bookcurios Chapter 243 Capital Tycoons! Playing high-level games isn't that easy!
Chapter 243 Capital Tycoons! Playing high-level games isn't that easy!
The sun sets in the west.
The river surface shimmered, and cargo ships shuttled back and forth.
A Rolls-Royce Phantom slowly pulled up in front of the Peace Hotel.
Countless people stopped and turned to look, curious about which big shot had come to dine.
A waiter, dressed in a suit and tie and wearing white gloves, approached with a smile.
But his hand hadn't even touched the doorknob yet.
Zheng Xinrong, who was sitting in the car, took the initiative to open the door and get out.
He then strode confidently into the hall.
They went straight to the private room, familiar with the place.
Zheng Xinrong pushed open the door and entered, only to find He Zhimiao chatting and drinking tea with Qiao Wenli.
My mind went blank for a moment.
He was nicknamed the "God of Stocks" by his own people.
And what about Qiao Wenli?
Within the industry, he's known as the "King of the Sky and the Sea".
Qiao Wenli was born into a family of architects.
More than a hundred years ago, his ancestor came to Tianhai to work.
With his superb bricklaying skills, he settled down in Tianhai.
As the business was passed down from generation to generation, it naturally grew bigger and bigger.
Even within the concession, many of the office buildings and Western-style villas belonging to foreigners were built by his family.
By the time of Qiao Wenli's father, his family was already a powerful real estate tycoon in Tianhai.
Having been sent abroad for many years to study, Qiao Wenli returned to China to inherit the family business and surpassed his father in every way.
Because the older generation in his family only worked for money or bought land to build houses.
Although they were working on high-quality projects, the profitability was not high.
Qiao Wenli's combination of real estate and finance significantly improved efficiency.
For example, he might buy a piece of land, but before he even starts construction, he immediately finds a bank to mortgage the land, and then uses the bank loan to continue bidding for land.
As for how the buildings will be constructed?
Qiao Wenli's clever move was that he didn't have to spend his own money.
He had the construction company, suppliers, and contractors advance funds to carry out the construction for him.
Once the development of the property was in its initial stages, he began pre-selling the properties, using the money from homebuyers to settle part of the construction costs, and then continued to bid for more land.
But that's not all the crazy stuff they've done.
Qiao Wenli transformed Tianhai Jinmao Group, which had been run by his father for many years and had a good reputation, into a shareholding system, and listed its real estate company on the stock exchange, raising funds through equity pledge.
In addition, he also set up an investment company and launched wealth management products. Because the rate of return was much higher than that of bank fixed deposits, he raised a lot of funds from the public, which gave him even more funds to buy land.
Through this series of financial operations, in just a few years, Qiao Wenli not only greatly increased the strength of Tianhai Jinmao Group, but also gained control of a large amount of commercial and residential land, making it a veritable 'land king of Tianhai'.
As long as housing prices rise steadily, Qiao Wenli's strategy of combining finance and real estate will naturally be fine. Moreover, the larger the scale, the more money he will make, and it will only be a matter of time before he becomes a real estate giant with trillions of assets.
only……
Zheng Xinrong never expected that Qiao Wenli would actually appear here.
Is it really as the old saying goes?
For speculators, they will appear wherever there is an opportunity!
Qiao Wenli must have sensed a business opportunity, which is why he showed up here.
Even if he had a rough idea, Zheng Xinrong pretended not to know.
"Old Joe!!"
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Zheng Xinrong walked forward with a look of surprise.
Qiao Wenli, who has very little hair on his head, has to comb it into a side part to cover his shiny scalp.
He turned around slowly and looked at Zheng Xinrong, who was walking towards him.
"If you can come, why can't I?"
Zheng Xinrong smiled and said, "I came here to meet Xiao Jinhua. I've heard so much about him, but I've never had the chance to meet him in person. I heard that he's finally come to Tianhai, so of course I had to come and try to meet him."
"Keep pretending, you're just pretending!"
Qiao Wenli sneered with disdain:
"We're all family, who are you trying to fool with your fake concern?"
"As the old saying goes, rivals are enemies. You and Xiao Jinhua both play the stock market. Are you so bored that you have to come see him in person?"
"Then why did Xiao Jinhua travel all the way from Yanjing to Tianhai in a private plane? Wasn't it just to meet Zhao Ruilong, the young master of Handong?"
Zheng Xinrong sneered and retorted, "And what about you? What are you here for?"
Qiao Wenli smoothed a few strands of hair on his head.
"Of course I'm here to see General Manager Zhao!"
"To see General Manager Zhao?"
Zheng Xinrong burst into laughter.
"What brings you, a real estate hustler, to see General Manager Zhao?"
"They're into high-tech stuff, what does it have to do with you?"
"Besides, everyone knows that Handong has already begun to strictly limit the overheated real estate industry in order to develop a high-quality economy. Why are you still here to see President Zhao?"
