The Beacon of Laiyang Metal

Chapter 10
  Perhaps it was the strength shown by Wei Yuan that made Sun Dewang pay enough attention;

Manager Sun was surprisingly efficient. It was only after lunch time, and Wei Yuan, who was still immersed in the joy of harvesting two large boxes of gold bars, received a call from Sun Dewang in the room.

"Hello Mr. Wei?"

"I am Sun Dewang from Changqi Foreign Trade Co., Ltd."!
  "Mr. Benjamin Hoover, the general manager of Clark Kimberly's "Magic City", has already made an appointment for you."

"Mr. Benjamin is very interested in your shipment."

"Yes, yes, we have made a reservation for you at the Peony Hall of the Magic City Hotel at 7 o'clock tomorrow evening."

As soon as Wei Yuan expressed his thanks, he heard the other person say:
  "No, no, Mr. Wei is so polite. From now on, the store will have to rely more on Mr. Wei."

A time was agreed upon to meet, and after a brief greeting, the two parties hung up the phone.

Although businessmen are said to be profit-seeking, Wei Yuan really has to thank Sun Dewang for helping him make an appointment with Kimberly."

No matter, as long as we have a few more contacts, the transaction with "Changqi Yangxing" can be as smooth as the first time. At worst, the watch business will be left to them in the future, and they will be responsible for the general agent watch sales.

Wei Yuan sighed secretly;
  After all, many friends lead to many paths. After all, Sun Dewang is Wei Yuan's first partner in this time and space, so he deserves some preferential treatment.

Taking advantage of his free time in the afternoon, Wei Yuan decided to get a haircut to refresh himself. Later, he was busy running business and sometimes didn't get a haircut for more than a month.

It can be said that the craftsmen of this era are really skilled, and it only cost 5 cents for Wei Yuan to take care of everything from haircut to facial cleansing.

In order to make his hair style not look too strange, he specially asked the barber to give him a greasy head with the characteristics of the old "Magic City".

At 7 o'clock in the evening, when the lights were on, the front of the Peace Hotel was busy, with bigwigs from the military, government, and business industries arriving in droves.

The cars cover different brands from various countries, including Rolls-Royce, Ford Model A, French Citroen, Chrysler SF-2, Buick,

Regardless of the car brand or quantity, it is enough to hold a large-scale auto show in this time and space.

The car slides in front of the door, and after unloading the passengers, it slowly drives away. The same goes for the cars behind it, like an assembly line.

The doorman who has been waiting outside the door is responsible for welcoming the guests into the hotel.

From the front of the hotel to the intersections on both sides of the street, many patrol officers were deployed to maintain public order and traffic.

At the same time, there were also many big men with short hair and well-dressed clothes, gathering in twos and threes around the hotel door. Judging from the bulging bags around their waists, they all had a gang style, and they should be gang members sent by a certain gang leader.

Weiyuan returned to the hotel lobby without being blocked or interrogated. However, when he took the elevator to the banquet hall on the 10th floor, he was asked by the security personnel outside the corridor to show his cocktail invitation.

After showing the invitation and checking, Wei Yuan successfully entered the banquet hall.

The banquet hall was bustling with excitement, sultry singing echoed in the thick smoke, and a red spotlight shone on the center of the stage. The singer in the center of the stage was singing the popular dance song "Night Shanghai" at the time.

Night Shanghai~Night Shanghai~
  You are a city that never sleeps, with lights on, music sounding, singing and dancing...

Behind the stage, there were several scantily clad dancers twisting their bodies.

Wei Yuan, who was experiencing this kind of scene for the first time, immediately blushed, and at the same time a different kind of stimulation arose in his heart, itching like a cat's claw.

The guests who had arrived before were all well-dressed, all of whom were rich or noble. Most of the men were dressed in Western style, and some older ones wore long robes and mandarin jackets. Most of the ladies were dressed in cheongsams, and many of the younger cheongsams had crotch knots. It opened to near the thigh, revealing a patch of snow-white.

Each held a glass of red wine and walked through the crowd, greeting each other and getting to know each other. The whole reception was a joyful scene, and the singing and dancing were at their best.

Thinking of the dock anti-contract workers he met on the morning of the first day of the journey, Wei Yuan couldn't help but think of a sentence: Zhumen's wine-meat-smelly road will freeze the bones to death.

Then he went back and forth with a tray, and the waiter responsible for serving drinks took a glass of champagne, then found a deserted corner and silently enjoyed the stage performance. About half an hour later, the stage lights and singing stopped suddenly, and then near the lower right corner of the center stage, the band played a burst of cheerful music, and the host came on.

After a flattering introduction, the protagonist of the cocktail party and the organizer of the cocktail party - Victor Sassoon - was welcomed.

Victor Sassoon is said to be a British Jew, born in the Sassoon family, a hereditary baronet. During the First World War, he participated in the British Royal Air Force. During the battle, his left foot was injured and disabled, and he was known as the "Two-footed Sassoon".

In addition to the title of British hereditary baronet and the owner of the Time and Space Peace Hotel, he is also the founder of "Sassoon Company". His business covers: opium, arms, finance, real estate investment, department stores, etc. It can be said that as long as you make money The business includes the "Sassoon Company", and its business scope covers the entire Far East. In terms of cash flow alone, he can be called the richest man in the "Magic City".

