1928: The rise of giant merchants

After dinner and dancing, the enthusiastic Zhang Qun insisted on organizing a game for Ye Luo and Zhang Hanqing to play mahjong together. Because Ye Luo and Bai Xiongqi were related, the remaining person called the most popular player in Lianhua Film Company. Actress Yang Naimei.

The most popular movie star in the Republic of China in 1930 was neither Ruan Lingyu, who is now known as the Shanghai Movie Queen, nor Hu Die, who quit the film industry early due to historical changes and became the mother of two children. Instead, she relied on the one-shot "Yuli Soul" The popular Yang Naimei.

Yang Naimei is the daughter of a wealthy businessman in Guangdong. She was a famous figure when she was studying in an aristocratic girls' school. She is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. She has beautiful appearance and elegant manners. If she had not been in the movies, she would have become as famous in the social circle as the Southern Tang and Northern China. .

Due to her father's objection, she once ran away from home. When life was most difficult, this woman dared to accept Zhang Zongchang's invitation and go north to meet the great warlord alone.

That sex business became a turning point in her life. Zhang Zongchang used his reputation as a popular actress in Shanghai and semi-forced to invite many wealthy people from Shandong Province to attend private dances held by him. Dance tickets started at 1,000 yuan per person.

In the end, Zhang Zongchang not only played with beautiful movie stars, but also made money by holding dance parties. Yang Naimei returned to Shanghai with a huge sum of money. With the support of a big warlord, he opened a film company and became the boss. His net worth soon exceeded 20 Wan Dayang.

A few years ago, Yang Naimei was investing and filming at the same time, and she lived a very happy life.

Later, Ye Luo drove away the Shaw Brothers, and a small boss like her made a fortune again.

Unfortunately, starting last year, Yang Naimei gradually became addicted to smoking and gambling. Her fortune of hundreds of thousands was lost in an instant, and she also owed a pile of gambling debts. In the end, she had to join Luo Mingyou's Lianhua Film Company, and changed from a boss to an actor.

She was the first woman in the Republic of China to own a car for her own use, and the first sexy woman to expose her calves and lift her socks in public. In the end, she lost all her money again, continued to smoke cigarettes, and ended up living on the streets of Xiangjiang as a beggar in her later years.

However, she is still very popular now. Because of her beautiful appearance and figure, as well as her reputation, she is also very open-minded and has fun. She is very famous in Shanghai's social circle and is a very famous "bus".

She has had scandals and has lived with countless men. Among them, the more famous ones include actors Wang Jiting, Zhu Fei, famous banker Chen Junjing, etc. Obviously, high-ranking officials such as Zhang Qun and Bai Xiongqi are also her guests. .

Hearing that she could play mahjong with the famous Second Young Master and Commander Zhang, Yang Naimei put aside all the entertainment, came over, opened a room, made all the facilities, and waited for them.

During the Republic of China, the practice of playing mahjong became popular, which later became the origin of the so-called "national quintessence".

Since the 1920s, mahjong tables have been found in homes, teahouses, restaurants, casinos, and brothels, and countless people are addicted to them.

There are more than 1,500 brothels and casinos combined in Shanghai, and they can be found everywhere. However, they were mainly controlled by gangs before. After the independent group swept away the gangs in Shanghai, these industries were harvested by the city hall and became state-owned enterprises, and then were controlled by high-ranking officials. Monopolize with military and political dignitaries.

There are similar places in many restaurants and hotels in Yeluo, but he strictly prohibits gambling on his territory.

The four of them sat down. Zhao Yidi had already gone to Ye Mansion to find Bai Xiuzhu. As soon as the door closed, there were three men and one woman, and the atmosphere was a bit ambiguous.

Before playing a few rounds, Ye Luo, who had never played mahjong in the Republic of China, felt something was wrong.

Opposite me, Yang Naimei was feeling hot for a while, and her mouth was dry for a while. She was very troublesome, and before she knew it, she took off all her shawl and coat.

