A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 145 The Eve of Takeoff
March 3st was the first day after the Oriental Daily's 'Gold Draw' event ended, so sales on this day were crucial.

To this end, Oriental Daily printed 6 copies of the newspaper that day to test the market.

Of course, Chen Guangliang expected that maintaining a stable number of copies above 4 would be a huge success. After all, the increase from 28000 to 40000 copies would have generated a lot of money in advertising fees alone, so the mere 15000 yuan in event fees (12000 yuan for gold) was nothing!
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Huang Chunsun hurried to his office.

"Manager Chen, according to statistics from 20 fixed retail outlets, we've already sold over 42000% of our newspapers. It looks like our sales are at least . We're making a killing this time!"

Chen Guangliang was overjoyed. After all, he had no idea before. If many people gave up on Oriental Daily after hearing that they could not participate in the lottery, they would really suffer a loss.

"Good, big profit!"

Huang Chunsun nodded and said, "It should be stable at around 4.5 copies. If the Commercial Daily is merged into the Oriental Daily, our sales will exceed copies. However, I suggest that although the cost of adding a piece of paper increases, the Oriental Daily should not rush to raise prices. After all, we are still a new newspaper."

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "Of course. We need to be cautious when raising prices. As a high-quality newspaper, Oriental Daily should only consider raising prices after ensuring it has a loyal readership. This year, let's not worry about how much money we can make!"

他们的报纸才0.025元的零售价（2分5厘），低于《申报》的3分6厘，这也是一种优势。明年，再考虑将价格提高至3分以上。

As for the number of sheets, we usually print 6 sheets on weekdays, and consider printing 8 sheets on weekends.

After chatting for a few words, Huang Chunsun left, and Chen Guangliang was about to leave the newspaper.

As long as the sales volume is confirmed to be above 40,000, Chen Guangliang will no longer focus his work on the newspaper, but will return his focus to Changjiang Real Estate.

The Oriental Daily News gave him fame and power, while Cheung Kong Properties gave him wealth. Naturally, the other industries were also very important.

There is absolutely no problem with being busy, this career is nothing!
The next day was the first day of April.

In the morning, Chen Guangliang followed Wu Kaisheng to the Public Works Department under the Municipal Council of the International Settlement.

The highest administrative unit in the International Settlement was the 'Municipal Council', and the highest administrative unit in the French Concession was the 'Municipal Council'.

The "Public Works Department" is a department that specializes in managing construction, land, roads, and municipal affairs. This time when Chen Guangliang and Wu Kaisheng came to the Public Works Department, there were not only officials from the Public Works Department, but also officials from the Finance and Taxation Department.

Regarding the permission for 'strata sales of houses', these people will give the final permission.

What can be confirmed at present is that it is "not illegal". There is no relevant law or regulation to say that it is illegal. Once this is confirmed, even the Municipal Council has no reason to refute "layered sales". The only thing that is holding them back is the "property deed".

It’s time for inquiry.

William, an official from the Public Works Department, asked, "If there are three deeds for a three-story house, how do we determine which floor it belongs to?"

The current situation is that the title deed of a three-story building can be divided into three deeds, with 1/3 of the property rights marked on each deed.

Chen Guangliang said in fluent English, "The purchase contracts issued by real estate companies can prove ownership at a certain level, and there are law firms to conduct notarization. The government will only collect taxes according to the ownership ratio stated in the deed, without any impact. More importantly, this will help increase tax revenue for the concession!"

At this time, he saw that these people were still a little hesitant. After all, why should they care so much about something that has no benefit?

As soon as this was said, Turner, an official from the Finance Bureau, immediately asked, "How can it be increased? Can it be a tax collected at different levels, or can it be a price tax?"

Bullshit, then aren’t you harming your compatriots?

However, it can also be seen that foreigners attach great importance to collecting taxes.

Otherwise it would not have happened: some Chinese areas were using the concession's water and electricity, and the concession was determined to collect taxes from them; however, this involved the issue of sovereignty, so the city government would rather not allow residents of the Chinese areas to use the concession's water and electricity.

Chen Guangliang then stood up and gave a speech: "Of course, it's not about raising taxes. Rather, if we can sell properties in layers, it will greatly increase the market's purchasing power, leading to more capital investment in housing and construction. This will make the entire real estate market more active, increase construction investment, increase housing, increase land transactions, and naturally increase government revenue. Therefore, I think this is a good thing for the Municipal Council!"

Officials and staff from both departments showed expressions of approval.

