A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 194 National Pride

The Oriental Daily published the news of the establishment of the "Oriental Football Team" with great fanfare, attracting the attention of people in Shanghai who care about sports.

At the same time, Chen Guangliang came to a piece of land in southern Shanghai and met with the players and staff of the Oriental Football Team.

"Mr. Chen," the players of the Oriental football team greeted him one after another.

After all, the Lehua team had just disbanded, and they welcomed a new key figure to bring them together again (without Li Huitang, the biggest football star), which made them very grateful.

Chen Guangliang stood in front of everyone and said with a smile, "You're welcome, everyone. We'll be fighting side by side from now on. I also love football. You can take a look at my skills first!"

Then, Chen Guangliang showed off his soccer skills from a few years in his previous life—jumping, controlling, and dribbling. His skills were quite good. Especially after crossing over, his physical fitness and reflexes had greatly improved, and he could play even better.

When everyone saw it, they were immediately happy.

I originally thought that this "sponsor" was an amateur, but I didn't expect that he could really play football.

"How's it going? As a hobby, is my technique considered up to par?"

Captain Dai Linjing immediately said, "Qualified, absolutely qualified."

Everyone agreed, this was not flattery, and there was no need for flattery.

Because the players of this team are basically top students and white-collar workers. Take Dai Linjing for example, he is a master of economics from the Department of Business Administration of the University of National Chiao Tung.

Thanks to Chen Guangliang's performance, everyone quickly got along well and even organized themselves to play a 5V5 game with one substitute for each player.

As soon as the competition started, everyone showed their true skills and did not treat Chen Guangliang as a "leader".

In reality, Chen Guangliang didn't need anyone's help. His skills from his previous life and his current physique made him a professional athlete. Furthermore, Chen Guangliang didn't play soccer solo; his style of play emphasized teamwork.

After a game, everyone sat on the field to rest contentedly.

Chen Guangliang took the opportunity to say, "The team is still searching for new players to form a full 18-man first-team squad. Let me share a new target: Hong Kong football's 'Iron Leg' Sun Kam-shun. He will be our next important target. In addition to the first-team squad, we will also establish a youth training team, identifying and developing young players aged 12 to 18 to ensure the team has ample reserve players."

At this point, even Dai Linjing was surprised and said, "Mr. Chen, this will greatly increase the financial pressure on the team!"

All 11 players of the "Oriental Football Team" have now become "professional athletes" and their salaries are at the level of university professors. In addition, players like Dai Linjing also work part-time as reporters and editors for the "Oriental Daily", writing business and economic articles as well as sports articles.

Chen Guangliang said with a smile: "The team's initial funding is already as high as 20 yuan, and there will naturally be sponsors in the future. Everyone can rest assured to play football, and the team will provide logistical support for everyone."

Everyone was encouraged and looked forward to it.

Chen Guangliang then added, "I have some suggestions. Everyone, please listen and share your opinions. Regarding the football team's regular training, we adopt a scientific training method. Everyone should maintain a regular diet, and a nutritionist will provide arrangements. Regular training focuses on skills training, including the development of basic skills such as passing, receiving, dribbling, and shooting, as well as the improvement of physical fitness and endurance. We also emphasize teamwork and tactical awareness. The coaching staff will cultivate the players' teamwork and tactical execution capabilities through teamwork training and tactical guidance. In short, the Donghua Football Team will be built into an unprecedented football team that will make our Chinese nation proud."

It’s formal, this is what formal means. Everyone was excited after hearing it.

The Eastern Football Team had a coaching staff, and Dai Linjing was a member of it. However, this coaching staff was far less powerful than the coaches of later generations, and they had to take things one step at a time.

After the meeting, Chen Guangliang and Li Chao came to the administrative office of the "Oriental Football Team".

"Brother Chao, running a team isn't just about organizing games and providing logistical support. Another crucial task is fundraising. I've come to realize that we can't rely solely on sponsorship from Cheung Kong Properties and Oriental Daily News. We need to leverage investments to maintain long-term capital. So, let's set up an investment department, and I'll lead the investment effort later."

Upon hearing this, Li Chao immediately said, "Boss, you've already won over so many directors, but you haven't even mentioned sponsorship yet?"

The boss still calls him "Brother Chao" out of nostalgia, but that doesn't mean he can continue to call him "Guang Liang".

Chen Guangliang didn't feel anything and continued, "We have to show some results before we can even ask for sponsorship. Don't worry, the Oriental Football Team won't be short of money."

"Okay, I understand!"

He planned to arrange for the Oriental Club to short sell government bonds first, make a small profit, and then look for opportunities to make more money in the gold market.

It’s not a big problem, after all, Chen Guangliang is familiar with the market.

As August approached, the government bond market continued to plummet, with the "whole six" falling to 8 yuan, a drop of 74.6 yuan from the beginning of July.

The drop is so big that it is unbelievable. After all, since 1927, it has only increased by more than 22 yuan.

