A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 232: State and Nation

In late October, representatives from Ning and Yue finally reached an agreement at Sun Ke's villa in Shanghai, avoiding civil war.

At this time, in response to the "Japanese invasion of the three northeastern provinces" incident, both sides decided to seek consensus in diplomacy in order to jointly overcome the national crisis.

After all, starting a civil war at this time would be condemned by the people of the whole country; and the frequent anti-Japanese strikes across the country also united the Chinese nation.

On this day, Chen Guangliang attended a meeting of the Shanghai Coal Industry Association. He had just been elected as a member of the board of directors of this organization.

The meeting mainly discussed Shanghai's "coal shortage" situation.

After the Wanbaoshan Incident in July 1931, Shanghai's cotton and sugar industries took the lead in refusing to trade with the Japanese, inspecting and registering Japanese goods, and displaying slogans such as "spontaneous and permanent clearance of goods."

Because coal is a necessary fuel, it had often been treated as an exception in previous boycotts of Japanese goods. Therefore, Japanese coal merchants initially shrugged off the current boycott. The Japanese consul also speculated that even if a temporary boycott of Japanese coal was implemented, a solution would inevitably emerge over time for essential commodities like fuel. September before, the Shanghai Anti-Japanese Association had indeed stated that "until China achieves full coal self-sufficiency, Japanese coal should be treated as a necessary commodity."

After the September 9th Incident, China launched a comprehensive "economic break" with Japan. On September 26th, the Shanghai Coal Industry Association announced a resolute boycott of Japanese goods, refusing new transactions, halting existing ones, and registering and sealing existing Japanese and Fushun coal. Simultaneously, the Coal and Barge Industry Association also decided to refuse to load Japanese coal and strictly inspect Japanese coal at registered docks. Even Kailuan coal, transported on Japanese ships, was boycotted, refusing to be loaded or unloaded.

In 1930, nearly % of Shanghai's coal market came from Japanese and Fushun coal. Cutting off these imports would have created a severe crisis in Shanghai's coal supply. In fact, even before the boycott, signs of a coal shortage were already evident in Shanghai. Due to years of soaring gold prices, Shanghai's imports of Japanese and Fushun coal decreased, leading to a decline in coal reserves.

Furthermore, starting in March 1931, a dispute between Kailuan Coal and the Beining Railway over freight rates led to a strike. Monthly imports of Kailuan coal into Shanghai decreased by 3 to 7 tons. By early July, Kailuan coal reserves in Shanghai were only 10 tons, a significant drop from the 7 tons recorded the previous year.

In addition, Kailuan coal is usually transported by Japanese ships. After Japan, port workers refused to load and unload Japanese ships, and it was difficult to find other ships to replace them.

As a result, the coal shortage in Shanghai at that time became increasingly severe.

Even though there were so many difficulties, Liu Hongsheng and Chen Guangliang felt somewhat proud at this moment.

One director complained, "As of October 10, Shanghai had only 20 tons of coal in stock, barely enough for one month's consumption. As the weather gets colder, coal demand will enter its peak season, and Shanghai will be caught in a dilemma where 'coal prices will soar and all factories will be shut down.'"

Everyone showed pessimistic expressions.

A director immediately said, "Japanese coal has disappeared. South China's fuel supply is exhausted and depends on the mines in the north. Beipiao coal from Yingkou cannot be transported due to the blockage of the Beining Road. Jingxing and Datong coal from Tanggu cannot be transported due to the extremely shallow winter water. Zhongxing coal from Jinpu is only for road use, and Liuhegou from Pinghan has been out of service for a long time. For the foreign coal needed by Shanghai's shipping and commercial factories, the only source is Kailuan, and for domestic coal, the only source is Boshan."

Everyone complained about the difficulty!
Liu Hongsheng then spoke up, "Back in the spring of this year, Mr. Chen and I invested in the Xuzhou Jiawang Coal Mine. Currently, the coal production there is over 10 tons, and they can produce about 4 tons per month. We have already arranged for the railway to transport it to Shanghai, which can fill some of the gap."

One director couldn't help but ask, "So fast?"

Everyone knows that Jiawang Coal Mine has restarted, but few people know that Jiawang Coal Mine has been in production for nearly three months.

Isn’t it Chen Guangliang who is pushing this?

