A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

By October, the atmosphere in Hong Kong had become even more tense.

There were already many wealthy people seeking refuge in Hong Kong, and now with the Guangdong provincial government imminent and the military close at hand, one can imagine how everyone feels.

Sham Shui Po, a relief point set up by Oxfam.

Chen Guangliang, accompanied by some of his confidants, visited the relief point. There, they saw a group of refugees queuing to receive food. These people were dressed in patched clothes, filthy, and emanated a strange smell.

During this period, a large number of refugees arrived in Hong Kong every day, most of whom were poor. Arriving in this unfamiliar place, they struggled to make ends meet and ended up stranded on the streets and docks.

Moreover, there are not many job opportunities in Hong Kong, making it difficult for refugees to find work in a short period of time.

Seeing the scene before him, Chen Guangliang asked the people around him with a grim face, "How can Oxfam increase its influence?"

This is a 'charitable organization' that he established single-handedly. Chen Guangliang has invested HK$600 million in it. In the nearly two years since its establishment, it has mainly been used to provide relief to refugees.

"Family advisor" Guo Deming then said, "Oxfam's influence has grown rapidly in the past two years and it carries a lot of weight in the hearts of the poor. But if it wants to develop in the long term and increase its influence in the field of charity, it needs to be more open. Take Po Leung Kuk and Tung Wah Group of Hospitals as examples and recruit more directors and members. After all, with your influence in Hong Kong, you can definitely make a call to action."

He used to be Chen Guangliang's assistant at the Ning An Foundation and was also a permanent advisor to Oxfam, so he has a deep understanding of charitable work.

Chen Guangliang nodded and asked, "How exactly should we do it?"

Guo Deming immediately said, "Next month will be Oxfam's second anniversary. I suggest we invite all the celebrities in Hong Kong to a grand dinner. At the dinner, we can conduct a charity fundraising event. Those who raise more money will become directors, and those who raise less will become members. At the same time, we can reorganize Oxfam's organizational structure. In this way, Oxfam will become the third major Chinese-established charitable organization after Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and Po Leung Kuk. We can then donate to hospitals and schools to further enhance our influence."

To achieve this, the most indispensable element is Chen Guangliang's influence. If it were anyone else, there would be very few people responding; but as long as Chen Guangliang stands up, at least the "Shanghai faction" will respond, and Cantonese businessmen will also give him some face.

Similarly, Shanghai businessmen will seize this opportunity to unite and form a force in the unfamiliar place of Hong Kong.

“Okay, you organize the team to handle this and make it a big deal. I personally will donate another HK$400 million on that day as a foundation for Oxfam. In the future, Oxfam will not only be a charity but will also make some investments as a long-term strategy.”

Of the HK$600 million initially invested by the Chen Guangliang family, only HK$200 million was actually used up. It wasn't until recently, with the rapid increase in refugees, that the funds were used up more quickly.

At that time in Hong Kong, there were Oxfam relief stations in almost every area, and refugees could receive food after registering.

Guo Deming said happily, "Okay, we will definitely do our best to do this well."

He enjoys doing charitable work, and he doesn't take a salary, since he serves as a consultant for Ping An Bank and Yangtze Real Estate, and his bosses pay him a generous salary.

Afterwards, the group arrived at the front of the relief station and saw that the staff there were very 'fair' – they would reprimand those who did not queue, but at the same time they treated refugees receiving aid in a friendly and equal manner, without any condescension.

Although it is unclear whether it was because of Chen Guangliang's inspection, Oxfam still attaches great importance to the quality of its staff and whether they have a compassionate heart.

"Fellow villagers, where are you from?" Chen Guangliang asked the family of four in Cantonese.

A man in his thirties, with his wife and children, had just received the food. He immediately gave it to his family, but prepared to enjoy it last himself.

Upon seeing Chen Guangliang and the others, the man cautiously said, "I'm from Guangzhou. I brought my family to Hong Kong to seek refuge because I was worried about the war."

