A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

A few days later, news came from Sichuan that the 2 tons of sugarcane seeds invested by Chen Guangliang had all been planted in Neijiang.

The management of this batch of sugarcane seeds is handled by the 'Neijiang Sugarcane Breeding Experimental Garden', with technical personnel appointed by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Construction and the Agricultural College.

Speaking of which, Lu Zuofu also helped a lot when Chen Guangliang invested in the sugar industry in Sichuan. The 20,000 tons of sugarcane were transported to Neijiang by Minsheng Company as soon as possible, just in time for the best planting season in early April.

Lu Zuofu was not only the founder of Minsheng Company, but he was also Liu Xiang's "senior advisor on economic construction" and was about to become the director of the Sichuan Construction Department.

Chen Guangliang's visit to Sichuan has shown many people the opportunity to develop "mechanized sugar" in Sichuan, so things have gone relatively smoothly in all aspects.

In a conference room, the technical experts who helped Chen Guangliang set up the sugar factory gathered together. Many of them were veterans who had participated in the sugar industry in Guangdong Province. Now that Chen Guangliang had called on them, they all gathered together again.

Besides being known as the "founder of China's white sugar industry," Chen Guangliang also secured a benefit for everyone—shares in the First Sugar Factory. He personally invested in purchasing a significant number of shares for everyone, and these shares later yielded a return of nearly three times, making everyone very wealthy.

At the meeting, sugar expert Cao Mingxian said, "During this inspection of the sugar industry in Neijiang, I discovered a problem: many large workshops lack a crucial component in their open-air structures—centrifuges. If such equipment were available, these large workshops could be transformed into 'semi-mechanized' factories."

Mechanical expert Wu Xinbing also said, "Indeed. There are thousands of workshops over there. If they adopt manual sugar boiling and mechanical refining, it would be a very good business model."

The suggestions from everyone made Chen Guangliang take them seriously.

China's sugar industry has always been very developed. However, the later Yangtang sugar industry was like snow, with amazing purity and quality, which completely defeated China's traditional sugar industry.

If it weren't for the rise of Guangdong's white sugar industry in 1932, China would have lost an unknown amount of foreign exchange.

In fact, Huaxia raw sugar is only a crude processing of the 'white sugar industry'.

Swire Group, a British firm based in Hong Kong, established a sugar factory in 1884. It imported raw sugar (brown sugar) from Java and the Philippines to Hong Kong, where it was refined using state-of-the-art centrifuges, bone char filtration, and sulfur dioxide bleaching methods to target the mainland market. The machine-made Swire sugar had white and fine granules and a stable sweetness, and was known at the time as "carved white sugar".

Chen Guangliang said, "I still prefer to invest in fully mechanized sugar-making equipment. After all, I have already reduced the production capacity to 500 tons of sugarcane per day. However, you need to prepare two options for me: one is fully mechanized sugar-making, and the other is a 'manual sugar boiling, mechanized refinement' model. I will compare the options after they are ready."

"Okay, Mr. Chen."

However, these people's words also served as a reminder to Chen Guangliang.

If he purchases a considerable number of centrifuges, he can then take on the 'renovation' work of the Neijiang Sugar Factory and make a fortune.

After the rectification was completed smoothly, the entire Neijiang sugar industry also ushered in a period of rapid development ahead of schedule, and was able to provide a large amount of strategic materials - white sugar - to the anti-Japanese war zones across the country.

Therefore, Chen Guangliang plans to establish a 'sugar-making machinery procurement' agent in the second half of the year.

Now Chen Guangliang is focusing his business on the textile and sugar industries, hoping to earn more money in the next few years.

In early April, Chen Guangcong, along with his wife Yang Xiuying and son Chen Wenbo, returned to Shanghai to visit relatives and go on vacation.

In fact, it was Chen Guangliang's idea to let Yang Xiuying take her son back to Shanghai to stay for a while, since the old lady Yang Hui had not yet met her grandson, but she had always been thinking about him.

