Chapter 198 Advice to Gu Long and a Visit from an Old Friend
Chapter 198 Advice to Gu Long and a Visit from an Old Friend
Hong Kong Island, Central, Hong Kong China Building:
Yang Wendong looked at the dozens of photos in his hand and couldn't help but smile and said, "Seven cargo ships for only 7 million Hong Kong dollars. This price is incredibly cheap."
Zheng Yuhua, who was sitting next to him, said, “Yes, the US government itself wants to scrap these freighters, and we are willing to buy them, which saves them the cost of dismantling them;
Tung Chao-Yun bought a total of 11 ships, which cost about HK$600 million, and the price of each ship was about the same as ours.
"Hmm." Yang Wendong asked curiously, "Is Hong Kong the only place in the world willing to buy old ships?"
Zheng Yuhua explained: "Europe and the United States generally do not use such old ships because the maintenance cost is too high. Labor is expensive there, and the work speed is slow and the efficiency is low. It is not cost-effective for them to have ships that need frequent maintenance.
Ordinary countries or regions simply do not have the ability to maintain such cargo ships. On the contrary, Hong Kong combines the best of both worlds. It has all kinds of shipping infrastructure, cheap labor, and sufficient technology.”
"Is that so? No wonder there are so many shipping tycoons in Hong Kong." Yang Wendong nodded.
He had never thought about this issue before, but when he thought about it carefully, it was indeed outrageous that Hong Kong could have several world-class shipping tycoons like Bao, Dong and Zhao.
Although it is because neighboring Japan cannot own large ships after its defeat in the war, there are many places near Japan, and only Hong Kong has produced so many shipping kings.
Zheng Yuhua added: "However, old ships also have their disadvantages, that is, they can only take the route from Hong Kong to a certain point overseas, because after each trip, they need to return to Hong Kong for maintenance;
New ships generally do not have this demand, they can travel around the world and do not need much maintenance, so many large Chinese or British shipping companies now also need to buy new ships. "
"Well, we don't have this demand in the short term." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Let's just focus on transporting from Hong Kong to a certain point overseas."
No wonder many shipping tycoons, including Pao Yue-kong, started buying new ships after they became rich. It turned out that they did so in order to expand markets outside of Hong Kong. After all, if one wanted to become a world-class shipping tycoon, one could not just stick to Hong Kong.
Although Hong Kong is now one of the world's largest cargo transfer centers, it is only one of them.
However, if I want to work in shipping in the future, I will have to buy a new ship.
Zheng Yuhua went on to say: "These seven ships will undergo a pre-departure inspection in the United States and then return to Hong Kong. They are expected to arrive in Hong Kong around the Spring Festival, undergo a comprehensive maintenance and registration, and will probably set sail in early March."
"Okay." Yang Wendong looked at Wei Zetao and asked, "Old Wei, Changxing Industrial should prepare for production and stock up in advance. Once the ship is ready, we will ship it out immediately."
"Okay, there's no problem with production." Wei Zetao added, "But as for storage, with so many new boxes produced, we'll need a lot of warehouses to store them, and the new boxes can't be piled too high."
"Then just buy a nearby warehouse, or buy the land yourself and build a warehouse." Yang Wendong said nonchalantly: "The funds in Changxing Industrial's account will be wasted if they are not used."
The funds for purchasing the ship this time came from Changxing Industrial. Among the many industries currently under his control, Changxing Industrial is a huge cash cow.
Although real estate and shipping have great potential in the future, it is still too early to make profits.
If he had a lot of assets and the bank was willing to lend him money, investing in land would be the best option. However, knowing that there would be a real estate crisis in 66, he made selective investments.
Properties in Central that won’t drop much are naturally the first choice, but there is another type, which is large tracts of land that are not very valuable nowadays, such as the many warehouses near Tsim Sha Tsui or land that can be used to build warehouses.
These places are not very valuable now, how much can they drop in 66? But when the Hong Kong real estate rebounds in the 70s, Tsim Sha Tsui becomes a new commercial area and the business circle expands outward, then it will be valuable, whether you develop and sell it yourself or hold the property.
Not to mention, Changxing Industrial itself now needs a warehouse, so this investment kills two birds with one stone.
"Okay." Wei Zetao agreed and said, "Then should the purchased property be considered as our Changxing Industrial or Changxing Real Estate?"
"This is yours for now, right?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "When the time comes for development, we can sell it to Changxing Real Estate at the market price, or with a slight discount.
Lao Wei, when you need to build new properties in the future, you can acquire more land, but Changxing Industrial should not be involved in the real estate business. "
Real estate is poison to entrepreneurs. Once they are involved, they may become lax about other industries. Changxing Industry may be a little special with high profits, but if they are allowed to engage in real estate alone, it will definitely affect their own industries.
Therefore, not only Changxing Industrial, but also several other subsidiaries are not allowed to engage in business outside of their main business. Even if they are optimistic about the business, they can just ask the corresponding sister companies to do it.
"I understand." Wei Zetao nodded.
"Okay, that's it for today." Yang Wendong continued, "In the future, you need to cooperate more internally. If there is anything, try to discuss it internally. If you can't make a decision, come to me."
Although his own industries have already involved manufacturing, media, real estate, and shipping, these are also related to each other, and it is not the case that he can do whatever he thinks of.
While expanding his own business, he also hopes that each business can promote each other to a certain extent.
