1928: The Rise of Giants

Chapter 665 Nothing can be done
Van Benk was devastated.

He stood there, watching Ye Luo and Du Shilan chatting and laughing, like minions, and felt a little at a loss.

If the tram company still has a last resort to fight against Ye’s investment, it can only be the French.

And now, the French Consul General in Tianjin looks more like Ye Luo’s ally than someone from their side.

For a moment, Van Benk had the illusion that Belgium and France were not allies.

Just as he was hesitating, two people came running in from outside.

This time it was the Belgian Consul General Lubya and Tianjin’s largest comprador Wang Zhulin.

They both looked very unhappy, as if they wanted to say a lot of unpleasant things, but like Fan Benk, when they saw Ye Luo sitting there chatting with Du Shilan, they forced themselves to hold back all the words.

Not long ago, Lu Beiya used his final killer move. In his capacity as the Belgian Consul General in Tianjin, he sent a telegram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nanjing National Government, asking them to send a commissioner to Tianjin to stop Ye Luo's malicious competition.

If the Nanjing Nationalist Government ignores him, the matter will inevitably escalate into a diplomatic dispute.

After receiving the telegram, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held an emergency meeting immediately. The diplomatic officials were in chaos, but there was nothing they could do.

Because all the Kuomintang politicians, including the principal and Mr. Wang, went to Los Angeles a while ago to hold a meeting to save the country and its survival, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Zhengting also went there to attend.

With no leader, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has only one word to deal with the situation: delay!
They can delay, but Lu Beiya can't afford it.

The tram company's European headquarters kept calling, and those Chinese compradors who were originally willing to support them gave up and left one after another.

Ye Luo truly made them feel what it means to "burn money".

Throughout the entire month of May, Ye's investment relied on capital to create a hole in the airtight Tianjin City business district.

The compradors now run away when they see people investing in the Ye Group, for fear that they will be targeted and liquidated if they run too slowly.

The small businesses they owned were all facilitated by foreign companies, and they were able to suppress the Chinese business competitors of the Federation of Trade Unions because of their connections with foreigners.

Now the foreigners were beaten and fled in fear by Ye Luo, how could they dare to fight head-on?

Lu Beiya couldn't swallow this humiliation, and her last hope was Du Shilan.

But now.

Du Shilan took a sip of coffee and said leisurely, "I heard that the recent controversy over the tram fare increase has become more and more serious. Our French Concession police accidentally caused minor injuries to three students when they were driving away the marching students. If it weren't for Ye's help, the matter would have been difficult to resolve."

The three people standing there looked at each other. Veins bulged on Lu Beya's forehead, but he couldn't say anything.

Your policemen in the French Concession beat and injured people, and you blame my Belgian tram company for not resolving the problem?
After the tram company started operating, it paid a lot of tolls to your French Concession!
"Also, there are many people who are taking advantage of these troubled times to fish in troubled waters. Even the public security in the concession has been affected. More than 10 French expatriates have come to my door, hoping that I can settle the dispute as soon as possible, otherwise they will consider returning home with their capital."

This is Du Shilan’s biggest headache.

The foreigners were able to show off their power in the concessions, partly because their own government was strong and had a say in front of the Nanjing National Government, and partly because of the unclear foreign companies that came to China to seek gold. They established a circle of foreign merchants in China and almost monopolized half of the commercial market in the Republic of China.

These foreigners are the most afraid of death and now come to complain every day. Once these people leave, his income as the French Consul General in Tianjin will be reduced by at least half.

Lu Beiya understood what he meant. It seemed that the French were not prepared to stand on the side of Belgium.

Now no one at home or abroad supports him as the Belgian Consul General in Tianjin, and the tram company is focusing on resolving the dispute as soon as possible.

Apart from those Chinese compradors, he was truly isolated and helpless.

Lu Beiya glanced at Ye Luo who was sitting quietly. It seemed like yesterday when they first met in the restaurant. At that time, he had the audacity to challenge Ye Luo.

