A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 209 Jinshan
The fourth batch of 100 Yangtze River Taxi vehicles arrived in Shanghai, just as the exchange rate of silver to US dollars reached 100 taels of silver to 24.5 US dollars.

Fourteen months ago, the exchange rate of silver to the US dollar was 14:100.

This means that silver has fallen by half.

Parking lot in Hunan.

Liang Mengqi stepped forward and asked, "Boss, all the cars have been parked in the parking lot. Next, we can start selling them. But if there are local taxi companies that want to buy them, would you consider selling them?"

Changjiang Taxi's business has reached 70% to 80% and has begun to make a profit.

As the 'new overlord' of the taxi market, should it continue to 'exclude' other taxi companies?

Chen Guangliang's answer was: "Of course we can consider selling it. If the local customer has good credit, paying off the loan in six months is also acceptable."

Changjiang Taxi is not afraid of competition at all. After all, they have stood out from the strong and should show some grace.

As of now:
Changjiang Taxi led its Chinese taxi counterparts in Shanghai to negotiate gasoline prices, securing discounts similar to those offered by foreign taxi companies.
A management system manual was also formulated to improve our overall service level and enhance the level of the entire industry.

As for the fact that Changjiang Taxi was the first to reduce its price to 3 yuan per hour, it was to release the market's consumption power and attract more new users. This was Chen Guangliang's original intention.

Liang Mengqi nodded and said, "Okay, but the local taxi market has already formed a structure, and everyone is still cautious about expansion. Our cars are mainly used by private individuals with higher demand, as well as those from other places."

Cars are still very popular, and rich people will definitely buy one to symbolize their status.

Chen Guangliang said: "Remember to take out our after-sales service when selling, repair and maintenance, which are things that car owners care about. The labor is free for three years, and the parts and materials are at your own expense."

When Liang Mengqi heard this, he understood the advantages and tricks involved and immediately said, "Okay."

Working hours are not worth much in themselves. No matter how high a maintenance worker's salary is, it is only more than 100 yuan, which is only a few dollars a day. But adding some parts and materials is enough to offset this.

In addition, Changjiang Taxi already has a repair shop, so there is naturally no need for additional expenditure.

Later, Chen Guangliang said, "I want Changjiang Taxi to set up another subsidiary, Changjiang Transport, and purchase 20 trucks to undertake some transportation in Shanghai and surrounding areas."

In fact, he was planning to support bus No. 19 in the future, but he couldn't say that.

Liang Mengqi immediately said, "Boss, these trucks usually go to far places, so they're bound to be blackmailed by some scoundrels. This is more troublesome than the taxi business."

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "What are you afraid of? If there's any risk, I'll arrange for a security company to escort you with guns. For general troubles, we'll handle them flexibly."

Liang Mengqi then remembered that his boss had also survived bullets and gunfire, and was always brave enough to deal with such things.

"Okay, I'll go inspect the truck and give you the information then."

"Um"

There are risks, for sure, but we cannot back down.

When the enemy comes, we will fight him; when the water comes, we will block it with earth. This is Chen Guangliang’s motto.

For general issues, Chen Guangliang seeks peaceful solutions and uses connections to resolve them.

If his life is threatened, not to mention a member of the Qing Gang, even a government leader would be killed. To be honest, Chen Guangliang has always suppressed a demon in his heart. After all, his body has exceeded the limits of human beings.

Try to suppress this demon until it reaches the stage of resistance!
A large ship of more than 6000 tons slowly sailed into the "Dongjiadu" wharf under the Greater China Terminal.

At this time, Chen Guangliang was waiting on the shore with his relatives and friends, including Yang Hui, Chen Guangcong, Yan Zhiduo and his wife, Yan Renmei, Fang Jiaobo, Chen Shuntong and others.

Fang Jiaobo noticed the name of the ship on the hull and said with a smile, "Gold Mountain, what a good name! A big ship is like a gold mountain."

