A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 264 It’s too late to hate each other
Chinese Securities Exchange.

Chen Guangliang and Sheng Qi stood together, looking at the crowded trading market.

This time, the two companies each cashed out 1000 shares of Times Pictures, both sold at above 300 yuan, earning a total of 60 taels of silver.

"Boss, Miss Sheng, all the stocks have been sold!" A broker affiliated with Ping An Bank quietly came to the two of them and reported the situation.

Since Ping An Bank started investing in government bonds, it has established its own brokerage seat at the China Merchants Stock Exchange.

"Okay, thank you"

The broker quickly said, "You're welcome. This is my job. By the way, boss, would you like to continue selling to suppress the stock price and release some negative news? I'm confident that I can drive the stock price down to 150 yuan, and then you can buy it back at a lower price."

He participated in the layout of "pulling up the price and cashing out" this time, so he proposed the subsequent plan.

Chen Guangliang said, "I won't make any money from this. I'm cashing out because I need to turn around my other businesses, and the stock price is too high. So, let's stop suppressing the stock price and let it return to a reasonable level. Especially you, don't get involved."

The agent was stunned. After all, it was such an easy way to make money, but the boss just gave up on it.

Anyone with any sense would have noticed that Times Pictures' stock price is wildly inflated. Initially, Times Pictures had a mere 125 million in capital. Even if they produced four successful films, their assets wouldn't have risen above 200 million. Furthermore, Times Pictures' market capitalization is now over million.

"Ok"

After the agent left, Sheng Qi deliberately said, "You really give up this opportunity. If we continue to sell, maybe we can make an extra hundred thousand dollars."

She also understood the routine here. They continued to sell stocks at high prices, creating a huge pressure; then they used newspapers and agents to spread negative news such as the asset value of Times Pictures, and the stock price would soon plummet; at that time, Chen Guangliang and she could buy the stocks sold at a low price.

Chen Guangliang left immediately, Sheng Qi quickly followed, and then the two got into a car.

After getting in the car, Chen Guangliang said, "A gentleman loves money, but he gets it in a proper way. For a long time, I will not buy or sell shares of Times Pictures."

Sheng Qi smiled and said, "I know, I said that on purpose. But aren't you being a little too nice to us?"

This has all been seen.

In fact, he was really good to Zhuang Zhujiu and Sheng Qi. Not only did he arrange for the two to hold high positions in Times Pictures, but he also asked them to join in the cashing-out operation this time.

The two hold high positions in Times Pictures, which is a very ideal job and assignment. After all, the film and cinema industries are both "reputable" and "stylish" cultural industries.

Chen Guangliang replied: "You are Renmei's godmother, and Mr. Zhuang is the helper I hope to get. If I don't treat you well, how can I let you do anything!"

"Tsk, it would be great if you could call me godmother!"

Chen Guangliang fell silent.

Sheng Qi immediately laughed triumphantly.

In fact, she once suspected that Chen Guangliang was so nice to her because he was intentionally taking advantage of her relationship with that unscrupulous man (Song Zaiwen).

But now think about it, there is no need for them to be so roundabout and use such despicable means.

Clearly, there's something wrong with her. (No, there's nothing wrong with you!)
Chen Guangliang handles China Merchants Group affairs in his office at the group's headquarters.

It has been almost three months since he took over China Merchants Group, and his "three fires" are still burning, and they are still burning vigorously.

The "three fires" are all about personnel. The first two fires have almost been burned out, and now we are tackling the most difficult hurdle - abolishing the comprador system (i.e. the manager system) and replacing it with the captain system.

Soon, the Director of the Personnel Department, Hu Futai, came in and reported, "Mr. Chen, the manager of the Jiangfu ship, Liu Haiying, is the brother-in-law of Yu Feipeng, the Deputy Minister of Transportation."

Chen Guangliang put down his pen, looked at Hu Futai, and said expressionlessly, "What do you mean?"

