1928: The rise of giant merchants

Ye Luo and Chen Ruide walked down from the second floor talking and laughing. Alfred Sloan, who was restless, finally felt relieved when he saw the harmonious scene between them.

The most difficult thing about this business is not the trivial matters such as pricing, sales, and shipping, but whether Ye Luo can transfer this large amount of US dollars to him through the bank.

US$120,000 is not a small amount in the 21st century, and it was a huge sum of money during the Republic of China!

Citibank may not necessarily agree to transfer so much money at once, and if it delays for a while, GE will go bankrupt.

Fortunately, it seems that his God of Wealth has taken care of everything.

Ye Luo and Chen Ruide said goodbye, and then just waited for the loan contract from Citibank.

He drove Alfred Sloan back to his residence, and then personally went to the Ministry of Industry Bureau to obtain the company's construction approval document.

The arrival date of the first batch of cars agreed with General Motors is April 30th. Today is March 22nd. There are still 39 days left. The advertisement must be put out before the first batch of Chevrolet 490s arrives at Shiliupu Pier!

Ye Luo was thinking about the follow-up plan when the sound of footsteps of leather shoes came from the side. He turned around and saw a tall John George in a straight suit walking towards him with a smile on his face.

"Ye! How do you know that I have settled the matter?" George gave him a big hug and said with a smile, "I was about to send someone to find you at Ye's mansion."

"Oh? So fast." Ye Luo shook off the approval document in his hand. After he finished tossing little Ah Qiao last night, he asked Hua Mei to take someone to find George and asked him to help him find a building on Xiafei Road in the French Concession. Make an office location.

The British and American public concessions are famous for their commercial prosperity, while the French concessions are famous for their modernity, fashion and sentiment.

Many celebrities and tycoons like to do business in the public concession and live in the French Concession.

Ye Luo's investment company does not need a business entity, and there is no need to find a place to work in the public concession where land is at a premium. It is better to rent a small building in the French Concession, which is safe, has many celebrities, and has a strong atmosphere, and you can often see some celebrities. , convenient for investment.

"Congratulations, Ye." Seeing that the approval was finalized, George congratulated Ye Luo from the bottom of his heart. He smiled and winked at Ye Luo, indicating that he should go outside to speak.

Ye Luo took George into his Ford V8, making him exclaim repeatedly.

The latest Ford V8 is priced at NT$5,000. Buying it all as a set costs more than NT$6,000. It is a rare luxury car on the streets of Shanghai.

George came from the UK and did not receive any financial support from his family. Now he lives entirely on salary. He is not as good at taking bribes as Barton. He only gets a salary from the Ministry of Industry and Consulate, which is not much. He even supports his Ford Model T convertible. The car is difficult.

Ye Luo's life as a rich young man made him envious.

"What's going on?" Ye Luo started the car and drove towards the French Concession.

George touched the textured leather seats of the Ford V8 and said with a smile: "Ye, you are more famous in Shanghai than I thought. I originally planned to go to the public affairs office to inquire, but not long after I sat down, there was someone A Chinese man came up and asked me if I was helping Ye Ye."

"Oh? I don't remember that I have any friends in the public affairs bureau." Ye Luo thought about it carefully and couldn't find any friends he could talk to in the public affairs bureau of the French Concession.

In these years of hanging out in Shanghai, Ye Luo has made friends with a large number of second-generation ancestors because of the background of the Ye family. However, most of these people are the kind of playboys in Ye Qingqing's eyes. They are good at eating, drinking and having fun, but not good at doing things.

The Ye family's main relationship circle is still dominated by Ye Yuqiao, the president of the Labor Federation, and has not yet benefited the second generation.

Otherwise, little Ah Qiao wouldn't have to go to the Ministry of Industry Bureau to be angry.

"He said his name was Feng Jingyao, and he was a businessman in the French Concession. Thanks to his help, I successfully helped you rent a bungalow at No. 32 Xiafei Road, and the monthly rent was only 120 oceans." George said with excitement, He looked excited, "Feng also invited me to have afternoon tea at the Grand Times Department Store, which is actually his property! Oh my god, it's the first time I've seen such a big department store in Shanghai. It's amazing."

It turned out to be French Concession tycoon Feng Jingyao!

Ye Luo's mind immediately turned over a series of information about Feng Jingyao.

He started out as a comprador in a French foreign company, and later specialized in the department store industry, and was also involved in some gray industries, such as tobacco, arms, prostitution, etc. After sweeping in a huge amount of money at a very fast speed, with the help of the Public Directors Bureau and the French Consulate General in China , built the second department store in Shanghai.

The first department store was located in the British Concession and was the Xianshi Department Store of British capital.

Feng Jingyao was a well-known Chinese tycoon in the French Concession, and his status was comparable to the three tycoons of Yongxing Company. But when the war broke out, he did things he shouldn't have done, and then became involved in a large number of illegal industries, and was shot dead in the end!

And the person who killed him is probably still selling fruit at an unknown pier at a stall.

