Era: Starting from divorce from female college student

Chapter 199: The Million-Yuan Land King in the Undersea Tunnel
November 1959, Manor Villa No. 66, Deep Water Bay, Hong Kong and Kowloon.

Today is the day for the completion and acceptance of this villa. Zhao Mancang, as the owner of the villa, came to inspect it in person.

In fact, it is just a process, because all the details are closely monitored by a third party, and Zhao Mancang has visited more than once before, so the current acceptance is just a rough look.

If the decoration effect that can be seen clearly is not up to standard and Zhao Mancang refuses to sign the acceptance form, the construction unit will not be able to get the money.

What's more, Zhao Mancang has now established his own real estate company. Before leaving Hong Kong and Kowloon, he asked Wei Shoucheng, the general manager of Changda Real Estate, to send someone to inspect the manor villa.

So, Zhao Mancang came to inspect the project today, went through the formalities briefly, and signed.

There are absolutely no flaws, even the formaldehyde content has already met the standards.

Because the materials used in the construction are low in formaldehyde, and the space is frequently ventilated, and a lot of green plants are placed, there is no need to worry about these problems at all.

Even so, Zhao Mancang had no plans to move in immediately. What's more, he didn't stay in Hong Kong and Kowloon very often, so he didn't have to worry about these issues.

After the acceptance was completed, Zhao Mancang started recruiting people, and security guards, gardeners, nannies, etc. first moved into the side building of the villa.

On this side building are the indoor sports field, dormitories for security guards and others, as well as a small clinic.

It took two days to deal with these matters. After that, Zhao Mancang began to deal with the affairs of Hutchison Whampoa.

Since early November, Zhao Mancang began to plan the acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa, and now initial results have been achieved.

First, Wharf Holdings suffered heavy losses due to the Kwai Chung Pier explosion, and the company's cash flow suddenly tightened.

After all, Hutchison Whampoa is a container terminal and a veritable cash cow.

However, due to the casualties and cargo compensation caused by the explosion, a lot of Wharf Holdings' cash flow was instantly taken away. The most important thing is that it will still take time for the terminal to recover, and Wharf Holdings' revenue will drop sharply during this period.

Of course, the Keswick family can inject funds into Wharf Holdings, but for now, Jiang Sidun Keswick has not decided whether to inject capital.

Secondly, on the Keswick family's side, because the workers of Jardine Matheson went on strike and caused trouble, the lawsuit caused a lot of controversy, causing Jiang Sidun Keswick a lot of headaches.

And ever since Paul Kadoorie asked Pu Weiss on behalf of Jiang Sidun Keswick, HSBC has also been secretly making efforts, interpreting the phrase "kicking someone when they are down" to the fullest.

So for now, although Jiang Sidun Keswick is not quite clear about Pu Weishi's purpose, he has no hesitation in fighting back against HSBC.

The two sides started fighting fiercely again, and they clashed over multiple projects.

Under such circumstances, Zhao Mancang made an appointment with HSBC and thanked the latter for their help as soon as they met.

"It's okay, Nicholas. You have to know that HSBC and Jardine Matheson are sworn enemies. I'm very happy to see them suffer a setback."

Pu Weishi, who was sitting by the window, looked very happy.

Today was in the chairman's office in the HSBC headquarters building. Given Zhao Mancang's current status, there was actually no need for him to come and meet the other party.

The reason I came here to meet him was just to express my sincere gratitude and to talk about something.

After chatting, Zhao Mancang took out a plan for an undersea tunnel between Hung Hom and Causeway Bay.

Regarding this project, the most important thing is the land near the two exits, which is what Zhao Mancang cares about most.

However, the main purpose of this project is to stimulate Jiang Sidun Keswick.

why?
Because once the undersea tunnel is completed, the first thing that will be affected is the Star Ferry owned by Wharf Holdings.

The Star Ferry is currently the only means of transportation between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula. Hong Kong and Kowloon citizens travel between the two islands very frequently every day.

So this is also one of the current cash flows of Hutchison Whampoa Group.

