1928: The rise of giant merchants

The train slowly entered the border of Shandong Province, as if it was a different world.

Along the railway line, Yeluo can always see green rice fields and golden wheat, but in Shandong Province, there is only desolation and loneliness.

Occasionally I saw some farmers working, all of them weak and thin, harvesting wheat under the scorching sun, with no joy of harvest on their faces.

Years of wars and natural disasters have turned Shandong province into a hell on earth.

Non-governmental organizations headed by the Red Spear Society and cult organizations headed by Confucius and Mengdao control hundreds of towns and villages in Shandong Province. Even the local warlords are very afraid of their power.

Ye Luo looked at the farmers and couldn't help but sigh: "Lu Province is about to suffer another natural disaster. I don't know how many people can survive this time."

"Is there another natural disaster?" Shi Jianqiao asked with a frown.

She is from Hui Province, but has lived in the capital of Shandong Province since she was a child, and has a strong nostalgia for this place.

"It is estimated that various natural disasters will continue." Ye Luo sighed.

The summer floods in Shandong Province in 1931 were so famous. The disaster spread to more than 20 provinces and tens of millions of people were affected. Among them, the Yangtze River and Huaihe River basins were the most serious, with more than 400,000 deaths estimated.

It is comparable to the "Famine of the Eighteenth Year of the Republic of China" that just passed.

Last year, due to the war in the Central Plains, the country's food harvest was short and the people were miserable.

This year we finally had a bumper harvest, but as a result we were faced with another major flood. God simply didn’t give ordinary people a way to survive.

The "presidential change controversy" broke out at Central University after the floods.

Because the education funds of the Central University come from the finance of Jiangsu Province, and Jiangsu Province is also a flood-hit area, the education funds can only be diverted to provide disaster relief, which has led to the Central University almost suspending classes.

After the floods, the whole country was filled with complaints and people were in dire straits.

The Jinling National Government had to raise funds, and in the next one or two years, it provided work-for-relief and ordered governments at all levels to build a large number of water conservancy projects.

This was the only time in the decades of Kuomintang rule that the Kuomintang used foreign debt to vigorously develop water conservancy projects.

This is not because the National Government of Jinling loves its people, but because the flood is so serious that it will affect the country. If it is not properly rectified, thieves and warlords will emerge, and it will be an era of chaos again.

Thinking of this, Ye Luo also felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Whether it is an impending flood or the September 18th Incident, as a passerby of history, even as a time traveler, he can only wait quietly for things to happen, and then make amends.

This time when he came to Shandong Province, Ye Luo wanted to do his best to evacuate the people and persuade the local warlords to repair the water conservancy projects to reduce the harm of the disaster as much as possible.

Today's Ye's investment is like a tornado, no matter where it blows, it can tremble the business community in that place.

Local foreigners feared him, local Chinese businessmen loved and hated him, and local warlords welcomed him with both hands.

The senior officials of Lu, who were depressed due to the massacre in the provincial capital of Lu, were harassed and occupied by the Japanese invaders in various ways, and the local warlords were inactive. This has always been the area of ​​greatest concern to the Yip Charity Foundation.

This time Ye Luo led his people to come, but before they arrived, his name was already there.

Han Fuju, who was the top leader of Shandong Province at the time, led people to wait at the provincial capital train station early.

As soon as the train stopped and Ye Luo and his entourage got off the train, Han Fuju came over to say hello enthusiastically: "Oh my, my second young master, you are finally here! It's a rare visitor!"

"Hello, Chairman Han." Facing the enthusiastic Han Fuju, Ye Luo didn't seem enthusiastic.

In the second year of Xuantong (1910), the poor Han Fuju resolutely chose to join the army and eat military rations in order to make a living.

At that time, Feng Yuxiang, who was the management leader (battalion commander) of the 3rd Battalion, 80th Standard, 20th Town (Division) of the Army, saw that he was talented and could write well, so he promoted him to be his confidant.

