Financial freedom starts with smiling at life

"Has Mr. Lei arrived?"

Chairman Zhu of Chang'an Group addressed him respectfully.

Jiang Beicheng was chatting with Li Shufu about winemaking when he heard the voice, turned around, and greeted Lei Jun with a smile.

"President Jiang, Chairman Li," Lei Jun greeted them politely, apologizing for being late.

Finally, he didn't forget to shake hands with Chairman Zhu, saying, "Chairman Zhu."

Chairman Zhu's identity is different from that of several other prominent entrepreneurs.

He does indeed hold an administrative rank.

Especially after Changan Group was restructured into an independent central enterprise, his rank became even higher.

Zhu's standing among his peers cannot be measured by the same criteria used to measure an entrepreneur's net worth.

However, he is a very approachable and humble person, and a quick-thinking and progressive leader of a central state-owned enterprise.

He has a good personal relationship with entrepreneurs from the Jiangnan City General Chamber of Commerce in Jiangbei City.

Similarly, it has established a very good image among its peers.

Zeng Yuqun joked, "The last time we all gathered like this was at the World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference in Beijing."

"If it weren't for President Jiang organizing this gathering, everyone would probably have left after finishing their business in Chengdu."

"The biggest regret is that President Jiang did not appear at this year's Beijing Auto Show," said General Manager Zhang of Seres. "If he had been there, the forum would have been much more interesting."

Jiang Beicheng chuckled and said, "Mr. Zhang, are you still holding a grudge against me for taking your title as the richest man in Jiangnan City? Are you making fun of me in front of so many of your peers?"

Before Hurun's interview was published, the nominal richest man in Jiangnan City was Mr. Zhang of Seres, who completely turned his life around by getting on Huawei's coattails.

The subsequent "boundaries" launched by Huawei HarmonyOS are no match for Wenjie.

After Hurun assessed Jiang Beicheng's wealth, Jiang Beicheng became the industry's recognized richest man in Jiangnan City.

At the time, it was speculated that he had a net worth of 50 billion.

Later, everyone realized that this number was just the beginning.

How much money is it exactly?

He remains a mystery within business circles.

Jiang Beicheng jokingly called out to Chairman Zhang to lighten the mood.

"No, no, as long as President Jiang is in Jiangnan City, no one dares to covet the title of the richest man." President Zhang waved his hand and laughed.

Old Wei said, "When we came in together just now, we were discussing who the real cash king was, the Beicheng brothers or Boss Lei?"

Lei Jun humbly said again in front of Jiang Beicheng: "Every time we talk about the topic of the cash king, I feel ashamed and unworthy of the title."

"It's fine for netizens to joke around, but my colleagues shouldn't overpraise me."

He reached out to Jiang Beicheng and said, "President Jiang, you can take over this role."

I was nervous.

Jiang Beicheng patted Lei Jun's arm with a smile, knowing the cautious style of entrepreneurs of their generation, afraid of being praised too highly and then falling down and hurting themselves.

"Alright, Mr. Lei, I've already given you the nickname 'Cash King.' You don't need to be so nervous. We're all people who have made significant contributions to economic development and construction, so you should be confident in your abilities," Jiang Beicheng joked.

The group looked toward Jiangbei City.

First, they raised their eyebrows slightly, then both of them smiled.

Unexpectedly, Jiangbei City actually dared to accept the nickname "Cash King".

What I didn't expect was that he would say such a thing.

This young entrepreneur's thinking is indeed very different from that of his generation of entrepreneurs.

They are quite confident in themselves.

The statement "We are all people who have made significant contributions to economic development" is an attempt to elevate the social status of businessmen.

It could even be seen as a strong confrontation with the political establishment.

Apart from Jiangbei City, none of the other wealthy people present today would dare to say anything similar.

“Let’s talk about bars instead,” Chairman Zhu suddenly interjected, bringing everyone back to reality.

As expected of a leader within the system, he skillfully thwarted the topic brought up by Jiang Beicheng.

If this conversation continues, who wouldn't have some complaints?
If we get carried away at the dinner table and start chatting freely, it won't be good for anyone.

"Hahaha, look, we almost forgot we came to visit President Jiang's wine cellar. We should thank Chairman Zhu for reminding us," Zeng Yuqun laughed. "President Jiang, how about showing us your multi-million dollar whisky?"

Jiang Beicheng smiled and invited a few friends to continue their tour of his wine cellar and see the legendary 1926 set.

After Guo Guangchang visited Wang Jianlin's home, he lost face in business circles and was privately ridiculed by friends and colleagues.

However, everyone also learned from him that Jiang Beicheng's family owned a 1926 house, and especially wealthy entrepreneurs who liked foreign liquor were eager to visit Jiangnan City to have their opinions.