Secondly, the investment in the undersea tunnel project is huge, starting at at least 300 million Hong Kong dollars. Which construction company in Hong Kong doesn’t want to take it?

For Jiang Sidun Keswick, on the one hand, Jardine Matheson has the ability to become the construction unit of the undersea tunnel project. As for asking Jardine Matheson to pay 300 million Hong Kong dollars to build this undersea tunnel, it is undoubtedly a losing business, and he will definitely not do so.

After spending 300 million Hong Kong dollars to build the undersea tunnel, the cost will be recovered by collecting tolls. How many years will it take to recover the cost?

Therefore, there is no problem for Jardine Matheson to become the contractor, but if it wants to spend 300 million Hong Kong dollars to contract this project, it is impossible.

On the other hand, the construction of the undersea tunnel has a great impact on Wharf Holdings, especially when Wharf Holdings is seriously short of cash flow, it attaches even more importance to the Star Ferry.

Jiang Sidun Keswick will be very conflicted. This is Zhao Mancang's conspiracy, and the other party will definitely take advantage of it.

"Why are you so sure that Jiang Sidun will be the contractor for the undersea tunnel?"

Pu Weishi was very confused, but Zhao Mancang was confident:

"The Governor will definitely not miss such a project, because I will be the 'sucker', and the toll charges will not be very high. All Hong Kong citizens will be very happy."

"Since I am willing to pay 300 million Hong Kong dollars, what else does the Governor have to disagree with?"

For the governor, the construction of the undersea tunnel is a great achievement.

By then, he will be able to brag about it in front of the British "envoy" or the Queen.

Over the years, people have mentioned building a bridge or an undersea tunnel to connect Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula, but everyone is smart and no one wants to be the one to take the blame.

After all, it takes too long to recoup the cost.

There is even a possibility that the costs cannot be recovered, so the idea naturally comes to nothing.

Anyway, we have the Star Ferry now, and generally speaking, only office workers need to take the Star Ferry to travel between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula every day. For the wealthy, it has little impact.

"Jiang Sidun can't stop the undersea tunnel. It's the trend of the times, so he can only find a way to get Jardine Matheson to be the contractor. And this is the trap I set for them."

After hearing what Zhao Mancang said, Pu Weishi suddenly understood something.

Sure enough, after Zhao Mancang finished speaking, Pu Weishi also smiled.

If Jardine Matheson becomes the contractor, Zhao Mancang will definitely ask the other party to advance the construction funds first. After the project is completed, it will need to be inspected and accepted before Zhao Mancang will pay the money one by one. He also needs Jardine Matheson to ensure that the undersea tunnel will not suffer major damage within three to ten years. Otherwise, the amount of compensation will definitely make Jiang Sidun feel painful.

It is just a capital advance action, which will continuously draw more cash flow from Jardine Matheson.

At this time, Zhao Mancang asked Hongyuan Holdings to put on more cover and then make an acquisition offer to Wharf Holdings. At this time, Jiang Sidun Keswick would have a high probability of selling Wharf Holdings.

"If that's the case, then why are you so obsessed with acquiring Wharf Holdings?"

After listening to this, Pu Weishi expressed his doubts.

After all, Zhao Mancang went to such great lengths to deal with the Keswick family and Wharf Holdings, even turning Wharf Holdings into almost a shell company. What was his purpose in acquiring Wharf Holdings in this way?

"Pu Weishi, I'm just more interested in the dock."

Zhao Mancang didn't say much, because the other party would know the purpose of his doing so later.

Therefore, the Hung Hom Causeway Bay Undersea Tunnel project was given to Pu Weishi, who was asked to propose it himself. At that time, Zhao Mancang would spend 300 million Hong Kong dollars to acquire the project, and then lure Jiang Sidun Keswick into a trap, and would do everything he could to trap Jiang Sidun Keswick in this project.

In late November, Jardine Matheson, which had been bustling for several days, finally calmed down a little.

But soon, HSBC submitted a project plan for an undersea tunnel to the Governor, and the Governor approved the project, which immediately shocked the entire upper class of Hong Kong and Kowloon.

