The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Zhou Hexuan followed Ke Yaofang into the venue, and the first person he met left him speechless.

"Mr. Zhou, this is Mr. Zhu Zhihong, named Shuchi." Ke Yaofang introduced.

Zhu Shuchi was already over sixty years old. In the late Qing Dynasty, he served as the president of the "Chongqing Road Protection Comrades Association", a veteran of the Chongqing Tongmenghui, a leader of the Chongqing Ge Lao Association, and one of the masterminds of the restoration of Chongqing during the Revolution of 1911. Although his beard and hair were gray, his voice was loud and energetic. He patted Zhou Hexuan's shoulder familiarly and said, "Oh, it's Mr. Zhou. I've admired my name for a long time. I've admired my name for a long time. Hahahahaha!"

There was a burst of wild laughter, which made Zhou Hexuan a little confused. He could only clasp his fists and say: "Mr. Zhu, in front of you, this junior is polite!"

"You're welcome," Zhu Shuchi immediately hooked up with Zhou Hexuan, as if they were buddies, "Mr. Zhou has devoted all his energy to disaster relief. On behalf of the people of Sichuan, I would like to thank you. At noon, I called a few brothers and everyone drank happily! Hahahahaha!”

Hearing another burst of inexplicable laughter, Zhou Hexuan sweated and said, "Mr. Zhu is in such good spirits."

"Brother Pao, you just have to be spirited, hahahaha!" Zhu Shuchi laughed and said, "You are from Hongmen, I am from Brother Pao, we are all brothers in the world. Don't call me Mr. , Old man, just call me brother. As for me, can I just call you Xiao Zhou?"

Zhou Hexuan had roughly guessed the other party's personality and immediately said: "Then I will ask you to call you Brother Zhu."

"Yes, yes," Zhu Shuchi patted Zhou Hexuan's shoulder and said, "Xiao Zhou, if you become the Chongqing Senate President, I, Zhu Lezui'er, will absolutely support you. Don't be shy when you meet someone. I'll tell you if you have any questions. Get tied up! Hahahaha!"

"Thank you very much, Brother Zhu." Zhou Hexuan thanked him.

Zhu Shuchi chatted with Zhou Hexuan for a long time, laughing basically every two or three words he said, giving the impression that his laughter was out of control.

After the old man left and sat down, Zhou Hexuan asked: "Secretary-General Ke, Mr. Zhu treats everyone like this?"

Ke Yaofang said with a smile: "Mr. Zhu has a nickname, 'Zhu San Noisy', and some people call him 'Dui Chuao'. He likes to talk to people, and he can chat with people he doesn't know on the road." Hours. If you have any important plans in the future, be sure not to tell him, otherwise he will turn around and make it known to the whole city."

The world is so big, there is really everyone for everyone!

Afterwards, Ke Yaofang introduced some people one after another——

Kang Baoshu, also known as Xinru, was a veteran of the Tongmenghui. He graduated from Waseda University and was the manager of Sichuan Meifeng Bank. During the Anti-Japanese War, he was appointed by Chang Kaishen as the Speaker of the Chongqing Senate.

Wen Sikang, courtesy name Shaohe, is the president of Chongqing Business Daily, president of Chongqing Chamber of Commerce, owner of Chongqing Water Company, and one of the organizers of Chongqing University.

Hu Heru, courtesy name Zi'ang, graduated from the Department of Agricultural Economics of Beijing Agricultural University, was the chief internal affairs official before Liu Wenhui's defeat, and is now the shareholder and general manager of West China Industrial Company.

Gu Shenglu, courtesy name Hegao, graduated from Beijing University of Technology and is a Sichuan paint king. Due to malicious price-cutting competition from Japanese businessmen, his paint factory switched to producing ink. The Japanese businessmen still refused to let go and were on the verge of bankruptcy.

Pan Changyou, also known as Wenyi, was a former official under the warlord Yang Sen. He is now the boss of Chongqing Zhongfu Bank and holds shares in more than ten industrial and commercial enterprises in Chongqing.

