Chapter 280 HSBC Support and Water Storage Base Station
Chapter 280 HSBC Support and Water Storage Base Station
Bai Liji was very efficient. Three days later, Yang Wendong received a call from the water company, informing him that they could arrange for personnel to come and discuss cooperation.
Yang Wendong naturally did not get involved in such matters, as he did not understand anything about pipelines. He then arranged for an expert in pipelines from Changxing Real Estate, plus several people from the Changxing Charity Foundation, to go and negotiate with the people from the water company. As the boss, he was only responsible for the final approval and payment.
However, the other person would have to be received by Yang Wendong personally.
In a presidential suite at the Peninsula Hotel, Yang Wendong met with HSBC's new chief executive, Mr. Sanders.
"Hello, Mr. Sanders." Yang Wendong said with a polite smile.
"Hello, Mr. Yang." Sanders nodded and then said, "I heard that your Four Seasons Hotel has already started construction. It seems that next year, we can meet in another place."
"Haha, yes, the construction of Kinmen is going very fast. It will be almost finished by the end of next year." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Four Seasons Hotel will also be committed to protecting the privacy of customers and preventing reporters from sneaking in. We also welcome business people to stay here."
Many Hong Kong businessmen like to go to hotels to discuss business. Even locals will find a hotel to discuss business. The richer they are, the more they like to go to luxurious hotels, even presidential suites.
It is rumored that Li Jiacheng would meet Bao Yugang more than ten years later and transfer his Hutchison Whampoa shares to him, and the deal was made in the presidential suite of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
At this stage when Hong Kong's tourism industry has not yet been fully developed, the hotel's business market is very important, so Four Seasons will also develop in this direction in the future.
"That's great. I come to the Peninsula Hotel so often that I'm tired of it." Sanders smiled and asked, "Mr. Yang, the Governor came to me yesterday and told me about your situation. I have to say, I'm really curious. Mr. Yang, are you so sure that this drought will last for a long time?
If there are a few big typhoons this summer and East Guangdong Province gets a lot of rain, the drought in Hong Kong will be over. If you buy so many old cargo ships, you will suffer heavy losses. "
The land in Hong Kong does not store much water, so even if a typhoon comes, it can alleviate the drought, but it will not last long.
But it is different in East Guangdong Province, as it is able to store water. Once East Guangdong Province has water, it can naturally be sent to Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government will naturally no longer need to spend huge sums of money arranging cargo ships to go to East China to fetch water.
Yang Wendong said with a smile: "I personally hope that this drought will end soon. My real estate and industry have also been affected. The money earned from transporting water may not be able to offset this loss. In addition, so many people in Hong Kong are suffering from a lack of water, which is something I don't want to see.
The second reason is that I am very optimistic about the future of the shipping industry, so even if there is a problem with the water transportation business, I don’t think I will suffer a loss financially.”
Speak human words when meeting people, and speak official words when meeting officials.
When facing the Governor of Hong Kong, he naturally had to say that his purpose was to help the Hong Kong government solve problems and help Hong Kong citizens solve the water shortage crisis.
When meeting the head of HSBC, one naturally has to discuss the risks from a business perspective. This kind of capitalist does not care about the life and death of ordinary people, but only cares about his own business and risks.
Sanders smiled with satisfaction and said, "Mr. Yang, what you said is very good. I am also optimistic about the future of the shipping business. However, you have too many old ships. The future operating costs will inevitably increase. I am not very optimistic about this."
"I know this too, that's why I built a shipyard repair shop in Zuijiu Bay. This will help avoid various problems in the future to the greatest extent." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Under normal circumstances, you won't be able to accomplish anything great using second-hand equipment.
It's not just shipping, but also airlines and car rental companies on the ground. If they want to grow bigger and stronger, they have to use new cars.
But in the next five years, there will be a special situation. The Middle East crisis will turn the mobile ships into gold, and there will be little difference between old ships and new ships by that time.
However, he couldn't get enough new ships in just five years, so purchasing second-hand ships was the quickest and easiest way.
However, for a normal banker, such a business method would make them feel a little confused. If they did not have other industries, HSBC would not necessarily help them.
