1928: The rise of giant merchants

September 30, the seventeenth year of the Republic of China (1928).

The salutes roared and fireworks shot into the sky.

The former Majestic Hotel, now the Paramount Ballroom, officially opened at 9am.

As the big boss, Lu Yusheng, wearing a bright red gown, brought a group of young men to the entrance of the Paramount Ballroom happily early in the morning. They lined up on both sides like welcome ladies, and those who had been invited to attend the opening ceremony. The celebrities exchanged greetings with each other and warmly invited them to take a seat.

Edward Sassoon, who was also the major shareholder, was glowing. Although he didn't contribute much money, he still had to be praised by Lu Yusheng.

So he specially invited many foreign friends in Shanghai and asked them all to come to Paramount to dance together today!

Be sure to show off the grand opening ceremony to outshine the French Concession’s Gulangyu Road and their Black Cat Dance Hall, which opened on the same day.

"Hey, Mayor Zhang, Commander Xiong, you guys please come in quickly!" Lu Yusheng smiled and hunched over to welcome Zhang Dingyao and others into the ballroom.

"Good guy, it turns out that these people are also shareholders of Paramount?" Zhang Wanlin, who was not far away, muttered in a low voice, frightened by the pomp of his third son.

"You, you, you obviously made your debut earlier than Lao San and have more resources than him, but you are not as good as him in business! Let's see how he makes that little red guy Ye Luo make a fool of himself this time. Learn more and don't mess with him in the future. Go hang out in a brothel or opium den!"

Huo Tianhong glared at Zhang Wanlin. He was very satisfied with the current situation of Paramount, but he was also angry with his second brother.

Zhang Wanlin was holding his breath in his heart, but he had already planned a big business with Edward, and when the time came, it would be done quietly, and it would surely surprise the eldest brother and the third child!

While Huo Tianhong was lecturing Zhang Wanlin, waves of social celebrities came. Even Yu Qiaqing, who had been involved in a petition turmoil some time ago and had kept to himself for a long time, joined a group of General Chamber of Commerce committee members and old-school businessmen groups to come to congratulate him!

Lu Yusheng was too busy alone, so the two of them walked over to help greet the guests.

"Boss Lu, congratulations! This Paramount is so majestic and luxurious, it can't even compare to Ye Luo's Black Cat Ballroom." Ye Chen, who was beaten up by the independent group's last gang crackdown, came over with a smile on his face and said The heavy gift box in his hand was handed over, "This is a little bit of my heart. Boss Lu, please accept it."

His new labor force was in decline, and the goods he received from Ye Luo were hoarded like a mountain and could not be cleaned up. In addition, the people were regarded as bonuses, and the assets were not collected at all, but all the food was recruited to his subordinates.

At first, relying on these thugs, he really controlled the situation in the French Concession.

Coupled with the pile of gray industries and the smoke in the warehouse, Ye Chen instantly became one of the top tycoons.

However, after the wave of raids by the Independence Group, most of his gray industry collapsed. In recent months, he has been unable to make ends meet, and many employees have left, and he fell from the clouds in an instant.

In the end, he was not selected for the main list of the General Chamber of Commerce Committee, and was completely reduced to a second-rate leader, oblivious to everyone.

Ye Chen, who had been calm for a while, saw this good opportunity and wanted to come over to flatter him and hug him.

Lu Yusheng glanced at Ye Chen sideways, and just nodded lightly: "Yes." He asked his younger brother Zhang Hai to take the gift box and let him receive Ye Chen.

Zhang Hai is an old member of the Ye's Labor Federation. He later switched jobs to Yu Likui's rickshaw shop. His status was several blocks behind Ye Chen. At this time, he was asked to receive Ye Chen. It can be seen that Lu Yusheng had long lost sight of him as a so-called President of the New Labor Federation.

Ye Chen glared at Lu Yusheng bitterly and left sadly.

On the other side, Edward introduced many new foreign tycoons to Lu Yusheng, and also connected him with British Consul General Barton, German Consul General Knappe, and American Consul General Gao Si.

Among them, Barton also supported Ye Luo when Ye's Automobile Shop opened, but this time he also chose to invest in Paramount.

Lu Yusheng was proud of the spring breeze and chatted with them in a low voice.

"Lu, my father said he would take time to come over and have a look. Remember to call someone to greet him." Edward said to him with a smile.

"What? Mr. Sassoon is coming too!" Lu Yusheng was overjoyed. This was another big surprise.

"Sassoon" is recognized as the richest man in Shanghai and the most famous Jewish rich man. With him to support the scene, the opening of Paramount will be completely stable!

In Lu Yusheng's heart, Victor Sassoon is the second most important person visiting this time.

As for the number one heavyweight——

A luxury car slowly passed the intersection and turned in. It was Sheng Enyi's "4444" brand Citroen.

The first person to step out of the car was Sheng Enyi, and his dance partner was the seventh lady Sheng Aiyi, who had not been seen for a long time.

