African Nationhood

Chapter 90 Henry Shipping Company
  New York, Manhattan, Fifth Avenue.

Walking on the streets at the end of the 19th century, Shijintang was boring.

The environment here is neither good nor bad, and there is no Empire State Building for him to climb up and see far.

There was no Statue of Liberty for him to admire and play with.

I heard that only one arm of this thing was delivered, and the rest of the French were still working on it.

After wandering around for an hour, Shi Jintang walked into the agreed-upon cafe without interest.

After waiting for more than an hour, his guest finally arrived.

The visitor's name is Donn Williams, and he is an authentic American.

It seemed that he was in his thirties at most, not tall and thin.

His blue eyes are very distinctive, and his nose is particularly curved, making him unforgettable.

This guest was the son of John Williams, one of the founders of Guyon Shipping Company.

His father took a back seat due to his age.

Another founder, Stephen Gain, has also authorized Don Williams to negotiate with Shi Jintang on behalf of Gain Shipping Company.

"Hello, Mr. Williams, please have a seat."

Tang En Williams was surprised by Shi Jintang's skin color and age, "Please forgive me for being abrupt, how old are you this year?"

"It doesn't matter, I am 21 years old this year and I am Chinese."

The other party obviously didn't know which country the Chinese were from, "Oh, China?"

"The Qing Kingdom in the Far East is my mother country."

"Oh, I know, please forgive my ignorance."

"Nothing, what do you want to drink?
  The coffee here is very bitter, but has a mellow aroma.

If you add more sugar and mix it with a little milk, your tongue will definitely scream out. "

Tang En Williams did not expect that this Qing man could actually have the humorous ability of Europeans and Americans. He chuckled and nodded, "Thank you for your suggestion."

……

After the waitress left, Dunn Williams picked up the blend of white and black coffee and took a sip.

"Well, it is indeed delicious, a good experience."

Shi Jintang did not respond to the other party's topic. He was currently checking the information on the ships operated by Gaien Shipping Company.

USS Arizona:
  Registered tonnage: 5147 tons

Year launched: May 1879, 5

Hull length: 140 meters

Hull width: 13.8 meters

Main power source: three-crank reciprocating steam engine
  Power: 6400 HP
  Speed: 15.5 knots

Daily coal consumption: 135 tons

Coal carrying tonnage: 1200 tons

Number of passengers: 1080 (145 in first class, 206 in second class, 729 in third class)
  Massachusetts number:

Registered tonnage: 2585 tons

Year launched: May 1875, 4

Hull length: 84 meters

Hull width: 12.3 meters

Main power source: double-shaft steam engine
  Power: 3800 HP
  Speed: 12 knots

Daily coal consumption: 68 tons

Coal carrying tonnage: 670 tons

Number of passengers: 600 (first, second and third class)

Illinois:
  ……

Ohio:

……

The total tonnage of the four ships reached 13518 tons, with a total passenger capacity of 2920 people.

Among these four ships, the USS Arizona is the newest, launched in 1879, and the oldest, the USS Ohio, was launched in 1869.

It has been maintained over the years, but as the service life increases, the maintenance cost will become higher and higher.

There must be this reason for selling this company, but the more this is the case, the more suitable it is for him.

There were better shipping companies, but he couldn't afford them.

"Mr. Williams, what is your psychological price point for selling the company?"

Dunn Williams looked at Shi Jintang, trying to get some information from his face.

Unfortunately, the face of the Eastern man in front of him was tense and he could not capture any useful information. "This shipping company carried my father and my uncle Stephen..."

"Sorry, Mr. Williams, I am not interested in you or your company's history. I only care about the price."

“My psychological price is US$250 million, which includes the company’s four ships, two office buildings in New York Port and Liverpool Port, two warehouses with a total area of ​​4 square meters, 1200 company employees, and operations between the United Kingdom and the United States. license."

This price is really not expensive. In 1886, Liu Mingchuan, the former governor of Taiwan, spent 108 million taels of silver to purchase 6 civilian steam iron ships with an average draft of more than 1000 tons.

The Qing Dynasty spent 1891 pounds in 11 to buy two 1864-ton steam iron ships.

