The prices of Liberty and Victory are only half of the fake ones. Although they are second-hand ships, they are still very attractive.

The four major trading companies not only had business in Hong Kong, but also in Britain, India and Europe. They also had shipping businesses, especially Jardine Matheson, which had several shipping routes in mainland China and eight cargo ships plying the country to transport goods.

The same was true for other foreign companies, some of them even had their own docks in Hong Kong.

After the visit, the presidents and managers of the various foreign companies went back to hold a meeting to discuss. Finally, Jardine Matheson decided to order four ships, two Liberty ships and two Victory ships, but hoped that Victor could lower the price.

Victor thought for a moment and said to the manager who came over to negotiate: "The price of the freighter is negotiable, but we also have a condition."

"What conditions?" asked the manager.

"I heard that you have a piece of land in Nam Wan. The Hardy Group is developing in Hong Kong and is in great need of land. We hope that Jardine Matheson can transfer it to us," said Victor.

The so-called South Bay refers to the later Repulse Bay and Deep Water Bay, but it is larger in area.

The manager was a little embarrassed. "Mr. Victor, this is not something I can decide. I need to go back and ask for instructions."

"no problem."

After the manager returned, he reported to the president. The president communicated with the directors and they were actually quite optimistic about South Bay and planned to develop real estate there in the future. However, that might be a plan for a dozen or even dozens of years later.

Nanwan is very remote now, mainly because it is far away from the city. It takes more than three hours to get there by car, and the car has to go around the mountains. There is only a resort built by Jardine Matheson, with a few buildings and dozens of villas. Occasionally, wealthy businessmen come here to spend their vacation.

"How much land do they want to buy?" asked a director of Jardine Matheson.

"I didn't say anything. I just said the more the better. Given the appetite of the Hardy Group, they probably won't be interested in anything smaller." said the manager.

At this time, another director said, "I think it's okay. Land in exchange for cargo ships. Their cargo ships are very cheap. I think this condition can be agreed to."

"If they want more, I suggest giving them all the land and exchanging as many cargo ships as they can get."

The president frowned slightly and said, "Mr. Davis, if the land is kept for a period of time, it will definitely increase in value. It would be a pity to sell it now."

Director Davis shook his head and said seriously: "Are you paying attention to the war situation in China? Now Chiang's army seems to be unable to hold on. This makes me very worried about the future of Hong Kong."

"You mean the Communists will win?"

"It's not impossible. Any outcome is possible in a war. Didn't you read the newspaper? The Global Times made a very clear analysis. Because Chiang Kai-shek did not obey, the United States imposed sanctions on him and banned the export of weapons. The Communist Party has the support of the Soviet Union, so Chiang Kai-shek is in a difficult situation now."

"What I am worried about is that if the Communist Party wins, will it take back Hong Kong? Then all our investments here will go down the drain. Now the land-for-ship business is just an equal offer, so we won't suffer any loss."

"And if what we're worried about happens, the cargo ships can be brought back to the UK, but the land cannot be taken away."

Another director nodded and said, "I think Davis' analysis is good. We need to think long-term. The company's land in Hong Kong Island is enough for us to use. The land over there is just an investment. I think it can be used for trading."

In the end, the majority voted in favor, and Jardine Matheson agreed to sell the land and formed a team to contact Victor.

"Mr. Victor, how much land do you want?" asked the president.

"We'll take whatever you sell," Victor said.

The president took out a map, and all the land marked in red was the company's land, with the South Bay area being the largest.

"The land in South Bay, including the beach and the mountain behind it, is 3,561 acres in total. There is also a resort on it. We also opened a road there, and the investment amount reached 3.36 million US dollars."

"If you take the land as a whole, our price is $10.7 million."

Victor looked at the numbers, calculated in his mind, and frowned, saying, "The land price is about $2,000 per acre, which is almost as high as the land prices in New York and Los Angeles. No, it's too expensive."

"I mean $1,000 an acre."

The president of Jardine Matheson immediately shook his head. He also refused to accept this price, and the two sides began to argue fiercely.

Victor wants land, and Jardine Matheson wants cargo ships. If you don’t sell me land, I won’t sell you cargo ships.

Both sides have leverage and advantages, and all that remains is a matter of words.

After two days of negotiations, the deal was finally concluded at US$8.6 million, including the entire South Bay land and buildings owned by Jardine Matheson.

The Hardy Group sold four Victory ships and four Liberty ships. The Liberty ships cost $80 each, or $3.2 million for four ships. The Victory ships cost $1.5 million each, or $6 million for four ships, for a total of $9.2 million.

Victor gave the other party some discounts, making each freighter 20,000 cheaper, and in the end there was still a price difference of 440,000 US dollars. Jardine Matheson compensated the Hardy Group with cash.

Victor was so excited after selling eight ships at once. You know, he got commission from selling ships. He could earn 46,000 US dollars from this transaction alone.

Hardy is not a stingy person. He will give you every bonus that you deserve. As long as you do your job, the money he promises you will be paid in full.

