In the 1980s, Ningbo , who lived in Hong Kong for nearly 30 years, is the "World Ship King" Bao Yugang , with a patriotic heart, embarked on a journey back home to visit relatives.
At that time, everything in China was still developing. Bao Yugang was very happy when he saw the rapid development of the motherland, but he suddenly found that the capital Beijing did not even have a decent restaurant. In order to express his pure heart, He expressed his willingness to donate 20 million US dollars to the motherland to build a hotel and a library in Beijing.
Everyone was moved by Bao Yugang's sincerity and admired him.
Just when everyone was hesitating whether or not to accept the $20 million, Deng Xiaoping stood up and said: " I am afraid of the trouble of 'taking' the donation, so I came forward to accept this donation. "
What exactly is Yugang's request, and why no one dares to accept it?
Bao Yugang
Self-employment and going global
Bao Yugang was born in 1918 in Zhongbao Village, Zhuangshi Town, Zhenhai County, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. His father Bao Zhaolong runs his own business Paper factory, it can be said that Bao Yugang was born in an out-and-out businessman family since he was a child.
When he was young, he went to Hankou, Hubei alone, and followed his father to run a shoe and hat store called "Pinghe". While running, he insisted on attending night school and learning English. I just planned the limited time I can always plan just right,Doing business and learning is the right thing to do.
After graduating, Bao Yugang entered the insurance department of a foreign firm as an intern with his outstanding ability, and gradually became the backbone of its business.
These experiences provided rich experience for Bao Yugang to do business later.
In 1939, because of the Japanese invasion, Bao Yugang was forced to discontinue his university studies, entered a bank job, and quickly became a bank manager by virtue of his own abilities.
Bao Yugang at this time has a bright future. With his ability and talent, as long as he works hard for a few more years, he will definitely be able to become the president of the bank with a good income and long-term stable job .
But at this critical time, Bao Yugang gave up everything he had worked so hard for and chose to resign. Everyone was very puzzled by his approach, and some even said he was confused, but Bao Yugang was just He replied indifferently: " My interest has never been in banking, but in other areas. "
In this way, Bao Yugang gave up the bright future of banking and moved to Hong Kong with his father and his family.
When they first arrived in Hong Kong, Bao Yugang and his son had no wealth, so they partnered with others to open a "Xinlian Company", which mainly engaged in purchasing bean cakes, duck feathers, fertilizers, etc. from the mainland. And export to the outside, earn the difference in the middle.
But soon after, because the Chinese government began to implement the national export of native products, Baojia's business suffered a fatal blow. At the same time, due to the outbreak of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, Hong Kong's foreign trade was also severely suppressed. For a time, Bao's business was struggling.
At this time, Bao Zhaolong decided to manage real estate with the idea of "no land is not rich" of the older generation.
But Bao Yugang thinks,Real estate is a dead, conservative investment, too rigid, and he yearns for the shipping industry. He believes that shipping is a worldwide business, with flexible assets and a wide range of coverage, making it a good choice.
The father and son, together, immediately decided to develop into the shipping industry.
In 1955, Bao Yugang, who was 37 years old, could not afford to buy even an old boat with all his family properties. Start looking around for banks to start borrowing.
However, there were not many people in China who knew about shipping at that time, and Bao Yugang also encountered obstacles on the way of borrowing. Just when he was worried, a Japanese bank agreed to his loan request and did not ask him to find a Japanese company as a guarantee, which made Bao Yugang ecstatic.
Soon, Bao Yugang managed to scrape together $770,000 to buy an old British cargo ship, ask someone to repaint it, name it "Jinan", and sublet it to a Japanese company. officially put into operation.
Soon after, Bao Yugang's "Global Shipping Group Co., Ltd." was formally established, and under Bao Yugang's careful management, the shipping business began to develop slowly.
Once, a Japanese company was eager to use a boat, and Bao Yugang did not have a boat that met their requirements. At this time, he was already a little famous, and he found HSBC and wanted to borrow 1 million US dollars to buy a boat.