Jiawang Coal Mine finalized its restructuring plan in April, and subsequently obtained a restructuring loan as soon as possible to resume mining.

The loan speed here determines the speed of resumption of work.

Chen Guangliang said: "The Jiawang Coal Mine can only guarantee 25 tons of coal for Shanghai this winter, which is less than a month's consumption. But it is a good thing after all."

Secretary-General Wang Pingnan immediately said, "National Coal has saved the Shanghai market, and the timing of Jiawang Coal Mine's resumption of production is just right. Even if we can only provide a little over 20 tons this winter, it will be a great morale boost."

Everyone applauded!

In fact, Chen Guangliang did this at the best time.

Assuming that Jiawang Coal Mine resumes operation next year, it may suffer long-term losses for the following reasons:

First, after the Japanese bombing of Zhabei, many factories in Shanghai stopped production, and the demand for coal decreased significantly;
Second, after the armistice is signed in March next year, the boycott of Japanese goods will gradually ease, and Japanese media will seize the opportunity to dump Japanese goods. Fushun and Kailuan coal have price advantages, making it difficult for Jiawang Coal Mine to compete.

In his previous life, Liu Hongsheng only organized the resumption of production in 1932, and this investment has always been non-profitable.

But now it is different. If Jiawang Coal Mine supplies 25 tons of coal to the Shanghai Stock Exchange this winter, it can make a profit of about 80 yuan from this item alone (coal prices have risen a lot recently).

With this cash flow, coupled with the sales system and reputation established by Jiawang Coal Mine, future operations will be slightly better.

(Chen Guangliang also didn’t anticipate that in the second half of next year, Fushun and Kailuan coal, due to their large inventories, would be dumped on the Shanghai market, with prices directly reduced by 60% to 70% and the disadvantage of domestic coal would be clearly exposed.)
Subsequently.

Wang Pingnan continued, "National Coal has made great contributions this time. I suggest that our coal association should vigorously publicize it to boost national prestige."

"it is good"

"should"

Although Jiawang Coal Mine joined in at the right time, the coal shortage in Shanghai was at least alleviated.

Therefore, the next meeting discussed how to alleviate the problem of coal scarcity.

In fact, when the decision to boycott Japanese coal was made, the Nanjing Industry Department immediately formulated measures to prevent coal shortages, including "checking the major domestic coal mines, which still have considerable coal reserves, and immediately dispatching trucks to transport them to major ports", "the national bank should pay a corresponding deposit based on the quantity of coal stockpiled in each port, and return it when the coal is sold", "ordering local governments and local law and order maintenance troops to do their utmost to protect the safety of mines", "ordering major coal mines to increase production as much as possible", etc.

To address the problem of supplying the 6,000 tons of Japanese coal needed daily in the Yangtze River area, the Ministry of Industry proposed: "First, increase the output of existing domestic coal mines; second, open new coal mines; and third, purchase more Annan coal."

However, there are many problems here. Once domestic coal is mined, the market problem will no longer be "coal shortage", but "dumping of foreign coal".

By that time, there will be no hope for the development of the national coal industry.

In the end, the Shanghai Coal Association came up with another idea - to increase purchases of Annan coal to cope with the current situation.

It’s a pity that Chen Guangliang no longer has any ships, otherwise he could have gotten a share of the transportation.

Back at the Jierui Coal Briquette Factory, Chen Guangliang and Xie Hengchuang held a closed-door meeting.

“What about our coal reserves?”

"We have plenty. We've been stockpiling coal since March, so we can easily supply the Shanghai market with honeycomb briquettes for four or five months. The question now is, should we raise the price?"

Xie Hengchuang knew that raising prices required the approval of shareholder Chen Guangliang, otherwise he would offend him.

Chen Guangliang said: "According to the increase in Kailuan coal prices, our coal briquettes have also increased. After all, the cost is here."

He is not pedantic. The price should go up naturally, and it costs money for them to store coal.

Of course, the increase should not be too high, just follow the market.

The coal stored in the Jierui Coal Briquette Factory is not suitable for the factory, otherwise Chen Guangliang would have stored some of it as well.

Xie Hengchuang said, "After this battle, we will further monopolize the coal briquettes in Shanghai."

