msmithbooks Chapter 53: The Agent Gets into Trouble
Chapter 53: The Agent Gets into Trouble
Satisfied with Huo Jianning's work attitude, Li Jiagang continued to ask him:
"Also, how's the integration progress at 'Qingzhou Yingni'? Cement is the lifeblood of construction, and I need to make sure everything is running smoothly."
"Rest assured, Chairman," Huo Jianning reported energetically, "the handover is basically complete. Most of the original management team has remained, and we have introduced new management concepts and cost control systems. We expect production capacity to increase by 15% and costs to decrease by 8% starting next month. At that time, the Kowloon and Causeway Bay projects will prioritize the use of our self-produced high-quality cement."
"Great! I feel at ease with you managing things." Li Jiagang laughed heartily. "Jianning, you must remember, HK Electric's goal is not just to be a power supplier and real estate developer. What I want is to develop around the energy foundation in the future."
The goal is to develop the real estate industry into a complete industrial chain real estate empire, primarily encompassing infrastructure, design, planning, development, and sales.
Furthermore, we need to supplement this with materials such as cement, building materials, steel, sand, and concrete. We want every brick, every unit of electricity, and every item in Hong Kong to bear the mark of our company.
Do you know what I mean?
How could Huo Jianning not understand?
He was simply stunned by the young boss's ambitious plan and was momentarily speechless.
Let's put energy aside for now.
It is not difficult to simply transform a real estate company into a developer with a complete business chain.
It's just a matter of spending some time cultivating it slowly; it's not a big deal.
But the boss wants to control the entire infrastructure materials industry, which is no small problem.
Huo Jianning believes it is still possible to gain some control over the quarry and concrete industries, given that there are many companies operating in these two sectors in Hong Kong that are willing to spend money to acquire them.
But what about the river sand pit?
That was controlled by the Huo family, and could even be described as a complete monopoly. Even British capital and the Hong Kong government had no control over it, because there was no sand to be mined in Hong Kong; it was all transported from the mainland.
Therefore, Huo Jianning believes that it is still quite difficult for bosses to truly control all building materials at present.
As for other building materials and steel.
While these two are relatively easy to control, Huo Jianning believes it would be difficult to fully encompass all aspects of the building materials industry.
But Huo Jianning had no idea that Li Jiagang was a time traveler, something he considered very difficult.
However, Li Jiagang believes that...
It's feasible as long as he has enough funds.
Because Fok Kin-ning believed that the most difficult business, "river sand," was monopolized by the Fok family, little did he know that in the 80s, the British Hong Kong government would introduce new policies to open up the market and allow free trade in river sand.
His opportunity will come then.
There's plenty of river sand in the mainland market, so he's not worried about not finding sources of supply.
He'll have as much as he wants then.
After a moment of silence, Huo Jianning said, "Chairman, Hong Kong Electric and Qingzhou Ying Cement have only just begun their integration. It's too early to talk about developing a complete industrial chain. Moreover, with the group's current system, it's impossible to insert so many industries all at once."
"Our priority should be to accumulate experience and steadily develop the real estate company."
Li Jiagang nodded in agreement.
At present, it is indeed not advisable for his group to expand too rapidly, after all, he is currently insolvent. Including the loan from "Qingzhou Yingni" company, he still owes HSBC a full HK$5 million.
If he continues to expand blindly, he will be in trouble if his cash flow runs out or is cut off, and he will be completely ruined.
What his company needs right now is to complete the integration as soon as possible and stabilize the company's business.
Once each company's business is on track, then we can consider expansion.
After seeing Huo Jianning off, Li Jiagang returned to his desk and successively signed several documents, including those concerning land use permits and environmental impact assessment reports for the construction of the new power station on Lamma Island.
Everything is progressing smoothly.
He leaned back in his chair, rubbed his aching temples, and looked out the window.
Looking towards the luxury residential area on the mountaintop, he suddenly remembered that there was something he had to do.
That is to redeem his cheap father's villa in Repulse Bay in this era, as well as the businesses he produced.
Although those factories were not of great value.
But after all, it's his family business, and its significance is beyond monetary value.
Upon realizing the importance of Lijiagang, we immediately took action.
"Xiao Mei, please make an appointment with the general manager of Hang Lung Bank and tell him that I want to talk to him about the redemption of the assets of Lee's Electric that have been seized."
