1928: The rise of giant merchants

The Lunar New Year has arrived, but because of the "Spring Ban" of the Nanjing National Government, there is no New Year atmosphere in big cities, and no units have holidays.

The principal didn't have much in mind for the New Year, because he had stirred up a hornet's nest.

As Hu Hanmin's power grew, the principal found that he couldn't defeat Hu Hanmin politically, so he defeated him physically.

On February 26, Hu Hanmin, the president of the Legislative Yuan, was invited by the principal to "dinner" at the General Headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force. As soon as he arrived, he was immediately escorted into the reception room by a group of soldiers with live ammunition.

Two nights later, Hu Hanmin met the principal who arrested him, and found that he was under house arrest in Xiaotangshan, Nanjing.

The principal's behavior undoubtedly violated a huge taboo, making everyone in the Kuomintang feel insecure.

Going back three or five years, Hu Hanmin, Wang Moumou and Liao Zhongkai were called the three giants, and the principal at that time was not even on the list.

Such a person with such a huge influence, the principal said to put him under house arrest, and soon there were rumors that he was going to shoot Hu Hanmin.

What would other Kuomintang cadres and high-level officials think?

Would they be arrested or shot if they disobeyed the president's orders in the future?

Even Chen Guofu's brothers, Kong Xiangxi, Song Ziwen and other backbones of the president's faction could not stand it anymore. They spoke out to denounce the president and hoped that he would release Hu Hanmin as soon as possible.

After Hu Hanmin was placed under house arrest, public opinion across the country was in an uproar. This was especially strongly opposed by Guangdong and Guangxi people such as Gu Yingfen, Sun Ke, Chen Jitang, and Li Zongren.

Seeing this situation, Wang felt that the opportunity had come and took the opportunity to jump up and down, pulling all the Kuomintang factions that supported Hu Hanmin to his side, and spent money to buy off major newspapers to criticize the president's dictatorial methods.

The president, who was praised by the public for winning the Central Plains War and controlling the silver price not long ago, was scolded again, and his reputation plummeted.

Xu Zhimo and others did not forget to comment that "a dog can't change its eating habits."

Fortunately, Xu Zhimo had already rushed to Beiping and served as a professor at Peking University and Beijing Women's University. That was Zhang Hanqing's territory, so he was not caught by the principal's spies for education.

Zhang Hanqing was happy to see the principal being criticized by public opinion, which meant that his reputation would be further expanded.

The "Ningyue dispute" was officially put on the table, and the civil war was about to break out again.

Ye Luo didn't care about these troubles this time. The disputes between the political parties were left to them. His focus at this time was all on making money from tariff autonomy.

It was already 1931. Calculating the time, there were only six years left before the 37-year war of resistance. In the past two years, there were also the Battle of Shanghai and the September 18th Incident. These were major events that Ye Luo could not avoid.

Now the only thing he could do was to increase financial resources as soon as possible, gather power, start to deal with the impact of the war, and find the right time to escape overseas.

He still had important things to do today.

Early in the morning, Ye Luo, dressed in black and wearing a black gauze, looked serious. Accompanied by Bai Xiuzhu and Xiao Aqiao, and escorted by Shi Jianqiao, Ma Yongzhen, Ding Li, Chen Zhen, and Huo Tingen, he followed the mighty Ye's motorcade to the German Consulate General in Shanghai.

Colonel Max Bauer, the general manager of the German-Hua-German military cooperation project and the first head of the German military advisory group who had followed the principal to the front line to command the Central Plains War, died of illness last night.

It is said that Max contracted smallpox on the front line. Although he was rushed to the Ye's United Hospital for emergency treatment, the treatment was ineffective and he died late last night.

At this time, there was a surge of people outside the German Consulate General in Shanghai, and foreigners and Chinese celebrities from all walks of life came to mourn Max.

Traditional wreaths and flower baskets were also placed outside the consulate. Consul General Knape stood outside, accompanied by the secretary, welcoming waves of people who came to pay their respects.

"Ye, Max said before he died that he regretted not seeing you again." Knape looked sad. Seeing Max's body in the ward always reminded him of many past events.

Since the last Rolls-Royce incident, Knape has become a loyal fan of Ye Luo in Germany. Whether in the Chinese Concession or in Germany, he has vigorously promoted the extraordinary investment of Ye's company and wanted to introduce Ye's investment to Germany.

Unfortunately, many German companies firmly oppose Chinese companies to settle in the country and are only willing to cooperate with Ye Luo in financial matters.

"I feel very sorry too. Max is one of my best German friends in China." Ye Luo also saw John Bell in the crowd and greeted him.

However, Bell's position as an agent of Siemens was too low, and he was at the bottom of the circle, so he had no chance to come over and chat.

But just Ye Luo's greeting, many businessmen immediately surrounded Bell and asked about the relationship between him and Ye Luo.

Bell didn't expect that Ye Luo's only move would benefit him so much before the formal cooperation even started.

No wonder people in the foreign circle say that if you want to make a lot of money in Shanghai, you must know this second young master!

Knape took Ye Luo inside. Foreigners don't have any mourning halls, and Max died of smallpox. His body had been sent to a nearby church. There was not even a farewell ceremony for his body. He was directly covered with a coffin and buried.

After all, smallpox has not been completely eradicated at this stage. It is a plague with extremely terrifying infectious power.

Consuls generals from various countries have gathered inside.

Ye Luo knew American Consul General Gao Si, British Consul General Patton, French Consul General Fan Erdi, Japanese Consul General Yada Shichitaro, etc.

These "old friends" hadn't seen Ye Luo for a long time. When they saw him coming, they came over to shake hands and say hello.

"Ye, Fan Erdi seems to be ill too. You'd better not get too close to him." George is now the assistant to the consul general and often follows Barton. He glanced at Fan Erdi who was alienated by everyone and whispered.

Fan Erdi coughed and tried to get close to them, but the crowd soon dispersed.

Ye Luo knew that Fan Erdi would return to Paris for treatment this fall, and he was not suffering from an infectious disease, but cancer.

Therefore, he did not alienate Fan Erdi like others did. Instead, he walked straight over and took the initiative to greet him.

This made the Fan Erdi couple feel much better.

Especially Fan Juli, it was Ye Luo who rescued her from the clutches of Edward Sassoon and recommended her to work at the French Consulate General in Shanghai, which facilitated their marriage.

But later, because of opium and many business problems, Fan Juli decisively chose to sell Ye Luo. Since then, the two families have been at odds and have rarely interacted in recent years.

Unexpectedly, Fan Erdi is now seriously ill, and others are afraid to get close, but Ye Luo has come to chat with them regardless of the past.

"Second Young Master" Fan Juli didn't know what to say, and finally whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's all over." Ye Luo patted Fan Erdi's shoulder, and smiled at Fan Juli, "If you trust me, you can try my hospital."

"Sorry, Ye, Fan and I have planned to return to Paris for treatment in September." Fan Erdi sighed, "Although the medical care here is good, it is still a little behind Paris."

"I understand, then I wish you good luck." Ye Luo nodded.

Judging from Fan Erdi's appearance, the cancer is at least in the middle and late stages. Not to mention now, even if it is put in ninety years, it can't be cured, and the only thing to do is wait for death.

Ye Luo has always been very tolerant of dying people.

"Ye, please come over." Over there, Knappe suddenly waved at him. (End of this chapter)