A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Time flies, and it is already 1948.

Since the second half of last year, Hong Kong has seen a new wave of population growth, with wealthy people from the mainland bringing their families to Hong Kong.

Among these wealthy individuals are some 'industrialists' who have brought capital and technology to Hong Kong and made significant contributions to its development.

After New Year’s Day.

Chen Guangliang and Yan Renmei hosted a banquet for Lu Yuantai and his family at the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotel in Central.

"Twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye. I heard your eldest son also went to study in the United States?"

Lu Yuantai quickly and respectfully replied, "Yes, he was sent there in 35 and will graduate in two and a half years. He also studied architecture."

He felt a little uneasy.

The boss had always treated them well, and even during the War of Resistance against Japan, he sent them abroad for further studies and personally settled their families, allowing them to study in the United States without any worries.

It wasn't that he wanted to start his own business, but rather that his boss had moved his business to Hong Kong, and since he didn't have the opportunity to use his skills, he decided to open an architecture firm in Shanghai.

However, he did not expect that the domestic situation would change again and again, which made Lu Yuantai afraid, after all, he knew how to read his boss's actions.

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "Great! We all think it's good for the son to follow in his father's footsteps. When you come to Hong Kong this time, you can first set up an architectural design company. Didn't I auction off a piece of land in Hong Kong? I'm planning to design a 15-story modern American-style building. I'll give you the business then."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuantai quickly said, "Boss, we came to Hong Kong this time to seek refuge with you. Ah Kuan said he wants to invite me to work for Poly Construction, a subsidiary of Cheung Kong Property Holdings."

The boss's proposal seemed very appealing; he could start a company and have business as soon as he arrived in Hong Kong.

But Lu Yuantai understood that he had no connections in Hong Kong, his Cantonese was only half-understood, and he simply didn't have the ability to be a boss in Hong Kong.

Moreover, I shouldn't push my luck and disappoint my boss again.

Upon hearing this, Chen Guangliang replied, "I truly mean it."

He is a very sentimental person and hopes that all his old colleagues can enjoy a good life.

Lu Yuantai nodded and said, "I know that the boss is loyal and kind, and he treats us old brothers very well. But after careful consideration, I think I should work for the boss for another 15 years, and then I can retire with honor."

When he started working for the boss, he was just 25 years old and had only recently gotten married; now, he is 46 years old.

Over the years, he has made a lot of money and has the means to send his eldest son to study abroad; but now, he just wants to get through the crisis peacefully.

Although he didn't quite understand the crisis, he knew that following his boss's lead was the right thing to do.

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "Alright, the construction company is short of a general manager, so you can take up the post!"

Lu Yuantai was surprised and quickly said, "Being a deputy is fine, after all, I'm not very familiar with the business in Hong Kong."

Chen Guangliang waved his hand and said, "There will be someone to assist you. The most urgent task is to build a first-class office building in Central for me, so that it will stand out from the crowd."

"Yes, I will certainly live up to your mission!"

After finishing their business, Yan Renmei went out to check on Lu Yuantai's wife and his remaining two children (two sons and a daughter, with the eldest son studying abroad).

Mrs. Lu Yuantai quickly said, "Ms. Yan, as soon as we arrived in Hong Kong, Mr. Chen and the company arranged a floor for us. The living environment is very good, and we have already settled in."

The one thing Yangtze River Real Estate has in abundance is buildings.

Moreover, the dormitories arranged for these executives are all high-end residences such as hillside villas, which are of course one floor, with several families living in one building.

Some executives quickly bought their own homes and then vacated their residences.

Yan Renmei said with a smile, "If these two children want to study abroad, they can ask the company to reimburse them. This is a good thing, and we strongly support it."

It's just like a paternalistic system.

To be honest, Chen Guangliang didn't feel the slightest bit reluctant to reimburse the expenses for the children of management to study abroad.

Even if only three out of ten students go abroad to study come to work for his company, it's still a very worthwhile investment.

Mrs. Lu glanced at her husband and quickly said, "Thank you, Mr. Chen and Miss Yan."

