1928: The rise of giant merchants

Chapter 36 Nine Yao Qi Si Wu - Boss Zhang is depressed about winning the first prize!

"The ship is coming! The ship is coming!"

Below the pier, the crowd shouted, and countless people waved their car coupons and looked forward to it.

After a long whistle, the first ship arrived in Shanghai safely.

This is a 500-ton class ship. Among the shipping companies owned by Nissin \u0026 Yangko, it is also among the top large cargo ships.

Among the domestically produced ships, the first 500-tonnage ship sailed into the Shanghai Bund Pier in 1924. The ship was named "Guangji" and was owned by Shanghai Daxing Merchant Shipping Company.

The Guangji entered Shanghai and opened the Ao-Shanghai route for the first time, which promoted the prosperity and development of shipping trade in Aojiang Port. Since then, domestic Chinese shipping companies have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and now there are about 600 large and small ones.

Unfortunately, in today's ship transportation business, Japanese merchants and other foreign companies still account for the majority, followed by steamship merchants. The Chinese merchants are very small and can be ignored.

When the freighter arrived at the dock, the black cloth covering the cars was suddenly lifted, and 300 brand-new Chevrolet 490s were lined up neatly.

Viewed alone, the visual sense is not as good as the sporadic luxury cars parked in the distance.

But after gathering them together, there was an unspeakable feeling of shock!

The flash lights kept coming on.

Reporters from major newspapers seized the opportunity to snap the first photos of the 300 cars arriving in Shanghai!

"Second Young Master, I now understand a little bit why you insist that these cars can be sold at a high price." Tan Si has been famous in Shanghai for more than ten years. What big storms and waves has he not seen?

But the shocking scene in front of him was the only one he had ever seen in his life.

The other two large piers also have 100 cars arriving in Shanghai each. Although the shock may not be as shocking as the Shiliupu Pier, it is enough to make the citizens excited and exclaim, leaving an indelible memory!

Regardless of the car's subsequent sales, at this moment, the Ye's Automobile Company's signboard resounded throughout Shanghai!

When talking about cars in the future, it is difficult not to think of the scene when 500 Chevrolet 490s arrived in Shanghai on April 30, nor to forget the heroic move of Huashang Automobile Company to purchase 2,000 cars!

After a while, one car after another was driven off the ship with a hired temporary driver.

Today, almost all the drivers in Shanghai have been sent to drive. Some of them are Chinese, some are foreigners, and most of them belong to the Automobile Trade Association.

In order to expose the false phenomenon that Chinese businessmen and foreign companies are related to each other, Galt personally issued an approval document and was willing to provide hundreds of drivers for free for Ye Luo to drive.

Anyway, they foreigners did not believe that the Chevrolet 490 could have a market in Shanghai from the beginning.

Watching the cars leaving the pier one after another, the convoy seemed to never end in sight, which made the people watching on both sides even more excited.

A small number of them had already ordered a Chevrolet 490 from Ye's Automobile Company. At this time, watching the driver drive by, they felt particularly complicated.

According to Ye Luo, starting tomorrow, customers who have reserved a car can go to various stores of Ye's Automobile Company to go through the handover procedures and pick up the car!

In the past, when buying a car, you went to a car dealer to choose a car. If you liked the car, you wrote a check and bought one. A driver would drive to your home that day.

The feeling of superiority brought about by the car quickly dissipates as the novelty wears off.

But this time it's different.

I bought a car myself, and before I even picked up the car, countless people saw the car and were surprised and amazed by it!

They may not know the differences between Ford's various car series, but they must know the Chevrolet 490 now!

Ou Bin, who was in the crowd, clutched his bus ticket and was satisfied.

His wife Tan Huiran, who was holding his arm next to him, had eyes full of light. She had been chattering non-stop since the car arrived in Shanghai, wondering which car would be hers.

This is the first time that my wife has been so happy.

Last time I bought her expensive bags and clothes in a department store, but I didn’t see much reaction from her!

If she is happy, then she might get a more generous reward tonight!

Ou Bin thought happily.

Seeing that the car was gradually leaving the pier, Ye Luo gave Tan Si a look. Tan Si understood and called his men to maintain law and order.

