Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 96: Changhe appears early (2.8k)

"Sir Lin, your interview with the BBC was so good that I didn't miss a minute of it."

In Winfield Manor, Xu Aizhou, who was specifically invited by Lin Ran to attend his awarding ceremony, complimented him.

On the eve of leaving London, Lin Ran finally found time to see him.

“Thanks for the compliment, I just said what I really think.

I hope for peace, and I believe most people hope for peace too." Lin Ran said with a smile.

Xu Aizhou waved his hands repeatedly and continued to compliment, "Sir, you are too modest. Before I came here this morning, I specifically asked my secretary to get all the London newspapers, big and small, to read to me.

Whatever their stance in the past, I cannot thank you enough for your response on the BBC last night.

It has greatly boosted the morale of Chinese people and has had an inspiring effect on Chinese people around the world."

Lin Ran said: “That’s really great.

Like the direct hotline I mentioned, Harvard University professor Thomas Schelling actually mentioned a similar concept in his book "Strategy and Conflict" published last year. He believed that an effective communication mechanism should be established to reduce the risks of misunderstanding and misjudgment.

I just made further and more specific designs based on his.

Just a little bit of work.”

Lin Ran didn't give Xu Aizhou a chance to continue his compliments. He continued, "We'll be polite. I'm going back to Washington soon. Please provide me with a copy of your standardized shipping pilot report. I'll arrange this as soon as I get back."

Xu Aizhou took out a report from his briefcase and handed it to Lin Ran. "Sir, this is a detailed report. It represents the hard work of all the people at Xiangjiang Shipping over the past year. It has definitely lived up to your expectations."

After Lin Ran took the report, he glanced through it briefly:
"Report on the Container Transport Pilot Project on the Hong Kong-New York Route, 1960-1961

Date: 1960/9/1

Report No.: HKSC-1961-001
Reporting Unit: Hong Kong Shipping Corporation (HKSC)

Results of the Standardized Container Transport Pilot Project and Recommendations for Global Promotion

This report showcases the achievements of the 1960 Hong Kong-New York container shipping pilot project to the global shipping industry. By introducing standardized interface systems, tapered guide post positioning devices, and structured container data, this project ushered in a new era of high efficiency and low cost in the shipping industry.

Pilot data demonstrates that this model delivers exceptional results in terms of cost savings, efficiency improvements, and cargo security, fully demonstrating its transformative potential. This report details the project's findings and calls on global peers to adopt this standard and jointly promote the prosperity of international trade.

In this report, standardized interface systems help ensure seamless compatibility between containers and ships and port equipment; tapered guide post positioning devices improve loading and unloading efficiency and greatly reduce cargo loss; and container data structuring helps unify data formats for easier cargo tracking and management.

The overall shipping cost was reduced by 70.6%, and the cargo damage rate was reduced from 5% to less than 0.5%, a decrease of more than ten times.

After reading it, Lin Ran compared it with the historical documents of Maersk in his memory and realized that this experimental route had achieved a level that was not achieved until ten years after the global standardization of container transportation.

"Mr. Xu, you have indeed tried your best.

I promise you that I will secure at least one seat on the container standardization committee for Hong Kong Shipping, and I will also give Hong Kong Shipping corresponding shares in the shipping technology company established based on this set of standards."

After thinking for a moment, Xu Aizhou decided to fully communicate with the other party. The problem that he couldn't solve himself might not be a problem for Lin Ran at all: "Sir, Jardine Matheson and Swire are both putting pressure on us.

I hope Xiangjiang Shipping will sell this standardized route to them.

At present, Hong Kong's shipping can still hold up, but if it is not pushed forward quickly, I am afraid it will not be able to hold up for too long, because HSBC, the bank behind Jardine Matheson, has already said that if we do not sell, it will consider joining forces with banks in England to withdraw loans from Hong Kong's shipping companies.

The only reason they haven't done so yet is out of your kindness.

Even if the Xu and Dong families face loan withdrawal, we can still hold on for three to five years without any problem. However, there are still many small and medium-sized companies in Xiangjiang Shipping, and they may not be able to hold on if loan withdrawal is faced.”

After listening to this, Lin Ran nodded silently: "Okay, I understand. Don't worry, the foreign companies in England can't take away your hard work."

Any Chinese who has received modern compulsory education in China will be familiar with the names of Jardine Matheson and Swire.

Among them, Swire is better. Jardine Matheson is not only a direct beneficiary of the Yapian trade, but also its main promoter, and is indeed notorious.

Lin Ran was angry that someone wanted to grab the cake, but soon calmness overwhelmed his anger.

