20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 482: Foreigners also have to ask the Jiang family for help

Xiaoxiguan Street, Zongheng Insurance Company, in the top floor office.

The cigar smoke slowly dissipated, and Jiang Lianheng's face gradually became clear.

At the moment, he was sitting upright in an armchair, listening carefully to the visitor's entrustment and nodding from time to time to show respect; the blinds behind him were closed, and the light in the room seemed a little dim.

In addition to him, there was a young man standing next to the desk - Fangyan. The young man is now Jiang Lianheng's most capable secretary. He usually helps him plan his schedule, handle company matters, and act as a translator when necessary.

Wang Zhengnan and Li Zhengxi sat on the brown leather sofa on the right, ready to serve at any time.

Normally, Jiang Lianheng handles, mediates and resolves all kinds of disputes on the Fengtian line in this office, acting like a gang leader whose words carry the day.

Of course, now that the Jiang family is powerful, the people who come to them for help are no longer limited to online collaboration.

At this moment, in front of Jiang Lianheng sat a foreigner with a high nose and deep eyes.

The man's name was Wilson, an Englishman in his early forties, with a big belly, a big head, and a head of frizzy blond hair that seemed to never be combed properly. He wheezed when he spoke, and people couldn't help but worry that he would pass out at any time.

Don't be fooled by his character, he has a very prominent background.

Wilson was the factory manager of the British American Tobacco Company outside the west city gate.

As soon as he heard the occupation, Jiang Lianheng roughly guessed where this foreigner came from.

"Yesterday yesterday," Wilson said in very poor Chinese, "a Chinese worker died in our factory. He died suddenly without any signs. I think it is very likely that he had a heart problem. In short, his death has nothing to do with our British American Tobacco Company. It was just his personal problem..."

Before he could finish his words, Jiang Lianheng waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Manager Wei, I don't care how that Chinese worker died. If you want to talk to me about something, just tell me directly."

Wilson nodded, then leaned his fat body back in the chair, raised his chin and said, "The problem now is that we found a few Chinese workers in the factory who seem to be trying to take advantage of this situation to affect our production progress."

"You mean rest?"

"Yes, so we hope that Mr. Jiang can help to solve it."

Jiang Lianheng smiled and asked, "Since you have already found out who is behind this, why are you still looking for me? Can't you just fire them?"

Wilson shook his head and said, "We are worried that an overzealous approach will have the opposite effect. In fact, as far as I know, they have been preparing recently. It is ridiculous that they want to increase wages! We have been very generous! However, it seems that the accidental death of the Chinese workers may very likely become the fuse for a large-scale strike."

Jiang Lianheng listened quietly without making any comment.

Wilson continued, "Mr. Jiang, we know that many foremen listen to you, so we hope you can help solve this problem. Of course, we will provide you with corresponding compensation, and you can name a price."

“It can’t be fixed.”

"What do you mean?"

"I can't solve this problem." Jiang Lianheng shook his head helplessly, "Manager Wei, I do know a lot of bosses, but the problem is that even those bosses now think that the wages are too low. I can't offend them all just because of your family, right?"

"Oh, Kangmang!"

Upon hearing this, Wilson immediately spread his hands, turned to look at Nanfeng, and then looked at Jiang Lianheng with a hint of disdain in his expression.

"Mr. Jiang, I know who you are! Offending them? Don't be ridiculous. Those foremen will listen to you in everything. Just one word from you and the matter will be resolved. What's your price?"

Jiang Lianheng sighed, put the cigar in the ashtray, folded his fingers, and thought about it for a long time without saying a word. Then he suddenly suggested:
"Manager Wei, how about this? You raise the wages of the Chinese workers by one dollar a month. I, Jiang Lianheng, can guarantee you that there will be no protests against the British American Tobacco Company within two years."

"watt?"

After hearing this, Wilson was stunned for a moment, then he looked at the Fengtian gangster tycoon in front of him suspiciously, and couldn't help muttering a few words:

"Mr. Jiang, are you really a supporter of the Broad School?"

"Don't worry, I'm not." Jiang Lianheng smiled and said, "I only believe in survivalism."

After saying this, the atmosphere in the luxurious office suddenly became much more relaxed.

