1928: The Rise of Giants

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

But now, Lu Yusheng had been sent to see the King of Hell several years ago. Without this key person, it became a real question whether Zhang Hanqing could successfully quit smoking.

If Zhang Hanqing had continued to be addicted to opium, would the Chiang Kai-shek Incident, which was closely related to him, have happened in the future?
If this doesn't happen, Ye Luo will become a sinner for all eternity.

After much deliberation, Ye Luo decided to take his men and quietly head north to Tianjin City to meet Zhang Hanqing, who was living in the Young Marshal's Mansion and smoking opium.

This time when going north, 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" from Ye's Sports.

Oh, by the way, Kong Xiangxi’s beloved daughter Kong Lingjun was also taken along by him.

Now Kong Lingjun has settled down in the Ye family. He either learns business from Ye Luo or learns different languages ​​and the ways of the world from Xiao Aqiao and Bai Xiuzhu. Not long ago, he simply asked Li Shuzhen to be his godmother, and became sworn brother and sister with Ye Luo, making him half a member of the Ye family.

At first, Ye Luo just wanted to teach Kong Lingjun, this devil, a lesson so that she would not help the evildoers and do bad things when she grows up.

Unexpectedly, the friendship between the two of them deepened over the years. She did a great job at the Qing City Food City last time, which made Ye Luozhen want to inherit her legacy.

Under the influence of Bai Xiuzhu and the other person, she gradually changed from a troublemaker tomboy to someone with the temperament of a lady from a noble family. This is probably the subtle influence of the environment on a person's character and appearance.

At the end of May, while Huang Jie was reorganizing the new Tax Police Corps, the group quietly took a train north.

Passing through various provinces along the way, the people suffered terribly from years of natural disasters and man-made calamities. Phenomena such as cannibalism and selling wives and children were common, but the warlords who ruled the local areas continued to levy heavy taxes and wage wars everywhere.

There is absolutely no regard for the safety and lives of ordinary people.

Due to the establishment of the puppet Manchukuo and the invasion of the Japanese invaders, countless people in the north were in dire straits. More and more people tried to escape to the south. Within half a year, the population of the vast north was reduced 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.

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

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

When people don't live like human beings, there will inevitably be a force that rises 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 stroking the Browning pistol on the inside of her thigh, and there was always a feeling of depression in her chest that she couldn't express.

"In the territories 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, murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

He took the initiative to look for Ye Luo several times, hoping to study military affairs abroad like Xu Wenqiang, and join the tax inspection team after returning, but was rejected by Ye Luo every time.

Ye Luo needed to have such an extremely powerful master around him, and he had some selfish motives. Besides, Chen Zhen was already married to Guangzi. Even if he was the officiant, a descendant of Jingwumen and a Japanese woman being together openly would always be criticized by others and would easily cause controversy in the army.

In addition, Chen Zhen is now in charge of the transportation of Ye's team. He is an indispensable backbone subordinate of Ye Luo and cannot be sent to join the army. Although he cannot join the army to kill the enemy and serve the motherland, Chen Zhen still secretly organized a number of boxing groups and martial arts halls, teaching people to practice martial arts and strengthen their bodies, while participating in some assassination incidents.

The anti-Japanese boxing group he organized was also connected with Ye Yuqiao's people. Ye Luo could not stop these things and could only turn a blind eye in the end.

After hearing these words, the atmosphere in the carriage suddenly became solemn. Everyone was silent, and only the sound of Kong Lingjun writing and copying books continued to echo.

Five days later, after many twists and turns, they finally followed the crowd to Tianjin City.

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

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

Under this situation, only Ye's investment, which dominated all commercial markets in the concession, was not affected.

Meng Xiaodong, the proprietress of Ye's Department Store, has already gone south. At this time, the person in charge of all Ye's investments in Tianjin City is Chen Youde, who also controls the security team that was forced to disband by the Japanese invaders.

In terms of business, the Japanese cannot compete with Ye’s Investment. In terms of local reputation and strength, the Japanese cannot challenge Ye’s Investment.

Unless they launch a massive invasion and occupy Tianjin City, they really have no choice given Ye’s investment.

Upon hearing that the second young master was coming, Zhou Longguang first went to find Chen Youde, the number one businessman in Tianjin City, and then immediately brought gifts to visit Ye Luo, who had just moved into the villa.

Chen Youde knew that the second young master came here to inspect the progress of Ye’s shipping company, and it would be impossible to help Zhang Hanqing quit smoking within 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 dispatched a large number of people to ensure Ye Luo’s safety.

5 month 31 day.

Zhou Longguang came to visit, and he began to kowtow before he even entered the door: "Oh, Second Young Master, you have come from afar. Please forgive me for my intrusive visit! I will definitely accept this small gift."

His "little gifts" were quite a lot. With just a quick glance, Ye Luo saw top-quality tea, some gold bars, and famous watches and bags, all of which were top-notch goods imported from customs.

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

"Second Young Master, I am sorry to come here because I want to ask you to help me solve a difficult matter." As soon as Zhou Longguang sat down, he could not help but throw out the difficult question.

He replaced Zhang Xueming as mayor. This position was already uncomfortable to begin with, and then there was the Japanese invaders provoking trouble. Every day was like fire on the horizon, and he had no peace for a single moment.

"Please speak." Ye Luo did not rush to agree.

Zhou Longguang's face immediately turned bitter. "Alas, it's all because of the tram fare increase. Now the matter has fermented and is almost to the point 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."

"I'm not very familiar with the Belgian Consul General." Ye Luo took a sip of tea, thought about it, and roughly remembered what happened. (End of this chapter)