Hong Kong Tycoon: Starting from Delivering Dongfeng Express

Chapter 159 Market Regulation
Has the Hong Kong Island police had any contact with the mainland authorities?

Seeing the two looking at him, Ye Dongsheng explained:
"As you probably know, the mainland cracks down hard on triads. If the Hong Kong police can send over the relevant information on triads and their personnel, the mainland authorities will shut down the courier companies run by these triads without me having to lift a finger!"

Chen Guozhong and Lu Minghua exchanged a glance, then one shook his head and the other nodded.

Chen Guozhong sighed, "I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you."

Ye Dongsheng frowned: "The Sino-British Joint Declaration has been signed, surely the two sides haven't established contact yet?"

"We are in contact, but it's barely enough to have the desired effect. Minghua, you're good at your studies, why don't you explain it to Asheng?"

Lu Minghua didn't waste any words and went straight to the introduction:
"The first ice-breaking moment between the two sides was in June 1983, when mainland police went to Hong Kong and Macao to purchase police equipment samples. During this time, they requested to visit the Hong Kong police department through a branch of a certain agency. The criminal investigation unit of the Hong Kong police received them. This was the first contact between the two sides in more than 30 years."

The second contact was in September 1984, when Interpol held its 53rd Annual Meeting in Luxembourg. China officially joined Interpol. During this meeting, senior police officers from the mainland public security authorities met with senior officers from the Hong Kong police.

The third contact took place in February 1985, after the Sino-British Joint Declaration, when the Commissioner of Police of Hong Kong Island was invited to visit Beijing. The two sides agreed to conduct exchanges through the framework of Interpol (ICPO) in the future.

The fourth and most recent contact took place last month when the Hong Kong Island Interpol branch was invited to Beijing for further discussions, where they established a framework for future cooperation.
The two sides hold two regular working meetings each year, one in Beijing in the first half of the year and the other in Hong Kong Island in the second half…

At this point, Lu Minghua shut his mouth, but Ye Dongsheng understood: "Only once every six months?"

Lu Minghua nodded: "Yes, and the main content is criminal investigation experience and techniques. As for law enforcement, we will only communicate on that if there are major cases that require both parties to work together."

Ye Dongsheng had considered that exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait might be lacking nowadays, but he did not expect it to be so closed off, remaining only at the most superficial level.

Lu Minghua added, "Things are not as simple as you think. At present, the exchanges between the police on both sides of the strait are more politically motivated and have not yet reached the point of exchanging information."

And to put it bluntly, the mainland is far behind in many aspects, including criminal investigation methods and technology. Most of the Hong Kong police are actually unwilling to communicate with the mainland..."

Ye Dongsheng nodded. The situation was indeed as Lu Minghua said. The two sides had different administrative sovereignty. The administration of Hong Kong Island was still under British control, which created a rift. Why would they provide you with the information they possessed?

The fact that cooperation between the two sides can only be carried out through Interpol, rather than through direct communication, shows how cautious they are in their interactions.

As for the arrogant attitude of Hong Kong people towards the mainland, that's perfectly normal; this attitude hasn't changed even decades later.

Ye Dongsheng sighed: "I was oversimplifying things."

He considered reporting the triad background and information behind these express delivery services to the mainland, but his personal report would not have received as much attention as the information provided by the Hong Kong police.

Using official channels to eliminate these competitors from the community is the easiest way.

However, given the current state of communication between the police forces of the two places, this plan is likely to fail. With such limited information exchange, the mainland is far from having the same level of understanding of the situation in Hong Kong as it does in later years. In fact, many people who commit crimes in Hong Kong have fled to the mainland to hide.

Lu Minghua smiled and said, "Your thinking is correct. It's just that the two sides have only just broken the ice. Perhaps in a few years, as cross-strait exchanges increase, cooperation between the police forces of the two places will become closer."

Chen Guozhong asked, "It seems that you've really met a threatening opponent this time, Asheng?"

Lu Minghua, who attended today's industry conference, asked, "Is it Dongxing and the Ni family?"

Ye Dongsheng nodded: "These two companies have a lot of influence, and they're both involved in drug trafficking in Hong Kong. I'm worried they might pull something like this on the courier service..."

Chen Guozhong thought for a moment and said:
"Tung Sing's camels are manageable. Tung Sing has a considerable international reputation, doing flour business in the Netherlands, and is even listed with Interpol. If Interpol is willing to take action, the mainland police will likely respond as well."

But the Ni family is in a difficult situation...

The police have been aware of the Ni family's flour business for years, but they have never made any arrests and currently have no evidence whatsoever.

Moreover, the Ni family is now under the leadership of Ni Yongxiao, whose resume is far cleaner than his father Ni Kun's—a graduate of a prestigious foreign university!

