1928: The rise of giant merchants

Early June.

The spring is bright and the sun is shining high.

An open space on the outskirts of Qing City was bustling with activity.

Today is a great day for Ye's Security Company, a subsidiary of Ye's Investment, to open a branch in Qing City.

Ye's Security Company covers many security businesses and is an integration of a series of gray businesses such as security dispatch companies, gangs during the Republic of China, and local armed forces.

In other words, it's a bit like gangs laundering their money and coming ashore.

In Qing City, the opening of this type of company is particularly grand, which is equivalent to the sudden arrival of a cousin who wants to establish a sect in the local area, and even compete for the "martial arts leader".

Generally speaking, when opening a hall recognized by local gang tycoons, well-known figures from both black and white circles are often invited to witness the opening to build momentum.

This time when Ye's Security Company opened, not only Liu Xiang's generals came to the scene, but even Yang Sen, Deng Xihou, and Tian Songyao, the three local warlords from Sichuan and Chongqing, also came to watch the ceremony with their subordinate warlords.

Sichuan and Chongqing Province is an area with the most serious warlord fighting in the country, with nearly fifty warlords of various sizes mixed together.

The relationship between them is still extremely confusing, and it is difficult to sort out who is whose ally and who is whose enemy.

Anyway, we have fought together with others, and we have fought together with others to fight each other. As for which side to join forces to attack next, it is estimated that these warlords have not made up their minds yet.

However, the situation in Sichuan and Chongqing is gradually becoming clearer. In the future, there will definitely be a battle between Liu Xiang and Liu Wenhui. Other warlords only need to see the right time to take sides.

Among the warlords invited to watch the ceremony, the most important one was undoubtedly Yang Sen.

This old man is very righteous. During the Northern Expedition, Wu Peifu was beaten to a pulp. Yang Sen took Wu Peifu in because of his old friendship, but was dismissed from his post by the principal.

Yang Sen and Liu Xiang were still classmates and had always been allies. But two years ago, he teamed up with Liu Wenhui to attack Liu Xiang. After that, all the 21 counties in eastern Sichuan that originally belonged to him were occupied by Liu Xiang.

This guy was a mess in the civil war between the warlords in Sichuan and Chongqing Province, but his performance on the anti-Japanese battlefield was very impressive. He participated in many famous battles, especially during the Battle of Songhu, where Yang Sen's troops fought bloody battles with the Japanese invaders for five days and nights. , with nearly half of the casualties, they still fought to the death and successfully held on until their allies came to take over the defense.

It was evaluated as one of the five most capable divisions during the Songhu Battle.

Tian Songyao and Deng Xihou were both famous warlords, but their future situations were very different.

A few years later, Tian Songyao was deceived by the principal and was ordered to "suppress bandits". Because the defensive area was breached, he was dismissed by the Jinling National Government and investigated. His troops were also annexed. Finally, he resigned unwillingly. Go to the education world.

Deng Xihou, like Yang Sen, was active in the anti-Japanese battlefield. His headquarters was once surrounded by Japanese invaders, and he fell off his horse and was injured while breaking through the encirclement.

In addition, those small warlords who followed them, such as Li Jiayu, Luo Zezhou, Chen Shunong and others, no matter what bad things they had done before, finally chose to go out to Sichuan to fight against Japan.

Most of these warlords, large and small, killed the enemy and served the country on the anti-Japanese battlefield. Only a very small part of them continued to be selfish there when the national crisis hit them, and even became traitors.

Generally speaking, although the Sichuan army's combat strength is uneven, it still has a degree of right and wrong.

In fact, Ye Luo never thought that an opening ceremony would be so grand.

He set up a branch of Ye's Security Company in order to allow Liu Fangwu's troops to enter Qing City reasonably and legally, and to annihilate Huang Yunye's Shanhuo Gang as employees.

Who would have expected that since Liu Xiang got the firearms production line he longed for, he immediately regarded Ye Luo as the God of Wealth, praising him every step of the way, wishing that all the warlords in Sichuan and Chongqing would know that he, Old Liu, already had his own arsenal!

And this factory is sponsored by the famous Second Young Master!

