1928: The Rise of Giants

Although the major shareholder of Tianjin Tramway Company was a Belgian consortium, the company's office was set up in the Italian Concession, which was also the only concession of Italy overseas.

The tram company's board of directors consists of six people, half of whom are foreigners and half are Chinese. During the early Qing Dynasty, Chinese directors were all Qing court officials. During the Beiyang period and the Nationalist Government period, they were appointed by local officials.

The three current Chinese directors were actually appointed by Zhou Longguang.

But these people only have the right to make suggestions. To put it bluntly, they are just pretty vases placed there. The real power is in the hands of the three foreign directors.

Ye Luo vigorously boycotted the Belgians throughout May and most of June, using various means to engage in a money-burning war with the tram company, which gradually made the tram company unable to hold on.

These three Chinese directors shamelessly came to the tram company to seek peace, but were kicked out and completely lost their power within the tram company.

June 6th, early in the morning.

General Manager Fan Benke took a car to Sanmalu in the Italian Concession, but found that the students who came to the march had arrived earlier than him.

The marchers held high banners and chanted slogans, “Down with imperialism, boycott the tram fare increase!”

The magnitude of the noise was so great that it frightened him.

Van Benk had no choice but to ask the driver to take a detour and go to the tram company building from the back road. Unexpectedly, after going around in a circle, he found that the outside of the company was covered with feces and a foul smell was everywhere.

He couldn't hold it in any longer. He cursed and got out of the car, holding his nose. He ran straight to the general manager's office and asked the secretary as he ran, "Hasn't the European headquarters replied yet?"

The Tianjin City Tramway Company is headquartered in Brussels, Europe. Some domestic tycoons and political figures are the real vampires who control the company.

"We received a reply at midnight yesterday. The headquarters asked us to resolve this matter within three days, otherwise..." The female secretary lowered her head and dared not say anything more.

"Otherwise what?" Van Benk demanded.

The female secretary whispered, "Otherwise I'll fire you."

"Damn it! It's all that damn Lu Beya's fault. He's the consul general and doesn't have to worry about business matters. He just has to sit in his seat and talk, but the pressure is all on me!"

Fan Benk has been doing business in China for more than ten years, so he knows Ye Luo's financial resources and strength better than most people.

He had never heard of a business genius who could turn a company with a capital of tens of thousands of dollars into a company with a current market value of over 40 billion dollars in just four years!

The most terrifying thing is that the Ye family is not a super wealthy family that prospered for generations during the Republic of China, nor is it a new powerful family like the four major families that rose to power through changes in power and warlord infighting.

When the Ye family was at its peak, it was just one of the wealthy families in Shanghai, controlling a bunch of low-level workers who worked behind Lu Yongxiang.

When Lu Yongxiang was at his most powerful, he was known as the "King of Shanghai", but he was one level lower than Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan and others, and was considered a warlord at the end of the first echelon.

The current Ye Investment has a market value of 40 billion oceans and countless overseas businesses, which may add up to more than 50 billion oceans of capital.

What is this concept?
The principal invested all his money in the Second Northern Expedition, which established his current position. The total investment was about 3 million oceans.

If Ye’s investment was dismantled and used to finance the war, it could sustain at least 10 such national wars!

These people are so crazy that they want to compete financially with such a God of Wealth. Fan Benke is speechless.

Unfortunately, his words were insignificant and could not influence Lu Beiya.

"Fuck it! I'm calling our European headquarters and telling them that if we continue to compete with Ye's Investment, I'm willing to resign on the spot and I won't do this job anymore!"

Van Benk didn't want to wait until the final failure to take the blame. He had made a lot of money in the tram company over the years. Although it was a pity to leave now, it was better than dying with them!
The female secretary did not expect the boss to be so decisive. She was stunned for a moment and immediately ran to the phone room to make a call.

But she didn't go out for a while and ran back in a hurry.

This time the secretary looked very flustered: "General Manager, no, it's bad! Tianjin City Hall announced today that it will publicly auction the operating rights of some of the tram sections that our company has stopped operating!"

"What? Are they crazy?" Van Benk was also furious.

The Tianjin City Tramway Company started operating in 1906. Although the ownership of the tram section was in the hands of the Chinese, from the Qing government to the Beiyang government to the Nationalist government, it was actually always controlled by them.

It nominally belongs to the Tianjin Municipal Government.

Now they actually dare to auction the ownership in person, which means that whoever obtains the operating rights in the auction can also legally open a tram company and compete with them in the tram business!
This matter makes sense logically, but for so many years, no one thought that the Tianjin Municipal Government would dare to do this.

This is equivalent to stealing Belgians' jobs!
How dare they?

When the auction is held at this time, it is self-evident who the biggest competitor among the participants is.

Only then did Fan Benk realize that Ye Investment was not just trying to engage in a money-burning war with them and force them to lower the ticket prices.

His goal, from the very beginning, was the entire company!
"Prepare the car, prepare the car, prepare the car! I need to go to Ye's Automobile Company." Fan Benke could no longer sit still. "You, hurry up and inform Lu Beiya and Wang Zhulin. They are crazy, crazy, completely crazy. Are they going to go to war with us?"

"Okay, General Manager!" The female secretary ran away in a hurry.

While getting in the car, Van Benk calmed down a little. Thinking back to Ye Luo's attitude at the previous dinner, he decided not to look for him first, but instead went to the French Consulate General in Tianjin.

France and Belgium were military allies, and the French Concession had been collecting tolls from the tram company.

If there is anyone who can stop Ye Luo now, it is probably only the French Consul General.

Van Benk ran all the way to the consulate general without even having time to catch his breath, and went straight to the consul general's office.

But when the door opened, people were stunned.

"Mr. Consul General, I was unable to see Consul General Van Ehrli off when he left last year. It was such a pity. I wonder if he and his wife are doing well in Paris?" Ye Luo was sitting on the sofa, drinking coffee and negotiating with the French Consul General Du Shilan.

"Ah, Fan Erdi passed away in Paris last year. I heard that his wife is going to return home this year." Du Shilan sighed, "Fan Erdi and I were college classmates. He was a very good person. What a pity."

Ye Luo also nodded in agreement. In fact, he knew very well that Fan Erdi was dead and Fan Juli was coming back. They had shares in the Ye joint venture bank.

I say all this just to build a relationship with Du Shilan and enhance our feelings.

Van Benk, who broke into the room, was stunned.

The words that he was about to utter were stuck in his throat and he swallowed them back forcefully.

What is this?

He had come here to complain and seek help, but the other party was now sitting here in a swagger, chatting happily with his backer.

"Hey, isn't this Mr. Fan Benke, the general manager of the tram company?" Ye Luo smiled at him. (End of this chapter)