A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 216 Winning again

Chen Guangliang came to Huangpu Beach Road (Zhong Shandong 1st Road in the Bund area in later generations).

Looking at the HSBC Building, he couldn't help but sigh: "This guy is really rich!"

The HSBC Building was put into use in 1923 at a cost of 1000 million taels of silver.

The building has five floors in the main body and seven floors in the middle. It has a steel frame, brick filling, and stone veneer. The building is equipped with the most advanced heating and cooling equipment in the world at that time, and its Greek-style dome reaches into the sky.

This new building not only consolidated HSBC's leading position in the Shanghai banking industry, but also immediately became a new landmark in this Far East financial center.

"This is the most beautiful building between the Suez Canal and the Bering Strait," commented those who attended the celebration.

The glory of HSBC has been continuing. In the 50s, HSBC once again spent billion Hong Kong dollars to build the fourth-generation headquarters building in Hong Kong. The cost once again broke the world record at that time, and even the Americans had to admit defeat.

But this money was earned by the Chinese.

However, as a businessman, Chen Guangliang has no aversion to HSBC. Instead, he wants to do everything possible to build closer relations with it.

So, he met with Steve, the boss of HSBC, to discuss loan matters.

Originally, if Chinese people wanted to borrow money from HSBC, they could only do so through HSBC's compradors; and the "comprador system" was mainly because foreigners had always distrusted the Chinese, but at the same time wanted to do business with the Chinese.

Chen Guangliang is now considered a "big businessman" in the Shanghai Stock Exchange. He has met Steve several times, so he was able to meet directly with the HSBC executive to discuss the loan.

I walked into HSBC and, under the guidance of the staff, entered Steve's office.

Steve is the boss of HSBC Bank in Shanghai and Hong Kong. He usually works in both places. At this time, HSBC's main business is in Shanghai, but Hong Kong is also a very important base.

"Chen, this is your first time in my office. Is it for a loan?" Steve said with interest.

He naturally knew a lot about Chen Guangliang. He heard that he had earned about tens of millions of dollars in the real estate and mortgage markets and was the fastest rising businessman in the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Such a person has never established cooperation with HSBC.

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "That's right. I'd like to use the equity in two properties as collateral for a loan of 20 pounds. One property is the fifty villas currently under construction on Xiafei Road, valued at approximately 200 million silver taels; the other is a 55% stake in the Shangri-La Hotel, valued at approximately 150 million silver taels."

Steve didn't even need to consider the value of the two properties. He simply said, "Part of the Shangri-La Hotel is still unfinished. The specific value of the two properties you mentioned remains to be investigated. But in fact, neither of them is completed. Are you short of funds?"

Chen Guangliang said: "There is sufficient capital. I borrowed it in British pounds."

Even if Steve knew that Chen Guangliang was betting on the devaluation of the pound, he would not react - it was very simple. If the pound depreciated, then HSBC, whose main assets were pounds and Hong Kong dollars, would also see its assets depreciate, and it would be impossible for it to do anything.

Chen Guangliang borrowed pounds and will repay them in pounds in the future. Even if he makes money, it is from "foreign exchange" and HSBC will not see any problem with it.

Sure enough, Steve stopped pursuing the matter and said, "You have a good reputation in the Shanghai Stock Exchange. However, after the Cheng Linsheng incident, our bank has become more conservative with asset mortgages. So, I'll arrange for someone to appraise the two properties you mentioned. If the amount is insufficient, you can provide additional collateral. In short, you can get this pound sterling loan!"

"Okay, thank you!"

Foreigners are cautious and pay attention to systems when doing business, which is something Chen Guangliang admires!

This time Cheng Linsheng went bankrupt and lost 2000 million in the gold market, but his actual assets were only 1400 million, leaving a gap of 600 million.

The 600 million loans were basically from Chinese money houses and banks, and the two foreign lending institutions required sufficient collateral.

However, Cheng Linsheng's situation is better than Huang Chujiu's. The two foreign lending institutions are willing to increase Cheng Linsheng's property by 35%.

In other words, the two foreign institutions wanted to acquire Cheng Linsheng's high-quality properties and were willing to increase the price by 35%; and the compensation they gave for this 35% was 350 million silver.

In this way, although Cheng Linsheng was also bankrupt, he could still basically live a wealthy life because his family still had antiques, calligraphy and paintings and some scattered assets.

In this way, Cheng Linsheng could continue to drink imported foreign liquor in his "small house" in Shanghai until his death.

If it weren't for Cheng Linsheng's calligraphy and paintings, many of which were fake (being tricked by others), he would at least be a millionaire.

In early April, Chen Guangliang arrived at the training base of the "Oriental Football Team".

Tomorrow is the final of the Scottish Cup Football Tournament. The Oriental Football Team has made it to the finals for the first time in this football tournament, which has greatly excited the Chinese football enthusiasts in Shanghai.

Chen Guangliang's ambition is naturally to be the "champion", and being a "runner-up" cannot satisfy him.

The previous life's 'Eastern China Team' won the championship in 1932~1933 and is basically a member of the current Eastern Football Team. The competition was suspended in 1931~932 due to the war.

