A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Time flies, and another three months have passed.

It was not until late September that Chen Guangliang boarded the "Golden Yuan" ship of Hong Kong Global Shipping and headed for New York, USA.

On this trip, the "Jin Yuan" flew the British flag, and the ship was transporting a full 900 million taels of silver, which was all the pure silver cash flow in Chen Guangliang's hands (excluding oceans).

In fact, starting from July, China's silver began to flow to New York, USA. On August 7 alone, the Shanghai HSBC Bank shipped away silver ingots worth up to 8 million yuan. All of these silver ingots were recast by melting Yuan Datou coins.

The reason why Chen Guangliang did not take action was, first, that he knew that the United States' purchase of silver would last a long time, and second, that Jiang Meiying was about to give birth.

He didn't want to miss the birth of his child, and Jiang Meiying was so gentle and loyal, he couldn't bear to see her giving birth without a man by her side.

Jiang Meiying also worked very hard and gave birth to Chen Guangliang's second son, named Chen Wenjin. In short, he had enough wealth and did not worry about the two wives fighting over the family property in the future.

The transportation of the silver was delayed until September 9, ten days after Jiang Meiying gave birth to the child.

The silver transported this time was worth up to 1300 million oceans, not much less than what HSBC took away on August 8. Of course, Chen Guangliang only made this one trip, and it was unknown how much HSBC would take away.

This time, Chen Guangliang didn't even buy insurance for the cargo because he was on the ship. If the ship really had an accident, he would also be in trouble. So what was the point of insurance!
Of course, before leaving, Chen Guangliang also made arrangements for his family:
Yan Renmei is in charge of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, taking good care of her eldest son. She has 500 million yuan in fixed deposits. The management of several major companies under her also recognize her as the "mistress", and she has the Yan family as her backing.

Jiang Meiying had just given birth to a son, and Chen Guangliang had given her a cash flow of 150 million yuan and a villa.

His younger brother, Chen Guangcong, has been working and living in Hong Kong with his wife. He mainly studies shipping-related business and has a second-hand 5000-ton ship in Hong Kong.

Because of these arrangements, Chen Guangliang is in a good mood and is looking forward to his trip to the United States.

After all, he not only had to sell silver to the U.S. Treasury, but also had to invest and deposit it in the United States.

Zhang Shunian came to the bow and looked at the boss standing straight, then asked, "Boss, you seem to be very much looking forward to this trip?"

This time, Chen Guangliang specially invited Zhang Shunian, who graduated with a master's degree in economics from New York University, to accompany him as his full-time secretary.

Chen Guangliang laughed and said, "To be honest, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, Shunian. I'm not as dedicated to the public good as your father. This trip to the United States is actually to transfer some of my assets. This is because I have always believed in an investment philosophy: don't put all your eggs in one basket."

Zhang Shunian was the assistant manager of the Ping An Bank in Hong Kong. He had long known that Chen Guangliang had 900 million taels of silver deposited in Hong Kong.

"Boss, you're a very capable person. You've made great contributions to both Huaxia Sugar and Huaxia Shipping. In comparison, my father only did one thing in his life."

The implication is that both of you are capable, one is serving the country through industry, and the other is serving the country through culture.

Chen Guangliang turned around and asked, "Shunian, do you think I'm being a profiteer by doing this?"

Zhang Shunian immediately shook his head and said, "The wealth is yours, so there is nothing wrong with what you did."

It was a rare opportunity to chat with someone, so Chen Guangliang dropped a shocking news, saying, "Actually, all this silver was earned from HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Citibank. All the silver was also imported from overseas, but its value has doubled."

It can be said that he commissioned Citibank to purchase 800 million taels of silver from overseas.

Zhang Shunian was shocked that there were Chinese people who could make so much money from foreign companies.

Chen Guangliang added with a smile, "When the world was in economic crisis, I studied the currencies of various countries. I first determined that the British pound would depreciate, so I mortgaged my assets to HSBC and Standard Chartered, borrowing a large amount of British pounds. Then, I determined that the US dollar would follow the British pound's path, so I mortgaged my assets to Citibank. In this way, I got the 900 million taels of silver for free."

Zhang Shunian was stunned. After a long pause, he said, "Boss, you're truly a master of economics. You've accurately predicted the international situation, and you're incredibly courageous. Even people in the City of London and Wall Street would be impressed by your actions."

