A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Because wealthy individuals from Japan and China were illegally acquiring foreign exchange from the Nationalist government, the government's foreign exchange reserves were significantly reduced. This forced the Nationalist government to take measures. In March 1938, the Nationalist government announced that all foreign exchange transactions would be subject to an approval system, effectively prohibiting foreign banks from freely buying and selling foreign exchange and preventing Japanese arbitrage. At the same time, the government maintained the current exchange rate.

在1938年3月以前，100法币是可以购买两头牛的，也可以兑换30美分、12.25便士。

Now, with the legal tender based on the 'foreign exchange standard' no longer freely convertible to foreign exchange, its value will begin to decline. Although the Nationalist government has stated that it will maintain the exchange rate of the legal tender, it has already begun to depreciate on the black market.

Des Voeux Road, Ping An Bank Building.

In Chen Guangliang's office, news from all over the country gathers. Right next to his office is a "strengthened" secretariat, dedicated to serving him.

"Boss, the production data for sugar factories, alcohol factories, textile factories, and food factories in Sichuan have been compiled." Wu Xinhe walked in and handed over a document.

Chen Guangliang took the documents but didn't read them immediately. Instead, he asked, "Have you made any arrangements at home for your further studies in the second half of the year?"

He likes to send his subordinates to the United States for further studies, usually for 2 to 4 years, depending on their individual circumstances.

This summer, Guo Deming will return from the United States and will replace Wu Xinhe as the head of Chen Guangliang's secretariat.

Wu Xinhe replied, "We're ready. Actually, there's not much preparation involved. The company will take good care of our families, so we have basically no worries."

In Chen Guangliang's "retainer system", Chen Guangliang also gathered the families of these people and organized a "family committee", with Yan Renmei serving as the chairman.

The work of the 'Family Committee' is extensive, and it is mostly taken care of by the company. For example, during this trip to Hong Kong for refuge, the 'Family Committee' will collect statistics on the voluntariness of the family members who came to Hong Kong, their residence and living conditions after arriving in Hong Kong, and so on.

"Yes, focus on your studies. Two years will pass quickly. I guess Hong Kong will still be under Japanese occupation by then. Of course, even if it does fall, I will arrange for your families to go to Macau or Chongqing."

"Working for this boss is our good fortune!"

Chen Guangliang waved his hand, saying that he also needed this loyalty, and everyone got what they needed.

In fact, he didn't contribute much, just some money. Afterwards, he would notify everyone in advance where the land fell, ask if they wanted to take refuge there, and make arrangements.

After Wu Xinhe left.

Chen Guangliang flipped through the documents and found that the production capacity of the four types of factories in Sichuan (sugar factories, alcohol factories, textile factories, and food factories) was not very high and was still in the 'initial stage'.

The current situation is that factories in Shanghai are unwilling to relocate, believing that raw materials and skilled workers from Sichuan are far inferior to those in Shanghai; factories in Wuhan are also unwilling to relocate, as the yarn mills in Wuhan are making ten times more profit, just like the factories in Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou before they fell to the Japanese.

Therefore, under these circumstances, Chongqing's Xinfeng Textile Factory is currently operating at only 40% capacity, because even if there are military orders, they are placed directly with Wuhan.

The same applies to sugar and alcohol factories. Today, Guangdong Province is still safe and sound, and large quantities of sugar and alcohol can be transported to the Central Plains and even Sichuan via the Yuehan Railway (Guangzhou to Wuhan).

Meanwhile, the sugar factory in Neijiang is facing resistance from local sugar workshops and is not in a good situation. As a result, its daily sugarcane crushing capacity, which was originally 500 tons, is now only at half capacity.

But Chen Guangliang wasn't in a hurry after reading the data. After all, Wuhan and Guangdong Province would fall one after another in the second half of this year, and only then would these factories be able to truly play their role, and more importantly, make a lot of money.

Next, Chen Guangliang looked at the work reports of Tong Runfu and others, which were brought to Hong Kong by mail.

"The decline in raw cotton prices, coupled with the strong wartime demand, has led to a surge in cotton product prices. Prices in Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, and other cities have already fallen. Xinfeng Textile, by increasing production, will reap profits several times higher than usual."

This is a summary of industry work.

In other words, with the expansion of production capacity and the surge in cotton fabric prices, Xinfeng Textile's profits this year are expected to reach over 800 million yuan.

Of course, this is just Chen Guangliang's prediction.

If we only consider the assets of the two factories in the concession, including the factory and machinery, the total value would be less than 800 million (after the takeover, approximately 300 million worth of new machinery was added); adding the Hong Kong factory and the Chongqing factory, the total assets excluding spindles would be 1100 million.

The annual return rate is over 80%, and the return rate for factories in Shanghai is as high as 100%.

After some thought, Chen Guangliang made a decision—to allow the Shanghai factories to continue purchasing cotton.

There are many reasons:

Firstly, Ping An Bank can continue to support Xinfeng Textile in purchasing cotton.

