1928: The rise of giant merchants

"So this is what you two are talking about?"

Ye Luo held a glass bottle of Coca-Cola in his hand, and while sucking the Coke through a straw, he gave Shi Jianqiao and Kong Lingjun a chestnut each in an annoyed manner.

The two of them covered their heads and did not dare to speak. They lowered their heads and felt aggrieved.

It turned out that they were walking along the street and accidentally saw a cart selling Coca-Cola. When they looked closely at the sign, they thought that foreigners had pirated their own "tadpole wax". They were so angry that they ran over to argue.

Kong Lingjun can barely communicate with foreigners in English, while Shi Jianqiao knows nothing about it, but she can play.

Fortunately, after staying with Ye Luo for a while, Shi Jianqiao had already restrained his temper of trying to reason with his fists. He first took Kong Lingjun to come to Ye Luo for confirmation, so that he didn't make a bigger joke.

"I see this bottle looks like ours, so I thought so." Kong Lingjun's cheeks turned red, because Aunt Shi Jianqiao had to make a fool of herself with her. She was extra honest this time and admitted her mistake directly.

"Idiot! You still drink Coca-Cola every day. Don't you know this is the distributorship I got from overseas?" Ye Luo flicked her little head again, and then she went to observe the car selling Coca-Cola. of trolley.

This was the prototype of the catering carts of later generations. However, because the street stall culture was severely cracked down by the domestic urban management system, this kind of dining cart culture failed to become popular in the end. It was replaced by the kind of sales stalls at subway entrances, scenic spots and designated locations.

Ye Luo knew about this kind of stall in his previous life. The actual owner was a government department and outsourced to relatives of certain officials. The theory was indeed very high, but the "boss" responsible for the work and sales at the stall were actually just employees of chain restaurants. , you can’t make any money at all with a dead salary.

The profits from the breakfast and drinks purchased by the guests were all made by those related households.

But it was different during the Republic of China, when various cultures flowed freely. The Jinling National Government also strongly encouraged everyone to learn Western culture and abandon "traditional dross."

Westernization is not complete enough now, and the only obstacle is funding.

They are indeed developing well, but there are still too few people who can successfully introduce them.

Just say that such a small cart includes the functions of production, sales, cashier, publicity, etc. It is convenient and practical, and the Coca-Cola Company headquarters provides props, work certificates, and training procedures. The owner of the cart can also get part of the dividends, and Coca-Cola has Coca-Cola behind him. With such a big company’s endorsement, they don’t have to worry about being extorted in any way.

In short, whether it is system processes or various technologies, the West is indeed far ahead of the Republic of China. This can be seen from such a small cart.

"There is no shortage of such small carts in the country, but the obstacles to operations are unimaginable. In addition, the technology is not mature enough. To mass-produce such small props, a certain industrial level is required." Ye Luo observed the small cart carefully. The domestic type of pure woodworking has traces of mechanization in some details, which is a reflection of high industrialization.

"It seems that this trip to the United States is the right one." Ye Luo sighed secretly in his heart, "After World War I, the industrial level of the United States developed rapidly. Now it is just one war away from proving that it is the real number one power. No one can Unexpectedly, the opportunity for war will be the economic crisis that suddenly sweeps the world in the second half of the year. At that time, the country will be in a situation where it has to rely on war to relieve pressure. A large number of domestic factories will close down, equipment will be sold off, and no one cares about it. Technology will be like waste paper. All over the floor”

This is another opportunity for Ye Luo.

But the top priority is to make money in the stock market first.

After educating the two beauties, one big and one small, Ye Luo took them back to the hotel.

In New York at this time, the Empire State Building had not yet been built. From the perspective of a person who had traveled back in time, there was nothing worth seeing, but everyone else was extremely excited and marveled at the prosperity of this international metropolis.

Even Shanghai, which is known as the "Ten Miles Foreign Market", is still not as good as New York today.

Ye Luo asked Shi Jianqiao to take Kong Lingjun for a stroll, just in case the two of them would cause trouble again. He specially arranged for a few more stable brothers from Hongmen to follow him. As for himself, he, Ding Li, and Huo Ting'en The others went to the Hongmen headquarters, Hongxingtang.

This hall is located in the largest Chinatown in New York. The entire street is owned by Hongxing Hall, and the hall owner is also Situ Meitang.

Hearing that the country's top tycoon from Shanghai was visiting, many Hongmen disciples were eagerly looking forward to seeing what a man as famous as their eldest brother looked like.

When the young, handsome and tall Ye Luo walked into the main entrance of Hongxing Hall, everyone couldn't help but exclaim in surprise and doubt.

Having been overseas all year round, they do not know much about the domestic situation.

I only know that the Qing Gang is now divided between the north and the south, and Qingliu and Zhuoliu are doing their own thing. Qingliu’s eldest brother is Mr. Yuan Kewen, but this man is romantic and bohemian, not a Jianghu person like them. Zhuoliu’s eldest brother is Huo Tianhong, and he is also the successor of the three tycoons of Yongxing. Sheng Xuanhuai was the great figure who unified the south.

The name Ye Luo has only gradually appeared in recent years.

The news here is lagging behind. It was only recently that Ye Luo defeated the three tycoons, established a sect, accepted the mountain-top worship ceremony, and was crowned the number one tycoon.

The former three tycoons, Huo Tianhong became a street sweeper, Zhang Wanlin defected to the Japanese invaders, and Lu Yusheng's life or death was uncertain (he was actually executed by the independent group).

No one would have thought that the big man who unified the world would be a young man who looked like he was still studying!

"Haha, A Luo, have you seen that the eyes of all my disciples are about to fall off?" Situ Meitang patted his shoulder with a very affectionate gesture, "Come here, follow the rules, don't be a sect." When eldest brother comes to visit, he must first pay his respects to Emperor Guan."

Ye Luo solemnly arranged his clothes, took the three sticks of incense handed to him by the girl in the cheongsam, and bowed three times to the statue of Emperor Guan in the center of the hall in full view of everyone.

The onlookers also bowed ninety degrees to show respect for the visiting elder brother.

"The last old friend who came to pay homage to Emperor Guan is now gone, which is very sad." Situ Meitang said with emotion.

His voice was not quiet, and the surrounding Hongmen disciples heard it clearly, and all of them suddenly showed even more surprised expressions.

The last person who came to visit and was able to pay homage to Emperor Guan was the domestic "Hongmen eldest brother". He was of the same seniority as the overseas "Hongmen eldest brother" Situ Meitang, and was a great figure.

He said this just to put Ye Luo on the same level as that person!

"What kind of ability does this person have that makes the old man admire him so much?" Several other eldest brothers in charge speculated in their minds.

At this moment, a silver bell-like laughter came from outside the door.

"You are Ye Luo?"

The girl was wearing a red cheongsam and had a cute bun. She looked sweet, but as soon as she appeared, everyone around her took a half step back, as if they were avoiding some plague god.