0685 [Introducing the wolf into the room!] (4000 word chapter)
The chartering king's decision-making and execution ability are still very strong. After a brief contact with Shi Zhijian, he convinced the Huo family and Xu family in Hong Kong. In fact, he did not need to personally persuade the two families on this matter, and the two families had no choice.
Immediately afterwards, what the chartering king had to do was to transfer 10% of Wharf's equity to Shi Zhijian for HK$25 million on behalf of the three major families, the Bao family, the Huo family, and the Xu family.
Shi Zhijian, IOU!
Because the 30 million in his hands have other uses.
In this regard, the three major families of Bao, Huo and Xu still have no choice!
Then, the charter king took the lead in jointly recommending Shi Zhijian to the top management of Jardine Matheson as the executive director of Wharf Port Company.
Shi Zhijian is very smart. The position of director in this company can only belong to the "mid-range" level, so that he will not hate the original directors, presidents, and general managers, lest they cause trouble and stumbling on you along the way.
However, this position has real power and can take charge of the middle and lower levels of the company, so it is easily accepted.
As the controlling consortium of Wharf, Jardine Matheson & Co. does not have much objection to this. The reason is very simple. The Wharf is in dire straits now, and no one is willing to go into this troubled water. Since someone wants to die, how can they refuse?
However, the matter is serious and the procedures need to be gone through. Shi Zhijian, the new director who is about to take office, must at least meet and communicate with the boss of Jardine Matheson.
…
Jardine Matheson is currently one of the oldest companies in Asia.
The founders, William Jardine and James Mathison, were originally doctors, and their job was to save lives and heal the wounded. At that time, the notorious East India Company needed to recruit two people to go to the large trading ships to help people with their illnesses.
As time went by, they found that they made too little money by treating people, but they made more money by hauling things on ships and doing trade.
So these two young men gave up their jobs as doctors on the ship and worked for people on the ship, and set up Jardine & Co. on the shore and started trading. In this way, they started their business in Guangzhou.
As for the name "Yihe Maoxing", they later copied the name of the "Yihe Bank" of the Wu family of Chinese comprador capitalists, and gained a lot of benefits by skirting the edges.
This was still in the middle of the Qing Dynasty in China. At that time, Britain was known as the Empire on which the sun never sets, and China was the Lion of the East. However, this lion was closed to the outside world, and Guangzhou was the only place where foreign trade was allowed.
As a result, Jardine Matheson became one of the first foreign companies to do business in China.
At that time, Jardine's business was to sell opium to China, and then purchase a large amount of tea from China and sell it back to Europe. It can be said that Jardine's first pot of gold was due to original sin.
Moreover, Jardine was one of the culprits that caused the Opium War. Lin Zexu, a famous minister of the Qing Dynasty, implemented a smoking ban in Guangzhou. So William Jardine, the founder of Jardine, went to London in person to lobby the British to go to war with China and urged the British
Seize Hong Kong as a trading base.
It can be said that without Jardine Matheson, there would have been no Opium War, and there would have been no history of Hong Kong becoming a colony.
After the outbreak of the Opium War, Jardine Matheson's headquarters moved to Hong Kong. After a long period of development, Jardine Matheson became the first of the key British-owned foreign companies in Hong Kong.
At that time, Jardine Matheson, Wheelock, Hutchison, and Swire became the four major foreign banks. Among them, Jardine Matheson, the leader, became the largest financial group in the Far East at that time.
In 1961, Jardine Matheson Group was listed in Hong Kong and gained popularity in the market. Jardine Matheson began an era of focusing on Hong Kong and then expanding throughout Asia.
Jardine's business ranges from finance and insurance, retail department stores, construction engineering, machinery manufacturing, automobile trading, to real estate and other industries.
Jardine Matheson also has two companies, Land and Wharf, as its right-hand arm. It was once the largest real estate developer in Hong Kong.
Jardine Matheson had a colonial economic monopoly on Hong Kong at the time. However, due to changes in China's policy towards Hong Kong at that time, Jardine Matheson had been amassing money crazily in Hong Kong, and then transferred this wealth to various Asian countries for investment.
But now, Jardine Matheson finally got its comeuppance. It took too big a step and broke its eggs, and encountered a crisis in its capital chain.
Only then would Lee Zhaotian take advantage of this opportunity to incite dock workers to go on strike and take the opportunity to lower Wharf's stock price, hoping to swallow up Wharf in one fell swoop!
