1928: The Rise of Giants

After the news of Meng Xiaodong's pregnancy spread, her mother-in-law Li Shuzhen started to get busy again. Now with two pregnant women in the family, she couldn't take care of them all, so she asked her second concubine Li Shuting and fourth concubine Bi Yunxia to help.

Even though the Ye Mansion had been expanded several times and was already the largest villa building in the International Settlement, it still could not meet the needs of the Ye family.

After much consideration, Ye Luo finally chose the location of the Shiliyangchang, which was later known as Jinling Road. He spent 300 million oceans to acquire all the land and buildings in that area, and then asked the engineering team of Ye’s Construction to build a villa complex on this basis for the Ye family to live in.

Many of the merchants on this road are foreign companies, but when they heard that the buyer was Ye Luo, they immediately moved away, fearing that if they walked too slowly, people from Ye’s investment would come to "negotiate".

As Sino-Japanese relations deteriorated, the Chinese in Shanghai became more and more disgusted with foreigners. Shanghai was the base camp of Ye's investments, with nearly 5 employees, each of whom could drown a foreigner with a single spit.

Therefore, even in the two major concessions, no foreigners dared to stop Ye Luo from doing anything.

After finalizing the construction plan, Ye Luo transferred Zhang Yuanbei back from the north, so that Zhang Mouzhi could feel more at ease.

Song Ziwen, the father-in-law, is now following Ye Luo and has made enough money. He doesn't want his children to get into trouble and lose their lives. Among his children, his youngest son Zhang Yuanbei and his youngest daughter Zhang Anyi are closest to the Ye family. He had to repeatedly ask Ye Luo to tell these two restless guys not to get involved in any underground organization.

Another piece of land that Ye Luo has his eyes on is the Hongkou Dojo in the Japanese Concession, which was once crowded with people!
The section of Hongkou where the road was built across the border was actually the territory of the International Settlement Municipal Council. After the Battle of Shanghai, they planned to return the land to the Nanjing National Government, but the Japanese in the Japanese Concession disagreed.

They even stationed troops there, looking shameless.

If the Japanese army had been hiding there, it would have been difficult for Ye Luo to engage in a head-on conflict with them.

But now the Japanese invaders are about to withdraw. If the troops here continue to stay, they will come into conflict with the foreign Municipal Council, so they will inevitably leave.

After enjoying a few days of family happiness at home, Ye Luo asked Cao Fan to be the driver, and dozens of cars led the way, heading towards the Hongkou Dojo section.

On May 5 this year, all Japanese troops, except for 31 marines and military police, had evacuated Shanghai in batches.

The Nanjing National Government transferred 1000 members of the Peking Security Team, led by Swiss coaches, to Shanghai to maintain public order. It also dispatched the 2nd Battalion of the elite Infantry of the nd Army of the National Army to Longhua, where the Songhu Garrison Command was located.

On June 6, all Japanese marines in the area around the road construction that crossed the border in Hongkou, east of the Songhu Railway, west of Shajing Port, and north of the International Settlement, withdrew into the area where the road was built.

At this point, except for the police power in District D (Zhabei Japanese Cemetery) where the Japanese troops were allowed to temporarily stay as allowed by the Armistice Agreement, all Japanese troops had withdrawn from Shanghai and the administrative district and police power of the City Hall were completely restored.

Along the way, Ye Luo could already see the police officers from the Songhu Police Department maintaining public order and arranging the people to return to their homes occupied by the Japanese invaders in an orderly manner. Occasionally, he could see groups of Japanese army passing by. The two sides were on the verge of a fight, but no conflict occurred.

When the convoy arrived at the road construction section across the border in Hongkou, a large number of Japanese troops were slowly withdrawing, with tricycles and motorcycles in the front row and neatly-organized army soldiers in the back.

These Japanese invaders had the blood of the National Army on their hands. At this moment, they were all dejected, a little unhappy, but helpless.

Their original intention was to be stationed here, then slowly encroach on the surrounding areas and expand the Japanese concession, but that assassination disrupted all their plans.

When the Japanese army and Ye's convoy met, both sides became alert, fearing that the other side would suddenly attack.

The Japanese knew that Ye’s convoy was no ordinary team. Their vehicles were equipped with heavy firepower weapons, and many of their drivers were former military personnel with extraordinary combat capabilities.

During the Battle of Shanghai, the tax police corps led by Wen Yingxing posed a major threat to the Japanese invaders. After becoming famous in the first battle, the Japanese invaders’ army inquired from many sources and learned that this was a fierce division funded by Ye’s investment and secretly trained in Jiacheng for one or two years. Therefore, every time they see the Ye’s investment logo, they will be nervous, even more cautious than seeing the National Army.

The former Japanese Consul General Shichitaro Yada had his leg blown off in the assassination attempt and was sent to China for treatment after being seriously injured. The new Consul General who was just sent to Shanghai a few days ago had feces thrown at his door as soon as he arrived in Shanghai.

These were naturally the work of the Anti-Japanese Traitor-Extermination Corps.

Ye Luo looked at the slowly receding Japanese flag, feeling filled with emotion.

In the near future, they will make a comeback, and Shanghai will completely become an isolated island during the Anti-Japanese War, always occupied by the Japanese invaders.

The relationship between Ye's Investment and the Japanese invaders was already hostile. After the full-scale war of resistance broke out in 1937, the Japanese invaders successfully occupied Shanghai, which would inevitably force Ye Luo to make a choice.

Surrender, or die.

Ye Luo had already made all the plans for this. In order to prevent it from being discovered by someone with ulterior motives, he deliberately postponed the implementation of the plan. It was not until this year that he gradually began to take action.

5 years is enough time for him to make full preparations.

The first step in all this was to buy the Hongkou area of ​​the Japanese Concession, and then wipe out all Japanese businesses and Japanese goods!
During these five years, we must completely eliminate any unfavorable factors that the Japanese invaders may have left in Shanghai, do our best to suppress them, and not allow them to enter Shanghai after five years and develop the economy and commerce naturally.

"Second Young Master, I heard that the Japanese are holding on to the Hongkou Dojo. We have offered 500 million dollars, but they still refuse to sell it. Don't they really need money?"

Cao Fan asked in a low voice.

Ye Luo smiled and said, "How could he not be short of money? When the new Japanese Consul General arrived, the first thing he did was to collect bribes and fill his pockets. Don't look at Shichitaro Yada leaving in disgrace, he took away a lot of money.

I asked people from Citibank and HSBC, and the funds he transferred to the Japanese account amounted to more than 200 million yuan, and other treasures such as gold and silver, as well as antiques and paintings, were countless. In just these few years, he made at least 500 million in Shanghai. "

"Hiss!" Cao Fan gasped, "The damn Japanese are really good at making money!"

His current monthly salary is 280 oceans, including the benefits provided by the company and other miscellaneous side income, he still makes less than 5000 oceans a year, which is already considered the top income for the middle class in Shanghai.

To earn 500 million, he would have to go without food or drink for 1000 years!
"They don't sell it because there are things in the Hongkou Dojo that they haven't moved yet." Ye Luo sneered.

The Hongkou Dojo was able to survive even after being destroyed by the Chin Woo Athletic Association because it was originally a spy agency of the Japanese invaders.

The spies have not evacuated yet, and many confidential documents are probably still inside. How dare they sell them to Ye Luo?
Of course, if they don’t sell it, Ye Luo also has a way to get it.

He cared more about those confidential documents than the land.

"What should we do then?" Cao Fan asked.

Ye Luo smiled faintly: "When you were a pirate before, didn't you know all about these things? When Heng San comes back, I will leave this matter to you." (End of this chapter)