Chapter 372: Gains from the Taiwan Visit
On December 11th, many newspapers across Hong Kong reported on the opening of the Hong Kong Museum. Several of them dedicated full-page features, including numerous photos of cultural relics and antiques.
The effect was even stronger than the previous days' publicity efforts. Earlier promotions had merely announced the museum's impending opening and offered a few vague details. Now, with concrete images and in-depth coverage, public interest surged.
What's more, word of mouth from visitors who had already been to the museum was overwhelmingly positive. A recommendation from a friend or relative often carried more weight than ten newspaper ads.
As a result, for several days following the grand opening, the museum remained packed and became a hot topic of casual conversation among Hong Kong locals.
By December 18th, a week after opening, visitor numbers began to taper off slightly and stabilize.
Yang Wendong no longer paid as much attention. From here on out, he would simply check in on operations periodically, just like he did with his other subsidiaries.
Knock knock knock—
"Come in." Yang Wendong looked up from the financial reports he was reviewing and saw that it was Zheng Yuhua. He gestured for him to enter.
Zheng Yuhua walked in holding a document. As he approached the desk, he handed it over. "Mr. Yang, this is the design draft for the oil tanker from Keelung Shipyard in Taiwan. Please have a look."
Yang Wendong took it and flipped through a few pages. "This looks very similar to the design from Mitsubishi in Japan," he remarked.
Changxing Shipping had placed several ship orders in Japan previously, so they had accumulated a library of design blueprints. Yang Wendong, while not an expert in naval engineering, had seen enough to recognize the overall structure and shape.
Zheng Yuhua explained, "Yes. The design from Taiwan is partially based on purchased patents from Japan. It's mostly using older-generation technology."
"That's fine. Older tech is usually more stable anyway," Yang Wendong nodded, then asked, "Has the price for this vessel been finalized?"
"The displacement of this oil tanker is 52,000 tons. The current quoted price is 6.5 million USD," Zheng Yuhua replied. "It's still negotiable, but I haven't started bargaining yet."
"6.5 million…" Yang Wendong did a quick comparison in his head. "Didn't the 56,000-ton ship we ordered from Japan go for around 7.6 million?"
"Yes, that's right," Zheng Yuhua confirmed.
"In that case, this one is slightly cheaper," Yang Wendong concluded.
Zheng Yuhua smiled. "They have to be cheaper—otherwise how could they possibly compete with Japan? Back when Japan's shipbuilding industry first rose, they undercut the Western market with low prices."
"And even then," Yang Wendong added, "most shipping companies still hesitate to buy from Taiwan. They're not willing to take the risk."
"That's right," Zheng Yuhua nodded. "Which is why, since we're effectively the first ones daring enough to try, we need to press for a better deal. If we're taking the risk, they need to give us more value in return."
As someone from the future, Yang Wendong had confidence in Taiwan's future shipbuilding capabilities—but that confidence was personal, not based on current industry data or established performance. So he certainly wasn't about to overpay.
"Got it," Zheng Yuhua replied with a grin. "Back in the day, Japan sold its early tankers at a loss just to get a foothold in the market. Taiwan's going to have to follow the same path."
"Exactly. Keep talking to them. Also, make sure local Taiwanese banks get involved," Yang Wendong added. "Their loan terms can't be worse than Japan's. Financing is more important than the sticker price."
In large-scale investments, financing terms often outweighed even the base price. With good financial backing, you could still profit handsomely even with a slightly higher cost. Without that support, even a cheap deal could sink your company.
"Understood." Zheng Yuhua then asked, "Mr. Yang, Keelung Shipyard has invited us to visit on the 23rd. They're about to launch a 20,000-ton oil tanker. Although it's smaller than ours, many of the techniques and systems are the same."
"The 23rd?" Yang Wendong glanced at his calendar. "Alright. Let's go take a look. I also have other business in Taiwan—it's a good chance to take care of everything at once."
