1928: The rise of giant merchants

September 21, the seventeenth year of the Republic of China (1928).

The murder of tram driver Wu Tonggen by French soldiers quickly escalated. Many witnesses braved the heavy rain and spontaneously came to the door of the Consulate General in the French Concession to protest with banners, denouncing the murderer and demanding severe punishment.

Early in the morning, "Shenbao" reported the matter with a headline. For a time, the crowd was agitated and public opinion was everywhere. Chinese employees of the French tram company and the water company also gathered together and came to the gate of the public administration bureau to demand that the murderer be severely punished. French soldiers and apologized for compensation.

Seeing that the crowd was getting bigger and the impact of the incident was getting worse, the patrol officers in the patrol room could no longer sit still and took action to suppress the protesting workers.

Han Qing set out from Huo Mansion early in the morning and arrived at the French Consulate General in Shanghai in the French Concession. After revealing his identity, Verdi immediately received him.

The two sat down, and Fan Juli started translating.

Han Qing brought the union's complaint, as well as his own opinions and demands.

"I hope the consul general can meet our demands." He said bluntly.

Fan Erdi smiled and nodded: "Please tell me."

"First, many trade unions in Shanghai have issued a declaration, severely condemning the bloody crime, demanding severe punishment for the murderer and compensation for the victim, Mr. Wu Tonggen; second, the official has lodged a serious protest with the French Consulate General in Shanghai, demanding an apology from the families of the victims. , I hope the Consul General can arrange for someone to publish an apology article in the newspaper; thirdly, the matter needs to be handed over to the Municipal Government’s Military and Political Department and cannot be adjudicated in the Consular Court.”

He looked serious, and after he finished speaking, he asked Fan Juli to translate one sentence after another for Fan Erdi.

After hearing this, Fan Erdi nodded and smiled: "I have understood your demands and I will handle the matter properly. You don't have to worry. The sailor responsible for the incident has been detained!"

After getting the answer, he left satisfied.

After seeing the person leave, Fan Erdi threw the complaint aside and asked Fan Juli with a smile: "Li, how is our stock account in the United States?"

"Following the second young master's instructions, we have invested 800,000 US dollars in those stocks, and the expected return rate will be more than 50%." Fan Juli forced a smile. Seeing that he was not paying attention to the murder of the tram driver at all, she felt that After a while, he asked tentatively, "Veldi, how do you plan to handle this case?"

"What case?" Verdi was still reading the paper written by Ye Luo, thinking about how to make money from the U.S. stock market in the near future. "Oh, you were talking about the one just now. I will repatriate the sailors who caused the accident. As for the National Government, there are Let’s meet with diplomats to negotiate and deal with it. It’s not a big problem, it’s just a trivial matter.”

Fan Juli's heart continued to sink. She knew that Fan Erdi didn't care at all about the killing of Chinese people, but it was a living human life!

In this way, he was drunkenly killed by foreigners.

The murderer is still able to get away with it and not get the punishment he deserves!

This reminded Fan Juli of the time when she was targeted by Edward.

If her father hadn't asked the second young master for help, perhaps her current fate would not be much better than Wu Tonggen's.

By the way, Second Young Master!

Fan Juli's eyes lit up and she had a solution.

After Han Qing returned to Huo Mansion, she told Yu Fengzhi about the incident after her condition improved. She was filled with indignation, lamented the rampant foreigners, and was proud of her husband's righteous speech.

After the matter came to an end, he, along with Lu Yusheng and others, took advantage of the dwindling rain to go to the rebuilt and brand new Dahua Hotel, now the Paramount Ballroom.

Seeing the magnificent Western-style building, he was in a good mood and asked for some details. However, when Lu Yusheng said that Paramount did not have dancers and that guests needed to bring their own dance partners, he suddenly felt extremely disappointed.

This time he came to Shanghai with his wife, and both of them were very curious about Paramount. Especially when he heard that there were many foreign dancers on the beach in Shanghai, his heart started to move.

But Paramount had to bring his own dance partner, so he could only dance with his wife.

After leaving Paramount, he bid farewell to Lu Yusheng and others and came to Ye's World alone, preparing to experience the style of the No. 1 club in the Far East built by Ye Luo.

This time he played until the evening, then left Ye's World with unfinished content and took the car back to Huo Mansion.

Ye's big world gave him excellent senses. He decided to take Feng Zhi to play with her after she recovered from her illness and experience all kinds of interesting things.

When he returned to the room, he saw that Yu Fengzhi was already leaning on the bed, his expression improved a lot. He smiled and was about to talk about Ye's big world, but was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

"Sixth Commander, it's me." The guard's voice came.

"come in."