Then, in less than half a day, the elusive "Zhao Changshou" actually invested 300 million Hong Kong dollars to undertake the project, and at the same time issued a tender document to recruit a contractor.

Although Changda Real Estate Company also began to form its own construction team, it had only been established for a short time and it was impossible for it to undertake the construction of an undersea tunnel, so it was excluded by Zhao Mancang.

If the company under Zhao Mancang's own name does not participate in the competition, then other units will be drooling.

Jiang Sidun had no time to react before the bidding started. He quickly arranged for his subordinates from Jardine Matheson to attend the bidding.

He wanted to stop the undersea tunnel project, but the governor did not give him time to react. In addition, Zhao Mancang acted too quickly and took out 300 million Hong Kong dollars as soon as he said it would.

Too arrogant!

In fact, the upper classes in Hong Kong and Kowloon all roughly know that "Zhao Changshou" made a lot of money by investing in gold in the past October.

The funds that Zhao Mancang deposited in HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank together have almost reached 300 million US dollars.

Converted into Hong Kong dollars, that's 1.9 billion Hong Kong dollars, definitely a super rich man.

Investing HK$300 million in an undersea tunnel is just a drop in the bucket.

The bidding meeting was held very quickly, and Zhao Mancang didn't have to put in much effort to help Jardine Matheson "successfully win" the contract.

Originally, he wanted to operate it secretly, but he didn't expect that Jardine Matheson was really powerful, so Zhao Mancang took advantage of the situation and handed the construction task to Jardine Matheson.

When signing the contract, Jiang Sidun had great doubts about the compensation liability in the contract terms, but they were all resolved one by one by Zhao Mancang.

After the contract is signed, Jardine Matheson will start to advance funds.

At this time, Jardine Matheson had begun to have problems with its capital chain, but thanks to Jardine Matheson's many years of operation in Hong Kong and Kowloon, this was not a big problem.

Now is the time to make the Keswick family lose a lot of cash flow.

Because only if the Keswick family is short of money will they sell the Wharf Holdings, otherwise they will have to let Jardine Matheson fall to the brink of collapse.

However, Jardine Matheson is too large, and Zhao Mancang would have to spend more money to do it, but it is obvious that this is just a possibility.

Zhao Mancang naturally ruled out this kind of uncertain move. It would be a safer approach to make the Keswick family short of money.

However, just as Zhao Mancang was looking for an opportunity, the land in the new reclamation area of ​​Central began to be tendered.

When talking about the Central Reclamation Area, we have to mention the company Hong Kong Land Development.

Hongkong Land's fortune began with the large-scale reclamation of Central in 1889, in which Paul Chater played a significant role.

Paul Chater made his fortune by speculating in the stock market. He took advantage of the Treaty of Shimonoseki to forcibly occupy the New Territories and was knighted by the Queen.

The large-scale reclamation plan in Central was proposed by Paul Chater. According to his plan, the cost of reclamation would be borne by the property owners in the previous coastal areas. After the reclamation was completed, developers would have the right to obtain the land at a low price.

In this way, the Hong Kong government increased land tax without spending any money, and businessmen paid for land reclamation and could obtain cheap land later.

Win-win!

Chater Road in Central is named after Paul Chater.

During the entire reclamation project, in order to reap the benefits of reclamation, Paul Chater established a new company, Hong Kong Land.

A lot of land in the entire Central District was actually obtained through land reclamation. Now there is a tender for a new reclamation area, and businessmen from all over Hong Kong are moving in. Even Chinese real estate companies with less capital, such as Lixin Group, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land Development, and Cheung Kong Property, have come to join in the fun.

"Everyone, this is the last plot of land today. This plot of land is located at the intersection of Pedder Street and Connaught Road."

At the land auction, the host was describing the land in vivid detail, but it was useless no matter how much he described it, because many people present knew about the land and had even studied it thoroughly.

Zhao Mancang listened to the host's words and smiled knowingly, and the dispute began.

Sure enough, as the auction began, everyone started bidding.

In the large-scale land reclamation plan proposed by Paul Chater, many companies, such as Hong Kong Land Development, Jardine Matheson and other traditional British companies, did acquire a lot of land and built many commercial buildings.

