1928: The rise of giant merchants

"Brother Six, did you just come back from Peking?" Ye Luo and Zhang Hanqing followed Bai Xiuzhu and walked into the relatively cool garden house.

"Yes, after the meeting in Peking yesterday, I immediately took a plane to the south with the principal. Thinking that you had just come back from the United States, I got off the plane and came to Shanghai. It would be better for you to play with me and me with your brothers and sisters, and make us husband and wife. We both waited outside for more than ten minutes."

Zhang Hanqing laughed teasingly, took the Coca-Cola from Ye Luo, took a sip through the straw, and couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

"This drink is indeed delicious, but it's a pity that it is only produced in the south. Every time Lu Xun and the others want to drink it, I search all over Fengtian and can't find a store that sells it."

"Isn't this simple? Another day I will ask Ruxian to open a branch next to the Fengtian Marshal's Mansion. Then Brother Six, you can drink as much as you want." Ye Luo glanced at Zhao Yidi who was chatting with Bai Xiuzhu, and Zhang Hanqing thought Addressing himself as "our husband and wife", it seems that he has completely taken over Yu Fengzhi, the eldest sister, and allowed Miss Zhao Si to have a place in the Zhang family.

"Oh? Is this beverage company also the property of your second young master from Shanghai?" Zhang Hanqing raised the half-emptied glass bottle and looked at it carefully. He actually saw the Yip investment logo next to the Coca-Cola company's trademark, "It's awesome. , Aluo, every time I come to see you, you always give me some unexpected surprises."

"Haha, Sixth Brother is joking. The Coca-Cola Company is owned by the Yankees. I only took its domestic distribution rights, but I still have some say in small things like opening a branch." Ye Luo simply said that Coca-Cola was originally Unpopular, he later replaced "Tadpole Wax" with "Coca-Cola" to make it popular, and even told Zhang Hanqing everything about getting the distribution rights from Watsons.

Zhang Hanqing listened with great interest and couldn't help but nod: "The name Coca-Cola sounds like a festive name, like a tadpole chewing on wax, haha. I don't know which translator came up with the name lazily. It's too scary. I don't blame others for seeing the name." Just stay away. When it comes to business, I’m really not as good as you."

"That's because Sixth Brother is not thinking about this." Ye Luo smiled modestly, and then changed the topic to the incident on Zhongzhong Road, "By the way, did yesterday's meeting go well, Sixth Brother?"

"It's going well. To be honest, I really doubt that you are the lucky star in my life. Before I met you, everything was not going well for me - the family was banned, my father was murdered, the north was in turmoil, and the finances were in deficit. It was as miserable as it could be. But since I came to Shanghai to meet you that time, everything has gone much smoother. Yesterday, in the secret meeting, the principal also mentioned you, saying that given time, you will definitely be much more useful than his uncle who only gets in and out. If I had known this, The position of Minister of Finance of the National Government should be left to you."

Zhang Hanqing said this in a sour tone, obviously dissatisfied with the principal's idea of ​​poaching him. In his mind, everything with Ye Luo was clearly his first. The principal just took advantage of the right time and place in the south. Why pick peaches?

Moreover, he believed that in a few years, Ye's investment would develop to the north, and Ye Luo would shift his business focus. When Ye's investment moved to the north, wouldn't Ye Luo be able to capture it for him?

Everything is a matter of time.

It's a pity that if he could predict the future like Ye Luo, he wouldn't be so optimistic.

Two years later, the Japanese invaders launched the Fengtian Incident, which destroyed Zhang Hanqing's hometown, and then officially started war with China, which continued the war in the originally peaceful north. Compared with Fengtian, Shanghai Beach was obviously more suitable for the development of Ye's investment.

Later, the long Anti-Japanese War made the country full of scorched earth, which was no longer a good place to do business.

The cooperation between Zhang Hanqing and Zhang Ye that Zhang Hanqing hoped for was destined to fail.