Hu Futai knew Chen Guangliang's tactics and quickly said, "Of course I mean he should be fired, but can we wait until last to avoid pressure from above? Once we've fired most of the managers on the other ships, it will be logical to fire Liu Haiying then. Besides, Yu Feipeng is not only the Vice Minister of Transportation, he's also the Commander-in-Chief's cousin."

Upon hearing this, Chen Guangliang said immediately, "That's perfect! We'll use Liu Haiying as a 'model figure' and fire him immediately. We need to make everyone understand our resolve, so that subsequent actions will naturally go more smoothly. After all, if we can fire even the commander-in-chief's distant relatives, then what qualifications do others have to stay in this 'manager' position?"

As a first step, the re-selection of managers for each branch, warehouse, and vessel has been completed this month. These managers were selected after a preliminary examination, written test, and interview. We believe they can perform their duties well.

The second step was a slight adjustment of the directors and supervisors, making the reform of China Merchants Group the responsibility of the entire society (introducing socially renowned people such as Shi Liangcai and Liu Hongsheng to participate).

The third fire is the "comprador (manager) system", and Chen Guangliang attaches great importance to this issue.

When Hu Futai heard this, he was stunned. It turned out that this person was still trying to chew the hard bone first.

However, he still admired Chen Guangliang's skills very much and said immediately: "Okay, then I will issue a written notice immediately."

Chen Guangliang can only push forward the reform of China Merchants Group by gnawing on each bone one by one.

In fact, the content of his current reforms is still limited to the surface, that is, personnel.

Not knowing how many more problems are hidden in it, Chen Guangliang can only rectify them step by step.

After Hu Futai left, Chen Guangliang looked at the news in the newspaper and fell into thought:
Oriental Daily:
Yu Qiaqing, former president of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce and founder of the Ningshao and Sanbei Shipping Companies, sent a telegram to the commander-in-chief.

In the telegram, Yu Qiaqing first explained the mentality of private shipping operators when the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company was nationalized: "The public was deeply skeptical about nationalizing the privately-owned China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, but shipping merchants believed that since it already had leadership, they could expect cooperation. In a country with an extremely immature shipping industry and whose air rights had been invaded, this was not necessarily a strategy to save and revitalize it." Therefore, the private shipping operators' original "opposition to the nationalization of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company was melted by hope." However, unexpectedly, after the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company was nationalized, "it was afraid to face external pressure and rushed to act internally, leveraging the power of the government to oppress civil aviation. Now, it has even gone further, competing to monopolize the country's land and water transport and prohibiting private operators from undertaking it. This is simply using state-owned enterprises to defeat private enterprises." He further pointed out that "the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, with only 24 ships, monopolizing the country's 11 routes of intermodal transport, is bound to fail, and this is a foregone conclusion."

Obviously, after the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company was nationalized, the conflict and competition between the state-owned and private shipping industries has risen to a level that affects the overall development of China's shipping industry.

The content of Yu Qiaqing's "complaint" was actually about the impact of China Merchants Steam Navigation Company's recovery of "11 water-land transport sites across the country".

Chen Guangliang was not the core figure in promoting this step, but it was directly presided over by the Ministry of Transport, and China Merchants Group was only the party that benefited.

However, as the general manager of China Merchants Group and Global Shipping has no intention of getting involved in inland waterway transportation, Chen Guangliang is optimistic about this strategy in the short term.

We’ll talk about it later!

Jiang Zhenhua holds a Master of Science degree from the University of St. Louis and is the director of Zhentai Spinning Mill. He is also Jiang Meiying's father.

As an overseas student in the early 20th century, and a master's degree holder at that, it can be seen that Jiang Zhenhua also came from a prominent family, and Jiang Meiying was also a lady from a prominent family with a golden key.

Last year, when his daughter had just come of age, a scout spotted her. At that time, his daughter was undecided, but Jiang Zhenhua, as a father, was very open-minded and allowed her to shoot a cigarette commercial.

At the time, he said to his daughter: "There's nothing wrong with a little girl going out and seeing the world, but you must be careful not to go beyond the norm."