After Zhang Hanqing touched himself once, Yang Naimei opened the drawer and found it was empty. Her gambling money was gone, but she was not in a hurry. Instead, she smiled and asked everyone, "I'm in a hurry this time. I didn't bring enough money. How about I?" Change something as a bet?"

"What does Miss Yang want to bet on?" Zhang Qun asked with a smile.

Yang Naimei smiled sweetly: "How about this, if Commander Zhang and the Second Young Master don't dislike it, every time after I lose, I will take off a piece of clothing or pants?"

"Then I've finished taking off my clothes." Zhang Hanqing smiled.

Ye Luo was stunned. Good guy, judging from the reactions of Zhang Hanqing and Zhang Qun, it seems that this kind of thing is common in mahjong venues. Is it so fun?

"Then, then... ah, it's shameful. Let's not talk about it. We'll talk about it later." Yang Naimei continued to act coquettishly, but the water in her eyes already informed them of the subsequent bet.

Of course Ye Luo would not dampen the interest of Zhang Qun and Zhang Hanqing, but he had no interest in buses either.

The mahjong game continued, and Yang Naimei's mahjong skills seemed to be really bad. She basically won one out of every ten rounds, and she always lit up the mahjong. Soon she was peeling off her coat, stockings, and lining one by one.

The mahjong game lasted all night, but Ye Luo left before twelve o'clock, saying that he had something to do, and Bai Xiongqi took over. He didn't know how the three men and one woman would play mahjong after that.

Anyway, when I saw Zhang Hanqing the next day, he was in a good mood and very happy. He must have won a lot of money.

The two had another dinner date the next day, but the arrival of an uninvited guest forced Ye Luo to take time off to attend to errands.

Xu Zhimo returned to Shanghai from Peiping in despair.

Previously, Xu Zhimo left Shanghai in anger due to the ambiguity between Lu Xiaoman and Weng Rui at noon, and went to Peking to be a professor. Later, because he couldn't worry about Lu Xiaoman, he ran back and forth between the two places, which was very painful.

Last time Ye Luo went to his house for a massage and warned Lu Xiaoman, her interactions with Weng Ruiwu decreased a lot, and Xu Zhimo, who was more at ease, no longer traveled between places frequently.

But something unexpected happened.

Xu Zhimo's uncle Jiang Baili was suddenly arrested and thrown directly into prison. Xu Zhimo, who was far away in Peiping, had to return to Shanghai to find a relationship to solve his uncle's problem.

After searching around, I finally found Ye Luo.

Jiang Baili's arrest and imprisonment this time was related to the factional struggle of the Kuomintang. There are two rumors. One is that Jiang Baili was unwilling to help the principal persuade Tang Shengzhi to surrender, so the principal arrested him in anger. The other is that Jiang Baili supported the student Tang Shengzhi to rebel against Chiang Kai-shek. , and then was discovered by the secret agents and arrested on the order of the principal.

In short, it was the principal's order, and the matter was quite serious.

Jiang Baili's first wife was Cha Pinzhen, who was Xu Zhimo's cousin and Jin Yong's cousin. Not long ago, she also found many connections and asked Li Shuzhen.

But thinking about Ye's investment last time, Li Shuzhen did not agree this time.

Not long ago, Xu Zhimo was filled with righteous indignation. He felt that his uncle had not committed any crime, so he packed up and went to jail to stay with him for a few days, but it was of no use.

No matter how violent the literati made a fuss, the principal would not take it seriously.

"Mr. Baili, Han Qing and I will go to Jinling to see if there is any room for maneuver." Ye Luo had no choice but to reply to him.

Who made Xu Zhimo one of the few friends he had when he was a student?

After dealing with this matter, Ye Luo still thought about continuing to visit Shanghai with Zhang Hanqing, but unexpectedly, new news came from Tokyo, Japan——

The gold standard system completely collapsed.

Hamaguchi Yuyuki worked hard to promote the gold standard system. With the help of Ye's investment, he finally managed to flow out a large amount of gold and restore the gold reserves to circulation. However, he never expected that due to the impact of the financial crisis, the United States would start a war. These guys’ ideas.

Franklin pushed against all odds and introduced a bill: the Silver and Gold Act. (End of chapter)