1928: The rise of giant merchants

Licha Hotel, side hall and ballroom.

A group of foreigners danced with Japanese and Russian dancers in their arms. The lights were dim, the music was soothing, and the atmosphere was ambiguous.

Ye Luo walked into the ballroom holding Lu Xiaoman's slender waist. Sheng Enyi beside him also found a short and pretty Japanese dancer as his dance partner.

Seeing foreigners raising and lowering their hands while dancing, often secretly reaching into their partners' skirts to caress the dancers' snow-white thighs, Lu Xiaoman sneered, suddenly feeling that the upper-class dance banquet she longed for was nothing more than that.

It is this group of foreigners who have given ballroom dancing a very bad reputation. They are always ridiculed by Chinese critics, saying that dancing is an open act of sexual indulgence between men and women, without any shame!

"Here, did you see that the bald German guy in the center is Johnny, the big boss who came to Shanghai to sell cars this time? The short guy next to him is Wilhelm Knappe, the German Consul General in Shanghai. In the German Concession He is quite popular in the Public Settlement, and if it hadn't been for the First World War, his reputation would definitely not be worse than British Consul General Patton and American Consul General Gao Si." Sheng Enyi pointed to the center of the dance floor, seeming to be quite disdainful of Johnny.

"Germans selling British cars? Interesting!" Ye Luo felt happy.

Rolls-Royce is a famous luxury car brand in the UK. There are no foreign banks or comprador agents in the country. Even if someone wants to do it, it will probably be Henry, the boss of the original British company Taylor.

But now, the original Tai Lai Company and Yunfei Company have been merged into Ye's Automobile Company, and the general agent of American and British cars in China is Ye Luo!

He now rarely manages the car dealership's business in person, leaving most of it to Zhou Xiangsheng, and occasionally letting Xiao Aqiao lead people to supervise and inspect.

Nowadays, a German guy comes to Shanghai to sell British cars, but he has not received any news. Either Zhou Xiangsheng has been lazy recently and made serious mistakes at work, or the other party has special channels to directly avoid his eyes and ears.

Now seeing that Johnny and Knappe have a close relationship, Yelo is more inclined to the second judgment.

"You can still laugh. Aren't you nervous about people grabbing business right under your nose?" Although Sheng Enyi is a rich second generation who eats, drinks, whores and gambles, he still has a strong sense of patriotism.

This is a common characteristic of today's passionate young people.

"Why are you nervous? If he really wants to come to Shanghai to sell Rolls-Royce, let him sell it. That car is indeed good, but it will never be sold!" Ye Luo laughed, hugged Lu Xiaoman and asked in a low voice, "Little Man, dance with me and stop by to take a look?"

Lu Xiaoman listened to the conversation between the two of them and immediately understood that all the greasy foreigners in the ballroom had extraordinary origins. The Chinese who could dance here were basically the best among the Chinese in Shanghai. He felt happy, twisted his slim waist, and stretched out his hand to hold Ye Luo On the shoulder: "Okay~ Then take me~"

"You should lead me, right, Miss Dance Queen." Ye Luo chuckled, hugged her soft and delicate body, and followed the beat towards the center of the dance floor.

The two of them, the man is tall and handsome, the woman is petite and hot, their dancing postures are very graceful and eye-catching, and they instantly attracted the attention of many foreigners.

Knappe, who was hugging a Belarusian dancer, recognized Yeluo, smiled and whispered a few words to Johnny next to him, and the two of them started dancing towards Yeluo.

"Hey, Ye, long time no see!" Knappe said to him with a smile, "Last time at Merieux's resignation ball, your dancing made me envious."

"Hello, Consul General Knappe, it's an honor to see you here." Ye Luoye smiled lightly and answered him in German.

"Do you know German?" Johnny's eyes flashed with surprise, "There are not many Chinese like this."

"I spent a few months in Germany, and I know a little bit about it." Ye Luo knew the importance of the major powers during the Republic of China, so during his stay in China, he devoted himself to learning several foreign languages. After studying abroad for six years, he was most interested in One of my courses is language subjects. I cannot say that I am proficient in it, but communicating with others is basically not a problem.

Lu Xiaoman widened his eyes and looked at him curiously.

That fluent foreign language was obviously not the English she had heard so much about.

"You don't speak German, do you?" She snuggled into Ye Luo's arms with a look of admiration on her face, "I heard that the foreign language professors at Zhimo University and others don't understand German."

"I can speak a little bit. If you want to learn from me, I will teach you next time." Ye Luo replied with a smile.

Being proficient in various foreign languages ​​is a universal pass to enter the social circle of foreigners!

Lu Xiaoman's eyes lit up: "Okay, then I will ask you to learn German next time, and you are not allowed to shirk anything."

"No problem." Ye Luo nodded, just as the song ended, he let go of Lu Xiaoman's delicate body, snapped his fingers, and the waiter hurriedly came over with a plate.

Ye Luo picked up a glass of cocktail. This kind of mixed wine became popular after Prohibition in the United States. Nowadays, many people like this kind of mixed wine with bright colors and good taste, and it has gradually become a standard drink for upper class dinner parties.