But now it’s different from before.

Times have changed!

In the few years after 1949, the population of Hong Kong and Kowloon soared rapidly to the current three million, several times the previous number.

The increase in population naturally leads to greater demand for housing, but there is still a lot of land in Hong Kong and Kowloon at this time, especially in the remote Yuen Long area of ​​the New Territories, where the land is extremely cheap.

But people are social beings who live in groups, and not many people are willing to go to Shankara's place.

The geographical location of this No. 1 plot of land in the new reclamation area in Central is very important.

Because this place is in Central, the nearby streets are bustling commercial streets, and it is just a stone's throw away from the Central Pier.

There are naturally many businessmen competing for such a piece of land. Everyone wants to take it, and the Hong Kong Land Development is determined to get it.

Zhao Mancang had thought about acquiring the land himself, but it didn’t matter. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future. The most important thing now was to acquire the Wharf Group.

So, after the bidding started, he also made a bid.

"One hundred and eighty million Hong Kong dollars at a time, one hundred and eighty million, one hundred and eighty-five million, ladies and gentlemen, the price of land number one is now one hundred and eighty-five million Hong Kong dollars."

The auctioneer who presided over the land auction was very excited because the price was very high.

"Two hundred million Hong Kong dollars!"

This was Zhao Mancang's opening bid. When the auctioneer saw the price, he was stunned.

"The guest at table nine quoted a price of 200 million Hong Kong dollars. Is this price true, sir?"

It was obvious that Zhao Mancang just asked Orley to hold up the sign and did not respond to the auctioneer's meaning.

So the auctioneer excitedly continued to bid, hoping that others would continue to bid.

Thomas Chater, the boss of the Hong Kong Land Development, looked at the scene with a grim expression and great displeasure.

Jiang Sidun Keswick next to him frowned like a river, and it was obvious that he was also shocked by Zhao Mancang's generosity.

"Fuck, this damn country bumpkin with yellow skin. How could he possibly have so much money?"

"Thomas, I have to remind you that they really do have that much money. Not to mention the cross-sea tunnel project a few days ago, they immediately put up a 300 million Hong Kong dollar deposit in the government account at Standard Chartered Bank. They have nearly 200 million US dollars deposited in Standard Chartered Bank, First Citibank, etc. Do you think they don't have money?"

Jiang Sidun didn't mention HSBC because he hated HSBC.

Even so, Thomas Chater kept his mouth shut, not even a whisper.

But now Zhao Mancang has already offered a price of 200 million Hong Kong dollars, so will they follow it?
Hongkong Land was founded by James Keswick and Paul Chater, so the Keswick family is also one of the shareholders of Hongkong Land.

Therefore, at this time, Zhao Mancang offered a price of HK$200 million to bid for Land No. 1, in fact, just to raise the price.

If Jiang Sidun and the others don't dare to follow up, then the No. 1 plot of land will be in Zhao Mancang's pocket.

In the original history, in 1970, Hong Kong Land Development Co., Ltd. won the "land king" of the Central No. 1 site at a sky-high price of HK$258 million, setting a record for the price per square foot in Hong Kong and Kowloon.

After the land was acquired, Hong Kong Land Development built the Connaught Building, which became the tallest building in Asia at that time. Later in 1988, Jardine Matheson's headquarters moved into the building and it was renamed Jardine House.

Now that the time has been brought forward by eleven years, there is a high probability that the Swire Properties will be willing to pay the money.

As Zhao Mancang expected, Thomas Chater, the boss of the Hong Kong Land Development, made an offer after discussing with Jiang Sidun.

In fact, they had no choice but to make an offer, because this piece of land, to be honest, was the best gift their ancestors had left them.

After all, it was the land reclamation project proposed by Paul Chater that led to the current Chater Road, Connaught Road, and the Central Pier.

"The Hong Kong Land Company is offering HK$205 million!"

Zhao Mancang laughed when he heard this.

It’s good enough if they are willing to follow up. At this time, we must make them pay more money no matter what and drain their cash flow.