Lin Ran also understood why the awarding ceremony was so grand this time. The Governor of Hong Kong rushed from Hong Kong to attend and even came to pick him up in person. It was estimated that England had also set its sights on this piece of cake.

It was only because of Korolev's accident that London did not find an opportunity to communicate with him privately about this matter.

In the villa halfway up the hill in Xiangjiang, there were only two people in the huge living room.

Xu Shixun, the eldest son of Xu Aizhou and the actual head of the Xu Group; the other white man is Hugh Barton, the boss of Jardine Matheson.

It also illustrates the strength of Jardine Matheson's capital at the moment. "Mr. Xu, have you considered it? It doesn't really matter whether you agree or not. We have the full willingness and ability to acquire Xiangjiang Shipping.

If it weren't for Sir Lin, we would have taken action long ago.

If you don't agree, I believe you will see our approach soon.

"They didn't get to share in the cake of setting global shipping standards, but instead the entire Xu Group collapsed." Hugh Barton's attitude was extremely arrogant.

It’s not just because Hong Kong is under British rule, Jardine Matheson is an old vampire.

At the same time, it was also because Jardine Matheson's public offering of shares this year, which was later called an IPO, was oversubscribed by 56 times.

This is enough to show how strong the capital of Jardine Matheson was at that moment.

Far away in London, due to an accident, Lin Ran failed to reach an agreement with London's capitalists and officials, and the pressure from Hong Kong began directly.

Xu Aizhou was wrong. Before, the foreign companies in England wanted shipping routes, but now they want the entire Hong Kong shipping.

"This is not something I can decide." Although Xu Shixun is a second-generation rich man, and a bit of a spendthrift, he also knows that he cannot agree.

This not only concerns the interests of all Chinese shipping companies, but also because the price offered by the other party is too low.

The price on the contract is simply based on the average valuation method of the shipping company. You should know that Hong Kong Shipping's greatest wealth is their experience in building the world's first modern shipping route.

Moreover, the three words "modernization" are likely to become the three words "standardization" under Lin Ran's promotion.

The experience in building standardized global shipping routes, the value of which is estimated using the industry average valuation method, is somewhat insulting.

Hugh Barton suddenly stopped speaking English and said in broken Chinese, "Mr. Xu, there's an old Chinese saying: Don't refuse a toast and drink the penalty."

Xu Shixun explained, “My father is still in London, you can talk to him when he comes back.

I would also like to remind you that what you, Jardine Matheson and Swire, want is international standards. If you want to promote this matter, it will never succeed without Sir Lin.

He holds all the relevant patents.

I don’t think he’s going to bypass the Chinese and work completely with the whites.”

Xu Shixun knew that Yihe had not urged him in the past because he was concerned about Lin Ran, and now he wanted to use Lin Ran as a shield.

Hugh Barton laughed and said, “Of course I know.

We respect Sir Lin very much and have conducted thorough investigation on Sir Lin.

We naturally know that Sir Lin treats the Chinese preferentially and wants to take care of the Chinese because you have cultural blood ties.

Otherwise, when Sir Lin came to Hong Kong last year, he should have sought cooperation with Jardine Matheson and Swire instead of your Xu family.

In addition, Sir Lin was interviewed by Hong Kong Radio in Hong Kong last year. I listened to the entire interview from beginning to end, even though my Chinese is not very good.

But I am still deeply impressed by what Sir Lin mentioned in the interview: the apricot blossoms, spring rain, and Jiangnan. He mentioned that the rain in ancient China went from drizzling to torrential, and fell from the eaves to the rivers and seas.

I can still feel the beauty of ancient Chinese culture from it.

Therefore, both Jardine Matheson and HSBC will fully respect Sir Lin.

We will find a young person to hold the position in front of us, and he will be our front-line speaker."

Hugh Barton's Chinese wasn't very good, but his memory was impeccable, Xu Shixun thought. He subconsciously asked, "Young man? Who?"

He thought that a young boss from a small company among the shareholders of Xiangjiang Shipping could not bear the pressure and jumped ship.

Hugh Barton replied: "Li Jiacheng, it's normal that you haven't heard of him. He runs a plastics factory.

However, we believe that once our container standards become the global shipping standards, it will be up to the people of Hong Kong to decide which ports to transform first and which ports to transform later. It will all be up to us.

The Hong Kong port, which was renovated first, will benefit from the advantages of sea transportation and all industries will usher in vigorous development.

Of course, the plastics industry is also included.

But this is not important. What is important is that this piece of cake falls into our hands.

Oh, and by the way, after we acquire Xiangjiang Shipping, we will change its name to:
Cheung Hwa

(End of this chapter)