A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 262: Manipulating the Stock Market
A week later, the crew of "Once Upon a Time in China" held a celebration party at the Shangri-La Hotel, and Chen Guangliang was also invited to attend.

At the celebration party, Jiang Meiying once again took the initiative to invite Chen Guangliang to dance with her. Chen Guangliang was not afraid of Sheng Qi's presence and readily agreed.

Holding Jiang Meiying's waist, Chen Guangliang felt the beauty of different women; Chen Guangliang has always been happy to dance with Yan Renmei's sister, Yan Renmei's classmates, and other women. This is a hobby.

After all, it is normal for men to be lustful. The key lies in whether the man can control himself.

Chen Guangliang felt good about himself. Although he danced with various beauties, he didn't think about taking things further.

"Mr. Chen, everyone in the company says that you are the one who has made the greatest contribution to the success of Times Film. You personally selected all the films, even me?"

The screenplays of the four successful films were all credited to Lu Hanzhang, Wang Tianbei, Ren Pengnian, and other three directors, but this was clearly different from other film companies. Furthermore, Lu Hanzhang and his colleagues were not quick to speak, so naturally, some people thought that the subject matter was hand-picked by Chen Guangliang.

"Why, do you want to thank me?"

Jiang Meiying blushed slightly and said in a soft voice, "How do you want me to thank you?"

After saying this, the blush on her face doubled.

In fact, she didn't particularly care whether she could become a female star like Ruan Lingyu and Hu Die. At least she would not do anything she didn't want to do for these reasons; but the person in front of her was Chen Guangliang, a legendary and charming man.

So, she couldn't help but blurt out a somewhat ambiguous statement just now.

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "How about this? Be my dance partner occasionally in the future. I think dancing with you is also very fun."

Jiang Meiying replied: "Okay"

Just being a dance partner is nothing out of the ordinary.

In fact, even in some important occasions, if someone invites Yan Renmei to dance, it is normal etiquette.

It's just that Chen Guangliang's business partners and friends are mostly middle-aged and elderly, so they wouldn't invite someone as young as Yan Renmei. And if someone didn't have a certain level of social status and connections, they wouldn't invite him, and Yan Renmei would absolutely refuse.

After a while, the two returned to their seats.

Sheng Qi deliberately lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Chen, why don't you invite me to dance? Am I worse than Aunt Thirteen?"

Chen Guangliang glanced at Zhuang Zhujiu awkwardly. Ever since Chen Guangliang married Yan Renmei and started doing business with Sheng Qi, the two of them had become very good friends. And the relationship between Sheng Qi and Yan Renmei had become even closer, becoming close buddies who could talk about anything.

Zhuang Zhujiu shrugged helplessly, indicating that he could not control his wife.

"Come on, let the lady ask you to dance. You're not gentleman enough!"

Sheng Qi stood up proudly. She liked the feeling of being in charge of Chen Guangliang. After all, she was Yan Renmei's godmother, and Chen Guangliang was still her junior.

Normally, Chen Guangliang treated the couple as his subordinates and assigned them work, and they had no objections.

But it was rare to have the upper hand, so Sheng Qi naturally seized the opportunity and felt like an "elder".

In fact, Sheng Qi's idea was not wrong. Compared with Song Zaiwen and Kong Xiangxi, Chen Guangliang was considered a junior (it was not a forced relationship, but the relationship was because he married a daughter of the Yan family), and she had a relationship experience with Song Zaiwen.

Therefore, Chen Guangliang is indeed a junior, but he does not consider seniority when doing business.

In the middle of the dance floor, Chen Guangliang hugged Sheng Qi and danced. In fact, he also felt satisfied and happy when he was with these "historical figures".

Sheng Qi said cunningly, "Tell me, should I file a complaint?"

Chen Guangliang said frankly: "I don't care about your boudoir affairs! What's more, I believe you won't gossip and at most report the truth."

The implication was that he was not afraid at all, but he also 'warned' her not to exaggerate.

Sheng Qi smiled and said, "Okay, you're being too confident. I didn't find anything unusual, so I won't say anything nonsense!"

There's also a hidden meaning in her words. At least don't let her catch you doing anything "out of line".

In fact, since Chen Guangliang’s generation, many families have stopped marrying concubines. In fact, the laws of the Republic of China did not recognize concubines; but some people still took them, but they were far away and were not arrested.

But in fact, if any court official dared to take a concubine, the Nanjing government would punish him or not employ him, except for local warlords.

Chen Guangliang deliberately said: "Although I don't have that idea, your attitude makes me very dissatisfied - how do I treat you two?"

Sheng Qi said, "Of course it's good. You saved me from losing my dowry (investing in the Paramount) and helped us make money. You also helped improve the relationship between us as husband and wife."

She used to often hear that men like Zhuang Zhujiu (capable, loyal, and honest) were the ones women could truly rely on.