All of Chen Guangliang's subordinates and their families addressed Yan Renmei as "Miss Yan," a request made by Chen Guangliang—he maintained a respectful attitude towards Yan Renmei.

They are "Shanghai-style" people, and it's not customary for wives to take their husbands' surnames. They call Yan Renmei "Miss Yan" because they feel it's more respectful.

After the banquet, everyone's relationship returned to its former closeness.

In a few years, these subordinates will be even more grateful to the Chen Guangliang family.

On the way back, Yan Renmei leaned on Chen Guangliang's shoulder and said with emotion, "It's so good that everyone has come to Hong Kong!"

She understands Chen Guangliang's plans best, and is also the person who understands the future situation best besides Chen Guangliang.

Chen Guangliang said, "We can't blame anyone. Every era has its own affairs, but we must always believe that China will become a powerful country like the United States. Perhaps we will see it in our lifetime."

If they live to 2025, Chen Guangliang will be 115 years old and Yan Renmei will be 110 years old, which doesn't seem impossible.

"So our family needs to be based in Hong Kong to see this, right?"

"Yes. But Hong Kong is just our base; we still need to expand overseas in the future."

"Um"

Instilling these ideas in Yan Renmei was also a kind of 'precautionary measure' by Chen Guangliang.

If something were to happen to him, Yan Renmei could take over the family business, and with her sons growing up, they could become a 'business tycoon family' in Hong Kong as well.

Ge Zhaoming is the regional manager of Hehe Zipper stationed in Japan, mainly responsible for marketing.

Unexpectedly, he discovered as soon as he arrived in Japan that Hehe zippers were very popular there (Global Trade Agent).

"Manager Guo, thank you Global Trade for opening up the market for our Hehe Zipper. As soon as I came to Japan, my work got off to a good start."

In the office, Ge Zhaoming and Guo Pinyan from Global Trade began to talk.

Guo Pinyan laughed and said, "We're all brother companies, no need to be so polite! But speaking of which, Hehe Zippers are only one-fifth the price of those in Japan, but the quality is a hundred times better. It's hard not to sell well. If you can achieve a certain volume, I estimate that the entire Japanese handmade zipper industry will collapse."

"That's natural! And we now have sufficient production capacity, with the second batch of 10 rice milling machines already installed."

"Great news! I heard you're planning to hold a conference for your agents in Japan. Are you perhaps preparing to officially launch the final battle?"

Ge Zhaoming said confidently, "That's right! Now Hehe Zipper has 23 American-made automatic rice-sewing machines, and with full production, it's equivalent to a manual zipper factory with two or three thousand people. It's time to completely crush Japan's manual zipper industry! However, in terms of payment, we still need to cooperate with Global Trade. After all, Japan has relatively little foreign exchange reserves. We can accept materials such as steel and copper, and even Japanese yen. This requires the cooperation of Global Trade."

Guo Pinyan nodded and said, "No problem, the higher-ups have already given instructions that they will support you in this regard. Speaking of which, with the price at only one-fifth, I can already imagine the collapse of Japan's handmade zipper industry, haha, awesome!"

Although they did business with Japan, they fundamentally disliked Japan, after all, the War of Resistance against Japan had only lasted for less than three years.

Ge Zhaoming said, "One-fifth of the price is not the limit. We are still researching aluminum alloy zippers and will soon be successful. The price at that time will be unimaginable for Japanese handmade zipper manufacturers."

"Great"

Current copper zippers are limited by the high cost of copper, so even with automated machines to save on labor, the cost cannot be reduced to an exorbitant level.

Once aluminum alloy zippers are produced, they will only cost one-tenth the price of traditional copper handmade zippers, which would already be extremely profitable.

Of course, the emergence of aluminum alloy zippers does not mean that copper zippers are obsolete. That's not the case; copper zippers can still be considered high-end zippers and still have a large market share.

With the dumping of zipper products by Hehe Zippers in Japan, the Japanese handmade zipper industry quickly entered a period of stagnation.

