Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 244 Fame Spreads Far and Wide (First Update)
In the internet age, what is the ultimate goal of traffic? It's selling products!
Li Song is doing the same thing now; he wants to convert the huge traffic he has gained into product sales, but he's only selling products produced by his own company.

The reason the West is paying so much attention to the temple incident is entirely due to the shamelessness of the third-in-command.

Westerners are inherently thuggish, but I never expected the third leader to be so shameless.

Li Song learned from the newspaper that the third leader had banned any American citizens from leaving the country for investigation.

In addition, some of Aramco's assets were seized, with the company being asked to find the murderer or else these assets would be used to offset the gold stolen from the temple.

The Aramco ambassador was furious. Without any evidence, they were simply barred from leaving the country? And they even seized Aramco's assets?
Ambassador Amei also quoted Li Song as saying that this was a conspiracy by the third-in-command government, which made the third-in-command government even more unwilling to accept it.

So the third-in-command government had the Supreme Court rule that the temple was under government jurisdiction.

This move then drew local opposition, because the temple was under the jurisdiction of royal descendants.

Then it caused trouble in the area, and the locals started to oppose it. Even the local state opposed giving these things to the government.

Of course, there were also those who supported the Third Leader's statement, namely Fat Bear. Fat Bear's newspaper said that it was Ami's people who did it, and the bomb fragments couldn't lie.

Even Dai Ying was implicated. The third leader accused Dai Ying of exploring the temple during the colonial period and then giving the information to Ami.

Otherwise, how could the author of this book, written in the British Empire, know that there was gold in the temple? This author must be a descendant of the British colonists.

Li Song was speechless when he saw this argument; the third leader was as eccentric as ever.

However, judging from the arguments of Western media, the West generally believes that the third-in-command is crying wolf, and that the third-in-command government has its eye on the things inside the temple.

In addition, the third leader wanted to curry favor with Fat Bear.

Because the bear (referring to a powerful foreign power) provided a lot: MiG-21 production lines and technical blueprints, T-55 tank technical blueprints, submarine technology transfer, and support for large steel mills and chemical plants, etc.

There are also many loan programs, etc.

This is why the third leader consistently favored Soviet-made equipment, starting in the 1950s.

Although Amei verbally supported him, the amount she actually gave was far less than what Fat Bear received.

Amei and Fat Bear supported the third leader in order to balance the power in the region.

Back in 62, everyone was hoping that the third leader would show some backbone and climb Mount Everest, but unfortunately, he was brought back to reality.

Supporting the third-largest power to annex neighboring countries is also a way to contain a certain major power.

Li Song understood the development of the world situation, so he could roughly see that the core of the Third Leader's entanglement in this matter was to please Fat Bear and distance himself from the West.

"Sometimes the Third Boss's actions are just this outrageous!" Li Song couldn't be happier that the Third Boss would completely side with Fat Bear.

However, the West will still accept the third leader in the future, but that will only be on the surface.

Just look at what happened to the third leader when he tried to join the Elders' Council.

On Friday, October 31st, Halloween night, Li Song arrived at the Shanghai branch of Parkson Company, which is currently mainly responsible for the preparation work for the motorcycle race around Taihu Lake.

The person in charge here is Li Tianyou, who is reporting to Li Song: "Boss, the construction of the stadium is going very smoothly and should be completed by mid-December."

"It should be ready for acceptance and put into use by the end of December."

"The only problem is the supporting facilities."

"More than forty teams have already registered for the competition."

Li Song picked up the documents and looked at them carefully, discovering that the main problem lay in the planning.

Because everything is now under a planned economy, all the supplies needed for supporting facilities, such as food, must be reported in advance.

In addition, a plan is needed for the people watching the game, and then the list of planners is given to each unit.

Transportation also needs to be planned.

The biggest problem now is how many spectators are not part of the planned audience, such as those on foot, cyclists, motorcyclists, and drivers.

Although not many private individuals in mainland China own cars now, many companies do, with a large number of companies having their own fleets of cars.

Not to mention you can also charter a car.

It's difficult to determine the exact amount of these unplanned items.

Because this competition lasts for a relatively long time.

The Tour of Taihu Lake is not included in the international competition schedule, so the points from other motorcycle teams are not applicable here. Any team registered with the International Motorcycle Racing Federation can participate.

This resulted in a relatively low entry barrier and a large number of participating teams.

The main reason is that the prize money for the champion is too tempting, a full five million US dollars.

A planned economy, especially when faced with emergencies or unknown situations, sometimes has no way to cope.

Because of the planned economy, many supplies were planned, such as the rice, fuel, various food items, transportation vehicles, and medical services that were needed.

In a planned economy, many goods have a cycle, such as pork, because pigs have a growth cycle.

Even a planned economy has its unplanned aspects, but this time the number of people involved is enormous.