So if he fails to win the championship this time, he will have to wait two years, which is obviously something Chen Guangliang does not want to see.

You know, since the establishment of the "Eastern Football Team", it has been promoting the slogan of being the first Chinese "professional football team". The vast majority of players are full-time, and some of them have jobs, but they are also on the sidelines, spending most of their time training.

The players receive salaries, which is something that Chinese football teams don’t have.

Since the establishment of the Oriental Football Team, it has spent more than 7 yuan in less than a year, with salaries alone costing more than yuan, and the rest mainly for venue rental, logistical support, etc.

But if they can win the championship this time, the club will be able to accept advertising and continue to attract sponsorship. You know, the 20 yuan originally injected has now only a little over 14 yuan left (during this period, they made 1 yuan from speculating in government bonds and another 1 yuan from speculating in gold).

"Tomorrow we have to play with high morale and adopt a 4-3-3 attacking formation, because if we focus on defense, we may be out-staminaed by the Western Merchants team later on."

Veteran player Feng Yunyou was the first to speak: "Mr. Chen is right. We have played against the Xishang team before. They have won seven championships and their strength is defense. We cannot get caught up in their rhythm. We need to cooperate and tear through their defense through passing."

Originally, Chen Guangliang thought that his experience as a fan was just empty talk where he could curse the G football team as a waste in front of the TV. However, it was not until he communicated with the Oriental football team that he realized that the football skills and experience of this era were not very high, and he was qualified to make comments.

For example, the requirements for basic skills. After more than half a year of emphasis, the basic skills of the Oriental football team have been greatly improved; and team cooperation is also what Chen Guangliang requires.

At present, the Eastern Football Team has formed Dai Linjing and left and right forwards Sun Jinshun, Li Yao, Han Longhai, and Jia Youliang, collectively known as the "Eastern Five Forwards". Jia Youliang is a young player, but he is making rapid progress; Feng Yunyou is a defender with an iron gate-like defense.
It can be said that this team already has the strength to win the championship.

Tomorrow's opponent will be the Western Merchant Team, a team formed by British overseas Chinese businessmen.

"Okay, today we'll just do some basic training. A lot of celebrities will be coming to cheer you on later, but don't worry, we just need to be determined to win."

"Yes, Mr. Chen!"

In this era, there are no so-called coaches. Even if there are, they are just incompetent people who want to get a salary and go abroad.

In the Oriental Football Team, Li Chao is the club manager, mainly responsible for management, administration, public relations and other work. The coaching team consists of Feng Yunyou, Dai Linjing and three others.

After a while, people came to cheer for the Oriental football team, including Du Yuesheng and Hong Yanbin, as well as Song Ziwen's younger brother Song Ziliang and Shanghai's Chief Executive Zhang Qun.

"Minister Wang, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, will come to watch the game tomorrow. Do you have the confidence to win?" Zhang Qun asked everyone with a smile.

As the team owner, Chen Guangliang said directly: "Mayor, I just told them to go all out and show the morale of us Chinese people!"

Zhang Qun immediately said, "Okay, we should let the foreigners see that we Chinese are not the sick men of East Asia."

MLGD, if you want to make a movie yourself, you must first make a "Huo Yuanjia" and include a scene where he kicks the plaque of "Sick Man of East Asia".

Du Yuesheng immediately stepped forward and said, "Our team is united, has excellent skills, and is the first professional team. We will definitely win the championship tomorrow."

Chen Guangliang took the opportunity to say, "If you win, Mr. Du will have to show his appreciation to your soldiers!"

Trick him!
Since Du Yuesheng said it was 'our team', then naturally he should pay the money!
Of course, Du Yuesheng was not wrong. The Oriental Football Team was sponsored by the Oriental Newspaper. During every game, the Oriental Newspaper would take the opportunity to advertise in the stadium.

Du Yuesheng deliberately said, "Chen Guangliang, you've got your sights set on me. I'm asking you, I invested so much money in the Oriental Daily News, and not only do you not pay dividends to me as a shareholder, you're also leaving me with debts, right?" Chen Guangliang immediately responded, "Mr. Du, you don't care about the Oriental News Agency, and you don't care about its development. How can you blame me? If you were to go and take charge for a few days, you'd see for yourself that the Oriental News Agency has a lot of assets now!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone around him said that Chen Guangliang was flattering Du Yuesheng and expressing his willingness to "step down"!
Only Du Yuesheng knew that Chen Guangliang was "retreating to advance". How could he not know that the reporters and editors of the Oriental Newspaper regarded Chen Guangliang as the soul of the newspaper and that their style was taught by Chen Guangliang.

Of course, he had no intention of taking control of the Oriental Newspaper Company. As long as the newspaper company did not oppose him, that would be enough!
"So that's how it is. Looks like I missed you. So, if the team wins this time, I'll sponsor you 2 yuan. If we come in second, I'll also sponsor you 1 yuan."

Chen Guangliang immediately signaled Li Chao.

Li Chao understood what was going on and stepped forward to say, "Thank you, Mr. Du, for your concern. I'll announce this news to everyone after the team finishes the game."

Du Yuesheng smiled and nodded.

He spent the money happily.

