1928: The rise of giant merchants

September 22, the seventeenth year of the Republic of China (1928).

The fact that tram driver Wu Tonggen was tortured and murdered by French soldiers has spread all over Shanghai. The rainstorm has stopped, but Chinese employees of the French tram company and water company still gathered in front of the French Consulate General in Shanghai to seek an explanation for the case.

At this point, Yongxing Company and other tycoon forces and the patrol office no longer dare to continue to blatantly suppress workers' strikes.

Because this matter had been passed to the French Ambassador to China in Peiping through unknown channels, at this time a group of high-level politicians were negotiating with Wang Zhengting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Jinling National Government, on core issues such as tariff autonomy. When this matter caused a stir, France The situation immediately became extremely passive.

Verdy, the French Consul General in Shanghai, is now having a headache. From last night to noon today, he has received more than a dozen calls from the embassy, ​​as well as hundreds of telegrams from all over the world!

Not only were important political figures paying close attention to the matter and demanding that he handle it immediately, but even the legal businessmen also complained that Verdi's cover-up of the soldiers responsible for the incident had caused their business in China to be strongly resisted like that of Japanese businessmen.

The businessmen urged the consulate to solve the problem, but the consulate could only negotiate with the city government, hoping that Zhang Dingyao and others could come forward to quell public anger.

But Zhang Dingyao and the others are not fools. No one is willing to do such a hated job. The blame has been pushed all the way to Bai Xiongqi. As the Minister of Military and Political Affairs, he suffered an unreasonable disaster and immediately called Ye Mansion, hoping that Ye Luo would take action to settle the matter. .

In desperation, Fan Erdi had no choice but to follow Fan Juli's suggestion and secretly invited Ye Luo to come to the consulate to discuss countermeasures.

While he was waiting anxiously, Fan Juli suddenly knocked on the door and walked into the office. She said with a happy face: "Consul General, the second young master is here!"

Verdi was dejected and nodded slightly: "Please invite him in quickly."

The office door soon opened again, and Ye Luo walked in with little A Qiao. After greeting Fan Erdi and Fan Juli, he sat down with a smile and asked, "The Consul General seems to be very troubled by this matter?"

"Yes, Ye, to tell you the truth, this matter is in trouble now." Verdi thought he didn't know that the French Embassy and Paris Headquarters were exerting pressure, and said in a low voice, "Both the Embassy and Paris Headquarters are paying close attention. I guess it’s not that easy to solve.”

"If you don't handle it well, things will become more troublesome." Ye Luo put away his smile and looked at him seriously, "Fan Erdi, since the Wusa murder case last year, the Chinese have turned against the British and against the Japanese, but they have not turned against the French. The relationship between the French and the Chinese is not bad, but as soon as this incident came out, the Chinese began to hate you French people as much as they hated the Japanese invaders. Moreover, according to Qi, this case has already affected the Sino-French negotiations in Peiping. If the problem is not dealt with in time, the matter will get bigger and bigger, and it may not be able to end in the end.”

"Ye, the problem is that this matter is not easy to deal with!" Verdi spread his hands helplessly, "You also know. According to French law, drunk people who commit crimes should have their sentences reduced. Now I have sent people to arrest the sailor who caused the accident. , will soon be transferred to the Concession Court for trial, and all five of them will receive the punishment they deserve, but this is under our control and cannot be left to you to handle."

Ye Luo raised his eyebrows and looked at him with a smile: "Verdi, since you invited me here to negotiate, it would be pointless to engage in Tai Chi with me. If the matter hadn't become a big deal, you still wanted to secretly send the soldiers responsible back to the country. Such a solution This method cannot satisfy the thousands of Chinese workers in the French Concession. Since you want them to restart work, you should show enough sincerity."

"Ye, how could I let someone secretly send the murderer back to the country?" Fanerdi refused to admit it, shook his head hypocritically, and pretended to care about the Chinese people. "This is not in line with the rules and regulations at all."

"Baby, let the Consul General take a look at the evidence in our hands." Ye Luo smiled and asked Xiao Aqiao to directly record the recent whereabouts of the soldiers responsible for the incident. At this time, the location, and the Consulate General were preparing to pass the secrets of the Ship Investment Promotion Bureau. All the evidence documents that sent the five people to leave Shanghai were taken out and placed in front of the two of them.

Seeing this pile of solid evidence, Fan Erdi finally understood that his attempt to ask Ye Luo to help solve the problem was ruined.

He wanted to please the embassy, ​​the Paris headquarters and the troubled Chinese workers at the same time, and he also hoped that the soldiers who caused the trouble would be given a lighter sentence.

Now it seems that Ye Luo has no intention of helping others.

