chsdbacks Chapter 551 The Five Great Families
Chapter 551 The Five Great Families
"So, the Xuanmen Association seized the opportunity presented by the Zhang family's misdeeds to cause trouble?"
After understanding, Fatty Lin asked.
"That's right!"
Liu Lingling nodded and said, "The Zhang family's old house has been placed under a Yin-Locking Formation by the association. The evil energy inside is very strong, so you need to be careful when dealing with it!"
"Sister Lingling, this matter isn't that simple, is it?" Fatty Lin asked after thinking for a moment.
"Xiaolin, which aspect are you referring to?" Liu Lingling asked.
"Sister Lingling, as far as I know, real estate companies always outsource their demolition business. Most of the companies that take on forced demolition work are triad companies!" Fatty Lin said meaningfully.
Lin Pangzi's meaning was simple: while the Zhang family might be rich and heartless, they could also have been set up.
In Hong Kong Island, real estate companies, regardless of size, generally outsource their demolition and relocation work to community companies.
Many organizations survive because of their financial backers, such as real estate companies.
Take Hong Taidi for example. He claims to have 100,000 underlings. How does he support so many underlings?
Selling flour, running casinos, and operating nightclubs—these businesses don't require that many people at all.
To put it another way, if you combine all three businesses, you can only manage a little over a thousand people at most. What about the rest?
construction site.
Speaking of which, this industry is the most lucrative.
In the 1950s and 60s, the real estate industry was underdeveloped and technology was not advanced; the only place that could support people was the dock.
Back then, every business had several affiliated organizations.
Back then, the gangs relied on the docks to support their members; to put it bluntly, they carried heavy loads and unloaded goods.
Later, with technological advancements, fewer workers were needed at the docks, and the real estate industry developed, becoming a reservoir for the criminal organizations.
The Chaozhou and Dongguan gangs have been working for merchant groups since the 1950s, and they still do the same thing now; it's just a change of name.
To put it another way, over 90% of the real estate companies, big and small, in Hong Kong support triads. The reason these triads can't be eradicated is mainly because they have these financial backers.
For example, the famous Yi An is backed by Li Gua, the richest man in the world.
The Li family's company almost entirely gave its demolition and relocation business to Yi An.
This is also why the Yee On triad is so powerful. With the Lee family, the number one family in Hong Kong, around, they get a lot of work and can support a lot of underlings, so their power naturally grows.
Returning to the present, generally speaking, real estate companies will offer a total package price when demolishing properties. After the community takes over, how much profit they can make depends on how much they can push the price down.
Of course, the triads won't go too far. If they go too far and cause a big fuss, not only will the real estate company behind them not let them off the hook, but the police won't let them off the hook either.
However, there's always a "but".
Some real estate companies will offer very low package prices for demolition and relocation. If the community groups responsible for the demolition do not want to lose money, they can only lower the price again. Under such circumstances, how can the local residents possibly agree to move away?
What should we do then?
They throw paint, throw excrement, issue death threats, and even worse, kill people outright.
If the real estate company retains a certain profit, the community groups responsible for demolition will not go too far.
Fatty Lin asked this because he wanted to know which category the Zhang family belonged to.
"The Zhang family has driven the outsourcing price down very low!"
Liu Lingling understood immediately and gave the answer directly.
"I understand now!"
Upon hearing this answer, Fatty Lin nodded.
Real estate developers drive down outsourcing prices so low that they force triads to commit heinous acts.
The Zhang family's actions were clearly not well-intentioned.
If the Zhang family had offered a normal package price, then very little of the crimes committed by the gang could have been attributed to them. But by offering such a low price, aren't you forcing the gang to commit evil?
In this way, the Zhang family will have to bear most of the blame for the crimes committed by the gang.
In other words, the Xuanmen Association was at most playing along with the plan, not actively plotting against them.
"Sister Lingling, please continue, which is the second one!" I said.
"The second place is the Lu family's old residence in Kowloon!" Liu Lingling said.
"The Lü family is a long-established and prominent textile family. In recent years, the Lü family's old residence has been plagued by numerous troubles, with many rumors of it being haunted!"
"What's the situation with the Lü family?" Fatty Lin asked.
"It's all his own doing!"
Liu Lingling said.
"How exactly did their family commit such terrible acts?"
I became interested and remembered the case of the textile tycoon Liang family that I had dealt with before.
That textile tycoon, Liang Jiabang, was a ruthless man. In order to continue his family's wealth, he used his own Xuanwu destiny as a basis to set up a deadly feng shui arrangement that used evil to nourish fortune and allowed his family members to avert misfortune.
The current infighting among the Liang family's descendants is all a scheme orchestrated by him, the head of the family.
"The Lui family was a leading textile family in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 60s. They made their fortune by manufacturing cotton yarn in cotton mills and producing foreign goods. They were backed by the military influence of John Bull," Liu Lingling said.
"Oh, a comprador, huh!" Fatty Lin said.
"How many of these prominent families on Hong Kong Island didn't start out as compradors?"
Liu Lingling gave a wry smile and said.
"That's true!"
Fatty Lin nodded and asked, "What did the Lü family do?"
"What did you do?"
Liu Lingling sighed and said, "In the 1960s, the Lü family won a large order for military supplies fabric from John Bull. In order to squeeze profits and rush to deliver the goods, the Lü family sealed off the factory and forced thousands of female workers to work day and night."
"Working non-stop?"
Upon hearing this, Fatty Lin interrupted.
"right!"
Liu Lingling nodded and said, "They only get three or four hours of rest a day at most, and no days off are allowed. Beatings and corporal punishment are commonplace. Not only that, even in winter, the female workers have to wash cotton yarn by hand in cold water!"
"It is said that dozens of female workers died from exhaustion because of this one big order."
In the end, Liu Lingling sighed again.
"This is really treating people like dirt!" Fatty Lin muttered.
"Putting that aside, after the person died, the Lü family buried him in the backyard of the factory. In order not to delay the construction period, they did not erect a tombstone, perform any rituals, or perform any rites to help the deceased's soul pass on. They continued to work after burying the body."
Liu Lingling continued.
"No one cares if we do this?" I find it a bit unbelievable.
"Who cares?"
Liu Lingling scoffed and said, "The 1950s and 60s were the darkest time for Hong Kong. Besides, the Lu family served John Bull's military; even if you sue them, it won't do any good!"
"Damn it!" Fatty Lin cursed.
"It's said—and this is just hearsay—that hundreds of female workers were buried in the factory's backyard!"
Liu Lingling continued.
"Damn it, the Lü family deserves to die!"
I couldn't hold back and started cursing too.
Regarding the Zhang family that Liu Lingling mentioned earlier, although I think the Zhang family brought this upon themselves, they have done many similar things. As the saying goes, no businessman is without guile, for example, that real estate tycoon surnamed Wang who is still missing, with no trace of him alive or dead.
It is said that the bigwig surnamed Wang was extremely stingy, and he was much more extravagant than the Zhang family.