Furthermore, Li Song felt that this was likely a power struggle at the top, a clash between conservatism and openness. Or perhaps someone was creating difficulties to make him owe a favor?

Li Song knew that some problems could be solved by his own intervention, but that would incur favors. For example, he could have resolved the issue by contacting relevant departments in Shanghai or elsewhere.

Li Song knew that sometimes things that his subordinates couldn't accomplish could be easily done by the boss himself, simply because others gave the boss face.

Li Song thought for a moment, then said, "Leave this to me."

“Okay!” Li Tianyou nodded.

"Are you settling in well in Shanghai?" Li Song asked again.

"It's alright, but it's too cold," Li Tianyou replied.

"After the competition, I'll give you a month of paid annual leave, and I'll also give you a big bonus at the end of the year."

"thank you boss."

Then Li Song looked at some documents and signed them, mainly concerning project funding.

The construction of the stadium was divided into many sections. The administrative unit where the stadium was located, for example, the land of this village, would decide how to develop this section of the stadium. Duolun Company would come up with a plan and then hand it over to the local village to carry it out.

Because the requirements for the off-road motorcycle racing venue are not very high, the village organized labor to build it according to the design under the guidance of technicians. After completion, Duolun Company and the racing association inspected and approved it, and then submitted the information to Baisheng Company. Li Song then signed off on the disbursement of funds.

This is one of the reasons why the track, which is hundreds of kilometers long, was completed so quickly.

Aside from some areas where bridges need to be repaired, the rest of the area doesn't require any machinery. Even some hills can be turned into racetracks with a little preparation.

A trail running race isn't a trail running race if it doesn't have some rocks and hills.

While reviewing the documents, Li Song offered a reward on a second-hand platform for the production process and recipe of instant noodles in buckets, as well as the production equipment technology, etc., with the conditions limited to Hong Kong Island in 1980.

The reward offered on the second-hand platform is only $500,000 for a total of twelve flavors of instant noodles.

Moreover, it only takes three days.

Li Song's solution was instant noodles. Instant noodles were considered a strategic resource for a long time because of their convenience.

No worries if you can't finish it all, plus the sealed packaging means it has a long shelf life.

You might not like instant noodles normally, but when you have nothing to eat or drink, a steaming bowl of instant noodles is definitely a treat.

As for whether to invest in it myself or have it custom-made, we'll talk about that when we get back to Hong Kong Island. Instant noodles are sold there, but in mainland China, there's only one store in Shanghai, and its production capacity is limited.

As for whether it's in a bucket or a bag, we'll discuss that when we get back to Hong Kong Island.

While Li Song was handling company matters in Shanghai, in the Pearl River in Guangzhou, BMW's marine engine manufacturing plant was continuing to test a 1600-horsepower speedboat, with many more experiments to follow, including load tests and speed tests.

In addition, the testing workshop is also conducting various simulated operating condition tests on the 400-horsepower outboard motor.

Many boats passing by this section of the river spotted BMW's experimental speedboat from its marine engine manufacturing plant.

Because the speedboat has the word "BMW" on its hull.

Many people noticed the speed of this speedboat. Huangpu Port was the largest port in Guangdong Province at the time, but it was later replaced by the port in Shentian.

So at that time, the ships in the Pearl River came from many countries, and of course, there were also people who were transporting goods.

There are two types of goods transported from Hong Kong Island. One is by land, which requires connections, not only in Hong Kong Island but also in the mainland. This is controlled by certain wealthy individuals.

Another option is by sea, which is mostly used by small groups because there are many vulnerabilities at sea.

Most of those who walk the Pearl River are in small groups like this. These groups don't have strong networks of connections and are risking their lives.

Facing the British gunboats from Hong Kong Island was still quite troublesome.

Especially for transporting high-value items, such as televisions or cars.

If caught, the goods will definitely be confiscated.

Judging by the speed of this speedboat, you can tell how fast it is; these small groups of people are all very quick-witted.

I immediately thought of the best use for such a speedboat.

Then people started asking about the speedboat's specific details.

Because these small groups also had people in mainland China who received the goods, some locals found out about it.

After all, these things are already running in the river, so there's nothing to keep secret. But right now, it's just some experimental data.

However, these experimental data have already impressed these small groups. First of all, in terms of size, the size is just right. If it is too big, loading and unloading will take a long time.

Loading and unloading are also the most dangerous times.

The load capacity is suitable, and the speedboat size is also suitable; it can fit an entire vehicle.

The most crucial factor is speed. Preliminary experimental data shows that a load of five tons can reach speeds exceeding 54 knots, which is equivalent to 100 kilometers per hour!
This led to people calling Baisheng Company to inquire about high-horsepower outboard motors even before the company started advertising them.

When Tian Jiahui received a report from his employees at Baisheng Company, he was somewhat puzzled. How could they have customers when they hadn't even advertised their marine outboard motors yet?

(End of this chapter)