A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

"Boss, the Hong Kong government is preparing to auction a commercial land parcel in Central in early October. This land is the former site of the Central Town Hall on Hong Kong Island, with an area of ​​14,000 square feet, and the starting price is HK$277.8 million."

Yan Kuan, the deputy general manager of Yangtze Real Estate, told Chen Guangliang some good news.

Upon hearing this, Chen Guangliang immediately took out a map of Hong Kong Island and began to study it.

Soon, he was pleasantly surprised. Wasn't this plot of land the future China Merchants Bank Building?

This is a good opportunity. Huaxia Bank is still under the control of the Nationalist government, and Zheng Tieru, the general manager of Huaxia Bank in Hong Kong, has always been a member of his own faction and is distant from the Nationalist government.

"Yes, I plan to participate in the auction, in my private capacity, and I'll pay the deposit later."

"Okay, I estimate there will be quite a few people bidding for this plot of land."

"Know"

Yan Kuan wisely kept quiet, after all, few people probably knew just how wealthy the boss was; he only knew that Cheung Kong Properties' assets were worth more than US$1000 million, which was equivalent to more than HK$4000 million.

After Yan Kuan left, Chen Guangliang began to think.

The auctioned plot of land was only 14,000 square feet, indicating that the later Huaxia Bank was able to reach its current size only after merging with the surrounding buildings and land (in August 1981, the Hong Kong government sold the Murray Road car park in Central to Huaxia Bank for HK$1 billion).

But it doesn't matter, he'll be able to afford the surrounding land in the future.

Chen Guangliang plans to build the 'New Ping An Bank Building' on this land, while the existing Ping An Bank Building on Des Voeux Road can be transferred to Cheung Kong Property Holdings Limited.

The Chan family will soon become Hong Kong's 'number one family', so they are naturally not afraid of becoming 'famous'. Therefore, Chan Kwong-leung also plans to stop hiding his talents.

He was determined to get this piece of land!

Ping An Bank should have distributed $1000 million in dividends, but in the past six months, it has continued to cash out gold from the gold and silver exchange, spending $200 million to purchase 3.2 taels of gold. Chen Guangliang's total gold holdings have now reached more than 18 taels.

In addition, Ping An Bank has $800 million in unused dividend funds, which is the right investment channel, so this piece of land is just the right choice.

That day, two old acquaintances came to Chen Guangliang's office—Liu Hongsheng and Liu Jisheng.

"Brother, I heard you're not feeling well. Why did you come all the way to Hong Kong? Are you here for a vacation too?" Chen Guangliang was very warm and happy to see his old friend.

Both he and Liu Hongsheng were members of the Ningbo business community, and prominent figures at that. After Chen Guangliang fled to Hong Kong, Liu Hongsheng became a leading figure in Shanghai's business circles.

Liu Hongsheng said with a smile, "I just came to ask around because I saw you doing so well in Hong Kong!"

Very straightforward!
Chen Guangliang knew that Liu Hongsheng had not left in his previous life. On the contrary, his younger brother Liu Jisheng had come to Hong Kong this year, supposedly because of his background in the Military Intelligence Bureau—Liu Jisheng had a very good relationship with Dai Li.

Chen Guangliang spoke frankly: "Hong Kong is great. It's a real treasure. It's a bridge between China and the West. In short, it's a wonderful place. Now that I've recovered from my illness, I'm reluctant to leave."

Liu Hongsheng had always trusted Chen Guangliang's judgment, and immediately asked, "Mr. Chen, you also don't have a good opinion of the Nationalist government?"

Chen Guangliang said casually, "If you don't win the hearts of the people, you naturally won't win the world!"

Liu Hongsheng asked eagerly, "Then what?"

Chen Guangliang replied, "The hearts of the suffering people of the world are all there, so naturally they deserve to rule the world."

Liu Hongsheng then asked, "And what about us entrepreneurs?"

Chen Guangliang replied, "What kind of entrepreneur are you? You're a bureaucratic capitalist!"

He spoke very objectively, without making excessive threats to Liu Hongsheng. In short, if you want to serve the country and the people, some losses are inevitable.

Upon hearing this, Liu Hongsheng fell into a long silence.

After a long silence, he bowed and said, "I will remember Mr. Chen's guidance today."

Chen Guangliang helped him up and said, "You're too kind. We've been friends for many years. We were just chatting."

Liu Hongsheng understood that Chen Guangliang meant that once they passed through this door, it would be as if he had never said those words.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, for remembering me as a friend."

Chen Guangliang waved his hand and then said, "Brother, it's rare for you to come to Hong Kong, why don't you take this opportunity to visit my textile factory!"

Liu Hongsheng was overjoyed and said, "Great! I've been thinking about building a factory in Hong Kong too."

Time quickly came to the day of the official land auction.

The auction of the site of the former Central District Town Hall on Hong Kong Island attracted more than 30 companies, including British, Chinese and overseas Chinese enterprises.

When Chen Guangliang arrived at the auction, he found He Dong, who was over eighty years old, among them. He then went up to greet him, as He Dong was a senior figure.