Jardine Matheson also approached Victor and prepared to purchase two cargo ships. Victor proposed to purchase land, and Jardine Matheson took out a piece of land in Sha Tin and asked Victor if he wanted it.

Shatin.

Now it is just a small fishing village in the wilderness.

There is wasteland all around and no roads. If you want to get there, you need to take a boat around half of Hong Kong. However, the area of ​​this land is not small, with wilderness, mountains and farmland, totaling more than 2,000 acres. The price is naturally much cheaper than Nam Wan.

In the end, the land was sold for $560,000, and the remaining money was paid in cash.

Both Hutchison Whampoa and Wheelock had docks and shipyards, but they did not buy ships. Instead, they were very interested in leasing them. Hutchison Whampoa leased 6 ships at once, and Wheelock also leased 4.

Not only them,

Some Chinese families have also shown great interest in this business.

Some people were originally involved in the shipping business, such as the current Hong Kong shipping tycoon Xu Aizhou, who is the grandfather of the later Xu Jinheng and the founder of the Hong Kong Xu family.

The Xu family has been engaged in shipping for more than 20 years, with routes to China, Southeast Asia, Japan, North Korea and even Australia, Britain and France. With more than 40 cargo ships, they are now the true Chinese shipping kings in Hong Kong.

He knew the price of freighters very well. The price offered by Victor was simply not available anywhere else, so Xu Aizhou planned to buy a batch.

A family manager said, "Master, we have checked the data. When the United States built these ships, they used welding technology instead of mortise and tenon joints because of time constraints. This was also the first time that this technology was used to build ocean-going ships, so the design service life was 5 years. Now many of them have exceeded their service life."

Xu Aizhou thought for a moment and said, "Normally, a 10,000-ton cargo ship costs more than 5 million US dollars, but the Victory only costs 3.3 million. Now a second-hand one only costs 1.5 million. There is a reason why it is so cheap. There is no such thing as cheap and good in the world."

"For everything, as long as you think it's suitable, then do it, if not, don't do it. Normally, a cargo ship takes five years to pay back, but this ship only takes a little over a year to pay back, so no matter how you calculate it, there are advantages."

"Let the company apply for a bank loan." Xu Aizhou ordered.

"How much money do you want to borrow, sir?"

"Lend as much as you can."

"Which bank should we go to?"

"Look for them all!"

Xu Aizhou paused for a moment, "Including the newly opened Wells Fargo Bank. I heard that Wells Fargo is owned by the owner of the Hardy Group. You can tell them that we plan to buy a ship and see how much they can lend us."

"Okay, sir."

......

Hong Kong Dong Family.

Dong Haoyun also attended Victor's freighter promotion meeting. After returning, he thought a lot and felt that this was a rare and good opportunity.

Tung Chao Yung started his shipping business in 1942, when the Japanese invaders were wreaking havoc in Asia. He opened a company in Hong Kong, flying the British and Panamanian flags. His business was going well, but soon after, Hong Kong was occupied by Japan and the company was taken over by the Japanese.

After Japan surrendered, he resumed his previous business, established companies in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and owned thirteen cargo ships within a few years.

This time when Victor publicly sold the Liberty and Victory ships, Tung Chao Yung was very greedy. He really wanted to take them all in at once and quickly build a world-class transportation company. Unfortunately, he did not have that much strength.

Last year he ordered two new ships, both 10,000-ton cargo ships, and he still has a bank loan of more than 8 million US dollars.

Now he was trying to raise money, perhaps to buy two or three cargo ships, but Tung Chao Yung was very unwilling to give up. As the saying goes, opportunity is fleeting, and if he missed this chance, it might take him several more years or even more than a decade to catch up.

What to do?

After much thought, he decided to talk to Victor.

I called Victor and they met at Hardy's Auction. The girl from the company served them tea and then left.

"Mr. Dong, you said on the phone that you were planning to do cargo ship business with me. How can we cooperate?" Victor asked.

"Mr. Victor, to be honest, I am very interested in the cargo ships sold by your company. Unfortunately, I don't have that much money now. I have an idea. I wonder if your company is willing to invest in Global Shipping?" said Dong Haoyun.

Global Shipping Line is the name of Tung Chao Yung's shipping company.

Victor was a little surprised after hearing this. "We have never considered letting us invest in your company before. Please tell us your idea in detail."

"My idea is very simple. I now have 13 ships in my global shipping line, the smallest of which is over 3,000 tons and the largest of which is over 14,000 tons. I am currently building two 10,000-ton cargo ships, for a total of 15 ships with a tonnage of over 100,000 tons."

"I am willing to accept the investment of the Hadi Group. They can invest in ships and capital. I will run the company and expand it. I am optimistic about the development of the shipping industry and there is a lot of room for development in the future."

"I can't decide on the investment. I need to ask the head office. How much investment does Mr. Dong allow and what percentage of shares does he allow?" Victor said.

"The larger the investment by Hardy Group, the better, but I hope to own more than 30 percent of the shares," said Tung Chao Yung.

......