Tadao Yoshida, the founder of YKK zippers, visited a partner company and asked the person in charge, "President Sada, your company hasn't been purchasing YKK zippers recently. Is there something wrong with our products? Please let me know!" His tone was very sincere; the customer is his god.

At its peak in 1938, YKK zippers had more than 100 employees and built a new factory to produce some of the zipper parts. It was also renamed Yoshida Kogyo Co., Ltd.

But on March 10, 1945, a massive air raid by the U.S. military razed Yoshida's factory, which he had painstakingly built up over a decade, to the ground. Left with no other option, he had to lay off his employees, and the 36-year-old Yoshida was once again alone.

The Yoshida couple, who escaped the fire, temporarily stayed at the home of an old friend. Every day, they went to the ruins of the factory to dig out usable machines and parts, which they then sorted out and sent to Yoshida's hometown, Uozu City.

In an attempt to make a comeback, he borrowed a huge sum of money from the Bank of Japan to purchase the Uozu Ironworks. However, a large-scale riot by the employees, coupled with Japan's defeat in World War II and the complete collapse of the national economy, extinguished the last glimmer of hope in Yoshida Tadao's heart.

Yoshida did not succumb to despair. Seeing the economic depression and severe shortage of goods following Japan's defeat in the war, he seized the opportunity, utilizing his experience and skills in factory management. He then raised funds and equipment, recruited workers, and began producing zippers. At this time, he began using the trademark "YKK".

Therefore, Tadao Yoshida is a tenacious businessman who never gives up despite repeated setbacks.

President Sada glanced at Tadao Yoshida, said nothing, and instead took out a stack of zippers from under his desk.

"Yoshida, look at these zippers!"

Tadao Yoshida could tell at a glance that these zippers were extraordinary, and his hands trembled slightly as he picked them up to examine them closely.

"Which Japanese zipper factory produced this? It doesn't look like it was made by hand; it looks like it was made by an automated machine."

He thought of a terrible answer: could it be that the West already had automated rice-splitting machines, and that they had even entered the Japanese market?

This would be disastrous; it would be a devastating blow to the entire Japanese handmade zipper market.

Sada said, "The price is only a quarter of yours, but the quality is excellent; it won't break no matter how you pull it. This is a product from a zipper distributor, so do you think we would purchase much more expensive, much lower-quality handmade zippers?"

Tadao Yoshida left dejectedly, but he did manage to get the distributor's contact information.

"Could it be that American zipper manufacturers have entered Japan? That would be disastrous!"

Ge Zhaoming wields considerable influence in Japan's zipper industry, with numerous agents willingly working for him, making him quite proud.

On this day, an American found Ge Zhaoming.

"Mr. Ge, how big is your factory in Hong Kong?"

Upon hearing this, Ge Zhaoming considered one possibility—the Americans in Japan were either stationed troops or businessmen; if this John was a businessman, then he was likely a supplier to the US military.

This is a huge opportunity! While zippers are becoming more common in civilian use, military applications remain the mainstream. And the demand for zippers from the US military stationed in Japan is enormous.

He immediately said, "Our factory in Hong Kong is very large. We already have 34 advanced, state-of-the-art American rice-laying machines (and ten more are on their way). In addition, our factory is also very large."

John listened and considered it for a moment.

Importing zippers from the United States would take time and incur expensive shipping costs. If zippers were imported from Hong Kong and supplied to the US military, the cost would be significantly reduced.

"Do you only have copper zippers?" "We also have aluminum alloy zippers, which will be put into production soon."

John immediately said with delight, "Your boss must be a visionary businessman. I wonder if I could visit your Hong Kong factory? If I'm satisfied, I'll order a large quantity of zippers from you, lots of them!"

"Of course, I'll arrange your schedule right away."

When Chen Guangliang arrived at the Hop Wo Zipper Factory in Kwun Tong, he saw 24 automatic rice feeding machines running non-stop.

Wang Feichao, standing nearby, explained, "We've received news from Japan that our zippers have been rolled out across the country, and the progress is going very smoothly. In addition, Ge Zhaoming also sent back a message that a US military supplier is coming to inspect our factory soon, and there is hope for a large-scale purchase. Fortunately, our ten machines are already on their way, otherwise I would be worried about supply falling short of demand."

