A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 152 The Biggest Project
On this day, Chen Guangliang came to Watsons' office to meet his "old friend" Humphries Jr., who was the head of Watsons' soft drink business.

Vitasoy has been on the market for more than 700 days now, and its daily sales have increased from 5000 bottles on the first day to more than bottles today, which can be said to be an unstoppable momentum.

The slogan of Vitasoy in its advertisement, "Vitasoy, more than just soda", is actually in direct competition with soda.

Of course, even so, the cooperation between Vitasoy and Watsons has not been interrupted.

This time, Chen Guangliang came to discuss the purchase of additional "bottling business". Once Vitasoy opens up the surrounding markets, the daily sales this year may exceed 2 bottles, so the previous conservative daily sales of 1 bottles is not enough.

The so-called "bottling business" includes not only related equipment but also glass bottles, all of which are obtained through cooperation with Watsons.

Among Vitasoy’s cooperating enterprises, Swire Sugar Refinery is also one of the important ones. These are all well-known companies in Hong Kong.

"Chen, I didn't expect that when you gave advice to Coca-Cola, you were actually planning for your own beverage industry!" Little Humphries said with a smile.

He certainly hadn't known about this the first time, after all, he had sold the bottling business to Vitasoy. But one thing he certainly hadn't anticipated was that Chen Guangliang was actually developing soy milk, and that the product was making a huge splash in the Shanghai beverage market.

Originally, he just thought that Chen Guangliang could only make soda at most, and the result was basically doomed to fail. After all, Watsons' advantages were obvious.

Chen Guangliang responded with a smile: "I have to thank Humphries for his help, otherwise Vitasoy wouldn't be so successful!"

"Haha," Humphries politely invited him to sit on the sofa, then continued, "You're here this time to purchase more 'filling' equipment and packaging glass bottles, right?"

"Of course," Chen Guangliang said readily, "Business is going better than I expected. I want to buy the same equipment and glass bottles again. Next, we will expand into the surrounding markets of Shanghai."

If you don't sell to them, they can go to other foreign companies to seek cooperation. This is not a bottleneck.

Humphries said without hesitation: "There is money to be made, why wouldn't I agree! Don't worry, the same price, the same equipment, we will stick to the last deal."

Chen Guangliang didn't expect it to be so smooth. It seems that this little Humphries is worth getting along with.

Of course, these are also equal exchanges. Not to mention that Chen Guangliang named "Coca-Cola" and made promotional suggestions, it is also normal to buy it at a normal price today.

The only "unethical" thing about Chen Guangliang was that after inspecting Watsons' soft drink business twice, he directly poached seven or eight senior Chinese employees to form the current Vitasoy.

"Thank you very much"

Little Henry Fries's eyes rolled, and he immediately said, "Chen, I heard that you are now a real estate tycoon in Shanghai. I wonder if you are interested in the 60-acre land on Jing'an Temple Road (Nanjing West Road)?"

Chen Guangliang was surprised. As far as he knew, the 60 acres of land on Nanjing West Road was not cheap.

But now his ambitions have expanded greatly. Since he sold 5 buildings in early May through the method of "installment payment and layered sales", many banks and money houses have approached him, offering to provide cooperation such as loans.

Of course, there are also real estate companies and wealthy people who hope to cooperate with him and get a piece of the pie.

In this situation, Chen Guangliang also had the courage to ask: "I wonder what the price is? Where is the location?"

Seeing Chen Guangliang's interest, Little Humphries immediately spoke up, "It's the Dahua Hotel and the surrounding land, totaling 60 mu. A Chinese real estate tycoon, Sun Chunsheng, is currently negotiating for this land, and his asking price is 220 million taels of silver. If you're willing to offer a higher price and give me a commission, I might consider introducing you to several important shareholders of the Dahua Hotel."

Oh my goodness, it looks like he is waiting here!
I earned 4500 yuan as a name-changing fee from him, but now it seems like I'm earning a large agency fee for myself.

Of course, Chen Guangliang was very tempted by this piece of land. 60 mu of land cost only 220 million taels of silver, which was less than 4 taels per mu. Not to mention, it was sold together with the Dahua Hotel, which made it even more worthwhile.

More importantly, this piece of land is above Jing'an Temple Road (Nanjing West Road), and is closer to Nanjing East Road than the land of the Paramount in later generations.

