A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

After the delivery of the 1.2-ton second-hand oil tanker purchased in Canada, Chen Guangcong suggested continuing to lease it to Japan, since Global Shipping had already established a reputation in Japan.

Chen Guangliang, however, held the opposite view. He believed that Global Shipping needed to penetrate the global shipping market and earn higher profits in Europe and America.

Chen Guangcong said, "But brother, Europeans and Americans have always only recognized those big Greek shipowners, and they may not trust us, especially since we only have one 1.2-ton second-hand oil tanker. It would be better to wait until our new ship is delivered before entering the European and American markets. Besides, Japan also needs this oil tanker right now."

Chen Guangliang waved his hand and said, "No, if we wait until our new ship is delivered before entering the European and American markets, then our experience will be something they criticize. Right now, we only have one second-hand oil tanker, but as long as we operate it with all our might and familiarize ourselves with the oil tanker routes in Europe and America, it will be a valuable experience. This time, I will personally go to promote it, and you will stay in Hong Kong."

"Ok"

At this time, Japan's economy was primarily based on light industry, and its demand for oil was far less than that of Europe and the United States. Moreover, once Worldwide Shipping's oil tankers entered the European and American shipping markets, the Japanese market would be easily within their grasp.

Chen Guangliang decided to personally go and promote the business because he was the one who wanted to be the 'World Shipping King,' not Chen Guangcong. Therefore, he had to meet those high-spending foreigners.

That evening, upon learning that Chen Guangliang was going on another business trip overseas, the two ladies showed their reluctance to part with him.

It seems that my husband has become more ambitious about his career since the beginning of this year; after only four months, he wants to go out again.

Yan Renmei, ever the thrifty one, said, "Be careful. Guangcong and I will take care of everything in Hong Kong. Don't worry!"

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "Yes, this time we're going door-to-door to sell an oil tanker."

Yan Renmei asked curiously, "You're personally handling this kind of sales now, is there some reason behind it?"

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "It's not really a matter of rhetoric, but this is our first oil tanker, and we want to lease it to European and American clients, so I plan to personally handle it. Besides, a good entrepreneur naturally needs to be an excellent salesperson as well."

Yan Renmei nodded and said nothing more. After all, the family business was so large, it was normal for her husband to be busy. It's just that in recent years, her husband had focused his business on Hong Kong, but now he was preparing to lead the family to the world.

At this moment, Yan Renmei said, "Wenjin will be enrolling at Harvard in September."

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "Of course I remember. I will send each child into the university campus, and I will make sure to witness it no matter how busy I am."

Upon hearing this, all the children were overjoyed.

As children of large families, they mature much earlier than children from rural areas and smaller families.

Of course, times are different. In this era, the children of wealthy families have a sense of mission from a young age; while in later generations, most of them are rich second-generation or corrupt second-generation, who only care about squandering money, and how many of them think about working hard!
A happy expression appeared on Jiang Meiying's face. After all, it was the first time in many years that she and her husband had gone on vacation to the United States.

A week later.

Chen Guangliang came to Esso in New York, which is 'ExxonMobil'. It later merged with Mobil to become ExxonMobil.

Upon entering Esso Company, Niu Deng, the manager in charge of chartering ships, arrogantly asked, "Ah, who are you?"

Chen Guangliang had not seen such 'cold treatment' for a long time, but as a veteran in the business world, he naturally remained calm.

He said, “I’m from Hong Kong. I run a shipping company in Hong Kong called Global Shipping. We currently have a 12000-ton oil tanker and would like to provide transportation services to Esso. If you need it, we can carry out the transportation task immediately.”

Niu Deng stood up, then walked over to Chen Guangliang and said, "Global Shipping? I feel like I've heard of it somewhere before!"

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "You should have heard that we have 42 cargo ships of various sizes in the Far East, totaling 25 tons. This is our first ship in the oil tanker industry, so we hope to have a better stage."

Niu Deng suddenly realized and said, "I know, you're that wealthy Chinese tycoon. I heard you just built two large oil tankers in Germany. No wonder the name sounds so familiar!"

Chen Guangliang quickly replied, "Our company is quite strong; we're not a small shipping company."

Niu Deng laughed and said, "How come I didn't see any cheap prices?"

Chen Guangliang immediately replied, "A cheap price is available!"

The core of this sales pitch was the 'cheap price', and Chen Guangliang then handed over a price quote.

The price is naturally lower than that of fleets in the United States and Europe, after all, this is the trump card of global shipping.

