A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 169 Let’s wait and see

Chen Guangliang came to the Shanghai Gold Exchange again, and this time he happened to meet Cheng Linsheng.

What surprised him was that Cheng Linsheng, who was only 44 years old, had a long beard, giving him the air of a contemporary artist. It was said that he liked to collect calligraphy and paintings, and this might be one of the reasons.

"Boss Chen, your Changjiang Money House already owes money to our Yongda Gold House and Hengji Money House!" Cheng Linsheng took the initiative to greet them when they met.

Arrogant attitude.

Chen Guangliang said modestly, "At this rate, you'll have to pay quite a bit of money by the end of next month. Mr. Cheng is truly a big player in the gold speculator market. His recent moves have really opened my eyes."

Every morning as soon as the market opened, Yongda Gold House and Hengji Money House would suppress the gold price and engage in large-scale short selling; while Changjiang Money House would also buy in large quantities as soon as the market opened, taking as much as possible.

However, later on, the Changjiang Money House stopped its activities, and the situation seemed to be declining, with the "short-selling forces" among the remaining members taking the lead.

From 11 on November 1, it has fallen to 406.5 in just over 388.6 days, which shows how fierce the "bull-bear battle" was during this period.

Cheng Linsheng knew that the young man was reminding him that the transaction would be completed in a month and it was too early to speak now.

"Haha!" Cheng Linsheng laughed loudly, "Don't worry, with me in this exchange, there won't be any trouble!"

Extremely arrogant.

It is understandable that this rich second generation went bankrupt in his previous life!
“Then we’ll see!”

Since they had nothing to say, Chen Guangliang turned around and left.

A short while later, Hu Jinshun came up to Chen Guangliang and said, "Boss, we've bought all 1000 million, but the price still can't stop falling. The other party is suppressing it too harshly. Gold prices in New York, London, and Paris are still rising slightly, but the Shanghai market's benchmark gold price has fallen by more than 4 percentage points this month."

Chen Guangliang waved his hand and said, "Never mind him. Have we figured out the average price yet?"

Hu Jinshun had an idea in mind, so he said, "I haven't calculated it yet, but I estimate it's between 395 and 396."

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "I'll calculate it in detail later. Don't worry about it for now."

All the money has been invested, just waiting for the delivery later!
"it is good"

Based on their current average holding price, the loss is only about 1.5%, or 15 yuan.

Not much!
What's more, according to Hu Jinshun, the normal price of Shanghai standard gold should be in the range of 405~410, which is obviously the result of Cheng Linsheng's malicious short selling.

Then the amount of Cheng Linsheng's "short selling" at this time is probably around 2000 to 3000 million. Once the situation reverses, he may pay a higher price.

At the end of November, Chen Guangliang, through the introduction of Yan Zhiduo, found Ye Yiquan, the head of the "Zhenhai Ye Family", one of the five major money houses in Ningbo.

During the Republic of China period, the five major money houses of the Ningbo Gang in Shanghai included the Zhenhai Fang family, the Zhenhai Ye family, the Xiaogang Li family, the Cixi Dong family and the Ningbo Qin family.

In fact, the Yan family in Cixi is also very powerful, not inferior to the five major money houses.

However, Yan Zhiduo is also speculating in gold and investing in gold now, so Chen Guangliang naturally will not borrow money from the Yan family again.

Chen Guangliang and Ye Yiquan met at the "Xin Shun Ji Hardware Store" of the "Zhenhai Ye Family".

"My dear Chen, this is Ji Binchen, the manager of our Xinshunji Hardware Store. He is originally responsible for this matter, but since you are a new business genius of our Ningbo gang, I must meet you no matter what!" Ye Yiquan said with an old-fashioned demeanor, stroking his beard and smiling.

Although he was a rich second-generation (his father was Ye Chengzhong 1840-1899, the fourth son), he was actually from the same era as Yu Qiaqing and Yan Zijun. He was already in his fifties or sixties and was one of the living grandfathers of the Ningbo Gang.

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "I don't dare to meet Manager Ji!"

Ji Binchen immediately replied: "Hello, Boss Chen"

After some introductions, the three of them sat down.

Chen Guangliang also explained his purpose: "This time I'm borrowing money because I run a Changjiang Taxi Company. I currently have 20 taxis, but I want to expand significantly."

Ji Binchen asked, "Boss Chen, are you bullish on the US dollar?"

Chen Guangliang was stunned. There was actually someone here who understood. He immediately said, "First, the US stock market is experiencing its biggest crash in history. The real economy will inevitably be hit, and major automakers will cut prices on their bikes. Second, I'm bullish on the US dollar, so I want to borrow money to buy a car."