Chen Guozhong shook his head as he spoke, clearly indicating that the police had no way to deal with the Ni family.

Ye Dongsheng thought for a moment and asked, "Even if we can't find evidence of his flour business, what about the charge of organizing a criminal organization?"

"No, the evidence is insufficient. Although everyone knows he is the head of the Ni family, he operates behind the scenes and has not participated in any actual triad activities. Under current Hong Kong law, unless one of the five top henchmen controlled by the Ni family is willing to defect and testify against him in court, it is impossible to convict him."

This Ni Yongxiao is far more cunning than his father, Ni Kun!

Ni Kun fought his way up from the bottom and had a long criminal record, clearly a triad boss. But Ni Yongxiao was innocent and did an excellent job of hiding his identity, leaving the police with no evidence against him.

Ye Dongsheng knew even better that if the original plot had unfolded as it was, this guy would have later become an advisor to the Hong Kong Island Police Complaints Department, a candidate for Hong Kong Island representative in the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, and would have been invited to the Hong Kong Island handover banquet. He would have become a legislator and even chatted and laughed with officials from the north.

If you want to report someone for drug use, who will believe you without evidence?

If it weren't for Han Chen's defection and help at the end, the police really wouldn't have been able to do anything about him.

As for whether the highest authorities on Hong Kong Island possessed this intelligence, Ye Dongsheng was neither sure nor interested in finding out.

A few years later, several of the agency’s top officials were corrupt, and after this incident, the entire intelligence network was to be thoroughly purged.

For the next five or six years, Ye Dongsheng had absolutely no desire to have anything to do with the society, lest he not only fail to gain any advantage but also cause trouble for himself.

Ye Dongsheng suddenly said, "There's a question I'm not sure if I should ask?"

"Hmm? Go ahead and say it~" Chen Guozhong smiled.

"The Ni family has been in the flour business for so long, and despite being closely monitored by your police, they've always managed to escape the law. Haven't you ever suspected there's a mole within their ranks?"

Chen Guozhong and Lu Minghua exchanged a glance, then coughed and lowered their voices to say:
"Sheng, some things can't be said without evidence, and you can't question your own people without reason, otherwise how can you get the job done?"

Ye Dongsheng smiled and nodded: "Sorry, I misspoke!"

It seems that others have also thought this way, but as the saying goes, there's no evidence. However, Ye Dongsheng now believes that the Ni family might actually have someone planted in the police force, and possibly in a high-ranking position.

Think about it, even Han Chen knew to plant several undercover agents in the police force. How could someone as clever and cunning as Ni Yongxiao not understand the importance of intelligence?
According to Ye Dongsheng's speculation, the Ni family must have intelligence sources; if they are not undercover agents, then they must have powerful backers!
Ye Dongsheng shook his head. It seemed there was no hope of using official power to crack down on these competitors. People had to rely on themselves!
……

Tsim Sha Tsui.

Zhang Guangfa opened the roller shutter door, walked into a small 15-square-meter shop, and then took out a standing signboard and placed it at the entrance:

Donggang Express

The cost of a trip from Hong Kong Island to the seaside can reach 100 dollars per day, and 50 dollars per three days.

That's right, Donggang Express has only been open for a few days.

In the past few months, Dongfeng Express has not only swept across Hong Kong Island, but it has also attracted the attention of many people. Zhang Guangfa is one of them, and he has indeed used Dongfeng Express quite a few times!
He used to work for a company that would send 2-3 packages to mainland China every month using Dongfeng Express, and he was the one who ran errands for the boss.

Over the past few months, seeing Dongfeng Express's booming business and understanding its business model, he was naturally tempted!
He only earns 1800 yuan a month working odd jobs, but if he opens his own small courier shop, he doesn't need much money. He can deliver 10 packages a day, and each package earns 100 yuan, which is 1000 yuan a month. That's 30,000 yuan a month!
Even if one day delivery and three days delivery each account for half of the income, that's still more than 20,000 yuan!
Isn't this much better than working a regular job?!
As for delivery on the mainland, his cousin's family happens to live in Jinghai. He can take the express delivery across the border and hand it over to his cousin's family for delivery. He will give them 1000 yuan a month, and they will be very grateful to him!
After all that, he figured he'd make at least 1 yuan a month, after deducting rent and protection fees!

Zhang Guangfa is also a man of action. He quickly resigned, chose a location, and started his "Donggang Express"!
He never thought about expanding the business. A small workshop of 15 square meters was enough for him. He and his girlfriend ran the shop together, and he handled the customs and shipping.
On the first day he opened his shop, some people came to inquire, but no one placed an order. On the second day, three people placed an order, on the third day, five orders were placed, and on the fourth day, five orders were placed again.

