A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Time flies, and it is already 1937.

Shortly after New Year's Day, Tong Runfu and Li Shengbo from Xinfeng Textile, and Xia Gaoxiang, Ye Ximing, and Zhang Shounian from Ping An Bank, came to Chen Guangliang's office.

Chen Guangliang knew that the five people must be reporting to him and making suggestions about 'cotton yarn'.

As expected, Tong Runfu spoke first: "Boss, Xinfeng Textile currently has 52,000 bales of cotton yarn, and its usage over the next two years is expected to be only around 25,000 bales. Given that the market price of cotton yarn on the Huashang Yarn and Fabric Exchange had already risen for some time between October and December last year, and the upward trend continued at the beginning of this year, with the price now exceeding 240 yuan, we can consider selling some. Especially after the Spring Festival in February, there will inevitably be a sales slump."

Based on a price of 240 yuan per bale, the total value of the cotton bales held by Xinfeng Textile is 1250 million yuan. In reality, their cost is just over 1000 million yuan, meaning they made a profit of more than 200 million yuan on the spot cotton trade.

That's too profitable; no wonder the top executives at Hsin Feng Textile and Ping An Bank are considering taking profits while they're ahead.

However, Chen Guangliang had his own plans, saying, "Let's wait a little longer. Even if we hold onto it, it's better than holding onto legal tender. Listen to me on this matter; storing cotton is better than storing money. Also, the warehouses in the concession must maintain a stock of 2 bales."

The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment, and soon they all switched sides.

Xia Gaoxiang said, "Although Xinfeng Textile has a loan of 9.5 million, the annual interest is only 600,000 (a low-interest loan of 0.6%), which is not a heavy burden. Compared with the income brought by cotton, it is negligible."

Ye Ximing also said, "Yes, in the nearly two years since Xinfeng Textile was acquired, its profits have reached 240 million (including the revenue from cotton yarn packages last year), which is equivalent to making back the investment in the Hong Kong factory and the Chongqing factory."

The Hong Kong factory has an investment of 150 million, and the Chongqing factory is expected to have an investment of 100 million.

Seeing this, Tong Runfu could only say, "As long as Ping An Bank continues to provide support, we have no objections."

Xia Gaoxiang smiled and said, "Supporting Xinfeng Textile is also supporting Ping An Bank itself, so please rest assured."

Seeing that the matter was over, Chen Guangliang asked, "How is the situation at the Hong Kong factory?"

Li Shengbo then gave a detailed report on wages. The Hong Kong factory had started operations at the end of last year, and it could only be considered a 'trial operation' at present.

"We transferred a group of outstanding female workers from Shanghai, which boosted production efficiency there. We expect the Hong Kong factory to be fully operational by the second half of the year."

Textile workers in Shanghai are considered a national icon. In recent years, the textile industry in the north has also invited some of these Shanghai textile workers to take the lead, which has had a very positive effect on factory production.

Chen Guangliang said, "Well, then the next step is the Chongqing factory. I'll trouble Director Li to continue the preparations."

Li Shengbo nodded and said, "I will set off for Chongqing as soon as possible to organize and prepare for the factory."

The Chongqing factory is currently under construction, and a batch of textile equipment has been ordered from the UK. Combined with the textile equipment in the Shanghai warehouse, the machines will definitely arrive in the first half of the year.

The six chatted for a while, discussing the development of Xinfeng Textile Factory.

The three shareholders of the Shangri-La Hotel—Chen Guangliang, Yan Zhiduo, and Fang Jiaobo—are having a meeting.

Chen Guangliang began by saying, “Last year, the Shangri-La Hotel achieved another outstanding performance, earning a profit of 50 yuan. Currently, the Shangri-La Hotel has 62 yuan in cash flow in its account. I will distribute 60 yuan as dividends for one of my projects.”

Yan Zhi asked doubtfully, "Why keep such a small amount of cash flow?"

The Shangri-La Hotel has always been very successful, with hotel occupancy rates consistently above 90% and restaurant occupancy rates frequently reaching full capacity, making it a landmark of Shanghai.

However, the Shangri-La Hotel has no debt, not even since it opened, and its annual profit is between 40 and 50 yuan, making it very profitable.

The rate of return is exceptionally high.

Chen Guangliang said, "That's enough. After all, the Shangri-La Hotel is still making money. After this dividend distribution, I also plan to step down as general manager and hand over the management to Gao Zhichao, Li Xinli and others."

Fang Jiaobo took the initiative to say, "In that case, you should sit in my position as chairman. After all, everyone knows you are the soul of Shangri-La."

What Chen Guangliang has given to Shangri-La is a noble and dignified culture, which can be called its 'soul'.

