A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 356 Family
Jiang Meiying also returned to Hong Kong just before the Spring Festival. Her trip to the United States took nearly four months, during which she invested tens of millions of US dollars in assets.

With this wealth, her two sons and daughter will have the capital to start their own businesses in the future. Of course, Chen Guangliang will provide the plans for the entrepreneurial ventures of her children from her second wife.

Also returning for the Spring Festival was Chen Guangliang's younger brother, Chen Guangcong, who came from Shanghai.

The whole family spends Lunar New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve together in their 'grand house' on Conduit Road. They stay here every night to show the unity of the family.

When Chen Guangliang first traveled back in time, he felt like he was dealing with a stranger to his younger brother; but as he personally participated in the training of Chen Guangcong, their relationship has now become that of true brothers.

On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, Chen Guangliang and Chen Guangcong sat in the living room chatting, while the women were directing the New Year's Eve dinner or chatting upstairs, and the ten children gathered together outside to play. The villa was lively and festive.

"After the New Year, handle the work in Shanghai and hand it over to someone else. You can go back to Hong Kong to oversee the operation of those four Liberty ships."

This is a 'promotion'. Chen Guangcong was originally in charge of shipping business in Shanghai, which actually only involved one or two ships; but after returning to Hong Kong, he was directly in charge of the operation of four ships, which clearly shows that he is more valued.

Regarding equity, the entire 'Global Shipping' is more like a 'group company', and each of the ships is a 'subsidiary'; therefore, although Chen Guangcong holds 45% equity in the four Liberty ships, he does not hold 45% equity in Global Shipping.

Chen Guangliang definitely hoped his son would take over the shipping group, while his younger brother Chen Guangcong could only hold shares. He could either assist his nephew or establish his own shipping company, since there were many shipowners in Hong Kong in later generations, even Bao Yuxing, the younger brother of Bao Yugang in the previous life, was a big shipowner.

Upon hearing this, Chen Guangcong said, "Should we wait a little longer? Given the current situation, there are no clear signs. Besides, with me on the mainland, there are Chen family members keeping an eye on various businesses."

In addition to overseeing shipping operations in Shanghai, he also serves as a director for Ping An Bank and Hsin Feng Textile in mainland China, though this role is largely symbolic.

Chen Guangliang waved his hand and said, "No need, it's safer to go back to Hong Kong. Besides, the people in the mainland are all long-time loyalists who have followed me for many years, and they won't let me down."

Chen Guangcong immediately nodded. He then remembered that there were many veterans who had followed his elder brother for more than ten years, or even nearly 20 years.

It can be said that many of the talents who join the Chen family business stay for a long time.

"it is good"

By transferring his younger brother back to Hong Kong, Chen Guangliang no longer wanted to pretend, and Chen Guangcong's return to Hong Kong meant gaining more support.

Chen Guangliang asked, "What's the specific situation in the Shanghai stock market?"

Although he knew some of it, Chen Guangcong was in Shanghai after all and could provide him with more detailed information.

陈光聪随即说道：“货币贬值太厉害，光是在上海地区，法币的发行量就从1946年底的2000多亿元猛增至1947年初的8000多亿元。今天用1000元买进的大米，明天可能就要2000元才能买到.”

Chen Guangliang sighed, "The country is in dire straits. It's a pity for our compatriots. They thought that after driving out the Japanese, they could live a good life, but unexpectedly..."

今年（1947）是法币贬值最厉害的一年，前世1947年1月到12月间，法币对美元的汇率从3300:1暴跌至12万:1。这意味着一个普通市民年初存入银行的1万元法币，到年底时连一美元都换不到。

In 1947 Shanghai, an unbelievable scene unfolded: at the entrance of a long-established fabric shop on Nanjing Road, a shop assistant was changing the price tags on the door frame. The price tag, displayed at 8 a.m., showed a bolt of fabric costing 50 yuan; by noon, it had risen to 80 yuan; and by 6 p.m., the figure had reached 120 million yuan. This was not an isolated case; almost every shop in Shanghai had to constantly change its price tags.

Chen Guangliang still has a lot of business in mainland China. He always tells everyone to exchange their funds for foreign currency, gold and other value-preserving products to avoid losses as much as possible.