In recent years, Yang Hui has had four grandsons. She often recites Buddhist scriptures and chants Buddhist prayers for her family, praying for their safety and well-being.

Chen Guangcong had no rest and was soon taken to work at Global Shipping.

"The leases on the two ships to China Merchants Group have expired. I have discussed with Mr. Schjöck, the head of Swire Group, that we will lease the two ships back to Swire Group for European routes," Chen Guangliang said in the conference room.

Zhao Tieyi said, "We are keeping a close eye on the two ships we chartered to China Merchants Group. We have already communicated with the captains and senior seamen and agreed that they will return to Hong Kong for maintenance after this transport is completed. After all, the current general manager of China Merchants Group is Cai Zengji, a confidant of Sun Ke, and the Minister of Transport is Yu Feipeng, who had a bit of a grudge against you back then. We are also worried that they will hold onto the ships and not return them."

At the end of last year, Yu Feipeng was already acting as Minister of Transportation. Seeing the unfavorable situation, Liu Hongsheng also took the initiative to step down as General Manager of China Merchants Group, and was succeeded by Cai Zengji, a confidant of Sun Ke.

Yu Feipeng and Chen Guangliang did have a grudge. Back then, Yu Feipeng's brother-in-law was a comprador for China Merchants Group, and Chen Guangliang fired him directly. It wasn't just canceling the comprador position; he simply refused to hire him.

Afterwards, Yu Feipeng made some harsh remarks to his friends, implying that he wanted to teach Chen Guangliang a lesson. He said these things to his friends so that they would reach Chen Guangliang's ears.

Unfortunately, Chen Guangliang wasn't buying it!
But now that Yu Feipeng has taken office as Minister of Transport, he is indeed Chen Guangliang's superior in charge of shipping. It's unclear whether he will try to sabotage Chen's career.

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "Guangcong, you are responsible for liaising with Swire Company and for getting these two ships back to port. Be careful in everything you do."

The six nearly new ships are each now worth more than 60. They have not only not depreciated, but have appreciated in value due to the recovery of shipping.

For example, the two ships leased by Swire Pacific this time can bring Chen Guangliang a net income of 30 yuan per year.

"Yes, Chairman."

On this day, Yu Feipeng visited the China Merchants Group, accompanied by Cai Zengji and his entourage.

Although Yu Feipeng had already served as acting Minister of Transportation at the end of last year, he was actually officially appointed last month (March).

China Merchants Group has now become a huge enterprise with assets of over 40 million yuan, and can be considered an important subsidiary of the Ministry of Transport.

In particular, China Merchants Group has had extremely low debt in recent years, paying much less interest each year, while operating well and developing very smoothly.

Therefore, the South Korean government attaches great importance to the role of China Merchants Group, since it essentially controls the core enterprise of China Shipping.

During the visit, Yu Feipeng asked, "I heard that China Merchants Group is preparing to open air routes to Europe and North America?"

Cai Zengji immediately replied, "There is such an opportunity. The two new ships are currently under construction and are expected to be ready to sail in the second half of the year."

Yu Feipeng then asked, "What about the two new ships in Southeast Asia?"

Cai Zengji, unsuspecting, said, "We just arrived in Shanghai and are preparing to deploy on the Southeast Asian route to replace the two ships we previously leased."

Yu Feipeng said with a smile, "That's it! You can continue to use the leased ships and open up routes to Europe and North America as soon as possible!"

He used to have conflicts with Chen Guangliang, but now he serves as the Minister of Transportation. This must give Chen Guangliang a hard time, since he is now the head of the relevant department!

Cai Zengji was taken aback, wondering why the Minister of Transportation was so concerned about such a matter. However, he still honestly said, "The leases for those two ships have expired. The lessee is a shipping company in Hong Kong. The captain has informed us that they are going back to Hong Kong for repairs."

