1928: The rise of giant merchants

City Hall.

Zhang Dingyao sat at the head of the table, Zhang Qun stood behind him, and on both sides of the table sat Huo Tianhong, the boss of Yongxing Company, Fan Erdi, chairman of Ye's Joint Venture Bank, honorary chairman Ye Luo and general manager Fan Juli.

"Ahem, cough, cough." Zhang Dingyao's cough has not improved because of the end of the Rendan crisis and the change of Western medicine. It seems to be a bit more serious. "Okay. Ahem, cough. Since everyone is here, it's official. Let’s start signing the loan contract.”

Zhang Qun glanced at Zhang Dingyao with a complicated expression.

If it hadn't been confirmed after multiple consultations that Zhang Dingyao's condition was not contagious tuberculosis, he would not have dared to be so close to Zhang Dingyao.

Seeing Zhang Dingyao's condition getting worse day by day, Zhang Qun had mixed feelings in his heart.

He not only hopes that his immediate boss can hold on, lest the Nationalist Government parachute a new leader in order to stabilize the situation in Shanghai during this most sensitive period, but also secretly hopes that Zhang Dingyao will not recover, and finally puts this fat job on his head. .

The driving force behind Zhang Dingyao's struggle is the German military advisory team that will arrive in Shanghai at the end of November.

After winning the great achievement of Hua-German military cooperation, even if he spends several months to treat his illness and recuperate, he will be able to get a good position in the reorganization of the National Government next year, and there is hope of entering the top management of Jinling.

As a general from the Guangxi clan, Zhang Dingyao's only hope now is this, so even if he dies, he must handle the Huade military cooperation project under pressure.

Unlike these two political figures, Ye Luo and others still focus on the shopping mall.

In fact, when it comes to the political situation, the biggest thing this year is not the successful conclusion of the Second Northern Expedition, but the incident of Zhang Hanqing changing flags that will happen in December!

After that, the North-South negotiations ended completely, and were replaced by the Central Plains War between several powerful warlords of the Nationalist Government!

If Zhang Dingyao knew about this, he would shift his focus to dealing with the Central Plains War and use more convincing military exploits to add to his political journey, instead of focusing on military cooperation.

It's a pity that the only person who can predict the future is Ye Luo, and he must not give Zhang Dingyao advice on such matters.

"Boss Huo, this is a re-drafted contract. There are three versions in Chinese, French and English. They are handed over to the municipal government, Ye's Joint Venture Bank and your Yongxing Company for safekeeping. The contents are exactly the same. Please take a look."

It was also the first time for Fan Juli to do this kind of formal work, so she was a little nervous and uneasy.

Fortunately, she was originally a progressive female student with excellent abilities. She studied with little Aqiao for a long time before coming into contact with Verdy, and then spent many days under the influence of the French Consulate General. Now she can handle such matters in a decent manner.

In order not to let the inside of Yongxing Company know, Huo Tianhong came alone today. He was not highly educated, so he could only pretend to read the contents of the contract.

Anyway, Fan Juli had already made it clear to him in vernacular about the specific matters.

Huo Tianhong borrowed 8 million yuan from Ye's Investment Bank in his own name for a period of one month, with monthly interest payments and principal repayment on maturity, with an interest rate of 5% (interest of 40,000 yuan was paid in one month, and the principal was returned upon maturity).

Yip's Investment Bank adheres to the principle of confidentiality and will not disclose this loan cooperation to anyone other than those present.

If there is a leakage of loan cooperation, and the problem lies with Ye's joint venture bank, Huo Tianhong does not need to return the principal and interest; the problem lies with Yongxing Company, then Ye's joint venture bank does not need to be responsible; the problem lies with Zhang Dingyao and the two. , they are responsible for repaying all costs of the loan.

Secondly, Huo Tianhong will use his 60% shares and total assets of Yongxing Company as guarantee for this loan.

Zhang Dingyao and Zhang Qun were also curious about what Huo Tianhong was going to do with the eight million ocean. However, when they kept sending people to secretly investigate, the finger was finally pointed at the Sassoon family and Jinling senior officials. This meant that they who had nothing to do with the matter had better not go further. , so as not to get burned.

After signing the contract, Ye Luo and Fan Erdi issued checks, and the money would be transferred to Huo Tianhong's account within three days through cash delivery, bank transfer, etc.

Huo Tianhong will fight them all to Edward Sassoon in various ways.

After leaving the city hall, Huo Tianhong looked around to make sure no one noticed him, then immediately got into Ye Luo's Rolls-Royce.

The two of them were sitting in the back row. Ye Luo laughed and said: "Congratulations to Boss Huo. This is a check of two million oceans. It can be exchanged at Citibank or HSBC at any time. It is the acquisition fee of those twenty-six companies."

"Second Young Master, please speak up! These are all the land deeds and information required for the handover. One day, Second Young Master is free, just go to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Bureau to complete the handover procedures."

Huo Tianhong took the check, and the two of them paid with one hand and delivered the goods with the other. They were very harmonious.

After completing the transaction worth ten million yuan, Huo Tianhong breathed a sigh of relief and almost missed Edward's final deadline.

As for how those goods will come in, he doesn't need to worry about it.

Because Huo Tianhong has only two jobs. The first is to contact Edward to purchase the best cigarettes, and the second is to connect Song Ziwen and Edward. How do these goods arrive in Shanghai, what means does Edward use to give them to Song Ziwen, and how do they transport them out to sell and recover the money? , this is Song Ziwen’s own business.

If this matter is completed, Huo Tianhong will receive various support from the Ministry of Finance, and the subsequent profits from this cigarette sale will continue to flow into Yongxing Company through Song Ziwen.

The most important thing is that Song Ziwen will be the matchmaker to give him the opportunity to get to know Kong Xiangxi, the real richest man in the country!

Huo Tianhong is not afraid of being cheated by Song Ziwen.

He has too many details and secrets about this transaction in his hands. If things go wrong, or Song Ziwen tries his best, he has a way to make it difficult for the other party.

Moreover, the tobacco business is a high-quality business that benefits many parties, so there is no need for Song Ziwen to cheat himself.

Putting aside the land deeds, Huo Tianhong didn't want to stay with Ye Luo for a long time, so he got out of the car and left for some reason.

Seeing his anxious look, Ye Luo guessed that Edward's side was about to finish the work, and probably during this period, Huo Tianhong and Zhang Wanlin's goods would arrive in Shanghai through another method.

Ye Luo estimated that the three tycoons of Yongxing Company bought at least 40 million yuan worth of goods from the Sassoon family. Calculating 15,000 boxes of the best quality, it was nearly 3,000 boxes!

In early 1919, Xu Shichang appointed anti-smoking commissioner Zhang Yipeng to Shanghai Bund, and together with local authorities, transported 1,206 boxes of large cigarettes to Lujiazui for destruction. A specially built earthen kiln was built locally, and the inspected smoke was thrown into the blazing fire.

This is the second grand cigarette ban after Lin Zexu’s “Humen Ban”.

In this major cigarette smoking campaign nine years ago, only 1,206 boxes of cigarettes were destroyed!

"Let's go to Bai Mansion to talk about our next big business." Ye Luo rolled up the car window, took the information of three arsenals, and prepared to go to Bai Mansion to meet Xiong Shihui and others who Bai Xiongqi specially hosted for him.