Chen Guangliang added, "That's good to know. Also, I plan to have Mr. Zhuang become the general manager of Times Pictures later."

He is also currently concurrently in charge of Zhuang Zhujiu and Lu Hanzhang's respective responsibilities for 'cinema chain' and 'production and distribution', but he will not always take all the power on himself, after all, there are too many things to do.

Sheng Qi could only hum: "I'm not a woman who gossips."

You are not a woman who gossips, but you have a very good relationship with your wife, yet you are too close to Chen Guangliang.

So, give it a good knock.

Sheng Qi is now very satisfied with her job as the public relations manager of Times Pictures, and even more satisfied with her husband's job.

Otherwise, how could she be so close to Chen Guangliang.

Of course, Chen Guangliang also had a trick up his sleeve, that is, Sheng Qi was also his bargaining chip. If Song Zaiwen wanted to clean up his business in the future, Chen Guangliang would use Sheng Qi as a favor.

Otherwise, why did Chen Guangliang help the couple so much in the past?
at the same time.

Many media outlets have reported on the brilliant achievements of Times Pictures (which includes Times Cinemas and Times Films):

The operating revenue of the four films will exceed the revenue of Star Cinema, a veteran film company;
Times Cinema became one of the four largest cinemas in Shanghai (Daguangming had just been rebuilt at that time), and it was the first to invest in third- and fourth-run cinemas in blank markets such as Zhabei.

In short, almost all media predict that Times Pictures will become the real king of the film industry because it is driven by the Jiangsu and Zhejiang financial groups and Chen Guangliang.

Under these circumstances, Times Film's stock price quickly soared to 300 yuan, nearly tripling in value. (In a previous life, the Grandview Theater's stock price also soared from 10 yuan to 31 yuan when it was rebuilt and put into use, before plummeting.)
Chen Guangliang decisively began to sell some of the stocks he held - 1000 shares. In this era, there were no stock market rules. As long as there were people selling and people buying, the transaction was completed!
If 1000 shares were sold this time, Chen Guangliang would have recovered about 30 yuan. At the same time, he would also own 22.22% of Times Pictures.

Although the shares are not much, he will not lose control. After all, Sheng Qi and Zhuang Zhujiu are his allies, and with his own influence, he does not need to worry about power falling into others' hands.

At the Chinese Securities Exchange, many speculative businessmen are paying close attention to the market.

There are both government bond and stock transactions here, with the former having a larger trading volume.

"Times Pictures' stock has reached 300 yuan a share. Oh my god!"

"This is perfectly normal. Times Pictures produced four films this year, and each one made hundreds of thousands of dollars. If this continues, let alone three hundred, even four or five hundred won't be a problem."

"Oh my god, it's a good buy! You'll make a profit if you buy it!"

"It's gone up again, Times Pictures has gone up again, hurry up and buy it"

This stock had recently been hyped up, with a large number of speculators buying in, while two major shareholders were selling out. "Third brother, what are you dawdling about? Hurry up and buy 30 shares of Times Pictures!"

"Brother, this is more than 9000 yuan."

"What are you afraid of? If you buy it, you'll make a profit. It will turn into 15000 yuan in no time."

"Really? I'll go in and buy it."

The people having this conversation at this time were the three Wang brothers who had sold 15 acres of land to Chen Guangliang.

After the three brothers sold the land to Chen Guangliang, they opened a restaurant together. Since the eldest brother Wang Zhongxiang had good cooking skills, the second brother Wang Zhonglin was good at socializing and attracting business, and the third brother Wang Zhonglei joined the Green Gang and was doing well, the business was quite good.

But by 1930, they discovered a problem: the three brothers had worked so hard in the restaurant business, but they had not earned more than one-third of the profit from the increase in land prices on Yuyuan Road.

I was so angry that I vomited blood!

By the second half of 15, their 1930 mu of land was worth 15 taels of silver; however, it was initially sold for less than taels of silver, and after investing in a restaurant, they only made to taels of silver.

After the three brothers' restaurant business became successful, they spent money to buy a three-story house in Xincheng Garden and gave all the tens of thousands of dollars they had earned through hard work to Changjiang Real Estate.

After buying the house and making money for two more years, the two brothers became addicted to speculative business. They heard that speculating in government bonds and stocks could make money, so they joined in the fun.

"Did you buy it?"

"I bought it. A total of 30 shares, spent 9300 yuan."

Wang Zhonglin said happily while holding the stock: "This is a treasure. Look, it has the signature of Chen Guangliang, the God of Wealth. The face value is 100."

The third brother, Wang Zhonglei, quickly said, "Why is the face value 100? Shouldn't it be 309?"

Wang Zhonglin laughed and said, "Silly boy, par value is par value, and share price is share price. Par value represents the price of the stock when it was issued, while share price represents the current market price, how much it is worth."

Wang Zhonglei asked, "So do you think the price can really go up to 400 or 500?"

