A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 273: Negotiations That Are Too Deceptive

Soon, Chen Guangliang was questioned by Jiang Meiying.

At the Shangri-La Hotel, Jiang Meiying said angrily, "If I had known earlier, I shouldn't have asked you for advice! Now that the Oriental Daily has reported on this, it feels like I'm just a vain girl."

Chen Guangliang looked at the Oriental Daily News, looking left and right, and indeed found no evidence of Wang Chunhua's scribbling. At most, it indicated one thing: Dai Li had come to Shanghai on official business and invited Jiang Meiying to dance with him.

But in this era, dancing together at a banquet is a social activity and does not pose any major problems.

Of course, if Jiang Meiying was Chen Guangliang's woman, he would naturally not allow Dai Li to be so presumptuous.

"While there might be issues like the ones you're worried about, you should also understand that being a celebrity is just like that. Even the Oriental Daily News wouldn't fabricate rumors about female celebrities, but if they were to run into some tabloids, they'd be hard-pressed to figure out how to spin them, even for Ruan Lingyu or Hu Die. Besides, after this, if Dai Li invites you again, you can confidently refuse. I'm sure he won't mess with you again."

In fact, Chen Guangliang also felt that his "suggestion" seemed to be wrong. If Jiang Meiying had directly refused, Dai Li would not have forced a public actress.

Of course, he couldn't admit that it was his mistake.

Jiang Meiying has been under some pressure these days, and now she said with some disinterest, "I suddenly don't want to film anymore. At first, I was just curious about this profession, but now that I've really entered it, I realize it's not as rosy as it could be."

Although she enjoyed the glory brought to her by the title of "Queen of Film", this incident reminded her that this industry is a place of right and wrong.

Chen Guangliang didn't try to persuade her to stay. Instead, he said, "Sure, as long as you think it over carefully. By the way, I'm going to Hong Kong for an inspection soon. Times Pictures has also invested in a filming base there. Would you like to come with me to relax and take advantage of this trip to think about your future?"

Jiang Meiying looked at Chen Guangliang's sincere expression, and since this was exactly what happened, she happily agreed and said, "Okay."

Afterwards, Chen Guangliang finalized the approximate time and asked Jiang Meiying to prepare. They were not going on this trip alone, but also had employees from Times Pictures and Ping An Bank accompanying them.

As for Jiang Meiying wanting to retire from the film industry, it is actually not a big problem. Times Film is now also promoting Xu Lai and is also recruiting new actresses.

In the evening, when he returned to his home on Weihai Road, Chen Guangliang suddenly felt a sense of "apology". Was he too close to Jiang Meiying?
Everyone loves beauty, and Chen Guangliang also has a man's instinct, but he has always been able to stick to that line.

While having dinner with his family, Chen Guangliang said, "In the middle of this month (April), I will be going to Hong Kong and Guangzhou Bay. It will take about half a month for me to return."

He seldom travels far, but now he has to. After all, if he stays in Shanghai, his retreat will be cut off sooner or later.

Yan Renmei looked up and said, "Are you going to inspect Hong Kong?"

Ever since she became pregnant, her husband told her one thing - if civil war breaks out in the future, she should go to live in Hong Kong and live there permanently, and investing in property and collecting rent would be the most appropriate way.

Although she was afraid that Chen Guangliang would reveal the background of the incident, she still kept it in mind. After all, the two now have a son, Chen Wenjie.

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "Starting this year, Times Pictures and Ping An Bank have both entered Hong Kong to develop branches. Together with the Oriental Newspaper, my business has begun to gradually expand into Hong Kong. So this time I'm going to Hong Kong mainly for research and I won't be making any large investments for the time being."

Move forward step by step, after all, there are still several years to go.

Yan Renmei said, "Well, our whole family supports your decision. It's a pity that Guangcong and I still have our studies to attend to, so we can't help you for now."

She had heard Chen Guangliang's analysis of the future situation, so she felt sad about the great pressure Chen Guangliang was under.

Chen Guangcong raised his head, put down his chopsticks, and seemed to be about to say something.

Chen Guangliang said to him directly: "Don't worry too much, studies are the most important. I know how to arrange it."

"yes, Sir"

Then, he said to Yan Renmei, "Renmei, you too, still have a year of study left. You must persevere and graduate without any regrets. Overall, with you around, I feel like I have the support of my family when I do things, and that's enough."

This is true!
When he was alone before, he didn’t have so much feeling when doing business, it was more like a cold money-making machine.

Now that he has a son, Yan Renmei is his son's mother, and Chen Guangcong is his son's uncle, both of whom are his son's closest relatives. So if Chen Guangliang works hard outside and something happens to him, although they can't keep all the family property, they can at least let their son live a rich life.

This is his motivation now!
The next morning, Chen Guangliang brought Yan Renmei to the Ping An Bank Building.

It has been one and a half months since the birth of her child. Yan Renmei has recovered quickly. Although she is still a little chubby, she is still as beautiful as ever.