Secondly: The legal tender has not yet officially depreciated, so we need to purchase cotton from outside Shanghai as soon as possible (there is still a lot of cotton stock outside due to the war last year).

Finally, the strategy for 1938-1939 was to purchase cotton and store spindles and cotton bales.

Hsin Feng Textile has a stock of 7.2 spindles, and the demand after the expansion can continue until the beginning of next year. The immediate priority is to stockpile all the spindles needed up to 1940 this year, that is, to maintain a two-year inventory by the end of the year.

Following Chen Guangliang's instructions, the five core directors of Shanghai-listed Xinfeng Textile gathered together.

Xia Gaoxiang said, "The boss means that by the end of this year, we need to reduce our stock of spindles to meet the demand at the end of 1940, which is two years' worth of needs. Ping An Bank has no problem with the funds and will fully support Xinfeng Textile's cotton purchases."

In the textile industry, cotton is the most basic material. When cotton is spun into yarn, it is called 'cotton yarn'. Cotton yarn is usually sold in 'bales', and many small and medium-sized textile factories in the market directly purchase 'bales of cotton yarn' to produce cotton fabric.

Generally speaking, factories that can handle the "cotton procurement" and "spinning" stages are mostly large factories.

Tong Runfu said, "Mr. Chen's considerations are more far-sighted than ours. Xinfeng Textile will make 'cotton procurement' an important task going forward. Although the Japanese control over supplies is currently quite strict, there are still large loopholes, so cotton procurement is not a problem."

Japan occupied the Yangtze River Delta region, but this was still part of China, and controlling it would not achieve all its objectives. It was similar to how supplies from the concessions were continuously transported to the war-torn areas.

Li Shengbo also said, "It's currently the off-season for cotton, and the textile industry in the concession is still in the planning stage. As long as we have enough funds, we can buy a lot of cheap cotton. In fact, although there are many textile factories being built in the concession, only twelve of them really have a say."

Essentially, by taking advantage of a time lag, while everyone else is setting up and expanding their factories, Xinfeng Textile can receive cotton this year for two years to come.

Soon, everyone agreed on the details and got to work.

Today, Xinfeng Textile is the fastest-reacting and largest textile company in this wave of "profit-making dividends," even larger than Shenxin No. 9 Factory.

In fact, Shenxin No. 9 Factory had only just realized that they could only make money while using the profits to expand the factory.

Unlike Xinfeng Textile, which had readily available machinery and equipment, it expanded significantly in a short period of time, becoming Shanghai's largest textile factory with 7000 workers.

In textile factories, besides textile machinery, a very important piece of equipment is also needed—the alternator. Without this, a textile factory cannot be considered a modern factory at all; a major reason why many people are unwilling to relocate from Sichuan and Chongqing is the inconvenience of generating electricity.

After acquiring Xinfeng Textile, Chen Guangliang successively purchased several 2000-kilowatt three-phase AC generators manufactured by the Swiss company ABB.

Therefore, Xinfeng Textile Factory completed its expansion as soon as possible.

Countless people are envious!

The Shanghai Municipal Council was naturally pleased to see the bustling activity at Xinfeng Textile, as it generated tax revenue; the Nationalist government was also pleased, as Xinfeng Textile was now a key enterprise for 'military supplies'.

However, the Japanese textile groups and Japanese spies in Shanghai were naturally unhappy, because Chen Guangliang was a well-known "anti-Japanese element".

More importantly, the Japanese textile industry is also developing, so the two sides are naturally in competition.

If it were in Chinese territory, Japan would have confiscated it long ago, but in the concession, they couldn't do anything to Xinfeng Textile!
However, the Japanese textile industry quickly came up with a wicked plan—to control cotton by finding a traitor to help them control cotton purchases. This traitor naturally needed to have some skills and status, and Zhang Xiaolin became the best choice for the Japanese.

Zhang Xiaolin was naturally overjoyed to receive this assignment, as it was a lucrative one. He could use his involvement in the cotton purchasing process to gain substantial profits for himself.

Since he became a traitor, he had been purchasing military supplies such as grain, coal, and medicine for the Japanese army. Now that he was involved in cotton purchasing, it was naturally a good job.

"But the Japanese instructed us to prevent Xinfeng Textile Factory from obtaining cotton as a raw material, which is quite difficult!" Zhang Xiaolin said to his disciples.

It wasn't that he didn't want to do it, but the matter was somewhat tricky. The Japanese were quite formidable; on the surface, they controlled these resources, but in reality, a steady stream of 'raw materials' continued to flow into the concession, promoting its industrial development.

These "solo smugglers" were the ones who supplied the concession with goods and raw materials, and they also made a considerable profit.

Wu Jingui, one of his disciples, immediately said, "Master, we must do it, even if it's difficult. The Japanese don't seem to have a clear plan on how far we can go, but we'll do our best. However, I'd like to recommend someone to you; he'll definitely be of some use!"

