1963, the twelfth lunar month
Lin Sanqi, his father Lin Kucan, and his fifth uncle Lin Hongcan were patrolling the coastal highway east of the New Territories border area in a car.
Yes, it literally means patrolling, inspecting one's own territory.
Lin Kucan was introducing the family's recent activities to his son:
"With Ting Kok Road as the dividing line, all the mountains and forests east of Ting Kok Road, including several islands in Houpeng Bay, such as Ji'ao Island, Wanzhou Island, and Emeizhou Island, all belong to our Lin family.
Together with the fishermen on the islands, including the Dadongshan Peninsula, a total of more than 2,000 villagers were relocated at a cost.
However, I did not drive them away as you wished. Instead, I bought a newly built residential community in Fanling and allocated a house to each household.
When the villagers heard they could move into the city and live in apartments, they were delighted. Without any bloodshed, they all moved voluntarily. It cost a bit more money, but at least we didn't commit any crime."
Lin Sanqi blushed a little after hearing this.
He has no good feelings towards Hong Kong people, so he has no guilt about using violent demolition methods.
But Lin Kushen is different. Almost all people who study Chinese medicine believe in Taoism. Religious people generally do not want to have blood on their hands, as that would be a violation of cause and effect.
Therefore, Dr. Lin prefers to get the land in a gentle way, which is nothing more than spending a little more money. Now that he has 40 tons of gold, he is full of confidence.
"By the way, Dad, we purchased such a large area of forest. Doesn't the Hong Kong Eagle government have any doubts?"
"What are you doubting? We've bought so much mountain forest, and it's almost uninhabited. There are no minerals underground, and no modern docks on the coast. In the eyes of capital and the government, this is a dead end.
When I proposed to the government to purchase the forests of Dadongshan Peninsula, everyone, including government officials, treated our Lin family as fools.
I went along with it and didn't say we were going to build a pharmaceutical factory or anything like that. I just said we were going to vigorously develop agriculture and tourism. After all, we had the trees and the land, so we could build whatever we wanted.
Lin Sanqi also laughed, thinking that it was only the 1960s after all, so he could still find a bargain.
In the 1960s, Hong Kong's development was concentrated in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The New Territories were theoretically leased, and the authorities were reluctant to develop them, only using them as a strategic buffer zone.
Therefore, the New Territories are very poor and have a small population. Authentic Hong Kong people rarely go to the New Territories, thinking that it is just in the countryside and mountains.
Even in 2015, many villages in this area were forced to relocate or were abandoned because there was no money to build roads to the villages. This shows the backwardness of the New Territories.
Later, with the development of the economy, the population of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon began to overflow, and the New Territories gradually began to become popular, but only Tai Po, Yuen Long and the western part of Tuen Mun were developed.
The border area connecting to Shenzhen is still extremely poor, and they even want to build the largest crematorium in Hong Kong here.
If Lin Sanqi wants to buy 100 square kilometers of mountain land in Hong Kong after waiting for decades, it will almost be a daydream.
"By the way, Dad, how much did it cost to buy the land this time?"
Lin Kucan smiled and said:
"I've spent all the $30 million you gave me, and I also took out five tons of gold. Renting is different from buying, and buying is still quite expensive. Of course, this money also includes the red envelopes I paid for bribes."
Lin Sanqi asked again, "What about Sha Tau Kok? Have they taken it all?"
At this time, Uncle Lin Wu said:
"Sha Tau Kok was also taken. Since 1949, Sha Tau Kok on the Hong Kong side has been designated as a semi-restricted area, requiring a pass to enter.
So the young people in Sha Tau Kok Village, or the wealthy and powerful villagers all moved away, leaving behind an empty village with a population of more than 200 people.
This time, after we moved all the residents of Sha Tau Kok to Fanling, we filled the area with our veterans, pretending to be local residents. We reopened grocery stores and breakfast shops, just to put on a show for outsiders."
In those days, Sha Tau Kok was the most remote place in Hong Kong, far away from the city.
Before 1949, citizens from mainland China and Hong Kong could travel freely, so a small market was formed in Sha Tau Kok, but it was not very large.
After 1949, Sha Tau Kok Village was divided into two, one half belonging to the mainland and the other half to Hong Kong. The Chung Ying Street was formed in this era.
Later, as natural disasters ravaged the mainland, villagers from Sha Tau Kok on the mainland side crossed the Sino-British Street and headed to Hong Kong to make a living.
