1928: The rise of giant merchants

At a wedding banquet, the guests and hosts enjoy themselves.

In the afternoon, there was a social dance specially arranged by Ye Yuqiao. The celebrities from all walks of life naturally wanted to take this opportunity to get close to a group of local tycoons in Shanghai.

Young people like Ye Hao have their own social circle. After lunch, they go out to have fun.

Li Shuzhen wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with her youngest son whom she hadn't seen in six years. Unfortunately, she was the mistress of the Ye family, and her daughter was getting married. She was busy with too many things, so she could only take the time to find Ye Luo and hold her youngest son's hand. He said a few words with tears in his eyes, then took out his checkbook from his wallet and asked Ye Luo to spend it as he pleased, and then find a chance to have a good chat in the evening.

"Luoluo, your dad is old, don't pay attention to him! Mom will persuade him tonight. If you want to do business, mom will definitely support you! And Xiuzhu, you can talk if you don't like it. If you don't like it, just do it yourself. Go find a little girl who doesn’t want to go with you."

"Well, thank you, Mom." Ye Luo took the checkbook and was very touched.

Li Shuzhen is known for doting on her sons. In the eyes of outsiders, she is a very unqualified parent, but as her child, she feels very happy.

If she said this, she would definitely persuade Ye Yuqiao.

This is good, as it reduces some family obstacles to starting a business.

Ye Luo thought so, hummed a tune, nodded in response to those who greeted him with "Second Young Master", and quickly left the Majestic Hotel.

The ballroom dance in the afternoon attracted a large number of celebrities, and many well-dressed men and women had already arrived in front of the hotel.

Among the dancing venues in Shanghai in the 1920s, the Richa Hotel was the only one with a large ballroom that could accommodate hundreds of people. The decoration and accompaniment band were top-notch. Unfortunately, the Richa Hotel was generally only open to foreigners, and few Chinese were invited. Go to the dance over there.

In the second tier are hotels such as Dahua, Carlton, Yipinxiang, and Moon Palace. Among them, Dahua Hotel is the most famous and the most expensive.

Now you can only dance 3 songs for 1 yuan at the Dahua Hotel, and you have to pay 50 cents for tea.

At this time, the monthly salary of an ordinary maid was only two yuan and two cents, which was only enough to spend at the Majestic Hotel once!

Those who can afford to dance these days belong to the upper class.

Not to mention someone as dignified as Ye Yuqiao who booked the entire hotel and held his own social dance!

However, this situation will soon change. From the second half of 1928, as the Jinling National Government took control of the situation, the coastal areas gradually prospered, and ballroom dancing gradually began to become popular among the public. A large number of ballrooms sprung up in major cities.

After the rise of civilian dance halls, the cost of dancing became less expensive. There will also be a large number of Chinese backup dancers. The monthly income of the red dancers in the big ballroom can be as high as 300 yuan, which is comparable to that of university professors!

Feeling emotional about these upcoming changes, Ye Luo walked to the door of the hotel and happened to see Hua Mei who was about to take a rickshaw back to Fengming Tower.

Hua Mei held the yellow cloth hood with one hand and carried a small bag with the other. Before she even got on the rickshaw, someone gently hugged her slender waist.

"Where did Xiaochi come from?" Hua Mei's beautiful eyes widened, thinking that this little little guy with no eyes dared to tease her here. When she turned around and saw Ye Luo with a smile, the foul words pouring out of her throat immediately changed. It became a charming cry, "Second Young Master~ Why are you here?"

"Back to Fengming Tower, right? I'll take you there on the way." Ye Luo took her back from the rickshaw and said to the rickshaw driver with a smile, "She won't sit down, so you can go."

"Hey, sir, please go slowly!" The skinny rickshaw driver lost a big business. His face was full of bitterness, but he didn't dare to say anything more. He apologized and then drove the rickshaw to find other customers.

"Thank you, Second Young Master~" Hua Mei hugged his arm with a smile on her face.

The two came to a black Ford car. This car was Ye Hao's car. Usually there was a driver responsible for taking Ye Hao to and from get off work. Today, it temporarily belonged to Ye Luo and was used for his transportation.

Hua Mei smiled and sat in the passenger seat, looking around with a curious expression.

Even though she has met countless people and often hangs out in high-class social circles, she has never ridden in such a luxury car, which is usually only owned by foreigners and top celebrities.

There were not many vehicles on the streets at this time.

Generally speaking, the steering wheel is on the left side of Ford and Chevrolet imported from the United States.

The steering wheel on the right side is a Citroën and Lenard brand imported from France.

Even three years later, in 1931, there were still not many cars on the beach.

At that time, the brands and numbers of registered cars in the French Concession were 424 Citroën, 235 Renault, 79 Peugeot, 21 Talbot, 20 De Ombden, 8 De Lahaye, 8 There are 6 Helmsons and 4 Bugattis.

The best-selling of all imported cars is Ford from the United States. Among them, the Ford V8, which is most popular among wealthy people, is priced at NT$5,000!

At this time, a great writer like Zhou Shuren was paid about 5 yuan per thousand words. If he wanted to buy a Ford V8, he would have to write 1 million words!

This is just buying a car, not counting the more troublesome subsequent car maintenance costs.

