The Tyrant Billionaire

"To be honest, I have great confidence in Hong Kong's geographic location and plan to build more factories here. The products produced could cover half of Asia. According to my plans, that amount of land is far from enough. You know, Governor, sometimes a large enterprise requires several thousand acres of land," Hardy said, exaggerating his intentions.

In reality, Hong Kong's geographic location was not ideal for industrial development—it lacked natural resources, and the cost of running industries there was high.

The reason Hong Kong emerged as an industrial hub for so long was largely due to the CCP's adherence to a Communist system, which caused them to fall behind for decades despite their significant advantages, such as abundant natural resources, vast land, and cheap labor.

Hardy's real goal was land hoarding.

At this time, the enthusiasm for land speculation wasn't high, primarily because Hong Kong's real estate industry had yet to develop fully. The real property boom wouldn't occur until the late 60s and 70s, so Grantham didn't realize that Hardy's land acquisitions were purely for hoarding.

Although much of Hong Kong's land was privately owned, a significant portion was still held by the government. Hardy hoped to acquire more of this land from Grantham.

"I can arrange that. I'll have the head of the Land Department get in touch with Victor. You can then look at any suitable plots," Grantham agreed.

Naturally, he would support any investment that promoted Hong Kong's development.

"There is one more thing. I want to build a new horse racing track and hope to collaborate with the Hong Kong Jockey Club," Hardy added.

"You want to run horse racing and gambling?" Grantham frowned slightly.

Currently, Hong Kong only had one racecourse at Happy Valley, which held several races annually. The present day horse racing events were quite different from what they would become in the future. The Hong Kong Jockey Club was primarily composed of Europeans and operated as a membership organization.

As for horse betting, it wasn't as developed as it would be later. There were only a few major lotteries, occasionally providing some entertainment. For now, horse betting was mainly restricted to the upper class, and the craze for betting on horses hadn't yet reached the general public.

Many Hong Kong films later included scenes of horse betting, which showed how deeply it had become ingrained in Hong Kong's culture. However, that transformation wouldn't occur until after the late 1970s, when races increased, and ordinary people were allowed to participate in horse betting. Continue reading stories on empire

Grantham knew that Hardy was not only a wealthy businessman but also a gambling tycoon who owned the largest casino in the United States.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Was he trying to extend his gambling empire to Hong Kong?

Both the British government and the Hong Kong authorities were cautious about gambling. They understood the harmful effects of gambling, which could lead many people to abandon honest work in pursuit of quick riches. They did not want such a situation to occur.

"I don't intend to involve gambling at the racecourse for the time being. I just want to build a new track to enjoy horse racing with my friends. Even if the track is completed, it will still follow the rules set by the Hong Kong government," Hardy said with a smile.

Governor Grantham finally let out a sigh of relief.

"That's no problem. I can represent the Hong Kong government and agree to Mr. Hardy's racetrack joining the Jockey Club," Grantham said.

Hardy expressed his thanks.

It didn't matter if they didn't agree now—the world was constantly changing let alone a Governor even President Johnson won't be relected again. Once the racetrack was built, he could gradually promote horse racing and develop the industry.

The welcome reception ended, and Hardy returned to his villa for the night.

The next day, Hardy, accompanied by Victor, inspected the situation at the Kowloon Tong Industrial Zone. The zone now had water, electricity, and roads, with dozens of factories established. Over ten factories had already begun production.

All the factories here were jointly operated by the Hardy Group and other partners, with the factory land also owned by the Hardy Group.

Thus, these factories had to pay an annual rent to Hardy's Hong Kong real estate company, though overall, the cost wasn't considered high.

Hardy did this mainly to keep the land in his own hands.

At the rubber shoe factory, the boss, Chen Xiangsheng, accompanied Hardy during the inspection, with Victor following behind. Chen Xiangsheng was extremely cautious and respectful. Although he was the boss here, he only owned 30% of the shares, while Hardy was the majority shareholder. In reality, Chen was just an employee.

Hardy picked up a pair of rubber shoes and examined them.

They weren't much different from the rubber shoes produced in later years.

These shoes were durable and cheap.

Not only were they used by the U.S army, but the general public also liked them very much.

In addition to these rubber shoes, the factory also produced thicker rubber soles, which were used for leather military boots. These hard rubber soles could be used to make cloth or leather boots suitable for winter wear.

However, the factory didn't make the entire shoe—only the hard rubber soles, which could be purchased separately by those who wanted to make their own boots.

The factory's machinery had been acquired from the U.S surplus military equipment sold by the logistics department. The entire set was brought in and operated as a joint venture. The factory could produce 1.2 million pairs of rubber shoes and 1 million sets of rubber soles annually.

"Are they selling well?" Hardy asked.

"They're selling very well. There's a huge demand here in Hong Kong, and we have started to sell to the Philippines, and Taiwan they have a huge demand for this quality boots. We can't keep up with the orders, so we're working overtime," Chen Xiangsheng quickly replied.

"And what about these hard rubber soles?"

"They're all pre-ordered."

"Do you have enough raw materials?" Hardy asked.

"We've stockpiled enough for half a year," Chen Xiangsheng responded.