Ye Luo just said "wait and see", but this time he really saw it.

In this confrontation, Ye Luo exerted all his strength from the market, the public, public opinion, the environment, and private aspects. The most outrageous thing is that if you buy a yellow tabloid now, you can still see the story of Lu Beya and Fan Benke. The whole city of Tianjin knows how many women Lu Beya has slept with, how it only takes a few seconds, and that he is a male homosexual. All these secrets have been exposed by Ye Luo.

"Do you really think Tianjin will not be able to function without trams?"

Ye Luo smiled and whispered.

Exactly the same words, still the same tone, but it gave the three people completely different feelings.

He did what he said.

Nowadays, there are no trams operating inside or outside the Tianjin Concession. You can see rickshaws and taxis all over the streets, and traffic is still smooth.

Although this can be achieved by burning money, but it can be done, which is awesome!
"How about this, both bosses take a step back. Ye cancels the subsidies and free activities for taxis and rickshaws, and does not participate in the auction of tram sections; Fan Benke, you resume the operation of the tram and lower the ticket price, how about that?"

Du Shilan spoke up and acted as a peacemaker.

"Then, with Ye and I stepping forward at the same time, the city hall will be able to quickly disperse the protesting students and workers, and the strike will end soon."

At this point, it was equivalent to giving both parties a way out. Fan Benke was not willing to fight with Ye Luo in the first place, so he nodded immediately.

Lu Beiya was hesitant on the side, and Wang Zhulin also wanted to end the farce quickly so that his money would not be burned along with Ye Luo's.

After a long time, Lu Beiya gritted her teeth and nodded.

Ye Luo smiled and said nothing.

Du Shilan had already reached an agreement with Ye Luo and received investment money from Ye's company, so he tried his best to be the peacemaker.

Seeing that the matter was settled, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked someone to add seats for the three people who were standing.

Ye Luowan declined the invitation to have dinner together, chatted for a few more words, and then left alone.

Looking at his half-smile, Wang Zhulin felt a chill run down his spine. He always felt that things were not over yet.

After the news of the tram fare reduction in Tianjin spread, people rushed to celebrate and praise the Second Young Master for helping us Chinese vent our anger.

With the orderly maintenance of Ye Investment employees, the students and workers' marches came to an end.

Once the deal was settled, those hooligans who had been hanging around in and out of the concession all day disappeared without a trace in an instant.

The city of Tianjin seemed to have returned to its original state.

The Japanese were in a state of panic throughout the whole incident.

After their cooperation with the Belgians in purchasing copper coins was exposed, they had to face constant international accusations and questioning from the Nanjing Nationalist Government.

In addition, on April 4, more than 29 senior officials including General Shirakawa, commander-in-chief of the Japanese invading army in China, and Japanese Minister to China Mamoru Shigemitsu gathered in Shanghai and held a grand "victory celebration" meeting in Hongkou, the Japanese Concession, to celebrate the birth of the Japanese Emperor on April 20.

In fact, it was to celebrate the victory of the Battle of Shanghai.

I don’t know who was so righteous that he found a Peninsular person to be the assassin and brought a bomb to attack them that day.

When Shirakawa was giving a speech, there was a sudden earth-shattering explosion, the podium collapsed, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and Shirakawa was blown to pieces. He was dying and died three days later.

Shigemitsu Aoki had one leg broken by the explosion, and the commander of the Third Fleet, Vice Admiral Yoshisaburo Nomura, the commander of the Ninth Division, Vice Admiral Kenkichi Ueda, Murai Kuramatsu and others were seriously injured.

After this incident, the Japanese were busy arresting people from the Peninsula in Shanghai and had no time to pay attention to the business war in Tianjin.

Just when Lu Beiya thought she could finally breathe a sigh of relief after seeing the tram fare increase incident come to a successful conclusion, the workers' salary issue caused by the tram fare increase broke out again!

(End of this chapter)