Ye Luo drove the car skillfully and observed various special scenery of this era.

The sense of age coming from the pavement gave him a sense of reality.

Pedestrians and rickshaw drivers on the street will subconsciously give way to the luxury car. If it hits and is scratched, it is a rare commodity that you can’t afford to lose even if you make ten lifetimes of money!

This is exactly the opposite of the situation in later generations where vehicles were afraid of hitting pedestrians and were careful to avoid them.

very interesting.

"Well, if I could ride in the second young master's car every day, Mei'er would be very happy even if she died soon." Hua Mei smiled like a flower beside her, looking at the passers-by through the car window, and saw the envious looks they cast, I finally understand why many little sisters in Fengming Tower are struggling to become concubines for wealthy businessmen and officials.

"Haha, let me see, in less than half a year, Meier, you will be able to rent a car and go shopping on the beach in Shanghai."

Ye Luo looked at the scenery around him and said with a smile,

"In the past few years, the tram tracks in Shanghai Bund City have been getting longer and longer. You see, trams are fashionable and cheap. Many students and literati have begun to choose to travel by tram. Like the rickshaw driver just now, their only mainstream customers are Young ladies and gentlemen like you are here. Times are progressing, technology is developing, and the popularization of automobile applications will not be too far away."

"Oh, what kind of young lady is Mei'er?" Hua Mei pursed her lips and chuckled, "The second young master is lying to others again. This kind of car is extremely expensive. How many people in Shanghai can afford to rent it? Woolen cloth."

Hua Mei does not believe that high-end cars will become a means of travel for many people.

Looking at it now, of course it seems impossible.

But Ye Luo knew that with the end of the Northern Expedition and the country entering a relatively stable period of development, 1927-1937 would be hailed as the golden decade by later generations, and the domestic economy would develop rapidly.

As the largest city in the Far East and the most prosperous city at the moment, Shanghai's economic development rate will be even more terrifying.

The next days were almost the same.

Although buying and maintaining a car is still something only the top people can do, the middle class and some vain young men and women can already use their spare money to take taxis and rent cars to show their status.

The car rental industry quietly emerged and prospered during this stage.

Ye Luo took Hua Mei back to Fengming Tower, and took the opportunity to see the sick little Aqiao. Another purpose was to start his first project——

Invest in the development of the car rental industry.

"Mei'er, how much does a rickshaw ride cost now?" Ye Luo asked, turning the steering wheel.

"Hey, I get so angry when I talk about this, Second Young Master." Hua Mei pouted, took out her foundation, and touched up her makeup in front of the mirror while complaining, "Since the car dealership was acquired by Yu Likui, those rickshaw drivers have been increasing their prices. , now it costs 10 cents to start, and another 10 cents for every half mile. From Dahua Hotel to Fengming Tower, the fare is 80 cents."

Ye Luo remembered that six years ago, the rickshaw driver deducted the share of the money paid to the rickshaw dealer and earned only eighty cents a day when business was good. Now his income may have more than doubled.

But with such unbridled high prices, it’s no wonder that more and more people tend to take trams instead of the old-fashioned rickshaws.

As soon as he mentioned this idea, Hua Mei closed the foundation box and curled her lips: "How can there be any profit? My cousin works as a truck puller at Feip Automobile Co., Ltd. He said he can make 50 cents a day. Thank God. Yu Likui is a vampire. , the share price is set very high.”

Mentioning Yu Likui, the current "car dealer king" in Shanghai, Hua Mei couldn't help but lower her voice and secretly looked at Ye Luo's face.

Yu Likui was once a well-known cousin of the Knife Gang, and one of the first boys to follow Ye Yuqiao to Shanghai. After the Labor Federation was established, he left and bought many rickshaw shops with the help of Ye Yuqiao. After years of operation, he has become the most prestigious "car dealer king" at the moment.

But since last year, he has become involved with the three tycoons of Yongxing Company, and his relationship with the Labor Federation has become increasingly tense. The dues paid by the car dealership to the Labor Federation have also been decreasing year by year.

Ye Yuqiao and Yu Likui are already on the verge of breaking up.

Hua Mei was quick to speak, but then regretted what she said, worrying that Ye Luo would think she was deliberately stirring up trouble.

Ye Luo didn't care about this at all, he just narrowed his eyes slightly and thought about things related to Yu Likui.

This guy is a well-known 25-year-old.

In the original history, after Lu Yongxiang was electrified and left the field, Ye Yuqiao lost his backer. Because he had offended too many people before, he began to be gradually backlashed.

In the spring of 1931, Ye Yuqiao had to leave Shanghai with his family. In order to avoid being hunted down, he asked his children to change their appearance and not see each other for safety.

Unfortunately, he was assassinated by Yu Likui himself in the end.

This is the end of a generation of heroes.

Ye Luo just plans to start accumulating original capital from the taxi industry. Taxis will be the biggest competitor to rickshaws in the future, and they will definitely face Yu Likui.

Then just get rid of him by the way.

With this thought in mind, the car turned a corner and arrived at the largest prostitute and tea house in Shanghai——

The first and largest building, Fengming Building, is run by Shu Qiao, who is known as the eldest sister in the world!