A young guard in military uniform walked into the room, closed the door, and told the French Consulate General in Shanghai that the French Consulate General in Shanghai was preparing to secretly transfer the murderous soldiers.

"That's unreasonable! Is he trying to deal with me?" Han Qing slapped the case, furious.

He originally thought that if he went to the French Consulate General in Shanghai in person, the other party would at least sell him a piece of cake. Unexpectedly, the other party did not even cover up, but just perfunctory the matter. While agreeing to his request, he arranged for the murderer to leave Shanghai without authorization!

"Call Lu Yusheng over. I have something to tell him." His face turned pale and he asked the guard to call Lu Yusheng.

When Lu Yusheng heard Han Qing summon him, he immediately ran over.

As soon as he walked in, he saw his dark face and thought there was some lack of hospitality. He quickly asked with a smile: "What's going on? Are you two uncomfortable in the room or the food is not to your liking? I'll ask someone to go there immediately." rearrange?"

"It's not these little things." He waved his hand, "Boss Lu, did you hear about the murder of the tram driver last night?"

"I've heard a little bit." Lu Yusheng nodded.

He then told the story about how he went to the Consulate General and was treated perfunctorily.

"Your Yongxing Company is deeply rooted in the French Concession, and you must have a good relationship with the French people. Can you handle this matter?"

Lu Yusheng raised his eyebrows. He thought it was someone on his side who made a mistake. It turned out that he wanted to avenge the Chinese who died tragically.

He had already heard Zhang Wanlin say this.

Not only did they hear about it, but they also arranged for members of the Youth Gang to assist the police station and the consulate in handling workers' protests and disputes.

As Ye Luo said.

These French Concession tycoons rely entirely on the care and assistance of the Consulate General to do business.

Who would be crazy enough to argue with Verdi over the accidental death of a mere tram driver?

Isn’t this cutting off one’s means of making money?

Lu Yusheng was unmoved. After all, more things were better than less things, and he had a special relationship with the French Consulate. He gave the French Consul General a share of 300,000 yuan every month. He really didn't want to get involved in this matter.

After thinking again and again, he smiled and said to Han Qing: "I have heard that the city government will negotiate on this matter. The situation in Shanghai is more complicated now, not compared to the warlord era. We ordinary businessmen are involved in such diplomatic disputes without authorization. , it is easy to cause dissatisfaction with the National Government. My eldest brother has repeatedly warned me not to act rashly. I am afraid I will not be able to meet your requirements."

Lu Yusheng said it tactfully, but the underlying meaning was quite obvious.

Yongxing Company did not want to have a complete falling out with the Consulate General, with whom they had been friends for a long time, just for the life of a mere tram driver.

He also understood their difficulties, but thinking about what Ye Luo said at Bai Mansion last night, he felt very unhappy.

Now looking at Lu Yusheng and others, he felt more and more that these guys were far from what he had imagined. His expectations for Lu Yusheng and others turned into disappointment.

Unexpectedly, the famous third boss of Yongxing Company was just a deceitful guy who bullied the weak and feared the strong. He did not dare to reason with the French and argued with reason.

"Is this just over?" The more he thought about it, the more unhappy he became, and the angrier he felt, so he dialed Ye Luo's phone number by accident.

Ye Mansion.

Ye Luo had just returned from the Black Cat Dance Hall. In order to expand the business and resources on the opening day of the dance hall, he personally sent a batch of dance tickets to some prominent figures in Shanghai.

After choosing the Paris Hotel as the address of the dance hall, because the Ningbo Business Association was nearby, he also specially gave some dance tickets to those Ningbo businessmen, asking them to mobilize the surrounding Chinese businessmen to take care of the business of the Black Cat Dance Hall.

He had just arrived home and was sitting on the sofa, listening to the mahjong playing by the foursome all day and night. He called Xiaoli to bring him an ice-cold soda. Before he could take a sip, he saw the butler Fu Bo hurried over and said A young lady named "Fan Juli" came to visit the second young master.

Hearing that it was Fan Juli, and thinking of this morning's "Declaration" headlines and the commotion in the French Concession, Ye Luo probably knew that the case of the tram driver continued to ferment.

Obviously Fan Erdi didn't care about this matter, and everything was going in line with his expectations and judgment last night. Now Fan Juli came to visit, and it seemed that the situation was getting out of control, and Sixth Brother's theory of coming to the door did not earn him any face.

"Bring her to the study room quickly." Ye Luo stood up, took an ice-cold soda, and came to the mahjong table, "Oh, mom, you've lost all your cards, and you still don't push them down? Don't save face for these sisters. .”

"Baby, give up your seat to Xiaoli and come with me." Ye Luo gently patted Xiao Aqiao's butt and motioned for her to follow him to the second floor.