"Sir He, you look quite well today!"

He Dong was helped up by his assistant and greeted Chen Guangliang with a smile: "You're here, you're definitely the focus today!"

In the past two years, Chen Guangliang's wealth has been astonishing:
First, Cheung Kong Properties, owned by the Chan Kwong Leung family, has built a large number of residential properties in Hong Kong;
Second, Chen Guangliang became a director of HSBC, and even HSBC 'owed' him money;
Third, the overall performance of industries such as shipping and manufacturing.

Therefore, Ho Tung was also amazed – Hong Kong's richest man was no longer him, but Chan Kwong-leung.

Chen Guangliang humbly said, "I just came to take a look. I heard that the auction result of this plot of land symbolizes the prospects of Hong Kong's real estate market. I am also in the real estate business, so naturally I have to come and pay attention."

"Isn't that being modest?"

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two returned to their respective seats. Some people greeted Chen Guangliang during the exchange, and everyone was friendly and amicable.

More than half of the people who came to participate in the auction were British-owned trading companies, while the rest were American, Chinese, and Chinese-owned companies.

Yan Kuan, who accompanied Chen Guangliang to the auction, whispered, "Boss, Zheng Tieru over there is probably also a major competitor today. He has HK$6000 million in deposits at Huaxia Bank in Hong Kong and has accumulated a lot of assets over the years. Zheng Tieru has worked at Huaxia Bank in Hong Kong for 26 years and has accumulated a lot of wealth for the bank."

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "Not only that, I roughly understand Zheng Tieru's idea—he wants to auction off this land and invest a lot in construction to keep the assets of the Hong Kong Huaxia Bank fixed in Hong Kong, preventing the Nationalist government from plundering them."

Huaxia Bank, currently under the Nationalist government, is a state-run bank. This year, Pei Tsu-yi, a powerful figure at Huaxia Bank, was dismissed due to the "gold scandal," and his superior, Song Tsai-wen, was also fired.

Zheng Tieru of Hong Kong Huaxia Bank must have 'different thoughts'.

Yan Kuan nodded and said, "That's possible."

However, Chen Guangliang did not take Zheng Tieru seriously. The 6000 million yuan in deposits belonged to depositors, and the assets of Hong Kong Huaxia Bank were not as abundant as his.

On the other side, Zheng Tieru was also observing Chen Guangliang. The two knew each other, so they nodded to each other as a greeting.

Soon, the auction begins.

Auctioneer: "The former site of the Hong Kong City Hall in Central, with an area of ​​1.4 square feet, has a starting price of HK$277.8. The minimum bid is HK$2000. Now, please place your bids!"

As the auctioneer struck the clapper, the crowd below began to shout out bids!

Chen Guangliang did not make the first move, since important figures always appear last.

He recalled some things from his previous life. As far as he knew, in later Hong Kong government land auctions, a certain pattern would emerge: exceeding the reserve price by 40% indicated a booming market; exceeding it by 60% indicated an extremely booming market; and exceeding it by 70% was the limit for Hong Kong government land auctions. However, Chen Guangliang's auction of this plot of land was not merely an 'investment issue,' but also involved his family's 'feng shui issues' and 'Hong Kong's status.'

Therefore, he was truly determined to win.

"315"

Chen Guangliang quickly joined the auction, immediately attracting widespread attention.

"316"

"318"

In no time, the price of this piece of land skyrocketed.

At this moment, Zheng Tieru was also pondering the situation. He didn't have a good view of the Nationalist government and was worried that it would drain the Hong Kong branch of Huaxia Bank. He hoped to preserve the bank's strength. However, he wasn't the owner of the bank, so if the head office sent someone, he could only feign illness to avoid them.

But now there's an opportunity: to acquire this land and then invest heavily in building a luxurious headquarters for Bank of China. In this way, the assets of China Merchants Bank in Hong Kong would essentially become fixed assets in Hong Kong, something no one could move.

He glanced at the competitors on the field and realized that Chen Guangliang and He Dong were undoubtedly the most competitive, and his expression became serious.

There has always been a rumor about the wealth of the Chan Kwong Leung family—it is said that they have 1000 million US dollars (who do they think they are?), and Ho Tung is the richest man in Hong Kong. Of course, at this time, the richest man in Hong Kong should be the Chan Kwong Leung family.

"360"

As Chen Guangliang shouted out a high price, everyone present was surprised.

He Dong glanced in Chen Guangliang's direction, then in Zheng Tieru's direction, and finally shook his head, indicating that he was giving up. If it weren't for Chen Guangliang, he would have chosen to continue bidding against Zheng Tieru, but now he felt there was no need for it.

Next came the bidding from Chen Guangliang and Zheng Tieru.

Of the two, Chen Guangliang always had a calm expression on his face, as if he didn't care about the price at all, but only about the land.

So in the previous life, this piece of land was bought by Zheng Tieru for 374.5 million, but now it has reached more than 380 million, and the two are still fighting fiercely.