However, Zhang Guangfa was not in a hurry. His price was low enough, and as long as he took it slow, there would definitely be people who wanted to use him because he was cheap!
Today is the 5th day. The weather is fine and sunny. Zhang Guangfa has a feeling that with this good weather, he can get 7 orders today!
His intuition was right; within half an hour of opening, four people came to place orders!

This made Zhang Guangfa very happy; he had earned 300 yuan!

If we keep going like this, we might be able to achieve our goal of 10 orders a day in just two more weeks!
What made him even happier was that the people who came to him to place orders were not only Hong Kong businessmen, but also ordinary citizens!
So it seems that if the price is low enough, even ordinary citizens would want to use express delivery!

While counting his money, Zhang Guangfa wondered if he should lower the price again, which might expand the market and attract more citizens and users.

However, the next moment, a loud bang came from the doorway.

Zhang Guangfa looked up and saw that the signboard standing at the entrance had been kicked away, and several gangsters were standing there arrogantly.

After seeing it clearly, he knew perfectly well that some gangsters had come to cause trouble.

However, Zhang Guangfa, who understood the ways of survival in Hong Kong, immediately switched to a smiling face, then took out a pack of cigarettes, walked to the door, and immediately recognized the short man as the boss, handing it to him:
"Boss, is there some misunderstanding? I've already paid protection money."

Han Chen looked at the man in front of him, then smiled gently: "Who did you pay your protection money to?"

"Dong'an Society~"

Then Han Chen took out his phone and dialed: "Hey, you bastard, this is Han Chen. I'm on xx Road. There's a Donggang courier company here. They said they paid you protection money? Oh, give them back the protection money!"

Mr. Ni said that no other courier companies are allowed in Tsim Sha Tsui, understand?

After hanging up the phone, Han Chen patted Zhang Guangfa on the shoulder and smiled: "Hey, I'm a man of principle. I'll have Dong'an return the protection money to you. Now you close the shop, understand?"

Sweat beaded on Zhang Guangfa's forehead, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he pleaded, "Boss, this is just a small business of mine. I don't know how I've offended you gentlemen."

Han Chen smiled and pointed to the sign on the ground: "Because you violated the rules! According to the regulations of the Express Delivery Association, the price cannot be lower than 150 yuan per day! Now I am legally and legitimately closing your store!"

Zhang Guangfa's expression changed drastically: "When did this regulation come about? How come I didn't know about it?"

If the minimum price is really 150 yuan, then what's the point of him doing this? How can he compete with a big player like Dongfeng Express?

"There's a lot you don't know. Go find out for yourself from the Hong Kong Island Courier Association!"

Zhang Guangfa wanted to say something, but Han Chen waved his hand:

"Also, I don't care if you want to open a courier shop, but not in Tsim Sha Tsui! Otherwise, I wouldn't be so polite today!"

The thugs behind him glared angrily at Zhang Guangfa, making his hair stand on end.

"Kid, remember what my boss said. If we ever see you running a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui again, we'll have plenty of ways to deal with you!"

Seeing Zhang Guangfa's tearful expression, Han Chen simply smiled. These small fry wouldn't dare to go against them; his methods today had already been quite mild.

……

West Ring Road.

Several fierce-looking men grabbed a middle-aged man by the collar:
"Damn it, are you looking for death? Don't you know that Boss Luo owns Camel Express? You dare to open a courier company here? Are you trying to steal Boss Luo's business?"

The middle-aged man was so frightened that he quickly explained, "Sir, my shop is several kilometers away from Camel Express!"

The burly man slapped him across the face: "You dare to talk back! Looks like you don't know how powerful Dongxing is?"

"Mercy, boss! Mercy, boss! I won't do it again!"

The big man pushed him to the ground and stepped on his chest:
"From now on, only Camel Express from Tung Sing will be allowed in Sai Wan! Close down immediately today! Otherwise, you'll regret it!"

In a short time, not only Dongxing and the Ni family, but also the associations behind several companies that had participated in the express delivery industry conference, including Tongyitang, all sprang into action to regulate the market!
P.S.: I've noticed that many people have questions about Ni Yongxiao's courier business, so I'll explain them in this chapter.

We have to consider the historical context. You guys, from God's perspective, know he makes flour, but we have no idea.

Don't overestimate the control over Hong Kong Island back then. Communication between the two places was very limited, and it was impossible to thoroughly understand a person's information like it is now.

According to the movie, he was supposed to clear his name and go ashore in the end. If we really knew his background, how could we let him be a candidate for Hong Kong and Macao representatives?

(End of this chapter)