Legend, so legendary!
Chen Guangliang patted Zhang Shunian on the shoulder and said, "You're a talented economist, unlike your father who's devoted to literature, so I'm going to let you be my traveling secretary this time. When you come back, you'll continue to work at Ping An Bank, but you'll also be a member of my 'intelligence team.' How about that?"

Zhang Shunian said without hesitation: "Okay, thank you for your respect, boss."

Before he joined Ping An Bank, his father told him that it was Chen Guangliang who saved the Commercial Press and the Oriental Library, which was a favor; what's more, after joining Ping An Bank, he also liked doing this kind of financial work.

Chen Guangliang was also very happy and chatted a lot with Zhang Shunian at the bow of the ship.

Zhang Shunian is considered his first member of the "Intelligence Group". In the future, he will recruit more subordinates to join this Intelligence Group.

The Jin Yuan had to sail on the sea for 16 to 17 days to reach New York, and this was when the ship was carrying only about one-tenth of its total weight, so it could run at a fast speed.

The trip to the United States will take over a month just for transportation, and Chen Guangliang plans to spend another month or two in New York and San Francisco.

So this time, Chen Guangliang needs to stay outside for three months. Fortunately, he already has a wife, lover, and son in Shanghai, and a younger brother in Hong Kong who can work, so he has some protection.

When sailing on the sea, Chen Guangliang was quite energetic. He would go to the helmsman's cabin from time to time to chat with the British captain; from time to time he would patrol the ship with bodyguards such as Zhou Xinggao; of course, he would occasionally stop to read a book seriously.

Time flew by, and finally on the day before mid-October, we arrived in the waters near New York.

They were naturally aware of and familiar with the following procedures. They first declared to the U.S. Customs and then contacted the silver purchasing department commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. During this period, Chen Guangliang left first in a small boat.

When setting foot on the land of New York, Chen Guangliang couldn't help but take a deep breath, Pah, pah, the air is not sweet at all!

Of course, Chen Guangliang still felt safe, after all, it was a place far away from World War II; on the other hand, although Chinese people were discriminated against in the United States during this period, it was not a big problem.

When Chen Guangliang came ashore, it was early morning and he took Zhang Shunian to Manhattan.

The taxi driver did not discriminate against anyone and his service attitude was very good.

"Gentlemen, where are you from?" the driver asked enthusiastically.

"Chinese"

This never needs to be concealed.

The driver immediately said, "My name is John. If you're new to New York, be sure to watch your wallet. The security situation in New York has been bad in recent years."

Chen Guangliang nodded and said, "Thank you. Judging from your appearance, you probably weren't a taxi driver before, were you?"

When John heard this, he felt like he had found a kindred spirit. He complained, "Yes, I used to be a supervisor at a shipyard, but as you know, the Great Depression forced me to lose my high-paying job and move out of my villa. Fortunately, I found this taxi driver job, and I can finally support my family."

Even in developed countries, when a major economic depression hits, the number of people on welfare is enormous, and some may even starve to death. Capitalists are not good people. They would rather pour milk into the river than give it away for free, as this would destroy the market.

"Everything will be fine. Roosevelt's New Deal has made the American economy begin to recover!" When John heard this, he couldn't help but look at Chen Guangliang a few more times in the rearview mirror. After all, it was rare for a Chinese to have such insight.

"You must be a big shot in China!"

Chen Guangliang smiled and said: "I am just a businessman"

John heard this and added: "He is also a big businessman."

This time, Chen Guangliang did not refute. His wealth was worth tens of millions of US dollars, which was considered a millionaire level in the United States.

Arriving at the headquarters of the National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) in Manhattan, Chen Guangliang generously gave John a $1 tip, which was half a day's wage for a steel worker.

"Sir, you are so generous. Good luck to you!"

"Thank you too."

When they arrived at the door of Citibank's headquarters building, Chen Guangliang and Zhang Shunian were not in a hurry to go in, but instead started to tour the Citibank headquarters building.

In 1929, Citibank became the world's largest commercial bank, and its strength was naturally beyond doubt.

"Sir, if you don't know someone, they won't pay any attention to you if you step through this door!"