Niu Deng was satisfied with the price, and then he said, "Your Chinese fleets are not experienced enough, so I can't completely trust you. However, I'm willing to give you one chance, only one. If you can complete the mission, we can continue to cooperate!"

"OK"

Chen Guangliang was well aware of this.

For Chen Guangliang, the success or failure of this first collaboration with Esso is not only related to the fate of the fleet, but also, in a sense, to whether Huaxia Fleet can gain a foothold in the international shipping industry.

This battle is one where only victory is allowed, and defeat is not an option.

He personally took charge of directing the operation of the oil tanker.

Chen Guangliang was from Ningbo, and he inherited many of the Ningbo people's shrewdness and calculation skills in business. His years of experience in the banking industry further honed his ability to coordinate and plan. He accurately calculated the delivery dates for the small oil tanker and personally took charge of organizing the ships, dispatching personnel, and supervising the ship's progress.

A 1.2-ton oil tanker is considered a medium-sized large ship in this era, after all, the largest oil tanker is only 2.3 tons; many countries still use oil tankers of several thousand tons, or even several hundred tons (such ships are not suitable for many routes).

For this promotion, Worldwide Shipping prepared a lot of resources in advance, such as inspecting the entire ship, assembling Worldwide Shipping's best seafarers, and even sending foreign consultants to accompany them.

Transporting oil from the Middle East to Europe is the shortest route, requiring only passage through the Suez Canal; the distance between the two is very short. However, without the Suez Canal, ships would have to round the Cape of Good Hope, more than doubling the distance.

Moreover, the Cape of Good Hope is a place with high winds and rough seas, making it unsuitable for any ship or at any time.

This is why, during the Suez Canal closure in 1956, global shipping costs increased several times over in the previous life.

The logic is simple: although the routes to the Americas and Europe have only more than doubled, there are only so many ships in the world. More than doubling the transport volume will cause a shortage of ships.

Therefore, all shipping fleets will take the opportunity to raise prices, and it's incomprehensible that freight rates will increase several times over.

Before the Suez Canal closed in 1956, the price of oil transported to Europe was $6-10 per ton, but it subsequently skyrocketed to $40-60 per ton. This allowed many ship owners to earn in one year what they had earned in the previous years.

Not only will shipping costs in the Americas and Europe skyrocket, but shipping costs worldwide will also surge because ships are mobile.

The 'Yangtze River' was the first oil tanker in the global industry. Chen Guangliang initially said he would use 26 Greek letters to name the fleet, but in reality, that was no longer enough last year.

The oil tankers of the global shipping company were initially named with "Chang" in their names, such as Changjiang, Changlong, and Changyun. Of course, the names on the hulls were mostly in English, with Chinese used primarily for crew and internal commands. After all, in doing business on the world stage, Chinese was not yet widely accepted at that time.

"We're crossing the Suez Canal, keep your spirits up!"

With a reminder from the veteran captain Teng Shibiao, all the Chinese seamen became excited.

A senior seaman lamented, "Back then, it was in this Suez Canal that our Chinese-owned China Merchants Steam Navigation Company fleet was harassed by British and French administrators who said that Chinese captains could not sail through the canal, and only captains from Europe and America could."

Some people, unfamiliar with what happened back then, asked, "And what happened in the end?"

"In the end, it didn't pass, but we kept fighting. Finally, after the war, our Chinese captains were able to sail freely through the Suez Canal. In the end, it was our country that earned its reputation!"

During World War II, the Chinese army was absolutely formidable; even after France surrendered, China continued to hold Japan back.

"That's thanks to the Chinese army!"

"Of course! But we Chinese seafarers also fought for a lot. For example, back then, the port of Hong Kong did not allow Chinese captains to enter the port (only ocean-going ships or ships of a certain tonnage were allowed to enter). We fought and won. Also, after the war, the first ship sailed to Europe and America by all Chinese seafarers. These are records created by our global shipping."

At this point, everyone felt a surge of pride.

On the other side, Teng Shibiao was also fully focused. Although there was a foreign consultant on board, who was an advisor to the Global Maritime School, he knew that the boss had only taken double precautions and still hoped that the entire operation would be completed by the Chinese.

In his lifetime, he might even be able to pilot an oil tanker of 2 tons, or even 3 tons!

"It's our turn to pass. All units, please pay attention and remain focused!"

"receive"

The Suez Canal in this era was not as crowded as it is in later years!