Zhang Xiaolin asked curiously, "Who is it?"

Wu Jingui said, "Chen Guangliang has always had a capable person under him. This person is not only the head of his security company, but also the person in charge of Chen Guangliang's hidden power. Master should know this!"

Zhang Xiaolin immediately said, "Zhou Xinggao, of course I know him. Do you think he would still be willing to work for us?"

Zhou Xinggao was quite well-known in Shanghai, mainly because Chen Guangliang had never had any security problems over the years, and there were even some amazing incidents such as killing four ruthless bandits and capturing two others alive.

In addition, Chen Guangliang is no ordinary businessman. Although he has not joined a gang, he has a group of capable people and informants (car rental company) under his command.

Wu Jingui said with a smile, "This man did not follow Chen Guangliang to Hong Kong for refuge, but instead lingered in the prosperity of Shanghai. I guess he was unwilling to remain Chen Guangliang's subordinate and be a bodyguard leader forever."

"Alright, go and recruit him, and introduce him to my school."

"I'll contact them right away."

Zhang Xiaolin was very interested in Zhou Xinggao, after all, he was one of Chen Guangliang's men, and he felt very proud if he could join his ranks.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xinggao, having accepted Wu Jingui's invitation, returned home afterward, his mind heavy with worries.

Chen Guangliang initially hoped he would take his family to Hong Kong, but he stayed, citing the need for people in Shanghai as well.

In reality, he was reluctant to give up the wealth and luxury of Shanghai.

However, after refusing, Chen Guangliang immediately transferred Zhou Xinggao's position as head of the security company to Lin Feng; although it was not explicitly stated, it was clear that Zhou Xinggao was no longer Chen Guangliang's 'core subordinate', but was merely made to serve as Chen Xinggao's deputy at Changjiang Car Rental.

"Why do you look so preoccupied, sir?" the second wife said shrewdly.

Zhou Xinggao married two wives, both of whom were former dancers, and the family was actually in constant turmoil.

This also fully demonstrates that Chen Guangliang has treated him well over the years, with a monthly salary of 300 yuan. Moreover, Zhou Xinggao owns 10 rickshaws and receives 200 yuan in rent every month.

In fact, after Zhou Xinggao left the security company, Chen Guangliang still allowed him to receive a monthly salary of 150 yuan from the car dealership, while the security company stopped paying him a salary.

Seeing that he was feeling down, Zhou Xinggao explained the reason: "Zhang Xiaolin asked me to do something for him."

The first wife exclaimed in surprise, "Zhang Xiaolin, the notorious traitor!"

The second wife immediately said, "What traitor? Be careful what you say. Now that the Japanese are in power, it's wise to be pragmatic. I think this is a good thing, sir. You're not trusted by the Chen family now, and your income has dropped significantly. You might as well join Zhang Xiaolin so that you don't waste your talents."

Zhou Xinggao is a person who likes to enjoy life. Over the years, in addition to high salaries and bonuses, he has also received dividends from the car dealership by following Chen Guangliang. Furthermore, under Chen Guangliang's guidance, he bought a property at a low price to rent out.

But he always felt that he was somewhat overlooked, so the second concubine's words struck a chord with him.

But he said with a conflicted expression, "Zhang Xiaolin wants me to work for him, specifically on cotton purchasing. He also wants to target the boss, Xinfeng Textile, by cutting off their cotton purchases. Wouldn't that mean I'm betraying the boss?"

There's nothing wrong with being a traitor. After all, in Zhou Xinggao's view, the Japanese would destroy China sooner or later, so how would he be considered a traitor then?
History is always told by the victors.

The first wife said, "Indeed, we can't consider it. Mr. Chen has been very kind to our family, and he even saved your life. How can we agree to this?"

Although she was also a dancer, she has improved over the years.

Moreover, she and the second wife are now 'enemies,' so of course she would oppose whatever the enemy approves of.

The second wife immediately said, "Master, you've worked so hard for Chen Guangliang for so long, and what have you gotten in return? At most, you're just a salaried worker. But with your skills, you deserve far more than that. Buying cotton now is a sure way to make money. Since Zhang Xiaolin has his eye on you, it's a great opportunity. Maybe you'll be earning thousands a month instead of just a few hundred."

The disciples of the three tycoons were not just simple underlings. Some were businessmen who joined them, some were politicians who joined them, and even the disciples of the Green Gang were recruited through "profits" rather than "salaries".

Zhou Xinggao gritted his teeth and said, "A-Jing is right. I've been with the boss for so long, just collecting a salary, and I haven't made a name for myself. Now that the boss has left Shanghai and I've stepped down as head of the security company, our time together is over. I won't miss this opportunity!"

Money and power are a man's Achilles' heel!

Now that such a great opportunity has presented itself, Zhou Xinggao decided to stop hesitating. Traitor or not, he only wanted wealth and glory! (End of Chapter)