So from this time on, Sha Tau Kok on both sides came under strict control. The Sha Tau Kok Village on the mainland was directly deleted and a drug production base was built.
Sha Tau Kok on the Hong Kong side was not much better. It was extremely poor, which is why it was easily acquired by the Lin family.
At this time, Lin Kucan said to the driver Huang Xiaoji:
"Xiao Huang, there's still time. Let's go to Sha Tau Kok and take a look."
Huang Xiaoji is also a veteran who learned to drive in the army, so he said with a smile:
"No problem, bosses, sit tight."
The car drove on the coastal road for more than half an hour before arriving at Sha Tau Kok.
Originally, a pass was required to go to Sha Tau Kok, but Lin Sanqi and his companions were riding in a Mercedes-Benz, a luxury car that the Royal Hong Kong Police considered untouchable.
Of course, the most important thing is that the Lin family is now the major financial backer and major contributor of the New Territories North Police Station, so the police naturally have to give them face.
Sure enough, when the car approached, it was stopped by a few lazy Hong Kong Royal Police:
"Sir, go to the front to get a pass. If you don't have a pass, please go back."
Uncle Lin Wu said with a smile, "Sir, we are from Lingnantang Pharmaceutical Factory. We have already opened a pharmaceutical factory in Sha Tau Kok. We are going to have dinner with your Director Madison tonight."
Another older policeman came over and said a few words to the young policeman, who immediately understood:
"So it's Mr. Lin from Lingnan Hall. You're allowed through. Sorry, this is just a routine procedure."
Uncle Lin Wu said with a smile: "It's okay, I understand. By the way, here are two Marlboros, brothers, take them and smoke them."
The young policeman took the cigarette, nodded and let him go, and drove towards Sha Tau Kok town.
As soon as the car drove away, the older policeman couldn't wait to open the cigarette box and found one thousand Hong Kong dollars inside.
There happened to be five policemen at the scene. Each of them received 200 Hong Kong dollars and four packs of cigarettes. They were all very happy.
If you join the Hong Kong Police Force and are assigned to the New Territories North District, that would be miserable enough.
If you are assigned to a remote place like Sha Tau Kok or Hong Hua Ling, it would be extremely miserable.
Because there are no people, no businesses, no nightclubs, and no gambling houses in these places, which means there is no money to make, and people can only live on a fixed salary of 300 yuan per month.
Lin Sanqi looked back at the lazy Hong Kong policemen and asked:
"Dad, Uncle Wu, have you established connections in the police force?"
Lin Kucan nodded:
"I have an old friend, Mr. Gu, who is now a member of parliament. With his introduction, I have made an appointment with Chief Inspector Madison of the New Territories North District Police Station and the Director of the Department of Health. We are having dinner at a restaurant in Tai Po tonight."
"Okay, let's go together tonight."
In order to successfully smuggle drugs, the police force is a key link, and this is also the Lin family's largest expense besides buying land.
After arriving at Sha Tau Kok Village, Lin Sanqi and the other two got out of the car together.
Lin Sanqi had previously stood on the other side of the border, looking towards the mainland, and had seen it from afar through a telescope. This was the first time he was standing at Sha Tau Kok in Hong Kong and looking towards the mainland.
This feeling is very strange. It is clearly the same sky, but it is like two different worlds.
The three of them began to stroll through the Sha Tau Kok village.
Although it is called a village, it should actually be described as a market town. It can be seen that this place was originally a small commercial distribution center. Although there are small wooden buildings on both sides of the road, there are shops on the first floor.
Moreover, there are people doing business in these shops. Some shops display daily necessities, some have a few fruits, and some restaurant waiters are dozing off.
Lin Sanqi's mouth twitched as he looked at these familiar faces.
I wondered why there was no Jianbing stall with a boss whose cooking skills were terrible.
When the "staff" of the shops on both sides saw the Lin father and son coming over, they all smiled and nodded, and some even bowed to greet them in the shop.
Lin Sanqi also pretended to be a tourist and nodded with a smile.
Lin Kucan quietly introduced:
"After the original 200 villagers of Sha Tau Kok moved out, our people moved in as relatives and continued to live as usual. We have taken care of the police post in Sha Tau Kok, and now we are all family members.
Next year, drug smuggling will go through Sha Tau Kok. Look over there, there used to be some large warehouses and a textile factory, but now they're all owned by our family.
We are building a pharmaceutical factory here, specializing in packaging medicines. And…” (End of this chapter)
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