Chapter 174: A Grand Blueprint!

For Du Yuanhang, the CEO of Fanghuan Shipping, Su Hao's words were sacred decrees, divine pronouncements!
If you criticize him for engaging in personality cults, like a cultist, it only shows you haven't witnessed the miracles Su Hao created.
Anyone who has personally experienced such a Midas touch will inevitably become his most devout follower.
Otherwise, do you think Fanghuan Investment's unwritten rule—
"Unconditionally execute any order from Director Su Hao!"
came from that?
"Oh dear, Mr. Du, sorry I'm a little late." Huang Fengwen rushed into Du Yuanhang's office.
"Chairman Huang, you're too kind. I have something to report, related to Singapore." Du Yuanhang quickly stood up.
"Hmm? Singapore?" Huang Fengwen was taken aback.
“You forgot? Those Singaporean banks mainly invest in shipping and marine engineering.
The problem is, didn't Fanghuan Shipping sweep up almost all the orders on the market recently?
As a result, other shipping companies couldn't even get a taste of the profits; their orders plummeted to zero.”
“Ah, I heard about that. They say your contracts are piling up like mountains.”
“Yes, so many that we can't handle them all, it's driving us crazy.” Du Yuanhang looked like he was in Versailles, utterly distressed.
“Logically, we should be immediately investing heavily to expand, but President Su told us to hold onto our money tightly and not spend it.”
“Su Hao said that? At such a critical time, he won't let you spend money?”
“Yes! I was completely baffled at the time… but now, I understand!”
Du Yuanhang's face lit up with sudden realization, even a hint of admiration.
"President Su... he's a genius! He saw the situation so early on! Everything was within his calculations!"
Huang Fengwen looked completely bewildered: "What are you talking about?"
"Because we snatched all the orders, a large number of international shipping companies are now on the verge of bankruptcy!
Especially those Asian shipping companies whose business overlaps with ours. They could have been barely surviving on bank loans...
But now, the Singaporean banks have pulled the rug out from under us, not only refusing to renew their loans but also starting a frenzied collection effort!"
"So sudden? That doesn't make sense. Aren't banks usually willing to extend loans?"
"They used to, but not anymore!
Because the Singaporean banks themselves are almost at their breaking point!
If they don't quickly collect their loans, they'll face a 'bank run,' and might even go bankrupt!"
Bank run!
Depositors rushing to banks in panic to withdraw their money is a fatal nightmare for any financial institution!
These four words made even seasoned veteran Huang Fengwen gasp.
Du Yuanhang lowered his voice and continued:
"Singaporean banks, while lending heavily to the shipping industry, typically establish contrarian positions in the oil futures market to hedge risks."
The futures market, for individuals, may be pure speculative gambling.
But for large financial institutions like banks, it's more of a risk management tool.
Oil, in fact, is the most commonly used hedging tool by Singaporean banks.
“They must have anticipated a continued decline in oil prices, so they placed massive short orders in the futures market in advance.
At the time, it seemed like a perfectly normal operation, since the whole world thought oil prices were going to collapse.”
“Then… with this surge in oil prices, didn’t they suffer huge losses?” Huang Fengwen’s eyes widened.
“Huge losses!
No one knows the exact amount lost, but what’s certain is that these banks acted in concert, and may even have used leverage…
The losses are absolutely astronomical!”
Now, Huang Fengwen completely understood why the bank run had occurred.
Singapore is a financial center; nothing there escapes anyone’s notice.
Once news of the banks’ massive losses spread, wouldn’t depositors go on a frenzy to withdraw their funds?
"The banks won't collapse, will they?"
"That would be a complete catastrophe.
If the banks collapse, it'll be a systemic financial storm!
The Singaporean government will do everything in its power to save them!
So right now, from the government to the banks, everyone's desperately trying to recoup their losses.
They're selling their bonds at rock-bottom prices;
They're relentlessly pushing for repayment of loans they've already made!"
And this creates a perfect domino effect of death.
“Then,” Du Yuanhang’s eyes gleamed with fervor,
“right at this critical juncture, President Su… he started a buying frenzy on the market, snapping up all the Jiangyang Shipbuilding bonds that banks were dumping at outrageously low ‘dirt cheap’ prices!”
“What? Aren’t those just worthless pieces of paper? The company is about to go bankrupt!”
“Yes, bonds from a company on the verge of bankruptcy are practically worthless.
That’s why they were so cheap, practically free! But, Chairman Huang, have you considered…
What if we ultimately acquired Jiangyang Shipbuilding?”
Huang Fengwen blinked rapidly, his mind racing, then he gasped:
“Then…then all those huge debts it owes would be wiped out at the price of worthless paper?”
“Yes! Why wouldn’t President Su let me spend the money? Why did he make me hoard that astronomical sum of cash? Do you understand now?”
Du Yuanhang slammed his hand on the table excitedly.
“Chairman Huang! President Su… he’s playing a game of chess that’s earth-shattering!
A magnificent blueprint is slowly unfolding before our eyes!”
“A blueprint?”
“Think about it, because of Fanghuan Shipping’s rise, the entire industry is littered with corpses. Countless companies are selling off their assets to pay off debts, and stock prices have plummeted like toilet paper.
And us? We have so many orders we can’t handle them all, and we’re worried about how to expand!
For us, isn’t this a tailor-made, super-bargain acquisition for ‘Double Eleven’?!
The entire industry is waiting for us to buy at rock-bottom prices! To acquire them!”
Previously, Fanghuan Shipping even had to subcontract the orders they couldn’t handle to other companies, paying handling fees.
But now, they can pick out the most valuable parts from these companies that have hit rock bottom and acquire them directly at the lowest cost!
By then, let alone fulfilling existing orders, even doubling them would be easy!
Hearing this, Huang Fengwen finally envisioned the magnificent "grand blueprint" Du Yuanhang had described!
"Wait… this, this was really a scheme Su Hao orchestrated from the very beginning?" Huang Fengwen's voice trembled.
"Who else could it be but him?!" Du Yuanhang's voice was filled with awe.
"I don't know when or where he started planning all this!
But I'm certain that everything is unfolding according to his script!"
However, there's a huge problem.
If they continue acquiring like this, the number of subsidiaries under Fanghuan Investment will explode, violating financial regulations—
A financial company cannot hold too many non-financial subsidiaries.
"So…" Du Yuanhang's gaze burned as he looked at Huang Fengwen.
"To complete this blueprint, we only have one choice—
Establish another holding company to incorporate Fanghuan Shipping and all future acquisitions…
In other words, we must establish—"
"Fanghuan Group!"
These four words exploded in Huang Fengwen's mind like a thunderbolt!
He suddenly remembered what Su Hao had told him before.
'What if I could find a reason why you can't leave?'
This kid, this "reason," could it be—
Du Yuanhang looked at the utterly shocked expression on Huang Fengwen's face and said, word by word, in an almost reverent tone:
"Chairman Huang, it seems that President Su… never intended for you to step down!
He's using the entire shipping market's mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood to weave a blood-red carpet for you to the throne!
To personally place you, 'Chairman of Fanghuan Investment'…
on the throne of 'Chairman of Fanghuan Group'!"