When I heard that Ye Luo was about to open a business, I immediately sent people to summon friends, and made such a big fuss, it was like the ceremony of worshiping the mountain by the number one tycoon in Shanghai.

Liu Xiang walked around with Ye Luo and introduced to the warlords with a smile: "Brothers, this is the famous second young master in the south! The principal's guest, Zhang Hanqing's brother, is walking sideways in the United States and Europe. I heard that there are big businesses in New York!”

"Hello, Second Young Master!"

"The second young master is really a talented person, and his future generations are to be feared!"

"Second Young Master, you can set up a firearms production line for me sometime. Can I use a woman to change my career?"

"Second Young Master, congratulations on the opening. I'll go to the big hotel to hold a banquet later. Let's have a drink together!"

Most of these Qiu Ba were not well educated. Several of them did not recognize Ye Luo's name and were not clear about it. But when he mentioned his relationship with the principal and Zhang Hanqing, the group of people immediately became enthusiastic and came over one by one. He was very enthusiastic in asking for help.

Ye Luo looked at them as if he had returned to the original Tianjin city.

At that time, he was going to make a new three-piece suit. After hearing the news, a group of warlords swarmed in, investing money and efforts, dreaming of making a lot of money and sharing dividends in the future.

Then there was a war in the Central Plains, and Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang, who had invested the most money, ran away and flew to Japan, leaving Ye Luo forced to "take advantage of the situation."

How else can we say that history is a cycle?

These people will never learn to gain wisdom from every experience. Bloody examples are before their eyes, but they still pounce on them for profit.

Ye Luo greeted them one by one, and then followed Liu Xiang to the large altar that had just been set up.

In the center is a small golden statue of Master Guan - Master Guan is a god who must be respected in the minds of mixed society people.

It's similar to how their businessmen worship the God of Wealth.

Next to the second master Guan, there is a nondescript Zhao Gongming, the God of Wealth, and a statue of Guanyin that looks like the Guanyin that gives birth to children.

Ye Luo didn't know much about the Sichuan and Chongqing side. He only knew that the warlord world at this time was full of chaos, and there were endless demons and monsters.

These warlords not only believe in the doctrine of ghosts and gods, but are also very superstitious in folk cults.

For example, before colluding with the warlords, the Confucius and Mencius Taoist of Liu Congyun, the "Old Immortal Liu" whom Liu Xiang respected very much, already had tens of thousands of believers in the Sichuan and Chongqing areas, with six main altars and 108 sub-alms.

In a few months, in order to compete with Liu Wenhui, according to historical development, Liu Xiang will form a fourth force besides sea, land and air - the Divine Army!

The soldiers of the Divine Army are all believers of Confucius and Mencius, and Liu Congyun has even more control over the Divine Army than Liu Xiang.

But this Confucius and Mencius doctrine is not a good thing.

When the Japanese invaders invaded the northern region, Confucius and Mencius declared that the Japanese invaders' invasion of China was a destiny of destiny and an irreversible divine punishment. He asked believers to surrender to the invaders and become their accomplices in controlling the north.

After this, Liu Congyun was driven out of Sichuan and Chongqing by Liu Xiang.

Therefore, at this opening ceremony, Ye Luo emphatically mentioned to Liu Xiang that no one from Confucius and Mencius should come to watch, especially Liu Congyun. If he dared to come, Ye Luo would dare to fall out.

After all, Liu Congyun was Liu Xiang's number one military advisor, so saying this was a bit of a refutation of Liu Xiang's face. Afterwards, Xiao Aqiao came forward to ease the relationship, saying that the Ye family had believed in Buddhism since they were young and hated the faith.

Liu Xiang understood this and obediently eliminated all the Confucius and Mencius guests one by one.

He himself has strong religious beliefs, so he is very able to understand the prejudice and dislike of people of different faiths towards other faiths.

After everything was arranged, Ye Luo faced the late spring wind and knelt down with Liu Fangwu to worship these three nondescript statues.

The foreign reporter specially invited by Xiao Aqiao kept pressing the camera shutter and took this precious series of photos! (End of chapter)