The crowd's voices gradually fell silent, because they knew that the biggest event of the day was coming!

The car arrived in Shanghai with great fanfare, but in fact everyone just watched the excitement. After all, among so many people, only a few could really afford to buy a car.

Most people's goal is the car that has not been driven away by the driver and is currently parked at the ferry terminal with a big red flower tied to the front of the car as a prize -

A brand new Chevrolet 490!

Ye Luo saw countless people below stretching their necks and waiting hard with car coupons in their hands, and knew that he had done the right thing by issuing car coupons!

In any era, this kind of gambling industry that relies on small profits to make big profits, low investment and high returns is a huge profit.

How do you say that? One yuan for you, one yuan for him, and tomorrow I will have 100 million yuan!

In 1901, the Governor of Huguang, Zhang Zhidong, imitated the Luzon ticket and issued the "Hubei Donation Ticket", which was the earliest officially issued local government lottery and the first time that lottery fundraising was used to solve the problem of fund shortage.

There is such a record in Xu Ke's "Qing Bailei Chao": "The existence of financial notes in our country began with the Guangdong merchants' Jiangnan notes. When Hubei signed donation notes, everything was controlled by the Ministry of Officials and Law, and the situation was A change.”

This shows that the lottery industry has a major impact on the political economy and has been excessively abused. By this time, both the North and the South had banned the sale of lottery tickets, and the momentum of fortune tickets was slightly delayed.

But as long as it has enough charm, the fortune ticket can still instantly ignite the desire in people's hearts!

What's more, the car coupons this time are purely gifts and not strictly a fortune ticket at all.

Tan Si asked someone to bring over an aluminum lottery machine, which contained flower balls with numbers printed on them. As long as the shaker was shaken, the flower balls would roll out, similar to the lottery numbers of later generations.

When the shaker was placed, Ye Luo clearly felt that the surrounding atmosphere began to become solemn.

Everyone was so silent that even the sound of a pin dropping to the ground could be clearly heard.

"Second Young Master, I'll draw the number and get the ball. Come and read the numbers on the flower ball." Tan Si looked at him with a smile.

For such a grand event, the two of them working together is also a small way to bring them closer together.

Newspaper reporters were still working hard to take photos. Reporters from Shenbao and Xinwen were even able to come close to the two people and take pictures of them at close range from a safe distance.

"That would be disrespectful." Ye Luo nodded with a smile.

I bought lottery tickets countless times in my previous life, but I never thought I would have the opportunity to be a host in this life.

clang--

After the bell rings.

Tan Si stretched out his hand to twist the buzzer, and soon, the first flower ball fell down.

"The first number is Jiu." Ye Luo held the bouquet high, and countless lights flashed. Some people exclaimed, while others lamented.

He looked down and found that everyone was looking down at the car coupons in their hands. If the first number was not 9, they would immediately sigh, as if they had missed a big opportunity.

If the first number is nine, the playful expression on his face cannot be concealed at all, and he swings the car coupons vigorously, looking forward to the following numbers.

There was a beautiful female reporter standing directly in front. While observing the surrounding scene, she wrote furiously and recorded this rare scene: "The numbers from one to nine sound particularly magical today, everyone." Everyone hopes that the car coupon in their hand can turn into a real car! Every number read by the second young master affects the hearts of everyone present. As the numbers are called out one by one, the expressions on people's faces change from They were so ecstatic that they gradually became solemn. Among these people were foreign chefs, ladies wearing furs, rickshaw pullers who made a living by pulling rickshaws, and brothel girls who hoped to win big prizes, pay off their debts, and leave the fire pit. These people gathered for the Chevrolet 490 The miserable lives of people running for money are written on their faces."

Read all five numbers.

Ye Luo looked around and saw that almost everyone was downcast, and the car coupons they were holding tightly in their hands were scattered all over the floor!

After all, it is too difficult to pick one out of ten thousand.

Before the lottery draw, Tan Si sent someone to ask if he wanted to operate in secret.

Generally speaking, the winner of such a jackpot will be determined by default, so the money will not go to anyone else.

Either the tycoon's relatives win the prize, or they simply sell favors to foreigners.