Chen Guangliang responded with a smile: "Although I'm new to the shipping industry, I'm well aware of the difficulties in making a profit. I chose this name just to have a good omen."

Chen Shuntong also asked, "Mr. Chen, your boat doesn't look twenty years old at all. People would believe you if you said it was new!"

He is now Chen Guangliang's "ally". Since Chen Shuntong came from the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company and was once highly appreciated by the big boss Zhang Jingjiang, Chen Shuntong also started out on his own this year, and even his only ship was "half-given, half-sold" to him by Zhang Jingjiang; therefore, Chen Guangliang invited him to be one of the agents of the "Jinshan" and get commission for introducing business.

Chen Guangliang said, "Brother, it's been almost a month since we took possession of it. During this time, I had it repainted, and then thoroughly repaired and cleaned. Only then did we get the Jinshan today."

Chen Shuntong was stunned. You know, ship owners are always racing against time. After all, a day of delay means a lot of money lost. But this owner, just to save face, actually delayed the ship for a whole month.

Thinking of this, Chen Shuntong kindly reminded him, "Mr. Chen, if this ship is to be able to move, we must race against time to reduce costs and improve efficiency!"

Chen Guangliang bowed and said, "Thank you for your advice."

Although he also had his own ideas, which was to manage a well-trained fleet and keep the ship clean and tidy, Chen Shuntong's words were not wrong.

Afterwards, the Jinshan stopped and the bridge was built, and Chen Guangliang invited everyone to visit the ship.

At this time, Chen Guangliang came to Yan Renmei, took her hand, and staggered onto the big ship.

This action was not considered an overstep, after all, the two were already engaged. Secondly, the style of the Republic of China was not that conservative. In some high-end dance halls, it was normal to dance with someone's wife in your arms.

"This ship also has an English name. Do you want to hear it?" Chen Guangliang said to Yan Renmei privately.

Of course, the ship's hull couldn't have an English name, as nationalism was rampant at the time and one could be wary of being framed. However, Chen Guangliang would definitely register the ship in Hong Kong later, so the English name would be written on the hull.

Yan Renmei felt that she was valued all the time. Now even her father didn't dare to lose his temper with her. She had never felt this kind of happiness before.

"I want to listen"

Golden Alpha

Yan Renmei immediately said with a headache: "I only know that the first English word means gold, but the second one doesn't mean mountain in English. Do you think I am stupid?"

In front of Chen Guangliang, she felt that she would be increasingly frustrated.

She was originally quite proud of herself because her scores in academic subjects were all over 90, ranking among the top in the class.

But in front of Chen Guangliang, she could only admit that she was a fool. She had witnessed Chen Guangliang's ability of "photographic memory" with her own eyes.

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "You can see that Golden is already very impressive. As for Alpha, it's rarely used. It refers to the first letter of the Greek alphabet, 'Alpha'. I chose this name because I hope that one day I can use all 26 letters of the Greek alphabet. For example, the second ship will be called Golden Beta."

Only in front of Yan Renmei did Chen Guangliang talk about his ideals. It was simple: the two of them would soon share a life of mutual support; similarly, sharing these ideals would also have a bearing on her future as the Chen family's supporter.

Yan Renmei said in surprise, "Twenty-six ships, that's a huge fleet. Isn't such an investment very risky?"

Chen Guangliang said: "The ocean occupies 70% of the Earth's surface and plays an important role in connecting every continent. Only by conquering the ocean can the Chinese people truly be on par with Europe and the United States. Risk means wealth, and of course I will try my best to control it."

Yan Renmei couldn't help but take Chen Guangliang's arm and said, "I will study hard." If she didn't study, she felt that she was "unworthy" of Chen Guangliang, but she was unwilling to be just a "vase".

"Let's go, they're all looking at us!"

Yan Renmei quickly let go, only to find that everyone was busy touring the Jinshan and not even looking at them. She immediately became angry and said, "You're taking advantage of me!"