Chen Guangliang had a profound influence on the location of the Dahua Hotel.

Firstly, the major shareholder of this Majestic Hotel seems to be the 'Shanghai Hongkong Hotel', that is, the Kadoorie family;

Secondly, the Grand China Hotel has a glorious history. In the winter of 1927, the commander-in-chief and Miss Song got married here. It was also one of the best hotels before the Cathay Hotel opened.

Finally, Chen Guangliang also had some impression of this 60-mu land, which was located at the intersection of Nanjing West Road and Jiangning Road (the area around Meilong Town Square in later generations).
Chen Guangliang immediately asked, "I wonder how many owners there are of this land, and whether they have reached an agreement?"

When he heard that there were several shareholders, he also considered the risks involved. After all, he was not a real estate novice and was familiar with the ins and outs of it.

Humphries Jr. said, "Sun Chunsheng used his familiarity with English and American law to work through the board executives and several key shareholders, essentially reaching an agreement. Because the board executives have this power, even if the other small shareholders object, it's invalid. And naturally, several key shareholders, including Watsons, prefer to sell."

I see, there's no big problem here.

Chen Guangliang said decisively: "I am interested. If this transaction is completed, I am willing to pay you a 2% commission."

It is more than one kilometer east of the Paramount land.

In the previous life, around 1930 or 1931, six acres of land in the Paramount were sold for about 70 silver dollars.

Therefore, the appreciation of the land alone can make him break even.

What's more, Chen Guangliang believes that these 60 acres of land can be developed into a "large residential community", which is a rare and high-quality project.

In terms of risk, Chen Guangliang can conservatively earn three million yuan from the real estate project on Yuyuan Road alone, so he can take the risk.

Humphries immediately said, "Deal! I'll introduce you to Jardine, the executor of the board of directors. Of course, if your price isn't higher than Sun Chunsheng's, then there's no need to negotiate!"

"Okay, I understand!"

Chen Guangliang knew Sun Chunsheng, who was also a real estate speculator.

This person was born in 1899. His uncle was the comprador of the British-owned real estate company, Yip Kuang Company. With the recommendation of his uncle, he joined Yip Kuang Real Estate Company as an intern at the age of sixteen.

Sun Chunsheng was a brilliant and resourceful man. Two years later, he was promoted to clerk and then to senior staff. Besides earning a generous salary, he also received both overt and covert compensation from clients, earning tens of thousands of yuan in principal by his early twenties. In 1925, he struck out on his own, establishing the Jinxing Business Company. His flexible management policies allowed him to compete with his former employer, the Yeguang Company. His most notable project was the development of the Sun Apartments (Weihai Road Section 400) in Shanghai. At one point, his assets reached million yuan.

Many of Sun Chunsheng's projects involved large amounts of borrowed money for investment, so by 1932, the funding chain naturally broke.

Chen Guangliang decided to get involved in this project because he was naturally attracted by the huge profits!

60 mu of land can be developed into a large residential community with 200 houses, a total of 600 floors, and even 4-story houses can be considered. At 1 yuan per house, the selling price is 600 to 800 million yuan.

Even if we take a step back and keep all the money to collect rent, Chen Guangliang is not without the ability.

The concession did not fall until the end of 1941, and the rent was enough to make back the investment. Of course, this was a last resort.

Soon, Chen Guangliang met the executor of the Grand Majestic Hotel, Eli Kadoorie, and three other important shareholders, including Humphries Jr.'s father, Humphries Sr.

Eli Kadoorie is the founder of the Kadoorie family in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

When he first arrived in Hong Kong from Shanghai, he had only 500 yuan in his pocket. He used this money to open a stockbroking firm, and with Jewish shrewdness and ability, Kadoorie made his first fortune in stock trading. Jews seemed to have an innate understanding of how money makes money, and Eli Kadoorie quickly invested his earnings. In 1903, he partnered with a friend to establish the China Light and Power Company. Although the power of the generators at the time was small, and only a few foreigners in Hong Kong had access to electric lighting, the astute Kadoorie foresaw that the power industry had great potential for development. He focused his attention on the China Light and Power Company. In 1906, Eli Kadoorie acquired a large number of shares in the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, becoming a major shareholder.