If we compete with Zhao Mancang in cash at this time, apart from banks, there are really few companies in Hong Kong that can come up with more than 1 billion Hong Kong dollars in cash.

"Two hundred and twenty million Hong Kong dollars!"

At this time, Zhao Mancang made another bid, and for a moment, the whole audience looked at him sideways and started to talk. Spending 220 million Hong Kong dollars to buy a piece of land, even if the land was not small, it could even be said to be very large, but the price was too expensive.

Moreover, in the downward economic situation of Hong Kong's real estate market in 1959, spending such a huge amount of money to buy a piece of land was really a waste.

But is Zhao Mancang the one who was taken advantage of?
Obviously not!

In this era, the entire Hong Kong and Kowloon was still dominated by British capital. It was only after the 1970s that Chinese capital began to rise.

Zhao Mancang is an outlier among Chinese investors. After all, he holds more than one billion Hong Kong dollars in cash, making him a real tycoon.

"Two hundred and twenty million Hong Kong dollars for the first time, are there any bids? Don't miss out on this number one piece of land."

"HK$220 million for the second time"

Just when the auctioneer was about to call out the price for the third time and the dust had settled, the Hong Kong Land Development made another offer. This time, Thomas Chater directly called out a price of HK$230 million.

Everyone at the auction site looked at Thomas Chater in shock, and many people even gasped.

The land price record in Hong Kong and Kowloon is getting higher and higher. Is it worth spending so much money?
Upon hearing this, Zhao Mancang immediately called out a high price of 240 million Hong Kong dollars without waiting for others to react.

Everyone was stunned.

The expressions on Thomas Chater and Jiang Sidun Keswick's faces froze instantly: Damn, is this bastard determined to win?

You have to know that before today, no wealthy Chinese had dared to target British investors like this, but today it really happened.

Does this 'Zhao Changshou' really think that he will live a long life?
No, I heard that this person is not married yet. His house is at No. 66 Deep Water Bay, but it was just handed over a few days ago. He doesn’t even appear in Hong Kong and Kowloon very often.

So to be honest, Zhao Mancang is not a wealthy Chinese in Hong Kong and Kowloon.

But no matter what, their land company has been slapped in the face.

"Jiang Sidun, how is it? Should we continue?"

At this point, the price of HK$240 million is really too high. If their land company wants to acquire it, it needs to offer at least HK$250 million, or even higher, to scare Zhao Mancang away.

But in this case, the price is too high.

If the cash of the land company is drained, there will be no way to develop the land even if we acquire it.

loan?

It’s not that easy to get a loan, and the land company already has a lot of loans. Now we can only rely on whether Jiang Sidun can provide some support.

After all, the Keswick family is also a shareholder of Hutchison Whampoa, and the two families are in the same boat. There are even cross-holdings between Hutchison Whampoa and Jardine Matheson.

So at this moment, Thomas Chater can only pin his hopes on Jiang Sidon, hoping that the latter can "make the final decision".

Without Jiang Sidun's approval, Thomas Chater would definitely not dare to act recklessly.

"with!"

Jiang Sidun Keswick stared at the direction where Zhao Mancang was, gritted his teeth and spat out a word, but his heart was bleeding.

He has been having bad luck recently.

First, there was an explosion at Kwai Chung Wharf, which was controlled by the Keswick family. Then, workers at Jardine Matheson went on strike demanding compensation. Then, there was a small move by HSBC, and then the cross-harbour tunnel project.

Now it's time to auction the Central No. 1 land, and the obstacle "Zhao Changshou" has appeared. It can be said that the bad luck has reached the extreme.

Of course, the undersea tunnel project cannot be considered bad luck. After all, the Star Ferry will be affected only after the tunnel is completed. As Jardine Matheson has become the construction party of this project, it can be considered a small profit, which is a consolation.

But overall, Jiang Sidun Keswick is just unlucky.

It is precisely because of bad luck that we cannot give up this piece of land.

Feng shui, luck, etc. are very important in Hong Kong and Kowloon. Although Jiang Sidun Keswick does not believe in this, he knows more or less about it.

If Zhao Changshou gets this piece of land, he will be even more powerful and his momentum will be as high as a rainbow.