He shook his head and said, "I will only serve as the executive director. I may be away from Shanghai often in the future, so Ji Fan can just serve as the chairman. You can also take care of things if needed."

Fang Jiaobo had some questions, but ultimately didn't ask any further—why was he often not in Shanghai?

As people in the business world, many know that Chen Guangliang has been investing in Hong Kong and Chongqing in the past two years. However, some people still don't understand why Chen Guangliang made such an arrangement, since Shanghai is truly the best environment.

afterwards.

Yan Zhiduo asked Chen Guangliang privately, "Guangliang, what are you really thinking? I heard you're going to live in Hong Kong in the first half of the year?"

Chen Guangliang nodded solemnly and said, “Father-in-law, Japan may launch a full-scale invasion of China this year. It’s not safe to stay in Shanghai. I plan to take my family to Hong Kong to avoid trouble. Even if the concessions are not occupied by Japan, I can’t stay here. Japanese spies will definitely want me to become a traitor, and there’s even a possibility of assassination. The spies from South Korea are not to be trifled with either, so I must leave this dangerous place.”

His status was different. Yan Zhiduo could live in the concession area at any time. In any case, he was just a "third-generation rich kid" and had no influence.

Having dealt with Chen Guangliang for so many years, Yan Zhiduo knew that Chen Guangliang wouldn't be worrying unnecessarily, so he asked, "Do you think I should buy some property in Hong Kong?"

Chen Guangliang's original idea was to invite Yan Zhiduo to develop in Hong Kong before 1949 at the latest. As for whether or not to go, he would let Yan Zhiduo decide for himself and would only give some reasons.

But now that Yan Zhiduo has asked, Chen Guangliang also suggested: "Of course, Hong Kong is definitely a blessed place, and it is worthwhile to invest in some properties."

Yan Zhi nodded. The person he admired most was his son-in-law, whose achievements probably surpassed those of his father and grandfather, yet he was still so young.

"Okay, I'll also go to Hong Kong to take a look."

The Shangri-La Hotel distributed a dividend of 33 yuan, and Global Shipping's profit was 60 yuan, resulting in another 90 yuan in dividends. Adding to this the funds from selling Yangtze River taxis last year, Chen Guangliang personally has 240 million yuan in cash flow.

Of course, if all 240 million were converted into gold, it would be roughly 3 taels of gold; adding to the 1.9 taels he exchanged last year, Chen Guangliang would personally have 4.9 taels of gold, equivalent to about 400 million. In addition, Jiang Meiying had 2.5 taels of gold, and Yan Renmei had 4.4 taels of gold.

In total, the three of them possessed 11.8 taels of gold (1 tael is 31.5 grams, approximately 3.6 tons), with a total value approaching ten million silver dollars.

This is roughly the amount of gold that the Chen Guangliang family will subsequently hold. This gold will be shipped to Hong Kong in batches this year, and then the issue of storage will be considered.

Chen Guangliang was able to accumulate so much gold because of this investment in sugar, alcohol, and shipping, for which he took out a personal loan of 600 million yuan from Ping An Bank.

This portion of the loan is naturally intended to be repaid using dividends from Hsin Feng Textile, since Hsin Feng Textile is expected to distribute dividends (speculative profits) in July of this year; any shortfall will naturally be repaid with profits later.

this day.

Zhao Tieyi found Chen Guangliang and reported, "Boss, the Ministry of Transport has been giving us a lot of trouble lately on the fixed north-south and south-south routes, with things like customs surprise inspections and long queues at ports. I feel like Yu Feipeng is causing us trouble. If this continues, he wants China Merchants Group to completely replace our business on these two routes."

Chen Guangliang had naturally noticed this problem, after all, it had been going on for almost half a year, and he understood that Yu Feipeng was taking revenge for what happened back then.

However, although Yu Feipeng is the Minister of Transportation, he would not seek revenge openly, so he came up with these underhanded tricks.

What do you think we should do?

Zhao Tieyi said, "Given your position, you could write directly to Nanjing Whale, emphasizing the difficulties faced by private enterprises in production, and if you also cooperate with the media, I believe that the Ministry of Transport, led by Yu Feipeng, would not target us so blatantly."

To complain to the Commander-in-Chief?
Putting aside the fact that Yu Feipeng is someone's fellow townsman and cousin, even if the Commander-in-Chief put in a good word for him, how significant would the effect be?

Chen Guangliang never trusted the South Whale government because they represented bureaucratic capital, not private capital.

After a moment's thought, Chen Guangliang said, "I plan to sell six ships from Global Shipping. Two of them, which are relatively new, will be sold to our Hong Kong shipping company. The remaining four ships (two relatively new and two older ships, totaling 1.8 tons) will be sold directly, and our focus will shift to Hong Kong and Guangzhou Bay."