"416"

When Chen Guangliang quoted that price, Zheng Tieru finally realized that he couldn't outmaneuver him. Although it was public funds, if he continued, it would only benefit the Hong Kong government, and he would also be criticized afterwards for treating public funds like dirt.

The price of '416 million' drew applause from the participants, which was practically the biggest proof of Hong Kong's real estate market – their land was becoming valuable.

"416 million first time"

"416 million for the second time"

"Congratulations to number 9, the deal is done."

Chen Guangliang finally breathed a sigh of relief. This was even more expensive than land in Shanghai back then. Buying just over two acres of land for 104 million US dollars was an astronomical price.

Moreover, if a first-class commercial building is to be built, this site would likely require an investment of US$200 million, or about HK$800 million.

But no matter what, it's better than keeping money in a cold, impersonal bank account.

Congratulations, Mr. Chen!

"Thank you, Mr. Zheng, for your leniency."

"Oh, not at all, it's just that I'm not as wealthy as others."

Afterwards, everyone exchanged pleasantries.

The next day, Hong Kong newspapers published news about the 'Government Land Auction,' in which the fierce competition between Chen Guangliang and Zheng Tieru was undoubtedly the focus.

At the same time, Hong Kong's property market has officially entered a boom period.

In fact, prior to this, residential land in Yau Tsim Mong, Hong Kong, had already reached HK$30 per square foot, double the price in 1945-1946. As for residential floor space, the price was also between HK$20 and HK$30 per square foot, with a typical apartment costing around HK$25,000 and a four-story tenement building costing over HK$100,000.

While Hong Kong already allows 'tiered sales', due to environmental reasons, 'tiered sales' are currently the main practice, and 'installment sales' have not yet become the mainstream (they exist, but are rare).

After reading the newspaper, Chen Guangliang calmly put it down.

He plans to build Hong Kong's tallest building on this plot of land, which will be about 15 stories high, surpassing the current 14-story East Asia Bank building and the 13-story HSBC building.

Build it slowly, it should be finished by the beginning of the 50th century.

"Boss, this is a record and summary of the land plots that Changjiang Real Estate has purchased in the past two years."

Yan Kuan and Wu Xinhe, the two deputy general managers of Changjiang Real Estate, walked in together. One was in charge of construction and real estate, and the other was in charge of finance and accounting. They were Chen Guangliang's right and left hands.

Chen Guangliang said, "Hmm, it's probably going to cost significantly more than planned!"

"Yes"

1945年9月，长江地产已经买下战后的第一个地盘，一年后的1946年9月，完成目标不到70%(100万平方尺或700幢楼的占地面积）；从1946年9月开始，香港地价便大涨起来。

The initial estimate of HK$1000 million was far from sufficient.

Chen Guangliang looked at the summary and, sure enough, it cost a little over 1600 million, equivalent to 400 million US dollars.

The original estimated construction cost of $350 million also became insufficient due to the global appreciation of assets in 1946.

This means that Cheung Kong Properties will need to invest US$900 million after the war.

However, the results achieved are also quite substantial. Currently, it is the largest property owner in Hong Kong and will soon provide housing for about 5 people in Hong Kong (around 5000 floors), which is quite frightening to think about.

Wu Xinhe reported from the side: "We are still short of 3 million US dollars. Part of it will be paid from the rent, and part of it will be borrowed from Ping An Bank. We expect to pay it off by the beginning of the 20th century."

Chan Kwong-leung said, “Building so many housing units has greatly alleviated Hong Kong’s housing problem, which is a good thing. However, building so many housing units will also indirectly reduce ‘transfer fees’ and ‘rents’, but fortunately, Hong Kong’s population will increase even faster in the future, and there will be more wealthy people, so we will not have to worry about renting them out.”

"Yes"

Chen Guangliang continued, "I don't need to borrow from Ping An Bank for too long. I have a loan of HKD 700 million at HSBC, which I can withdraw next year. I will then give it to Cheung Kong Properties."

The two men were impressed. The boss could make money from anywhere. Even the matter of 'forcing Hong Kong dollars' had forced HSBC to bow down to him.

Finally, Yan Kuan cautiously said, "Boss, my master asked me about some things, especially about the prospects of the mainland and the future of Hong Kong. It seems he also wants to come to Hong Kong and hopes to meet you!"

When Yan Kuan joined Yangtze Real Estate, he was Lu Yuantai's assistant, so he always called him "Master".

After being sent abroad for further studies by Chen Guangliang, Lu Yuantai established his own architectural design firm in postwar Shanghai, effectively becoming independent. Chen Guangliang supported this decision at the time, arguing that it was an amicable parting, given that Lu had worked for him for so many years.

Chen Guangliang said, "Tell him that if he doesn't come to Hong Kong sooner, he'll end up sweeping the streets and dying later. I'll support him starting a business again after he comes to Hong Kong, and joining the Chen family business will give him a place to showcase his talents."

Yan Kuan quickly replied, "Okay."

They could tell that Chen Guangliang was never angry with Lu Yuantai. (End of Chapter)