Rebirth of the Hong Kong Millennium Conglomerate

The north wind swirled fallen leaves, turning the city outside the window into a blurry, warm yellow. Zhang Zeyang looked at the calendar; it was already the end of the year.

In the last month of the year, the various companies within the Qian Gu Group moved forward at a steady pace on their respective tracks.

Looking out at the gradually darkening twilight, Zhang Zeyang picked up the phone and called Su Qing, saying, "Have the heads of each company come to Repulse Bay to report on their respective situations starting tomorrow."

The first person to arrive the next day was Vincent Fang.

The newspaper's head, carrying a thick stack of reports, entered Zhang Zeyang's study, gently placed the documents down, and reported to Zhang Zeyang: "Mr. Zhang, please take a look at the performance report for the past few months."

Zhang Zeyang gestured for him to sit down and said, "Get to the point."

"Okay." Fang Wenshan cleared his throat, straightened his back, and said in a calm and unhurried manner, "The daily sales of the 'Eternal Daily' have stabilized at around 450,000 copies."

Upon hearing this number, even Zhang Zeyang raised an eyebrow slightly. 450,000 copies—in a tiny place like Hong Kong, that's practically hitting the market ceiling.

It's worth noting that even established local newspapers that have been deeply rooted in the local market for decades only have a daily circulation of just over 300,000. For "Qian Gu Daily" to reach this level in just ten months is nothing short of a miracle.

"How's the growth momentum?" Zhang Zeyang pressed.

Fang Wenshan's smile faded slightly as he stated truthfully, "The first three months were the peak period, with an average monthly increase of 50,000 copies. The growth rate has slowed down significantly in the last two months, with only 8,000 copies added last month."

We've reached a bottleneck. The Hong Kong newspaper market is only so big; we've basically converted all the readers we could. It's difficult to push further up the value chain.

Zhang Zeyang nodded; he had expected this. The newspaper industry is inherently a competition in a saturated market, and achieving this sales volume in such a short time had already exceeded his expectations. "A bottleneck is a bottleneck; just maintain the core business." He looked up, "What about the magazines and comics?"

"It's still in preparation." Fang Wenshan turned to another page of the report, his tone serious. "We're currently focusing on two main things: recruiting and training. For recruiting, I've traveled all over Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories to various universities, and I've also recruited several senior editors and cartoonists from Japan, all of whom are well-known figures in the industry."

At the same time, I've had senior painters train my own people, but it's not going very well yet.

We've completed the drafts for the comic book, but it's not ready for final release yet. We need to come up with something truly competitive before launching it to the market.

Zhang Zeyang largely agreed. He waved his hand, "No rush, proceed at your own pace. By the way, any progress on radio, television, and film?"

When this was mentioned, Fang Wenshan looked somewhat helpless and shook his head: "There's no one here yet."

"It's alright." Zhang Zeyang was quite optimistic. "Let's focus on developing the newspaper first, and we can deal with the rest later."

After chatting for a few more minutes, Vincent Fang changed the subject and brought up the most crucial financial issue: "The newspaper's revenue these past few months has been quite considerable. The newspaper's circulation revenue, plus various Google Ads placements, has totaled two hundred million yuan."

The figure was impressive, but Fang Wenshan's tone lacked enthusiasm; instead, it carried a hint of wry smile. Zhang Zeyang immediately saw through his thoughts and raised an eyebrow, asking, "What's wrong? No surplus?"

"Exactly," Fang Wenshan shrugged. "Two hundred million seems like a lot, but it gets spent even faster. The newspaper's operating costs are already high—printing fees, royalties, staff salaries—it's a huge expense every month. Not to mention the news agency..."

He mentioned the news agency, and continued, "In the past few months, the news agency has spent 150 million on staff salaries and overseas expenses alone. We now have more than 400 overseas correspondents, distributed in major cities in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, but we are still far from achieving your requirement of 'global coverage'."

Our news bureaus in Africa and South America aren't set up yet, and the situation in the Middle East is complex, so we're still observing. We'll need to continue investing in the news agency next year.

Zhang Zeyang pondered for a moment. The news agency was an important piece he had laid out; it seemed like a waste of money, but in reality, it was a way to seize the high ground in information.

In this information-driven era, whoever controls firsthand information controls the narrative. "Don't worry about the money," he said in a deep voice. "The news agency's development can't stop. Just tell me how much you need."

