A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 17 Danger is coming
June 1927, 6 (Tuesday), 21: a.m.

On a vacant lot in Fangua Lane, which is also the future base of the "Yangtze River Rickshaw Company", nine brand new rickshaws are neatly arranged, and twenty-seven drivers are standing in front of their corresponding rickshaws.

There were many neighbors from Fangua Lane who came to watch the fun. Zhou Xinggao, a member of the "Northern Expedition Army", organized people to maintain order and prevent the onlookers from breaking into the newly leased space of the Changjiang Car Dealership.

Loud.

Who would have thought that Changjiang Car Dealership, which was established only a month ago, could grow so fast.

Based on its current scale, Changjiang Car Dealership can make a profit of nearly 300 oceans per month, including income from product sales.

So terrifying.

Chen Guangliang stood in front of the crowd and said loudly:

"From the moment you join the Changjiang Motorcycle Company, you are no longer just 'red men' or 'rickshaw pullers', but shareholders of the Changjiang Motorcycle Company."

"Changjiang Motors is a company that will provide you with a stable income and allow your investment to appreciate in value."

"As shareholders and drivers of the Changjiang Rickshaw Company, you have an obligation to protect the company's assets and interests. Specifically, you must look after the company's rickshaws, maintain and service them, attend weekly company meetings, and be briefed on the company's operating status every month. Everyone in this company must maintain unity."

"Can you do it?"

After hearing Chen Guangliang's pragmatic and passionate speech, the drivers below were already excited.

Everyone answered in unison: "Yes"

Chen Guangliang nodded, and then began to arrange the movement range of the nine vehicles.

He had already been traveling for sixty-six days, and during that time he had also done one thing: researching the "optimal activity map" for rickshaws. Therefore, in his hands, the rickshaws of the Yangtze River Vehicle Company could improve their efficiency to a certain extent.

Nowadays, rickshaw drivers only need to work for eight hours, but their income can be stable at 12 to 15 dollars a month, which is not only not lower than before, but also slightly higher.

Nine rickshaws (in total) filed out, leaving Fangua Lane and began to pick up customers and do business.
The remaining drivers did not leave, but continued to stay at the base of the Yangtze River Coach Company.

Chen Guangliang said, "This place has been leased by the Changjiang Motors Company for eight dollars a month. I plan to establish a base for the Changjiang Motors Company here. When you have free time, please come and help set it up. This is my assistant, Zhou Xinggao. He will organize you to build this base. Don't worry, it won't take up much of your time in a day. And once the base is established, we'll have a place to gather."

"Manager Chen, don't worry. Not to mention two hours a day, even four hours a day is no problem for us."

Soon, these drivers expressed their opinions.

The base occupies about six mu of land, which is the size of a basketball court.

Chen Guangliang's plan was to surround the area with bamboo and wood, then build two small huts. One would serve as an office, the other as a public area for meetings and rest, and the remaining space would be used for rickshaw repairs and activities.

Giving this task to Zhou Xinggao saved Chen Guangliang's energy.

Moreover, Chen Guangliang no longer needs to be a coachman and can concentrate on managing the Changjiang Coach Company.

After all, the 18 new drivers need to be trained later, especially in product promotion.

Currently, the Yangtze River Car Dealership has expenses in three areas: the first is Chen Guangliang's salary, which is ten dollars a month; the second is a temporary salary for Zhou Xinggao, which is nine dollars a month; and the third is the rental and construction costs of the Yangtze River Car Dealership base.

All told, the Changjiang Car Dealership would have to spend thirty taels of silver a month. Although this was an extra thirty taels of silver, the income from merchandise sales more than covered this expense, and even had some extra. Furthermore, Zhou Xinggao's salary was only temporary.

Taking the first batch of three rickshaws as an example, Chen Guangliang called it "Project A". Project A has been in operation for a month and the capital has increased by 85 yuan.

The working capital of Project A will be temporarily borrowed for the expenses and merchandise purchases of Changjiang Vehicle Company, and will later be fairly settled with Project B (six rickshaws).

Although Changjiang Motors is developing well now, Chen Guangliang dare not be negligent at all. He even hopes to achieve faster development.

Chen Guangliang knew that the price of rickshaw license plates would skyrocket in the next few years, and competition would become increasingly fierce. So if he wanted to develop, he had to start early.

But now that he has no "capital", he naturally cannot launch a "share offering"; after all, he must have his own funds to expand the scale.

"You mean, Chen Guangliang now owns nine rickshaws, and all of them have Dazhaohui license plates?"

Wang Chengyun looked at his capable subordinate Tang Zhiqing in disbelief. He had never imagined that Chen Guangliang would grow so quickly. In just over a month, he had already grown to nine licensed rickshaws. It was simply unbelievable.

Tang Zhiqing was born a gangster, but after joining Wang Chengyun's team, he felt like a fish in water and did some shameful things for his boss.

"Yes, Boss. We've already found out everything. These nine rickshaws were purchased jointly by Chen Guangliang and others. One of the partners is the guy from the Traffic Department, and all the rickshaw drivers are also members. As a result of their actions, the drivers in our company are also getting restless."

Wang Chengyun slammed the table and said angrily, "I wonder who dares to do that. Tell them, they only got the approval of the Traffic Department to get the license. Do they think they can pick up passengers just by buying a rickshaw?"

Tang Zhiqing nodded and said, "Well, I will subdue those idiots."

Afterwards, Wang Chengyun calmed down his anger and said after some thought, "This Chen Guangliang has been trying to steal our company more than once. This time, he even instigated ten drivers to leave and caused unrest within us."

Tang Zhiqing immediately said, "Boss, what do you mean by that? Let's teach him a lesson."

Wang Chengyun nodded and said, "I'll leave this matter to you. You must let this Chen know the consequences of provoking me."

At this time, no one, including the rickshaw drivers, knew that some of the license plates on the Changjiang Motors were fake, because they were taken from the Traffic Department and were indistinguishable from the real thing.

The only people who knew about this were Chen Guangliang and Li Chao. He Xiangdong also knew about Project A, so even the patrol police couldn't find out what happened.

The rickshaws of the Changjiang Vehicle Company operate 24 hours a day and basically never leave the sight of the rickshaw drivers, so it was impossible for Wang Chengyun to steal a rickshaw.

At this point, Wang Chengyun was a little desperate and decided to take tough measures to teach Chen Guangliang a lesson.

Of course, Wang Chengyun is not a big shot in Shanghai. There are dozens of cars of the same scale as "Wang's Car Dealership" in Shanghai.

Only a 'Jiangbei tycoon' like Gu Zhuxuan, who owns thousands of licensed rickshaws, has expanded his business to theaters, restaurants, teahouses, etc., and has nearly ten thousand disciples, can be considered a real boss.

To put it bluntly, Wang Chengyun still needs to pay "protection fees" to Gu Zhuxuan every month.

Of course, for Chen Guangliang at this time, Wang Chengyun was a "BOSS"-level existence. After all, Gu Zhuxuan's people looked down on Chen Guangliang, but Wang Chengyun would not let Chen Guangliang rise easily.

A conspiracy against Chen Guangliang has begun.

(End of this chapter)