1928: The rise of giant merchants

September 25, the seventeenth year of the Republic of China (1928).

French Concession, Huo Mansion.

"Sixth Commander, these are today's "Declaration" and "News"." The guard knocked on the door and delivered a stack of newspapers into the Hanqing couple's room.

As the opening of Paramount approaches in the past few days, newspapers and periodicals all over Shanghai, especially in the French Concession, are reporting the good news in endless articles.

Lu Yusheng invited celebrities from all walks of life to act as shareholders. The total funds used to build Paramount, including the 4 million used to purchase the Majestic Hotel, totaled more than 10 million!

It can be said to be a grand gesture that is rare in a century.

In order to better manage Paramount and bring generous dividends to the big shareholders, Lu Yusheng hired a professional French dance industry manager to serve as the general manager of Paramount.

It’s just that there are no dancers, guests need to bring their own dance partners, and the facilities are super high-end at first glance. Once the excitement of the opening of Paramount wears off, most people no longer care.

After all, this has nothing to do with them, it doesn’t even look like fun——

Because of the Paramount opening day, the streets near the Majestic Hotel will be temporarily closed to prevent accidents for celebrities who come to attend the ball.

Han Qing has been extremely bored these days. While dealing with the celebrities invited by Lu Yusheng, he also has to take care of Yu Fengzhi who has just recovered from a cold.

Now that Paramount is about to open, it would be hard for him to go have a drink with Ye Luo from the rival company.

After taking the newspaper, he threw it directly to Yu Fengzhi on the bed without reading it, while he fiddled with several exquisite pistols on the table.

"Han Qing! Come and see! The case of French soldiers killing the tram driver has been resolved!" Yu Fengzhi screamed and called him to come and see.

Han Qing was stunned, then walked to the bed and sat down.

Opening the "Declaration", the front page is "The Second Young Master comes forward to talk a bit, the French Consul General agrees to five major demands!" 》

"Good guy, these five conditions are even more stringent than what I originally proposed. Even the bars opened by foreigners and the brothels dedicated to their soldiers' sexual pleasure were required to be closed down. The foreign consul general actually agreed?" Han Qing held up his hand. newspaper, overjoyed.

Not only that, the French Consulate General in Shanghai also published a public apology for this matter in the newspaper, and also issued an official document on the bulletin board at the entrance of the consulate, which is equivalent to compromise and concession at the official level.

This is the first time in the dispute between foreigners and Chinese in Shanghai that foreigners have given in!

"The five soldiers responsible were handed over to the guard headquarters yesterday for temporary custody. No matter what the outcome is, it at least makes us Chinese feel proud!" Yu Fengzhi nodded and smiled, "But the French Consul General is really stingy and is only willing to pay 1,000 oceans. The total compensation, including the water company and tram company, is only 3,000 oceans."

"The News actually had an exclusive report on the issue of compensation. Look." Han Qing handed the News to her, "It turns out that the Yip Charity Foundation is responsible for the subsequent living expenses of Wu Tonggen's driver's family. Ah This guy Luo is really good at it!"

"Thank you, Boss Ye, for your generous donation, and thank you to the French Consulate General for caring for orphans and widows." This article is well written. The reporter's name is Yang Ruiqiong, and she seems to be a female reporter." After reading the article, Yu Fengzhi said with a smile, "No matter what How about, this matter has been resolved satisfactorily, and you can forget about it. You can finally relax in Shanghai these days."

"Yeah. I really didn't expect that I couldn't come forward on such a matter. Yongxing Company and the tycoons in the French Concession pushed back and forth. Even the National Government kept it secret. He was the only one who stood up and negotiated the matter!" Han said Qing nodded, admiration suddenly welling up in his heart, "I heard that this second young master is as famous as the Fourth Young Master of Shanghai with Xiaojia and others. From what I see, even the other fourth young masters of the Republic of China are not as capable as him."

"Are you scolding yourself?" Yu Fengzhi pursed his lips and chuckled.

"Speak as you feel, speak as you feel." Han Qing waved his hand.

After this incident, he was suddenly extremely disappointed with Yongxing Company and others, and instead became somewhat curious about Ye Luo.

But thinking about the opening of his Black Cat Dance Hall at the end of the month, and having to compete with his Paramount, he felt a little unhappy.

It would be great if it was not Lu Yusheng who invited him to become a shareholder, but Ye Luo.

Ye Mansion.

Ye Luo took a nap today.

As expected, Xiaoli rushed into the house and called him up while yelling.

Ye Luo rubbed his sleepy eyes, and next to him was little A Qing who was also yawning profusely.

Seeing little A Qiao also lying on the bed, Xiao Li quickly covered her mouth, slammed the door, and said in the smallest voice: "It's time for the second young master to get up. There were more than a dozen calls this morning to ask you for dinner."