Fang Wenshan breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and said, "With your words, I feel more at ease. If you have no further instructions, I'll go back and arrange my work."

Zhang Zeyang waved his hand, watching Fang Wenshan's figure disappear through the door, and then tapped his fingertips lightly on the desk.

A moment later, the door was pushed open again, and Li Bin, the general manager of Qian Gu Bank, walked in.

Li Bin wore a well-tailored suit, his hair was neatly combed, and he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. The report in his hand was thinner than Fang Wenshan's, but it looked more refined—after all, he worked in banking, and precision was paramount.

"Mr. Zhang." Li Bin bowed slightly and placed the report on the table. "The expansion of Qian Gu Bank over the past few months is all here."

"How's the network expansion in Hong Kong and Macau going?" Zhang Zeyang asked directly.

"In Hong Kong, we now have 44 branches, basically covering all the core business districts and residential areas in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. We even have two service points on the outlying islands. In Macau, all eight branches are now in operation, from the peninsula to Taipa, from the casino area to residential communities, we have branches of our Qian Gu Bank."

He paused, then added, "With this layout, the bank branches in Hong Kong and Macau are basically complete. The daily growth rate of depositors is very stable, and the deposit volume is also steadily increasing."

Zhang Zeyang nodded in satisfaction, then asked, "What's the next step?"

"Next, we plan to focus more on micro and small enterprise (MSE) lending," Li Bin said, adjusting his glasses. "There are many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong, and financing difficulties are a common problem. We plan to launch targeted microloan products with slightly lower interest rates than our competitors and simplified approval processes, aiming to gain a share of this market."

"Good." Zhang Zeyang nodded. "Risk control must be done well; we can't afford any bad debts."

"Don't worry, we have assembled a dedicated risk control team, all of whom were recruited from HSBC and Standard Chartered," Li Bin said confidently.

He paused, then added, "By the way, the securities company gave the bank 200 million yuan. After the bank used this money to expand, it also allocated 50 million yuan to Qian Gu Group. The remaining funds are still sitting in the bank's account and can be used at any time."

After Li Bin left, there was another knock on the study door. Su Qing stood gracefully in the doorway, holding a thin report in her hand, with a bright smile on her face.

"Mr. Zhang, I'm here to report." Su Qing walked to the desk, handed over the report, and said with pride, "In the past few months, thanks to the stock information you provided, Qiangu Securities has made a net profit of 600 million!"

Six hundred million!

Even Zhang Zeyang's heart skipped a beat at this number. He took the profit and loss statement, glanced at the figures, and sure enough, not a single transaction had gone wrong.

"These profits came exactly as you instructed. Two hundred million will be reinvested in the stock market for rolling operations."

Two hundred million will be used to acquire shares in the companies you specify. The remaining two hundred million has been transferred to my account at Qian Gu Bank.

Zhang Zeyang's smile deepened after hearing this. His secretary, Su Qing, was not only highly efficient, but also understood that while money from the stock market could come quickly, it could only truly benefit the group if it was converted into tangible assets and cash flow.

"Well done." Zhang Zeyang praised without reservation. "The stock market is volatile. From now on, strictly follow my instructions in all operations."

"Understood!" Su Qing replied crisply, her eyes crinkling with joy.

After Su Qing finished her report, they all left. The study returned to silence, with only the sound of the wind outside the window and the ticking of the clock on the wall.

Zhang Zeyang leaned back in his chair, rubbed his temples, and the last two names flashed through his mind—Blackwater International and Black Ice Platform.

He picked up the internal phone and dialed an encrypted number. A hoarse voice came through the other end: "Boss."

"What's the situation in Southeast Asia?" Zhang Zeyang's voice turned somber.

"Everything is going smoothly! Blackwater International's operations have covered major areas in Southeast Asia, and Black Ice's intelligence network has also penetrated all levels."

He paused, then his tone became more confident: "Most importantly, we are now self-sufficient and no longer need to take money from you."

Zhang Zeyang nodded slightly. Blackwater International and Black Ice Platform were the two sharpest hidden swords in his hands, one controlling military force and the other controlling intelligence.

In Southeast Asia, a land teeming with diverse characters and complexities, it is no easy feat to gain a foothold and achieve self-sufficiency.

"Hold onto our territory in Southeast Asia!" Zhang Zeyang said in a deep voice. "Next, we'll look for an opportunity to infiltrate the Middle East and Africa, but we'll proceed cautiously and steadily."

"Yes, boss!"