha Kok B, but due to insufficient funds, they also took out a lot of loans.

Business at the docks is getting better every day. In addition to stone and coal, Tuen Mun docks have expanded their business to include cement, steel, timber, precast concrete components, pipe materials, waterproof and fireproof materials, tiles, paint, glass, and more.

These materials come from various places, including my hometown, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Europe and America, and have become the largest building materials storage and logistics terminal in Hong Kong and Macau.

For the development of Tuen Mun Ferry Pier, they hope to build a dedicated coal terminal at Castle Peak Power Station to divert coal. Coal is a major pollutant; when the sea breeze blows, black coal dust is everywhere, and when it rains, the surrounding area for two or three kilometers is covered with black mud and water.

This stuff can't be stored indoors because it's prone to internal combustion. I heard from Awei that more than 500 tons of coal are blown away by wind and rain every year!
Wang Yaotang agreed without much hesitation. Hong Kong Yongmei mainly consists of two power companies under his name, with very little power consumption from other industries. Separating them would indeed save pollution at the dock.

The pier facilities on Tsing Yi Island are preparing for expansion. With the development of our hometown, Hong Kong's entrepot trade is becoming more and more developed. The Kwai Chung pier is being built at a frantic pace. Every day, cargo ships from all over the world need to refuel here. The existing facilities on Tsing Yi Island can no longer keep up with the development of maritime transport.

Many cargo ships are refueling in Southeast Asian countries. There's no other way; queuing is too time-consuming, and the volume of orders is increasing.

"How do they plan to expand?" Wang Yaotang asked after taking a sip of his drink.

Awei put down his glass. "Expand the oil storage tanks, and at the same time develop some STS technology."

Wang Yaotang tilted his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly cursed, "What the hell is STS technology? Isn't it just ship-to-ship refueling at sea, the same as the refueling ships we have on our shipping lanes?"

“However, this method does work,” Wang Yaotang said with a smile. “The number of ships that can be berthed at Qingyi Island Wharf at the same time is limited, and it takes time to enter and leave the port. A lot of time also needs to be allocated to berthing oil tankers that bring in fuel. It really cannot meet the growing demand for refueling services for cargo ships.”

"It would be much more convenient to have these cargo ships dock directly in the Tsing Yi Island and Lantau Island area, and then use oil tankers to refuel them. With the hoses laid out, it would be no problem to refuel one or three ships at the same time. If we build more cargo ships and modify some of them, the Tsing Yi Island pier can then only be responsible for storage and transshipment."

"By the way, let them develop a set of standard procedures covering ship design, safety, pipe size and materials, pollution treatment, and so on. I'll try to promote these standards later. The standards can be set high to raise the entry threshold. This is also to protect the environment, ensure safety, and protect the interests of consumers. Anyone who doesn't comply is a threat to society, and we'll use the 'legal' weapon to protect our rightful interests." As he spoke, Wang Yaotang laughed loudly.

Ah Ji shook his head with a smile: "People change once they become masters; their hearts turn black!"

“Money can be earned back, but once you lose your conscience, you can earn even more!” Awei said with a wink.

His words made everyone laugh uncontrollably.

"How's it going at the videotape factory?" Wang Yaotang asked after he had finished laughing.

"I don't know. Four-Eyes is busy over there. Aren't you going north? You can go check it out while you're at it." Ah Wei raised his chin.

"Alright then," Wang Yaotang remarked. "As the business grows bigger and bigger, everyone gets busier and we have less and less time to spend together."

Ah Jie spends most of his time in Siam, Ah Wei and Ah Ji stay in their home base of Hong Kong, and Four-Eyes mostly goes back to his hometown. Everyone is extremely busy.

"Then what should we do? How about Brother Yao provides each of us with a private jet? That would make traveling back and forth much easier," Awei said with a smile.

"Aircraft? Sure, we have so many Y-5s, use them as you like." Wang Yaotang laughed heartily.

"No way, that's so stingy!" Awei's eyes widened.

"Hey, don't be ungrateful! My private jet needs to go to Kai Tak Airport to take off and land. It takes more than an hour to drive back from the airport. Are you kidding me? The Y-5 only needs a 200-meter runway and can land anywhere. This trip north is for further development. Then we can land on a 100-meter runway and land right at our doorstep, wouldn't that be great!"