Afterwards, Yang Wendong went down to the third floor and took a look at the two media companies.
Everything was still going normal at the Hong Kong Chinese Daily, with sales growing slowly. I happened to meet Gu Long who was preparing to submit a manuscript.
"Xiongsheng." Yang Wendong walked up to Gu Long and said with a smile, "How is your novel going recently?"
"Mr. Yang?" Xiong Yaohua seemed to be thinking about something. He was startled by Yang Wendong's voice and then said, "The manuscript has been submitted, and this book is finished.
I was just thinking about what to write in the next book. Qin Sheng asked me to keep writing novels. I have to start a new book after finishing the old one. "It's urgent. The time is really too tight." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Novels nowadays are not like online novels of later generations, which can be written casually. Authors like Jin Yong and Gu Long have to at least make a rough framework before they start writing.
Even if there are changes later, as long as the outline framework remains unchanged, it will not have much impact.
Now there is no Internet, so it is difficult to find information, and we have to rely entirely on imagining all kinds of stories.
Xiong Yaohua nodded and said, "Yes, but Qin Sheng recently increased my royalties, and I also need money to buy a house, so I have to write a book quickly."
"Are you planning to buy a house?" Yang Wendong asked, "Are you planning to settle down in Hong Kong? Didn't you say before that you might return to Taiwan?"
Xiong Yaohua shook his head and said, "I originally thought so, but my wife is pregnant and my career is in Hong Kong, so I plan to buy a house and settle down here first;
I will consider returning to Taiwan when my children grow up a bit.”
"Well, that's fine." Yang Wendong nodded.
Xiong Yaohua added: "I originally wanted to buy our own company's Titian family, but the houses there are too expensive and I can't afford the down payment."
"That's fine. Go upstairs and find Zheng Zhijie, the person in charge of Changxing Real Estate Company, and ask him to prepare a set for you." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "If you don't have enough funds, just consider it as a loan from me."
If nothing unexpected happens in the future, it is impossible for Gu Long to not be able to pay for a house. That is to say, he is just starting out now, and his funds are not enough, and his fame is not big enough;
Moreover, his own newspaper has gained tremendous benefits because of his existence.
Xiong Yaohua was overjoyed when he heard this and said, "Thank you, Mr. Yang. After I go back today, I will only sleep for 8 hours every night and spend the rest of the time working hard on my novel."
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and suddenly said, "By the way, I have a suggestion for you about your novel."
"Please speak, Mr. Yang," said Xiong Yaohua.
Yang Wendong said, "I have also read a lot of martial arts novels, many of which are stories of revenge and killing in the martial arts world. Jin Yong's novels tend to be about national hatred and family feuds. Can you take a middle path?"
"Middle route?" Xiong Yaohua was a little confused and asked, "Mr. Yang, do you mean there are both the underworld and the government?"
“Yes,” Yang Wendong said, “I think the existence of government in novels cannot be ignored;
Jin Yong's novels look at history from a very high perspective, and your previous novels over-emphasized the power of the underworld, so it would be better to blend the underworld with the government, so that they can check and balance each other. At least it should conform to a certain logic, that is, people in the underworld are within the power of the government, and they cannot ignore the government, right?"
"That makes sense." Xiong Yaohua nodded and said, "Let the protagonist of Jianghu also be controlled by the government, and it can tell a lot of stories."
Yang Wendong added: "I have an idea. You can write a protagonist who is very good at solving cases, Xianyun Yehe, but can also help the government solve cases. How about it?
I think a lot of people like to watch this kind of crime-solving plot, and many movies often show this kind of story."
"Solve the case?" Xiong Yaohua thought for a moment and asked, "But since he is a free and easy person, how can he help the government? But if he is given an official title, the feeling of the underworld will not be able to be written."
Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Why not write about the protagonist being framed and having to prove his innocence and help the government solve the case?
The rest of the story will depend on you, for example, a series of cases are all caused by a prince trying to usurp the throne."
"Good idea." Xiong Yaohua found the idea more and more interesting. He quickly took out a sticky note from his side and wrote it down. He said, "I always carry a sticky note with me so that I can write down any ideas at any time."
"Well, it's a good habit." Yang Wendong praised. A good memory is not as good as a bad pen. This is an eternal truth.
After a while, after Xiong Yaohua finished writing, he discussed it with Yang Wendong, and then left happily. Before leaving, he said with a smile: "Mr. Yang, if you write novels, you may become a martial arts writer."
"I only have ideas, but no writing skills." Yang Wendong shook his head and said.
He had just told Xiong Yaohua some of the main story lines of Lu Xiaofeng and Li Xunhuan in their previous lives, just to let him create a martial arts novel about solving ancient crimes.
Such stories are attractive in themselves. Moreover, when I enter the television and film industry in a few years, crime-solving stories can be easily adapted into movies or TV series.
Of course, he only told me the type of story it was about. He didn't say anything about the case in the plot or the protagonist's special skills.
Several industries under Changxing Group also quickly entered a state of normal development.
In January, Yang Wendong participated in another real estate auction and won two residential plots to continue developing high-end residential business.
Time soon came to the end of January. On this day, a distinguished guest came to Changxing Industry, and Yang Wendong personally went to the door to greet him.
"Hello, Ms. Elena." Yang Wendong said with a very polite smile.
The person who came was the first white guy who helped him expand his business when he started his business.
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)