Sheng Aiyi was soft and beautiful on the outside, but tough and rebellious on the inside. In 1916, when she was sixteen, a knowledgeable English teacher came to the Sheng family, and he quickly won her heart.

In 1923, the English teacher was preparing to go to Guangdong Province, but he couldn't let Miss Qi go, so he persuaded her to leave with him.

It's a pity that Sheng Aiyi couldn't find the courage at that time. When leaving, she gave him a handful of gold leaves and said she would wait for him to come back.

Unexpectedly, five years have passed since then.

Just last year, the man Sheng Aiyi waited for became a heartless man and married Zhang Leyi, Zhang Mouzhi's daughter.

That's right, the scumbag who made Miss Sheng Qi wait all her life was Song Ziwen.

Last year, news of Song Ziwen's marriage came to Shanghai, and she has been staying in her boudoir and never leaving the house. Now that the 28-year-old girl is still unmarried, celebrities from all walks of life are talking about her.

Lu Yusheng knew that the Sheng family was rich and wanted to join them in buying shares.

Sheng Enyi loved to have fun, so he immediately invested 300,000 yuan in shares. Unexpectedly, he kidnapped his seventh sister and also bought 300,000 yuan in shares. The total of the siblings was 600,000 yuan, ranking among the top ten among all shareholders.

But today, the brothers Sheng Enyi and Sheng Aiyi are not the real protagonists.

Sheng Enyi, who always had a higher eye than anyone else, ran to the back and opened the door for the first time.

A young couple got out of the back seat of the car.

Seeing them, Lu Yusheng squeezed out his brightest smile and quickly went over to greet them: "Shuai Liu, madam, come quickly, come quickly! Without you, this ribbon-cutting ceremony can't even begin!"

"What are you talking about, Boss Lu! Fengzhi and I don't have many shares, so it's not our turn to cut the ribbon." Han Qing waved his hand and declined.

As soon as the couple arrived, the tycoons crowded at the door came over one after another. Everyone wanted to get acquainted and have a few words with this young general who had great power in the north!

The opening ceremony of Paramount officially reached its climax with the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Hanqing!

Lu Yusheng insisted on letting Han Qing do the ribbon-cutting ceremony for him. Han Qing refused, so he took the golden scissors and helped Lu Yusheng complete the grand ribbon-cutting ceremony. He also praised Paramount: "Such a luxurious ballroom deserves to be called ' The No. 1 Yuefu in the Far East! Boss Lu’s business is booming, congratulations on getting rich!"

For a time, congratulations came one after another, and countless people cheered.

Lu Yusheng's eyes drifted into the distance.

Today, most of the celebrities in Shanghai he could invite were present.

And he didn't expect that there would be very few people who couldn't be invited. Even if they all went to the Black Cat Ballroom to support him, they still wouldn't be able to compare with Paramount.

Newspaper reporters also knew that today was the opening day of the two dance halls, so they divided into two groups to go to the two dance halls to take photos and interviews.

However, most reporters wanted to come to Paramount, resulting in a serious shortage of people going to Black Cat Dance Hall.

In addition, many people gathered near Paramount to watch the excitement.

The demolition of the Majestic Hotel and the construction of Paramount will take place this month.

But in order to make a name for himself, Lu Yusheng published articles in newspapers every day to build momentum. He spent 4 million oceans to buy the Majestic Hotel from Lawrence Kadoorie, and spent tens of millions more to build a luxurious ballroom.

Today, people who came to see the excitement formed a long queue, which was quite spectacular.

The Paramount really lives up to its reputation, and the money is not wasted. The magnificent exterior alone is enough to shock and amaze everyone.

However, it didn’t take long for the spectators to disperse like a tide, leaving behind only groups of Green Gang gangsters and Songhu Police Department officers who maintained law and order.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was over, and the upper class people all entered the ballroom. The place outside was in a mess, and they had no fun to watch.

As for the inside of the ballroom?

Lu Yucai, who came to watch early in the morning, just wanted to watch the fun. With his status and financial resources, he was not qualified to dance, let alone the general public.

The group of people who are most interested in ballroom dancing——

None of the progressive students, middle class, literati and celebrities can afford to spend money at Paramount.

Not only do you have to bring your own partner to dance, but you also have to reserve a spot in advance, and the price is per person. Each dance costs two yuan per person, and tea costs one yuan. You also have to tip the ballroom waiters, etc., which can cost dozens of dollars in one afternoon. Nothing can be done at all.

Now, the monthly salary of many middle-class people is only fifty or sixty yuan.

Compared with later generations, Paramount is like the kind of entertainment venue where ordinary people rarely go to spend money. Tens of thousands of dollars can be spent in one night. It can be called a terrifying gold sales cave.

Han Qing and Yu Fengzhi followed the crowd into the ballroom lobby.

"Glass lighthouse, bright for ten miles. Granite surface, solemn and gorgeous. Marble steps, precious and rare. Steel railings, smart and novel. Glass floor, dazzling. Spring floor, flexible and comfortable."