However, these proposals were rejected by Ye Luo.

In his previous life, he had seen enough gambling insider information. Now that it was him, Ye Luo wanted to be fair.

He asked Tan Si not to interfere with the lottery. Until this moment, they didn't know who won the first prize.

"Nine Yao Qi Si Wu." Zhang Wanlin looked at the car coupon in his hand again. Before that, he had actually confirmed it a dozen times, "That little red guy, there is no inside story about such a grand prize?"

"Whoever wins the award can come up to claim it now, or contact the employees of Ye's Automobile Shop afterwards." Tan Si shouted loudly.

The crowd has not dispersed yet, everyone is actually waiting for the award winner to come on stage, wanting to see who is so lucky to win a car!

Unfortunately, the winner seemed unwilling to take the stage.

After a while, a voice suddenly sounded.

"Hey, Boss Zhang? Your number won the prize!"

Zhang Wanlin was still hesitating when someone shouted from behind. Looking back, he seemed to be the owner of a silk trading house, but he couldn't remember.

The key is that with this shout, many people looked over.

Zhang Wanlin's face was full of black lines, and he had to walk towards Ye Luo and Tan Si with the bus coupon in his hand.

There was an uproar!

The names of the three tycoons of Yongxing Company are well-known among the lower-class Chinese circles. Apart from Chairman Ye of the Federation of Labor, these three of them have the closest relationship with the lower-class Chinese.

And everyone knows that Yongxing Company and labor will always have business conflicts and will not deal with each other!

Zhang Wanlin won the first prize!

This sounds like a shady secret, but if you think about it carefully, it can’t be a shady secret!

If Ye Luo wants to engage in shady activities, why would he give away the car jackpot to the three tycoons?

"Haha, Jiu Yao Qi Si Wu? Congratulations, Boss Zhang, good luck! Good luck!" Ye Luo Yile saw Zhang Wanlin coming with a dark face. In addition to the winning car ticket, there were also Several are invalid.

I don’t know if they are here to cause trouble or if they really bought the bus coupons to try their luck.

All in all, he really hit the mark!

"Second Master! Fourth Master! I made you laugh." Zhang Wanlin greeted with fists in his hands.

Tan Si couldn't help but laugh.

This happened too suddenly.

A Chevrolet 490 is nothing, especially for tycoons like them. It is really a bit low-end and not eye-catching.

But the second boss of the dignified Yongxing Company actually bought a lot of car coupons like the citizens and waited for the lottery draw of Ye's Automobile Company. That is of great significance!

Yongxing Company supported French cars at the beginning. The three tycoons stocked either French cars or Fords at home, and they were not optimistic about the cars sold by Chinese auto dealers at all.

Now Zhang Wanlin came to Shiliupu Pier alone to watch the lottery draw, and he won!

What does this mean?

Even the enemies of Ye's Automobile Company are optimistic about the Chevrolet 490!

"Boss Zhang, boss Zhang, hello! I am Chen Ruiqiong, the reporting reporter!" The beautiful reporter had a keen intuition. She pushed through the crowd and rushed forward to ask, "As we all know, you are the second boss of Yongxing Company. After surviving the French car, and now you are participating in the lottery, does it mean that your Yongxing company is also very optimistic about the sales of Chevrolet 490 in Shanghai?"

Zhang Wanlin wanted to scold his mother, but after looking at the car coupons in his hand, he really couldn't.

Now he has yellow mud falling out of his crotch, which is either shit or shit!

He smiled awkwardly, unable to answer.

"Of course!" Ye Luo took a step forward and put his arms around Zhang Wanlin's shoulders politely, "Everyone knows that there is a little friction between our Ye family and Yongxing, but this does not hinder our judgment on the prospects of our respective companies and industries. If he wasn’t so optimistic about the Chevrolet 490, why would Boss Zhang buy so many car coupons? It’s not just for wiping his butt, right? I mean, boss Zhang?”

"me"

"That's it! Boss Zhang, please come closer to the second young master and smile. You won the first prize. Let's take a picture!"

Chen Ruiqiong raised the camera.

A click——

In the photo, Ye Luo's bright smile and Zhang Wanlin's dead fish face are frozen forever!