The Yangtze River slowly sailed through the Suez Canal, marking the first time a Chinese oil tanker had passed through the Suez Canal.

Back then, Britain and the United States did not allow Chinese captains to sail through the Suez Canal. In addition to discrimination, they were also worried that if a ship ran aground in the canal, it would cause a lot of trouble, since the canal could only accommodate one ship at a time.

As the saying goes, hard work pays off. Chen Guangliang's efforts were not in vain. His oil tanker successfully completed the transportation mission and arrived at the port of New York more than ten hours ahead of the time stipulated in the contract.

Esso was very satisfied with the success of this cooperation and began to look at Chen Guangliang in a new light. Niu Deng, who had initially decided to give Chen Guangliang a try, was overjoyed, because Chen Guangliang's outstanding performance proved to all companies that were prejudiced against Chinese fleets that he, Niu Deng, had not misjudged him, and that Esso had developed a very promising partner.

He held Chen Guangliang's hand tightly and said, "Our cooperation has been very pleasant and successful. I am so happy! Mr. Chen, I hope we can cooperate for a long time in the future."

Just as Chen Guangliang had predicted, Esso's misunderstanding of the Chinese fleet disappeared completely. Niu Deng, a cheerful and sociable man, even held a cocktail party in New York to thank Chen Guangliang for delivering the oil in time.

At the reception, Niu Deng praised Chen Guangliang's integrity and outstanding management skills, and introduced him to world-renowned oil companies such as Shell, Texaco, and Mubi Oil.

Global Shipping's oil tankers are not chartered long-term; instead, they are charged per trip, though they have a price advantage.

After all, it's just one ship, there's absolutely no need to 'lease long-term' it and disrupt the high-profit environment here.

After completing this transport mission, Chen Guangliang flew directly to London.

At the airport, Audrey Hepburn ignored the strange looks from others and threw herself into Chen Guangliang's arms.

Such actions undoubtedly drew countless envious and angry glances from Chen Guangliang. Fortunately, the two quickly left and got into a Rolls-Royce.

In the car, Audrey Hepburn exclaimed joyfully, "Darling, I'm really pregnant! I'm so happy!"

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "Don't you think that our relationship will bring your career to an end and make you the target of criticism?"

Audrey Hepburn said playfully, "I've thought it over. Right now, all I care about is having this child. If you don't satisfy me later, I won't be with you. I love children, so I'm determined to have this one! Oh, and my mother is already here; you'll be meeting her later!"

Chen Guangliang was not afraid. Instead, he calmly said, "For you, I would brave any danger, even mountains of knives and seas of fire!"

Audrey Hepburn was immediately moved and buried her head in his arms.

With the support of Chen Guangliang and the assistance of Chen Guangcong, Audrey Hepburn purchased a manor-style villa in the suburbs of London. The price was very affordable for the Chen family, only £10.

Of course, at that time, the average annual income of a British person was only around £500. Therefore, this manor house would require an ordinary person to save for 200 years without eating or drinking.

The villa already had servants, and when the Rolls-Royce drove in, a butler and others came to greet it.

Chen Guangliang generously put his arm around Audrey Hepburn as they entered the villa and met Ella van Hemstra.

Upon meeting, Ella van Hermstrasse angrily declared, "Chinese, money can't buy everything!"

Chen Guangliang stepped forward and extended his hand, saying, "But I'm not just about money! Unless you admit that your daughter is a greedy and vain girl!"

His presence was in no way inferior to that of his mother-in-law!

She is a descendant of nobility, but Chen Guangliang is a true aristocrat. He was awarded the highest honor medal by the Commander-in-Chief, served as a senior financial advisor in the Republic of China, and was a vice-ministerial level official (General Manager of China Merchants Group). He is now a knighted by the British court.

Ella was speechless for a moment, then said unwillingly, "Then what else do you have?"

Chen Guangliang smiled and looked at Audrey Hepburn, saying, "You'll have to ask your daughter about that. In any case, Miss Ella, you should always stand by her side. If one day she wants to leave me, you can fully support her and then it's not too late to scold me."

"Okay, I've written these words down!"

Chen Guangliang gave Ella a hug and said, "From now on, we are family. You are the child's maternal grandmother, and I am the child's father!"

"Audrey loves children, and so do I!"

With just a few words, he won over his mother-in-law, and soon the whole family was enjoying a life of luxury.

It's clear that Ella van Hermstrala enjoys this 'aristocratic life'. (End of Chapter)