Chen Guangliang said, "Thirty-odd units are definitely not enough to meet the demand. By the end of this year or early next year, we will probably need to purchase more automatic rice-dispensing machines."

"Yes, the demand for zippers increased rapidly after the war."

Although the "rice swiping" step has been automated, the "locking" and "rice rinsing" steps have not yet been automated, but a group of mechanization experts will soon be coming from the mainland.

Going forward, Chen Guangliang plans to establish a 'machinery factory' and a 'smelting plant' to complete his industrial operations.

Of course, this machinery factory can only produce general machinery. Just like in China today, there are quite a few domestically produced textile machines, but their performance is indeed far behind that of the West.

Therefore, the machinery factory established by Chen Guangliang mainly designs, manufactures, and repairs some machinery, including textile machinery and zipper machinery. At the same time, it strengthens cooperation with overseas machinery factories to make auxiliary contributions to the development of his textile and zipper industries.

As for the smelter, Chen Guangliang decided to vigorously develop the smelting industry in Tseung Kwan O – copper, aluminum alloys, steel and other metals are all business areas, and in the future, he will extend to investing in mineral resources.

The most urgent task is to attract more talent from the mainland to Hong Kong.

"Boss, we've successfully tested the aluminum alloy zipper, and the next step is to try mass production!" a technical manager reported to Chen Guangliang.

"Great! I'm very pleased with everyone's rapid progress. Of course, the quality must keep up."

"Ok"

Aluminum alloy zippers were not first developed by Hehe Zipper. Japan already had aluminum alloy zippers during World War II, but they were produced by hand. At that time, Japan prohibited the civilian use of copper, so aluminum alloy zippers appeared. However, in reality, aluminum alloy zippers have become mainstream in the United States, and they are even produced by automatic rice sorting machines.

Hehe Zipper imports aluminum alloy materials from the United States, and then performs 'roughing' and 'locking' processes, so it has made progress in less than half a year.

During his visit to the factory, Chen Guangliang was very satisfied with the factory's management system. Continuing the 4S management system he created, the entire factory appeared to be managed in a very modern way.

"A factory in Hong Kong? How is that possible?"

"How could the Chinese, who were considered so backward, possibly produce such exquisite zippers at such a low price?"

When Yoshida Tadao heard the news, his first reaction was disbelief.

After a long while, he accepted the fact and began to think of a solution.

"It's because of the automatic rice dispensing machine. So if we Japanese zipper merchants also have this machine, we can turn the tide."

"Unfortunately, an automatic rice sorting machine is too expensive; I simply can't afford one!"

"How to do how to do?"

Tadao Yoshida was in distress.

After the war, it was already a huge struggle for him to resume business. His entire assets were less than $2000, so how could he afford an automatic rice-making machine worth $40,000?

"At this point, the only option is to team up with several industry peers and try to get a loan from the bank again!"

"Yoshida, I won't invest. The amount is just too large. If the investment fails, I'll be completely bankrupt!"

"Noda, you're too short-sighted. Hong Kong's automated zippers are now being dumped in Japan. If we don't have our own automated rice-splitting machines, we'll go bankrupt."

"No, no, an automatic rice-making machine costing $40,000 is far too expensive. I won't invest in it."

I visited several colleagues, but they all refused when they heard about the expensive machine.

"Yoshida, I advise you not to take the risk; it's impossible to succeed that way. Wishful thinking won't do you any good."

"Sato, your vision is too short-sighted!"

"Haha, Yoshida, are you crazy? At least I'm still alive, while you're about to go bankrupt!"

No one agreed to partner up to buy the automatic rice dispensing machine. At that time, Japanese businessmen lacked both vision and capability; they even mocked Yoshida Tadao.

Tadao Yoshida has fallen into depravity; I never imagined these people could be so short-sighted.

Nowadays, even if he wanted to get a loan from a bank, it would be extremely difficult, given his very limited capital.

Suddenly, Tadao Yoshida found himself in dire straits, facing bankruptcy. (End of Chapter)