After all, Zhao Changshou had already earned more than 1 billion Hong Kong dollars before. If he could get the No. 1 plot of land now, his luck would definitely be better.

Therefore, no matter from which perspective, this piece of land No. 1 cannot be given to "Zhao Changshou".

"Two hundred and fifty million Hong Kong dollars, this is really exciting, two hundred and fifty million Hong Kong dollars."

Along with the auctioneer's voice, the entire auction site fell into an eerie silence because everyone was shocked.

The showdown between British capital and Chinese capital, or more precisely, the battle between 'Zhao Changshou' and British capital, is crazy!

Before today, both the Chinese and Chinese capital were suppressed by the more than 200,000 white people in Great Britain and could not raise their heads.

Just to say one thing, among the real Mid-Levels luxury villas in Hong Kong Island, none of them belong to Chinese capital.

Because at that time, British capital still dominated the world, and Chinese capital did not dare to go to the Mid-Levels area, nor could they go there because the threshold was too high.

If we have to say there is one, it is the garden house purchased by the Zhou family on Croton Road in Mid-Levels.

From the top of the police force to the Legislative Council, the Executive Council, and even the Governor's Office, there are almost no Chinese people. The big companies that affect the lives of Hong Kong and Kowloon citizens, such as Hong Kong Electric Company, Qingzhou Cement, and Hutchison Whampoa Company, are all British-owned enterprises.

Chinese capital is still developing cautiously and sees no chance of emerging.

Chinese tycoons such as Henry Fok, Li Shau-kee, Kwok Tak-seng, Pao Yue-kong, and Li Ka-shing stared at the scene with wide eyes, their faces full of disbelief.

Just when Jiang Sidun and Thomas Chater called out a price of HK$250 million, Zhao Mancang immediately followed suit and called out an extremely high price of HK$260 million.

The original bidding price was to increase by at least HK$1 million, but now it has directly increased by HK$10 million. It's crazy.

If we keep shouting like this, I'm afraid it won't take more than a few rounds before the amount exceeds 300 million Hong Kong dollars.

According to this trend, the record of land kings in Hong Kong and Kowloon will be extremely exaggerated.

"Two hundred and sixty million Hong Kong dollars. Gentleman at table nine, please don't get excited. Let me confirm again. Is this really the bid price of two hundred and sixty million Hong Kong dollars?"

The auctioneer was so excited that his voice trembled, but he asked Orlyfax to calm down, which immediately caused a burst of laughter at the auction.

After the auctioneer confirmed it, Thomas Zhada's face was pale, his whole body was depressed, and he had lost all his fighting spirit.

Based on this auction price and Zhao Mancang's determination to win, their real estate company is bound to lose the inheritance left to them by their ancestors.

Jiang Sidun Keswick, who was standing next to him, stared at Zhao Mancang and immediately raised his sign.

"We are Anglo-Saxons. We come from the great British Empire. This is our country's colonial city. How can a small Chinese like him compete with us?"

The background of Jardine Matheson is naturally not comparable to that of a "Zhao Changshou". Even if the other party has more than ten billion Hong Kong dollars in cash, so what?

In Jiang Sidun's opinion, since 'Zhao Changshou' is so determined to get it, he will personally send him off. It doesn't matter if he doesn't want this piece of land!

"300 million Hong Kong dollars!"

Wow!
As Jiang Sidun Keswick raised the bid price, the whole audience was in an uproar and everyone was completely excited.

Three hundred million Hong Kong dollars?

This is really crazy!
The price of the undersea tunnel project a few days ago was exactly this, and it was won by "Zhao Changshou" at the time, and then cooperated with Jardine Matheson.

They had just cooperated a few days ago, but today they became enemies again, and they are even mortal enemies. What's going on?
It was fine before, as it was all relatively normal business competition, but now it seems that both sides are competing against each other, and it seems that they are really angry.

They won't wait until the auction is over before any real action begins, right?

The real business war is far more brutal and terrifying than imagined. In later generations, there was a technology tycoon named Michael Lynch in Great Britain who was called "Britain's Bill Gates" by the media.