"Yes, Chairman."
In less than a few minutes.
His office phone rang.
Ring ring ring!!
Li Jiagang assumed it was his secretary calling and quickly reached out to answer, "Did you make an appointment?"
"Boss, what are we meeting up for?"
"I am Wang Fusheng."
"Wang Fusheng?"
Li Jiagang glanced at his watch. "It's past midnight where you are, isn't it? Why are you calling me at this hour? What happened?"
Wang Fusheng has been sent to the United States by Li Jiagang to plan his gold investments.
He should be in Chicago right now.
The time difference between Hong Kong and Chicago is about 13 hours. When it is 11 a.m. in Hong Kong, it is 12 a.m. there.
When Wang Fusheng called him so late at night, Li Jiagang's first thought was that something had happened.
really…….
"Boss, I'm sorry," Wang Fusheng said nervously on the other end of the phone. "Just now, I was robbed on my way home with other agents. One of them was seriously injured and needs to be hospitalized. All the cash we had on us was stolen. Could you contact the bank here later and transfer some foreign currency from my account so I can use it for emergencies? Don't worry, I will replenish it immediately."
Li Jiagang frowned upon hearing this.
"How is the injury?"
"He's still receiving emergency treatment, and the situation is unclear, but the injuries are quite serious," Wang Fusheng replied.
Without the slightest hesitation, Li Jiagang said, "Remember, spare no expense to save them; you must bring them back to life."
"I'll contact the manager of Hong Kong Citibank (the predecessor of Citibank) right now and see if he can get in touch with the people at the US headquarters and see if they can send someone to bring you foreign exchange immediately."
"Thank you, boss, thank you."
Upon hearing Li Jiagang's words, Wang Fusheng was deeply moved. The fear of being robbed, the worry about his seriously injured colleague, and the difficulty of having no money almost drove him to the brink of collapse.
But the boss's actions instantly overwhelmed this strong and honest man, causing him to lose control of his emotions and burst into tears.
Without hesitation, Li Jiagang immediately contacted the head of Citibank in Hong Kong.
The call was answered quickly.
"Hello, I'm Davis."
"Mr. Davis, I am Li Jiagang."
"Oh! Mr. Li, it's nice to receive your call. How can I help you?"
Regarding the call received from Lijiagang.
The general manager of Citibank was indeed very pleased, after all, Li Jiagang is now considered a rising star in Hong Kong's business community.
He also knew that Li Jiagang was a core client of HSBC, and Davis knew that someone who could be valued by HSBC was no ordinary person, so he was very willing to establish friendly relations with Li Jiagang.
Citibank had long wanted to expand into Hong Kong as a separate entity, but the British Hong Kong government prevented it for various reasons. In fact, it was HSBC that used its connections to prevent Citibank from entering Hong Kong.
Therefore, Citibank had no choice but to acquire local banks and establish branches in Hong Kong through other financial institutions in an attempt to open up the Hong Kong market.
That is today's Citibank.
During this period, Citibank was constantly suppressed by HSBC. Therefore, the primary task of each new bank executive was to take all possible measures against HSBC while pursuing development.
Poaching HSBC's clients and seizing HSBC's business became a regular occurrence at Vantone Baoguo's workplace.
That's why Davis was so polite when he received Li Jiagang's call.
Li Jiagang is now considered a major client of Citibank. Xiangjiang Dazhihui also partnered with Citibank to handle Li Jiagang's gold investment in the United States, including opening an account, providing margin services for investments, and offering leverage for capital expansion.
Therefore, he had contact with the Citibank manager.
As for how Great Wisdom and Citibank split commissions and fees, Li Jiagang had no idea, nor did he want to know.
He doesn't care about anything else as long as he can be provided with the leverage and funds he needs.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Davis, but there's something very urgent that I need your help with."
"Li, please speak."
"That's how it is..."
Li Jiagang recounted everything that happened to Wang Fusheng in the United States.
Without hesitation, Davis on the other end of the phone immediately agreed, and he also assured him that the Citibank headquarters in the United States would provide some assistance.
With Davis's assurance.
Li Jiagang felt much more at ease.
Whatever the reason, those agents were arranged by Wang Fusheng on his own initiative. Now that they've gotten into trouble, he should take responsibility and he certainly can't let them down.
Besides, it's a life.