1928: The Rise of Giants

The Lunar New Year is here, but due to the "no spring order" imposed by the Jinling National Government, there is no sense of the New Year in big cities, and various units do not have holidays.

The principal didn't have any plans for celebrating the New Year, because he had stirred a hornet's nest.

As Hu Hanmin became more and more powerful, the principal found that it was impossible to defeat Hu Hanmin politically, so he defeated him physically.

On February 2, Legislative Dean Hu Hanmin went to the Army, Navy and Air Force Headquarters for "dinner" at the invitation of the president. As soon as he arrived, he was immediately escorted into the reception room by a group of soldiers with live ammunition.

Two nights later, Hu Hanmin saw the principal who arrested him and found out that he was under house arrest in Xiaotangshan, Jinling.

The principal's behavior undoubtedly violated a huge taboo and put everyone in the Kuomintang Party at risk.

Going back three to five years, Hu Hanmin, Wang Mou, and Liao Zhongkai were called the Big Three, and the principals at that time were not ranked at all.

For such a hugely influential figure, he was placed under house arrest if the principal said so. Soon there were rumors that he was going to shoot Hu Hanmin.

What would the other backbones and senior officials of the Kuomintang think?
Will I be arrested or shot at any time if I disobey the principal's orders in the future?
Now, even the Chen Guofu brothers, Kong Xiangxi, Song Ziwen and other backbones of the principal's faction could no longer stand it. They all spoke out to denounce the principal, hoping that he would release Hu Hanmin as soon as possible.

After Hu Hanmin was put under house arrest, public opinion across the country was in an uproar. This matter was particularly strongly opposed by Gu Yingfen, Sun Ke, Chen Jitang, Li Zongren and others from Guangdong and Guangxi.

Seeing this situation, Mr. Wang felt that an opportunity had come, and he took the opportunity to start jumping up and down, attracting all the Kuomintang factions that supported Hu Hanmin to his side, and paid major newspapers to criticize the principal's dictatorial methods.

The principal, who was praised by the public not long ago for winning the Central Plains War and controlling the price of silver, was scolded again, and his reputation plummeted.

Xu Zhimo and others also commented that "a dog can't change its habit of eating shit."

Fortunately, Xu Zhimo rushed to Peking a long time ago and became a professor at Peking University and Peking Women's University. Zhang Hanqing's territory was there, so he would not be arrested by the principal's agents for education.

Zhang Hanqing is happy to see the principal being criticized by public opinion, which means that his reputation will further expand.

The "War between Ningxia and Guangdong" was officially put on the table, and civil war was about to break out again.

Ye Luo ignored these troubles this time, leaving the political parties to fiddle with their own disputes. His focus at this time was entirely on making money from tariff independence.

It was already 1931. Calculating the time, there were only six years left before the 37 Anti-Japanese War. In the past two years, there had been the Battle of Songhu and the September th Incident. These were major events that Ye Luo could not avoid.

Now the only thing he can do is to increase his financial resources as soon as possible, gather his forces, start to deal with the impact of the war, and find the right time to escape overseas.

He still has important things to do today.

Early in the morning, Ye Luo, who was dressed in black and wearing black gauze, looked serious. He was accompanied by Bai Xiuzhu and Xiao Aqiao, and escorted by Shi Jianqiao, Ma Yongzhen, Ding Li, Chen Zhen and Huo Ting'en, followed by the mighty people. Ye's motorcade rushed to the German Consulate General in Shanghai.

Colonel Max Bauer, the general director of the China-German military cooperation project and the first head of the German Military Advisory Group who followed the principal to the front lines to command the Central Plains War, passed away last night due to illness.

It is said that Max contracted smallpox on the front line. Although he was rushed to Yip's United Hospital for emergency treatment, the treatment was ineffective and he died late last night.

At this time, there was a huge flow of people outside the German Consulate General in Shanghai, and foreigners and Chinese celebrities from all walks of life came to express their condolences to Max.

Traditional wreaths and flower baskets were placed outside the consulate. Consul General Knappe stood outside, accompanied by the secretary, welcoming waves of people who came to express their condolences.

"Ye, Max said before he died, I'm sorry I couldn't see you again." Knappe looked sad. Seeing Max's body in the ward before always reminded him of many past events.

Since the last Rolls-Royce incident, Knappe has become a loyal fan of Yip in Germany. Whether in the Chinese Concession or in Germany, he vigorously promotes the extraordinary investment of Yip and wants to invest in Yip. Introduced into Germany. It is a pity that many companies in Germany are firmly opposed to Chinese companies entering the country and are only willing to cooperate with Yeluo in financial aspects.

"I feel very sorry too. Max is one of my best German friends in China." Yelo also saw John Bell in the crowd and said hello to him.

However, Bell's status as an agent of Siemens was too low. He was at the bottom of the circle and had no chance to come over to chat.

But just by Ye Luo's gesture of greeting, many businessmen immediately gathered around Bell and inquired about the relationship between him and Ye Luo.

Bell didn't expect that Ye Luo would benefit so much from just one action before the official cooperation even started.

No wonder people in foreign circles say that if you want to make a lot of money in Shanghai, you must get to know this second young master!
Knappe took Ye Luo and walked inside. Foreigners didn't have any such thing as a mourning hall, and Max died of smallpox. His body had already been sent to a nearby church. There was not even a farewell ceremony for the body. The coffin was directly covered and buried.

After all, at this stage, smallpox has not been completely eradicated, and the plague is extremely contagious.

Consuls general from various countries have gathered inside.

Some of the people Ye Luo knew were American Consul General Goss, British Consul General Patton, French Consul General Verdy, Japanese Consul General Yada Nanitaro, etc.

These "old friends" had not seen Ye Luo for a long time. When they saw him approaching, they all came over to shake hands and say hello.

"Ye, Verdi seems to be sick too. You'd better not get too close to him." George now serves as the assistant to the Consul General and often follows Barton. He glanced at Verdi, who was alienated by everyone, and whispered.

Verdi coughed and tried to get closer to them, but the crowd quickly dispersed.

Yello knew that Verdy would return to Paris this autumn for treatment, and the disease was not an infectious disease, but cancer.

Therefore, he did not alienate Verdi like others, but walked straight over and took the initiative to say hello to him.

This made the Verdys feel a lot better.

Especially Fan Juli, it was Ye Luo who rescued her from the clutches of Edward Sassoon and recommended her to work at the French Consulate General in Shanghai, which contributed to their marriage.

But later, due to the heavy smoking and many business problems, Fan Juli decisively chose to sell Ye Luo. Since then, the two families have been at odds with each other, and they have rarely interacted with each other in recent years.

Unexpectedly, Verdi was seriously ill now, and others were too afraid to approach. Instead, Ye Luo ignored the past and came to chat with them.

"Second Young Master" Fan Juli didn't know what to say, so she finally whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's all over." Ye Luo patted Fan Erdi on the shoulder and smiled at Fan Juli, "If you trust me, you can go to my hospital and try."

"Sorry, Ye, Fan and I have already planned to return to Paris for medical treatment in September." Verdi sighed, "Although the medical treatment here is good, there is still a gap between it and Paris."

"I understand, then I wish you good luck." Ye Luo nodded.

Judging from Fan Erdi's appearance, the cancer is at least in the middle and late stages. Not to mention now, even in ninety years, it will not be cured, and the only option is to wait for death.

Ye Luo has always been very tolerant towards those who are about to die.

"Ye, please come over here." Over there, Knappe suddenly waved to him. (End of chapter)