"Haha, Sixth Brother, you know me. I'm not afraid of anyone if I compete with others for making money. But if you ask me to be an official, do you think I'm the material?" Ye Luo waved his hand quickly. In the business blueprint he originally formulated, It does not include politics. It did not exist in the past, does not exist now, and will not exist in the future.

"I think so! Haha." Zhang Hanqing knew that Ye Luo couldn't pull back even twelve oxen, so he didn't say much. He just made a joke and continued talking about yesterday's meeting, "Hey, I didn't tell you that. I thought that the principal would be so decisive in supporting me to take back the China Eastern Railway. Watching him and several other people fighting fiercely in the past few months, I always thought that he was only interested in internal fighting and did not care about the issue of national sovereignty. I acted as a villain. The heart is open to the heart of a gentleman."

No, you are right, he is really only thinking about internal fighting.

The Jinling National Government headed by the principal agreed to support Zhang Hanqing's military actions in order to implement anti-Soviet and anti-communist policies, cut off the Soviet Union's ties with domestic underground organizations, and consume local forces in the north.

In order to achieve these goals as quickly as possible, the principal also took advantage of the determination of the northern government headed by Zhang Hanqing to regain its lost sovereignty, and unilaterally exaggerated the Soviet ambitions towards China and the penetration of its forces in the north, intensifying the conflict between Zhang Hanqing and the Soviet Union.

In Zhang Hanqing's previous unilateral action to recover the right of way in the Middle East, the Soviet side's tolerance made Zhang Hanqing and some people in the northern government mistakenly believe that the Soviet side was weak and empty, strong on the outside and ineffective on the inside. Therefore, they strengthened their determination to use tough measures to recover all the right of way.

This is exactly what the principal wants. That's why he enthusiastically supported Zhang Hanqing's decision at yesterday's meeting. He wished that Zhang Hanqing would go to fight tomorrow and be defeated by the Soviet side. He would not be able to recover for a few years. , so that he could take advantage of the situation after finishing Yan Laoxi and others, and completely unify them.

Unfortunately, Ye Luo couldn't say these words to his face, otherwise it would be what Zhang Hanqing just said, "using a villain's heart to judge a gentleman's heart", and Zhang Hanqing would consider him "ungrateful".

"It would be best if we could take back the railway, but if that doesn't happen, Brother Six, you have to act with caution." Ye Luo considered his words and tried to remind him in a tactful tone, "Although the principal supports you openly, he still Without practical actions, Sixth Brother, don’t be careless.”

"It's normal that he is busy confronting Yan Laoxi and doesn't have the energy to divide his troops to help me." Zhang Hanqing waved his hand, and when he mentioned this, he couldn't help but frown slightly, "But the principal has been attacking the Guangxi clique in recent months. They were attacking Feng Yuxiang, and now they are also targeting Yan Laoxi, which is a bit authoritarian."

"It's true." Ye Luo didn't expect that he would take the initiative to express his dissatisfaction, so he just followed his words, "Looking at the principal's behavior in the past two years, it is obvious that he is just like Mussolini in Italy, trying to rule by dictatorship. He should not go further down this road. Alas, this is a big problem at the moment. If the principal does not do this, he will not be able to get the National Government to impose prohibitions, and the recovery of customs, concessions and consular jurisdiction will become far away. But if we continue to do this, the whole country will be in a mess again.”

"A civil war is inevitable." Zhang Hanqing nodded in agreement, and then shook his head firmly, "But if the principal insists on having his own way, I will definitely not follow him to start civil strife. It is okay not to want to avoid the false unity that has been exchanged for the lives and blood and tears of countless compatriots. .”

"But if there is an invasion by a foreign enemy, and there are still several major warlords in the country fighting each other, the country will be destroyed, which is not far away." Ye Luo looked solemn, and finally talked about this most important topic.

If Zhang Hanqing could be more cautious, maybe so many people wouldn't die in the future. (End of chapter)