The total price of Guyon Shipping Company is equivalent to 50 pounds, which also includes properties and warehouses. More importantly, there are more than 200 skilled crew members in the company.

As for the operating license between the UK and the US, it is a certificate for receiving British government subsidies.

Commercial cruise lines like Guyon Line, which ply the Atlantic, receive tens of thousands of pounds in subsidies from the British government every year.

In 1883, the Inman Line went bankrupt due to the crash of its cruise ship, and had no choice but to sell itself to the American International Line.

Because of this incident, the British government stopped subsidies to Inman Shipping Company.

The new Inman Company had to lobby the U.S. Congress.

Inman eventually received a subsidy from the U.S. government and thus flew the American flag.

Based on Shi Jintang's connections within the British government, if he buys Guyon Shipping, the subsidies will most likely continue.

After all, his partner, Sir Henry Bannerman, is currently serving as Finance Minister of the War Department.

Shi Jintang calmly took out a piece of information from his suitcase and handed it to Tang En Williams.

“This is my investigation into the financial situation of Guyon Shipping Company.

It clearly lists that Stephen Gain was convicted of embezzling public funds privately in 1880.

As a result, the coal supplier was unable to settle payments in time, and Guyon Shipping Company was asked to apply for a financial freeze.

The company's founder, Stephen Gein, was also imprisoned for three years for this matter.

In addition, due to the arrears of wages to employees, more than 20 employees applied for the union to intervene in the investigation of Gain Shipping Company's labor relations.

In addition, the Ohio owned by your company is in urgent need of repair due to a steam engine failure...

If all these things are added up, your company still has a lot of problems. "

After hearing this, Tang En Williams' expression suddenly changed, "Mr. Shi, please listen to me on these matters..."

Shi Jintang waved his hand, "I'm sorry, I don't want to hear any explanation. I just want to ask if you are willing to sell.

If you are willing to sell, we will negotiate a suitable price.

Otherwise, there is no need to waste each other’s time.

Also, after I buy the company I will change the route and will no longer operate this route.

You can find a way to transfer the operating license, and you are not responsible for the American employees in the company. "

Workers' rights at this time are bullshit, and the unions are desperate for money. As long as they are given enough money, they can do whatever they want.

Dunn Williams thought for a long time, and finally the two parties reached a deal, and the deal was completed for US$200 million.

The deal does not include cruise ship licenses between the United Kingdom and the United States, properties and warehouses in the Port of New York and 109 American employees.

After the two sides shook hands, Shi Jintang urged the other party to sign the agreement as soon as possible.

The cost of his acquisition of the shipping company came from a mortgage loan based on 40% of the shares of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals.

The total amount is US$200 million, and the repayment period is as long as 18 years.

Fortunately, his annual income from Johnson & Johnson and cigarette lighters can fully afford this repayment.

All the previous surplus money was deposited into a foundation named after him, which has been purchasing land in Manhattan over the years.

As for the listing application of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Company, it will not be approved so quickly and requires a waiting period for listing.

The handover from Guyon Shipping Company took some time.

After the handover was completed, he took Ouyang Geng, Cai Shaoji and others directly to Liverpool on his own cruise ship.

At the same time, the new shipping company was renamed Henry Shipping Company. After arriving at the port, the new company explained the situation to the British crew and re-signed a labor contract.

After doing this, Shi Jintang directly renamed his four cruise ships: Anhai Town, Jinshan Town, Hot Spring City and Rand Fortress City.

The Landfortress still needed repairs and maintenance, and Shi Jintang took advantage of the cruise ship's maintenance period to go to London alone.

I met my old friend Sir Henry Bannerman in London and reminisced about old times.

Shi Jintang gave 1% of the shares of Jingou Mining Company as a gift in exchange for Sir Bannerman's help in obtaining a new operating license for Henry Shipping Company.

The new shipping company operates two routes, one is from the United Kingdom to Southwest Africa, with one flight every two weeks, and the other is from Southwest Africa to Hong Kong.

The British government subsidizes Henry Shipping Company 7 pounds every year and allows Henry Shipping Company to operate the immigration business from the British mainland to southern Africa as an agent.

After everything was over, Shi Jintang finally embarked on a journey back to Southwest Africa.

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  (End of this chapter)