Wu Kaisheng also added: "Since the law doesn't say this is illegal, it's naturally legal. The only thing the Ministry of Industry needs to do now is to change the original one-house-one-deed system to multiple deed books based on different floors. There's no problem here!"

If it is sold in units, it will definitely not work now!

Take an apartment for example. There are many units on one floor, which will lead to many problems, including the handling of public areas.

In the past, Hong Kong was able to sell properties in layers in 1948, but it did not cause much market change at the time. It was not until 1954 that Henry Fok's "installment payment" and "sales in units" really activated the real estate market.

Finally, after some discussion among the foreign officials, William from the Public Works Department replied, "It's feasible. When your Changjiang Real Estate Company sells the house, our Public Works Department will give you the strata title deeds."

"Thank you very much"

This means that other people haven’t received this treatment yet!
Of course, foreign real estate companies would not be interested in this "strata title deed" at all.

They either rent out or sell the entire building. Whether you want to buy it or not, there will always be someone who will buy it.

On the other hand, if Changjiang Real Estate only handles the "stratified title deeds", it will not release much market purchasing power; only "installment payment" combined with "stratified sales" can achieve the best results.

On the way back.

Wu Kaisheng asked, "Boss Chen, I also have a question. If it's sold in layers, the price of one floor will also be quite high. Actually, this won't change the market much, but why are you so confident?"

The price of a one-story house must be at least 5000 yuan!
The previous "construction agency model" of Changjiang Real Estate also costs more than 4000 yuan per floor. In the final analysis, where is the "breakthrough" in this?
Wu Kaisheng recently studied Changjiang Real Estate and indeed found no benefits of stratification for Changjiang Real Estate?
Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "Of course. Our previous 'build-on-agent model' was, after all, just a 20-year lease. But now the 'stratified model' means that the owner has ownership rights. The psychological effect alone makes more people willing to invest."

Wu Kaisheng suddenly realized, then said: "That makes sense. After all, one is a place to return to in twenty years, and the other is a permanent home."

Installment payment is Chen Guangliang’s real trump card.

Take a writer like Lu Xun for example. If he could earn 500 taels of silver a month, it would be no problem for him to buy a floor because he could pay it off in two years.

If he was asked to take out 5000 yuan at one time, since he likes buying books, it is impossible for him to have that much savings.

So, it is quite interesting to let these intellectuals and middle-class people become "house slaves"!

When they parted, Wu Kaisheng suddenly said, "Mr. Chen, was it you who introduced Miss Ruan Lingyu to me?"

Chen Guangliang said frankly, "She was in trouble, so I passed my business card to her. Lawyer Wu, you won't mind it being a trivial matter, right?" Wu Kaisheng immediately said, "This is not a trivial matter. We lawyers also need a certain amount of exposure. Fighting for someone like Miss Ruan Lingyu is also beneficial to our reputation as lawyers. So, he should thank Mr. Chen!"

This is said very generously and without any pretense!

"That's good. If Lawyer Wu could give her some help, that would be great. After all, she's a poor person!"

"Don't worry, since Miss Ruan is already my client, I will do my best to help her. However, I may be sent abroad by the Southern Whale government in a while. Of course, I will arrange for other lawyers to take over if the case is not completed!"

"Well, I wish Lawyer Wu a bright future!"

After getting to know each other, Chen Guangliang also felt that Wu Kaisheng, as a lawyer, was a very upright person.

"Thank you very much"

Chen Guangliang also considered that since Wu Kaisheng was able to help Hu Die handle her marriage disputes in his previous life, then helping Ruan Lingyu handle her marriage disputes would also be a matter of protection.

Something convenient.

But what no one expected was that Ruan Lingyu really considered divorce!
This was happening when her husband, Zhang Damin, filed a lawsuit against Oriental Daily News.

Very good, another news material!
Maybe it can change history and save Ruan Lingyu.

After returning to Changjiang Real Estate, Chen Guangliang immediately called a meeting of several managers, including Deputy General Managers Guo Deming and Lu Yuantai, Wu Xinhe from the Finance Department, Yan Kuan, Deputy Manager of the Construction Development Department, and Sun Yaokai, Manager of the Administrative Office, a total of five people.

During the meeting, Chen Guangliang said, "We have obtained the permission for stratified sales. This means that the Public Works Department can issue stratified property deeds. We can issue fractional property deeds based on the number of floors in a building. I think everyone understands what this means."