Fan Erdi looked embarrassed and could only smile and said: "Then what do you think we should do?"

"Please agree to these five requirements of the French Concession Chinese Federation of Trade Unions: First, formally apologize to the family of the deceased and publish it in the newspaper to show your sincerity; second, guarantee that this kind of thing will not happen again in the future; third, provide preferential compensation to the deceased Fourth, ban the foreign bars in the French Concession; fifth, ban the brothels in the French Concession that are only accessible to foreign soldiers."

Ye Luo stretched out his right hand, spread his fingers, and spoke one after another.

Verdi frowned, a little unhappy.

This condition is even more extreme than what Han Qing proposed when he came to him that day!

"Ye, these five must be fulfilled before you are willing to help me coordinate the workers' strike?" Fan Erdi asked tentatively, "I can consider agreeing to one, two, and three, but what do four, five, and two mean? Is this case also related to the bars and brothels we opened in the French Concession?”

"Of course it's relevant." Ye Luo asked Xiao Aqiao to present the investigated evidence again, "That night, your five soldiers got very drunk in a bar opened by the French, and then they went to a bar for French soldiers. They went to the brothel where they were having fun and made a lot of noise. After having enough trouble, they got drunk, so they stopped Wu Tonggen's tram, pretended to be crazy with wine, and killed him. Verdi, if you don't get rid of the two evils of the bar and the brothel, , how can you guarantee the Chinese Federation of Trade Unions in the French Concession that French soldiers will never cause trouble or kill anyone again?"

The last two items were actually the remuneration demanded by the Federation of Trade Unions after they followed Xiao Aqiao's arrangements and incited Chinese workers to go on strike to put pressure on the Consulate General.

The brothel and bar business in the French Concession has been monopolized by foreign businessmen. The Chinese tycoons in the gray industry have been coveting it for a long time, but they have never been able to find a suitable reason to break the situation.

As soon as the murder case came out, Ye Luo asked Xiao Aqiao to immediately find Feng Jingyao, who had the most reputation in the French Concession besides Yongxing Company, and asked him to come forward to negotiate with the French Concession Chinese Federation of Trade Unions, and then invite the president and the tram and tap water companies. The company negotiated with a large number of Chinese workers, so that they united and went on strike in front of the Consulate General.

The combination of the strike wave and the investigation document placed on the French ambassador's desk allowed Yelo to sit here and negotiate with Verdy and take the initiative.

Ye Luo's design and arrangement were perfect, one link within another. Verdi checked the documents for a long time, but couldn't find a way to break the situation, so he had to obey.

After all, it is better to offend legal businessmen than to offend ambassadors and ministers.

The former is only related to his wallet, but the latter is closely related to the black gauze hat on his head.

"Okay, I agree to these five requests. Then when can you ask the Chinese workers to calm down the strike wave." Verdi gritted his teeth and finally gave in.

"As soon as the apology article was published in the newspaper, and an official document was posted on the bulletin board outside the Consulate General explaining the incident clearly, and then the compensation was paid, I went to negotiate with the Chinese workers." Ye Luo looked at him with a smile, "Don't worry, Fe Erdi. Within a day I will definitely help you solve these problems."

"Okay, Fan, you immediately arrange for a specialist to contact reporters from Shenbao and Xinwen, and then have someone write an official document and post it on the bulletin board outside the consulate." After hearing what he said, Verdi suddenly became energetic. He sat up straight and said, "As for the five soldiers who caused the accident, I will send someone to hand them over to the patrol room, and then transfer them to the military and political department of your city government through the patrol room. Is this okay?"

"Well, I will talk to Minister Bai." Ye Luo nodded, and then asked, "How much compensation is the Consulate General prepared to pay?"

"One thousand oceans." Verdi blurted out.

According to the current salary level in Shanghai, an ordinary two-income family can earn about NT$500 a year.

1,000 oceans is equivalent to two people's salary for two years.

If in later generations, an ordinary working-class family would have an annual income of about 150,000 yuan, which would be 300,000 yuan in two years, which means that Verdi was only willing to compensate 300,000 yuan for this life.

Really stingy.

Ye Luo sneered: "Okay. But I heard that Wu Tonggen had a wife and nine sons, and there are ten surviving relatives. 1,000 oceans is probably not enough for them to maintain their lives. Since the Consulate General is only willing to compensate 1,000 oceans, then My Ye's Charitable Foundation will give another 9,000 yuan, so I can make up to 10,000 yuan."

"Then I'll ask the tram company and the water company to each pay 1,000 oceans in compensation." Verdi heard his sarcasm, his cheeks were slightly red, and he said nervously.