US$1 million is not a small amount. Sanders, the head of HSBC, was a little embarrassed: " loan is fine, but you need a letter of credit. "
Sanders thought that Bao Yugang's The ship has not been received, the contract has not been established, who can issue such a high letter of credit to him?
But Bao Yugang is not ambiguous at all,He immediately took his luggage and ran to Japan to find the company, and said to them, " I'm still a little short of the money to buy the boat, as long as you can trust me, give me the letter of credit, and I promise to deliver the boat to you within 3 days! ”
With good credit, Bao Yugang successfully obtained the letter of credit, bought the cargo ship with the loan of 1 million US dollars, successfully delivered the cargo ship within 3 days, and HSBC has established a long-term partnership.
With the support of HSBC, Bao Yugang's business was like a snowball, and Bao Yugang's status also rose, and he gradually became an associate director of HSBC.
At the same time, Bao Yugang's good credit made Japanese shipyards trust him more. Every time, Bao Yugang was asked to leave the ship first, and the remaining money would be paid slowly.
By 1980, under the careful management of Bao Yugang, the number of ships of "Universal Shipping Group Co., Ltd." actually reached more than 200, reaching the peak of "Universal Shipping".
Even the American "Newsweek" once called him "the king of the sea", and Bao Yugang became a veritable world ship king.
Make a fortune and do not forget to serve the country
After Bao Yugang started his career, he has never forgotten to return to the motherland.
In addition to the business world, Bao Yugang has the most contact with the political world.
When China's diplomatic career is struggling,Bao Yugang has been busy building a bridge of friendly communication between New China and foreign countries.
Especially after the new China's reform and opening up, Bao Yugang was more actively engaged in various undertakings in the new China.
After the political situation gradually stabilized, Bao Yugang, driven by his patriotism, wanted more and more to return to his hometown to visit relatives and see the development and changes of his hometown.
After thinking about it, he picked up a pen and wrote a letter and sent it to the relevant department in the mainland, expressing this idea. At that time, Deng Xiaoping and other important leaders of the Party Central Committee were working hard for the return of Hong Kong. Naturally, they would not refuse the request of compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao to return to their hometowns. What's more, Bao Yugang was a world-class ship king. Every move has attracted wider attention. If he can take the lead and set an example, it will also be very beneficial to promoting the return of Hong Kong.
Therefore, after receiving the letter from Bao Yugang, Deng Xiaoping immediately asked Liao Chengzhi, who was in charge of cross-strait reunification, to send a telegram to Bao Yugang in the name of the central government, inviting him to return to Zhejiang to visit relatives.
In November 1978, Bao Yugang finally got on the plane to return to his hometown. After Bao Yugang returned to Ningbo, he was very emotional about the rapid development of his hometown, especially when the neighbors in his hometown saw him. Come back with great enthusiasm.
Bao Yugang thought of how the people of the mainland were struggling to live when he was a child, and looking at the situation of reform and opening up today, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion for the wise leadership of Chairman Mao and other central leaders.
During the process of returning to his hometown to visit, Bao Yugang also visited the Tianyi Pavilion of the "No. With a surname, Bao Yugang found out that he was the 29th generation grandson of Bao Zheng.
The story of Bao Zheng's integrity as an official is well known.This made Bao Yugang very excited, and at the same time he had a stronger sense of national identity, and he was also extremely supportive of the ", one country, two systems " policy proposed by Deng Xiaoping.
After visiting his hometown, Bao Yugang was invited by his cousin Lu Xuzhang, who is also the director of the National Tourism Administration, to visit the capital, Beijing.
Lu Xuzhang
On the way, everything in the motherland made Bao Yugang feel refreshing. Deng Xiaoping, who was in charge of the work of the Central Committee at that time, met him personally in order to express his importance to his visit.
Although the meeting was not made public, the two who shared the same family and country feelings hit it off, clasped their hands tightly, and greeted each other.
The two sides had an in-depth conversation on the issue of cross-strait relations. Bao Yugang also deeply conveyed his strong vision for the reunification of the motherland. His patriotic enthusiasm was highly recognized by Deng Xiaoping.