The money earned from the mainland business has been consistently transferred to Hong Kong.

On New Year's Eve, the whole family gathered together to enjoy the reunion dinner, creating a lively atmosphere.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, the children went off to play, while the four women in the family gathered together to play mahjong. Chen Guangliang and Chen Guangcong chatted together, as they had to stay up all night to welcome the New Year.

After the Spring Festival.

Accompanied by Yan Kuan, deputy general manager of Cheung Kong Property Holdings Limited, and others, Chen Guangliang arrived at Island Road in Repulse Bay.

"Boss, this is the Western-style building. After my persuasion, the British officer finally agreed to sell it to us for HK$16. The property covers more than 2 square feet. To the east is Yu Dongxuan's castle building, but that castle building is a haunted house because it imprisoned anti-Japanese activists during the Japanese occupation, resulting in many deaths. As for this building, according to the British officer, it used to be the residence of Japanese officers, and there is no history of it being a haunted house."

Chen Guangliang toured the villa, while Yan Kuan introduced it to him.

He is a man who knows how to enjoy life. Although his mansion on Gande Road is 20,000 square feet, he still needs a place to vacation.

“The price of HK$16 is acceptable. After acquiring this land, I plan to build a three-story garden villa. You can give me your opinion.”

Yan Kuan said seriously, "Actually, the price of HK$16 is a bit high, but we took the initiative to come and buy it, so the owner raised the price on the spot."

Chen Guangliang waved his hand and said, "If you like it, a slightly higher price is fine too."

"Okay, then I'll arrange for someone to talk to the homeowner."

After inspecting the site, Chen Guangliang and Yan Kuan got into one car and prepared to return to their office building in Central.

Cheung Kong Properties' post-war goal—to acquire 1 million square feet of land, enough to build 700 buildings—is only 80% complete so far. In terms of construction, it currently owns 406 three- to five-story tenement buildings for rent (most of which are five-story tenement buildings). 220 buildings are expected to be completed this year, and the rest will be basically completed by the end of next year.

Therefore, in this phase, Cheung Kong Real Estate also had a large number of employees, and the company was very large.

What's the recent situation with land prices in Hong Kong?

Upon hearing the boss's question, Yan Kuan immediately replied, "The post-war land prices have risen significantly, but this is all due to inflation and the upward trend in prices. In China, the war has not yet turned in favor of the other side, so there are not many wealthy people seeking refuge in Hong Kong, and therefore the land prices have not risen much for this reason."

As a member of the management team who had followed Chen Guangliang for nearly twenty years, Yan Kuan was definitely Chen Guangliang's confidant, and he received a lot of 'future information' from his boss.

"Um"

Seeing that the boss only grunted in response, Yan Kuan continued, "We have been buying land and property in the market for a long time, and we are highly regarded in the Hong Kong real estate market. My idea is to continue to buy worthwhile land and property this year."

Some people think that since Cheung Kong Properties is the buyer, they might try to raise the price on the spot. That's roughly the idea.

Chen Guangliang immediately agreed, saying, "That's natural. Hong Kong is so big, there will always be someone willing to sell; moreover, there are so many dilapidated buildings after the war, and not many are willing to rebuild them. So as long as the price is in line with the market price, we can acquire it. Moreover, we can exceed our target; we already have sufficient funds."

Yan Kuan's spirits lifted; he knew what his boss meant and immediately said, "Okay, I've got it."

In the postwar period, Cheung Kong Properties launched a $600 million investment plan, which can now be expanded.

Of course, Chen Guangliang no longer needs to contribute more funds; $600 million is sufficient to support the subsequent plans, especially since they currently receive a considerable annual rent. On the other hand, construction costs are a continuous expense.

On February 8, 1947, the price of gold in Shanghai skyrocketed to 550,000 yuan, and two days later it rose to 960,000 yuan, almost doubling. Among the major cities in the country, Shanghai had the lowest gold price. The price difference for a single gold bar could reach three or four million yuan at its peak. This led to speculative capital from all over the country flocking to Shanghai to buy gold. Many high-ranking military officers withheld their military pay and sent large quantities of it to Shanghai to buy gold and US dollars. Trains meant for transporting military supplies became special trains for transporting money. Various factions fought each other for control of transportation, and morale was in chaos. Even China National Aviation Corporation's planes were used to transport gold.