Xiao Aqian glanced at him angrily, and seeing that no one else saw his little move, he breathed a sigh of relief, twisted his waist and stood up, waving to Xiaoli: "Xiaoli, I put the money here, you can take care of it." I’ll do a few laps.”

"Yes, Second Young Mistress~" Xiaoli was also eager for mahjong and immediately ran over with a smile.

Hearing her call her the Second Young Mistress, little Ah Qiao was happy and surprised. She glared at her and said with a smile, "Little Hoof, next time you call me that, I'll tear your mouth apart."

"Haha, is there a time when my sister-in-law is shy? Oh, mom, it doesn't matter if you are playing tricks, you are not fooling yourself. Now my second brother said that you pushed me down. I don't admit it." Ye Qingqing took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters, pushed her own card, and mixed it into the pile of cards, "Xiaoli is here just in time, let's start a new round!"

Listening to the noise below, Ye Luo chuckled and pulled Xiao A quietly into the study.

Little Ah Qiao thought that he suddenly had a sexual desire and wanted to do things here. She was ashamed and annoyed. Before she could say anything, she heard a knock on the door. It turned out that it was Uncle Fu who came in with Fan Juli.

"Juli, why are you here?" Xiao Aqian was overjoyed. She looked at Ye Luo again and found that he was looking at her with a smirk and his cheeks were slightly red. Knowing that he might have misunderstood, he gave him a gentle blow with his fist. Talk again.

"Second Young Master, this morning." Fan Juli spoke concisely and comprehensively, telling what happened when Han Qing came to the consulate in the morning, but Fan Erdi was perfunctory throughout the whole process.

As a Chinese and a passionate young man, she really couldn't bear to have this matter just ignored.

Now the top officials on both sides are not willing to take care of this matter. It is estimated that in the end, they will wait for the soldiers to be sent back to the country, and then the patrol room will come out to appease the families of the victims, and just pay some money and be done with it.

"How dare foreigners be so lawless!" Xiao Aqiao hugged her shoulders and looked very ugly.

Last time Fan Juli was almost raped by Edward, but it was Ye Luo who came to the rescue and was introduced to work at the Consulate General by little Aqiao.

The former Consul General Mérieux had a very good relationship with Yelo, and he invited Yelo to his resignation ball before leaving office. The current Consul General Verdy is Yelo's fan and respects him quite a bit.

Nowadays, the structure of the French Concession has changed, and the smooth opening of the Black Cat Ballroom cannot be separated from Verdy's help.

All this made Xiao Aqiao think that with Ye Luo's presence, even these foreigners with high eyesight could still communicate with her like normal people.

It wasn't until this incident came out that Xiao Aqiao woke up.

Foreigners are foreigners and nothing has changed.

They are wolfish and ambitious, and dogs can’t change their ways of eating shit!

No wonder Ye Luo keeps reminding her not to have high expectations for foreigners.

Including Fan Erdi and others, they are now very polite to Xiao Aqiao and take good care of the people of Ye's Dance Company. They even pay better than Yongxing Company. This is for Ye Luo's sake, not for Ye Luo's sake. Because she is little Aqiao.

To put it harshly, there is no more Ye Luo.

Everything will be as it was.

In the French Concession, her little Ah Qiao might have been just like Fan Juli back then, just a plaything in the eyes of foreigners.

"Second Young Master, I know that only your intervention can make Fan Erdi change his mind. I have asked specifically about this matter. Driver Wu Tonggen also has a wife and nine young children at home. He would rather offend foreigners than violate the tram company's The rules and regulations are just for fear of losing their jobs and leaving a family of eleven without food!" Fan Juli sighed and looked at Ye Luo.

She was very much looking forward to Ye Luo taking action, but she was also very afraid that Ye Luo would be like those tycoons in the French Concession and care about matters that had nothing to do with them.

Xiao A secretly glanced at Ye Luo.

Selfishly, she hoped that Ye Luo would take action and seek justice for the poor deceased.

But she also didn't want Ye Luo to have a bad relationship with Fe Erdi, which would affect their business and future.

At this point, she realized how difficult it was for Ye Luo to socialize with many people as a Chinese businessman.

The reputation of the Second Young Master was achieved by his step-by-step approach and punch-by-punch punch!

"Don't worry, Juli, since you asked me for this matter, no matter how difficult it is, I will take care of it." Ye Luo looked at her with a smile and comforted her, "Don't worry, just wait for my news."

"That's great, thank you, Second Young Master!" Fan Juli bowed ninety degrees to express her gratitude.

Little Ah Qiao on the side also let out a long sigh of relief.

At this moment, a call came from Huo Mansion. Hearing the familiar accent, Ye Luo smiled.

"Brother Six, don't worry, I, Ye Luo, will take care of this matter!"