Wang Zhengnan and Fang Yan also laughed twice in a sarcastic tone.

Jiang Lianheng did intend to help the Chinese workers of British American Tobacco Company to get higher wages, but this had nothing to do with any doctrine, but was purely out of consideration for the Jiang family's own interests.

Indeed, Jiang Lianheng was secretly the "boss" of the Fengtian Provincial Government, and most of the foremen in various factories in the provincial capital were "outsiders" of the Jiang family.

But over the years, he has already understood the most basic truth: pure threats of violence are doomed to be unsustainable; only eternal interests can bring all rivers together and converge into one place.

What is the meaning of the gang’s existence?
It all depends on the word “help”!!!

More than ten years ago, when Jiang Lianheng was still very young, his fifth uncle once told him that there can be no "guild" without a "gang"!
No matter whether it is Lao Hongmen, Anqing Gang, or Gelaohui, all the gangs in the world, when they were first established, whether it was "anti-Qing and restoration of Ming" or "doing justice on behalf of heaven", in fact, the true and original intention is only four words - brothers are united and help each other!

In the early days of their establishment, most gangs were spontaneous gatherings of lower-class people in order to avoid being oppressed by officials and businessmen, and then gradually turned into oppressing others - the cycle continued over and over again, forever and ever!

If a gang wants to develop, it needs protection, but its foundation cannot be cut off.

If Jiang Lianheng just keeps trying to please the bosses of various factories and frequently suppresses the bosses, it will probably not be long before the Jiang family's influence in the Fengtian Workers' Association will be wiped out.

After all, even though they collected the "insurance premiums" from the Chinese workers, they couldn't always turn their backs on others.

According to the rules of the underworld outside the Great Wall, whether it is the green forest bandits or the city gangs, they are all collectively referred to as "family members". Since everyone is family members, they should always have some sense of propriety in their hearts.

If the Jiang family loses its influence in the workers' association, it will lose the bargaining chip to mediate negotiations with the Japanese and Westerners.

Since the eighth year of the Republic of China, that is, 1919 in the new calendar, all sectors of society, unless they are idiots, have reached a basic consensus - the power of "calling for a break" should not be underestimated.

Of course, it would be of no benefit to the Jiang family to simply stand on the side of the "boss".

Therefore, Jiang Lianheng could only try to maintain a balance between the two. But Wilson had no such concerns. He was a pure professional manager who only thought about saving costs for his employer. He would never compromise with the Chinese workers unless it was absolutely necessary.

After much deliberation, the British followed Jiang Lianheng's idea but made a completely different proposal.

"Mr. Jiang, how about this? Raising the wages of the Chinese workers in the factory by one dollar a month is not a small amount. We can give you the money directly and you can help us solve the problem. How about that?"

"If Manager Wei is willing to give me money, that would be great." Jiang Lianheng said with a smile, "But the wages of Chinese workers must be increased."

"What's the point?" Wilson was a little annoyed. "Those workers have already earned a lot, really a lot! They are greedy! They should feel honored to work for British American Tobacco Company. If they were in your own factory, they would only earn less!"

Jiang Lianheng shook his head calmly: "That's something you need to consider, it has nothing to do with me. If you don't agree, then wait for the Chinese workers to call a break, and then how you deal with it will be none of my business."

Upon hearing this, Wilson's face turned red with anger.

But after calming down for a while, he still had to lower his posture.

"Mr. Jiang, maybe we can do this. We will give you the part of the salary increase for the Chinese workers directly, and we will also secretly increase the salaries of the foremen. But those Chinese workers, don't even think about taking a penny more from us. Is that okay?"

"No!" Jiang Lianheng's tone was particularly blunt. "The Chinese workers must get a pay raise. Either you agree or find someone else."

After thinking for a while, he added, "However, Manager Wei, you can rest assured about one thing. If they really call it quits, I will definitely not support them behind their backs. In fact, I personally don't want to have any grudges with you. Besides, you know Nanfeng."

Wilson reached out and loosened his tie, then lit a cigarette. After taking a few deep puffs, he suddenly said, "Boss Jiang, I think you should know that with the strength of British American Tobacco Company, we can directly meet with the senior officials of Fengtian Provincial Government. If we want to solve the problem of Jiao Xie, we don't necessarily have to rely on your help."