This doesn't count as profiting from the national crisis; it's just normal price fluctuations. Furthermore, ensuring the supply of coal briquettes in Shanghai is already a great deed.

Jierui Coal Briquette Factory has always used Kailuan coal and has never used Fushun coal.

Next year, Jierui Coal Briquette should also distribute dividends to shareholders. After two years of investment, not a cent has been distributed. Of course, the funds for coal storage this year have been quite a bit, otherwise there would be a dividend.

After chatting with Xie Hengchuang for a while, Chen Guangliang left in a good mood.

The Jiawang Coal Mine in Xuzhou has resumed production and can provide 4 tons of coal to Shanghai every month. With reports from various media outlets, it has finally brought glory to "National Coal".

The collaboration between Chen Guangliang and Liu Hongsheng has also become a model for industrialists.

Someone analyzed in the newspaper that it was very difficult for others to resume work and production at Jiawang Coal Mine - at that time, the debt of Jiawang Coal Mine alone was as high as 80 oceans, and it had reached the point where it had to stop production.

Chen Guangliang and Liu Hongsheng not only injected 80 yuan to help Jiawang Coal Mine repay its debts, but also successively secured 30 yuan in bank loans for Jiawang Coal Mine and established various connections to achieve today's results.

Now that Shanghai is short of coal, he can be said to be a "hero" at a critical moment.

Naturally, the railway authorities gave the green light, granting a daily quota of 2000 tons and lowering freight rates. The Jiawang Coal Mine became a target of special attention from the government and the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

However, Chen Guangliang had a feeling of unease - he probably knew that not only would the demand for coal in Shanghai decrease next year, but after the Sino-Japanese armistice, Fushun coal and Kailuan coal would be dumped. How would Jiawang Coal Mine make a profit then?
Any coal that is mainly transported by rail will definitely find it difficult to compete with coal that is transported by sea. Coal from Xuzhou to Shanghai can only be transported by rail.

Therefore, Chen Guangliang already had an idea - to find an opportunity to sell his shares.

Anyway, he has already gained the reputation, and if he can make a little profit, it will be perfect!

Yes, we should do less business that loses money!

Chen Guangliang came to the filming set of "Times Pictures" in southern Shanghai. Since the establishment of "Times Pictures" in April, it has been preparing for the two films "Heroes of the East" and "Fist of Fury".

Of course, the first film to be filmed was "Heroes of the East".

The director of this movie is Wang Tianbei. Since the appearance of "Burning of Red Lotus Temple", he has also followed the trend and filmed many martial arts movies, including "Twenty-Four Heroes of Jianghu".

Times Pictures acquired him by issuing 500 new shares (worth 5 yuan) and packaged him with his original film company.

This is also one of Chen Guangliang's methods, that is, issuing new shares to acquire other film companies and reduce his own investment.

The studio of Times Pictures covers an area of ​​30 acres (rented). After half a year of construction, it has now begun to take shape.

Lu Hanzhang accompanied Chen Guangliang to inspect the filming site. He is the producer of "Heroes of the East" and the head of the film company.

At the scene, they were filming a scene where Huo Yuanjia fought against a British strongman. Chen Guangliang's arrival did not affect the filming of Wang Tianbei and others.

Film in this era is really expensive, and people generally don’t want to waste it.

After "Burning of the Red Lotus Temple", the film industry started to shoot martial arts and fantasy movies, which appeared in endless numbers and attracted the attention of the Nanjing government. Fantasy movies contained superstitious and anti-scientific elements, which triggered a social reaction similar to religious fanaticism. Therefore, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Education of the National Government jointly established the Film Censorship Committee to ban martial arts and fantasy movies.

Therefore, "Heroes of the East" produced by "Times Pictures", under the guidance of Chen Guangliang, opened the era of real kung fu with real punches.

Therefore, the main actors are kung fu practitioners recruited from all over the country.

Just like director Ren Pengnian at that time, he specialized in filming movies about "female warriors" because his wife knew kung fu and happened to be the heroine. He made a lot of money with this selling point.

The arena tent on the scene was built by Times Pictures. It takes the form of a yurt, with a wooden arena in the middle and a large number of "extras" serving as the audience around it.

The actor who plays the British strongman is a Belarusian homeless man who is nearly two meters tall and has muscles all over his body.

