<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="2" > preface</h1>
Photo| On July 6, 1981, Deng Xiaoping met with Bao Zhaolong and Bao Yugang at the Great Hall of the People
One day in 1978, Lu Xuzhang, then director of the National Tourism Administration, received a telegram.
The telegram was sent from Hong Kong by Huang Xiuying, the wife of the famous "World Ship King" Bao Yugang, in order to come back to see Lu Xuzhang's wife, who was a cousin. And Bao Yugang and Lu Xuzhang also have an aunt relationship, And Bao Yugang worked as a partner in the vast foreign firms founded by Lu Xuzhang in his early years.
Although it is only a family visit telegram, there is a deeper meaning behind it.
Visiting relatives is true, and so is "throwing stones and asking for directions."
In 1978, China was in a critical year of the reform trend, and the world-class ship king Bao Yugang also had the impulse to return to China for development, but he still had certain concerns about returning to China, so he came up with a plan to throw stones and ask for directions. Use the name of the lady to send a telegram to the country to see what kind of reaction the motherland has.
After receiving the telegram, Lu Xuzhang was well aware of the importance of this news, so he took the initiative to report it to the Central Committee, turned it around, and the telegram finally reached the hands of Deng Xiaoping:
"The king of the ship is coming back, good thing."
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="93" > the world's kings of ships starting from an old cargo ship</h1>
Bao Yugang was born in a small merchant family in Zhejiang, his father Bao Zhaolong himself started as a businessman, his requirements for his children have always been very strict, because the family conditions are not bad, several children have received a good education later.
Perhaps because of his rebellious personality since childhood, Bao Yugang did not enter the university after graduating from the Ship Major of Wusong Merchant Marine College, but ran to a bank in Shanghai as a small clerk, and gradually became the deputy general manager of the Bank of Shanghai from the staff.
Picture | Bao Yugang when he was young
Bao Yugang, who had already disobeyed his family's wishes, later resigned from the bank. In 1949, Bao Yugang followed his father and ran to Hong Kong with hundreds of thousands of dollars to do business.
Bao Yugang had this strong interest in the sea since childhood, so he took out his savings and wanted to run the sea.
The mother first objected, believing that the savings were all pressed into one boat and that the risk was too great.
His father, Bao Zhaolong, also objected, believing that Hong Kong's shipbuilding industry has matured and the competition is very fierce, and Pao Yugang has not done shipping before, has no experience, and how can he compete with people.
The persuasion of the family did not make Bao Yugang dispel his idea, but also stimulated his fighting spirit.
However, Bao Yugang did not rush to join the shipping industry, but worked hard to learn about shipping and ships, until the age of 37, he raised more than 700,000 US dollars with the help of his family and friends. He made a special trip to England to buy an old coal-burning cargo ship.
The ship has been in operation for 28 years, with a displacement of only 8,200 tons, but it is a treasure that not only repaints the ship, but also renovates it inside and out.
An old cargo ship will be the starting point for Pao's future career.
Unlike the big guys who operated the shipping industry at that time and adopted short-term leasing, Bao Yugang adopted a long-term leasing approach.
Short-term rental, is the charterer of each voyage, on the settlement of once, such a high fee, but also can be changed at any time, can be taken by Bao Yugang long-term rental method, is three or five years, or even up to ten years of rental, monthly settlement rent.
Although Bao Yugang took this approach, making less money and returning the cost slowly, it was undoubtedly a steady and steady way to fight.
Bao Yugang's motto in life is: "It is better to make less money than to take risks." ”
Pictured| Bao Yugang and his wife Huang Xiuying
Although the profit of the risk is growing exponentially, long-term operation is based on the fundamentals, from the beginning of being ridiculed, to the later people look up, Bao Yugang's step-by-step growth is amazing.
In 1974, the Greek ship king Aristotle Onassis visited Bao Yugang and praised him like this:
"Although I am earlier than you, compared to you, I am only a peanut rice."
In 1980, the total number of ships in Bao Yugang reached more than 200, and the total displacement reached more than 20 million tons, and the displacement of Bao Yugang ships reached 21 million tons the following year, which was larger than the total tonnage of the national fleets of the United States and the Soviet Union.
It is also under the influence of Bao Yugang that Hong Kong's shipbuilding industry is unusually developed, second only to the United States.