Yu Feipeng felt that Chen Guangliang was cunning and knew that once he took office, he would definitely target Chen Guangliang, which is why he was so eager to take the ship back to Hong Kong.

"It's just Chen Guangliang's ship, hiding its true nature. He has quite a lot of investments in Hong Kong."

"The main issue is that the lease term has expired, and the company has already leased it to another shipping company."

After being rebuffed, Yu Feipeng was not disappointed. Instead, he continued, "In these North-South and South-South routes, Global Shipping's market share seems to be even higher than China Merchants Group's. Do you have any countermeasures?" In these two routes, Global Shipping, with its four 5000-ton cargo ships, coupled with its excellent service and management, has consistently outperformed China Merchants Group, Jardine Matheson, and Swire.

Cai Zengji finally understood that Yu Feipeng was trying to sabotage Chen Guangliang.

However, after taking over China Merchants Group, he also deeply felt the prowess of his "senior" Chen Guangliang. Whether it was finance or operations; whether it was river-sea-land intermodal transport or ocean shipping, the achievements of China Merchants Group were inseparable from the foundation laid by Chen Guangliang.

"There is no clear national law stipulating that shipping routes are state-owned and monopolized, so fair competition is the only way. Moreover, since Global Shipping does not receive government subsidies, we naturally have no way to compete with them."

Yu Feipeng persisted, saying, "No, China Merchants Group has an advantage, and that's the port!"

Cai Zengji immediately said, "Although Global Shipping also uses China Merchants Group's terminals, it does generate business for China Merchants Group, so we naturally cannot target them in this regard."

Yu Feipeng said with a dark expression, "I'm acting in the best interests of the country."

Cai Zengji could only say, "We will give it serious consideration and increase China Merchants Group's share in the coastal areas."

In fact, he didn't necessarily want to speak up for Chen Guangliang, but he felt that Yu Feipeng was thinking too simply.

Unless there are clear laws and regulations to weaken the influence of global shipping on coastal routes, China Merchants Group has no countermeasures or plans to target them.

Yu Feipeng's mind was filled with "revenge," but even if he were the commander-in-chief, let alone just the director of the Transportation Bureau, would he openly suppress private enterprises?

Starting in April, the Shanghai bond market became more active, with bond prices gradually rising and trading booming.

This was similar to Chen Guangliang's thinking, but Chen Guangliang also knew that there would be a major 'military operation' in June (warlords in Guangxi and Guangdong rebelling), which would inevitably interrupt the rise in the bond market.

Therefore, the government bonds invested by Ping An Bank can be cashed out by the end of May, and should yield a profit of around 20%.

In order to "resist the war", Chen Guangliang invested in textiles, sugar and alcohol, as well as shipping, with a total investment of tens of millions of yuan. This made Chen Guangliang himself very nervous, fearing that an accident would cause him to suffer a lot of losses.

Although the loss of over ten million yuan wouldn't be considered a major blow to Chen Guangliang's business, he was certainly heartbroken.

"Boss, the funds you want to invest in sugar and alcohol are all ready, and you can withdraw them at any time!" Xia Gaoxiang reported as he entered the office.

Chen Guangliang's budget for investing in sugar and alcohol was 500 million yuan, with the shortfall to be covered by external fundraising.

However, he will not use Yan Renmei's or his own gold reserves, nor will he use Jiang Meiying's gold; instead, he will use the gold as collateral to borrow money from Ping An Bank.

In this way, Ping An Bank does not face a 'shortage of funds' as it still has gold as a safety net; and Chen Guangliang's personal investment only requires paying 6% bank interest, which is acceptable.

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "It will be withdrawn in batches, which will not only alleviate the financial pressure on Ping An Bank, but also reduce my bank interest payments."

Each withdrawal incurs interest.

Xia Gaoxiang then said, "That would be great, just like the loan to Xinfeng Textile, it's a win-win situation that takes care of the interests of both parties. Recently, Xinfeng Textile's cash flow has been recovering very quickly, and I believe that Xinfeng Textile's profits this year will definitely be substantial."

