1928: The rise of giant merchants

The British Consulate General in Shanghai was formerly the British Consulate Office Building. With the continuous expansion of consular affairs, it was later upgraded to the British Consulate General in Shanghai.

Building 1 was built in 1872. The building is two stories high, with a brick and wood structure and a cross-shaped plan. The facade is equipped with hard shutters and Roman-style railings.

The entire building is simple, solemn and charming, a typical British Renaissance architectural style.

This is the earliest architectural example of the use of cement in China, and it has a milestone significance in the history of Chinese architecture.

There is a large typical English lawn garden in front of Building 1, with 27 ancient trees standing around the house, creating a quiet environment.

Sidney Barton, the current Consul General in Shanghai, was sitting under an old tree, flipping through documents and drinking coffee just made by the maid.

"Uncle Barton! So you work here! I asked you why I walked around Building 2 and didn't see you."

John George walked quickly with a smile on his face.

Building 2 is the former official residence of the Consulate General, which is used for the living of officials of the Consulate General. It is located on the north side of Building 1.

Generally, these British consulate officials work and rest in the official residence, and rarely come to Building 1 to work.

After hearing this, Barton closed the document and looked up at him, his face immediately filled with a smile: "John! Why do you have time to come to me?"

"Who is this?" Barton's eyes fell on Ye Luo again.

Unfamiliar Chinese?

"Hello, Consul General Barton, my name is Ye Luo, and I am John's classmate at Cambridge University." Ye Luo ignored his suggestive eyes and took the initiative to extend his hand to say hello.

"Uncle Barton, do you still remember the Chinese genius I often told you who was competed for by tutors in various colleges during school? That's him, my good friend Ye Luo." John George introduced excitedly.

"It turns out it's him." Barton's expression softened slightly, and he stretched out his hand to shake Ye Luo's hand, "Hello, Mr. Ye Luo."

Seeing his appearance, the relevant knowledge stored in Ye Luo's mind surged out.

The other party is the Consul General of the British Consulate General in Shanghai and the top leader of the British Concession. Ye Luo has long been familiar with his personal information.

Sidney Barton is a traditional British aristocrat of the old school, one of the more stubborn ones, and has a very bad sense of Chinese people.

He entered the British Legation in Peking in 1895 as a translator, and later went to Shandong Province and Tianjin, and served as Consul General in Shanghai from 1922 to 1929.

These two years were the last years of his term. In the spring of 1929, Sidney Barton would go to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) to serve as minister.

"Uncle Barton, look at this." George was impatient. He pulled out the white chair and sat down, then handed over the company's initial business plan application written by Ye Luo.

Looking at the crumpled paper, Barton couldn't help crying or laughing. He took it and read out loud: "On the Last Madness of the U.S. Stock Market and the Upcoming Rise of Investment in 1928."

"During the 'Roaring Twenties,' the U.S. economy and stock market experienced rapid expansion, with stock prices reaching all-time highs. From August 1921 to January 1928, the Dow Jones Index rose fivefold."

“In the past few years, the credit industry in the United States has developed rapidly, and personal loans are very easy. People who are encouraged by market stability are not afraid of debt. Stocks can be purchased on margin, which allows ordinary people without financial acumen to borrow from their Borrow money from a stockbroker to buy shares and pay only 10% of the value of the shares.”

Yeluo's application gave an in-depth and concise description of the causes, consequences, and internal logic of the U.S. stock market surge in the 1920s.

Barton himself has a PhD in economics and finance and deeply agrees with his views and opinions.

Ye Luo then used examples and simple analysis to analyze the possible trend of the U.S. stock market in the next year, citing classics and clear explanations.

Due to space limitations, Ye Luo did not expect that people from the consulate and the Ministry of Industry and Industry would read it carefully. He skipped many of the contents and only expressed his thoughts and predictions at the end.

He believed that in the first half of 1928, the U.S. stock market would experience its final carnival period, with the Dow Jones Index soaring all the way to around 300 points. The growth rate would begin to slow down in the second half of the year. In early 2029, it would enter its final glory, and then fall rapidly.

Then starting in 1929, the United States will likely fall into a period of economic depression that will last more than ten years.

These contents are naturally based on later data, and the results are used to infer the process.

Ye Luo is familiar with history, and it is easy to use the results to make inferences, and it will appear very logical, but in Barton's eyes, this is an economic and financial paper that is astonishing and academically powerful!

Even though it is only a few thousand words, it perfectly summarizes the current situation of the U.S. stock market!

Especially the final prophecy.

It’s incredible, but it makes sense if you think about it carefully.

"Genius, you are a real genius! Mr. Yello!" Barton jumped up excitedly. The coffee on the table tipped over and splashed all over him. The maid was so frightened that she rushed over.

But Barton didn't care, waved the maid out of the way, and continued chatting with Ye Luo.

"I have been thinking about domestic economic and financial issues in the United States since 2026." Barton is a fan of finance and economics. His bedroom is filled with books on this subject, and he conducts his own deductions and analyzes whenever he has time.

He himself is also an important political and diplomatic figure, so he is very concerned about the world's most powerful country.

After all, every move the United States makes now will affect all countries.

"After reading your application, I suddenly realized. If such a terrible economic crisis really broke out in 1929, it would have been a disaster that swept the world."

Barton was filled with emotion. He was in a very contradictory mood at the moment. He was very convinced of Ye Luo's analysis and reasoning, but he also didn't really hope that this would really happen.

The world's most powerful country falls into the Great Depression, so what will it do?

Naturally, they shift crises and conflicts to other countries to ease their own pain.

The world is basically a gold standard country. The United States is in an economic crisis and the US dollar is turbulent. In a chain reaction, the currencies of other countries will also be affected.