"With your penchant for using financial means to drive up land and housing prices, do you think President Zhao would like you? Would he let you go to Handong and cause land and housing prices to skyrocket?"
Qiao Wenli gave a dismissive snort.
"Just because I'm in real estate, does that mean I'm not qualified to meet with General Manager Zhao?"
"Mr. Zhao's Huilong Group also has a real estate business, you know?"
"Isn't the Lakeside Garden residential complex that went on sale in Luzhou this year based on a design from our Tianhai Architectural Design Institute? And..."
Zheng Xinrong waved his hand and threw his bag onto the sofa.
"Okay, okay, stop rambling on and on."
"Let's not beat around the bush between us."
"Let me be frank with you, I have only one purpose for coming here today, which is to get on Mr. Zhao's good side and try to get a piece of the pie."
"Otherwise, once this bull market ends, the bear market will last at least half a year. I'll need to find something to do during that time, right? And what about you? What are you doing here?"
Qiao Wenli chuckled.
"Just like you, I also want a bowl of soup!"
Zheng Xinrong sneered, "How are you going to drink? Are you going to expand your Tianhai Jinmao Group's business to Handong Province? They're focusing on attracting investment and supporting high-tech industries. What are you doing, a guy in finance and real estate, getting involved in this mess?"
"Handong doesn't need me to get into real estate, but it definitely needs my huge sums of money. You have money but nowhere to play, and you want to hang out with Boss Zhao, so why can't I? I want a piece of the pie too, even just a little soup!"
After Qiao Wenli finished speaking, he turned around and looked at the magnificent Huangfu River.
The speed of development of his Tianhai Jinmao Group depends entirely on the speed of Tianhai's economic development.
With a sluggish economy, insufficient influx of migrants, and stagnant housing prices, the development of Tianhai Jinmao Group will naturally be limited.
The funds he obtained from banks, the stock market, and private sources also come at a cost.
Especially those funds attracted through high returns, if they can't offer high interest rates, they're bound to collapse!
Once the scandal breaks, it will inevitably trigger a chain reaction.
Therefore, if we want to continue playing the financial and real estate game indefinitely...
They can either keep driving up housing prices to make huge profits, or they can find other good investment projects.
But the current housing prices in Tianhai are already high enough.
Ordinary people don't have much money, so no amount of speculation will help.
In addition, Tianhai City serves as a forefront of opening up to the outside world and a bellwether for economic development.
The city certainly knows that only by developing advantageous local industries can it support sustainable economic development.
This is why Tianhai City not only supports the restart of the domestic large aircraft project, but also tries every means to ensure that the headquarters of COMAC and the future large aircraft assembly base are located in Tianhai.
As for the real estate industry, which is detrimental to the development of the real economy and the well-being of ordinary people, there is now a clear stance: it should be restricted, just like in Handong Province, rather than allowed to grow unchecked.
Relevant policies will be introduced soon.
I can no longer do what I used to do, buying up lots of land and hoarding it without developing it, creating a supply and demand imbalance while waiting for land prices to rise. If I don't start construction within two years, the land will be taken back without compensation.
The most fatal blow is that the standards for pre-sale of houses are said to be significantly raised.
You can't just set up a sales office and start pre-selling to make money before the foundation pit is even dug.
If the project collapses, wouldn't those ordinary people who paid for the houses be even worse off than those who bought unfinished buildings?
Even though it's an unfinished building, at least it has a main structure and you can see that it's a building. Even if the water, electricity, gas, and mechanical and security systems aren't connected, it's still better than a wasteland.
In addition, it is also the most important point.
Huilong Group's investment strategy in the high-tech field has already begun to show results.
Even though the effects haven't been very noticeable in industries like high-speed rail, airplanes, chips, and medical equipment.
Even if we disregard the fact that Xiaolingtong (a type of mobile phone service) was manufactured through OEM, Huilong's chain of internet cafes was incredibly successful, making Huilong computers the number one brand in China.
Needless to say, the Huilong MP3 music player, which was launched in May, has become a fashion favorite among young people and a hot-selling product with demand exceeding supply.
Scalpers at Tianhai have driven the price up to nearly 3,000 yuan, which is equivalent to a month's salary for a white-collar worker in Tianhai who can barely afford one, yet it is still highly sought after.
If this trend continues...
Huilong Group and its invested and controlled enterprises will inevitably launch more technological products in the future.
Seeing that Huilong's computers and MP3 players were already being airlifted abroad, making money off foreigners.
How could Qiao Wenli just stand by and watch?
In short.
Knowing full well that the real estate industry could no longer afford to grow wildly, Qiao Wenli naturally wanted to diversify his business to ensure that his Tianhai Jinmao Group could continue to grow and expand.
In contrast.
Zheng Xinrong simply wanted to get his large sum of idle funds working because the stock market had been performing poorly recently. He would definitely withdraw and return to investing in the stock market once the market improved.
