A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

this day.

Chen Guangliang arrived at the HSBC building and, led by a staff member, entered the office of HSBC taipan Morgan.

Some of the foreign employees were very curious as to why this Chinese man was so confident and could swagger in from the front.

Upon arriving at Morse's office, the HSBC executive gave him an unusually warm welcome, which surprised even the secretary—even if this Chinese man was a top businessman in China, in Hong Kong he was just a 'high-class Chinese,' and HSBC didn't need to pay him so much attention!
"Mr. Chen, please have a seat!"

"Thank you"

The two then sat down on the sofa, and Morse then spoke up, saying, "According to our understanding, Mr. Chen has a large amount of Hong Kong dollars that HSBC has forced to be issued?"

I knew it was for this reason!

Theoretically speaking, after Chen Guangliang developed Ping An Bank, he could no longer maintain a close partnership with HSBC, as the two had become competitors. HSBC was unwilling to see an entrepreneur who controlled a bank, as well as industries, real estate, and shipping, rise to power and thus threaten the status of British-owned conglomerates in Hong Kong.

This was true of HSBC, as well as of other foreign firms such as Jardine Matheson and Swire.

Of course, their unwillingness to see it doesn't mean they have the power to stop the rise of the Chan Kwong Leung family in Hong Kong, after all, Chan Kwong Leung's power is already enormous.

In the post-war period, Hong Kong had a paper currency issuance of only HK$2.2 million, which grew to over HK$6 million three years later. Immediately after the war, Chen Guangliang repatriated his wealth to Hong Kong, a cash flow of HK$3200 million, primarily in US dollars, gold, and silver.

Chen Guangliang nodded slowly and said, "I did exchange some."

Morse said in bewilderment, “Mr. Chan, we and the Hong Kong government immediately stated after the war that the forced-signature banknotes issued in 1942 could only be used in denominations of HK$10 and below. Forced-signature banknotes of other denominations were invalid and not recognized by HSBC. The military government also issued a document.”

The implication is that you've miscalculated!
Chen Guangliang remained calm and said with a smile, "I know all this."

To date, he has a total of HK$1400 million in forced visas, half of which are HK$100 notes and the rest are HK$50, HK$200 and HK$500 notes.

His cost was approximately US$90, equivalent to HK$360 million today. (This is in contrast to the rent during the Japanese occupation: US$20 and US$50 respectively.)
Seeing Chen Guangliang's nonchalant attitude, Morse said in a more serious tone, "We will not admit to being forced to sign Hong Kong dollars. Mr. Chen may have miscalculated on this point."

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "Moss tycoon, sometimes people's choices are not necessarily voluntary. Of course, this is also a kind of venture capital for me, and I am very clear about the risks involved."

After all, he only used 25% of the face value to acquire this batch of forced-signing Hong Kong dollars, which must have been risky.

In reality, those who possess these "large denomination" banknotes are mostly wealthy individuals with status and influence from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Guangdong Province.

If HSBC and the military government had not explicitly stated that they would not recognize the legality of denominations of HK$50 and above (i.e., currencies without foreign exchange backing), these wealthy individuals would not have been able to easily sell at a price that had depreciated by 75%.

Even so, a large portion of the forced-signing banknotes are still scattered in Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong, and Southeast Asia, and people continue to protest.

Therefore, at this time, both the Hong Kong government and the Hong Kong dollar suffered from 'credit devaluation'.

Morse observed Chen Guangliang for a moment, then tentatively said, "Mr. Chen, as far as I know, the black market price for these forced Hong Kong dollars is only a quarter of their face value. If you are willing, we can buy them back at 40% of their face value, but the premise is that this money needs to be deposited in our bank for a three-year fixed deposit."

Chen Guangliang said directly, "No need. I believe that 'reputation' is priceless, and besides, I can afford to lose it."

Morse was greatly alarmed. It seemed that this person was certain that HSBC would recognize the deal. It was unlikely that he knew any inside information, since he himself had not yet decided whether to recognize the legality of these forced Hong Kong dollars.

However, high-ranking officials of the military government discussed with him that if he did not acknowledge that this batch of Hong Kong dollars was "papered in London, printed in London, and typed by HSBC taipans," not only would the Hong Kong government's credibility decline, but HSBC's future reputation would also suffer greatly.

As Chen Guangliang said, "Reputation is priceless," which forced them to start discussing how to handle the matter.

During the meeting that day, Morse did not indicate that HSBC had any intention of recognizing the legality of 'forced signing of Hong Kong dollars'; in fact, she even implied that HSBC was unlikely to recognize it.

But Chen Guangliang understood that HSBC would need to offer favorable terms at their next meeting to keep this powerful figure in check.