…

Although senators come from all walks of life, they are mainly composed of business elites. Even if they are people from the cultural, educational or scientific circles, they all have a common identity - businessmen, just like Zhou Hexuan is known as a great writer, but privately he is still a wealthy businessman.

If a pure cultural person becomes a member of parliament, it is estimated that only Ke Yao will be allowed to do so. Therefore, Ke Yaofang was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Senate because he had the energy to manage daily affairs, while other members were busy with their own business.

Even so, Ke Yaofang first joined the Chongqing Chamber of Commerce and then ran for election as the secretary-general of the Chamber of Commerce. If Ke Yaofang didn't have the slightest business background, he wouldn't even be qualified to join the Senate.

It can be seen from this that the so-called local councils of the Republic of China were actually controlled by local chambers of commerce and represented not the interests of citizens, but the collective interests of businessmen.

This general election of the Senate will be presided over by the current Speaker, Mr. Wang Yunsong.

Everyone played the old trick of "three requests and three resignations" in a tacit understanding. In the first round of voting, Wang Yunsong was still elected Senate Speaker with a high vote. Wang Yunsong immediately took the stage to speak, reaffirming his determination that he was old and unwilling to continue serving as speaker, and the members finally elected Zhou Hexuan.

Tang Zijing, the richest man in Chongqing, firmly opposed Zhou Hexuan's election at the election meeting, but it was to no avail. The more he opposed, the more popular Zhou Hexuan became.

Not surprisingly, Ke Yaofang, a left-wing poet of the Kuomintang Party, served as Secretary-General of the Senate, fully responsible for the daily work of the Senate. In addition, two deputy speakers were elected, namely Zhu Shuchi and Wen Shaohe, and their positions were even more decorative.

Later, Secretary-General Ke Yaofang came on stage to give his inaugural speech. Wang Yunsong handed over the chairing of the meeting to him on the spot, and he was happy to sit on the edge and cool off.

Ke Yaofang was modest and self-deprecating, which probably meant that he was of humble talent, but because of the high regard of others, he would be able to walk on thin ice in the future. He would definitely do a good job in the Chongqing Senate and seek legitimate interests for people from all walks of life. After finishing his speech, he said with a smile: "Now, let's invite our new speaker, the great writer Mr. Zhou Hexuan, to speak!"

Amidst a burst of applause, Zhou Hexuan walked to the microphone and spoke: "Thank you Mr. Wang Yunsong for your support, and thank you all members for your recognition. Zhou's ancestral home is Zhili and has nothing to do with Sichuan. It is really scary that he was elected as the Speaker of the Chongqing Senate today. Absolutely. In his position and in his political affairs, to use Sichuan dialect, I am not here to make a living! You are all business leaders in Chongqing, and you are now facing an imminent problem, that is, a catastrophe in Sichuan Province! People from all over the country are pouring into Chongqing. The number of disaster victims is at least tens of thousands, and they continue to increase every day. This has brought serious problems to Chongqing in all aspects, and even affected Chongqing's business order. As the speaker, I just want to do a good job in disaster relief. I have I cooperated with the Sichuan Disaster Relief Association to purchase grain in Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces. Now nearly 300 tons of disaster relief grain have been delivered. The next batch of disaster relief grain will be 140 tons, and it is estimated that it will arrive at Chaotianmen Pier tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. In addition, I also I bought 500,000 tons of grain in the United States and it is estimated that it will arrive in Shanghai in half a month, which should be able to alleviate some of the disaster."

"500,000 tons! How much does that cost?"

"How many loads is a ton?"

"It seems like 20 dan."

"Isn't 500,000 tons equivalent to 10 million dan? Now a load of rice has risen to 3 yuan. 10 million dan of rice can be sold for 30 million yuan when shipped to Chongqing! Oh my god, this guy surnamed Zhou is so rich."

"He may not necessarily be buying rice, but it may also be corn."

"Baogu (corn) is also expensive, and it's worth hundreds or even tens of millions if sold in Chongqing."

"Mr. Zhou is kind and righteous to the people of Sichuan, and he is a good speaker!"

"Tsk, tsk, I've seen donations for disaster relief, but I've never seen anyone donate tens of millions."