It wasn't her who took the initiative to get close to him, but she could feel the masculine aura (hormones) emanating from this man.

The two men came in front of everyone with a smile, and saw that there were senior Norwegian seafarers and some Chinese seafarers.

Some senior Norwegian seafarers even live on board with their families. They receive high salaries and enjoy the best treatment; while Chinese seafarers can only do the most tiring and dirty work and receive the cheapest salaries.

What can be done?
Of course, Chen Guangliang also has targeted measures - that is to establish a maritime academy to train Chinese crew members so that they can one day work as senior seafarers.

After everyone had taken a tour, a simple sailing ceremony was held. Afterwards, Chen Guangliang gave each seafarer a red envelope and especially encouraged the Chinese crew members to learn more and see more.

The Jinshan is a ship that carries both people and cargo. After all, with a draft of 6,000 tons, it is difficult to load it with cargo.

In the office, Chen Guangliang was reading the Oriental Daily News that day, and a piece of news caught his eye: While Huang Chujiu was recuperating in Hangzhou, rumors suddenly spread that "Huang Chujiu is terminally ill" and "Day and Night Bank is about to go bankrupt", causing more than 1000 people to gather in front of the bank every day demanding to withdraw money.

In Chen Guangliang's opinion, this news might be a conspiracy among the Qing Gang.

Among the Green Gang in Shanghai, the most powerful are of course the "Three Tycoons" - Huang Jinrong, Du Yuesheng, and Zhang Xiaolin. The three of them are like one, and anyone who poses a threat to them will be attacked. Huang Chujiu is the best example (also a member of the Green Gang).

Huang Chujiu made his fortune selling fake drugs and aphrodisiacs, then branched out into Western medicine before moving into the entertainment industry, establishing the Great World. Unsatisfied with his success in the entertainment industry, Huang, who called himself the "Master of Zhizuo Lu," ambitiously ventured into real estate and finance. In 1921, Huang invested 50 yuan to open a "Day and Night Bank" in the southwest corner of the Great World (at the corner of present-day Xizang South Road and Ninghai East Road), operating 24 hours a day.

It was this bank that became Huang Chujiu's death warrant!

The reason why Huang Chujiu's giant business empire was able to expand rapidly was mainly due to mutual guarantees, continuous financing, and continuous capital injection, but at the same time it also laid the seeds for its collapse.

Therefore, behind this "rumor" it must be Huang Jinrong, Du Yuesheng and Zhang Xiaolin who are behind it.

Because as long as this "Day and Night Bank" is destroyed, Huang Chujiu's other industries will also collapse; not to mention, now is Huang Chujiu's most vulnerable time, and the three tycoons probably hope that he will die from anger.

Then the "business empire" established by Huang Chujiu would be at the mercy of others.

Thinking of this, Chen Guangliang also fell into thought: If he was suddenly killed, would the tens of millions of dollars' business empire he created be eaten up without a penny left?

That’s not necessarily the case!
First, Chen Guangliang had almost no loans (he had almost repaid them); second, he was doing legitimate business.

At most, someone will start from Yang Hui and Chen Guangcong and gradually "trick" them into taking away all their assets, but we must also pay attention to the impact so that they are not left with nothing.

At this moment, Chen Guangliang understood the importance of "offspring".

"Boss, the meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel is about to start!" an assistant came in and reported.

"Row"

Chen Guangliang stood up from the office of Changjiang Real Estate and walked out the door in high spirits.

When he walked out of the office building of Changjiang Real Estate, the head bodyguard Lin Feng had already cleared the way for him, and then he took a car to the temporary preparation office of the nearby Shangri-La Hotel.

This preparatory office is located in a three-story street-facing villa on Yuyuan Road. It was originally intended to be used as an office building for Changjiang Real Estate, but now that the Shangri-La Hotel is under preparation, it naturally has priority.