That's right, he is the new tycoon who will replace Feng Jingyao in the future, Ding Li.

Feng Jingyao also has a daughter named Feng Chengcheng, who is probably still studying in Peking. When she came back, she was kidnapped by a killer at the train station. A patriotic young man rushed out and saved her life.

The patriotic young man’s name is Xu Wenqiang.

These stories were so cute that Ye Luo read them when he was a child, but he didn't expect that he could still use them after traveling through time.

Many of the Ye family's relationships and industries are in the public concession. The French Concession is the territory of the three tycoons, and the Ye family has very little involvement.

Feng Jingyao came to help so diligently. It seemed that his relationship with the three tycoons had broken down and he was looking for foreign help.

"Did he say anything else?" Ye Luo asked with a smile, turned the steering wheel and headed towards Xia Feifang.

"He gave me a business card and said he wanted to treat you to dinner when he was free." George took out a business card from his coat pocket and placed it in front of the windshield.

Ye Luo glanced casually and didn't care: "Haha, Boss Feng has suffered a big loss this time."

"Ah? Why?" George was puzzled.

Ye Luo replied with a smile: "It seems that he doesn't know who you are yet. If he knew that you were the consul of the British Concession and the director of the Ministry of Industry and Industry, he would probably regret it. He would have picked sesame seeds and lost the watermelon."

"Ye, please stop teasing me! You know, I'm not interested in these at all." George scratched his head. He only had academic research in his heart, and the intrigues in Shanghai were annoying even just looking at them.

Ye Luo smiled even brighter, he liked this about George.

In this era, such pure foreigners are rare.

"George, do you want to know the follow-up to my paper on the American economy?" Ye Luo suddenly asked.

"Of course! Have you written anything new?" George quickly sat up straight and asked, "I thought you had shelved it for the time being."

"No, but they are all in my head and can be used at any time." Ye Luo nodded his head and said with a smile, "George, you are my real lucky star. What I have been thinking about just now Advertising my car, look, isn’t this what it’s about?”

"Huh?" George became even more confused.

Ye Luo said seriously: "I'm going to have a dinner date with Boss Feng tonight, and I hope you'll accompany me."

"Okay, what do you need me to do?" This is not the first time that George has been tricked by Ye Luo. For four years as an undergraduate, this guy tricked him every day, but the relationship between the two has become more harmonious.

Who makes Ye Luo the top student he admires?

And it seems that Ye Luo angrily cheats on him every time, but in fact, he also gets a lot of benefits in the end.

After following Ye Luo for four years, George also prospered at Cambridge University.

"You just sit over there, eat, drink, and play Miss." Ye Luo smiled mysteriously.

"Oh I see."

Just be a mascot.

George nodded, then looked at him nervously: "After this time, the follow-up to the paper."

"Don't worry, I will definitely write it to you." Ye Luo had already broken the paper into a dozen parts in his mind.

"That's great." George was in a good mood.

Ford V8 slowly drove into Xiafei Square.

During the Republic of China era, in fact, the most distinctive thing about Shanghai was neither the Shanghai-style high-rise buildings in the concession nor the major piers crowded with people, but the old houses hidden deep in the old streets and alleys.

Turning from the sycamore tree into the alley of old Shanghai, this is the most authentic Shanghai beach style.

There are many lanes named after "fang" in Shanghai, and many historical celebrities have lived there.

For example, Wanyifang where Zou Taofen lived, Shangxianfang where Zhou Xuan lived, Fuxingfang where He Xiangning lived, Yongquanfang where Chen Chuxiang lived, Taoyuanfang where Shen Junru lived, Andingfang where Fu Lei lived, etc.

But among so many alleys, only Xiafei Fang was called "a Xiafei Fong, half of the history of the Republic of China" by later generations.

Xiafeifang was invested and built by the Belgian Church Puai Church in 1924. It covers an area of ​​1.7 hectares and has a total of 199 3-story brick and wood structure houses.

The architectural style is modeled after a French-style residence, with 30 units spliced ​​together.

The rent here can rival the entire French Concession. The starting monthly rent for a building is NT$200, not including any other expenses.

The monthly salary of a full university professor is not enough to cover the rent here.

Many military and political officials, wealthy businessmen, and celebrities in the cultural and literary circles once lived in Xiafeifang, such as Ba Jin, Xu Beihong, Zhou Jianren, Zhu Kezhen, and Xu Guangping.

Of course, even here, Ye Luo's Ford V8 is extremely eye-catching. Amidst the roar of the car, the second-floor windows of several bungalows opened one after another. Many people looked over and were attracted by this luxury car.

Seeing two handsome young men sitting in the car, one Chinese and one foreign, this strange combination is also very eye-catching.

Among the people who opened the windows, there were many familiar faces that could not be described in detail. Ye Luo greeted them with a smile, and then parked the car in front of his house——

No. 32, Xiafei Road.

Wait, this house number seems familiar, but I can't remember it.

Ye Luo didn't dwell on this. He jumped out of the car with George and went straight to see his "new house"!