If it were to be as terrifying as what Ye Luo described, Barton's scalp would feel numb just thinking about it.

"I hope my guess is not accurate." Ye Luo smiled, "It made the Consul General laugh. In fact, I haven't done much research on this topic since I returned to China, so it may not be accurate."

"No, no, no. I think your analysis is to the point and very valuable for reference. Huh?" Only then did Barton remember that this seemed to be an application, not an academic paper. "Application? Mr. Ye Luo plans to apply for it. This investment company?”

Ye Luo glanced at George.

George knew it was time to take action on his own, so he smiled and briefly told Barton the whole story.

"Fuck! When did those Chinese employees also have the power to rule on the company's initial affairs?" Barton couldn't help but swear. He had a very bad sense of Chinese people, but when he thought of Ye Luo in front of him, he immediately changed his tune.

These are the foreigners in Shili Foreign Market.

They have a very high sense of self-superiority, so if you can truly conquer their thoughts, they will develop fanatical respect and worship for you.

Gao Fushuai and Bai Fumei's role as licking dogs is much more exaggerated than ordinary people.

Because they can lick to feel superior.

"Mr. Ye Luo, don't worry. I will personally approve your Ye's investment company and get it done as soon as possible." Barton raised his hand and called the maid over, "Audrey, go to Building 2 to make arrangements and invite the chef of the Licha Hotel. Come, I want to invite Mr. Yello and John to dine with me in the restaurant."

"Yes, Consul General." The blond maid named Audrey bowed slightly, and her beautiful eyes quietly looked at the tall and handsome Chinese young man, her eyes full of curiosity.

For the first time in six years, she saw the Consul General entertaining Chinese people in Building 2.

When Marshal Zhang from the north came to visit, the Consul General had a casual meal with him outside, and Marshal Zhang paid for the treat.

Ye Luo didn't expect that something he wrote casually could make Barton so excited.

This British guy is so powerful that he can actually invite the chef of Richa Restaurant to come over and cook.

Richa Hotel is the later Pujiang Hotel and is now the most famous foreign-owned hotel in Shanghai. Being able to dine there means that you have amazing energy in Shanghai.

Because Li Cha Hotel generally only accepts foreigners and a small number of Chinese.

On July 26, 1882, 15 electric lamps were tested for the first time in Shanghai, and 7 were lit in the Licha Hotel and gardens;

In 1901, Shanghai's first telephone directory appeared, with the phone number "200" of the Licha Hotel. This was the earliest modern telephone used in Shanghai;

On June 9, 1908, a semi-sound film with both sound and form, as well as light and electricity made its debut in the garden of the Richard Hotel. Until now, China is still in the silent film era.

Oh, by the way, Licha Hotel is on the east side of Baidu Bridge, facing the Consulate General in the east and west.

If Barton invited Ye Luo to have lunch at the Richa Hotel, it would probably be on the front page of the newspaper and the news tomorrow. Perhaps considering the social impact, he did not have a public banquet, but invited him to the relatively private restaurant in Building 2.

This actually made Ye Luo feel more comfortable.

It shows that Barton is willing to let him intervene in his private life, which is a precursor to being ready to be friends.

"Mr. Ye Luo, John, let's go, let's chat while we walk." Barton waved his hand and led the two of them towards Building 2.

"Mr. Barton, just call me Ye Luo." Ye Luo and John were on the left and right, about half a body behind Barton.

"Okay, Ye Luo, can you continue to talk about your views on the U.S. stock market?" Barton nodded.

"Of course." Ye Luo raised his eyebrows. The British guy finally revealed his true intentions.

Although he did have some academic achievements and his background was quite high in Shanghai, these things did not mean much to Barton.

It is difficult for Chinese people to be treated equally in front of foreigners.

The reason lies in the current social environment.

Barton was so diligent in wooing Ye Luo because he was interested in his analysis and views on the U.S. stock market.

He wants to make a fortune in the U.S. stock market through Yeluo!

It's for national affairs and the world economy. It's just talk. Whoever takes it seriously is a fool.

The ocean that can fall into your pocket is real.

Of course, on the surface, Barton naturally has to show that he is extremely concerned about the world situation.

During the short walk of a few hundred meters, Ye Luo did what he wanted, focusing on analyzing the future trends of the Dow Jones Index and several stocks that he was relatively optimistic about. Barton was filled with joy when he heard this, and he wanted to take out a pen and paper immediately to take notes.

George on the side was a little bored.

He also thought that the two would discuss academic issues in economics and finance.

Unexpectedly, we have been talking about stocks.

We came to the restaurant and sat down. It was a Western-style banquet hall. There were officials from the Consulate General sitting at several other tables. When they saw Barton coming, they all stood up to say hello.

Everyone's eyes, without exception, fell on Ye Luo.

There is no way, a Chinese appearing in the restaurant of the Consulate General is like a fantasy.

"Mr. Ye Luo, please sit down." Barton returned to the honorific address again, "Are you taboo on red wine?"

"No, I quite like it." Ye Luo smiled and shook his head.

"Ye Luo was a famous 'social butterfly' in college! Girls invited him to dance and drink with him almost every night." George finally got in the conversation and immediately recounted Ye Luo's college life.

Ye Luo's experience also proves this point.

It’s not that Western women don’t like Eastern men, but they like tall, handsome men.

To put it bluntly, women are all about appearance, it doesn’t matter whether you are handsome or not, and it doesn’t matter where you come from.

"Haha, it's good if you don't have taboos." Barton ordered Audrey to fetch his collection of red wine from the bedroom. "By the way, Mr. Yeluo, what business are you planning to do this time?"

"To be honest, I plan to buy a General Motors car and invest in a car rental business." Ye Luo replied with a smile.

"Ah?" Barton's hand holding up the wine glass stopped awkwardly in mid-air.