Faced with such a situation, this old British-owned foreign company cunningly wanted to use the method of "using China to control China" and use the three major shipping kings to compete with Li Zhaotian.
The three major shipping kings pushed Shi Zhijian out and asked him to be cannon fodder to "help" Jardine Matheson deal with Li Zhaotian.
How did the top management of Jardine Matheson Company know that Shi Zhijian was a more dangerous person than Zhaotian? Shi Zhijian had no good impression of this foreign company from the beginning. The reason why he was willing to take action was not only to help the dock workers and the villagers, but also to
The most important thing is that he also intends to swallow up Wharf!
To be precise, Jardine Matheson completely "led the wolf into the house" this time!
…
The famous British tycoon Mr. Keswick, heir to Jardine Matheson, and Shi Zhijian agreed to meet at a Guangzhou snack street in Hong Kong.
This snack street is mostly filled with civilians looking for food. A well-dressed, blond and blue-eyed ghost like Keswick suddenly appears here, looking a bit out of place.
At this moment, the 43-year-old Keswick, wearing a top hat and holding a civilized stick, invited Shi Zhijian to sit down in front of a dry-fried beef stall and asked the boss for a pot of tea. Then he took the tea cup and opened it.
He poured a glass for each of Shi Zhijian and himself.
"Dear Mr. Shi, I'm sorry to invite you to meet here, but I would like to thank Haihan." Keswick handed the tea to Shi Zhijian and said politely.
Shi Zhijian took the tea and said with a smile: "It's okay, this kind of place is very down-to-earth."
"Really?" Keswick looked around and said meaningfully, "My father's generation used to work hard to start a business in Guangzhou! It is said that their favorite food is Guangzhou's dry-fried beef river and rice rolls!"
Is this ghost guy still playing with me about remembering the bitter and thinking about the sweet?
Shi Zhijian smiled in his heart and said: "I didn't expect you, Mr. Keswick, to be so nostalgic for the past. I think the foreign business will flourish in your hands!"
Keswick looked modest: "No, no, I just want stability now! Especially if the Wharf incident can be solved satisfactorily!"
In fact, Keswick, a man of great ambition and talent, has been blindly expanding since he took charge of Yihe. He wanted to surpass his ancestors and create his own glory. However, reality slapped him in the face and made him understand that it would be difficult to surpass his ancestors!
What's more, his ancestors did a lot of bad things at that time. He, a half-hearted bad guy, is not qualified to compare with his ancestors, and the general environment in Hong Kong does not allow him to act recklessly!
"So now I hope that Mr. Shi can cut the knot quickly after taking over the position of director of Wharf and resolve the dock workers' strike first."
"Don't worry about this!" Shi Zhijian took out a cigarette, knocked it on the cigarette case, and handed it to Keswick.
Keswick hurriedly waved his hand to express his refusal.
Shi Zhijian was not polite, he held a cigarette in his mouth, put his hands together and lit the cigarette with a lighter, raised his head and blew out the smoke, looked at Keswick and said: "I already have a plan for this matter, I will show off my talents after taking office
!”
Keswick was happy, feeling that his strategy of "using China to control China" was about to be realized.
These stupid Chinese people just like to fight among themselves, so we British will let you fight for fun!
Looking at Keswick whose eyes showed contempt and pride inadvertently, Shi Zhijian remained calm, raised his hand and asked for two portions of fried beef, and then made conditions to Keswick: "But while I am dealing with the dock incident, I still need
Thank you for your help!"
"It doesn't matter. If you have any requests, just ask!" Keswick rinsed the chopsticks in his hand with tea. Damn it, why are they so dirty? Could they be contaminated with the saliva of these dirty Chinese people?
Keswick regretted inviting Shi Zhijian to come here to reminisce about hardships and sweet memories. He could hardly stand the harsh environment of this place!
"Ah bah!"
A large, shirtless man next to him spat thick phlegm at Keswick's feet.
Keswick was so sick that he was about to explode. He raised his head and wanted to get angry at the big black man, but saw the big black man clasping his feet and staring at him with an unkind look on his face. Keswick held back his words as soon as they came to his lips.
"My request is very simple," Shi Zhijian smiled, flicked the ashes of his cigarette, and looked at Keswick: "Give me another 10% of Wharf's equity!"
"Ah? What?" Keswick almost jumped up in surprise.
Shi Zhijian pretended not to see Keswick's excitement and said in a calm tone: "Don't worry, Mr. Keswick, I have no intention of doing anything to Wharf. The reason why I ask you for 10% of the equity is entirely to enhance my appeal as director."