After all, once HSBC acknowledges the "forced signing of banknotes," it cannot immediately provide that much "foreign exchange guarantee," so it must hope that those holding these currencies will provide some relief.

Now that the war is over, HSBC remains the most profitable bank in the Far East, and it will only take a few years for them to recover their strength, so what they need is time.

However, they acknowledged that 'forced signing of Hong Kong dollars' was imminent, otherwise their credibility would be at risk.

"Boss, there are quite a few wealthy old men in Sham Shui Po who own a lot of properties here. However, after the war, many houses were damaged. They either can't afford to rebuild them or are planning to sell them and return to the mainland to retire. So recently we have also acquired a lot of properties here. For example, this place originally had three properties, but now only one is rented out. It occupies a total area of ​​5100 square feet, and the asking price for the property is HK$6."

Yan Kuan, the boss who was personally on the front lines, reported on the work situation.

In the past six months, Cheung Kong Property has been on a buying spree, acquiring both old buildings and land.

At that time, the Hong Kong government did not have the habit of auctioning land, so most of the land on the market was sold by foreign firms and private individuals.

Chen Guangliang took a look and indeed found that even the ruins had not been cleared away and people were still living there.

“After we buy it, the tenants need to move out immediately, since we plan to build a five-story tenement building later.”

"Yes, we have dedicated people to handle this, so there won't be any problems."

After the purchase, the property rights belong to Yangtze River Real Estate. It's not that Chen Guangliang doesn't allow these people to live there, but rather that they are genuinely engaged in development.

It can be said that Cheung Kong Property Holdings Limited was the company that was among the first to rebuild and construct buildings after the war.

"Furthermore, Cheung Kong Property's long-term policy remains unchanged: to acquire adjacent properties when there is an opportunity, but there is no need to rush. I mean, when a suitable opportunity arises. This is called 'building consolidation.' I have a feeling that in about ten years, residential buildings will develop towards the sky, and ten- or twenty-story buildings will become the mainstream in Hong Kong. Therefore, we need to gradually develop the surrounding land into a model of at least 2 square feet, forming a way of operating the business."

In other words, if they buy this 5100-square-foot old property today, the surrounding properties will also be included in their purchase plans.

Yan Kuan nodded and said, "Yes, we always keep that in mind. For projects smaller than 2 square feet, we collect information on the surrounding properties and store it in the company for future reference."

After this merger, if Hong Kong allows the construction of high-rise residential buildings in the future, Cheung Kong Property will no longer need to spend huge sums of money to acquire adjacent properties. "Yes, you've done a great job."

Subsequently, Chen Guangliang inspected a real estate project under construction.

The project is located in Yau Ma Tei and is a 2.6-square-foot plot of land that will now be developed into 15 five-story tenement buildings.

Early tenement buildings (starting in the mid-to-late 19th century) were 2 to 3 stories high and 15 feet wide (about 4.5 meters). They were built with blue bricks and had sloping roofs made of wood and tiles. Wooden staircases connected the different floors. Some tenement buildings even had iron arcades that were 2 feet wide.

From the late 19th century onwards, Hong Kong's tenement buildings typically had three to four stories, each 4 meters high and 5 meters wide. In terms of design, the arcades were supported by brick pillars and extended into the sidewalk in front of the tenement building. Because this design originated in Guangzhou, it was commonly known at the time as "Guangzhou-style arcade buildings".

By the 1930s, concrete had replaced brick as the main building material for tenement buildings.

The tenement buildings constructed by Cheung Kong Property today are all made of concrete, so some building materials need to be imported, including steel bars and cement.

However, Chen Guangliang felt that after the 1970s, it would take more than 20 years to demolish these old buildings, so the high investment in construction was worthwhile.

Moreover, the five-story tenement buildings built by Cheung Kong Property are a new generation of 'architecture'. Although the exterior is still in the Cantonese style, the interior is already very modern - running water and electricity are a given, as well as servants' quarters, steel windows, flush toilets, and so on.

"We'll discuss the work of the lessee department later."

"Ok"

Regarding the leasing department, Chen Guangliang also felt that the management was somewhat chaotic and planned to reorganize it. However, once Yangtze Real Estate completes its target of 1000 buildings, the leasing work will inevitably be enormous and complex.

At that time, a highly skilled and capable team will also be needed.

Moreover, Chan Kwong-leung believed that the tenement buildings they built, with each floor ranging from 750 to 1200 square meters, were still slightly too large for Hong Kong at that time.

It's no problem for wealthy people to rent an entire floor.

However, many people can only afford to rent one room, so a whole floor of a house must be 'sublet'.