Tea and wine costing hundreds of thousands or millions are common among the wealthy, but wine costing tens of millions is not just a matter of money; it also involves fate and sentiment.

Not every wealthy person is willing to spend this money.

Even if they share the same hobbies, not every wealthy person can be as unwavering as Jiang Beicheng during an auction.

Hesitating for a few seconds, the item ended up in someone else's hands.

Zeng Yuqun: "The bare bottle of 1926, President Jiang must have spent a lot of money on this bottle, right?"

Mr. Zeng has lived in Hong Kong for a long time and usually enjoys drinking foreign wines such as red wine, whiskey and brandy, but he is not as fond of Chinese liquor as Mr. Wei and other mainland entrepreneurs.

He has good judgment.

Jiang Beicheng: "More than 2 million pounds, plus service fees, it's about 20 million."

"I'm curious what it feels like to drink a 20 million dollar whiskey?" Zeng Yuqun joked.

“You’ll know once you try it,” Jiang Beicheng said readily. “But I can’t guarantee it will taste good.”

The vintage wines circulating in the market are actually all blended wines.

For example, Moutai's vintage wines, whether 30 years, 50 years, or 80 years, what customers actually drink are all blended with relatively old wines, provided that the main base wine is no less than the labeled age.

Is it safe to drink a bottle of 80 Moutai that's just been opened?

Where can you find so many old tables that are constantly being supplied to the market?

This bottle of Macallan 1926, valued at 2000 million, is nearly a century old and is a genuine original, sealed bottle.

To be honest, putting aside sentimental value and collectible value, Jiangbei City has to question the taste of this product.

"President Jiang is so generous, but we were just joking. It's enough to just admire these things." Zeng Yuqun looked at the other display cases of 1926 around him. "It's not easy to come to Jiangnan City, and it's even more difficult for everyone to get together. President Jiang is so generous, we can't refuse him!"

I grabbed a bottle of 1926 from a British bottle.

This wine is drinkable straight; it's a limited edition of 40 bottles released globally in 11 by The Macallan.

It is blended with 1926 as the main base spirit.

There is a big difference between blending and mixing.

When blended properly, aged whiskies can have a synergistic effect, where 1+1>2.

Therefore, these bottles of the limited edition 1926 released in 11 are also worth tens of millions.

Jiang Beicheng smiled and said, "I never thought that these wines would stay here after I opened the wine cellar for you."

Mr. Lei, there should be some red wine you like over there.

Old Wei, the white one is at the back, take it yourself.

Now that you're all here at home, if you continue to be polite to me, it means you're not giving me face and looking down on me, your junior.

In Jiangnan City, the highest form of etiquette is hosting a family banquet for guests.

“President Jiang is right, that’s the culture in Jiangnan City. You shouldn’t be too polite with President Jiang.” President Zhang joked, “President Jiang is quite petty. If you give him face, he’ll hold a grudge against you.”

"Hahaha, Mr. Zhang knows me too well." Jiang Beichen wasn't serious either, and joked along to lighten the mood.

Li Shufu: "Is this the painting that Hurun photographed?"

Lei Jun: "I also remember that Zhang Daqian's copy of 'A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains' was worth three or four hundred million yuan."

The group followed Jiang Beicheng to the tea room for tea. As they passed the living room, they saw the famous painting hanging in the center of the room.

Stop and appreciate the art of the master of traditional Chinese painting.

Jiang Beicheng shared his insights on Zhang Daqian's style.

Several of my entrepreneur friends found it very profound.

I admire Jiangbei City's expertise in collecting.

In Lao Wei's words, these rough people don't have the cell to appreciate art.

Even if you have two famous paintings hanging at home and in the office, it's mostly for show.

Just like what Jack Ma said back then, many entrepreneurs have bookshelves full of books in their offices, but they don't actually read them at all.

It's ironic, but it's true.

These automotive industry leaders today will definitely have different insights when it comes to topics like car manufacturing, technology, and science. You can see a clash of multiple viewpoints.

It was comparable to a car forum.

But when it comes to art, everyone in Jiangbei City can only agree and nod in agreement.

President Jiang is truly shrewd; he's not just putting on a show.

Jiang Beicheng has a professional team under his command. Even if he doesn't spend time studying it himself, he will still have some knowledge from being exposed to it.

These things are enough for him to show off in front of his entrepreneur friends today.

“Zhang Daqian, Fu Baoshi, Leng Jun, Chen Danqing… President Jiang, are you planning to collect all the representative works of these famous artists in one fell swoop?” Chairman Zhu joked.

Jiang Beicheng: "Chairman Zhu, it's just a coincidence that he has these quirks."

If one day one's tastes change, these masterpieces won't actually have much value anymore.

Old Wei joked, "Young people are indeed better at showing off than us old folks."