The Victor Sassoon in front of me is about 60 years old, with some gray hair on his temples. He is about 175cm tall, which is not very tall among white people. Perhaps because of the disability of his left leg, he stands leaning on a civilized staff. Between the legs.

Judging from his appearance alone, he is just an ordinary old white man, but no one dares to underestimate this old white man. After all, it is impossible to establish such a huge industry in the "Magic City" without enough skill and courage.

After Victor Sassoon delivered a passionate speech, he introduced the guests invited to the reception;
  Zhang Qun, a Kuomintang veteran who was the mayor of the "Magic City";
  The then garrison commander Jiang Guangding;
  The then Consul of the French Consulate in the "Magic City" Rao Jiaju (French)
  Lu Bohong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the French Concession, etc.

Du Yuesheng, Huang Jinrong, and Zhang Xiaolin were also introduced, but compared to the previous identities, the identities of these gang bosses were obviously one level lower.

Just when Wei Yuan was in a state of mind, he heard the introduction of a familiar name among the participants, Northeastern Army Security Commander Zhang Hanqing, also known as the famous Marshal Zhang Xueliang in later generations.

Looking up, he saw a man dressed in Western style at the VIP seat in front of him, waving to the crowd, and sitting next to him was a young woman wearing a cheongsam.

Wei Yuan had seen photos of Zhang Xueliang in later generations. Although the distance was a bit far away, Wei Yuan could still recognize him at a glance. The man waving in front of him was none other than Marshal Zhang Xueliang, and the woman next to him should be his wife Yu Fengzhi. After all, This woman had three wives in total, and Wei Yuan was not sure whether that woman was Yu Fengzhi.

It is a coincidence that Wei Yuan met Zhang Xueliang. One year ago, the Japanese Kwantung Army Command planned and implemented the Huanggutun Incident. Zhang Zuolin, a generation of tycoon, fell. Zhang Zuolin's eldest son, Zhang Xueliang, was also his designated successor during his lifetime. It was logical that he became the leader of the three northeastern provinces. The actual controller of military affairs.

Zhang Xueliang came to Shanghai this time mainly because after the Huanggutun Incident, the Japanese Kwantung Army frequently used troops to provoke and test, and the situation in the Northeast became increasingly tense. It also made him understand that Japan was ambitious and had been plotting its own three northeastern provinces.

Although the east side relied on its unique natural resources and the continuous support of Zhang and his sons, the northeast industry began to gradually develop and realize the self-production of firearms, ammunition and other ordnance. However, the strength of a region and a country relies on the overall comprehensive strength, which is far from just one or two. The factory can solve it.

Moreover, the existing northeastern industries are mainly based on light industries such as textiles, brewing, oil pressing, printing, and flour. For high-precision aircraft, artillery with a caliber of 75 or above, armored combat vehicles, etc., they still had to rely entirely on imports.

This time I came to Shanghai on behalf of the Northeast Army to entrust "Sassoon Company" to purchase a batch of arms supplies, mainly aircraft, tanks, artillery, etc.

After the end of World War I, Western countries intervened in the Chinese Civil War and began an arms embargo on China. They only allowed the sale of light weapons to China. In addition, the domestic military industry was still very weak. This resulted in a very lack of heavy firepower in the country at that time, which was pitiful. Those with a caliber of 75 and above are heavy artillery, and shells are extremely scarce.

On average, an ordinary mountain cannon shell imported into the country costs US$20, which is equivalent to about 0.2 grams of gold. This is how the so-called gold of ten thousand taels comes from when the cannon is fired.

In Weiyuan's original plan, to develop industry in the Republic of China, he must obtain his own sphere of influence. In terms of the country as a whole, there was no more suitable place than the three eastern provinces;
  First of all, the three northeastern provinces have abundant mineral resources, including coal mines, iron mines, copper mines, gold mines, and the Daqing Oilfield, which was discovered only after the founding of New China.

Secondly, the vast area, sparsely populated areas, dense vegetation and fertile land provide unique natural conditions for the development of manufacturing and large-scale modern agriculture.

And there is no need to worry about the lack of land like other areas due to high population density, and a large amount of land is needed to set up factories and develop agriculture. If you are not careful, land conflicts will cause public anger and conflicts.

We must know that under the influence of the long-term small-scale peasant economy in Chinese society, land is the lifeblood. There is no population in any country in the world that loves their land as much as the Chinese working people. For them, having land means they have something to live on. Fundamentals cannot be measured by money. Unless absolutely necessary, no one will sell their land.

As long as the population problem can be solved in the three northeastern provinces, coupled with his own assistance through modern technology and machinery, Weiyuan believes that Northeast China will definitely usher in a spurt of development.

Another key point is that Liaoning, one of the three eastern provinces, has its own estuary. Some people say that in the era of imperialism, the competition between countries was the competition of the ocean. Controlling the ocean means controlling global trade and resource flows. This sentence defends Yuan agrees and thinks this sentence is very prescient.

Weiyuan's original plan was that after establishing a foothold in Shanghai, he would go to the Northeast as a returned overseas Chinese to visit the young marshal, and express his intention to invest and set up factories in the three Northeastern provinces to gain his support.

For this actual controller and leader of the Northeast military and political affairs, as long as he got his support, his plan would basically be half completed. Unexpectedly, it was only the first time he traveled through time, and he met this young marshal in the "Magic City".

Thinking of this, Wei Yuan picked up the wine glass in front of him and moved towards the direction of that person.

(End of this chapter)