"Stop making empty promises. That's an airplane with a 20-meter-long wingspan. The roads around here are so narrow, how are you going to land it?" Awei rolled his eyes.

"There's a golf club nearby, can we use their access road? What, do you think I don't have that much face? If not, we can go to the seaside highway and have the bodyguards temporarily stop some cars on the side of the road."

"Hiss, you're right." Awei smacked his lips. "If you don't give them face, the Little God of Wealth will rage and strip the entire turf off the golf course!"

“Take it!” Wang Yaotang raised his middle finger.

We then talked about Yaoxing's audio-visual business. There was too much piracy. It was a problem of the times, and there was nothing that could be done. Even the name of Shengyi was no longer effective. Even if you put a gun to someone's head, they still had to eat. They could do piracy in any house. If all else failed, they could take a boat to the sea or to a small island. They could do it any way they wanted. There was absolutely no way to deal with it.

In the clothing business, stores have been opened in various East Asian countries, but sales have reached a bottleneck. That's how it is with casual wear; everyone copies each other. Wang Yaotang has figured it out. Unless it becomes a luxury item, the so-called brand influence is just nonsense.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Yaotang said, "You know Nike, Adidas, Puma, right?"

Awei blinked. "You mean making shoes?"

"What I mean is a sports brand, of course, starting with shoes. I remember there are quite a few counterfeit shoe manufacturers in Hong Kong. If you can make counterfeits, you can make authentic ones. Have your people gather talent from various companies, learn the techniques from well-known brands, and set up a separate sports brand. Sponsor the Hong Kong First Division League, get the title sponsorship and jerseys and shoes from each team. Later, you can also organize special events in Southeast Asia. As long as you can promote the brand, none of these are problems."

“Okay, I’ll arrange for someone to do it.” Awei nodded.

“We can also look for suitable brands in Asia, or even older European brands. If it’s cheap, we can acquire them. Let them handle these things,” Wang Yaotang said with a smile.

He has enough capital now and can easily take out one or two hundred million to test the waters. He doesn't care if he fails three or five times. As long as the brand he establishes has sales, he doesn't care even if it doesn't make money for three or five years.

Ordinary people are hesitant and timid when doing anything, but the rich are different; the richer they are, the richer they become.

This is called: taking from the insufficient to give to the abundant.

After finishing with the matters of each company, when it came to the finance company, Li Menghui brought up the old issue again. He said that he now had a wide variety of businesses spread across Southeast Asia, but he did not own a single bank. As a result, his accounts were under the watchful eyes of others. Even though they were distributed among several banks, including HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of China, there were still some loopholes.

Most global conglomerates are built around banks. Even those not centered around banks, such as DuPont and Imperial Chemical Industries, have their own banks as a link. The fluctuation of exchange rates between various currencies and the US dollar alone can swallow up a lot of profits every year.

This problem definitely needs to be addressed.

"Build it from scratch or acquire it?" Wang Yaotang asked bluntly.

Li Menghui's face was full of surprise. The boss finally relented. Damn it, he was one of the earliest people to follow Wang Yaotang. Seeing everyone else soaring to great heights while his own finance company was still doing odd jobs, he was almost going crazy.

“Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The downside of building from scratch is the lack of attractiveness, branches, and personnel, which requires a long period of development. Acquisition can solve these problems, but the bank that is acquired will definitely be bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy, and its reputation will be seriously tarnished.”

“There’s no time to wait.” Wang Yaotang waved his hand. “The stain on the name can be changed. Ordinary people can’t remember that many names. As for the company’s clients, with so many industries under its name, and all related settlements handled by its own bank, the clients will come right away.”

"I have never thought about making banking the core business, at least not now. Industry is the core business."

“Understood.” Li Menghui said quickly: “The Overseas Trust Bank was founded in 1956 by Zhang Mingtian, a Chinese-Malaysian. It was once the third largest bank in Hong Kong. In September 1981, it was involved in the ‘cheque wheel’ scam. In 1982, Zhang Mingtian suddenly passed away, and the bank collapsed. In June 1985, it announced that it was insolvent due to the drag from the real estate market. It is currently under the trusteeship of the Hong Kong British government. For the past two years, the Hong Kong government has been investigating and dealing with the matter. It is currently in a state of serious losses. If we are willing to acquire it, the Hong Kong government will definitely be willing to get rid of this hot potato.”