"Okay, I'll make the arrangements," Zheng Yuhua said.
On the 22nd, Yang Wendong boarded a chartered vessel and set sail for Taiwan.
"Someday," Yang Wendong said, standing on the weathered deck, "I need to go to Europe and buy a real cruise yacht. That way, traveling around nearby areas will be a lot more comfortable."
Bai Yujie sipped on her orange juice and asked, "Don't you already have a yacht?"
"That one's too small," Yang Wendong shook his head. "Europe has models that are over 100 feet long—that's more than 33 meters. With a ship like that, I could go to Taiwan or cruise the coast with ease."
"Over 100 feet? Even this passenger ferry isn't that long," Bai Yujie exclaimed. "How much would one of those cost?"
"Probably a few million Hong Kong dollars," Yang Wendong replied. "The exact price depends on the onboard technology and interior decoration."
In this era, money held significant value—but so did industrial products. A 100-foot yacht might be nothing special in the 1980s or 1990s, but here in the 1960s, it was near the top in terms of size and class.
"So expensive... My dad's worked his whole life and never earned that much," Bai Yujie said with a smile. "Hey, can we go to Southeast Asia? I've always wanted to travel there."
Yang Wendong shook his head. "Too risky. If we ran into a typhoon, it'd be over. There's no reliable way to predict weather out at sea yet."
In the 1960s, satellite technology was still in its infancy. Maritime weather forecasting relied mainly on land-based observation stations, and accuracy was limited. Large international cargo ships depended on a combination of weather bureau data and navigational experience. If they weren't extremely unlucky, they could usually avoid the eye of a typhoon—but brushing the edges was common.
Big ships had the size and sturdiness to survive a typhoon's edge without major danger, though it could shorten the ship's lifespan or increase maintenance costs. So a captain's experience directly impacted a vessel's durability and profitability.
Small yachts, however, had no business venturing into deep waters. Going too far offshore was essentially suicide in this era. That's why yachts were strictly used for coastal leisure at the time.
"Alright then," Bai Yujie said. "But once you buy that yacht, I want a ride."
"Of course," Yang Wendong replied with a smile.
Half a day later, the ship docked at Keelung Harbor. The senior management of the Keelung Shipyard was already waiting at the port to greet them. After brief introductions, the group headed straight to the shipyard.
Since it was already afternoon, they boarded the ship and toured its interior. Throughout the visit, the director of Keelung Shipyard, Yin Xiangdong, provided a detailed introduction.
After 6 p.m., when the tour was complete, Yin Xiangdong asked, "Mr. Yang, what do you think of our ship?"
Yang Wendong smiled and replied, "Not bad. From the inside, it's very similar to the Japanese builds. But Director Yin, as you know, with ships, the most important thing isn't appearance—it's what's inside."
The primary purpose of a commercial ship was to generate profit, so surface aesthetics mattered little.
It was like comparing trucks and sedans: sedans chased comfort, while trucks just needed to be functional. The principle was the same.
Yin Xiangdong understood and smiled. "Mr. Yang, over the past few years, Keelung Shipyard has built more than a dozen 10,000-ton-class oil tankers and cargo ships. They've all been sailing on the high seas without any major quality issues."
"Mhm," Yang Wendong nodded. "But a 10,000-ton ship isn't the same as one that's 50,000 or more."
Yin Xiangdong agreed, "You're absolutely right. But there has to be a first time for everything. We sincerely hope to cooperate with you. We can provide a written guarantee that our ship will have no major quality issues."
Yang Wendong replied, "Let's discuss pricing and financing details first—then we can make a decision. How does that sound?"
"Of course," Yin Xiangdong said with a laugh. Deals of this scale couldn't possibly be decided on the spot.
Typically, such negotiations would take months. Dozens of technical and financial details had to be worked out. And even then, if talks broke down at the last minute, months of work could go down the drain.