Yan Kuan then volunteered, "This means lower housing costs and greater desire to buy. Compared to our previous construction-on-behalf model, now a house like this truly belongs to you. Owning the title deed represents a fixed asset, so the middle class will have a strong desire to buy."

The others nodded, knowing that this was the boss releasing purchasing power.

Chen Guangliang said, "If you buy a house like this, and we allow the buyer to pay a 24% down payment first, and the rest of the money can be repaid within 24 months, what do you think?"

Giving everyone unlimited thinking is conducive to the growth of the team.

Wu Xinhe immediately said, "Based on the price of 5000 yuan for a floor, with a down payment of 1500 yuan, you only need to pay back 24 yuan a month for each of the 140 installments. This will further reduce the pressure on buyers, and even many company executives can afford to buy a floor."

For example, Guo Deming and Lu Yuantai of Changjiang Real Estate now have a monthly salary of 100 yuan and enjoy dividends at the end of the year, so buying is not a problem for them.

In the past three years, Changjiang Real Estate's annual profit may be as high as one million oceans. He will take out 3% of the dividends, so it is not a problem for them to buy houses.

But then Wu Xinhe raised a question: "With a 30% down payment, how can we ensure that owners pay regularly in the future? Especially after moving in, what should we do if owners default on their payments?"

Chen Guangliang said as a matter of course: "According to the contract, we will naturally collect it by force. If that doesn't work, we can only resolve it through legal means. We are not foreigners, so how difficult is it to deal with someone?"

Everyone was shocked, and then they remembered that the boss came from a car dealership, so it was normal for him to have a group of thugs under him.

In fact, in this regard, why do foreigners like to hire compradors, especially Sassoon & Co., all of their rents are collected by compradors, and there is basically no arrears. This is because these compradors have ways to make tenants pay the rent.

If foreigners collect rent directly, although they are powerful here, their power is always high above and it is difficult for it to be passed down to every tenant.

Guo Deming said, "Based on the development time of a real estate project, which is about a year, customers need to pay 12 installments. For the remaining 12 installments, I suggest we centrally store their property deeds and issue them to them after they have paid off their debts. This way, they will be forced to comply with the regulations."

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "That's feasible! We can temporarily keep their deeds while we process the property deeds."

At the beginning, no bank will be involved in this kind of "loan" because the conditions are not yet mature.

As the perfect plan became clearer and clearer, these subordinates also understood one thing - Changjiang Real Estate was about to take off, and the boss, this "real estate upstart", was about to become a true "real estate tycoon".

The initial goal of Changjiang Real Estate is to sell 100 buildings in the first half of the year!

"Okay, next everyone, prepare the brochure for the land for sale and do the corresponding work!"

"Yes, boss!"

Before leaving get off work, Chen Guangliang rushed to the Oriental Newspaper Office again to inquire about the situation.

"It's stabilized above 46000 today, which seems to be much better than expected!" Huang Chunsun also came to report the good news to him as soon as possible.

Chen Guangliang said with great satisfaction: "The original idea was that if the profit remained stable above 30,000, we would not lose money, and if it could reach 40,000, we would make a big profit. Now it seems that we have made a lot of money."

This kind of business practice was a "success story" in Hong Kong's newspaper industry in the past.

Many of Hong Kong's business models were later referred to as "textbooks" when they were introduced to the mainland after the 1980s.

So Chen Guangliang must have had some confidence before using it!
Of course, this does not mean that "Hong Kong is the ancestor in all aspects". In fact, Shanghai in the 20s to 40s was the ancestor of many aspects of Hong Kong.

For example, some gossip in the newspapers has actually come out, but it is relatively obscure, such as a magazine satirizing Lu Xiaoman. There are also commercial means, and many places in Shanghai are also ancestors.

In short, the Shanghai Stock Exchange during this period also had many outstanding aspects!
Then, Chen Guangliang asked, "How are the preparations for the merger of Commercial Daily and Oriental Daily going?"

Huang Chunsun replied, "We will officially merge in mid-April, and we will publish advertisements ten days in advance. I believe that if we don't raise prices, we will definitely retain all our readers."

"Say goodbye to the readers of the Commercial Daily!"

"Um"

Originally, buying two copies cost 4.5 cents, but now buying one combined copy only costs 2.5 cents. That’s the advantage!

Of course, the reason why Oriental Daily has never considered making money is simply because its shareholders are all wealthy, especially Chen Guangliang, who doesn't consider making money at all.

But business cannot continue like this forever. Next year will be the time to make money.

(End of this chapter)