The result was beyond everyone's expectations. After filming the cigarette advertisement, Jiang Meiying became an overnight sensation in Shanghai.

At this time, Jiang Meiying had a new idea, which was to make a movie.

Jiang Zhenhua smiled and said to Jiang Meiying, "Anan, go ahead."

Originally, people thought that this time there would not be any waves, but Jiang Meiying became the focus of the whole country again - first she filmed "Diao Chan" and achieved great results, and then she filmed "Once Upon a Time in China" and became famous in Shanghai again.

Some people have regarded Jiang Meiying as the "reigning queen" of Times Pictures, a new generation of film queen who is on par with Ruan Lingyu and Hu Die.

Now that's good, Jiang Zhenhua felt a little headache. He was still worried that his daughter would be targeted and go astray.

In fact.

At this time, Jiang Meiying was indeed in trouble. One day, Dai Li, a close friend of the commander-in-chief, came to Shanghai and asked to meet Jiang Meiying, and arranged for a driver to pick her up to go dancing.

Jiang Meiying had no experience for the first time, but she also knew that she could not offend the director of the Secret Service Department of the Nanjing Military Committee. At that time, Ren Pengnian and Lu Hanzhang of Times Pictures also advised her to accept the request, otherwise it might bring disaster to her family.

In this way, Jiang Meiying dared not resist anymore and could only accept the invitation obediently.

Fortunately, the spy chief Dai Li had become her captive (a dog), and this favorite of the commander-in-chief was arrogant in front of others, but was willing to humble himself and treat Jiang Meiying gently.

This gathering was just dancing, and Dai Li also gave Jiang Meiying some jewelry, which she could not refuse.

After returning home, Jiang Meiying felt only fear, and she did not dare to explain the reason when her father Jiang Zhenhua asked her.

Finally, Jiang Meiying hid in her boudoir, feeling somewhat helpless.

"I wonder if Mr. Chen has any solution?"

At this time, Jiang Meiying thought of the boss who was elegant and always very confident in doing things.

Being invited by Jiang Meiying again, Chen Guangliang felt a little good about himself.

After all, these repeated initiatives inevitably made him, a man who had been feeling angry recently, think too much.

It was not until he hugged Jiang Meiying and danced with her that she told him about her troubles that Chen Guangliang realized - oh, it turned out that he was just a "nice guy card".

Of course, Chen Guangliang still said straightforwardly: "I have three strategies for you to choose from!"

Jiang Meiying's face was filled with a happy smile. She said, "With so many methods, I thought you were also afraid of this spy chief!"

Chen Guangliang couldn't help but slightly lift his arm around her slender waist and said, "Nonsense, of course I'm afraid of the spy chief. He's a murderer without blinking an eye."

Jiang Meiying blushed. She could clearly feel the nervousness just now.

Compared to the spy chief, she has very complicated feelings towards Chen Guangliang.

"Then you are still willing to help me?"

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "This is because Lu Hanzhang and Ren Pengnian didn't do a good job. As an employee of our Times Pictures, they failed to fulfill their responsibility to protect you."

Jiang Meiying said sympathetically, "I think they've done a great job, even going out of their way to support me! By the way, can you share some top, middle, and bottom-level strategies?"

Chen Guangliang then said, "The best strategy is, of course, for you to find someone to marry. Although Dai Li is the head of the secret service, from all indications, he still respects you and wouldn't dare to do anything rash."

Jiang Meiying blushed, thinking that Chen Guangliang was referring to something. She would not be willing to be a concubine, and her family would not allow her to do so.

I can only say, it's a pity that this person is already married.

"Where's Zhongce?"

"If it's a good strategy, I'll have to step in. I know some reporters who really enjoy writing about entertainment news about you, the actresses and actors. As long as you take the initiative to contact these reporters every time you receive an invitation, as soon as the newspaper is in your possession, the spy chief hiding in the shadows will become the biggest entertainment news on the front page of Shanghai. I'm sure he'll be scolded by his boss. Of course, this way, you'll also become the heroine of the entertainment news on the front page."

