1928: The rise of giant merchants

July 15, the 18th year of the Republic of China (1929).

Shanghai Bund City Hall.

In response to the previous incident of Feng Shaoshan, Zhao Jinqing, chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce, and Tan Si, the boss of the Pier Gang, escaping from Shanghai, the Military and Political Department of the Jinling National Government finally issued the final instructions, defining it as a vicious defection incident, and officially labeled these three people as " Counter-revolutionary group", suspected to be related to an underground organization.

Any individuals, groups, forces, etc. who participated in assisting the three people to escape from Shanghai will be punished as "counter-revolutionary". If they are dissatisfied, they can appeal to the principal's office for personal judgment.

As soon as the announcement was issued over there, the Songhu Police Department and the Security Headquarters started arresting relevant personnel.

The families of Feng Shaoshan and Zhao Jinqing were uprooted, and the people related to them were also controlled. Of course, the main members of the Feng and Zhao families had already gone to Aocheng with the ship, and those who stayed in Shanghai were all unbelievers. A distant relative who would rather guard his one-third of an acre of land than believe that this matter would affect him.

As for the Pier Gang, as soon as Tan Si left, the gang dispersed, and all its territory and personnel were taken over by third-rate forces such as the Wuhu Gang. However, before they could take over, they were taken over by the city hall.

The three tycoons have had troubles one after another, and Tan Si, who is second only to them, has now left Shanghai. Gangs have been basically eradicated. As for those third- and fourth-rate gangs, they usually use them as toilets for senior officials in the city hall, and no one will spend them. mind to deal with them.

If there are any rogue tycoons who are still alive and well, then the only one left is Feng Jingyao, who lives in the French Concession and is protected by the Public Directors Bureau and the French Consulate General in Shanghai.

But Feng Jingyao's life was equally difficult.

He had previously engaged in various businesses, especially building department stores, which allowed him to accumulate a lot of contacts and wealth. But later, as the three tycoons' cigarette business became more and more prosperous, he was not to be outdone and secretly followed the Sassoon family. Light up cigarettes and sell them.

Originally this was nothing, but as soon as the incident with the Nissin and Jiangan came out, the Nationalist Government was forced to conduct a thorough investigation into the cigarette trade and transportation. Naturally, Feng Jingyao could not hide what he had from the City Hall. Fortunately, he was smart enough when the General Chamber of Commerce collapsed. , hugged Yu Qiaqing's thigh directly, and paid a lot of protection money to avoid death.

But after these events, Feng Jingyao's influence in the French Concession was not as strong as before, and he could no longer be as majestic as before, taking advantage of the wind and rain.

No matter what, the land of Shanghai's business community was successfully plowed by the principal, and he got the results he wanted.

This is also the greatest tragedy of the Republic of China.

No matter how much money you have, if you encounter the unreasonable Qiu Ba, you should die or die.

Unless your business can spread all over the place like Ye Luo, you not only have high-level support within the National Government, but are also sought after by many foreigners in the concessions, and even have extremely high influence and popularity around the world.

At that time, even the most famous warlords in the country would treat you as a guest and treat you well.

"After the Opium War, the opening of Shanghai Beach opened its history of becoming a large city. It is precisely for this reason that although Shanghai Beach is prosperous, this prosperity is a kind of abnormal prosperity. The colonial forces of various countries are complicated in the city. Although the leasing process is There is a lot of traffic, but there is no doubt that this is not the glory of the Ala nation.”

Zhang Qun's non-standard Shanghai dialect made Ye Luo laugh and cry. Among the senior executives present at the meeting, some out-and-out Shanghainese even tried to hold back their laughter and almost lost their temper.

When it comes to this period of history, everyone knows it.

In 1927, after the establishment of the Jinling National Government, Shanghai Beach became one of the cities in the core area of ​​the national capital. It merged Yinxiang Town and Yinhang Town in Baoshan County and became a "special city". However, at that time, most of the center of Shanghai Beach was In the concession area, the most prosperous ones are the public concession and the French concession.