Accompanying Yan Renmei to the office of the savings department of Ping An Bank, the manager Qin Bohou entertained the two.

"Manager Qin, please open a Ping An Bank VIP account for my wife, and then transfer her the 100 million yuan deposit from my account."

Qin Bohou immediately said, "Okay, you two wait a moment, I'll take care of it right away!"

Chen Guangliang originally had about 300 million yuan in deposits at Ping An Bank, but in February he took out 2 million yuan and deposited it in the "Gold Exchange" and the Yangtze River Money House as a deposit, so now he only has about 100 million yuan left.

Since Yan Renmei married into the Chen family, Chen Guangliang has never given her any money, and the family expenses are also controlled by her mother Yang Hui. Therefore, Yan Renmei only has a dowry given to her by Yan Zhiduo, which is about 10 yuan.

In fact, Yan Zhiduo gave Yan Renmei a total dowry of 300,000 oceans, part of which was properties in Shanghai. After all, Yan Zhiduo earned about 2 million by doing business with Chen Guangliang, so the dowry was particularly rich.

Giving Yan Renmei a deposit this time was just a normal operation. In the future, whenever Chen Guangliang has extra savings that he doesn't need to invest, he can deposit it in her account.

After a while, Qin Bohou took out a document and handed it to Yan Renmei with both hands, saying, "Mrs. Chen, this is your deposit certificate. From now on, you will be a VIP customer of our Ping An Bank, with a dedicated account manager. I will be your account manager. If you have any banking business needs, you can contact me at any time."

Yan Renmei took the information and said with a smile, "Since I have become a VIP customer of Ping An Bank, I happen to have some money in my mother's bank, and I plan to deposit it in Ping An Bank as well."

Qin Bohou naturally didn't know how to answer.

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "The interest rate at the bank is high. You can consider it after the term is up."

In fact, Yan Renmei was willing to support Ping An Bank when it opened, but Chen Guangliang refused.

"Um"

After handling this matter, Chen Guangliang arranged for a female employee to accompany Yan Renmei to inspect the Ping An Bank building, while he himself went to work.

Ping An Bank's deposits are still around 1500 million. It has invested 500 million in government bonds and issued about 500 million in loans, maintaining a deposit-loan ratio of about 66%.

500万公债不仅已经收获近6%的利息，也就是30万（一年）；而且账面已经涨了20%，例如已经达到100万。

It is precisely because of this that Ping An Bank has the strength to go to Central, Hong Kong and prepare to invest in a bank building.

Furthermore, Chen Guangliang predicted that the minimum profit from this bond investment would be 350 million, which would imply a % increase in bond prices. This alone would ensure that Ping An Bank maintained its strong competitiveness.

The net profit left after deducting interest expenses, personnel expenses, etc. from the money the bank earns is the bank's own assets. There is naturally no problem for Ping An Bank to transfer its own assets, as long as it does not transfer depositors' deposits overseas.

Back in the office of Global Shipping, Chen Guangliang looked through the company's business information.

Currently, Global Shipping has a total of ten ships, of which Global Shipping has six ships and Jinshan Shipping has four ships.

Among the six ships of Global Shipping: four 5000-ton "second-hand ships" operate on fixed routes on the first and second routes; on these two routes, competition has formed among the four major companies: Global Shipping, China Merchants, Jardine Matheson and Swire; and two ships (3030 tons and 5050 tons) are cargo ships, which are mobile and usually carry more coal and bulk materials.

Among Jinshan Shipping's four ships: two 5000-ton "second-hand ships" have been converted to operate transportation from Guangzhou Bay to Southeast Asia; the other two (950 tons and 1500 tons) have opened two fixed routes from Guangzhou Bay to Hong Kong and Guangzhou Bay to southwestern provinces.

The original plan was to purchase two 3000-ton ships to replace one of the first and second routes, but since Jardine Matheson and Swire lowered their prices again, Chen Guangliang became angry and said that he had no intention of replacing the small ships and would use large ships to compete.

Anyway, for him, even if he doesn't make money, as long as he can maintain the ship and the sailors, he will have the opportunity to make money sooner or later.

On the other hand, Global Shipping still has a cash flow of more than 400,000, so it is not afraid of vicious competition.

Not a moment.

Zhao Tieyi walked into Chen Guangliang's office. Recently, Chen Guangliang has focused a lot of energy on China Merchants Group. He even mobilized the management of Global Shipping to help China Merchants Group and delegated the management power of Global Shipping itself to his subordinates.

Fortunately, in the past few years, Chen Guangliang has always insisted on implementing "modern management methods" in Global Shipping and Jinshan Shipping, including a series of improvements such as punishment, incentive systems, and financial audit systems. The company can now operate normally without him.

Not to mention, Chen Guangliang has been strengthening management and will also go to Guangzhou Bay for inspection this time.

"Boss, the Nationalist government and the Soviet Union are planning to open shipping routes between each other, including a route from Shanghai to Vladivostok. They're now looking to select a ship for a long voyage to the Soviet Union, and our 5050-ton vessel would be a good fit. Would you like to apply for one?"