Huo Yuanjia, who was less than 1.7 meters tall, formed a sharp contrast in size. Chen Guangliang has already portrayed the essence of this fight, especially the final scene where Huo Yuanjia kicked the British strongman out of the ring with a series of aerial kicks. The British strongman was almost killed by the sharp iron, but was saved by Huo Yuanjia.

Obviously, this movie is mainly "anti-Japanese" and can slightly downplay the portrayal of other powers.

Since it is "anti-Japanese", the Japanese judo warriors naturally showed a "villain" reaction when they knew that Huo Yuanjia was poisoned. This is slightly different from the "Bushido spirit" of the previous life.

But Huo Yuanjia still defeated the Japanese warriors, but while celebrating, he vomited blood and was sent to the hospital where he died.

In addition, this film does not involve kicking the "Sick Man of East Asia" sign; but there is a scene where Huo Yuanjia kicks away the "Chinese and dogs are not allowed to enter" sign.

After all, the "wonderful signs" must be released one by one, otherwise what should Chen Zhen kick!
'The script is perfect,' this is the comment from everyone who joined Time Pictures.

"Okay, take a break."

When Wang Tianbei saw Chen Guangliang coming, he filmed for a while and then stopped appropriately.

Afterwards, Wang Tianbei came over to greet Chen Guangliang.

"Mr. Chen"

Chen Guangliang nodded and asked, "Can it be released on New Year's Day?"

On the eve of the "January 28 Incident", if there was such a movie, it would definitely inspire the confidence of the people across the country in the war of resistance.

"Yes, it can definitely be done, and the quality can be guaranteed!"

Wang Tianbei made a solemn promise in front of Chen Guangliang.

Everyone understands what a movie like this means at this moment!
It is both an extension of support for anti-Japanese sentiment and a propaganda to unite the Chinese nation.

To put it in a vulgar way, that is proof that contemporary films have opened up the market.

Although the Times Cinema was unable to release the film in time, Chen Guangliang decided to contact other cinemas for a round of screenings, determined to do his best.

"Okay, this expedited filming is also in line with current events. I hope everyone will give it their all."

"no problem"

After the visit, Chen Guangliang and Lu Hanzhang communicated together.

In a normal company, Lu Hanzhang is the chairman, and directors such as Chen Guangliang, Zhuang Zhujiu, and Sheng Qi occasionally inspect the progress.

So, it is more decentralized.

"How is the company's financial situation?"

"It's almost reaching the bottom. After all, the investment in the studio and equipment is huge. Even the investment in 'Fearless' is larger than that of previous films."

"Well, the cinema can borrow some more funds. Also, I'll arrange for the bank to provide another loan in November."

In total, a total of 125 million has been invested (including 5 for issuing new shares), of which the film company has spent 45.

But there is no other way. Everything has to start from scratch, which naturally costs a lot.

"Another 15 will be enough. We are confident that the movie 'Huo Yuanjia' can bring back a lot of funds, and we will also have funds to prepare for the filming of 'Fist of Fury'."

"Okay, the 15 yuan loan will be given to me next month. I'll have the cinema withdraw 5 yuan in advance and I'll pay it back when the time comes."

"it is good"

Finally, Chen Guangliang said, "I want to record a CD. Find someone who knows about it. Here are the lyrics. We can discuss the melody later."

"The Great Wall will never fall down," what a great phrase, perfect for this movie!

Lu Hanzhang was overjoyed and looked at the manuscript happily as if he had found a treasure.

In the 1920s, the French Pathe-Marconi record company acquired by EMI established a branch in Shanghai. The reason why EMI is called "EMI" in China is the transliteration of the French company Pathe.

So recording the CD is not a problem, the key now is to get the music and the corresponding instruments together.

"I got the lyrics by chance, so please don't use my name on them."

"Um"

People of this generation are easy to fool. Lu Hanzhang just thought that the lyrics were bought by Chen Guangliang from somewhere else, but since he had already paid for them, there was no need to use someone else's name.

Therefore, Lu Hanzhang has decided to use his own name, and the screenwriter of "Huo Yuanjia" also uses his name.

Chen Guangliang left shortly afterwards. Coincidentally, the economic benefits of Huo Yuanjia, Chen Zhen, and The Great Wall Will Never Fall at this moment were far less than their national and national effects.

(End of this chapter)