At this point, Ye Yiquan interrupted, "As the saying goes, great minds think alike. Binchen is also optimistic about the US dollar and asked us to reserve some. Now, young friend Chen, you are also optimistic. Maybe there will be a market for it!"

They are money houses. Even if they are optimistic about US exchange, they cannot just invest in this business. Their main business is still lending.

Money houses focus on credit and rely less on collateral when lending, which makes merchants more willing to cooperate with them.

Chen Guangliang had borrowed money last time, and several money houses were involved, and this time was no exception.

Borrowed, Ji Binchen asked: "How much does Boss Chen plan to borrow?"

Chen Guangliang opened his mouth and said: "50 taels of silver"

Ji Binchen was shocked and then looked at his boss Ye Yiquan. After all, the amount was really large.

In fact, this amount of money is not enough for Chen Guangliang's "car purchase" plan, but this is all he can afford now.

Ye Yiquan said lightly, "I heard that Chen Xiaoyou's gold speculation at the Shanghai Gold Exchange wasn't going well, and now he's borrowed so much money. It's really worrying!"

Chen Guangliang said calmly, "The situation at the Gold Exchange hasn't reached its final stages yet, so the winner and loser are uncertain. Furthermore, since we're all bullish on the US dollar, we should naturally be bullish on gold as well. Therefore, the gold price will ultimately be rational. I'll use this loan solely for my taxi business and won't be involved in any other ventures. Besides my credit guarantee, the car I'm buying will also serve as collateral."

Finally, it was Ye Yiquan who spoke up, "Then lend it to me. Mr. Chen's reputation is worthy of this loan."

In fact, even without this loan, Chen Guangliang also has a way to develop the taxi business. It is very simple, that is to withdraw funds from Changjiang Real Estate.

Assuming that you purchase 100 cars first, the selling price is calculated at 50 yuan, and you only need to pay a down payment of 20%, which is 10 yuan, and the rest can be paid in Shanghai.

As for the optimism about gold and the US dollar, this is a "long-term process" after all, so even if the first batch of cars is shipped to the Shanghai market, it doesn't matter if the price doesn't rise much, because this batch is for our own use.

According to Chen Guangliang's idea, he was planning to order 400 Chevrolet cars. Assuming the current price of 5000 silver taels is converted into US dollars, which is about 2200 US dollars (100 US dollars is equivalent to 45.5 taels of silver), he would need to pay a total of 88 US dollars.

The first 10000 vehicles can be used by Changjiang Taxis, and the last vehicles can be sold, and the price at that time may be silver per vehicle.

Because American exports are always calculated at $2200, if the dollar-silver exchange rate doubles, then the price of cars will also double. Furthermore, these cars were a bestseller, as China was relatively economically developed in the s, and the automobile industry was experiencing rapid growth.

A few days later, Changjiang Taxi used the 50 taels of silver loan it had obtained to exchange for US dollars at Citibank. The exchange rate was 100 taels of silver to 45.5 US dollars. In the end, all the money was converted into a little over 22 US dollars, which was deposited in the Citibank account.

Afterwards, Chen Guangliang took Liang Mengqi to the Shanghai office of General Motors.

"Mr. Chen, this is Mr. Smith, the head of our General Motors in Shanghai. This is Mr. Chen, the general manager of Changjiang Taxi. This is Mr. Liang, the deputy general manager of Changjiang Taxi."

After being introduced by the Chinese staff, both parties sat down in the conference room.

Smith first asked, "I wonder how many taxis Changjiang currently has?"

Liang Mengqi replied formally, "Twenty cars, fifteen of which are new Chevrolets. Our company has only been in the industry for a little over a year, and is considered a small to medium-sized taxi company in Shanghai."

Smith wasn't disappointed by the small size of Changjiang Taxi. His face still revealed enthusiasm as he said, "That's quite rapid development. I wonder how many vehicles you'd like to order this time?"

Chen Guangliang held up four fingers but said nothing.

Smith immediately said, "Four? We can deliver them to you right away, and the price is cheaper than what you get from the dealer."

Sales through agents are more expensive, but they have an advantage in repairs.

Chen Guangliang shook his head and said: "400 vehicles."

Smith and his colleagues opened their eyes wide, with expressions of complete disbelief.

The Chinese staff member whispered a few words into Smith's ear, apparently introducing Chen Guangliang's other identity.

As expected, Smith's attitude was even more enthusiastic than before. He said, "So, Mr. Chen, you're a real estate tycoon. I'm a little rude. We can give you the best price for 400 Chevrolet cars. Absolutely cheap!"

Chen Guangliang smiled and asked, "What's the exact price?"