His speech was quite good; he must have been a worldly person in the past.

Have you found a job yet?

“I tried looking at the docks, but getting a job there often requires a lot of fighting and kicking. I couldn’t beat them, so I got some injuries.”

To prove he wasn't lazy, the man rolled up his sleeves, revealing bruises and welts on his arms.

Have you ever thought about returning to the mainland after the war?

"I don't want to think about it anymore. There's war every year in the country. I don't know when things will calm down. And even if there's no war, life won't be easy."

Chen Guangliang nodded. Even next year, the number of people seeking refuge in Hong Kong has not stopped. At first, the Hong Kong government accepted them all, but when it saw that the population was getting bigger and bigger, it was impossible to support them, so it closed the border.

Afterwards, Chen Guangliang asked what the man was good at, and then directly sent one of his subordinates to take the family to work at Xinfeng Textile.

After all, conversation is a kind of fate.

Back to the Ping An Bank Building on Des Voeux Road Central.

Chen Guangliang's emotions were somewhat fluctuating. As the saying goes, with great power comes great social responsibility.

In reality, Hong Kong possesses substantial wealth. The wealth flowing into Hong Kong from the mainland alone amounts to US$500-600 million, and the total wealth of the society is at least HK$10 billion. Even assuming a peak population of 2.4 million next year, the average wealth per person should be around HK$4,000-5,000.

Of course, wealth can never be equal.

Even in relatively egalitarian times, some people still use their power to ensure their families eat well.

Not to mention that in Hong Kong, a capital region, wealth is directly concentrated in the hands of a very small number of people.

To give a simple example, there was a wealthy man named Shuai Canzhang from Anshun, Guizhou Province. At his peak, he amassed 10 million silver dollars through his cloth shop and opium trade. Although the war had a significant impact, the wealth he brought with him when he arrived in Hong Kong at the end of 1948 was enough to buy an entire street (a typical small street) in Hong Kong. After arriving in Hong Kong, he was bedridden (due to opium addiction), but he missed his hometown dearly and even managed to bring back bracken from Anshun. (However, due to mismanagement by his descendants, his fortune was squandered by the 1970s.)

There are many wealthy mainlanders like Shuai Canzhang in Hong Kong.

They yearn for the mainland but lack a sense of belonging to Hong Kong. With this mindset, coupled with the incompatibility of the environment, they will not be able to do business smoothly in Hong Kong, and will eventually lose all their money or be cheated out of it.

Of course, many wealthy individuals are also shrewd, investing their wealth in real estate and becoming Hong Kong's hidden tycoons. It is said that in later generations, many wealthy people were discovered in Hong Kong who owned several buildings but never made a name for themselves. These are Hong Kong's hidden tycoons, whose wealth was largely brought to Hong Kong from the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China era and invested in real estate.

Chen Guangliang was inspired when he thought about how many rich people and how many poor people there were in Hong Kong.

He summoned Ye Ximing and asked, "What's the situation with the Gold and Silver Exchange?"

Ye Ximing immediately said, "Now that the JF Guangzhou is imminent, gold in Hong Kong has reached an all-time high of HK$650 per tael. Everyone hopes to drive up the price of gold, hold onto it, and then if something happens in Hong Kong, they can go overseas."

Whether the Hong Kong dollar will become worthless if something happens in Hong Kong is something people can only speculate about.

But gold is definitely a global hard currency.

Chen Guangliang said, "Immediately help me trade gold futures at the Gold and Silver Exchange, but we'll be shorting. That's how we'll do it today."

He knew that the Guangzhou JF's time was very fast, and Yu Hanmou and Bai Chongxi's army was no match for 101 at all and was quickly defeated; then 101 would be stationed on the Hong Kong border and could invade at any time, and could defeat the British army in three days.

But it was soon determined that Hong Kong would not be taken back.

Therefore, a sharp drop in gold prices is inevitable.