One was thinking about the group's long-term development, while the other wanted to easily earn investment dividends.
Qiao Wenli was naturally more proactive than Zheng Xinrong, arriving faster and earlier.
Although Zheng Xinrong arrived late, he was very eager to get there.
"Old He, have you made contact? We can't all be here, but we can't even get a chance to come in and meet you, can we?"
He Zhimiao smiled calmly and said, "Don't worry, I guarantee you'll be able to see President Zhao, but not now."
"Really? Then... how much longer will we have to wait?"
Zheng Xinrong asked anxiously.
He Zhimiao shook his head helplessly and said:
"I really don't know. Who knows how long he'll talk to Xiao Jinhua and the others?"
Zheng Xinrong raised an eyebrow.
"Them? What do you mean? Are there other people besides Xiao Jinhua?"
"Yes, all of our old bigwigs from Tianhai have gone to the conference room. In addition, several major families from Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Macau have also sent people over."
"..."
Zheng Xinrong was shocked and his mouth gaped open.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, she looked at He Zhimiao and asked a question:
"What exactly does this young master of Handong want?"
He believed that with He Zhimiao's connections, he would definitely be able to find out some information.
After all, who is He Zhimiao?
My ancestors were dockworkers, making a living off the docks.
At the docks, it's not just about goods coming and going, going out to sea and entering and leaving customs; it's also about all sorts of intelligence information.
Later, times changed, and He Zhimiao's father quit his job as a port worker and started a shipping brokerage business.
In other words, it acts as a bridge between cargo owners and ship owners, similar to a freight yard information department that introduces cargo sources to truck drivers and earns commissions.
He Zhimiao further expanded his business beyond his father's existing operations, adding numerous new businesses related to shipping, such as ship leasing, import and export trade agency, and wholesale of seafood and aquatic products.
of course.
In the past, during a special era of lax supervision and incomplete legal system, He Zhimiao also engaged in a lot of shady smuggling business and made a lot of money.
So, He Zhimiao was able to make a good living in Tianhai through shipping and trade. He couldn't be said to have connections everywhere, but he was well-connected in both the legitimate and underworld circles.
Otherwise, how could He Zhimiao know about Xiao Jinhua's arrival in Tianhai so quickly? He even knew that Xiao Jinhua came to the Peace Hotel to meet Zhao Ruilong!
Faced with Zheng Xinrong's questioning gaze, He Zhimiao said with a bitter face:
Why are you staring at me?
"They hold meetings behind closed doors, how am I supposed to know what they're talking about?"
"However, I just discussed it with Lao Qiao, and we think that President Zhao probably wants to attract investment."
"The high-tech projects he's working on now are really too expensive; it's clearly not enough for Huilong Group alone to just throw money at them."
"He needs to raise a lot of money to maintain the project's research and development and operation. The investment threshold will be very high, but the return after success will definitely not be low."
Zheng Xinrong frowned and muttered to himself:
"That's quite possible. Huilong Group has invested in so many projects and established so many joint ventures in Handong. Even if it has strong fundraising capabilities, it still has a certain ability to generate its own revenue. It should be facing a cash crunch by now."
"They're building high-speed rail, manufacturing airplanes, and investing in semiconductor research and various electronic information projects. It's estimated that they're spending hundreds of millions every day. Mr. Zhao isn't a banker, and he's probably running out of steam by now."
Qiao Wenli, who was admiring the view outside the window, turned around.
"The investment threshold for high-tech projects is very high. It's not something you can do just because you have money. You need to have ideas, a certain amount of talent, and technical strength."
"So before, Mr. Zhao mainly collaborated with universities, research institutions and large state-owned enterprises. In other words, he provided the money and ideas, while others provided the labor."
"Many projects are now on track and have produced good scientific research results and technological products. For example, Huilong Electronics' MP3 players and desktop computers are selling very well."
"With a good project and solid achievements, Mr. Zhao wanted to accelerate the pace of scientific research, so he naturally needed to raise funds from the public. This gave wealthy bosses who did not understand technology an opportunity for win-win cooperation."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Zheng Xinrong asked urgently:
"So how much do you think we need to invest to play this high-level game with Mr. Zhao?"
Qiao Wenli glanced at He Zhimiao and then smiled meaningfully:
"Based on our analysis, we deduced that Mr. Zhao's investment threshold is probably no less than two billion!"
"If you're not willing to spend such a large sum of money, you can go home now!"
Zheng Xinrong's lips trembled slightly.
Although his heart skipped a beat, he pretended to be calm on the surface.
After swallowing hard, Zheng Xinrong took a step forward and glared at him, saying:
"It's just two billion! Don't talk like I can't afford it!"
"Just because Mr. Zhao's father is Zhao Lichun, the top dog in Handong, I'd dare invest 10 billion!!"