Bao Yugang did not only make a fortune at sea, but since the 1970s, he has also achieved great success by transferring funds to land, some people have said that Bao Yugang's wealth is staggering, and some people have said that he wants to buy a country.
Bao Yugang himself joked:
"I don't want to know exactly how much I have because I'm afraid my heart will stop beating because I'm overwhelmed."
After decades of separation from his hometown, Bao Yugang naturally wants to contribute to the construction of his hometown.
Figure | Bao Yugang
After Lu Xuzhang transferred Bao Yugang's telegram to the central authorities, it received great attention from Deng Xiaoping, and under the premise that the world is still full of doubts about China, Bao Yugang's arrival is bound to play a role in promoting.
Deng Xiaoping immediately instructed Liao Chengzhi, who was in charge of overseas Chinese affairs, to send a telegram to Bao Yugang: He warmly welcomed Bao Yugang and his wife back to the mainland.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="94" > "We Communists should talk about human feelings."</h1>
In October 1978, Bao Yugang and his wife returned to the motherland, and the changes in the country made Bao Yugang see in his eyes, especially after arriving in Beijing, a conversation with his aunt and cousin Lu Xuzhang made Bao Yugang believe that China will have great potential for development in the future.
Bao Yugang returned to China this time and met with Lu Xuzhang and Liao Chengzhi separately, but a regret was that he did not see Deng Xiaoping.
Originally, the two were ready to meet, but because Deng Xiaoping had a temporary affair, they could not meet.
In March 1980, at the invitation of the Six Machines Department, Bao Yugang returned to the motherland again to discuss cooperation in shipbuilding with the Six Machines Department. Pao not only initiated the establishment of the International United Ship Investment Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Hong Kong and the mainland, but also ordered six cargo ships from the Chinese mainland Shipyard, which played a positive role in the export of China's shipbuilding industry.
After meeting with Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying, Wang Zhen and other national leaders this time, Bao Yugang actively expressed his desire to support the country's tourism industry.
On March 21, Bao Yugang carefully wrote a letter to the central government, proposing to donate $10 million to build a modern tourist hotel:
"Beijing lacks tourist hotels, I came to contribute, I built a tourist hotel in Beijing, there is only one requirement: to commemorate my father." My father is more than 80 years old, and the hotel is named after my father, 'Zhaolong Hotel'. ”
Zhuang Yanlin, then deputy director of the China Tourism Administration, was very impressed by this. Zhuang Yanlin was in charge of foreign-related reception work at the Tourism Bureau and was very familiar with the reception environment in Beijing that year.
Bao Yu had just arrived in Beijing on the first night, and he was faced with the problem of not having a place to live. At that time, how many foreign-related hotels were there in Beijing, Zhuang Yanlin recalled: Quite limited six or seven foreign-related hotels, there are 5200 beds, and if they really meet the specifications, it is 1800.
Bao Yugang's daughter Bao Peiqing also said:
"We were going to the Beijing Hotel, because my father brought a family and his sister, and my sister's husband also took me, but at that time, the allocation of rooms was not enough."
At that time, Bao Yugang was arranged to live in the Beijing Hotel, and Bao Yugang, as the main guest, was naturally arranged to have a separate room, but the other entourage and all the relatives did not have such good treatment, and everyone would be with each other, and they would squeeze and squeeze together.
Probably because this incident left a profound impact on Bao Yugang, he proposed to donate money to build a star-rated hotel.
Photo | Zhaolong Hotel, Beijing
What Bao Yugang, who is far away in Hong Kong, could not imagine is that even if he wanted to donate this money, he had experienced many twists and turns.
Zhuang Yanlin said with emotion:
"We have always advocated self-reliance, no foreign debt and no domestic debt, no access to loans, if you donate, what do you mean, aren't you self-reliant?"
What zhuang Yanlin did not expect was that because of a small request put forward by Bao Yugang, it set off a voice of opposition in China.
At that time, China's thinking was not yet open, and the donation to a big capitalist was really difficult to accept, not to mention that the built hotel should be named after Bao Yugang's father.
Although Bao Yugang repeatedly said that as long as he agreed to the conditions, the check was sent immediately, and Lu Xuzhang, then director of the National Tourism Administration, sent a report to the State Council twice, although both times were approved, but at that time, no one dared to accept the check.