"..."

Since the smooth implementation of Roosevelt's New Deal, it is no longer possible to purchase grain at ultra-low prices from the United States because the federal government has established minimum price standards for agricultural products. In the past, 10,000 US dollars could buy 10,000 tons of corn, which was the same as picking it up for free. Now the price has more than six times increased. It is not very profitable to sell it to China after including the freight.

Moreover, not only Sichuan suffered a severe drought in 1936, but the United States also suffered an unprecedented drought, which caused the price of agricultural products to skyrocket and even pushed up international grain prices.

If Zhou Hexuan wanted to buy corn in the United States, including ocean transportation costs, it would cost at least US$100,000 per 10,000 tons of corn, which is almost the same as the domestic corn price.

Hongmen Situ Meitang, in order to help Zhou Hexuan save money, sent people to South America to buy grain. Brazil and Argentina are both large-producing countries, and they do not have protective prices for agricultural products similar to those in the United States. The overseas purchasing price of bulk agricultural products is only half that of the United States.

Transporting 500,000 tons of corn from South America would cost Zhou Hexuan approximately US$2.5 million (including freight, shipped to Shanghai), which was nearly 7 million oceans converted into silver dollars. Since the grain purchase was in US dollars, the actual cost of Zhou Hexuan's grain purchase and transportation was 8 million oceans after converting the foreign exchange price difference.

Now that food prices are soaring in Sichuan, if these corns are transported to Sichuan and sold, they can probably earn two to three million. There is no doubt that it is a huge profit business. But few people do this kind of business. First, there is not so much foreign exchange. Second, transportation is difficult due to the low water level of the Yangtze River. Third, high commercial taxes are imposed on the way.

Zhou Hexuan's disaster relief food naturally does not need to be taxed in China. If anyone dares to collect taxes, Mr. Zhou will go directly to him with a gun!

At this time, 99% of the congressmen here are businessmen, so they naturally know the stakes. The transportation of 500,000 tons of grain from the Americas involves too many problems that cannot be solved only by money. Adding up the unit price, transportation, and political costs, if any of them were to do it, even 500,000 tons of corn would be worth at least 15 million oceans.

15 million yuan, just donate it!

Mr. Tang Zijing, the richest man in Chongqing, originally had an infinite sense of superiority. He looked down on Zhou Hexuan. No matter how famous Zhou Hexuan was and how well-connected he was, when he arrived in Chongqing, Tang Zijing only regarded Zhou Hexuan as a poor scholar.

But at this moment, Tang Zijing suddenly gave up. He discovered that Zhou Hexuan's financial resources were not inferior to his, and might even be more powerful than him.

You know, ten years ago, Tang Zijing lost more than 3 million by speculating in treasury bonds, and his heart ached so much that he just shut up and thought about it for half a year. And Zhou Hexuan donated 15 million in one fell swoop. This is a big tycoon. He is so rich that he can kill people with money.

The way the congressmen looked at Zhou Hexuan changed instantly. They only respected him before, but now they truly regarded Zhou Hexuan as one of their own - the businessman circle.

When Zhou Hexuan put forward the donation suggestion, the MPs expressed their support one after another, ranging from 1,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan, and more than 60,000 yuan in disaster relief funds were raised on the spot. This is not only out of charity, but also to give Zhou Hexuan face.

After the election meeting, Zhou Hexuan was surrounded by lawmakers. Tang Zijing also wanted to go and resolve the conflict, but he did not lose face after all. Ten years ago, he might have done so, but now that he is a super rich man, there is absolutely no way he would give in on the spot.

At noon, Zhou Hexuan was invited to have a drink by a group of businessmen. Everyone had a good time while drinking, and it was obvious that they had fully accepted him as a newcomer. Not only that, Zhou Hexuan was also invited to join the Chongqing Chamber of Commerce. After all, he also opened an enamel factory in Chongqing.

Gu Hegao, the owner of Feifeng Paint Factory, saw the right opportunity and said to Zhou Hexuan alone: ​​"Mr. Zhou, I heard that you want to build a large factory in Sichuan. I wonder if you are interested in a paint factory?"