Ye Ximing said, "Okay, I'll arrange it right away!" Anyway, the money of these rich people comes from the people's hard-earned money brought from the mainland, so why not use it to benefit myself?

Chan Kwong-leung has already prepared and donated HK$1000 million to Oxfam, making him one of the wealthiest people in Hong Kong. However, after donating this HK$400 million, Chan will not be making any more donations in the coming years.

However, he would advise Oxfam to make some investments and prepare for long-term philanthropy.

The news that the Chan family was going to rebuild the Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong spread quickly. In particular, the fact that Chan had spent HK$900 million to buy two plots of land on Des Voeux Road shocked the Hong Kong business community. Wasn't he afraid that the PLA would come and confiscate his wealth?

Of course, the most anxious were the Kadoorie family and Jardine Matheson, because the Kadoorie family operated the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon and the Hong Kong Hotel on Hong Kong Island, while Jardine Matheson operated the Gloucester Hotel on Hong Kong Island.

However, there was nothing anyone could do in their haste, since the land had already been purchased, and the next step for the Chen Guangliang family was to move on to the planning and design phase.

On this day, Chen Guangliang, along with his real estate group's subordinates, arrived at the site of 71-77 Des Voeux Road, where there were still two buildings of five to seven stories high.

After a thorough site inspection, Chen Guangliang outlined his plan for the 3.5 square foot site: "Two underground floors and three above-ground floors will form a hotel base, upon which twelve more floors will be built, for a total of fifteen floors, plus two underground floors. The building will be constructed in an American style, and the total building size should not exceed that of the new Ping An Bank building."

He spoke eloquently about his ideas. After all, he was a veteran in the real estate industry and had never stopped learning over the years, demonstrating a high level of expertise in real estate planning.

He doesn't plan to build as many floors as possible for this hotel. With a land area of ​​3.5 square feet, there's enough space to create a small garden and drop-off point at the main entrance.

Even if the base is three stories high, each floor is estimated to be only 1.8 square feet; and the floors above the fourth floor are only 1.5 square feet each; in total, there are a total building area of ​​27 square feet.

This was already a very large hotel, and no other hotel in Hong Kong could compare to it. It was comparable to the Mandarin Oriental, Hilton, and Sheraton hotels built in Hong Kong in the 1960s.

Lu Yuantai then said, "The glass curtain wall building that the boss asked me to inspect last time, this technology has already appeared in the United States. I wonder if the Shangri-La Hotel needs this technology. We can go to the United States to look for cooperation later."

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "I want to build a hotel building with a full glass curtain wall and a fresh air system inside. I can wait, and I hope you can come up with a good solution for me."

Lu Yuantai nodded and said, "We can go to the United States to find suitable partners through bidding."

"Okay, let's not rush this year, let's talk about it next year!"

"Ok"

With its all-glass curtain wall and fresh air indoor system, this was a milestone in Hong Kong's architectural field. At that time, even the United States did not have an all-glass curtain wall building.

Chan Kwong-leung probably hoped that the Shangri-La Hotel would be put into operation in 1954-1955, just as Hong Kong was lifted from its blockade (in 1953) and its economy entered a period of development.

In the future, the Shangri-La Hotel can move to the reclaimed land diagonally opposite, which is the site of the former 'Jardine House (Connaught House)', with an area of ​​up to 5 square feet.

As for this site, it can be rebuilt into a first-class commercial building at that time.

On the 14th, Guangzhou JF;

Three days later, the 15th Army Corps of the JF Army continued its southward march, reaching Futian, which is just across the river from Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has become a frightened bird, and even Governor Alexander Grantham is not optimistic that Hong Kong's army can withstand the JF army.

In this situation, Hong Kong speculators were busy driving up the price of gold, which once reached HK$660 per tael.

Of course, Ping An Bank is also heavily shorting, becoming a major short seller in the market.