In its previous life, after World War II, Hong Kong experienced a rapid population increase and a housing shortage. Many tenement buildings (tonglou) were used for subletting. Typically, a tenement building would be rented out by one tenant, known as a "landlord" or "landlady." The landlord would pay a fixed monthly rent and also be responsible for utilities. The tenement units were then divided into rooms, usually at least a "shop-front room" (also called the first room, which is larger and brighter), a middle room, and a rear room; often, "loft rooms" were set up above the kitchen or toilet for rent. Some units were even subdivided into "bedrooms." Therefore, according to Section 46 of the Buildings (Planning) Regulations (Chapter 123F of the Laws of Hong Kong), a tenement building is defined as "any building where any living room in its residential portion is intended or converted for use by more than one tenant or subletter," and this law remains in effect today.

Since Cheung Kong Property has a large portfolio of properties and also needs to manage subletting, it needs to improve its management practices to prevent chaos.

After the inspection, Chen Guangliang took a car to the Star Ferry Pier.

The cars in Kowloon are company vehicles; he uses them to travel to various parts of Kowloon for inspections. Using a car also makes it easier for bodyguards to ensure his safety.

Of course, Chen Guangliang only brought two bodyguards and a driver, and didn't intend to be extravagant. Du Yuesheng also brought two bodyguards when he went to Hong Kong, but Chen Guangliang himself was very capable, and even without bodyguards, no one could kidnap him. Bringing bodyguards was just to avoid taking action himself as much as possible.

However, the security company still has dozens of bodyguards, who are naturally there to protect his family, while the extra personnel work in the company.

Back in the Ping An Bank Building on Des Voeux Road in Central, Chen Guangliang was not surprised to find Yan Renmei in his office.

Yan Renmei's job was to become familiar with the operations of the Chen family business and even memorize future plans.

Seeing that Chen Guangliang was covered in dust, Yan Renmei took out a towel and patted him dry.

"Going to the construction site again?"

"The most important thing for a real estate company is the construction site. What if the workers don't do a good job of quality or overcharge the prices of building materials? I'll suffer a huge loss."

Yan Renmei smiled and said, "Which subordinate would dare to lie to a smart boss like you?"

"It's not that I'm smart, but that I understand the market price and quality of every building material. Everyone knows I'm a professional, so they can't possibly lie to me. If it were a boss who only knew how to stay in the office, even the most loyal people would think of exaggerating or trying to cover things up."

"That's true"

Afterwards, the two discussed the matter of Yangtze River Real Estate in the office, and Yan Renmei also learned about the detailed progress of the company's development from Chen Guangliang.

More importantly, Chen Guangliang said, “These properties will only be rented out and not sold in the future. But if the civil war starts, a large number of wealthy people will inevitably move south to Hong Kong. They will take away huge amounts of wealth, possibly hundreds of millions of US dollars, and our properties will be highly sought after. Once XXX wins, everyone will settle in Hong Kong and develop industries, and Hong Kong will usher in a wave of great development, just like the glory of rental income.”

Yan Renmei asked, "Then why won't XXX take back Hong Kong?"

Chen Guangliang said, "I'm afraid your question is also the question of many wealthy people who have moved south. That's why they dare not invest in real estate, but continue to invest in industry. Some people are keen on speculation, which has caused us Shanghai businessmen to miss out on Hong Kong's commercial hegemony. But I can tell you that, due to the different political systems, if XXX wants to maintain contact with the world and not close itself off, it will inevitably need an open window—Hong Kong. The existence of Hong Kong is tacitly acknowledged, and British rule in Hong Kong can also bring some goods and technologies to the mainland. This is Hong Kong's future status—entrepot trade and the industry brought by Shanghai entrepreneurs."

Yan Renmei nodded and said, "Yes, I understand!"

Chen Guangliang continued, “Understanding these developments, we should develop four industries: shipping and trade, real estate, industry, and finance. In terms of real estate, I have purchased a large number of properties this time, and they are only for rent, not for sale. This is because I predict that Hong Kong will definitely open up the sky in the future, allowing residential buildings to also develop towards the sky. At that time, high-rise residential buildings can reach 20 stories, and then we can gradually demolish and rebuild our buildings, and we will be able to have more rental properties.”

Yan Renmei was dumbfounded; her husband's vision was remarkably far-sighted.

Of course, she believed things would develop this way because her husband's prediction hadn't been wrong.

"I've written it down."

"Well, in short, we should have confidence in Hong Kong. When any crisis comes, it is not an opportunity to cash out assets, but an opportunity to buy at the bottom. On the contrary, when there is any madness, we should stay calm and sell at the high point."

When he told Yan Renmei these things, it was essentially like writing another 'trust document'. It didn't mean he would do anything, but rather that wealthy people would prepare in advance to avoid unexpected events.

Yan Renmei knew Chen Guangliang's thoughts, but she wouldn't say them aloud. She would silently remember them; it was her duty, after all, her sons were still young. (End of Chapter)