!If I own 20% of the equity, then I can deploy troops and generals more legitimately, instead of being tied up!"
"Of course, if you don't trust me, we can sign an agreement in private. I will transfer 10% of the equity to you after three months! It can be legally proven!"
Keswick hesitated, and then the boss brought up the fried beef river.
Shi Zhijian pointed and said to Keswick: "If you still have any concerns, you can think about it again and eat first!"
How could Keswick eat such a thing? He just pretended to pick a few chopsticks with his chopsticks without putting them in his mouth. What he liked was coffee, cheese, and precious caviar!
"Okay, I trust you! Dear Shi, who made us feel like old friends at first sight!" Keswick made up his mind.
He is a wolf who can't bear to let his children fall into trap, and he doesn't want his strategy of "using China to control China" to die halfway.
Besides, there is legal protection, so what are you afraid of?!
"That's great! Wish us a happy cooperation!" Shi Zhijian raised his cup and toasted Keswick with tea instead of wine.
Keswick also picked up the tea cup and clinked it with Shi Zhijian in a pretentious manner, saying in his heart that you will be kicked out when you are done using it!
Shi Zhijian looked at the smiling Keswick and thought to himself, by then you will know what it means to lure the wolf into the house!
…
Kowloon, on the street one kilometer away from the branch of "Oriental Daily News".
Wharf dock workers held a large march on the streets again today.
In the past, demonstrations with thousands of people like this were not allowed by the British Hong Kong government, and riot squads would be dispatched to suppress them.
But today, this team was openly holding banners and shouting and howling on the street.
"We want a raise!"
"We want to eat!"
"Wharf is rich and unkind!"
"Down with British imperialism! Down with the black-hearted capitalists!"
There were so many slogans that many citizens who were unaware of the accident gathered to watch, and some enthusiastic people with a strong sense of justice even took the initiative to join the parade.
In fact, such a huge parade was a mixed bag. To be precise, except for some dock workers who came to help people because they accepted a bag of rice and noodles distributed by the mastermind behind the scenes, many of them were young and Dangerous people arranged by Xie Yonghua.
, and gangsters.
Under the instructions of Xie Yonghua, these people fanned the flames in the team, deliberately created conflicts and aroused the atmosphere. They also held the children in the arms and cried bitterly! They also tied up the pig heads with straps and looked up at the bruised and swollen pig heads.
Shouted: "The sky has eyes! Down with the black-hearted capitalists!"
It can be said that these people are the well-deserved "atmosphere group" among the demonstrations in this era!
The leading figure in this demonstration is "Wang Kuifa", nicknamed "Stinky Fart Fa". He is an out-and-out dock worker, mainly loading and unloading containers.
In this era, the work of container loading and unloading was gradually replaced by machinery. Wang Kuifa had fewer and fewer jobs and made less money.
Not long ago, people from the wharf society came to him and gave him three thousand yuan, asking him to do what they asked, and promised that he would be rewarded after he accomplished the task!
Three thousand yuan was his annual salary. Wang Kuifa was immediately moved, and followed the instructions to entangle the workers at the dock who complained about the company's oppression. Then they held a secret meeting, made demonstration banners and other things, and formulated the slogans for the parade, and then
A general strike at the docks began.
At first, Wang Kuifa was a little uneasy, because if this matter got serious, it might cause everyone to lose their jobs.
But he himself was short of money. He had recently played a few games in an underground casino on the pier and lost all his savings. There was no way out.
He was about to die and no one could save him, so he had no time to worry about the lives of others.
Wang Kuifa usually makes noises at the dock, but this time he spends extravagantly, including treating guests to dinner and smoking rice and making noodles. How have those Kuhaha people ever received such courtesy? When Wang Kuifa made up his words and deceived him, he felt that he was being squeezed.
I have suffered a loss and been deceived. I want to engage in class struggle and defeat these black-hearted British capitalists!
Facts have proved that most of those who can work hard at the dock are not smart enough.
They didn't think about where they could go if the dock collapsed. They didn't even think about whether they would be taken advantage of.
As soon as they closed their eyes, they felt the darkness and followed Wang Kuifa in demonstrations and carried out class struggle!
As the march grew in momentum, these people were dazzled by victory again, feeling that even the government and the audience supported them. They represented justice, were invincible, and were invincible!
As soon as this superiority mentality emerges, people become excited, jump up and down, and become more positive during the parade!