Hong Kong's real estate market, after experiencing a series of blows including the "statement," the "devaluation of the Hong Kong dollar," and the "stock market crash," began to recover in 88. The market performed well until 97, and the Overseas Trust was not far from a turnaround. In 93, the Hong Kong government sold the Overseas Trust to the Malaysian Guoco Group for US$5.71 million, making it a subsidiary of Dao Heng Bank.

"Then do it. Talk to them about how much they want, get information about their operations, see where the main losses are, cut what needs to be cut, discard what needs to be discarded, make a plan and then contact me."

After settling things in Hong Kong, Wang Yaotang took some time to visit Wei Dewei at the Governor's House. He reminisced about his comrade-in-arms, You De, lamenting his death...

Wei Dewei was also a "China expert". He studied Chinese at the University of Hong Kong for two years in 1960, served as a political advisor to MacLehose, and signed the "declaration". In his first year in office, he only met with Wang Yaotang twice, for the engineering issues of four reclamation areas: Hung Hom Bay, West Kowloon, Wan Chai in Central District, and Green Island.

The old man was absent during Wang Yaotang's rise to power, so relying solely on hearsay is bound to be insufficient. It is necessary to maintain communication with him to prevent malicious people from spreading rumors and causing any unspeakable incidents.

I, Wang Yaotang, love peace!

With one more day wasted, Wang Yaotang didn't have time to visit Pengcheng, so he took his private plane straight to Shijiazhuang.

"My hometown has finally opened up." After getting off the plane, Wang Yaotang couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the somewhat over-the-top reception.

Of course, his superior status was earned through 'merits' and cannot be compared to what he had achieved before.

The person who came to pick him up from the Hongxing factory was Deputy Factory Director Tang Jun. During the greetings, his eyes kept drifting to the private jet next to him, clearly showing that the private jet was far more attractive to him than Wang Yaotang.

After all, they work in the aviation industry; the technology of their private jets is far more advanced than that of those back home.

“As long as you don’t break it, you can take it apart and take a look while I’m in Shijiazhuang,” Wang Yaotang suddenly said.

"Ah, this... is it expensive?" Tang Jun hesitated, unsure whether he should agree.

Wang Yaotang leaned closer and whispered, "Director Tang's eyes are practically glued to it. If I hadn't said anything, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to leave the airport anytime soon."

Tang Jun blushed deeply. Was his reaction really that obvious?

This amused Wang Yaotang; he thought that factory managers who came from technical positions were much more endearing than those from administrative positions.

"I won't say how much it will cost, or you might slip up later."

"Ah, thank you, thank you so much." Tang Jun unconsciously tightened his grip on Wang Yaotang's hand, his words revealing sincerity.

"Let's go and take a look around first."

Wang Yaotang pulled the man onto the plane to satisfy his craving, so he wouldn't feel like a cat.

After settling into the guesthouse at the factory, Tang Jun felt quite embarrassed. The conditions at the guesthouse were nothing like those on the airplane, and he felt a little ashamed.

Wang Yaotang didn't care about that; he had lived in a pigeon coop since he was a child.

After a brief tour of the factory's history and a welcoming banquet, I got to know all the relevant leaders in the factory. The formal tour of the Hongxing Factory, now called the Guojizhuang Aircraft Manufacturing Plant of the Ministry of Aviation Industry, only began the next day.

Throughout the 80s, Hongxing Factory produced 221 basic Y-5 aircraft and 19 derivative models, all of which were procured by Wang Yaotang.

Starting in 84, small-scale production of the Dragonfly-5 series of ultralight aircraft began, used for flight and aerial photography.

The current mainstay product of Hongxing Factory is: Mingxing brand motorcycles...

This includes the Star Four-Wheel All-Terrain Vehicle, some of which are exported to Europe and America.

Other applications include mine hoisting equipment and the development of automobile door assemblies based on aviation technology.

Our current main focus of research and development is textile machinery: high-speed drawing frames.