At the same time, Deng Xiaoping also asked about the situation of the overseas " Ningbo Gang ". The Ningbo Gang is the largest commercial gang in China since modern times, with footprints all over the country. Most of the gangs are located in Ningbo Prefecture such as Cixi, Fenghua, Dinghai and other places People who do business in other places have a certain influence on China's economy.
Bao Yugang also answered Deng Xiaoping's questions one by one. Deng Xiaoping also talked to Bao Yugang about the basic national policy of reform and opening up. The conversation between the two also played a certain role in promoting the return of Hong Kong.
Deng Xiaoping and Bao Yugang
During his stay in Beijing, Bao Yugang was warmly received by people from all walks of life, but he soon discovered a problem, that is, Beijing is different from Hong Kong. There isn't even a restaurant with a name.This will be very passive when receiving foreign guests.
In order to better develop Beijing and express his patriotism, he decided to spend 20 million US dollars to build a hotel in Beijing and a library at Shanghai Jiaotong University .
This should have been a happy event, but Lu Xuzhang, who was in charge of it, was in trouble because Bao Yugang had a request that the restaurant should be named after his father.
This was unprecedented after the founding of New China, and for a while, Lu Xuzhang also began to hesitate.
Paying attention to filial piety, Duke Deng nodded in approval
In fact, Bao Yugang made this request without any other idea, just out of his own filial piety.
Bao Yugang has been a family-oriented person since he was a child, and is very filial to his parents. What Bao Yugang disliked the most in his life was playing cards and playing mahjong, but his mother Chen Saiqin often used it as a pastime, and often played mahjong with friends until midnight.
Yugang Bao and his daughter
Yugang Bao never said much about this, just that the children were not allowed to watch. Bao Yugang respects and loves his father more than his mother.
When Bao Yugang decided to devote himself to the shipping business, the biggest obstacle that Bao Yugang encountered was the opposition of his father Bao Zhaolong. Successfully obtained the nod of approval from his father.
Until his father nodded, Bao Yu just bought the first boat in his life, which is Bao Yugang's respect for his father.
The family style of Bao's family is always frugal. Bao Yugang's father Bao Zhaolong left a will before his death: after his death, he will leave his clothes to future generations as a souvenir.
It is precisely because of these words that Bao Zhaolong has always cherished a piece of clothes left by his father whose cuffs had been worn away. identity.
After Bao Zhaolong passed away, Bao Yugang was so grieved that he put a life-size photo of his father in the office. When he walked into the office every day, he would first say hello to his father, and then Start the day at work.
Bao Zhaolong
In order to show respect to his father, Bao Yugang even gave his father Bao Zhaolong the title of honorary chairman of Universal Shipping Group Co., Ltd.
Bao Yugang's emphasis on family has also continued to his descendants and the company's employees. Every time the company has a dinner, Bao Yugang asks company employees to bring their family members to participate.
Bao Yugang's strong sense of responsibility makes Bao Yugang always uphold the belief of his country and his family. Therefore, when he returns to his hometown to visit, he wants to donate a hotel and a library to New China.
Lu Xuzhang did not dare to make a decision without authorization, so he turned his head to ask Deng Xiaoping for instructions. Deng Xiaoping did not care about Bao Yugang's identity as a "capitalist", but was moved by his sincerity and filial piety, so he simply said: " Since other people are afraid of 'taking' trouble, I will personally accept this donation! ”
Later, Zhaolong Hotel and Bao Zhaolong Library were completed in Beijing one after another, making Bao Yugang disappear. What came to mind was that Deng Xiaoping also personally attended the opening ceremony of the Zhaolong Hotel, which moved Bao Yugang very much.
later,Under the leadership of Bao Yugang, the "Ningbo Gang" made great contributions to the return of Hong Kong, and also promoted the economic development of New China.
In 1984, Bao Yugang donated 50 million yuan again to create a comprehensive Ningbo University . When Deng Xiaoping learned about this, he happily praised one after another: " is good! This is a good thing, Mr. Bao is really a kind person. "
Since the two first met, Bao Yugang went to Beijing almost every year, and was received by Deng Xiaoping 9 times, becoming the person who received the most by Deng Xiaoping among the compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and overseas Chinese.
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