The last time Chen Guangliang was assassinated, it caused great social unrest. The police arrested all the participants in a short time without any interrogation. Subsequently, the two surviving murderers were directly sentenced to death, and the leader of the Qing Gang was also sentenced to fifteen years.

Of course, many people were even more shocked by the fact that Chen Guangliang's bodyguards actually killed four of the murderers and injured two, which made many people realize that the "security company" behind Chen Guangliang was a very powerful organization. As for Chen Guangliang's personal involvement in the shooting, it also surprised many people.

In the short term, I'm afraid no one will cause trouble for Chen Guangliang. Of course, it's not certain, after all, there are many desperate criminals; but now the bodyguards of Chen Guangliang's security company are all very actively trained and vigilant, and everyone may be expecting something in their hearts.

"boss"

In the conference room on the third floor, all the senior executives of Shangri-La Hotel were present, including Gao Zhichao, general manager of the hotel department, Zhu Hongru, manager of the marketing and public relations department, Zhu Jian, financial manager, and 11 others.

Seven of them were from the original Dahua Hotel team, and four more people were added later.

"Shangri-La is very likely to host foreigners and overseas Chinese, so when we recruit waiters, we will give priority to those who know English and need to undergo rigorous training."

Gao Zhichao immediately said, "Boss, I have a list of some of the excellent waiters from the Dahua Hotel. It's a good opportunity to have them return to the Shangri-La Hotel."

The Grand China Hotel was originally profitable, and there was no mismanagement; it was simply Chen Guangliang's desire for innovation. Furthermore, the Grand China Hotel, also known as the Chinachem Hotel, was arguably superior, rivaling the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the Central Hotel.

"Yes, I promised to bring everyone back. Of course, since we've let them wander around for so long, we have to show our sincerity. Anyone willing to come back will receive a 20% salary increase."

Gao Zhichao said, "Boss, you gave everyone a month's salary back then. Everyone is grateful to you, and I believe they will all be willing to come back. Of course, some waiters who are not excellent will not be recalled."

He was a thoughtful person and had made a lot of preparations in advance.

Chen Guangliang said with satisfaction: "A growing company will never want mediocre people. In addition, your management team's salaries will not only be increased to the original level, but also increased by 20%."

The expressions of the people in the conference room changed drastically. After all, this was really unexpected.

During the renovation period, everyone took it for granted that they would receive 70% of their salary. After all, it was the boss who was supporting them, while they did not create any profit.

They themselves no longer need to go out and look for jobs and run around everywhere.

"thank you boss"

Chen Guangliang said seriously, "You've all heard about the situation outside. The global economic depression is bound to have no impact on our country, which means a decline in consumption. Furthermore, in the 1930s, countless companies were planning luxury hotels, and our competition was fierce. Therefore, if we want to survive, we, as management, must maintain a positive attitude and not adopt a 'day-for-day' mentality."

"Yes, boss"

Next, Shangri-La Hotel’s competitors include not only old-established hotels such as the Cathay Hotel, the Hui Hotel, and the Ritz-Carlton, Taipei, but also the International Hotel and the Yangtze Hotel a few years later.

It can be said that if we don’t show some real skills, how can we continue to produce?

Chen Guangliang's ambition is not only to compete with these hotels, but to make the Shangri-La Hotel the "Pearl" of the Far East.

He even transformed a hall on the second floor into the "world's first buffet restaurant", serving Chinese and Western food.

Buffets, originally originating from the Vikings, became popular in the US military in 1939, and later appeared in high-end hotels. In other words, buffets were originally considered high-end dining.

Of course, Chen Guangliang's opening of such a restaurant in the Shangri-La Hotel was more of a publicity stunt, or a way to attract customers. It wasn't a downgrade, as the buffet was already quite expensive.

The renovation of the Shangri-La Hotel has been completed, and the relevant equipment has begun to be brought in. It will open in March.

(End of this chapter)