The wealthy Jewish Kadoorie family owned numerous properties in Shanghai, the most famous of which was the Marble Building, also known as the Kadoorie Building, located near Jing'an Temple. This palatial mansion, constructed with exquisite materials and costing a staggering one million taels of silver, spanned 100 square meters, with 1.5 square meters of interior space, encompassing large and small living rooms and over 3300 rooms. Completed in 20, it boasted a total floor area of ​​1928 square meters and over bedrooms.

Everyone held a meeting in the conference room of the Dahua Hotel, and Chen Guangliang only brought one subordinate, Guo Deming, with him.

Chen Guangliang directly made an offer and said, "We at Changjiang Real Estate are very interested in this piece of land, but we don't know when the entire project can be delivered."

This is very important because if the delivery time is too late, he may not have time to carry out the "tiered installment sale".

Chen Guangliang thought that before the '9.18' incident, he had to clear out the real estate projects in Shanghai, otherwise it might be too late when the '1.28' incident came.

Of course, the land and properties in the concession should reach a peak before the eve of 1937, and there should be an opportunity to sell them.

Eli Kadoorie looked at the young Chen Guangliang. If it weren't for the guarantee of young Humphries, he doubted whether he had the ability to take it.

Since he had someone to guarantee it, he said without further ado, "The transaction can be completed before November. But we'll sell it to whoever offers the higher price, you or that Sun. Also, after the deal is concluded, you'll need to pay a deposit."

The other three shareholders also showed interested expressions. After all, it was beneficial for them to have two Chinese real estate tycoons competing for the land.

Chen Guangliang then said, "235 million taels of silver, this is my price, and I can give you a deposit within a week."

He felt that Sun Chunsheng was unlikely to develop the land himself after purchasing it, because he remembered a news report from his previous life that said Sun Chunsheng's maximum wealth was only four million silver.

According to the future appreciation potential of this land, it means that Sun Chunsheng did not hold this land forever.

In addition, he had investigated Sun Chunsheng these two days and learned that he had made more than two land purchases before, with a profit of nearly one million yuan.

Based on this information, Chen Guangliang felt that Sun Chunsheng purchased the land by using a bank loan, and then quickly sold it to his former employer, Ye Guang Company, or divided it up and sold it.

In addition, the opinions of several shareholders of the Dahua Hotel were not unanimous. The executor and important shareholders all wanted to sell the land, but the other shareholders were not aware of the sale at this time.

Combining this information, Chen Guangliang felt that his only competitor was Sun Chunsheng.

Eli Kadoorie and the others pretended to be calm, but inwardly they were delighted. Kadoorie said, "You have no advantage at this price. Sun negotiated with us first, and we were even ready to make the deal. If you want this land and the property above it, you should bid higher!"

Haha, who are you fooling!

Chen Guangliang had already promised to give little Humphries a 2% commission, so little Humphries told him the "bottom price". Therefore, his bid was a comprehensive consideration, the price with the greatest chance of success and the lowest cost.

The reason why the price was 15 silver coins higher was because he wanted to leave Sun Chunsheng no room for maneuver.

So, Chen Guangliang immediately said: "I will not take back this price, and one week is also my deadline."

The reason he dared to say he would have to wait a week, without worrying about whether he could raise 235 million taels of silver, was actually due to some of the events that had occurred previously. Eight or nine banks and money houses, including the Jincheng Bank, the Kenye Bank, the Siming Bank, and the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank, were hoping to cooperate with him and consider loans.

The fundamental reason was that Changjiang Real Estate achieved the feat of selling 122 buildings in just two days, becoming a reputable real estate company in the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Kadoorie and others looked at each other in bewilderment. They clearly saw that Chen Guangliang was determined to acquire the land, but he was keeping the price very low (not raising the price).

"Okay, if you win, we'll let you know in a week!"

"Thank you. I believe my price will win. In addition, my funds can be fully paid in time for delivery in November without any default."

The following sentence is also a reassurance.

"In this case, you may have a little more advantage, but until the last moment, we can't say that you will definitely win!" Kadoorie said finally.

Of course, everyone was very happy. After all, if Chen Guangliang had not intervened, they would have already made the deal for 220 million!

They were naturally very happy to get an extra 15 yuan (equivalent).

"Okay, wait for good news."

Chen Guangliang also left in a leisurely manner. He was now in a hurry to go back and raise money.

If he could not raise 240 million taels of silver within a week, he would naturally give up. After all, there was still time to regret since he had not yet paid the deposit.

(End of this chapter)