Meanwhile, Guangdong gold speculators were hoping to take the opportunity to cash out large amounts of physical gold, but due to the presence of troops nearby and the delayed arrival of imported gold from Macau, they had no choice but to join in raising prices to prevent Ping An Bank from taking the opportunity to suppress gold prices and affect their ability to cash out.

Unfortunately, in late October, Hong Kong's Oriental Daily News reported a bombshell: "China has no plans to take back Hong Kong for the time being; it is more advantageous to make long-term plans."

Although this news was only presented as an analysis, it was well-reasoned and quickly calmed the anxieties of Hong Kong citizens.

Meanwhile, gold prices in Hong Kong plummeted as the threat of war was over.

"Damn it, Chen Guangliang must be the one spreading this news. He has close ties with the Oriental Daily News," He Shanheng said, clearly annoyed.

Hang Seng Bank had hoped to cash out and profit from this, but Ping An Bank intervened unexpectedly. First, it shorted the gold in large quantities, and then it spread rumors. Before they could cash out their gold, the price of gold at the Gold and Silver Exchange had already plummeted.

He Tian also said with distress, "The cost of the gold we imported this time was very high. If we cash out now, we won't make much money! In the past six months or so, because of Chen Guangliang, we Cantonese gold speculators have lost a lot of money."

Everyone was filled with regret. There were basically no capable people among the other Shanghai gold speculators, especially Hardoon's two adopted sons, who were just big fools waiting to be fleeced.

However, Chen Guangliang, a Shanghai-based gold speculator, was the most shrewd. First, he held a large amount of physical gold. Second, he didn't speculate at all; he simply waited for the right opportunity. Once the price of gold reached HK$600 per tael, he would inevitably cash out. For this reason, other Shanghai-based gold speculators would also sell at that time, leaving the Guangdong-based gold speculators empty-handed.

This time, Chen Guangliang used public opinion to ruin the last chance for Cantonese gold speculators and made a fortune for himself.

Leung Kau-kui said, "Chan Kwong-leung is not idle in Hong Kong now. He is vaguely becoming a leader of Hong Kong's Chinese business community. Next month, he will use Oxfam to invite Hong Kong celebrities to the event. It is estimated that he wants to form a parallel with Po Leung Kuk and Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. The Hong Kong government is probably already preparing to award him an honor to reward his contributions."

Everyone sighed.

With Chen Guangliang as their leader, the wealthy people of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai have found a backbone, forming a rivalry with Cantonese businessmen in Hong Kong.

Ping An Bank.

Ye Ximing reported: "They shorted gold this time and have made a paper profit of HK$120 million. With the price of gold continuing to fall, countless people are going bankrupt, and we can settle our accounts at the same time."

Short selling is different from the previous 'cashing out', so making a profit of over a million is already a remarkable achievement.

Chen Guangliang's earlier "cash-out" was because the gold he had accumulated over the years, as well as cheap spot gold he had bought in the early days, resulted in high profits and was not troublesome at all.

"Well, making a million is already pretty good. Once it's built, we'll take it. Gold speculation in Hong Kong should also stop, and those that have gone bankrupt should find ways to recover."

Next, Chen Guangliang inquired, "How is the progress of the US dollar to Hong Kong dollar exchange rate?"

Since the British pound depreciated by more than 30%, Chen Guangliang has started to exchange some of his US dollars for Hong Kong dollars, since he plans to develop his business in Hong Kong.

"It's proceeding normally. We've exchanged approximately US$200 million worth of Hong Kong dollars for you so far."

"Okay, proceed as normal."

In recent years, he has invested heavily in Hong Kong, which has made him very influential. His post-war residential investments amounted to about US$1000 million, followed by the Ping An Bank Building at US$200 million, and then the Shangri-La Hotel at over US$300 million (at which time the exchange rate was 1 US dollar to 5.7 Hong Kong dollars).

These investments have genuinely created many jobs. (End of Chapter)