In this way, Chen Guangliang still has four 5000-ton new ships and three 3-ton small ships registered in Guangzhou Bay.

At the same time, it avoided the losses caused by requisitioning this year.

Zhao Tieyi was taken aback, then said, "Are you really withdrawing from the coastal shipping routes? Even now, we're still making a profit?"

This can generate stable profits.

Chen Guangliang said, "The Japanese are coming soon. At that time, the ships will either be requisitioned to block the river or they may be confiscated by the Japanese. I think it is better to continue developing shipping based in Hong Kong."

Zhao Tieyi was dumbfounded, and then said, "What if we don't fight? Wouldn't we suffer a huge loss?"

Chen Guangliang said, “What’s the loss? Yu Feipeng’s appointment as Minister of Transport was already disadvantageous to us, so we might as well take this opportunity to cash out the ships at a high price. By the way, sell them to China Merchants Group. Later, send the information on the four ships to Cai Zengji. I believe he will buy them, but the price cannot be lower than 150 million yuan.”

"Yes, China Merchants Group would definitely be willing to buy it, since it would be equivalent to buying our business as well."

A week later, news broke that Chen Guangliang had reluctantly sold the North-South and South-South shipping routes to China Merchants Group, with the four ships selling for a total of 150 million yuan.

At the same time, it was also rumored that Chen Guangliang sold the remaining two good ships to a Hong Kong company.

These events mean that Chen Guangliang is completely withdrawing from the shipping business in Shanghai.

Immediately, the media criticized Yu Feipeng for "settling personal scores" and brought up the matter of Chen Guangliang removing and dismissing Yu Feipeng's brother-in-law from his comprador position when Chen was the general manager of China Merchants Group.

As a result, public opinion began to criticize the Ministry of Transportation, headed by Yu Feipeng, and the matter even alarmed the Commander-in-Chief, who inquired about what had happened.

Chen Guangliang did not take the opportunity to complain, but only said that he wanted to invest in the textile, sugar, and alcohol industries, and decided to give up the shipping industry, which faced greater competition. The Commander-in-Chief naturally offered some encouragement, but did not say anything else.

As for Yu Feipeng, he went further to defend himself, claiming that he did not seek personal revenge and that it was all fabricated by the media.

In fact, everyone knew the real situation, and the Commander-in-Chief couldn't possibly blame his trusted general for this. Of course, if Chen Guangliang had filed the complaint first, the Commander-in-Chief would have taken care of Yu Feipeng and told him to keep a low profile, after all, he was a recipient of the 'Grand Order of the Jade'.

After selling four ships to China Merchants Group, Chen Guangliang received another 1.5 million yuan. This time, he decided to exchange it for Hong Kong dollars and continue to purchase real estate in Hong Kong.

afterwards.

At a shipping company gathering, Yu Qiaqing said, "Guangliang, now you've witnessed the power of bureaucratic capitalism! It's like when China Merchants Group monopolized '11-way intermodal transport,' you were still the general manager of China Merchants Group."

Clearly, there was an element of mockery in his words, but he remained very polite on the surface.

Chen Guangliang said calmly, "Uncle Ade, what's with all this bureaucratic capitalism? This sale is purely a change in investment direction. Besides, the price offered by China Merchants Group was good, and we've acquired four ships and business in a short time. I'm quite satisfied."

Yu Qiaqing pointed at Chen Guangliang and laughed, "You just don't dare to say it. With the contributions you've made to the Southern Whale government, what's wrong with complaining a little!"

He has the merit of "helping the emperor rise to power". Chen Guangliang may not be as good as the "god of wealth" of the commander-in-chief. After all, when the Jiangzhe financial group funded the Southern Whale government during the Northern Expedition, Chen Guangliang had not yet traveled back in time!

Chen Guangliang remained calm and said, "There's nothing to complain about. I'm very pleased that China Merchants Group has achieved what it has today, being able to compete with foreigners without falling behind. The development of private shipping is not something that can be accomplished overnight. If China Merchants Group can take the lead and guide the development of private shipping together, that would be even better."

The shipping entrepreneurs standing nearby, including Du Yuesheng and Chen Shuntong, were all quite surprised by Chen Guangliang's behavior. He was the one who had been wronged, yet he acted as if nothing had happened.

Moreover, many people believe that Chen Guangliang's investments in the sugar, alcohol, and textile industries are nothing more than risky investments in new industries; it is quite surprising that he does not cherish stable and profitable industries such as Yangtze River Taxi and Global Shipping.

But it was ultimately Chen Guangliang's private matter, and since the China Merchants Group benefited this time, no one really stood up for Chen Guangliang.

Furthermore, these people also roughly knew that Chen Guangliang, having sold four ships, probably still had other ships, just possibly not in Shanghai. (End of Chapter)