Wang Zhonglin took out some newspapers and said, "Look, these are the great achievements of Times Films."

The two brothers happily found a corner, read the newspaper and waited for the market.

Chen Guangliang came to the Suzhou River and visited the China Sugar Factory.

This sugar refinery was built with an investment of 85 US dollars by bureaucratic capital headed by Kong Xiangxi after the withdrawal of troops from Japan. After just half a year, the factory has entered the stage of installing equipment.

When he visited, Kong Xiangxi was also at the factory with his wife, Miss Song. This was the first time Chen Guangliang met Miss Song.

The first time they met, Chen Guangliang had a rather strong impression of her. After all, in his previous life, all kinds of online news and street literature were always unfavorable to Miss Song. But in fact, apart from Miss Song's love of money, she was very likable in other aspects.

For example, Miss Song smiled and said as soon as they met, "You are a famous person. The rise of China's sugar industry is due to you. You are also doing a good job in the Merchants Group!"

You say, with such an attitude, how could Chen Guangliang dislike him?

It is also possible that Chen Guangliang has already escaped from the lower class and become an evil capitalist.

"Madam, you're joking. The rise of China's sugar industry is simply a coincidence and inevitable. As for my work at the China Merchants Group, I dare not accept your praise."

Miss Song said, "If it's done well, it's done well. We all have our own standards! But your wife calls me mommy, and I'm also your elder, so there's no need to be so polite."

"Yes, ma'am"

Chen Guangliang doesn't care about this. Although he's currently a typical supporter of the Nanjing government, he's never done anything to offend the future government, and he never criticizes future leaders. As for the Oriental Daily's opinion, it doesn't represent his personal views.

Even if we take a step back and say that Chen Guangliang has no intention of taking power in the future, if he encounters a situation, he is still willing to do a favor and help to the best of his ability.

Afterwards, everyone visited the factory.

The factory is located on the banks of Suzhou River and covers an area of ​​more than 60 acres. Chen Guangliang also contributed to the selection of the site, mainly considering the convenience of transporting sugarcane.

The factory still uses American machinery, with equipment capable of crushing 66 tons per day, and it only cost US$.

Watching the American engineer directing the installation of equipment, Miss Song couldn't wait to ask, "Guangliang, you said this sugar refinery will pay for itself in a year. Is that true?"

Kong Xiangxi was standing by and was also quite concerned.

He is the Minister of Industry. Although he has shares in this factory, it is impossible for him to manage it personally, so the general manager of this factory is a government official.

"In the second half of this year, Guangdong Province will sell a large amount of white sugar to the Shanghai market, and the price will be cheaper than last year. If we import sugarcane from Southeast Asia, we may not be able to make a profit within a year, but two years is the best."

"It seems that if our country can produce this thing itself, we can not only defeat the invasion of foreign capital, but also make a lot of profits."

Isn’t this normal!

When running a factory is most profitable, the annual return rate can reach 300%. For example, after World War I, the Rongjia Textile Factory, which invested 30 yuan, made a profit of 100 million yuan in the fifth year.

The first sugar factory in Guangdong Province invested 400 million yuan, and its profit in the first year reached more than 400 million yuan.

Kong Xiangxi then asked Xu Caijin, who was standing beside him, "If Chongming Island grows sugarcane on a large scale next year, will it be able to meet the sugarcane supply for this factory?"

Xu Caijin quickly said, "No, but we've already selected Chongming Island and Wuxi County, areas at the Yangtze River estuary, as sugarcane planting areas. The only problem now is convincing farmers to plant sugarcane. We need strong support from the government or sugar factories, otherwise it will be difficult to promote it in these areas."

Kong Xiangxi was no idiot. He immediately asked, "What did the Guangdong Province do?"

Xu Caijin said: "The Construction Department or the factory provides sugarcane seeds, signs purchase contracts, and even provides phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, so farmers don't have to worry about anything."

Kong Xiangxi actually looked at Chen Guangliang with doubt. He probably thought that these conditions were too good!
Chen Guangliang said: "This is all as it should be. After all, planting mulberry leaves and other crops is inefficient now. If sugar factories can provide better returns, they will naturally be willing to plant sugarcane."

Kong Xiangxi then said to Xu Caijin, "Go ahead and do it. With the support of the government and me, you must meet the sugarcane needs of this sugar refinery within two years."

"Ok"

The sugar factory is definitely a very profitable business, and the sugar factory also has a supporting alcohol factory. Both products are "strategic products."

After finishing the inspection, Miss Song and Kong Xiangxi sat in the car.

Miss Song said, "Can this young man win us over?"

Kong Xiangxi immediately said, "He can't do it because he's not proactive enough."

Miss Song said regretfully: "I still want to help him."

The so-called lack of initiative naturally refers to the aspect of currying favor with the powerful and wealthy. Chen Guangliang has indeed never been active in this aspect.

(End of this chapter)