Shanghai's gold reserves quickly dwindled, prompting Premier Song Ziwen to hastily mobilize transport planes to secretly "inject" gold from Chongqing's reserves into Shanghai. However, this secret information was exploited by privileged bureaucrats, enriching corrupt groups. The Kuomintang's financial policies ultimately created a vicious cycle: rising prices, panic buying of gold, further currency devaluation, and even higher prices.

On February 8th, the Shanghai price index was 12,000 times higher than before the war. In mid-February, many rice shops and jewelry stores in Shanghai were vandalized by angry citizens. Subsequently, similar incidents broke out in Guangzhou, Wuhan, Changsha and other places. The Commander-in-Chief ordered a halt to the sale of gold, but this triggered an even more serious gold-buying frenzy that spread throughout the Kuomintang-controlled areas. This led to hoarding by shops, panic buying of goods by citizens, bankruptcy of small and medium-sized businesses, and chaos in the market.

Under intense public pressure, the Commander-in-Chief stated that he would withdraw the investigation into the "Gold Rush Case." However, when the investigation uncovered the inextricable responsibilities of high-ranking Kuomintang officials, the Commander-in-Chief had no choice but to tell the investigating committee, "Things have come to this, what can we do?" To provide an explanation, T.V. Soong resigned as Premier of the Executive Yuan. Among the corrupt group known as the "Gold Bull Party" by the citizens of Shanghai, Central Bank President Pei Tsu-yi was dismissed, and the Director of the Business Bureau Lin Feng-bao, Deputy Director Yang An-ren, and Chairman of the Shanghai Gold Industry Association Zhan Lian-sheng were sentenced to imprisonment, but all were released on medical parole and remained at large.

The gold rush case came to an end, and citizens exclaimed that "the fate of the Nationalist government has run out." Subsequently, the Nationalist government's financial situation plummeted, showing signs of collapse.

In early February, Chen Guangliang learned about the situation in the Shanghai financial market and immediately made arrangements to continue to buy gold with his US dollars.

At this time, the Hong Kong gold market, which had been following the gold prices in Shanghai and Guangzhou, also began to rise sharply.

But Chen Guangliang was not worried at all. At around HK$260 per tael of gold in Hong Kong, he could still make a lot of money. After all, Hong Kong gold could rise to HK$600 or 700 per tael in two years.

On the other hand, Ping An Bank had $1000 million available for dividends, but Chen Guangliang could have delayed distributing these funds until after 1948, and then given a small amount of dollars to the other shareholders (7.5%), who would have been grateful to him. In reality, even if he hadn't distributed dividends, those shareholders wouldn't have known whether they had made any money, or how much they had, and they certainly wouldn't have bothered to inquire.

Therefore, Chen Guangliang can freely use the US$1000 million from Ping An Bank (plus another US$50 for the construction of the industrial building).

"Boss, news has come from the Hong Kong government that they have decided to cancel the free trade of gold in Hong Kong and implement controls instead." Ye Ximing came to Chen Guangliang's office and reported the news.

Chen Guangliang said unhurriedly, "As expected, gold in Hong Kong is about to be heavily speculated on."

Ye Ximing suddenly realized that the boss had already guessed all this. He immediately said, "Should we continue to buy spot gold?"

“Continue, you can buy anything below HK$350 per tael. But we only cash out the goods in cash, and we don’t make any big moves.”

"clear"

In reality, these were all Chen Guangliang's own funds, which he simply entrusted to Ping An Bank for operation.

On the other hand, Ping An Bank in Hong Kong and Ping An Bank in mainland China currently have different structures. Ping An Bank in Hong Kong is 100% owned by the Chen Guangliang family, while in Ping An Bank in mainland China, Chen Guangliang currently holds only 92.5% of the shares. Ping An Bank in Hong Kong was officially registered independently after the war, and all of its Hong Kong assets were placed in this bank.

Assuming that Ping An Bank in mainland China eventually ceases operations, the shares held by Yan Zhiduo, Fang Jiaobo, Du Yuesheng, and others will naturally be dispersed. Their Hong Kong businesses will be irrelevant to them, although Chen Guangliang will distribute several hundred thousand US dollars to them (though it seems it wouldn't matter if they didn't).