"So many? Who are they?" Ye Luo watched her change from her usual arrogance and become submissive. Knowing that it was because she saw little A Qian sleeping in her room at night, Ye Luo stood up with a smile and lifted the quilt up. Lift it up to cover little Aqiao's naked and delicate body.

"There were calls from Bai Gongguan, the city government, Ningbo Commercial Association, Feng Gongguan, Songhu Police Department, several consulates of France, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, etc. I can't remember clearly. !" Xiaoli found that both hands were not enough, and stamped her feet with a bitter look on her face.

"When something happened, everyone was afraid to avoid it, but after it was resolved, they all came together. It's really their style." Ye Luo chuckled, not caring at all.

He changed his clothes under Xiaoli's service, and then whispered: "Don't disturb little Aqiao's sleep today, let her catch up on her sleep, and by the way, ask the kitchen to cook more supplements for her to eat. She is also very busy these days. .”

"I know, then why don't you get some to give to Mrs. Jing and Miss Xiuzhu?" Xiaoli asked with a smile.

She knew that Lin Ruxian and Bai Xiuzhu were also Ye Luo's women. They were probably married like little A'qiao. Normally, when making soup at home, they would also give a portion to other concubines to show that the second young master treated them equally.

Ye Luo rolled his eyes at her: "You are the cleverest, so you should keep a portion for yourself when the time comes."

"Second, second young master! You, why are you like this! I won't help you get dressed, you hate it!" Xiaoli's face was red with embarrassment.

Although she had been Ye Luo's woman for a long time, her status was very low and she had never considered becoming a concubine. When she saw him deliberately teasing her, she was angry and laughing, and her heart was filled with ripples that she had never experienced before.

Ye Luo didn't expect that his unintentional words would make Xiao Nizi think too much. He just smiled and patted her on the head. Seeing that she really ran out of the room, he said speechlessly: "You really left now. You are so doting." It’s getting more lawless.”

After getting dressed, Ye Luo came to the living room and saw that Ye Qingqing had already organized a round and started killing everyone.

The current quartet is Ye Qingqing, Xiaoma Biyunxia, ​​Zhang Anyi and Lin Ruxian.

"Sister-in-law, Qingqing kidnapped her to play mahjong so early?" Ye Luo teased Lin Ruxian with a smile.

Lin Ruxian's eyes were as charming as silk, her legs were crossed, her red high heels were dangling on her toes, and she held a south wind card in her hand: "Isn't that right? This girl Qingqing is crazy about playing mahjong. If you find someone to organize a game, I will accompany you for a while. It seems that Ah Ruan and Hu Die are both good at fighting, can we invite them to come and accompany Qingqing some other time?"

"Really?! I'm a fan of both of them!" Ye Qingqing laughed loudly, "You're so stupid, sister-in-law, you are showing off again, your poker skills are worse than my little mother's."

Ye Luo rolled his eyes at them and walked straight to the kitchen without answering.

Seeing the breakfast that his mother had left for him, he opened the plastic wrap and ate it. After breakfast, he slowly walked out of the door.

The weather is exceptionally good today.

Ye Luo took the newspaper from Ding Li and saw that the French Consul General had published an apology in the newspaper and the murderer had been handed over to the security headquarters. He smiled and said to Ding Li: "Go to the Black Cat Dance Hall first to see the results of their training. , and then help me call Mr. Dong Ruichang, the chairman of the Ningbo Business Association, and tell him that I want to treat him to a meal."

"I understand, Second Young Master." Ding Li stood upright in a suit and leather shoes.

Compared with the fruit stall vendor when they first met, Ding Li now is as powerful and domineering as his good brother Ma Yongzhen.

After following Ye Luo for several months, he has grown up a lot and has become a very qualified bodyguard.

The two got into the car, and Shi Jianqiao sat in the passenger seat early. Today, for the first time, she changed into a cheongsam. She was sexy and hot, smiling, and seemed very happy.

"What's wrong with Jianqiao? Did you encounter anything happy today?" Ye Luoxiao asked.

Shi Jianqiao looked back at him, smiling and saying nothing.

Ye Luo became increasingly curious and puzzled.

Ding Li on the side was also laughing. He should know the reason for the matter, but just as he was about to tell Ye Luo, he was frightened back by Shi Jianqiao's glare.

There was no way, Shi Jianqiao used to compete with him in martial arts, and had already trained him to be docile.

The Ford V8 drove fast from the Public Concession to the French Concession.

While passing the tram company and water company along the way, Ye Luo saw a huge black and white banner through the window, expressing condolences to the driver Wu Tonggen who was murdered by foreigners.