But it sounds great!

He spoke the absolute truth.

Jiang Beicheng's two sentences were indeed quite pretentious.

A famous painting with a market value of over a billion yuan only has emotional value in his eyes.

To put it bluntly, they still don't really care about money.

More than a billion yuan in cash is no small amount.

That's enough for them to start a medium-sized project.

Jiang Beicheng simply stated casually that this amount of money was nothing more than buying a hobby.

Jiang Beicheng also directly stated, "Several billionaires with assets worth hundreds of billions can also experience this kind of happiness."

It means letting them pretend to be something they're not.

His gaze turned to Lei Jun: "When Mr. Lei returned to his alma mater, he generously donated over a billion yuan."

I want to experience that feeling too.

Lei Jun remained humble, waving his hand and not responding.

Being overly humble is actually just pretending.

The group chatted and laughed as they sat down in the tea room to drink tea.

Zeng Yuqun asked, "How many servants does President Jiang have at his manor?"

Jiang Beicheng truthfully replied, "Around 130 people, which is a bit insufficient now. I estimate that the final staffing may be around 200 people."

Zeng Yuqun lived in Hong Kong and came into contact with many wealthy and powerful people, but it was still rare to see a family with two hundred servants, after all, land prices and labor costs were very high in Hong Kong.

The size of President Jiang's manor, if placed in Hong Kong and developed by the four major families, would be worth tens of billions, which is not an exaggeration at all.

Li Shufu: "How much are the annual expenses?"

Jiangbei City: "ranging from fifty million to seventy million."

Lei Jun had just picked up his teacup and hadn't even brought it to his lips when he blurted out, "So high!"

The average annual salary is four to five hundred thousand.

This is hardly the salary of a servant.

In Beijing, this is considered a relatively ideal salary for a working-class person.

"I might as well become Mr. Jiang's employee," Mr. Zhang said self-deprecatingly. "Even engineers at Seres' global R&D center only earn around this much annually."

Jiang Beicheng smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, if you want to work for me, there's an easy way."

Mr. Zhang looked at Jiang Beicheng with a puzzled expression.

“I’ll just acquire Seres,” Jiang Beicheng said with a smile.

Mr. Zhang gave an awkward smile.

His joke was inappropriate, and Jiang Beicheng shut him up.

However, he felt that Jiang Beicheng was exaggerating a bit. Seres' current market value is over 2400 billion, which Jiang Beicheng does not yet have.

But his boastful joke did put him in an awkward position, leaving him unsure how to respond.

Everyone at the table laughed.

They didn't comment on whether Jiangbei City had the capability; instead, they laughed at President Zhang, a CEO with a net worth of several hundred billion, for comparing himself to Jiangbei City's servants.

Jiang Beicheng said to the tea master on duty today, "Yuyu, please introduce yourself."

"Hello bosses, I am Mr. Jiang's personal tea master. I work in the tea industry at the manor. I graduated from Zhejiang University with a bachelor's degree in agriculture and biotechnology and a master's degree in horticulture, and I obtained a master's degree in tea."

Yu Yu is a native of Hangzhou. Her family has been tea farmers and tea merchants for generations, and she has loved studying tea culture since she was a child…

After listening to the introduction.

Lei Jun and Zeng Yuqun exchanged a glance.

The people who make tea for Jiangbei City are all graduates of Zhejiang University.

Following this logic, all the other positions in the manor must also be filled by graduates from prestigious universities?

An annual salary of four or five hundred thousand seems to make sense.

The executives, however, were unsure how to evaluate the situation.

You might say it's a waste of human resources, but they are indeed doing work related to their professions.

If you talk to them about ideals and social responsibility, it seems too selfish, after all, they work in Jiangbei City and easily earn high salaries.

Seeing that the bosses were a bit shocked, Yu Yu realized that this was the time to save face for Mr. Jiang, and then introduced, "Actually, there are many colleagues in the manor who are more outstanding than me."

The butler you meet is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and earns an annual salary of over a million.

The private medical team and nutritionists at the manor are all graduate students and doctoral students from well-known medical universities. Some are on dual employment contracts, working part-time, and still earning high salaries.

To the owners, this might sound ridiculous, but the employees at the manor's horse farm are all graduate students in animal science from the National Agricultural University.

The trainer is a highly paid equestrian director hired by the Netherlands.

Lei Jun and the others could tell that Yu Yu was trying to save face for their boss, Jiang Beicheng, but their first reaction to her story was still a bit of surprise.

Is it really necessary?

This question popped into their minds.

When Lao Wei heard Yu Yu talking about the horse farm, he suddenly remembered something and asked Jiang Beicheng, "Brother Beicheng, is your Akhal-Teke horse at the manor's horse farm?" (End of this chapter)