1928: The rise of giant merchants

Ye Luo remembered that in the original history, Zhang Hanqing quit smoking opium with the help of Lu Yusheng.

But now, Lu Yusheng was sent to see the King of Hell a few years ago. Without this key figure, whether Zhang Hanqing can successfully quit smoking has really become a question.

If Zhang Hanqing has been addicted to opium, will the imprisonment of Chiang Kai-shek incident, which is closely related to him in the future, still happen?

If this does not happen, then Ye Luo will become a sinner for all eternity.

After thinking it over again and again, Ye Luo decided to take his men and horses to quietly go north to Tianjin City to meet Zhang Hanqing, who was living in the Marshal's Mansion smoking opium at this time.

This time, Ye Luo did not want the news to leak out and be known by the principal, so he only brought Shi Jianqiao, Heng San, Cao Fan, Chen Zhen, Huo Tingen, and a group of extraordinary "martial arts masters" of Ye Sports.

Oh, by the way, Kong Xiangxi's precious daughter Kong Lingjun was also taken with him.

Now Kong Lingjun has settled down in the Ye family. He either learns business from Ye Luo or learns languages ​​and social skills from Xiao Aqiao and Bai Xiuzhu. Not long ago, he simply worshipped Li Shuzhen as his godmother and became a brother and sister with Ye Luo, which makes him half a member of the Ye family.

At first, Ye Luo just wanted to teach Kong Lingjun, the devil of the world, so that she would not help the evil and do bad things when she grows up.

Unexpectedly, the more he taught her in recent years, the deeper the friendship between the master and the apprentice became. Last time, she did a good job in the Qing City Food City, which made Ye Luo really want to inherit the mantle.

Under the influence of Bai Xiuzhu and the others, she also gradually changed from a devil of the world to a tomboy with some temperament of a lady from a noble family. This is probably the subtle influence of the environment on people's personality and appearance.

At the end of May, the group took the train to the north quietly while Huang Jie was rectifying the new tax police corps.

Passing through various provinces along the way, the natural disasters and man-made disasters over the years have made the people miserable. The phenomenon of cannibalism and selling wives and children can be seen everywhere, but the warlords who rule the local areas still levy heavy taxes and start wars everywhere.

They have no regard for the safety and life of ordinary people.

Due to the establishment of the puppet Manchukuo and the invasion of the Japanese invaders, countless people in the north are in dire straits. More and more people are trying to escape to the south. In less than half a year, the population of the vast north has decreased by one-tenth.

The anti-Japanese volunteers in the north are still fighting tenaciously, but the only ones who can really support them are the underground organizations and the Ye Charity Foundation invested by Ye.

Facing the double-sided attack of the Japanese invaders and the puppet army at the same time, and having to pay attention to the principal's "suppression of bandits" from time to time, this life is really not a life for human beings.

When the train passed through Shandong Province and Henan Province, Ye Luo saw even more terrifying scenes.

When people live like humans, there will inevitably be a force to rise up.

This day will change sooner or later.

"The situation in the north is worse than I thought." Shi Jianqiao gritted her teeth and whispered. She kept rubbing the Browning pistol on the inside of her thigh. There was always a sense of depression in her chest that could not be expressed.

"In the territory occupied by the Japanese invaders, the Chinese are no different from pigs and dogs." Chen Zhen said concisely, looking at the scene outside the train, with murderous intent in his eyes.

He took the initiative to find Ye Luo several times, hoping to go abroad to study military like Xu Wenqiang, and join the tax inspection team as a soldier after returning, but was rejected by Ye Luo.

Ye Luo needed such a powerful master around him, and he had some selfish motives. Moreover, Chen Zhen was already married to Guangzi. Even if he was the master of ceremonies, a descendant of Jingwumen and a Japanese woman were together openly, which would always be pointed at by others and easily cause controversy in the army.

In addition, Chen Zhen is now responsible for the transportation of Ye's fleet. He is an indispensable backbone subordinate of Ye Luo and it is impossible to send him to join the army.

Although he couldn't join the army to kill the enemy and serve the motherland, Chen Zhen still secretly organized a lot of boxing groups and martial arts halls, teaching people to practice martial arts and strengthen their bodies, while participating in some assassinations.

The anti-Japanese boxing group he organized himself also had connections with Ye Yuqiao's people. Ye Luo couldn't stop these things, and finally he could only turn a blind eye.

Hearing this, the atmosphere in the carriage suddenly became solemn, and everyone was silent. Only the sound of Kong Lingjun writing and copying books was constantly echoing.

Five days later, several people went around and finally followed the flow of people to Tianjin City.

Since the two plainclothes riots in November last year, the Japanese invaders have seen the bloodiness of Tianjin people in Tianjin City. Although the two incidents defeated the Japanese invaders, Zhang Xueming, who led the security team to suppress the Japanese invaders, was also forced to "go abroad for inspection", and the security team was defeated without being defeated.

After Zhou Longguang took office as mayor, he became cowardly. The Japanese invaders were extremely arrogant in the Japanese concession. Everyone hung the Japanese flag outside and forced Chinese businessmen to hang it together, otherwise they would send people to smash the store and beat them.

In this situation, only Ye's Investment, which occupied all the commercial markets in the concession, was not harmed.

Meng Xiaodong, the boss of Ye's Department Store, had already gone south. At this time, Chen Youde was in charge of all the industries of Ye's Investment in Tianjin City. He also controlled the security team that was forced to disband by the Japanese invaders.

In terms of business, the Japanese could not compare with Ye's Investment. In terms of local reputation and strength, the Japanese could not touch Ye's Investment.

Unless they invaded and occupied Tianjin City on a large scale, Ye's Investment was there, and they really had no way to do anything.

Hearing that the second young master was coming to visit, Zhou Longguang first found Chen Youde, the first businessman in Tianjin City, and then immediately visited Ye Luo, who had just moved into the villa with gifts.

Chen Youde knew that the second young master was here to inspect the progress of Ye's shipping company, and that it would be impossible to help Zhang Hanqing quit smoking in less than ten days or half a month, so he immediately booked all the shops and land outside the Ye family's villa in Tianjin City, and sent a large number of additional personnel to ensure Ye Luo's safety.

May 31st.

Zhou Longguang came to visit, and he started to grovel before he even entered the door: "Oh, the second young master has come all the way. I take the liberty of visiting, please Haihan! I will accept your kindness."

He had a lot of "little thoughts". Ye Luo took a quick glance and saw top-quality tea, a few pieces of gold, and famous watches and bags, all of which were top-quality goods imported from the customs.

"Brother Zhou, please come in. I should be visiting you." Ye Luo asked Shi Jianqiao to help put away his things and welcomed him in with a smile.

"Second Young Master, I have taken the liberty to come here this time to ask you to come out and help me deal with a difficult matter." As soon as Zhou Longguang sat down, he couldn't help but throw out the difficult problem.

He was the mayor who replaced Zhang Xueming. This position was already uncomfortable, and he encountered provocations and troubles from the Japanese invaders. Every day was like burning his buttocks, and he could not feel stable for a moment.

"Please tell me." Ye Luo didn't agree in a hurry.

Zhou Longguang's face immediately turned bitter: "Oh, it's not because of the increase in tram prices. Now the matter is fermenting and has almost reached the level of a diplomatic dispute. I really have no choice but to ask the Second Young Master to come forward and talk to the Consul General of Belgium. Talk."

"I don't know the Consul General of Belgium very well." Ye Luo took a sip of tea and thought about it, and he probably remembered what happened. (End of chapter)