Johnny and Knappe came over too, holding glasses of wine.

"Johnny, this is the famous boss Ye Luo Ye, and he is also the boss of the largest automobile company in Shanghai. If you want to do car business, you should ask him for advice." Knappe introduced Ye Luo Ye again.

Johnny smiled and shook hands with Ye Luo, then shook his head: "My business is different from Ye's. The sales method of cheap cars like the Chevrolet 490 is not a reference."

"Ye, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to belittle you. As you can see, many Chinese people have never seen the car I sell. It may have exceeded the Chinese people's knowledge and understanding of cars, but I believe that as long as someone is willing, Buy it and drive it down the street, it’s sure to cause a huge stir!”

With a proud look on his face, Johnny turned around and pointed at the Rolls-Royce, which was still covered with red cloth.

Only then did Ye Luo and Lu Xiaoman realize that there was a prototype car parked inside the ballroom!

When he said these words, Johnny deliberately used English so that more people could hear him.

Lu Xiaoman and Sheng Enyi also understood this sentence, and couldn't help but be aroused by his deliberately derogatory tone of the Chinese.

"No matter how different the car is, it has four wheels and is square and square. In my opinion, they are all the same." Sheng Enyi sneered, "Boss Johnny, you have been touting your luxury car for so long, you should open it up and let us It’s an eye-opener, I really want to know what kind of car can actually sell for a sky-high price of NT$80,000!”

"Eighty thousand oceans!!!" Lu Xiaoman covered his mouth.

The salary Ye Luo offered her was 350 oceans a month. To earn 80,000 oceans, she would have to live without food for 19 years!

There is no car here, and planes are not that expensive, right?

"It just so happens that Boss Ye is here, why don't you join me in unveiling today's king of luxury cars, the Rolls-Royce Phantom Generation?" Johnny wanted to slap these bumpkins in the face with his car. He was looking forward to seeing Ye Luo being used by the Phantom. The shocked expression of a generation.

"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders." Ye Luo nodded and followed him to the car.

The dancehall music suddenly stopped.

Foreigners and Chinese came closer one after another, wanting to see the luxury cars that even the German Consul General was willing to invest in.

Ye Luo and Johnny separated from each other, and after one, two, and three, they lifted the red cloth together!

"Wow!"

"Oh my god, so beautiful!"

"This is prettier than any car I've ever seen!"

"Is the little golden man in front of me an angel? What a unique design!" Lu Xiaoman was attracted by the little golden man on the front of the car at first sight.

"The name of the statuette on the Rolls-Royce logo is Spirit of Ecstasy, which translates to the winged spirit. It can also be called the flying goddess or the goddess of celebration. The Phantom Generation is a cross-generation luxury car produced last year. The main factory should have already Are they manufacturing and selling the Phantom II?"

Ye Luo looked at the retro models under the red cloth and muttered. To be honest, the Phantom generation was really a dimensionality-reducing blow to other cars during the Republic of China. The body was smooth and beautiful, full of power, and the driving feel was also excellent. Global mass production was even better. It is easy to attract wealthy people to buy.

All conditions were perfect.

Just can't sell it.

Especially at home.

"You actually know Rolls-Royce, and you are so familiar with it!" Johnny failed to shock Ye Luo, but was shocked by Ye Luo's words.

The expression he wanted to see appeared repeatedly on the faces of a group of foreigners and Chinese tycoons. Whether they were looking forward to it from the beginning, disbelief, or even contempt, they all shut up after seeing the real person of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Generation. .

As he said, the car deserves every compliment.

"Eighty thousand oceans, to be honest, my heart is moved." Sheng Enyi changed the topic and looked at Ye Luo again, feeling a strong sense of crisis.

Will the Germans really rely on this to turn around and take the automobile industry away from Chinese businessmen again?

Knappe was very satisfied with their reaction, looked at Ye Luo and asked, "What do you think of this car, Boss Ye?"

"It's very beautiful, very nice! I bought this car." Ye Luo answered truthfully.

He just wanted to change his car, so he accepted the world's most luxurious car.

"Arlo!"

Lu Xiaoman subconsciously wanted to stop him.

But then he thought that 80,000 oceans was just a drop in the bucket to him, so he immediately stopped talking.

"???" Johnny's face was full of questions.

He came to Shanghai just to open up a new car market by acting as an agent for Rolls-Royce, so as to make a living for foreign companies and at the same time bring a huge income to the German Consulate General in Shanghai.

In this way, he became the Shanghai Car King.

Knappe made a point of mentioning Yello after taking a stake in his automobile company.

This young Chinese businessman is now the undisputed car king. If he wants to replace him, he must be defeated.

They avoided the eyes and ears of Ye's Automobile Shop and struck preemptively, hoping to catch Ye Luo off guard.

But after many calculations, Ye Luo became the first person to buy a Rolls-Royce.

"Isn't it possible? Although it is a prototype car, it can still be put on the road and sold." Ye Luo asked, "Does your bank have inventory in the warehouse?"

"How is that possible? We ordered 200 cars, but they haven't arrived in Shanghai yet." Johnny shook his head, not even doing the publicity work.

