v2 Chapter 477： Wheelock, regarded as the first bird

Shen Bi's acting skills successfully deceived Governor Youde. In his mind, HSBC's interests may take precedence over the British Empire. After all, HSBC is a listed company, and he is responsible to the board of directors first.

Youde stood in the center of the stage and said: "Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to the Governor's Palace. You have seen the theme of today's banquet. You must have known the purpose of inviting you here, so there is no need to hide it here. ."

"Not long ago, this clown from Argentina dared to attack the Falkland Islands of the British Empire. This is a provocation to the authority of the Empire. Therefore, London has sent troops to safeguard the interests of the British Empire. I believe that victory is only a matter of time."

"As we all know, one shot of a cannon is worth a thousand taels of gold; war is an extremely expensive act. In recent years, the economic development in the UK has been slow, so it can be said that the funds themselves are not very sufficient."

"However, the soldiers on the front line need the most advanced weapons and the most complete logistical support, all of which require a lot of capital to support. Therefore, the British Empire decided to issue war bonds in Hong Kong with an annual rate of return of 5%. I know that all of you are The big entrepreneurs, who are super rich, may not appreciate the 5% rate of return. But this is the greatest sincerity of the British Empire, and at the same time, you should also consider that this is during the war, so I hope everyone can actively buy it.”

"If you buy more than one pound of bonds, maybe the front-line soldiers will have more protection. Here, on behalf of the British Empire, I would like to express my gratitude to you, and hope to get your support."

Youde's speech can be said to be quite satisfactory. He knows that there are super rich people here, and they are all human beings. Talking about too many false things will make people disgusted, and Bao Zixuan's 1 billion pounds will also make him more confident.

But reality throws cold water on our Governor Yoder, and no one buys war bonds after he says it. Even some British companies have no one to stand out, which makes Youde very annoyed. It seems that these people have been in Xiangjiang for too long, and they have no idea why they are able to do business in this land. Back then, it would have been a dream if the British Empire had not relied on its powerful force to make these people so comfortable doing business here.

Now everyone is rich, but when they are asked to contribute, they all retreat. How can they have the dedication of their ancestors, and don't think that when the British Empire loses the rule of Hong Kong, you can still be so comfortable.

They don't show up, but they can't. London is still waiting for news. Youde can only take the initiative to attack and defeat them one by one, otherwise he will be held responsible for failing to complete the task.

Youde came to the small circle of British businessmen and wanted them to take the lead in purchasing. In this way, it is better to ask other Xiangjiang businessmen, especially Chinese businessmen, to dare not refuse.

Youde soon found his first target, John Madden, the head of Heung Kong Wheelock, who was neither strong nor weak, so he was the most suitable as an early bird.

Wheelock is an old British-owned foreign firm. It was founded in Shanghai in 1925 by the British Jew George Madden to operate shipping and storage. Reorganized into Wheelock. After the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, the company relocated its headquarters and fleet to the United Kingdom. However, after the war, its founder had no foundation in China, and instead vigorously developed the shipping business, so as to be able to flee as soon as possible in the event of great changes. Although George retired in 1959, the strategy of developing shipping to reduce political risk was followed by his son, John Madden, which left it far behind and eventually changed hands.

In 1976, Hong Kong's economy recovered and the real estate market boomed again, which expanded Wheelock's real estate business. In 1977, it developed the first phase of Fortune Garden with HK Electric in North Point, and built industrial buildings in Tsuen Wan and Xinpugang. The Group's asset value increased significantly. Nonetheless, when Wheelock developed real estate at that time, it preferred to revaluate the lower land and allocate it as capital, and then cooperate with other powerful developers to dilute the profits. Among them, in 1980, Wheelock’s Federal Real Estate and Li Chaoren’s Cheung Kong Industrial Co., Ltd. formed Zhuojian Investment Co., Ltd., each holding 50% of the equity; Zhuojian first purchased Wheelock’s Union Building and International Building for 1 billion yuan, and received the first payment. 500 million in cash, and then with the help of Zhuojian, Li Chaoren sold the two buildings for 2.235 billion, and then let Wheelock cash out 1.1 billion, and Li Chaoren also shared 1.1 billion, after deducting the 500 million originally paid to Wheelock, It made 600 million yuan in just a few months. Wheelock's lack of confidence in Heung Kong's prospects and its overly conservative business practices have resulted in its profitability falling far behind developers such as Cheung Kong and Sun Hung Kai.

However, the good days did not last long. The real damage to Wheelock was caused by the retrogression of the shipping industry in 1980. From 1979 to 1980, Bao Yugang was pessimistic about the prospects of world shipping and sold a large number of ships, but Wheelock not only purchased a large fleet of ships from Bao Yugang at this time, but also further ordered new ships in Japan, Spain, Denmark and China. In just 3 years, the number of fleets has increased by 18 rounds. In 1982, the net fixed assets of its fleet reached 1.633 billion yuan, an increase of 70% compared with 941 million yuan in 1979. This misjudgment eventually caused Wheelock to record a loss of 60 million yuan in 1983. In contrast, Bao Yugang saw that his second largest customer, Japan Shipping Company, was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1978 due to poor management, and he was deeply wary of shipping, and then adopted the strategy of "abandoning the boat and landing", selling a large number of ships at low prices. The fleet even dismantled oil tankers for scrap iron sales. By 1986, its fleet had been reduced to 65 ships with a deadweight of 8 million tons, only 40% of the heyday.

