1928: The rise of giant merchants

The picket team organized by Zhou Longguang had done similar things before, but their influence could only reach the old city and could not interfere with the operation of trams in the concession.

When the picket team encouraged people not to buy tickets, the tram company responded immediately and stopped all trams in the old city the next day, but the trams in the concession continued to operate as usual.

As long as the picket team dared to go to the concession to persuade, the concession patrol would quickly go out and drive them all out of the concessions.

But the reorganized security team initiated by Ye Luo this time was different.

They wore white cuffs on their hands, with the logo of Ye's Security or Ye's Sports printed on their chests, everyone had a small axe on their waists, and the leader was also equipped with a gun.

When the police officers in Tianjin saw this scene, let alone come to persuade, they hid far away for fear of being accidentally injured.

The patrolmen in the concession continued to help the foreigners drive away the security team members, and the security team also remembered Ye Luo's orders, no matter how they made trouble, they should not cause any bloodshed to let the foreigners catch them.

Soon, a large number of patriotic hooligans began to appear in the concession. They shouted slogans to save the country and lay on the tram tracks in different time periods to prevent the tram from running normally.

The patrolmen in the concession could not catch them all. As soon as they sent one batch in, another batch came. It was as if they were treating the concession prison as their home!

This continued for several hours. The number of hooligans was increasing. The Chinese patrolmen gave up their job. If they continued to catch more, they would not be able to stay in Tianjin.

These hooligans were from the Qing Gang and Hongmen. Some were righteous and some were snobbish. Anyway, as long as one person gave them a three-point bribe, they would help you make trouble for a day.

After the hooligans, there were a large number of progressive students. They pulled banners, shouted slogans, marched, and surrounded the door of the Belgian Consulate General in Tianjin. They did nothing but ask the Belgians to restore the original price of the tram.

The newspaper boys received a lot of bribes and ran around the city. They waved newspapers and shouted in teahouses, dance halls, restaurants, and coffee shops, exposing the ugly face of the tram company to the public.

The most outrageous thing was the taxis of Ye's car dealership, which really traveled for free without charging a penny.

Now a total of 300 new cars have arrived one after another, and the fuel alone is enough to make ordinary merchants drink a pot.

At this time, the various transportation roads from Shanghai to Tianjin City have not been fully built. These cars came from Ye's car dealerships in all directions. Ye Luo covered all the tolls, meals, and accommodation on the way.

The total cost of a car from the original operating place to Tianjin City is an average of 200 oceans, and 300 cars is 60,000 oceans. Ye Luo said that he would send 500 cars to Tianjin City this time.

Just the expenses on the road, he has already spent as much as 100,000 oceans.

The car dealership that sprang up in Tianjin City, recruited employees, and spent nearly 300,000 yuan on various expenses.

At this moment, Chen Youde also took out the financial budget and told Ye Luo that according to his approach, the total loss of the car dealership in the first month was about 1 million yuan.

Ye Luo didn't even blink an eye at the mere 1 million yuan a month, and approved it with a wave of his hand. Anyway, it was enough to deduct it from the profit of Ye's investment in Tianjin City.

More than four years ago, he made his first 1 million yuan with Chevrolet 490. Four years later, he didn't expect that the snowball of wealth had reached this point.

This surprised Shi Jianqiao, who watched him rise step by step.

Ye Luo didn't care about the money, but Lu Beiya did.

The tram company was at least 300,000 yuan less a month because of this. In addition to the erosion of shareholders and domestic vampires, the net loss exceeded 500,000 yuan.

As Ye Luo said, compared with "burning money", the Belgians can't afford it at all.

But since he had just said that yesterday, Lu Beya had to play along with him, so she decisively called together the Belgian merchants in the concession, as well as a group of compradors such as Wang Zhulin, and asked them to raise funds to resist Ye Luo's atrocities.

"We have estimated that he will lose at least 1 million dollars a month, and this is doubling up, starting from 1.5 million dollars next month. Even if he is rich, he can't keep playing like this."

Wang Zhulin was so angry that his teeth itched, and he firmly believed that Ye Luo must be exhausted to death, otherwise not only the foreign companies in the city, but also the compradors like them would not be able to raise their heads in the business world in the future.

"We have more than 30 people here. If each person pays 10,000 dollars, the tram company's monthly expenses can be basically recovered. If each person pays 50,000 dollars, it can at least last for five months."

Of course, the account is not calculated in this way, but in order to boost confidence, Wang Zhulin deliberately skipped many cost issues.

After saying this, many compradors were also persuaded.

They have made a lot of money from the Belgians over the years. Everyone has hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank. Just 50,000 or 60,000 yuan can help the Belgians get through the difficulties, and they are all willing to pay.

Lu Beya was relieved and smiled: "We will not forget the friendship of all friends. When this guy is driven away, we will propose to the government to transfer more business to you."

"Thank you, Consul General!"

"You are polite, Consul General!"

"This is what we should do."

That night, the tram company, which received a lot of financial assistance, became tough again.

Since those gangsters openly prevented the operation of trams in the concession, they completely stopped all trams in Tianjin City!

See if your cars and rickshaws are enough!

Just when they made up their minds to fight to the death with Ye Luo, that night, the Asian American Radio Broadcasting Company, which was invested and opened by Ye, began to dig up the black materials of the senior executives of the tram company.

These days, there are no mobile phones, computers, or televisions, and there are a lot of people who can't afford electric lights at night. Fortunately, Ye's Radio made a breakthrough last year and successfully developed a domestic crystal radio, which made the radio industry very popular.

Radios imported from abroad are expensive and do not include after-sales service. Basically, only rich people and store owners will buy them. However, Ye's crystal radios are inexpensive and good quality. As long as there is a store, they are guaranteed to be replaced within one year and have a three-year warranty. The service is very thoughtful.

The wind of radios blows from south to north and has become one of the entertainments for the general public in the evening.

"Jiuda Refined Salt, a well-known brand in the Republic of China, is a proud domestic product exported to Southeast Asia!"

"Ye's new pharmaceutical product has multiple functions of protecting the stomach, warming the body, and strengthening the body. Men should look for Ye's Sixteen-flavor Rehmannia Pills!"

The advertisement sound came from the radio, and it was played for seven or eight minutes before entering the main story.

"Hello, listeners, it is seven o'clock in the evening. This time, our "Chatting about the Republic of China" program has invited a heavyweight guest. Guess who it is?"

The familiar voice of the female anchor came.

With the popularity of radio stations, many female stars with good voices gave up singing and dancing and turned to broadcasting, which was quite popular among the public.

"Hello everyone, I am Ye Luo, and I am very happy to participate in this "Chatting about the Republic of China" program."

Ye Luo's extremely magnetic voice came out, instantly setting off the city of Tianjin.

"I came to participate in the program this time to talk to you about the recent hot topic of tram price increase." (End of this chapter)