He founded Autonomy while at Cambridge University, and it was listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, and the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in North America.

This is a company that focuses on the enterprise search market, but its name is not as well-known as Google, which focuses on Internet search.

However, Mike Lynch, with his own brilliant operation, sold Autonomy to HP for $11 billion in 2011.

But more than a year later, HP accused Autonomy of financial fraud and was forced to make a decision to write down its assets by $8.8 billion, shocking the world!
Simply put, former executives of Autonomy used improper accounting standards, insufficient disclosures, and false statements to mislead HP about its acquisition valuation of the company.

Immediately afterwards, the two parties began a lawsuit, which lasted for more than ten years. In the end, the court ruled in favor of Mike Lynch and his team.

Then, when Mike Lynch and other executives were driving the luxury yacht Bayes out to sea to celebrate, they all accidentally "sank". Except for the Autonomy executives, the other captains, crew members, waiters, etc. of the yacht survived by chance.

Is it surprising?

If it was really an accident, then the fact that Autonomy's former vice president of finance, Stephen Chamberlain, died in a car accident while running, and all previous executives of Autonomy died accidentally, is enough to prove that this was not an accident at all.

Mike Lynch and his executives conspired to cause HP to lose billions of dollars, so it is reasonable for HP to make these people meet God unexpectedly.

Business competition can never be just gentle and humble on the surface. A cornered rabbit will definitely bite. Besides, HP used to be more than just selling computers.

Now, Jiang Sidun Keswick's gaze was like that of a poisonous snake, and he wanted to eat Zhao Mancang alive. I'm afraid he has already developed the intention to kill him.

But how could Zhao Mancang admit defeat?
Just when everyone thought that Zhao Mancang would not give in and continue to bid, he suddenly closed his eyes to rest.

The auctioneer was a little dumbfounded, but continued with his work.

After hesitating for a long time, under the sharp gazes of Jiang Sidun Keswick, Thomas Chater and others, the auctioneer quickly announced that the Hong Kong Land Development Company had won the Central No. 1 site at an extremely high price of HK$300 million, breaking the land auction price record since the founding of Hong Kong and Kowloon.

There was thunderous applause at the scene, and almost everyone was excited because they were witnessing history.

The land prices in Hong Kong and Kowloon are really too high, not to mention that now is a time when the real estate market is sluggish. It is amazing that such an incredible price can be achieved.

Perhaps the real estate market in Hong Kong and Kowloon is about to usher in a new turning point.

Zhao Mancang ignored the murderous looks of Jiang Sidun and the others and left with regret on his face.

Thomas Chater was originally very excited, but after listening to Jiang Sidun's explanation just now, he realized that the latter was "stealing a chicken but losing the rice", and shot himself in the foot.

"Jiang Sidun, should we send someone?"

Jiang Sidun heard this, but shook his head gently, "Not yet. If someone takes action at this time, wouldn't that be admitting guilt?"

At the very least, we need to wait for a few months or half a year until the heat of this matter cools down before taking action.

Today's auction has completely drained the Keswick family's cash, and they even need to seek loans from other banks.

After all, the 300 million Hong Kong dollars won at the auction had to be paid within a limited time and could not be delayed.

The Governor's Office in Hong Kong and Kowloon must levy land tax, and this matter naturally cannot be delayed.

The next morning, almost all the newspapers in Hong Kong were reporting on the auction price of the Central No. 1 land. It was definitely the king of land, and it was a record-breaking one. All kinds of flattery were thrown out for free.

The citizens of Hong Kong and Kowloon were also very excited, thinking that the economy of Hong Kong and Kowloon was about to rise, especially those who had bought houses.

Many people with money also rushed to take out their money and started buying houses in large quantities. The housing market in Hong Kong and Kowloon has begun to develop.

After seeing the news report in the newspaper, Jiang Sidun and Thomas both showed hatred in their eyes.

On the other side, Pu Weishi invited Zhao Mancang out for morning tea. Pu Weishi, in a good mood, generously said that he would pay the bill today.

After all, Zhao Mancang caused Jiang Sidun to bleed heavily yesterday, which was really gratifying.

