A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 378 Large-scale hoarding of supplies
Jardine Matheson, CEO's office.

During the War of Resistance against Japan, the most important figure in Jardine Matheson's Chongqing operations was John Keswick, who held a public office. As early as 1939, after the outbreak of war in Europe, John Keswick returned to London and joined the British government's War Economy Department. He was later transferred to the Southeast Asia Command, where General Mountbatten served as a political liaison officer for China affairs.

When he was in Chongqing, he was a representative figure who took a relatively tough stance against the Nationalist government.

After the war, John Keswick resumed his position as taipan at Jardine Matheson.

However, with the establishment of the new China Fortune Land Development, Jardine Matheson suffered significant asset losses.

Jardine Matheson's assets in mainland China mainly consist of port terminals and real estate, which are now unsellable and therefore cannot be transferred. On the other hand, Jardine Matheson is still engaged in trade in mainland China—transporting cotton, cigarettes and beer, small quantities of hardware and machinery to the mainland, and exporting Chinese specialties.

However, these trades are far from enough to make up for Jardine Matheson's losses in mainland China.

John Keswick, his pessimistic expression vanishing, said to his subordinates, "Far East shipping is currently in a slump. Jardine Matheson needs to sell some of its unused secondhand ships to preserve its strength. How many people have registered to bid on those three 5000-ton ships recently?"

Today, the shipping power in the Far East is mainly composed of Swire, Jardine Matheson, and Russell & Co. (USA), followed by a small number of shipping companies from Norway, France, and other countries, and finally Chinese-owned shipping companies.

A senior executive said, "There aren't many people who signed up, but there's one special person!"

“Oh,” John Keswick asked curiously, “who is it?”

"It is Chen Guangliang's younger brother, Chen Guangcong. It is unclear whether he intends to become independent or is participating on behalf of Chen Guangliang."

John Keswick's expression turned serious, and he said, "This is indeed unusual! Is this Chinese man, who claims to be 'Hong Kong's richest man,' making a fool of himself by buying a ship at this time?"

Everyone laughed.

Montesen laughed and said, "This guy is indeed quite capable, but he does like to make foolish mistakes. In recent years, he has been buying up properties in Hong Kong on a large scale. Doesn't he care if Hong Kong is taken back one day?"

This issue seems to be a concern for all Britons. After all, how can one tolerate someone else snoring beside their bed? Investing in fixed assets like property is considered unwise.

Even Jardine Matheson was now filled with regret, wondering why they hadn't sold off their Chinese assets and taken some back to Britain.

Compared to Swire, Jardine Matheson suffered far greater losses. Swire always valued Hong Kong more than the mainland, while Jardine Matheson primarily focused on the mainland, with Hong Kong merely a branch.

John Keswick stopped everyone's laughter and said, "Although Chen Guangliang's purchase of ships against the trend is not a wise decision, we cannot ignore his ambition in shipping. Fortunately, as long as he is in shipping, he cannot do without our Kowloon Wharf; the Chinese do not have large docks, so they can only pay us."

"Moreover, these three ships were sold to us by Chen Guangliang back then. Jardine Matheson used these three ships to contribute a lot to the British Empire and also made a considerable profit. Now, we can sell them to them at a good price, which is really good."

"Ha ha"

No one took the Chen family's fleet seriously. First, they were not optimistic about the Chen family's fleet expanding during the shipping slump. Second, it was just three second-hand ships, and they were thirty years old at that.

Although the Far East is currently experiencing a shipping slump, with many ships having no business in ports (mainly due to reduced inland trade), it is undeniable that prices have risen sharply in recent years.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Chen Guangliang acquired six 5000-ton ships of ten years old for a cost of only US$55,000 each; in fact, at that time, a ship cost about US$40,000 in Canada.

到了1940年~1941年，陈光良将4艘5000吨的船（20年龄了），以15万美金一艘的价格，卖给了怡和、太古。

Now, ten years later, Jardine Matheson is auctioning off three 5000-ton ships (30 years old) for no less than US$180,000 each.

In his previous life, in 1955, Bao Yugang bought a 30-year-old second-hand ship of 8000 tons for $550,000.

Chen Guangcong arrived at the auction venue, which was a private auction, so he chose to hold it at the Gloucester Restaurant.

He glanced at the scene and knew that there wouldn't be much competition today, as people were generally pessimistic about shipping.

"Mr. Chen, you're here for the auction too?"