Jiang Meiying said coquettishly, "Isn't this ruining my reputation? Nothing happened between him and me, we just danced once!"

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "The innocent will be innocent. You're trying to scare him off, so naturally you'll have to make some small sacrifices. Besides, my suggestion is that you should just work with the reporters I know and occasionally make some news to make yourself an even more famous celebrity."

Jiang Meiying was immediately tempted. After all, this idea was not bad. As for becoming famous, she felt that she was doing something similar.

"What's the next best option?"

“The worst option is no option”

Jiang Meiying immediately said, "In the final analysis, it's just a middle strategy, and you're still being so mysterious. However, I made the right choice by finding you, my boss, this time. I've decided to choose the middle strategy. But, will this cause you any trouble?"

Chen Guangliang said, "I'm not involved in this, so where does the trouble come from? As for the reporters I know, they'd be happy to publish gossip about the commander-in-chief, let alone a spy chief."

Jiang Meiying immediately felt relieved and was very grateful for Chen Guangliang's help.

"Thank you. It seems I made the right choice by finding you. If it were anyone else, there wouldn't be a better way."

Chen Guangliang said confidently, "Although I have never met your father, I know a father has ways to protect his daughter. Of course, his way might be very simple, which is to introduce you to a partner and get married to avoid this kind of trouble."

Marry?
Before joining Times Pictures, she really thought about obeying her father's orders.

But now, it seems that he has some ideas of his own.

"Of course getting married can avoid this kind of trouble, but it's hard to find someone who satisfies you right away. You can't afford to lose the big picture."

Chen Guangliang was a little surprised. Logically, Jiang Meiying's father might have a suitable candidate, and Jiang Meiying should have had such an expectation, but now the girl seemed unprepared.

"Tell me if anything happens. After all, you are my employee, and I was the one who introduced you to Ren Pengnian. So, I will take care of this matter to the end!"

If he could marry a concubine and open the topic directly, Dai Li would also back off.

Precisely because he couldn't stir up public opinion, he had no choice but to use this method.

"Well I'd rather be your dance partner than a spy chief's dance partner!"

"What are you talking about? Then I'll compete with him!"

"sorry"

Jiang Meiying suddenly felt a little embarrassed. After all, although the spy chief was powerful, he was ultimately just a low-ranking lackey. How could he be compared with the person in front of him?

"Well, you're an employee of Time Pictures after all. I owe you a helping hand, both for your own good and for your own personal gain. Besides, men are always a little selfish. Now that you've been my dance partner, I don't want you to be anyone else's."

Jiang Meiying blushed, this sentence seemed to have some foreshadowing.

If this man was not married, she would agree without hesitation, but it was obvious that she met him too late!

Just one week later, Chen Guangliang received three letters from Yu Feipeng, Vice Minister of Transportation. Unwilling to remain silent, he wrote back, "This is a matter of great importance to the overall situation. I cannot respond. Please understand!"

Among the twelve words, Chen Guangliang's attitude was relatively mild. After all, he didn't really want to confront the royal family, but he also expressed that there was no room for negotiation.

As a result, after a while, Chen Guangliang actually heard someone pass on a message - saying that Yu Feipeng had said to someone: "This is related to the overall situation." This was a hidden arrow shot by Chen Guangliang, and I want to teach him a lesson.

After hearing this, Chen Guangliang was a little alert, but his determination was not shaken.

After all, Yu Feipeng is now only the Deputy Minister of Transport, not the Minister.

The Minister of Transport is Zhu Jiahua, who is also the chairman of China Merchants Group, equivalent to the chairman of the board of directors of China Merchants Group.

It is precisely because of this that Chen Guangliang is fearless. After all, Zhu Jiahua is the chairman of the board, which means he can suppress Yu Feipeng, who is still the Deputy Minister of Transportation.

The implementation of the China Merchants Group reform is indeed full of difficulties, but how could Chen Guangliang easily retreat and leave himself with an ignominious experience?

(End of this chapter)