1928: The rise of giant merchants

"Uncle Barton, please help me persuade Ye. Everyone knows that General Motors is about to be bankrupted by Ford. Isn't it courting death to buy General Motors cars at this time?"

George did not want Yeluo to fall into a bottomless pit.

This time I brought him to see Sidney Barton, with the intention of letting the more knowledgeable Barton persuade Ye Luo to give up this investment.

"John, it is taboo in the business world to give advice to others about doing business." Of course, Barton was not optimistic about this alternative investment. No one knew Shanghai Tang's car business better than him.

That's just a toy from a few foreign companies and the Automobile Dealers Association.

But doing business is a private matter, and everyone is not related but Ye Luo seems confident, so there is no need to interfere.

"Haha, John, I know you are doing it for my own good. But you don't know my temper." Ye Luo raised the red wine glass and took a sip, "There is no way I will give up this business."

"Okay, then if something goes wrong then, you can come to the Ministry of Industry Bureau to find me at any time." Seeing that he had made up his mind, George could only say this.

The three of them stopped discussing business matters. After the food was served, Ye Luo picked up the topic and talked about the U.S. stock market. In order to take care of George's mood, he also mixed in some anecdotes from his studies.

The media industry is not very developed these days. People mostly get information through magazines and newspapers. There is even a radio station in Shanghai only in China. To understand the overseas situation, Barton and others either spend money on long-distance phone calls or send telegrams to communicate.

During his six years of study, Ye Luo also took time to travel to many countries, including Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Russia, Italy, the Soviet Union, Australia, etc. Now RB is very arrogant in the country and has conflicts with traditional powers such as Britain, France and the United States. Thinking of the bad nature of this country, Ye Luo thought of the book "The Chrysanthemum and the Knife".

"I didn't expect Ye Qi to go to RB for exchanges. I heard that scholars at Tokyo Imperial University are very rigorous in their academic research." John was quite interested in this experience of his.

In 1927, one year before returning to China, Ye Luo went to Tokyo Imperial University for a brief exchange period of three months. At that time, as an MBA student from Harvard University, he was specially appointed as an assistant professor of economics at Tokyo Imperial University. For only three months, he Bian was willing to give him a formal teaching assistant job.

It has to be said that during the Republic of China, there was also an obvious chain of contempt in academic circles.

After the Meiji Restoration, RB had a high regard for Western culture. With the aura of graduates from prestigious schools such as Harvard and Cambridge, RB was very popular in the RB academic circle.

Tokyo Imperial University later became the University of Tokyo. It was indeed the most prestigious university in Asia, but Ye Luo had no intention of staying at RB for a long time.

"I didn't like that country, so I refused." Ye Luo smiled lightly.

Barton admired Ye Luo's extensive knowledge and knowledge, and increasingly felt that although this young man did not understand business, his academic ideas were first-rate and he was worth making friends with.

I mentioned General Motors just now and heard that this young Chinese wanted to invest in the cars produced by it. The other foreigners in the restaurant laughed secretly, and the scene was quite embarrassing for a while.

In order to ease the relationship, after dinner and dessert, Barton suggested that the three of them go for a walk in the Bund Public Garden.

Ye Luo readily agreed. He also wanted to chat with Consul General Barton for a few more words. After all, he was the top leader in the British Concession. After making good friends, it would be beneficial to his business.

The Bund Public Garden is near the consulate, and the three of them walked there.

In 1863, the British and American concessions in Shanghai were merged.

After the merger, the British and American Concession used taxes paid by foreigners in Shanghai to build a garden named "Public Park", which means "Public Garden on the Bund".

The three of them walked to the park gate. The British patrolman on guard duty saw Ye Luo and came over menacingly with a baton.

Only then did Barton remember that the Bund Public Garden was not open to Chinese people!

"Don't go any further!" The patrolman pointed his baton at Ye Luo, "Chinese people and dogs are not allowed in!"

"Of course, the two gentlemen are free to come and go from the park as they please."

He added that the inspector's attitude towards Patton and George was completely different.

"What kind of regulations are these? Isn't the construction of parks just public facilities for citizens?" George was not happy. He took a step forward with a look of sullenness on his face. "I am John George, the consul of the Consulate General. This is my Friend, get out of my way."

When he heard that the other party was actually a consul, the inspector immediately became scared.

Just as Barton was thinking about how to handle this matter properly, Ye Luo went over first and pulled George back.

"Forget it, I won't go to the park anymore. I can't break the rules." Ye Luo smiled coldly. He remembered this allusion now and didn't want to sneak into the park under the cover of two foreigners. .

Today, the four major parks in Shanghai: The Bund, Gujiazhai, Hongkou, and Zhaofeng all restrict Chinese entry. The reason is the discriminatory policy attached to the unequal treaty.

The specific rules for park signage are as follows:

1. Bicycles and dogs are not allowed inside;

2. Children should ride on the side roads;

3. It is prohibited to collect flowers, catch birds' nests, or damage flowers, plants, and trees. Parents of children and women should be extra careful to avoid such things;

4. Servants are not allowed to enter the place where music is played;

5. Except for servants of foreigners, no Chinese are allowed to enter;

6. Children are not allowed to enter the inner garden unless accompanied by foreigners.

Two of them clearly stipulate that Chinese people and dogs are not allowed to enter.