After the negotiations that day, Ye Luo had already called Feng Jingyao and asked him to contact the president of the Chinese Federation of Trade Unions in the French Concession to ask the agitated Chinese workers to stop the strike wave and resume normal work.

Originally, the Chinese workers did not want to give up, but after learning that the second young master had forced the French Consul General to surrender, they all gave a thumbs up and returned to their respective posts.

The wages they lost these days were converted into equivalent dance tickets by Ye's Dance Company and distributed to them.

This year, it is the first time that Chinese workers are paid during a strike!

Although it is not a discount, getting the same amount of dance tickets is equivalent to getting cash.

Those who are willing to dance on the opening day can use their dance tickets to invite the black cat dancers to dance with them. Those who are unwilling to dance can also sell them to other guests and exchange them for Dayang.

Invisibly, it spread to the Black Cat Dance Hall among the vast number of employees.

Since Lu Yusheng spent a lot of money to buy various newspapers and periodicals during this period, whenever Ye Luo opened a newspaper or turned on the radio, he would definitely hear Paramount's advertisements and good news about its opening, which was simply worse than mental pollution.

He had no intention of competing with dance clubs from different tracks for this kind of advertising space, so he simply gave up and allowed Lu Yusheng to build momentum like crazy.

Black Cat Dance Hall is currently only promoted through his Liangyou Pictorial and Asia-American Radio. The spread is limited, but basically the audience of these two media knows the existence of Black Cat Dance Hall.

For the rest, it all depends on word of mouth from people from all walks of life.

In fact, Ye Luo was quite grateful to Lu Yusheng.

Because this gangster tycoon was obviously stimulated by Zhang Wanlin's defeat, and he was full of energy to compete with himself. The total investment in a Paramount was over 10 million, which was enough to support a brigade for more than half a year.

For this reason, whenever he instructs people to promote Paramount, they will always visit Ye Luo's Black Cat Dance Hall.

It is said that the Black Cat Dance Hall also recruits dancers from all over the world. It is not much different from Fengming Tower, which is engaged in the flesh and blood business. It is just covered with the dance industry, which is disgusting.

Ye Luo didn't care.

Being hacked is also a kind of traffic, which is better than nothing.

As for the Black Cat Dance Hall, we will naturally find out when it opens on September 30.

Lu Yusheng successfully led all the celebrities astray.

Let them think that ballroom dancing is a high-end petty bourgeois sport similar to polo and bowling. Only people with a certain status and financial resources are qualified to learn and entertain, and it has nothing to do with the public.

And Ye Luo's so-called civilian dance hall is just a disguised brothel and brothel, not worth mentioning.

This is exactly what Ye Luo wants to see.

Make money, make money, no one loses money, so where can he make money?

He wished that everyone would go to Paramount to invest in the company and then suffer a big fall. After losing so much money, Ye Luo could go against the current and make a lot of money.

Ye Luo never pities the money of these rich people.

Why was the Republic of China so weak that it was so difficult to recover? Why did it fail to develop properly during its golden decade, and was instead shattered by the Japanese invaders?

Because people who really need money can’t get it.

In industries that really need money, no one is doing it, and no one dares to do it.

To break the deadlock, social wealth must be redistributed.

Of course it is impossible to poke a hole in the upper level.

But it is still okay to let these rich people cough up some money.

Unconsciously, the Black Cat Dance Hall arrived.

Brand-new neon signs have been put up downstairs, and billboards showing Lu Xiaoman wearing a black cat dance costume and sexy cheongsam are posted everywhere. It is also the hottest topic in the four major public parks recently.

Nowadays, when talking about Black Cat Dance Hall, we have to talk about socialite Lu Xiaoman.

She is a promotional model hired by Ye Luo and is the current face of Black Cat Dance Hall.

Lu Xiaoman's oversized costumes and photography style have successfully made her stand at the forefront of the limelight. Her fame once surpassed that of her equally famous Tang Ying. While her fame is endless, she also attracts many admirers.

For this reason, Xu Zhimo even called to complain, saying that Ye Luo was too arrogant and indulged Lu Xiaoman and offered her such a high salary that she felt confident enough to dare to argue with Xu Zhimo.

Ye Luo had no choice but to comfort Xu Zhimo.

This is better than working hard to make money to support your family while not knowing that Weng Ruiwu and Lu Xiaoman are making trouble and smoking in your wedding room.

With this money, Lu Xiaoman is at least a lot more settled, and she loves dancing and singing. She can be satisfied in the Black Cat Ballroom and Ye's World, which is better than going to other tycoons' territories and being targeted.

After getting out of the car, before Ye Luo entered the door, she saw Lu Xiaoman twisting her slim waist and going downstairs. When she saw Ye Luo coming, she immediately waved to him: "A Luo! I just want to see you for something."