"So, Mr. Dong, I came here to take a look. These three ships were originally sold to Jardine Matheson by us back then. I used to often board them!"

"I see"

Dong Haoyun then added, "I also came to take a look, but Jardine Matheson's prices are a bit too high; I can't afford it!"

He was really unlucky; his three 10,000-ton giant ships (Liberty ships) were confiscated by the US government for outstanding loans.

The loan has not been fully repaid, but that doesn't warrant the confiscation of the ships. Clearly, the US government is extremely disappointed with the Taiwanese government and is taking its anger out on Tung Chao-yung.

Worldwide Shipping also had four Liberty ships, but it paid off all its debts in less than three years, without giving the United States a chance. Moreover, Chen Guangliang had long since ceased involvement in the affairs of the Nationalist government.

As expected, the auction started, but the response was lukewarm. Jardine Matheson probably knew this was the case, so they raised the reserve price, hoping to get as much as possible.

In the end, Chen Guangcong successfully acquired the three ships for US$600,000, which came to US$200,000 per ship.

You could say you got a good deal.

That day, Chen Guangliang took his family on vacation on his 'private yacht'.

The so-called 'private yacht' is just a 150-ton second-hand boat that has been converted, and the conversion is not even very sophisticated, but it does have a spacious deck and cabins for rest.

In fact, with Chen Guangliang's wealth, buying a decommissioned warship in Europe or America and then lavishly renovating it to create a world-class luxury yacht would be an easy task.

However, the reserved and unassuming nature of the Chinese people made Chen Guangliang unwilling to do that, even though he loved the sea.

"Guangcong, this time when you go to Europe, go and see the manors in London. Buy one and we can go to London for vacations in the future! Also, you should make more connections in Europe. You can't do shipping without connections, not to mention that we want to become a world shipping company."

Chen Guangcong is about to go to Europe to buy a second-hand boat. He loves his wife dearly and takes Yang Xiuying with him on a vacation.

"Yes, I have some friends in Europe. We'll definitely make more friends during this big shopping trip."

In the coming months, Global Shipping will need to purchase at least ten ocean-going vessels, each with a displacement of over 5000 tons.

与此同时，环球航运目前已经拥有：四艘万吨自由轮、四艘5000吨船、两艘3000吨船、两艘1000~1500吨船，总吨位达到6.5万吨。

However, in the second round of expansion, Chen Guangcong's shareholding naturally declined significantly, since he did not have that much capital.

After the expansion is complete, Global Shipping expects its total tonnage to reach around 15 tons, with Chen Guangcong holding approximately 4 tons. "Let's go fishing with the kids!"

"Um"

Afterwards, the brothers Chen Guangliang and Chen Guangcong took the children fishing, while the four women in the family had already brought mahjong tiles onto the boat.

Their yacht didn't go too far, just in the waters south of Hong Kong Island. Pirates still existed in those days, and although the Chan family's security forces were strong, it was still best not to take any risks.

Fishing is just for fun; there aren't many catches near the shore, and the seafood there isn't very tasty anyway.

The next day, Yang Xiaohu, along with his parents, wife, and children, came to visit his brother-in-law's family.

Yang Xiaohu has married two wives and has six children. His second wife is now pregnant. He still retains many feudalistic ideas and dreams of expanding the Yang family and bringing glory to his ancestors.

"Brother-in-law, shipping has been getting worse and worse lately. If I didn't do some trading, I wouldn't be able to support my family!" Yang Xiaohu complained to Chen Guangcong.

He would never dare to say these things in front of his eldest cousin, but Chen Guangcong was somewhat henpecked. Not only was his second cousin his brother-in-law, but he was also his brother-in-law, so he was a little more relaxed.

Chen Guangcong laughed and said, "Then why don't you sell those two ships and focus on trading?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaohu immediately said, "How can that be! Ships are portable assets. I would never sell my two thousand-ton ships. If something happens to Hong Kong in the future, I can easily take my family and move abroad. As for trade, that only earns a few pennies!"

Chen Guangcong laughed and scolded, "You brat, you're trying to steal business from Global Trade, and we haven't even bothered you yet, and you're already complaining that it's not enough."

As soon as the hat was put on him, Yang Xiaohu immediately tensed up; he was afraid of his older cousin.

“Brother-in-law, you can’t talk nonsense. The trade I do is all small-scale trade between Guangdong and Hong Kong, which doesn’t conflict with global trade, and you wouldn’t even look at it, would you?”