Sanders added: "Well, our bank generally does not interfere with your business model, and what Mr. Yang has done is also of great help to the Hong Kong government, so HSBC is naturally willing to help."
"Thank you." Yang Wendong smiled.
Taking advantage of the demand for water transportation, he bought a large number of second-hand cargo ships and HSBC's support, which was a win-win situation. Otherwise, he would have to invest a lot of his own money to buy old ships.
Even if we can get support from the bank to replace the new ship, it will be too late in time.
"As for the interest and funding amount, I will arrange for someone to go to Changxing Shipping to negotiate later." Sanders added: "But Mr. Yang, in addition to shipping, we can actually cooperate in other areas."
"Of course, we can also cooperate in real estate." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
Changxing Group's strategy is to develop a stable real estate business by cooperating with Chinese banks, and for shipping, it will look for British companies. If it is a new ship, Japanese banks will also be involved.
This is also a balancing strategy. High-quality, low-risk loans to enterprises are also a resource that many large banks want.
But now that HSBC has helped him a lot in the shipping field, he naturally needs to reciprocate.
"Okay." Sanders continued, "I heard that Mr. Yang is planning to build a large museum in Hong Kong?"
"Yes, HSBC is also interested in this project?" Yang Wendong asked back.
Many people already know about such a big event as building a museum, and it is impossible to hide it from outsiders. It's just that the address and scale have not been determined yet, so there is no publicity. But people like Sanders naturally cannot be unaware of it.
Sanders smiled and said, "Yes, although the Hong Kong government will be much cheaper in land transfer for such a public project, if the area is large enough, the cost will not be low. Add to that the construction costs and future operating costs. Mr. Yang will not invest all of it himself, right?"
"Of course not. I also need the help of a bank." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Then how about this? After my team has decided on this matter, I will discuss it with you again?"
The investment for a large museum is also staggering, especially if it needs to be located near Admiralty, so naturally a loan is needed.
He had not considered which bank to choose originally, but now, he would give priority to HSBC.
"Okay." Sanders added, "But I hope that some of my deeds at HSBC can also be included in some of these historical stories."
"Okay." Yang Wendong agreed readily: "HSBC itself is part of Hong Kong's history, so I will not miss it. Mr. Sanders' name will also be recorded in some stories."
Obviously, when people are not short of money, they will start to care about fame.
On the other hand, if he can leave a good name in the history memory, he will be happy to spend some money, since the money is already inexhaustible.
Not to mention, Sanders used the equity of HSBC in exchange.
"Haha, thank you very much." Sanders nodded.
There were some things that he couldn't say openly, so he could only use the name of "HSBC", and Yang Wendong obviously understood "human relations". After meeting with Sanders, Yang Wendong returned to Changxing Building and happened to meet Zhao Liming and Lin Haoyu who came to see him.
"How is it? How is the negotiation with the water company?" Yang Wendong asked immediately.
Although in the process of solving the drought problem this time, he also tried his best to gain some benefits for himself.
But the core of the whole thing is disaster relief and helping ordinary people. Everything else is just done as a by-product, or by using benefits to win over others to help.
The most important thing now is to build the pipeline, because Yang Wendong knows that the current drought is just the beginning. In a few months, it will be the most painful time for hundreds of thousands or even millions of Hong Kong citizens.
In the past, it was already very uncomfortable for many people to have water supplied four times a day, but later it became water supplied once every four days, and in many cases there was no water after waiting for four days.
Sometimes there is not even water to drink, not to mention washing. The poorer the people, the greater the impact. Even if they queue up to get water, they lose their livelihood because they have invested too much time in it.
Lin Haoyu replied: "Brother Dong, the water company is very fast. They have already planned to lead more than a dozen water pipes from the existing water pipes to the squatters in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kwun Tong, Kwai Chung and Kowloon Bay.
Then we will build a water storage station there, so that we can release water during the day and slowly store water at night, and we can also build relevant queuing facilities to avoid chaos. "
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "Can the water company fix the pipeline route?"
The biggest trouble in building pipelines is that they need to be buried underground, especially when they come across roads, houses or other buildings.
Compared to building a terminal water supply point by himself, pipeline construction would obviously be more troublesome, which is why Yang Wendong could not do it alone.