A voice sounded, making Chen Guangliang and Zhang Shunian alert. After all, the taxi driver John had just told them that New York was not peaceful.

Chen Guangliang looked back and found that it was a cleaner, but between his eyebrows, he seemed to have been prosperous in the past.

This is normal. The global economic depression has left many wealthy people penniless, not to mention some high-income groups.

He smiled and said, "How do you say it?"

The cleaner immediately put his cleaning tools aside, dusted off his hands, and extended his hand in a friendly manner. "My name is Jack. I used to work on Wall Street, so I'm very familiar with Manhattan. The air in Manhattan is filled with the smell of money. You may look rich, but people here are very arrogant."

Wow, they are all great people. It seems that the influence of the Great Depression is still there.

Chen Guangliang also extended his hand and said, "My name is Chen, I'm from China, and I'm a businessman. This is my secretary, he has a Master's degree in economics from New York University."

Jack's eyes lit up, and he said bluntly, "Judging from the way you looked just now, you must be new to Wall Street. Please allow me two minutes to introduce myself. Perhaps you can use me."

Chen Guangliang smiled but didn't say anything.

But Jack seized the opportunity and said:
"I used to drive, party, and drink champagne. But when the Great Depression hit, my life savings went up in smoke. Even the car I bought through stock speculation was repossessed by the bank.

I currently live in an apartment in Manhattan. The previous owner went bankrupt two years ago and had to mortgage it to a bank. After the bank resumed operations with government support, it rented it out to people like me at low prices.

Roosevelt's New Deal gave me another relief job, cleaning the streets, but I was still waiting in line for bread."

Jack spoke quickly because he knew Chen Guangliang and Zhang Shunian's English proficiency. He added:
"Sir, I'm very familiar with Wall Street and New York. If you need help from a local like me, please give me a chance."

Chen Guangliang looked at Jack with a smile and asked, "I'm just a Chinese."

Jack immediately understood and said, "For me, no matter where you are from, I only know that you are a successful person."

Aren’t Chinese people who dare to come to Citibank’s headquarters successful people?

Chen Guangliang smiled and said, "Wait for me here, I will find you later."

After saying that, he took Zhang Shunian into the gate.

He had a letter of introduction from McKinsey, the general manager of Citibank in Shanghai, so the staff immediately changed their attitude after hearing this and took them into an office.

"Mr. Chen, right? I heard McKen introduce you to me two months ago. We were both looking forward to your visit to New York." John Joe, the deputy manager of the savings department of Citibank, happily extended his hand.

Citibank Shanghai is the largest branch in the Far East and a very important asset, so McCann must have some connections at the headquarters.

Joe John also learned from the letter that Chen Guangliang was one of the richest people in Shanghai, so he was naturally very enthusiastic.

"Nice to meet you, Manager Joe John."

Then, both parties sat down on the sofa.

Chen Guangliang also spoke directly, "Manager Qiao John, I came to the United States this time because I transported 900 million taels of silver to sell to the U.S. Treasury. I hope Citibank will be my partner. I will deposit the funds with Citibank, and I will also purchase some assets in the United States later."

Joe John was shocked. Privately selling 900 million taels of silver was almost 550 million US dollars. He was indeed one of the richest people in Shanghai.

"Of course, I will personally take charge of your trip to New York. If you need anything, I can provide you with all the help I can."

It is obvious that they are here to transfer wealth to the United States.

Although the United States has a habit of discriminating against Chinese people, it will never discriminate against powerful Chinese people.

Chen Guangliang said calmly, "I hope Citibank will keep my information absolutely confidential and guarantee the safety of my assets."

Joe John almost patted his chest to make a promise, repeatedly emphasizing that Citibank has a strong sense of professional ethics.

The next thing was simple. Joe John prepared to go to the port in person to help Chen Guangliang sell the silver and arrange for it to be deposited in the bank.

Seeing this, Chen Guangliang felt relieved about his trip to New York.

He has always believed that at that time, the United States had a "Chinese Exclusion Program" and it was difficult for Chinese people to survive.

Now, he has changed his impression. After all, he is a "high-class Chinese," so how could he have such problems? Even if there is a little, it is the attitude of a very individual person and does not represent the attitude of the US government and businesses.

If you have money, you are the best everywhere!

Without money, you'll be a homeless person even if you come here! (End of this chapter)