Later, Han Fuju, Shi Yousan, Sun Liangcheng, Liu Ruming, Sun Lianzhong and others became Feng Yuxiang's effective generals. These people were called the "Thirteen Taibao" under Feng Yuxiang.

Later, during the Northern Expedition, the conflict between Han Fuju and Feng Yuxiang gradually escalated, and finally he quietly defected to the principal. His rebellion also led to the gradual decline of Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Military Group.

During the Central Plains War in September last year, Han Fuju led his army to Shandong Province. With the tacit approval of the principal, he began his eight-year reign as a senior official in Shandong.

Han Fuju supervised Lu for eight years and hunted and killed a large number of underground organization members and innocent people.

In order to consolidate the territory of Shandong Province and preserve his strength, he fought against the Jinling National Government of the president. On the one hand, he withheld local tax revenue, expanded his army, and vigorously promoted "cleaning up the countryside", "suppressing bandits", "clarifying official administration", and "rural governance". Construction", "New Life Movement", etc.; on the other hand, it also attaches great importance to the development of local economy, culture and education.

Han Fuju's rule in Lu Province always had certain conflicts with the principal, and he was actually in a semi-independent state.

After the North China Incident in 1935, this guy banned anti-Japanese propaganda to please Japan.

But after the Xi'an Incident broke out, he called to support Zhang Hanqing.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Han Fuju served as commander-in-chief of the Third Army and deputy commander-in-chief of the fifth theater, responsible for guarding Shandong Province and the defense of the Yellow River.

However, in order to preserve his strength, he pretended to deal with the Japanese army, retreated without a fight, and successively abandoned the provincial capital, Tai'an, Jining and other places, causing an uproar in the national public opinion.

On January 24, 1938, while attending a meeting of northern generals in Kaifeng, he was detained and executed on the order of the principal.

To put it bluntly, Han Fuju is a typical old-school warlord who is biased by the wind, ambitious and lacking in strength.

As long as it was beneficial to him, he could abandon his old master and switch to a new master at any time, and he was even willing to work as a cowboy under the Japanese invaders.

At the same time, Han Fuju also had great ambitions. He wanted to rely on the territory of Lu Province to gradually expand his army like the principal and Zhang Hanqing and compete for world hegemony!

Such a person is not worthy of being a leader or a commander at all.

Ye Luo sentenced Han Fuju to death for his performance during the Anti-Japanese War.

With this guy here, Ye Luo is not prepared to invest the Ye family to take root in Lu Province. Even if he does, it will only become Han Fuju's wallet to extract military expenses.

Although he was unwilling to give him a good look, Ye Luo still needed Han Fuju's help to do what he wanted to do during this trip.

"I heard that the second young master has just acquired a good territory in Qing City?" Han Fuju now felt a little regretful.

He knew that before the Central Plains War, Feng Yuxiang and others approached Ye Luo to invest in the new three major items. These products have now become popular all over the country and can be called a cash cow.

He, Han Fuju, was a member of the principal's side. He had originally gone to Ye Luo to get a lot of dividends, but he was worried about Ye Luo's ability and felt that a large number of super warlords such as Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan had gathered there. I couldn't get a hot bite.

So I didn’t go.

Now I heard that Ye Luo stirred up troubles in Qing City and helped Liu Xiang solve a major problem. He came to Shandong Province for some reason this time, and he immediately treated him as a guest of honor, and he couldn't help but lick him.

"It's not bad, thanks to Commander Liu's care, the business can go smoothly." Ye Luo smiled, "How come the news has reached here."

"Haha, the second young master's feat is now the most important news in major newspapers. As long as you pay a little attention, you can learn a thing or two." Han Fuju smiled and flattered, and then said, "This time you come to my province of Lu, What does the second young master want to do? "

"Chairman Han, I heard that the water conservancy projects in Shandong Province are in disrepair. I want to repair them and see if I can make some money from them." Ye Luo said directly.

Hearing that water conservancy was going to be carried out, Han Fuju lost most of his interest.