Zhuang Yanlin always believed that this was a good thing, especially Bao Yugang's great contribution to the country, and such conditions should be agreed, so Zhuang Yanlin responded to Liao Chengzhi, who was in charge of overseas Chinese affairs.
Liao Chengzhi was very excited, and he kept pacing back and forth in the room, and said with great emotion:
"There are overseas Chinese in all countries in the world, but if you think about it, the overseas Chinese of which country can leave the motherland like our overseas Chinese, take root and become rich in overseas generations or even generations, but what they think and miss in their hearts is still their hometown and motherland that are far away in the sky!" What they are concerned about and yearning for is still the construction and prosperity of their hometown and motherland! ”
In view of the importance of the matter, Liao Chengzhi suggested that Zhuang Yanlin write a report directly to Deng Xiaoping to reflect on the matter.
Figure |" World Ship King" Bao Yugang
After listening to Liao Chengzhi tell him what had happened, Deng Xiaoping also felt very indignant:
"People donate 10 million US dollars to build us a tourist hotel free of charge, which is a useful thing for our socialist construction. Ask for the name "ZhaoLong Hotel", why not? It is a good thing that people talk about filial piety and want to express their deep affection and gratitude to their fathers who gave themselves life and educated themselves to become adults, and we Communists should talk about human feelings, not to mention that people have contributed to us, and commemoration should be commemorated! ”
"Others are afraid of 'picking up' trouble, so I came forward to accept this donation."
Deng Xiaoping not only agreed, but also promised to write an inscription for the hotel, and asked the National Tourism Administration to choose the best place to build the hotel on the third ring road. Bao Yugang was also very happy when he heard about it, and immediately called and said, "Okay, I'll send the check right away." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="95" > friendship with Deng Xiaoping</h1>
For some reason, the signing of the grant ceremony was not held until a year later.
On July 3, 1981, Bao Zhaolong, Bao Yugang, and nine others arrived in Beijing by plane, and on July 6, Deng Xiaoping specially received Bao Zhaolong and Bao Yugang at the Fujian Hall of the Great Hall of the People.
"We should have met a long time ago."
As soon as they met, Deng Xiaoping quickly stepped forward, held their hands tightly, and said.
Bao Yugang introduced in detail his own career Deng Xiaoping listened very carefully, and the two had an in-depth discussion on the development of China's shipbuilding industry, and Deng Xiaoping was very happy: "Well, you help us get this matter up." ”
Pictured| Bao Yugang and Deng Xiaoping
The two unconsciously chatted for almost an hour, and when they were leaving, Deng Xiaoping tightly held Bao Yugang's hand and said, "We haven't seen each other in the past, but this time we have seen them." ”
Bao Yugang also said with great gratitude: "Yes, thank you, thank you Vice Chairman Deng for receiving him!" ”
Although this was the first time the two had met, Bao Yugang always had a feeling of seeing each other at first sight, and through this conversation, Bao Yugang also felt Deng Xiaoping's great talent for reform and opening up.
Bao Peiqing still remembers a detail, that is, Deng Xiaoping tightly held his grandfather's hand and said: You and I are the same, and the smoke cannot be separated from the mouth.
Bao Yugang himself does not smoke, and also the most opposed to smoking, the company has always not allowed anyone to smoke, Bao Peiqing said emotionally:
"There are only two people who can smoke in front of their father, one is Grandpa and the other is Deng Xiaoping."
At the ceremony of signing the donation, Deng Xiaoping personally came forward, took the check in Bao Yugang's hand, and said without apology:
"You must know that the efficiency of our work now is like this, it is so difficult to set a name and find a place, it has dragged on for more than a year. In the future, we must find ways to improve. ”
Pictured| Deng Xiaoping met with Bao Yugang in 1985
On September 5, 1983, Deng Xiaoping personally inscribed the name of the hotel "Zhaolong Hotel".
On October 25, 1985, Deng Xiaoping personally led more than a dozen national leaders to attend the opening ceremony of the Zhaolong Hotel.
In fact, Deng Xiaoping not only inscribed the "Zhaolong Hotel", but also personally inscribed the "Ningbo University" donated by Bao Yugang.
In early August 1984, Deng Xiaoping gave instructions in Beidaihe to "mobilize the 'Ningbo Gang' of the whole world to build Ningbo", and Bao Yugang, who was far away in Hong Kong, was very excited and immediately set off for his hometown of Ningbo, which had been separated for more than 30 years.