The so-called "whole six" refers to the "six-cent public bond of the first year of the Republic of China". It is secured by the national deed tax and stamp tax revenue, with a term of 30 years and an annual interest rate of more than 6%, and interest is paid twice a year.

The Changjiang Money House shorted five types of bonds for a total of 800 million (the annual trading volume of futures is more than billion), which is equivalent to a profit of to oceans.

It’s so easy to make this money!
In fact, although Chen Guangliang also purchased 110 million government bonds, the bonds he purchased had basically recovered their investment (interest + principal) in 1937. The interest was higher and the annual principal repayment salary was lower than that of the "Six-Year" and "Seven-Year" bonds.

Chen Guangliang did not pay much attention to the public bond market. He just did it for fun.

this day.

Chen Guangliang came to the southern part of Shanghai, where the second Vitasoy factory was located and had just been put into operation.

At present, Vitasoy has completed its occupation of Shanghai and surrounding cities, with daily sales of 25000 bottles of soy milk. Calculated at 1.8 cents per bottle, the annual profit is nearly 15 yuan.

It can be said that Vitasoy reached its peak as soon as it debuted, thanks to its "mature products", "clear positioning" and "popular advertising and marketing".

Think about it carefully. In the past, many products would go through a lot of detours at the beginning, but often a major change would bring them back to life.

For example, in the previous life, Vitasoy had difficulty in increasing sales at the beginning because its shelf life was only one day and its packaging was unclear. However, in this life, Vitasoy was packaged in glass bottles from the beginning, opening up the important sales channel of restaurants, and positioning its products in the mid-range, so everything seemed to be selling quickly.

For example, 'Coca Cola' is just a 'Chinese name' and an 'advertisement', but it can quickly reverse the unfavorable sales situation.

The saying "Good wine needs no bush" obviously does not work in the business world.

"Boss, this is the 'soy milk powder' we produced. Would you like to try it?" Chief Technical Engineer Wu Guangsheng brought his people to Chen Guangliang and introduced it happily.

"Soak it up, let me try!"

"Ok"

To make soy milk into soy milk powder, the subsequent steps of 'concentration' and 'drying' are required.

There is no need to say much about "concentrate". After all, Coca-Cola provides concentrate for its overseas production, so the process of this step is already very modern.

The 'drying' step naturally adopts a modern process - spray drying, which was born in the 1980s.

After a while, a cup of brewed soy milk appeared in front of Chen Guangliang, wafting with fragrance. Chen Guangliang took it with some anticipation, blew on it a few times, and took a sip.

Accompanied by the taste of sweetness, beans and vanilla, it fills the mouth and leaves a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth.

Perhaps it is because the material life in the previous life was too rich, which complicated people's taste buds, so in this life, even a piece of candy or a cup of soy milk can make people linger on the taste.

"Yes, I didn't expect this step to progress so quickly."

Wu Guangsheng said modestly, "It's more difficult to go from zero to one, but it's easier to go from one to two. It's just that the equipment for concentration and drying is more expensive. Of course, the cost of canning is also higher."

The second factory mainly produces "soy milk powder". The land is rented and the factory building is just one floor. The equipment cost more than 100,000 yuan. All the profit for the year was spent in advance, and the investment in this second factory was nearly 200,000 yuan.

Chen Guangliang doesn't care about investing in real industries, because real industries in this era are really profitable, super profitable. Generally speaking, if you invest in real industries and find the right direction, it is normal to get your money back in one year.

Even some industries only needed a few months to recoup their investment because material resources were still relatively scarce in that era.

At this point, General Manager Chen Shiyuan said, "Boss, we have two soy milk products now, and demand for soybeans and sugar has increased dramatically. As for sugar, it's basically monopolized by foreign capital, so we have little chance. As for soybeans, 70% to 80% of the world's soybeans are produced in Northeast China."

Chen Guangliang immediately asked: "What do you want to do?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Shiyuan said cautiously, "I've read the boss's article, which says that Japan is eyeing our Northeast. I'm worried about the source of soybeans. So, to be conservative, we should build soybean warehouses in Changzhou Prefecture and Shanghai to store soybeans."

Fortunately, he did not say that he was going to the Northeast to rent land to grow soybeans, otherwise Chen Guangliang would have to consider whether he was really capable as a general manager!

Chen Shiyuan's words also made Chen Guangliang think.

Changzhou is both a grain exporting and importing place, equivalent to a hub center.

According to the "Wujin Grain Records," grain imports into the region during the Qing Dynasty primarily consisted of rice from Anhui's Anqing, Datong, Wuhu, Dangtu, and Quanjiao areas; beans, grains, and wheat from Fuyang and Bengbu in the Huaihe River basin; soybeans from the Northeast; rice and wheat from nearby counties; and rice from Gaoyou, Xinghua, Baoqing, and Liuhe in northern Jiangsu; and broad beans from Nantong. Soybeans were primarily exported to Shanghai and Wuxi, wheat to Shanghai, Suzhou, and Wuxi, soybean oil to Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, along the Yangtze River in northern Jiangsu, and Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou; flour to southern Jiangsu, along the Yangtze River in northern Jiangsu, and Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou; and bean cake to southern Jiangsu and Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou, with some exported to Fujian. Estimated inflows and outflows were approximately 2000 million jin (approximately 1000 million jin) with over million jin imported and to million jin (approximately million jin) exported.