Although Wheelock is in a period of hardship, the dead camel is bigger than the horse, and the rotten boat still has three thousand nails; it is not a big problem to ask them to come up with some money. And Youde believes that as long as Wheelock bought the war bonds, there is no reason for other companies to refuse.

In times of difficulty, you can have Wheelock's difficulties, and people have already paid to support the country's war effort. The others were too embarrassed to watch by the side.

Governor Yoder came to John Madden and said, "Hello, Mr. Madden. We haven't seen you for a long time, how are you doing recently!"

Seeing that Governor Yoder came over, John Madden actually wanted to leave, knowing that this old boy would be bad for coming. But now that he is greeted with greetings, it is impossible to ignore him. No matter how you say he is also the governor, you still have to give the face that you should give.

Although John Madden does not have the ability and courage of his father, he is still a qualified leader. At least there are no major flaws in management and operation. It may be that the vision is slightly worse, and the prediction of the international situation is much worse.

John Madden: "Recently, the global shipping industry has been sluggish, so Wheelock's shipping business has been greatly impacted. The company is also in a difficult time, and I hope His Excellency the Governor will give more support."

Hearing John Madden crying poor in front of him, he just didn't want to buy war bonds. How could he get his wish? After all, he had to pay him to come here.

Youde: "Wheelock can't be as serious as the crisis facing the British Empire, no matter how difficult it is. Now is the time when all the British people need to share the responsibility. Therefore, I hope the Madden family can be the leader."

John Madden doesn't want to be such an early bird. Not only is it not good, but many people will think you are a soft persimmon who will pinch you if you want in the future.

John Madden: "There are many richer people in Hong Kong than Wheelock and the Madden family. Your Excellency the Governor should ask them to be the leader. The strength of the Madden family does not allow me to do so."

Youde thought that if someone was willing to do it, I would come over to find you. I really thought of myself as a scallion. But that can't be said now, after all, it came to John Madden.

Youde: "This matter is decided domestically. With the rise of Chinese capital, the status of British capital in Hong Kong has declined a lot. There are fewer and fewer companies like Wheelock that are still run by the founding family, so London hopes that Wheelock will Feng can play an exemplary role.”

Why didn't he go to HSBC, Jardine, and Taikoo to be the leaders, because he was worried about rejection. I am still too angry with my Jewish identity. It seems that the British have never regarded them as their own, and sometimes they need you to be an early bird.

Now that the high-level Londoners have been used to oppress people, there might be other things going on in a while! If you know you can't refuse, then it's better to accept it happily, so that you can at least settle down.

John Madden: "I don't know what Your Excellency the Governor wants Wheelock to do. The Madden family will not decide if they can contribute to the country."

Hearing John Madden's answer, Youde said with a smile: "You purchased 50 million pounds of war bonds on behalf of Wheelock. After the war is over, it is a great achievement for the Madden family."

John Madden: "Your Excellency, Wheelock doesn't have that much cash on hand at the moment, so there's no way to complete the mission."

Youde: "I know that you are in difficulty, so you can contact the bank for a loan. Don't Wheelock have a lot of giant ships! You can use it as a mortgage loan, and then use the loan to buy government bonds."

Hearing Governor Yoder's method, John Madden's nose was almost crooked. Wheelock would spend a higher interest rate loan than the war bond yield and then buy the war bond. In this way, millions of pounds are posted every year. What is the difference between this and Ming robbing And the most important war bonds do not know when they will be cashed, but bank loans have a term, and Interest must also be paid monthly.

Isn't this forcing people to a dead end? It seems that Youde doesn't want to feel better, and the Madden family has not offended him! Why do you keep staring at yourself, it seems that you will figure this out when you go back.

John Madden: "Wheelock's ship has been mortgaged, so I can't make a second mortgage. I can only collect 15 million pounds to show my sincerity. I really can't do anything about the rest."

What Youde wants is to have someone buy it first, and he doesn't care how much. After all, Bao Zixuan has already promised not to disclose the information of his first buyer; even if everyone knows, there are some things that cannot be said clearly.

Now that Wheelock is willing to be such an early bird, it is also appropriate to give them appropriate relief.

After receiving the Governor's message, Joante said into the microphone: "Thanks to Mr. John Madden for his support of the Empire's cause, he has agreed to buy 15 million pounds of war bonds."

Hearing that someone finally made a move, everyone knew that this matter could not be avoided. After all, after someone buys it, the balance in the hall will be broken, and then things are up to you to decide.

Everyone didn't expect that Wheelock actually fired the first shot. Didn't I hear that their funds are very tight recently! It seems that sometimes the rumors can't be believed. This old family is hidden very deeply.

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