Currently, the aircraft industry has almost become a technology research institute, with its main products derived from the Y-5.

After touring the area, Wang Yaotang was quite moved. "It's not easy," he said. "The Air Force has no orders; they're struggling to survive."

Finally, when they arrived at the aircraft assembly plant, Tang Jun smiled and explained, "The original production has been suspended, pending the wind tunnel test results from Hallu."

At this time, there were already more than 55 wind tunnels in China, especially low-wind-speed wind tunnels, so the situation was no longer a concern.

Without Wang Yaotang's intervention, Hongxing Factory would also be developing the Y-5B now, with the same direction as Wang Yaotang's requirements. They would have replaced the Polish-made ASz-62IR piston propeller engine, added an auxiliary fuel tank, and added wingtip sails at the wingtips of the upper wing, which improved the aircraft's lift-to-drag ratio and reduced flight drag, increasing the range from 840 kilometers to 1560 kilometers.

At Wang Yaotang's request, this time they went a step further by conducting wind tunnel tests to improve the aerodynamic shape. They also plan to slightly lengthen the fuselage, and it is foreseeable that the overall performance will be better than that of the Y-5B.

"Why are they always biplanes? I see most of them are monoplanes now," Wang Yaotang asked curiously.

"To put it simply, it has higher lift, ultra-short takeoff and landing, low cost, low maintenance cost, 7000-hour overhaul cycle, high reliability, and strong damage resistance. Even if the engine fails in the air, the pilot can glide to an emergency landing." Tang Jun organized his thoughts and said in words that Wang Yaotang could understand: "The disadvantages are that biplanes have greater wind resistance, slower speed, lower load capacity, and more noise."

"Actually, I've always wanted to tell Comrade Yaotang that compared to the biplane Y-5, I think the monoplane..."

"Stop!" Wang Yaotang raised his hand to interrupt the spellcasting. "Wings are good, wings are wonderful, wings are amazing!"

"The disadvantages of slow speed, low load capacity, and high noise are just minor setbacks."

Wang Yaotang was extremely satisfied with the fact that he could glide and make an emergency landing even with just one engine failure.

His mom is safe!
"However, can the noise issue be mitigated through special customization? If so, I plan to get a few to use as private jets."

Tang Jun: Subway, elderly person, mobile phone.

Can this piece of junk be used as a private jet?

What about that private jet parked at your airport?
Wang Yaotang laughed and patted Tang Jun on the shoulder, "You guys always try to understand consumers from your own perspective, greatly underestimating the Y-5. In my opinion, the Y-5 still has great potential to be tapped, and it is a true star product."

"Ah!" Tang Jun looked at him with an expression that said, "You can't fool me because I'm well-read."

"Now that the reform and opening up has begun, do you know how many people do business in Guangdong? The straight-line distance from Hong Kong to Shenzhen is only 35 kilometers, but do you know how long it takes to travel there?"

"Let me tell you, it takes at least 3 hours, but most of the time it takes 4-5 hours!"

"But it's only 35 kilometers. Am I supposed to take that private plane there? It'll be landing right after takeoff. Are you kidding me?"

"Time is money! Using the Y-5 transport system, the time saved in a year will be enough to cover the costs. I can go to work in Shenzhen or Guangzhou in the morning and come back to sleep at night!"

Tang Jun looked on in astonishment. "Wait, is the Y-5 really that good?"

Wang Yaotang did indeed want to get these aircraft to speed up communication between the two places.

Of course, this would leave customs in a bind, as they could easily accuse it of smuggling, which is only permitted for special groups of people.

Besides, the radar back home is always watching; if it flies around recklessly, we'll shoot it down!

In addition, he also plans to sell a batch of aircraft to Peng, Luo, and Zhang in Myanmar. The Y-5 is safe and fast, and strengthening their communication will enable them to better confront the military government. He cannot openly help them now, but the three are powerful and can help him restrain the military government, so he cannot give them up.

He plans to sell a batch of aircraft to various independent armed groups, as the Y-5 is perfectly suited to their needs; it's practically tailor-made for them.

Wang Yaotang harbored a dark heart; he did not want to see peace and stability established in various countries… (End of Chapter)