Last year's 'cotton' battle determined the success of Hsinfeng Textile this year.

This year, Xinfeng Textile's profits will definitely be satisfactory.

Chen Guangliang said, "I expect this year to be a bumper year for cotton. Xinfeng Textile will continue to stockpile cotton in large quantities. Ping An Bank should be prepared to provide maximum support in the second half of the year."

"No problem, Ping An Bank has sufficient cash flow."

Ping An Bank's deposits exceeded 3000 million yuan, but its external lending was only 700 million yuan, while its internal loans (to companies related to Chen Guangliang) were very high, reaching about 1300 million yuan.

Moreover, Ping An Bank's investments are also showing initial results, with many real estate investments beginning to generate substantial rental income.

After Xia Gaoxiang left, Chen Guangliang fell into thought.

This year's cotton harvest is historically abundant, surging from 800 million dan last year to 1600 million dan, which means that everyone is no longer short of raw materials.

Then the so-called 'yarn exchange crisis' occurred next year, and cotton yarn prices soared in the first half of the year.

Based on this, Chen Guangliang decided to continue stockpiling cotton this year, hoping to make a fortune in both spot and futures markets next year. He didn't want to wait until the war; he wanted to recoup his textile investment costs first.

In late June, Chen Guangliang visited Hong Kong again.

In the past year, Chan Kwong-leung has made significant investments in Hong Kong, including:

Cheung Kong Properties invested HK$150 million in residential land in Hong Kong, while Ping An Bank invested HK$160 million in industrial and residential land in Hong Kong. Both companies will subsequently make corresponding construction investments.

Xinfeng Textile invested HK$150 million in a factory in Hong Kong, Times Film invested HK$200 million in a film production base in Hong Kong, and Vitasoy invested in a branch factory in Hong Kong.
These investments alone were enough to establish the Chen family as the largest Chinese-owned conglomerate in Hong Kong immediately after the war. After all, Ping An Bank had already established itself in Hong Kong.

Chen Guangliang inspected the two "Chen Family Mansions" projects in Mid-Levels, both of which are under construction and will be completed in the first half of next year.

His residence in Hong Kong is not luxurious, but it is quite large, with an area of ​​about 20000 square feet (three acres), and the buildings are just in the style of Western-style houses.

Chen Guangliang also considered that if it were too luxurious, it might cause some trouble during the Japanese occupation.

For example, in her previous life, Yu Dongxuan owned three castle-style mansions in Hong Kong, all of which were occupied by the Japanese. In particular, the villa in Repulse Bay was turned into a Japanese concentration camp, where many anti-Japanese resistance fighters were killed, and it later became a haunted house.

This is why Chen Guangliang was unwilling to build an overly luxurious villa in Hong Kong. He valued privacy, so a walled courtyard and a three-story house were sufficient to meet his residential needs.

"Guangcong, go to Macau to check out the environment when you have time, and then buy property there. Ask me for the necessary funds," Chen Guangliang instructed his younger brother, who was accompanying him.

Chen Guangcong said, "I've been to Macau. It's a small place with a mixed society, and the gambling industry is particularly developed."

Chen Guangliang instructed, "Gambling and drugs are absolutely forbidden. Your main purpose in going there is to investigate the banking and insurance business, warehouse and savings business, and the housing situation. Later, it can also become a temporary place for us to stay."

Chen Guangcong quickly replied, "Brother, don't worry. I have absolutely no interest in gambling, prostitution, or drugs. I know those are all harmful things. I will do my best to investigate Macau."

Chen Guangliang patted him on the shoulder and said, "The situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse. You're all grown up now, and you even have children. You need to take good care of yourself."

"yes, Sir"

With his younger brother overseeing things here, many business operations are completely different in nature, even if Chen Guangcong doesn't participate. (End of Chapter)