"Of course!" Jiang Lianheng smiled instead of getting angry. "Manager Wei, I didn't force you to come to me. You wanted to come here on your own. Why are you telling me this?"

Wilson was speechless for a moment and couldn't help turning his head to look at Nanfeng.

But no matter how close Wang Zhengnan was to foreigners, he would not openly speak for outsiders at a time like this, so he had to lower his head and pretend not to see it.

Seeing this, Jiang Lianheng smiled and said, "Manager Wei, how about I tell you why you came to see me?"

Wilson was stunned.

Jiang Lianheng continued, "You came to me because you don't want to make a big deal out of this. If you want, you can go to the government to ask for help, but you must be very clear about the provincial government's approach. It's probably to arrest a few people and lock them up, or even more ruthlessly, kill one or two people, and then what?"

Wilson snorted coldly. He knew what would happen next, but he didn't want to say it.

"Let me say this for you: Then, there will be articles in the newspapers saying that your company is brutally suppressing the Chinese workers' calls for a break. Manager Wei, things are different now than they were before. The young people in the school are very quick to get angry. If your news gets out, they might march in the city the next day to boycott British American Tobacco. Of course, this is only temporary, but your profits will still be greatly affected in the short term. Guess who will be the happiest at that time?"

"Japanese." Wilson curled his lips.

"Yes, it's the Japanese!" Jiang Lianheng continued, "The Japanese have been coveting your tobacco business for many years. They are waiting for you to cause some trouble so that they can take advantage of the opportunity to find ways to invade the market."

Hit the mark.

Wilson hesitated for a long time, and finally gave in, but said: "A one-dollar salary increase is too much. If it increases by one dollar every month, our costs will increase significantly."

"You can bargain!" Jiang Lianheng said.

"Hmm... a two-cent increase?"

"Go slowly, I won't send you off."

"No, no, no, let me think about it... A three-cent increase is the limit my company can afford. How about you tell me a number?"

"Eight cents."

"Four cents."

"Seventy cents."

"Mr. Jiang, why don't we both make a concession? How about fifty cents?" Wilson asked bluntly.

"Wow, good man!" Jiang Lianheng immediately stood up and shook hands with the Englishman. "I can let the Chinese workers there wait a few more days. As long as you can implement it, I guarantee that you won't have to rest for two years."

Despite the verbal agreement, Wilson did not look happy.

He stood up from the armchair and said inexplicably: "Mr. Jiang, you will regret it."

"Are you threatening me?" Jiang Lianheng's eyes shone, but he said, "Manager Wei, don't think that I won't touch you just because you are a foreigner."

Unexpectedly, Wilson quickly shook his head: "No, no, no, Mr. Jiang, you misunderstood me. I just want to tell you that those laborers will never be satisfied. I would rather give you all the money than give it to them, just like dogs, which will make them form a habit."

"What habit?" Jiang Lianheng was a little puzzled.

Wilson explained: "Once you get those workers into the habit of asking for a break and a pay raise, do you think they will thank you? No, they will only go further and further until the entire country collapses! No country will allow this to happen indefinitely, not even the North."

"Thanks for the reminder, but I don't like to think too much." Jiang Lianheng asked with a smile, "By the way, do you understand what I mean about the remaining fifty cents of wages for the Chinese workers?"

Wilson frowned and said helplessly, "I understand."

"This is just the insurance fee. If any Chinese workers ask for a break, I, Jiang, will definitely pay them back double!"

After seeing off the British guy, Jiang Lianheng drooped his lips, walked back to his armchair, sat down, turned his head and asked Fang Yan, "Who's next?"

Fangyan immediately responded, "Boss, the next one is a Japanese named Yoshida Goro."

"Japanese?" Jiang Lianheng seemed a little surprised. He turned to look at Nanfeng and asked, "Where are you from?"

Wang Zhengnan cleared his throat and briefly introduced: "Yoshida Goro has not been in Fengtian for long. He is in the arms smuggling business. It is said that he used to be a salesman for the Taiping Group."

(End of this chapter)