The only ones that belonged to the Chinese were the county town and county suburbs, and even the city hall was in the remote Fenglinqiao area (today's Xujiahui).

For 27 years, the Nationalist Government has been hoping to take the prosperous area of ​​Shanghai as its own. However, behind the two concessions are the British and French powers, and the principal cannot crack these two hard bones.

Since there is no way to take back the concession, we can only build a new Shanghai Bund City.

So there was the intention to plan Shanghai Huajie.

The Jinling National Government hopes that the Chinese community will rise to compete with the concession and regain the core power of Shanghai Bund!

"If you are honest and manage it well, the situation of being the dominant one will gradually be restored. The prosperity of Shanghai Beach can be transferred from outsiders to the hands of the Chinese. These are the words printed on the monument in front of our city hall. I believe you are all familiar with it. ." Zhang Qun continued, "In the past, when we shouted slogans, everyone knew that they were just shouting and should not be taken seriously. But today, I received a secret message from the principal's office and received an important instruction."

Upon hearing the name of the principal, the lazy people slowly straightened their backs and began to concentrate on listening carefully to Zhang Qun's speech.

"This time, the 123rd meeting of the Shanghai Bund Special City Hall of the Republic of China, initiated by me and supervised by Boyan, will pass an important resolution. Everyone present is either a high-level representative of the military and political circles in Shanghai, or a giant in the business and literary circles. You The suggestions are the suggestions of the people of Shanghai. Please be sure to read this document carefully and give me the most pertinent suggestions."

Zhang Qun glanced at Bai Xiongqi who was taking notes at the side. Bai Xiong nodded and signaled the secretary to pass the printed documents to everyone one by one.

Ye Luo was in a relatively back position, but he attracted more attention than Zhang Qun. He reached out to take the document and found that "1929 Great Shanghai Plan" was written in big bold letters on it.

The document states that a Greater Shanghai Central Area Construction Committee will be established in August this year and the project will be pushed into the implementation stage.

After the first round of public bond issuance is completed and sufficient funds are raised by selling land, the planned projects will begin construction one after another from the first half of 1930.

Xinhuajie will be adjacent to the New Commercial Port to the north, the concession to the south, and the Huangpu River to the east. The flat Jiangwan area (approximately 7,000 acres (460 hectares of land)) is designated as the city center area, where main roads and municipal government buildings will be built. and other public facilities.

The plan divided the city center area (i.e. Xinhuajie) into three parts: political, commercial and residential. With Wujiaochang as the center, a spider web-shaped trunk and branch road system was formed, with Huangxing Road, Qimei Road (today's Siping Road) and Xiangyin West Road (today's Xiangyin West Road) Handan Road) connects to Yangpu, Hongkou and Zhabei respectively, and Xiangyin Road and Songhu Road lead to the hinterland of "Greater Shanghai", forming blocks that are both divided and interconnected.

After the city center area was delineated, the city was divided into five major areas: administrative area, industrial area, commercial port area, commercial area, and residential area. Xinhuajie was the administrative area, the city center and the old city were the commercial areas, and the Wusong River and Huangpu River banks were It is a commercial port area, Dachang and Zhenru are industrial areas, and Caojiadu, Fahua, Longhua and Caohejing are residential areas.

In the first round, the city hall is preparing to issue municipal bonds totaling NT$55 million, and acquire 8,290 acres of land, which will be collected at a low price of NT$200-600 per acre, and then sold at a high price of NT$2,000-NT$25,000. The land revenue is expected to be approximately NT$18 million. Ocean.

Looking at the "1929 Great Shanghai Plan" drafted by Ning Jinling, Ye Luo just wanted to say one thing.

Black heart, really black heart!

The 55 million ocean of public debt will definitely not be collected without the participation of businessmen and wealthy people. As for the subsequent low-priced land income and high-priced sales, besides businessmen, who else will buy the land?

This is the business world in Shanghai that I really want to plow through again. (End of chapter)