Later it evolved into the famous notice: Chinese and dogs are not allowed inside.

Although there is no explicit writing outside the park, everyone knows that this kind of foreign patrol also directly warns the Chinese verbally.

"Ye, I'm sorry to make you unhappy." George is an authentic British gentleman. He is very unhappy because his good friend has been wronged.

And he didn't know about this kind of rule before.

"Mr. Barton, I heard that celebrities from all walks of life have been complaining to the consulate because of this matter?" Ye Luo turned around and walked to the Richa Hotel with Barton.

Barton nodded slightly: "Yes. But this matter is not as easy to deal with as they thought. To cancel such regulations, half of the taxpayers must agree at the annual tax meeting, which is too difficult."

What Barton meant was not that he did not want to cancel it, but that the foreign taxpayers in the British Concession did not want to cancel it.

"This kind of discriminatory policy is a legacy of history and is not conducive to the exchanges between the two peoples. Mr. Barton, the annual tax meeting will be held on April 18, right?" Ye Luo raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Mr. Ye Luo is very well-informed." Barton looked at him with a smile, "Do you also want to appeal on this matter?"

"I hope Mr. Barton can help me." Ye Luo looked back at the huge Bund Public Garden and suddenly smiled, "Of course, I will pay the corresponding remuneration."

"Oh? Are you talking about business with me from the perspective of a businessman?" Barton looked at him seriously. The two of them chatted daily, and it involved government affairs and business, so the nature was different.

"Yes. I have three U.S. stocks in my hands that are bound to skyrocket in the future." Ye Luo smiled, "I think Mr. Barton must be very interested."

This young man is very smart!

The corners of Barton's mouth raised. He likes to chat with smart people: "What do you want? Public park opening policy?"

"And the future use rights of public parks." Ye Luo winked at him.

"Ye? No fees are allowed in public parks. What can you do if you get the right to use it? For this, you have to pay for the maintenance fees and various expenses of the park!" George thought his friend was crazy!

Although the maintenance times and various expenditures of the Bund Public Park are not high, they still consume nearly 10,000 yuan a year!

This is free money.

"No problem, but I want to take a look at your stocks first." Barton turned around and decided to go back to the consulate to discuss business with this interesting young man.

"Don't worry, I'm measured." Ye Luo patted George's shoulder, looking confident.

After one hour.

Ye Luo and George left the consulate.

Barton looked at the "Betting Agreement" with ink marks on the table that had not completely dried up, and became more and more curious about the Chinese young man he just met today.

"Audrey, for those three stocks, you call the family and ask them to invest 30,000 pounds each."

"Consul General, do you really believe what the Chinese said?" Audrey couldn't help but ask.

She is the head maid of the consulate, a member of the Barton family, and the cousin and lover of Sidney Barton.

At this time, the British aristocracy was still pursuing blood purity, and marriages within families were normal.

Audrey's status is a bit low and she cannot formally marry Sidney. Moreover, the two of them are almost 30 years apart, so they can only be lovers here.

"He knows these three stocks too well." Barton wanted to convince himself not to be so impulsive, but Yeluo's answer was too tempting.

"What do you think?" Barton asked casually.

As if she had thought of something, Audrey's cheeks turned slightly red and she lowered her head: "I think you can trust him once. Sir George is a person who is rarely willing to do things for others unless the other person is his close friend. Sir George can As a close friend and a Chinese, he should have some skills."

"I think so too." Barton nodded with a smile, "Anyway, if I lose the 90,000 pounds, I won't pay for it."

"Oh, by the way, General Motors, I remember the president's name is Alfred Sloan, right?" Patton patted his forehead and remembered, "He's a poor guy. It seems that even the U.S. Consulate doesn't want to see him. , and even came to my place."

"Yes, you refused to provide him with funds last month. After all, no one is optimistic about GM's current situation." Audrey remembered it clearly.

A foreigner, and the boss of a big company, is actually having such a miserable time here.

Alfred Sloan may be the only one.

"In this case, let's make an appointment with him tonight. That Chinese guy wants to do the car business, so I'll help him make the connection."

Barton was generous with this kind of favor.

He doesn't have to pay anything anyway.

A little Laiello can also make John George owe a favor.

Barton saw that the Chinese man seemed to be an academic researcher like John George, but in fact he was similar to himself in nature and was a businessman through and through.

It's just that he wore the skin of the Consul General, and the other party wore the skin of a talented young scholar.

This is good, communication is more convenient.

"Yes, I will help you make arrangements right away." Audrey bowed again.

the other side.

John George drove Ye Luo back to Ye Mansion, and the two agreed to have a good get-together another day.

Today was a fruitful day. Ye Luo was in a good mood. He was thinking of finding a chance to meet little Aqiao in the afternoon and see how things were going with Zhou Xiangsheng and Alfred Sloan. He had just stepped through the door of Ye Mansion.

I could hear Xiaoli running and shouting from behind.

"Second Young Master! Second Young Master! You are back!"

"What's wrong? Don't be impatient. If you have something to say, please speak slowly." Ye Luo supported Xiaoli who almost fell.

"Yes, Miss Xiuzhu is here! She has been waiting in the garden for three hours!" Xiaoli gasped for air, with a look of panic on her face.