However, the soybeans in Changzhou mainly come from Anhui, and their quality is not as good as that of soybeans from Northeast China.

At this time, soybeans from the Northeast accounted for 80% of global production, with large quantities exported to Europe, the United States, and other countries. In a previous life, the Nanjing government even used soybeans from the Northeast to exchange for a destroyer from Japan, which later destroyed nine Japanese aircraft.

Not only that, the United States sent experts to visit Northeast China several times to introduce soybean varieties, laying the foundation for the country's position as the "soybean overlord" after the 1950s.

In later generations, American soybeans became the world's dominant species. Who would have thought that it was a variety introduced from Northeast China?

Before 1937, soybeans from Northeast China might flow out, but after 1937, soybeans from Northeast China became a strategic material for Japan.

In this era, the main functions of soybeans are 'soybean oil' and 'soybean cake'.

In addition, Japan later used soybeans as war materials and developed chemical products such as explosives, military coatings, artificial fibers, and aircraft plywood using soybeans as raw materials.

Chen Guangliang then said, "We can consider building granaries in southern Shanghai and Changzhou to prepare for future soybean storage. The economic depression has led to the increasing rampant Japanese militarism, and they may invade Northeast China in a year or two. It is not bad for us to make preparations early."

Chen Shiyuan nodded and said, "If properly stored, soybeans can be stored for one to two years. We can also take advantage of this opportunity to get involved in the 'soybean market' and reduce the cost of raw materials."

The boss gives them a lot of power in management and also provides them with great support, allowing them to perform better.

At this time, Wu Guangsheng also said: "Our soy milk powder can be used as military supplies. If we can open up this sales channel, our sales will be able to reach a higher level."

Chen Guangliang also thought of this. After all, the national army's daily necessities, especially the direct troops, must be able to afford it.

Their "Vitasoy" has always been marketed as "China's own milk", which is why they were able to occupy Shanghai and surrounding cities in a short period of time.

"This plan is feasible. You marketing department should work harder later!"

Marketing Manager Wang Tongzhao immediately said, "Okay."

Everyone here today is an "elite", an elite in the food and beverage field. Chen Guangliang specially brought everyone together for an inspection and meeting.

His main job is still to be the 'commander-in-chief'.

After inspecting the factory, which is approximately 6000 square meters (covering an area of ​​15 acres), the group went to the conference room.

To be honest, building a factory at this time, especially in the Chinese-speaking southern part of Shanghai, made Chen Guangliang very worried about being bombed by Japanese planes.

In particular, Chen Guangliang already showed signs of being an "anti-Japanese element". Would he be specifically targeted and his factory bombed during the "January 28 Incident"?

But building the factory in the concession would be very costly, so this is the only option now. At worst, we can dismantle some key equipment in advance and move it.

After sitting down, Chen Guangliang said in front of eight or nine senior executives, "Vitasoy now has two directions. The first is, of course, to expand sales. Outside of Shanghai and surrounding cities, we're entering the market with soy milk powder to reduce the risk of opening a factory. The second is to reduce costs and diversify our development."

Why not open a factory in the north?

It's simple. China is still in an era of warlords. Apart from Shanghai, no place is suitable for setting up factories. 60% of the country's businesses and factories are in Shanghai, which is proof of this.

Chen Shiyuan asked: "What is diversified development?"

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "What you just said reminds me that foreigners are monopolizing our sugar market!"

Seeing his boss pause, Chen Shiyuan added, "And according to statistics, we earn nearly 12 million silver dollars a year, accounting for about % of the country's annual revenue." "Pa!" Chen Guangliang suddenly slammed the table and said, "Damn it, it's so serious! We've missed so many opportunities!"

Everyone also showed indignant expressions.

In this era, although the Chinese are poor, they are very strong-willed.

Even a small "ice cream" industry is the target of "national industry". Some people say that "Beauty Brand" sells 3000 sticks a day in Shanghai and surrounding cities, which is more than 400 yuan. Foreigners earn more than yuan a year. National entrepreneurs, such as Guanshengyuan, are competing for this market.

Chen Shiyuan said: "The reason why the white sugar industry is so successful is firstly the raw materials and secondly the equipment. It is said that the utilization rate of Western sugar refining equipment is as high as 95%, so the cost of importing them into China is much lower than that of our Tutang. Coupled with the suppression of the Western sugar industry, in 1924, a sugar refinery invested in Shanghai went bankrupt within two years!"

Chen Guangliang said, "Well, I understand this matter, and I have my own solution. You don't need to pay attention to it for now, just focus on the current matter."

He suddenly thought of some ideas, which also aroused the competitive spirit of an industrialist.

"Ok"

Everyone was very excited, after all, they didn't think the boss was bragging.

(End of this chapter)