There is a connection, after all. Back then, Chen Guangliang assigned Yang Xiaohu to be in charge of trade in Guangdong Province, which allowed him to accumulate a lot of connections and relationships.

Yang Xiuying, standing to the side, deliberately said, "Xiao Hu, your older brother has treated you well, and you really stole Global Trade's business?"

Yang Xiaohu raised his hand and said, "No, I owe everything I am today to my elder brother's guidance!"

Chen Guangcong shook his head, knowing that this was his wife protecting her brother, and then said, "Just wait patiently, Global Shipping is adding more ships."

"That's exactly what I wanted," Yang Xiaohu said happily. "Thank you for your guidance, brother-in-law."

He didn't quite understand the prospects of shipping, so he came to sound him out.

Chen Guangcong didn't care too much, after all, he was his brother-in-law, and besides, his elder brother treated this cousin very well.

The fact that Yang Xiaohu came to test his words shows one thing—that he has complete faith in his elder brother.

In early March, Chen Guangliang, accompanied by his family advisors Guo Deming and Zhang Shounian, visited the Rongchang Heavy Industrial Base in Tseung Kwan O.

This place is already capable of smelting metals such as steel, aluminum alloys, and copper. The raw materials are naturally all sourced from overseas, but it has at least supported Hong Kong's heavy industry.

Sun Dehe, as the general manager of Rongchang Heavy Industry, along with some smelting talents from the mainland who came to Hong Kong, joined Rongchang.

"Manager Sun, I need to stockpile a large amount of steel, aluminum alloy, copper and other metal materials in the Rongchang Heavy Industrial Base. I hope you can take charge of this. I will fully cooperate with you financially."

In his office, Chen Guangliang made this request.

Once the Korean War begins, the price of all raw materials will rise, and merchants will start hoarding goods.

Chen Guangliang could not possibly pass up such an opportunity, so he would stockpile large quantities of everything, including metal materials such as steel, aluminum alloys, copper, and steel coils, as well as plastic granules, rubber, pharmaceuticals, and chemical materials.

Sun Dehe instinctively asked, "Mr. Chen, are you hoarding supplies? Is there a war going on somewhere?"

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "That's not necessarily true. I just think that if the United States supports Japan, Japan's economy will take off. Besides, Hong Kong also needs these things. I'm just worried about the price going up."

Half true, half false!

Indeed, Japan's economy is poised for takeoff, but the current situation in Japan is not only characterized by insufficient transportation capacity, but also by the need to import various raw materials.

Hong Kong is a trade center, and Japan imports many goods through Hong Kong.

On the other hand, the mainland also needs a large amount of steel coils, iron drums and other supplies. Although Chen Guangliang will not trade directly with the mainland, it does not prevent these things from being sold to Hong Kong businessmen.

Rubber is a strategic commodity, and its price will inevitably skyrocket during wartime, so it can be stockpiled; the price of plastics is also going to skyrocket, so it should also be stockpiled.

The Chan family owns a large amount of land and warehouses in Hong Kong, which is perfect for stockpiling.

Therefore, between March and July, Chen Guangliang could allocate tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars to stockpile these supplies. The Hong Kong and mainland markets certainly couldn't absorb that much, but the Japanese market could absorb far more.

During the Korean War, the clothing, rubber shoes, and other necessities for South Korea's tens of millions of people were basically supplied by Japan. Since Japan itself did not produce raw materials, it had to import them.

Sun Dehe nodded and said, "Okay, I will do my job well. By the way, the steel plant can also start more operations."

"You can arrange that. Anyway, once the steel is produced, it will definitely be able to be sold."

Subsequently, Chen Guangliang had Guo Deming and Zhang Shounian give a detailed introduction to the quantity and types of supplies stockpiled. Sun Dehe was shocked once again. According to the target, the supplies were worth at least HK$2000 million.

Fortunately, the Wing Cheong Heavy Industrial Base in Tseung Kwan O is very large and has a lot of warehouses, otherwise it would have been really difficult!

Rongchang Heavy Industrial Base also has its own dedicated dock.

Chen Guangliang mainly imported steel and steel coils from Britain. This not only avoided some troubles but also helped him maintain good relations with the British government.

After all, during the Korean War, Britain tried its best to restrain its hostility towards China, with the aim of protecting British interests. Those trading companies sold a large number of British goods to China.

(End of this chapter)