1928: The rise of giant merchants

"Boss Ye, please tell me!" Chen Ruide asked in a low voice as if grasping at straws.

8.16 million. When he took out that money, his career as a banker ended.

Ye Luo didn't really want to withdraw all the money at once.

If he offended Citibank, he would have no choice but to cooperate with HSBC. Domestic banks were unstable. After all, it was 1928, and the various major events that followed were enough to make his money depreciate more and more.

"I know your difficulties, President Chen, so I won't be so unkind." Ye Luo said with a smile, "I can not withdraw so much money at once, but I need Citibank to promise me something."

"Please tell me, Boss Ye. As long as I can decide something, I can promise you now. If it is something I can't decide, I will immediately send a telegram to the New York headquarters in the United States to seek their answer." Chen Ruide immediately replied, regardless of Ye Whatever Luo asked for, he would comply with it.

Anyway, losses are always losses to Citibank.

Keeping the black gauze hat on your head is a top priority.

Ye Luo raised three fingers: "I want Citibank to promise me three things."

"Please tell me."

"First, my money must be withdrawn and deposited at any time, and it will be nominally deposited at the New York headquarters instead of the Shanghai branch. No one other than me is allowed to view my account details."

"There is no precedent for this, but I can agree first. For a big customer like you, the funds must ensure global circulation." Chen Ruide knew his intention. Now many Chinese are also consulting on similar matters, just to pave the way for themselves. Way back.

"Second, I hope to cooperate with Citibank to establish a Ye's United Industrial Company, headquartered in New York, USA. It is a foreign-funded conglomerate, but the control is in my hands. Citibank only provides formal cooperation."

"This. I need to consult the headquarters for a reply." Chen Ruide was a little confused, but he roughly understood what Ye Luo meant, "But I think it won't be a big problem."

He wanted a Chinese business enterprise that could conduct free trade and business operations in the United States.

Nowadays, only the great powers set up foreign banks in China to make money, and there are basically no Chinese business enterprises exporting overseas. They want to imitate foreign banks and set up companies to do business. Many goods need to be imported from abroad and resold in China.

The problem is that the current tariffs are still controlled by the United Kingdom. The tax rate on the import of foreign goods is extremely low, and the tax rate on the export of domestic goods is extremely high, making it even more difficult for domestic products that are already in decline to survive. The rampant foreign goods have brought an improvement in the quality of life in China. For example, Shanghai Beach is like this, but it also curbs the development of all Chinese businessmen.

If the economic lifeline is controlled by foreign companies, the government will be ineffective.

To solve this problem, the first is tariff independence, and the second is the rise of domestic products.

If these two points can be achieved, then the Chinese businessmen who have eaten the first crab will seize food from countless foreign companies, and their size is incalculable.

But this is too difficult.

Policy, technology, connections, resources, funds, etc. are all indispensable.

Chen Ruide's first reaction was that Ye Luo wanted to use this Ye's United Industry to help the Jinling National Government import weapons and equipment from the United States at low prices!

Anyway, this has little to do with him. As long as he doesn't take away the 8.16 million yuan, which is just a leather company, he can still find a way to negotiate with the headquarters.

"Third, give me the status of Chinese Consul of the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai and the position of Chinese Director of the Ministry of Industry. President Chen should understand what I mean. What I want is not a temporary Chinese who is begging for mercy like Lu Yusheng and others in the Public Directors Bureau of the French Concession. The identity of Dong Consultant.”

"This. The president of the head office must come forward to negotiate with Minister Ma Murui and Consul General Gao Si. I can't decide." When Chen Ruide heard the third request, he realized that Ye Luo's fangs were finally exposed.

This is really a big opening for the lion!

There are Chinese directors in the Ministry of Industry and Industry Bureau, and Yu Qiaqing is one of them.

But in fact, their status is far inferior to that of the foreign directors, and their reputation outweighs their power in the Ministry of Industry and Industry Bureau. At most, they have some privileges in negotiating with the Chinese.

As for the US Consulate General in Shanghai adding a Chinese consul position, this sounds very weird. It is obviously an American institution in China, and it is full of Americans. Now a non-American Chinese is added, and he has to have real power.

That is tantamount to announcing to the world that Ye Luo is highly valued and favored by the United States.

The political significance of this aspect is far greater than the economic significance.

But the benefit is the most obvious of the three requirements.

As long as he has a position in the Ministry of Industry and the Consulate General, Ye Luo will truly become a tycoon who can keep pace with Yu Qiaqing and other Chinese bigwigs, and even surpass a few of them in fame, status and power in the concession.

This is undoubtedly a huge benefit to Yeluo's business.

Chen Ruide knew that Ye Luo didn't want to wait any longer, so he immediately called the bank's confidential secretary and asked him to apply to Citibank headquarters according to Ye Luo's wishes.

At the same time, Ye Luo's account at Citibank also completed the deposit of 8.16 million yuan, but the exchange was an exchange and the cash withdrawal was a cash withdrawal.

It is impossible for Ye Luo to spend all the 8.16 million yuan in a short period of time. As long as the money is still there, he will use it slowly and it will have little impact on Citibank. But if he withdraws it all at once, it will inevitably cause a terrifying bank run. .

"After deducting the loan I owe your bank, my account balance should still be more than 7 million yuan." Ye Luo smiled and picked up a brand new checkbook. Unknowingly, he became the most popular person in Shanghai. One of the rich people.

The Yongxing Company of the three tycoons has been operating in Shanghai for more than ten years. The annual net profit should be conservatively one or two million yuan. After more than ten years, Ye Luo would not be surprised to have assets of two to thirty million yuan.

But that is not liquid capital that is readily available.

However, my small amount of money pales in comparison to the US$20 billion raised by the four major families.

But the rise of giant businessmen has finally made a good start, which is worth celebrating.

As Chen Ruide escorted Ye Luo out of the bank, countless people's eyes were fixed on this Shanghai upstart, curious about what agreement he had reached with Chen Ruide in the president's office, but he actually left Citibank empty-handed.

Back in the car, Ding Li told Ye Luo that the matter he entrusted to George had been settled.

A group of dance teachers from the New York New Dance Company and senior ballroom management staff who came all the way from the United States have completed the long-term check-in procedures at the Ministry of Industry and Industry Bureau.

It is said that when they first came to Shanghai, they still had the arrogance and disdain of foreigners and felt that it was embarrassing to work for Chinese people. But who is little Aqiao?

She has been running Fengming House alone for six years, turning it into the largest and most famous brothel in Shanghai. Her skills as a manager have already been maxed out.

It didn't take long for Xiao Aqiao to manage this group of foreigners into obedience, and then together with Ivanova and her daughter, they began to choose the location of the first dance hall.

This group of dance teachers are all the best in the American dance industry, with strong teaching abilities and high professional quality. They first selected 50 with good qualifications from a bunch of Russian dancers and Yingying Yanyan from Fengming Tower. As a first-term trainee, training immediately started in Fengming Building.

On the other side, Lin Ruxian's negotiations with her nephew Zhang Shichuan also made a new breakthrough, and Ye Luo needed to go over in person to negotiate and confirm.