Smith then discussed it with his colleagues before saying, "$2100 per vehicle. We'll deliver it to the port in Shanghai within three months. You can pay a 20% deposit upfront."

Since the Chinese employee knows Chen Guangliang, and he has a high social status and wealth, he naturally has great credibility, and a 20% down payment is sufficient.

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "As far as I know, after the US stock market crash, the manufacturing industry is about to fall into huge trouble, and corresponding product prices will naturally fall accordingly. So $2100 per car is still too expensive for the current market."

Smith was a little surprised that a Chinese person would talk so much about the American manufacturing industry and be so bearish.

Of course, he objected to this opinion: "NONO, everything in the stock market doesn't mean anything, and we haven't received any notice of price reduction from the headquarters."

Chen Guangliang then said, "Don't worry. I'll wait until you apply to headquarters for a lower price. I can wait. Besides, my 400 Chevrolets are being imported in four batches, each delivered every three months, so I'm not in a hurry."

In fact, we hope that the 100th Chevrolet car will arrive in Shanghai in March next year. By then, Changjiang Taxi will be able to develop multiple branches and become the largest Chinese-owned taxi company in one fell swoop.

Seeing Chen Guangliang's firm attitude, Smith could only say, "Okay, I will apply to the headquarters and try to give Mr. Chen a more favorable price."

The two parties then exchanged contact information and concluded the first negotiation.

"Wang, is this Mr. Chen really a real estate tycoon?" Smith asked Chinese employee Wang Bingqing.

"Yes, he is not only a real estate tycoon, but also owns the third largest newspaper in China, Oriental Daily. Recently, he also made news comments on the US stock market and economy. He knows a lot about American affairs," said Wang Bingqing.

Smith nodded and took it seriously. After all, 400 Chevrolet cars was a big business.

He is also very familiar with what is happening in the United States. As Chen Guangliang said, their manufacturing industry is in trouble.

On the way back.

Liang Mengqi was also surprised by what happened today. The boss actually wanted to purchase 200 vehicles. Even if they took out for their own use, they would become a taxi giant in Shanghai.

"Boss, if the first batch has 100 cars, then we'll need at least 5-6 branches. This will make it easier to get to the requested location as soon as possible!"

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "Assuming two batches of 220 vehicles, I hope you can arrive at the requested location within ten minutes each time. Only then can we be considered the true overlord, so you must analyze this carefully. Also, first find out who has the number 40000 and give me the information later!"

Liang Mengqi muttered, "Number 40000, 40000 million Chinese people, this phone number is easy to remember."

Chen Guangliang said: "Yes, that's what I mean."

This time, he wants to build Changjiang Taxi into "Shanghai's largest taxi company", and it will be wholly owned.

However, operating a taxi in this era was quite complex. Each taxi required about three people to service it. Assuming 220 taxis, Changjiang Taxi would have to support over 600 people. Of course, the taxis were divided into two shifts, and there were also operators, assistants, and other staff.

Overall, the profit is not high.

If he hadn't considered the profit from this foreign exchange operation - buying 400 cars and selling 200, and finally making a profit by giving away half of the cars for 'free use', he probably wouldn't have thought of developing this business.

Of course, on the other hand, controlling Shanghai’s traffic is equivalent to controlling an intelligence network, which is also useful.

"Boss, we have grabbed another business from Changjiang Taxi Company!" Li Yunbi, an employee of Xiangsheng Taxi, came to Zhou Xiangsheng's office and said.

Zhou Xiangsheng smiled and said, "Alright, it's just a one-time deal. If you can force them to go bankrupt, that would be considered a real skill!"

Li Yunbi said confidently, "Although Changjiang Taxi has 20 vehicles, they only have two branches (one newly opened on Yuyuan Road). Every time we snatch their business, we hand our business cards to the customers, and they won't call us next time. Over time, their boss saw that we weren't making money, so naturally, he stopped investing!"

This is what I want!

After Zhou Xiangsheng learned that the owner of Changjiang Taxi was the "real estate tycoon" Chen Guangliang, he came up with the idea of ​​"unfair competition", that is, to bribe the telephone company's operators, and when someone called a taxi, they would notify Xiangsheng first, so that they could arrive first and pick up the passengers.

When Changjiang Taxi arrived, there was no one waiting for the taxi. Not only did they not make any money, but they even lost money on gas.

"Okay, they don't want to invest in the taxi business, so they can just do the car rental business as well as it is. We don't want to take too much from them in one day, after all, we are too busy to handle our own business."

"clear"

Xiangsheng Taxi now has more than 30 taxis, five branches, and is the third largest taxi company after two foreign-funded taxi companies.

(End of this chapter)