The next day, the Scott Cup football final was officially held at the football field of the racecourse.

Chinese and Western media gathered at the scene, the audience seats were packed, and Chinese and foreign celebrities also gathered here to watch the game.

You can even write a headline for a newspaper - The Chinese vs. Western War!

If the Oriental football team wins today, it will be the first time that a Chinese football team has won the Scottish Cup. Even the Lehua team that had "Asian Football King" Li Huitang had not yet engraved the team's name on the Scottish Cup.

The history that Li Huitang created that year was the first time that a Shanghai Chinese football team defeated a Western team in an official match, which became a sensational news.

And now, the Eastern football team is about to create another record, hoisting the Scotto Cup and having the team's name engraved on it.

Beforehand, Chen Guangliang had to send a large number of bodyguards to protect these players to prevent some of them from taking desperate measures.

Chen Guangliang sat in the front row of the 'coach's seat', wearing a hat and lowering his forehead.

"Why are you wearing a hat?" Yan Renmei asked curiously.

She was also dragged by Chen Guangliang to watch the show today, but she was sitting in the seat behind Chen Guangliang with her best friend Tuanmen.

"I'm the coach, I have to catch the foreigners off guard!"

Kong Lingyi immediately said in surprise: "How do you know everything?"

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "Did you hear what Renmei said?"

Yan Renmei immediately said coquettishly: "It's already this hour, and you still have the mind to joke around. We are so nervous!"

The women nodded in agreement. The media had hyped up the event so much today that the atmosphere was very lively.

"Don't worry, we will win today."

At the beginning, Chen Guangliang did not give any instructions, but Li Chao led the conversation with the players.

Next, the game officially began.

The battle was quite fierce. The Western Merchants relied on their height and psychological advantages and underestimated the enemy.

But the first goal was scored by the Oriental Football Team.

The young player Jia Youliang made a quick forward run, passed the two defenders in turn, and kicked the ball high on the right side; Sun Jinshun in the middle made a quick forward run, he received the ball, and the defenders had not yet rushed over.

Sun Jinshun shot the ball with great force, the speed of the football was almost as fast as the speed of sound, and it hit the goal hard.

"The ball went in"

"Iron Legs"

Sun Jinshun started playing with a special kind of "oil ball" from a young age. They soaked the ball in motor oil, let it dry, and made it heavy and inelastic. Then he would kick it barefoot, practicing tirelessly for long periods of time, which honed his exceptional iron leg skills.

Of course, this ball was a coordinated one, and the young player Jia Youliang made a remarkable contribution. He broke through two players and passed the ball comfortably.

There were mostly Chinese people at the scene, and they immediately gave thunderous applause to the Oriental football team.

At this moment, the thought that "we are not the sick man of East Asia" lingers in the minds of many Chinese people.

Next, the Western Merchants team was completely stunned and soon lost another goal.

The foreigners at the scene were stunned. When did the Chinese football team become so powerful?
A seven-time champion was stunned!

The game entered the second half, with 20 minutes left, and the Oriental Football Team was leading 3:2.

But something was not right. First, the penalty was awarded in favor of the Western Merchants team. Second, the Eastern Football Team seemed to be frequently disturbed by the Western Merchants team's words and body language.

"Substitution, timeout"

Chen Guangliang arranged a tactical timeout.

"Everyone, don't be anxious or panic. We're still in a winning situation. Don't let the Xishang players interfere with us. Winning against them would be the biggest humiliation for them. And this move, is it? It's a way to say "fuck you" back at them. Don't let the referee see that we're a team. We need to cooperate well."

At this point in the game, mentality is very important, and players cannot be subjected to constant trash talk.

There was no tactical arrangement, but the effect was very obvious!

A Western football player suddenly lost his balance and pushed Jia Youliang hard, causing the audience to boo!
It turned out that Jia Youliang raised his middle finger and responded to the foreigner's curse "fuck you".

No matter how biased the referee is, he can only give a yellow card. In later generations, he can even give a red card.

But the momentum finally returned to the Chinese team.

In the final moments, Trevor Noble seized a header and scored again, making it 4:2.
Victory is no longer in doubt!

"we won"

"The Huaxia team won"

Thousands of Chinese people at the scene cheered.

Various Chinese celebrities also stood up and applauded.

Glory belongs to the Chinese!
The Western merchant team had to be dejected, and the foreigners had to leave in anger.

The victory of the Oriental Football Team over the Western Business Team was not only widely reported by the media, but Chen Guangliang, as the owner, also held a celebration ceremony at the Shangri-La Hotel that day, and many celebrities came to express their condolences and congratulations.

Of course, Chen Guangliang also did not forget to seek some sponsorship to solve part of the funding for the coming year.

After defeating the Western Merchants Team, the Oriental Football Team will subsequently go abroad to compete, such as to Southeast Asia, so the funding will increase.

This kind of competition can greatly enhance the sense of belonging and honor of overseas Chinese, and is also beneficial to the subsequent War of Resistance.

Morale is sometimes accumulated bit by bit!
This made Chen Guangliang look forward to movies like "Huo Yuanjia" and "Fist of Fury".

(End of this chapter)