"Then you can sell it to me." Ye Luo asked with a smile.

Johnny nodded: "Of course! So Boss Ye, you are also very optimistic about the sales of this car in Shanghai, right?"

"Not optimistic." Ye Luo shook his head, and then said surprisingly, "I think I should be the first and only person to buy this car."

"WTF?" Johnny cursed directly.

The celebrities onlookers became more and more curious and cast their sights on Ye Luo.

"If you don't believe it, boss Johnny, just try to sell it in Shanghai. As long as you can actually sell the second car without it being returned, I won't interfere with whatever you do with the Shanghai car business. Of course, if you can’t sell the second one, I hope you will give this car to me for free.”

Ye Luo looked at him with a smile, then touched the Phantom 1,

"Does this car belong to me now?"

Johnny and everyone else froze.

I didn't understand what Ye Luo meant at all.

He is willing to buy it himself, but threatens that no one else will buy it. Why is this?

They couldn't figure it out, but at least the business was done first.

Ye Luo didn't expect that he could actually buy the Phantom Generation when he went out for a meal.

He remembered that during the Republic of China, there was only one Rolls-Royce Phantom Generation in the country, and it was out of print!

As he said, no one will really buy this car, but he doesn't care. The collection value of the car is there, and he doesn't care about the money.

And this car will most likely be given to me for free.

"Okay, no problem!" Johnny held his breath. Ye Luo had already said so. He didn't dare to agree. How could he do business on Ye Luo's territory?

Johnny called someone to bring over the contract, and Ye Luo signed it in full view of everyone, took out the check, and bought the Phantom Generation on the spot.

After getting the car key, Sheng Enyi murmured in a low voice: "Arlo, are you crazy? If you buy a car from a rival company, when it is published in the newspaper tomorrow, someone will definitely buy it with you."

"Well, just buy it. It will be returned in the end anyway." Ye Luo nodded.

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Sheng Enyi didn't know what to say. He just hoped that Ye Luo wouldn't completely overturn because of this arrogance.

After the interlude, the music continued to play in the dance hall.

After a few dances, Yelora Lu Xiaoman, escorted by Ding Li, returned to the hotel lobby to eat.

Along the way, he could still hear many people whispering to each other, talking about his sudden purchase of the Phantom Generation.

Lu Xiaoman was eating Western food, but his thoughts were all on the luxury car and Ye Luo.

Following him today, I really experienced the life of an upper class person.

She also realized that this was a level that she and Xu Zhimo would find difficult to reach no matter how hard they tried.

Buy a car with 80,000 yuan.

Doesn't he also have a Ford V8? I heard I bought it not long ago.

The two of them were eating, but Ye Luo smiled and said to Ding Li: "By the way, Ali, I will also buy you a car, and you can drive it to work at the Nitrate Mine Management Bureau."

"Ah?!" Ding Li was quite happy when he heard that the second young master was going to buy him a car. But when he heard that he was going to be sent elsewhere, he waved his hands quickly, "Goodbye, second young master!"

"It's settled, I'll talk to you later." Ye Luo nodded with a spoon, "Don't refuse."

Ding Li had no choice but to nod with a grimace.

Lu Xiaoman finished drinking the mushroom soup and was about to speak when Knappe, who was walking towards him, suddenly smiled and patted Ye Luo on the shoulder: "Ye, I have already paid for your meal in advance."

"Ah, thank you very much, Consul General." Ye Luo looked at the German guy, he was showing courtesy for nothing, he was either a traitor or a thief.

Knappe's female secretary helped him pull out the seat, and he sat down directly and continued to talk to Ye Luo in a low voice in German: "Ye, are you really not optimistic about the sales of Rolls-Royce?"

Ye Luo looked at him playfully, observing Knappe's expression.

This German guy may have taken a stake.

He has made a name for himself with the Chevrolet 490. He must have been shaken by what he just said.

Indeed, no matter how incredible what Ye Luo said, as long as it came out of his mouth, they would inexplicably pay attention to anything involving business, especially the automobile industry.

This is everything that comes with strength and fame.

It is also what all Chinese businessmen lack most at the moment.

When foreigners look down on Chinese people, they don’t look down on a certain group of people, but look down on all of them.

No matter you are an important political figure, a literary giant, a wealthy tycoon, or an iron-blooded soldier, they all look down on you from the bottom of their hearts.

Here's why.

The first Chinese people that foreigners come into contact with are compradors. To put it bluntly, they are their errands and eat their leftover meals.

Coupled with the current pro-foreign culture of the Nationalist government, they look down on the Chinese even more.

Over time, they felt that this was true of all groups in the country.

And Ye Luo's dragon-tiger fight only made him millions. Why did it bring him such fame?

It's because he made a name for himself.

Foreigners also feel deep admiration and respect.

"Consul General, have you bought a stake?"

"Yes." Knappe no longer concealed anything and nodded slightly. He also knew that Ye Luo's paper on the U.S. stock market was still very certain of his business ability. Seeing that he had categorically refuted Johnny just now, he suddenly felt unsure.

"So Ye, can you tell me why you think it won't sell?"