Ningbo is also one of the most important port cities on the southeast coast of China, and in 1984 Ningbo was listed as one of the 14 coastal open cities.
After returning to his hometown, Bao Yugang looked at the construction of his hometown and said affectionately:
"Ningbo is 10 times the size of Hong Kong, and its population is similar to that of Hong Kong, but it does not yet have a comprehensive university.
Bao Yugang decided on the spot to donate 50 million yuan to build a university for Ningbo.
On December 20, 1984, Deng Xiaoping received Bao Yugang in the Fujian Hall of the Great Hall of the People, and when he heard that he had donated money to build a university in Ningbo, Deng Xiaoping praised Bao Yugang: "You are really enthusiastic, good! Good! That's a good thing. ”
Bao Yugang made a request, hoping that Deng Xiaoping would write the name of Ningbo University, and Deng Xiaoping gladly agreed.
For the construction and development of the country, Bao Yugang has made considerable efforts.
In addition to the reform and opening up, in the early 1980s China also faced a severe test - the return of Hong Kong.
Pictured| Bao Yugang and Mrs. Thatcher
Britain has always taken a tough stance on the Hong Kong issue, while Pao Yugang has used his international influence to play a very positive role in The return of Hong Kong.
Bao Yugang actively conveyed china's attitude towards Hong Kong to Margaret Thatcher, and Bao Yugang's daughter Bao Peiqing had a profound influence on this. Although Bao Yugang conveyed the inconvenience of Deng Xiaoping's legal and social system to continue Hong Kong, Margaret Thatcher was not entirely convinced.
When he realized that Thatcher seemed to have an alternative prejudice against China, Bao Yugang took the initiative to invite Thatcher to China to personally see the achievements of reform and opening up.
Bao Yugang personally ordered a ship in the British shipyard, when the British shipbuilding industry was in decline, and Bao Yugang's behavior was tantamount to sending charcoal in the snow. During a meeting with Margaret Thatcher, Bao Yugang took the opportunity to offer that she attend the launching ceremony of the ship and a boat in Shanghai. Margaret Thatcher readily agreed.
In the autumn of 1982, after China and Britain concluded the first round of negotiations, Mrs. Thatcher rushed to Shanghai as promised, and after participating in the launching ceremony of the "Shiyi", Bao Yugang accompanied Mrs. Thatcher on a tour of Shanghai, witnessing the new look of the Chinese, which played a decisive role in the later Sino-British negotiations.
Pictured| Bao Yugang and Mrs. Thatcher
After the establishment of the Drafting Committee of the Hong Kong Basic Law, Bao Yugang served as the deputy director of the drafting committee and the convener of the advisory committee, according to Wu Weiyong, who is also a member, who said:
"In the past, the tripartite relationship between China, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom has been tortuous, and Bao Yugang has played a buffer and intermediary role, playing an influential role, and the role of a sentence often exceeds the opinions of ten people."
It was also because of this series of efforts that Deng Xiaoping and Bao Yugang formed a deep friendship
On April 21, 1986, Deng Xiaoping met with Bao Yugang at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and talked with him about the concept of "one country, two systems", which deeply touched Bao Yugang. Since the two first met in 1981, Bao Yugang has been going to Beijing every year, and they have met almost 15 times before and after. Mr. Pao was also the most frequently seen Hong Kong person Mr. Deng had ever met.
Bao Yugang greatly admired Deng Xiaoping's personality and political mind.
China has had this heartfelt love for land since ancient times, compared to it, the sea is really a bit strange and difficult to figure out, but Bao Yugang is different, he has torn a crack in the developed shipping industry in the West, and called it the best of it, with its own strength, Hong Kong's shipbuilding industry is very developed, becoming second only to the United States.
Bao Yugang is the deserved king of the world ships.
Photo | Bao Yugang attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Zhaolong Library of Shanghai Jiao Tong University
The reason why Bao Yugang can succeed, in addition to his tireless exploration and pursuit, is also closely related to his hard work, and Bao Yugang's enthusiasm for learning is an important factor for his success.
In 1991, Bao Yugang died at home due to illness at the age of 73, and his death caused a sensation in the world, representing the end of an era, and Deng Xiaoping, who heard the bad news, sent a telegram of condolences and deep condolences at the first time.