This was what the newspaper headlines said about the Paramount Ballroom when he read "Declaration" in the morning.

Whether it is architectural appearance or interior design, Paramount hardware is indeed hard enough and can be said to have led the fashion trend of ballrooms.

The dance floor in the middle covers an area of ​​more than 500 square meters. There are small dance floors that can be divided at will around the large dance floor for dancers to practice dance and have trysts.

The floor of the dance floor is supported by automobile steel plates and is flexible.

"Sixth Commander, madam, please take a look. The band in charge of playing in our Paramount Ballroom is quite well-established. They are the Karajan Jazz Band that is popular in Southeast Asia. In order to hire them, I spent a full 300,000 yuan to convince them. The orchestra leader asked them to stay at Paramount for half a year!"

Lu Yusheng pointed at the orchestra that was already playing exciting music and laughed.

"For this opening dance, you two must lead the dance!"

"Then I'd rather be respectful than obey." Han Qing put his arm around his wife's waist, and other celebrities hugged their partners and danced to the melodious music.

These people are regulars at the dance hall, and all of them are very familiar with ballroom dancing.

But on weekdays, they dance with the dancers in the hotel. Under the dim lights, they kiss each other, hug each other, and even have some large-scale contact and ambiguity between ear and temples.

However, the French manager of Paramount set the lights in the ballroom to be extremely dazzling. The dance floor was magnificent and brightly lit, and everyone seemed to be attending a celebrity banquet as solemn and polite.

In this atmosphere, if you do something obscene or go too far with your female companion, you will easily be seen.

Han Qing even felt as if he was being stared at by countless pairs of eyes, which made him very uncomfortable.

Where is the dancing?

It’s simply suffering.

Due to the identity and status of the people present, everyone maintained an extremely polite and Westernized atmosphere, and the atmosphere in the ballroom became more and more like a foreign banquet.

Even if you don't wear a decent suit or a beautiful dress today, you seem to be out of tune with the other people here.

Lu Yusheng was also dancing. He felt very uncomfortable, but he couldn't explain why.

Paramount's facilities and soundtrack are all top-notch, but they just don't work!

A few dances ended.

The guests breathed a sigh of relief and came to the side hall to drink, eat and rest.

Han Qing watched Yu Fengzhi go to talk to Sheng Aiyi, Tang Wanying and others. Feeling that the air was a little more relaxed, he called the waiter to bring him a glass of champagne, took a sip and remained silent.

"Sixth Handsome, your dancing is so amazing." Bai Xiongqi came up holding a wine glass, and the gorgeously dressed Mrs. Bai next to him was quite eye-catching.

"Mr. Bai, you and your wife are also very graceful in their dancing." Han Qing said a few polite words to him, "Didn't sister Xiuzhu come to play?"

"Xiuzhu? She dressed up beautifully early in the morning to support her little lover." Bai Xiongqi burst out laughing, "Didn't Aluo open a dance hall of some kind? Well, as I say , since he failed to buy the Dahua Hotel, he should slow down this business. You see, the Dahua is even more grand than the Recha Hotel after renovation, and no matter how he builds it, it can't compare to the Paramount."

"Ah, you mean A Luo's Black Cat Dance Hall!" Han Qing then remembered that Ye Luo also sent someone to give him dance tickets, but he was busy with various affairs at Paramount recently and forgot about it.

"Yes, even though it opened on the same day, who still remembers his black cat?" Bai Xiongqi was not very optimistic about Ye Luo's business. Even though he wanted to do dance business first, Lu Yusheng showed his skills. "Ginger is still spicier when old", which perfectly explains the strong business ability of old-school businessmen.

"Indeed. I have been to many countries and seen hundreds of dance halls. I have to say that Paramount deserves to be called the 'No. 1 Music House in the Far East.'" Han Qing nodded in agreement, "But that's fine. You see the atmosphere here is so serious, Sister Xiuzhu’s temper can’t be tolerated.”

"Yes, instead of letting her stay here and get into trouble, it's better to torment her little lover." Bai Xiongqi agreed deeply and brought up other topics again.

Although he was not optimistic about Ye Luo's business, how much money could a mere dance hall lose?

Since meeting Ye Luo and uniting with him, Bai Xiongqi feels that his career has become more stable.

The case of the tram driver also allowed him to successfully establish a relationship with Liu Shuai!

The two chatted for a while. Seeing that Han Qing was absent-minded, Bai Xiongqi stopped disturbing him and found an excuse to leave.

After Bai Xiong left, Han Qing was bored drinking and wanted to have a cigarette. He stretched out his hand and happened to touch an orange dance ticket book. He was stunned for a moment, and then an idea came to him.

"Anyway, I've danced and attended the ceremony, so why not go to his Black Cat Dance Hall?" Han Qing thought, calling the guard and asking him to take good care of Yu Fengzhi, while he took a few confidants with him. Walking towards the Paramount door.

After leaving the magnificent ballroom, he suddenly felt that the air was much smoother.