Chen Guangliang immediately said, "If it's a Vladivostok route, then we have to stop in Lushun and Japan. Otherwise, this route won't make any money. Also, the Soviet Union and Japan aren't good people. I suggest we give the plan to someone else."

This year, the Japanese crossed Shanhaiguan again and further invaded North China, which made Chen Guangliang even more disgusted with Japan.

Although making money is a good thing, Chen Guangliang is obviously unwilling to make this kind of money.

Zhao Tieyi sighed inwardly. His boss was good at everything except emphasizing "patriotism" too much.

"It seems Jardine Matheson and Swire are trying to negotiate a truce on the first and second routes."

Chen Guangliang was not surprised to hear the news.

Jardine Matheson and Swire believe that China Merchants Group is very weak, but although it currently has a high debt, its operations are on the right track. Chen Guangliang even believes that China Merchants Group's profit this year can exceed 250 million, reversing the decline of the past few years.

It is estimated that the elimination of compradors alone can save more than 700,000 to 800,000 oceans.

"Well, I understand. We don't need to be too proactive in this negotiation."

"Ok"

After Zhao Tieyi left, Chen Guangliang thought for a moment: Global Shipping's four "second-hand ships" always have normal and stable business to do, so there is no need to rush; the other two ships can also be supported by doing some sporadic transportation. Normally, a small profit is still a profit, and when the opportunity comes, it will be a big profit.

This is how the shipping business works. We may be able to barely make ends meet this year, but if there is good business, we can earn back the money by selling a ship in one or two years.

The only thing that needs to be considered is that the two "second-hand ships" of Jinshan Shipping will expand their business to Europe or America, but the prerequisite is that the world economy recovers and Global Shipping can achieve the strength of ocean-going vessels with its own conditions.

Chen Guangliang is preparing in this way, hiring only a few foreign senior seafarers to join Chinese senior seafarers and ordinary seafarers, and will open up ocean voyages to Europe or America this year.

Soon, Chen Guangliang, as the general manager of China Merchants Group and China Merchants Shipping, once again held negotiations with Du Barry of Jardine Matheson and John Smith of Swire.

He is not enthusiastic about the negotiation, but he will not refuse it either, after all, making money is better.

Du Baili spoke arrogantly as soon as he opened his mouth: "Mr. Chen, more than a year ago, your Global Shipping joined these two routes. A year later, you led China Merchants Group to join these two routes. In just less than two years, you added eight ships to these two fixed routes. This investment method is clearly malicious competition!"

Oh, you are trying to turn the tables.

Chen Guangliang said calmly, "Boss Du Baili, I believe you should understand one thing. Suppose one day I sail a ship to a British port to do business. Can I ask the British shipowner not to invest?"

Without waiting for Du Baili to answer, Chen Guangliang said with a smile: "Obviously, your thinking is not just about business."

Du Baili naturally knew that Chen Guangliang was accusing him of having hegemonic thinking, but that was what he thought, so what!
"Your global shipping is still very weak. It's impossible to sail your ships to British ports. You Chinese cannot conquer the ocean. As for the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, it's only relying on loans to survive. I hope you can understand these principles!"

Chen Guangliang said, "It seems that you two are not here to discuss business today, but to put pressure on me. But a few words alone can't scare me."

Seeing that the negotiations were about to collapse, Swire's Shi Yueke took the opportunity to say, "Mr. Chen, as long as your company withdraws from these two routes, we can coexist peacefully."

The implication is that either China Merchants Group or Global Shipping will come in.

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "This kind of peace is better off not happening. I believe that if the price war continues, you will suffer great losses. So, if you are willing to talk, we will only discuss a fair and just solution."

When it comes to fixed "North-South" and "South-South" routes, we naturally have to fight for every inch of land.

In fact, in such a big country as China, the "North-South" and "South-South" routes are also quite busy, and there are far more than these two routes; for example, Shanghai to Qingdao, but not to Tianjin, is also considered a route; in addition, in addition to fixed routes with mixed transportation of people and goods, there are also non-fixed routes.

The first and second routes that Chen Guangliang and his team discussed are fixed routes for mixed transportation of people and cargo between several fixed city ports. There are now 16 fixed flights on these two routes.

For example, there is a flight from Shanghai to Qingdao almost every two or three days, which is indeed much more convenient nowadays.

Shi Yueke was also very dissatisfied with this negotiation and said disappointedly: "It seems that Mr. Chen is not going to give in at all!"

Chen Guangliang said: "All I want is fair competition. The four shipping companies negotiated and supplied and operated two routes."

Negotiation can only involve price, there is no question of who will withdraw.

Ultimately, the negotiations ended in a bad mood, with Jardine Matheson and Swire not getting the results they wanted - that is, the withdrawal of a Chinese-owned shipping company from these two routes would inevitably result in more ships and less business.

Chen Guangliang’s view is that everyone should negotiate a price, and whoever cannot continue to operate will automatically withdraw, rather than forcing others to withdraw.

(End of this chapter)