"It would be better if they are willing. I will first pay the money to Wu Tonggen's wife Wu Zhang for you. I don't think you will rely on me for thousands of dollars, right?"

Ye Luo laughed loudly and stood up to leave.

"Of course not!" Verdi waved his hand quickly and stood up to see him off. "I have to trouble you to negotiate with the Federation of Trade Unions immediately about the strike wave. I can wait, but Paris and Peking can't wait."

"Well, I'll talk about it in a moment." Ye Luo nodded slightly, walked to the door with him, and let out a sigh of relief.

After this incident, his second young master's reputation will be completely established in the French Concession. It coincides with the opening of Black Cat Ballroom and Paramount at the end of the month. It is the best time to kill Lu Yusheng's arrogance.

Historically, the case remained unresolved in the end.

Of the five demands put forward by the Chinese Federation of Trade Unions in the French Concession, Consul General Verdi only met one of the requirements: compensation.

He would not comply with any other demands. He would neither publish an apology in the newspaper nor ban bars and brothels. The murderer would comply with French law. Since he committed the murder under the influence of alcohol, his crime would be reduced.

In fact, the five soldiers only stayed in the patrol room for a few days before they were secretly sent back to the country.

Verdi finally settled the matter with the 1,000 ocean compensation. For a while, the crowd was furious, but there was nothing they could do.

This is the privilege of foreigners in various concessions in the largest metropolis in the Far East!

"You don't seem so happy." Xiao Aqiao hugged Ye Luo's arm and asked in a low voice.

"How can you be happy?" Ye Luo pulled out a cigarette, and Xiao Aqiao quickly reached out to light it for him. "I let you participate in this matter all the way, just because I hope you can see the world clearly. Foreigners are in the concession for a day, It will be difficult for us to truly realize civil rights. Even if it is obvious that they are the ones who made the mistake, it is still so difficult to force them to bow their heads and fulfill justice."

"Yes, there is no investigation report and no pressure from the outside. Verdi is unwilling to give in. I can see that in his eyes, the life of driver Wu Tonggen is not a human life at all. From the beginning to the present, he has only cared about The power and status he holds." Xiao Aqiao suddenly felt a little cold, hugged him tightly, and asked in a low voice, "Is it true that in his eyes, the two of us are the same?"

"Yes. There's not much difference." Ye Luo nodded heavily and opened the car door for her, "Go to Wu Tonggen's house in person in the evening and deliver the compensation to Wu Zhang. And tell her that the nine children Our Ye's Charitable Foundation is willing to assume the responsibility of raising children, and each child can receive thirty yuan of relief from us every month until they reach adulthood."

"Okay, I understand." Xiao Aqiao leaned against him and entered the back seat of the car.

The car started and headed towards the public concession.

She looked at the autumn scenery outside the window, and suddenly thought of the recently released "Blood and Tears of Yellow Flowers". This was Hu Die's first film back in the film industry after joining Yip's Film Company, and it is said that it was also the last silent film she shot!

Because Li Minwei has re-imported a large amount of sound equipment some time ago, not only will Yip's Film Company switch to making sound films, but it will also renovate Yip's Guangming Cinema into the first sound cinema in Shanghai!

"Blood and Tears of Yellow Flowers" and "The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple" are the last flourishing films of the silent film era and are also the most popular films in the current film industry.

The original story of "Blood and Tears of Yellow Flowers" - the love between Huang Huiru and Lu Genrong, is also a complete tragedy.

The daughter of a rich family fell in love with a scumbag and spent her whole life trying to defend him until her death. In the end, she and her child were buried in the river.

Lu Genrong was taken advantage of by the Bei family and imprisoned in Shizikou Prison. He may not be able to come out in this life.

If Ye Luo hadn't taken action, Bei Yilin and his son would have refused to let go. The Huang family, who was obviously the victim, was frightened.

Put yourself in another person's shoes, what is the difference between the miserable Miss Huang Huiru and the driver Wu Tonggen who was brutally killed by foreign soldiers?

"Brother Luo, don't you think the world will never change? If foreigners are in the concession and tycoons are in the Chinese circle, can we continue to be lawless?" Xiao Aqiao followed Ye Luo when he was sixteen. Now ten years have passed, but I feel more and more that Shanghai, where I have lived for a long time, is so strange.

Ye Luo originally wanted to say that in a hundred years or so, the world would be much more comfortable.

But when I thought about myself before time travel, I held back the words I was about to blurt out.

How can the world change so easily?

"But when doing good deeds, don't ask about the future; don't ask about the direction of your heart."

Ye Luo didn't know how to answer Xiao Aqiao's question, so he could only hug her gently and whisper,

"No matter what happens in the world, I will definitely protect you."