The next day, Yang Wendong attended the launch ceremony of a new ship. Thousands of workers gathered at the dock, cheering and celebrating the event.
Bai Yujie looked around and said, "Brother Dong, there really are a lot of workers here. No wonder you said shipbuilding can create so many jobs."
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Yang Wendong chuckled. "These guys only do assembly and welding. The real employment impact comes from the thousands of components that go into building a ship. It's a whole different scale compared to light industry in Hong Kong."
Changxing Industries had created plenty of jobs through its supplier network, but the ratio of direct to indirect employment was not that high. Maybe two or three jobs for every factory worker. In contrast, industries like shipbuilding, automobiles, and aviation could create more than ten times that number across the full supply chain.
If the entire industrial chain was located in one country, the resulting economic benefits would be astronomical.
"Mhm," Bai Yujie said with a smile. "If only Hong Kong could build ships."
"Don't count on it," Yang Wendong said. "Not going to happen."
Even Singapore, which had a small shipbuilding industry in the past, never achieved significant scale. For Hong Kong, it was even less feasible. But it could be developed into a shipping center and maintenance hub—that was a possibility.
By noon, the launch ceremony was over. Zheng Yuhua's team began formal negotiations with Keelung Shipyard and the local banking consortium. With Yang Wendong's authorization, a general agreement had already been reached. Now it was a matter of hammering out the final price and detailed conditions.
The Taiwanese side was clearly taking this very seriously. Several government officials made an effort to personally greet Yang Wendong. They hoped he would consider investing in other sectors in Taiwan as well.
And that made perfect sense. Around the world, it was already clear: strong industry meant strong economic output, higher living standards, better tax revenue, and social stability. Developing regions were always eager to attract foreign investment.
Yang Wendong was a seasoned businessman. He exchanged pleasantries but didn't make any promises—neither committing nor refusing. Everything would depend on future opportunities.
That afternoon, the group traveled by car to Taipei. Wei Zetao was already waiting there and took them to a vacant lot in the city's outskirts.
"Mr. Yang," Wei Zetao said, "this is the site Changxing Industries plans to acquire. It's 750,000 square feet, only 3.6 kilometers from the edge of downtown Taipei."
"750,000?" Yang Wendong laughed. "So it's 150,000 more than the original 600,000?"
"Yes," Wei Zetao nodded. "We negotiated with the Taiwanese government for quite a while. They finally agreed to relocate a nearby village to free up the land. But that's the maximum they'll allow. Any larger, and they insist we move farther out."
"Alright then. 750 it is," Yang Wendong said with a nod. "Has the price been finalized?"
In newly developing zones, land close to the core area was always far more valuable than plots on the edge. Once the economy started growing, central areas became saturated quickly. Land on the outskirts could still be acquired slowly over time.
Just like Central in Hong Kong—in the 1960s there might still be a few opportunities. But wait twenty more years, and no amount of money would get you a plot in the heart of the city.
"The price is still being negotiated, but the gap is narrowing," Wei Zetao said. "The only other issue is relocation of the village—it'll take some time."
"Alright. Just wrap it up as soon as possible," Yang Wendong said. He didn't ask for more details.
Once the final deal was done, he would review it. The interim process was being monitored by the head office. Independent audit firms would also verify the land valuation. This multi-layered oversight ensured accuracy and lightened Yang Wendong's own workload.
"Understood," Wei Zetao replied.
After inspecting the land, Yang Wendong headed into central Taipei. There, one of his upcoming commercial centers was under urgent renovation.
As he arrived, a familiar figure walked over with a smile. "Mr. Yang."
"Mr. Wang," Yang Wendong greeted warmly. "Since I'm already in Taiwan, I figured I'd stop by to see our first Carrefour supermarket."
The man was none other than Wang Yung-ching of Formosa Plastics.
A few months earlier, the two had agreed to jointly launch Carrefour supermarkets in Taiwan. The location they were standing at now would be the very first one.
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