Spring has arrived.

The Chan family enjoys the peaceful situation and stable economy in Hong Kong and has gradually settled down.

Of course, this sense of 'putting down roots' was instilled by Chen Guangliang; otherwise, it would be difficult for 'Shanghai-style businessmen' to truly establish themselves in Hong Kong.

It's like in the 1950s of a previous life, there were still people trying to go back to the mainland to inquire about when they could go back to live. For example, Bao Yugang's father secretly went back, but almost couldn't get out.

Some people hoped to return to the mainland to live as soon as possible, while others hoped to use Hong Kong as a springboard to emigrate overseas. There were many "Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai businessmen" with these two ideas. It was precisely because of this mentality that later, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai businessmen in Hong Kong were not as powerful as Cantonese businessmen. It should be noted that at that time, the strength of the two groups was vastly different.

Of course, in the 1970s and 1980s, businessmen and compatriots in Hong Kong finally developed a sense of "Hong Kong people". They no longer distinguished between people from all over the country, but recognized "Hong Kong people" and "Hong Kong spirit".

this day.

Chen Guangliang, accompanied by his two wives, traveled to the waters south of Hong Kong Island aboard his newly purchased yacht.

This yacht was converted from a 150-ton second-hand small ocean liner. After being bought by Global Shipping, it was transformed into Chen Guangliang's private yacht.

Although it's described as a small ocean liner, it actually has a displacement of 150 tons, which is quite large for many ship owners. Such a ship, if used to generate income, could support a wealthy individual.

But for the Chen Guangliang family, it's now just a tool for entertainment.

"We've caught a fish!"

Chen Guangliang shouted in surprise on the deck, which immediately attracted the attention of Yan Renmei and Jiang Meiying.

"It's a big fish!"

"What a huge fish!"

Yan Renmei wore a Western-style dress, while Jiang Meiying wore a Chinese-style cheongsam. The two of them were pleasantly surprised, which gave Chen Guangliang far more emotional value than the fish.

Chen Guangliang stood up, wrestling with the big fish with one hand, and boasted to the two men, "We're having this big grouper for lunch today, it's fresh enough."

This move once again earned him sufficient emotional value from the two women.

Chen Guangliang also caught a lot of fish and octopus in one morning, showing that resources were still abundant in this era.

The ship's chef immediately prepared fresh food, serving a variety of delicacies, which Chen Guangliang and his two wives enjoyed in the restaurant on the deck.

The modified yacht has sunshades installed on the deck, but it is open on all sides, allowing guests to enjoy the view of the sea.

Sunshine, sea, beautiful woman.

Although this era is not advanced enough, the rich are never short of fun.

Yan Renmei said happily, "I never thought life could be so interesting. Thank you, Brother Liang!"

Chen Guangliang grabbed her hand and said, "It will be even more interesting in the future. After all, the family business has stabilized and the children have started to grow up. I should reflect on myself and see if I have made my two wives feel romance and happiness."

Yan Renmei said coquettishly, "That's so cheesy!"

However, she was secretly delighted. Since marrying into the Chen family, she had also felt a sense of mission, which was to ensure the continuation and stability of the Chen family, so she needed to give up some things.

And now, just as her husband said—their eldest son is 14 years old this year and will be going to high school in the United States in the second half of the year, so they have some time to stop and enjoy a wonderful vacation.

Jiang Meiying said from the side, "Sister, I think he has something to do with it. Be careful!"

Yan Renmei immediately understood Jiang Meiying's implied meaning and said, "Isn't it all because you spoiled her?"

Jiang Meiying said with a smile, "I'm wronged, sister. If I'm considered a favored concubine, then you must be Empress Zhangsun or Empress Ma."

The three of them played around for a while, enjoying the beautiful scenery and delicious food.

After landing in the afternoon, the three went to Jiang Meiying's residence, while Jiang Meiying's three children went to the 'mansion' today.

Chen Guangliang abducted the two women to the third floor and then severely disciplined them.

Yan Renmei is beautiful and talented, and Jiang Meiying is charming and lovely. Today, these two beauties are finally a true "family".

(End of this chapter)