"I asked about this, and they said it was no problem." Zhao Liming said: "I am a little worried, but I don't want to ask too much."
Lin Haoyu said: "Brother Dong, I actually have an idea. You can ask the Oriental Daily or the Hong Kong Chinese Daily to report this matter together and also report the completion time of the entire project.
This way, on the one hand, it will be convenient for many people around to know about our website. Even if they don’t buy newspapers, they will receive news from others. On the other hand, it will put pressure on the Hong Kong government, so the water company will not dare to ignore it. ”
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Okay, I'll let Qin Zhiye be in charge of this matter and will definitely publicize it properly."
If he was to go directly against the Hong Kong government, he would definitely not agree. Even if he had such a need, he would go to Jin Yong's Ming Pao.
But it can also help the Hong Kong government expand its positive reputation, because once the water storage base station is completed, it can also alleviate the drought and reduce the pressure on the Hong Kong government.
But if it cannot be completed on time, it may have the opposite effect.
“That’s good.” Lin Haoyu said with a smile: “In fact, the distance is not very far. Most of the land leading to the squatter area has not been developed. As long as the water company wants to do it, there will be no problem.”
Zhao Liming added: "Yes, if we did not have this right, we would definitely do it faster ourselves."
"Forget about your rights." Yang Wendong paused, then asked, "Have you thought about how to build the facilities for the water replenishment base station?"
Lin Haoyu said: "We have thought about it. We have also discussed it with the people from Kinmen Construction. They suggested that we dig a large pit directly on the spot and then take waterproof measures at the bottom, similar to a swimming pool, but with a larger volume, and then we can store water in it.
Then there are various water supply facilities that draw water from the pool and then supply it out.”
Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "In this case, the water cannot be circulated for a long time, otherwise it will easily become stagnant water and cannot be drunk."
Running water can be preserved for a long time, but water in a pool cannot.
Lin Haoyu said: "Yes, so there is no need to build a large pool at a water supply point. The water plant means that two or three hundred cubic meters is enough. Anyway, the pipeline also transports water in every day."
"It really can't be too big, but a few hundred is too little, let's build one worth a thousand." Yang Wendong paused and said, "If it doesn't work, buy a few air compressors and send air into the reservoir to ensure that the water quality remains unchanged in the short term."
This is actually a backup plan. One thousand cubic meters of water is a lot, but the problem is that there is no water. With a large pool, at least some water can be stored when there is water. The more water can be stored, the better.
If water access restrictions are imposed on the population, at least the water needs for survival of most people around can be guaranteed.
As for wanting to take a good shower or wash clothes, there's really nothing you can do about it.
Zhao Liming said: "Brother Dong, if this is the case, then this base station will require a large area, including a pool, a queue area, some houses, and water management equipment; all together it will require a considerable investment."
"Don't worry about the funding. I will invest in it." Yang Wendong added, "Besides, this is also a public project. I will ask the people from Changxing Real Estate to discuss with the officials of the Hong Kong government and get cheap land."
As long as it involves the purchase of land, the charitable spending today can be earned back from the land in the future.
Even if it is industrial land, it can be converted into commercial land after the drought ends. Building industrial office buildings can also be very profitable before 85.
"Okay." Lin Haoyu said with a smile.
If they can help tens of thousands of people solve the problem of water shortage, they will feel very honored as participants.
After a while, Yang Wendong called Zheng Zhijie and told him about this.
Zheng Zhijie agreed and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Yang. This involves the livelihoods of countless people. I will definitely do a good job."
"Well, okay." Yang Wendong nodded: "Then next, before the drought ends, our entire Changxing Group needs to do its best to help the poor and weak groups in society."
"I understand." Zheng Zhijie said, "Mr. Yang, let me add one more thing. If this water replenishment base station can be built a little bigger, it will indeed be a good real estate business.
According to the Hong Kong government’s previous practice, such land would not be very expensive, and the law also supports social enterprises to participate in public investment.”
"There's no need to over-invest." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "Just invest according to demand. There are plenty of opportunities for real estate investment."
"Okay." Zheng Zhijie nodded.
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(End of this chapter)