"But Nicholas, you better be careful in the future, lest others become desperate and do something stupid."

Zhao Mancang was a little surprised by Pu Weishi's kind reminder, and then he smiled and nodded to indicate that he understood and would definitely pay attention to it.

He doesn't stay in Hong Kong and Kowloon often, so he is not afraid of those so-called conspiracies.

What's more, compared to these, the KGB and the SAM Intelligence Agency are even more brutal and cruel. When has Zhao Mancang ever been afraid of them?

No matter whether Jiang Sidun takes action openly or uses tricks in secret, Zhao Mancang is not afraid.

Next, Hongyuan Holdings, which had been hiding behind multiple layers of fraud, began to launch a takeover offer for Hutchison Whampoa, and for this purpose specially invited two acquisition representatives from North America to help with the acquisition.

Jiang Sidun, who was originally anxious to find someone to lend him money, was immediately surprised when he received a call from the head of Hutchison Whampoa.

So the two sides began negotiations, but the acquisition price of Hutchison Whampoa was kept very low from the beginning.

The main reason is that the undersea tunnel project and the Kwai Chung Pier explosion caused the acquisition price of Hutchison Whampoa to become very low.

After some negotiations, Zhao Mancang finally successfully acquired Hutchison Whampoa for HK$152 million.

After the acquisition of Wharf Holdings, the media was surprisingly quiet, as if they had not heard any news.

Only the upper class, including Paul Kadoorie, Edward Privat, Yue-kong Pao, Henry Fok, and Fok, knew about this matter. The outside world had no idea that the Wharf Holdings had changed hands.

Even Chinese investors like Pao Yue-kong had no idea that it was Zhao Mancang who acquired Wharf Holdings. They only thought that it was American investors who acquired Wharf Holdings.

If Chinese capital acquired Hutchison Whampoa, it would definitely be reported by the media because it would be a very embarrassing thing.

In this way, Zhao Mancang successfully took over Hutchison Whampoa and began to make simple arrangements for the company.

At present, Wharf Holdings should not be too high-profile and should first eliminate the negative impacts brought about by the Kwai Chung Pier explosion and the cross-harbour tunnel.

On the other hand, you can continue to buy land and store it first. Only in this way, you can develop the land after one or two years and make a fortune.

In addition, there is an extremely mysterious dock warehouse on the Wharf side of the Kowloon Wharf. The guards can only stay on the periphery and cannot get close on weekdays.

It's a bit like condoning smuggling.

In fact, those who should pay taxes pay taxes, and those who should be inspected will be inspected. There will be nothing special.

After finishing all this, it was almost December.

At this time, Zhao Mancang had already headed north and arrived at the Tianjin Wharf. Before December arrived, he completed another transaction with Ma Jiugong and others.

This transaction was relatively troublesome for Zhao Mancang because he needed to randomly inspect the goods.

Yes, as he expected, Ma Jiugong and his team brought the reply from the leaders above, and also brought the first batch of clothes and other related products, almost all of which were commonly used in supermarkets.

Zhao Mancang needs to check whether these goods are consistent with the requirements of the cooperation terms he proposed before. Only after confirmation will he take them away.

"Comrade Li, please rest assured. We have checked these clothes, nail clippers, basketballs, uniforms and other goods many times before shipping them here. We are definitely following the cooperation details strictly."

Ma Jiugong and Yuan Yushan didn't care about Zhao Mancang's random inspection at all because they were full of confidence.

From the leaders to the front-line workers, everyone is very happy about this cooperation. After all, this is a very good thing for all of them.

This is equivalent to being able to earn foreign exchange. How can you not be happy?

"I know." Zhao Mancang continued to conduct random inspections while smiling. This was not acting, but a real random inspection.

However, the goods that Ma Jiugong and his team brought were quite good. They were not very numerous, but when counted carefully, the total value exceeded one million US dollars.

After all, the price of a piece of clothing is only about one dollar, which is not cheap, but it is actually not very expensive because it is finally sold in North America.

“Okay, everything is good, there are no defects.”

(End of this chapter)