Chapter 36 Section 36 Focus on the shipping industry

After Du Yuesheng punched into the flour industry, he was still not satisfied, full of ambition, and set his sights on the shipping industry in Shanghai. Dada Shipping Company is a famous private shipping company founded by Zhang Jian.Zhang Jian was once the number one scholar in the late Qing Dynasty and a famous industrialist in modern China. Zhang Jian, a native of Nantong, Jiangsu Province, was the number one scholar in Enke in the Jiawu period in the 20th year of Guangxu.This summer, when the Empress Dowager Cixi returned to the palace from the Summer Palace, all civil and military officials should run by the roadside to pick her up as usual.It happened to be a thunderstorm that day, and the muddy water on the ground was several inches thick. Zhang Zhuangyuan was drenched and knelt in the stagnant water for a long time. When he returned to the guild hall, he couldn’t sleep at night. He sighed to himself:

"I studied to be an official, and I was in the imperial court. Did I just come here to be a kowtow? I have read the books of sages, what is my ambition?" So he resigned and returned home.The 42-year-old No. 1 scholar began to read the Thousand-Character Classic since he was 4 years old. After 38 years of hard study, he returned home after only 120 days as a small Beijing official. After resigning from office, Zhang Jian went into business. From the 21st year of Guangxu to the 15th year of the Republic of China, he first established the Dasheng Cotton Mill, and later built 8 factories in a row, setting up countless power plants, oil factories, flour mills, machinery factories, and shipping companies. enterprise.

In June 1904, Zhang Jian rented a large amount of coastal land in the Shiliupu area of ​​Nanshi in Gaoqiao, Shanghai, built warehouses and wharves, and established the Dada Waijiang Lunbu Company. In August, a wharf and warehouse were set up in Nantong Tiansheng Port, and Tiansheng Port Lunbu Company was established.Afterwards, two passenger and cargo ships were purchased from abroad. Together, Dada Waijiang Lunbu Company and Tianshenggang Lunbu Company became Dada Shipping Company.The company's steamships, known as Shanghai-Yangzhou Class, run exclusively from Shanghai to Huojiaqiao in Yangzhou via Nantong Tiansheng Port, and have monopolized this route for 24 years.

On August 24, 1926, Zhang Jian died of illness.Not long after, Bao Xinzhai, the manager of Dada Shipping Company, also passed away.The successive deaths of the founders have brought some confusion to the company's operations.Unfortunately, there were two disasters in a row afterwards. One was the bankruptcy of Tak Kee Bank, where the Dada Shipping Company had huge sums of money, and the Dada Shipping Company lost hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result.The second is that the "Dasheng" and "Daji" ships belonging to the Dada Shipping Company caught fire and burned down successively. Many passengers on board were killed and injured, and the cargo was seriously damaged. The Dada Shipping Company was responsible for compensation.These two disasters left the Dada Shipping Company heavily in debt.At this time, a competitor appeared on the route originally monopolized by Datong Shipping Company——Datong Shipping Company.The company's elder brother Yang Zaitian from Shangtang is the chairman, and Fei Bohong, the director of the French Concession Public Directorate, is the general manager.The Dada Steamship Company has long been in a precarious situation, and under the competition of this formidable enemy, it is even more difficult, and it is gradually on the verge of bankruptcy.

The main creditor of Dada Company is the Shanghai Commercial Bank established by Chen Guangfu, a financial tycoon of the Zhenjiang Gang. .Therefore, the financial circles of the Zhenjiang Gang and the industrial circles of the Tongzhou Gang had frequent contacts. In the end, they thought that if they could find a master of Tongtian and a powerful person as the backstage, and then hire a courageous, shrewd and capable manager, they might be able to work as a dead horse. Doctor Ma, relieve Dada's crisis, let it gain a foothold, and bring it back to life. After much deliberation, they decided that Du Yuesheng and Yang Guanbei were the best candidates for this pair of partners.The person who held this position most firmly was Yue Hansheng, executive director of Dada Corporation and manager of the business department of Shanghai Commercial Bank.

Unfortunately, at this time, Yang Guanbei had undergone surgery for appendicitis and was resting in Zhabei Renji Hospital.So, the two sides started contact in the hospital. As a result, there was already some clues, but suddenly there was a side issue. Wu Jichen, who is in charge of Nantong's business, resolutely opposed Yang Guanbei's management of Dada's affairs. , can not bear such a big responsibility. When Du Yuesheng got the news, he smiled calmly. He knew the relationship between people the most. Hearing that Wu Jichen publicly opposed Yang Guanbei, he immediately knew that it was the "Nantong Real Estate Inquiry".

It turns out that a few years ago, the turnover of Dasheng’s spinning mill was out of order, and Wu Jichen, the right-hand man of Zhang Jian, the veteran of Nantong’s industrial circle, and Wu Jichen, who was relied on by Zhang Jian, bought the property of “Shanghai Nantong Real Estate Company” located at No. 22 Jiujiang Road, Shanghai, in order to save Dasheng’s crisis. The entire bungalow was sold, and the money from the sale was transferred to the Dasheng Spinning Mill to save the country. As a result, the shareholders of Shanghai Nantong Real Estate Company were outraged. Nantong Real Estate was an independent enterprise and had nothing to do with Dasheng Spinning Mill. It was sacrificed to save Dasheng for no reason.Wu Jichen had no choice but to come here, but when Dasheng's crisis was resolved, the equity issue of Shanghai Nantong Real Estate became unmanageable again.Shareholders of Shanghai Nantong Real Estate requested a general meeting of shareholders to raise questions in order to protect their own rights and interests, and demanded that Wu Jichen compensate for the losses suffered by all stocks.

On the eve of the general meeting of shareholders, the disgruntled shareholders thought of a difficult problem. Who will ask the question?Because most of the shareholders of Nantong Business are Zhang Jian's relatives, friends and former subordinates, they can stand up to the truth but they are not in the way of human feelings. Who would have the nerve to go to Zhang Jian's representative, Wu Jichen, to settle the accounts and demand compensation? Therefore, someone proposed that Yang Guanbei, the small Kai Yang of the Yang family in Zhenjiang.The Yang family and their relatives invested in Nantong Industrial Co., Ltd. quite a few. Xiao Kai himself was the director of Dasheng Spinning Factory and the managing director of the third factory, and he also had shares in Dada Steamship Company and Nantong Real Estate.Yang Guanbei was young and full of drive, and he studied economics and law.Someone from the older generation found Yang Guanbei and encouraged him, and Yang Guanbei really agreed to be the pioneer.

At the first meeting, Yang Guanbei was upright and righteous, and he insisted on the law and demanded compensation. Shareholders who suffered losses had pioneers and attacked them. This made Wu Jichen very uncomfortable, and felt dissatisfied with Yang Guanbei, a newborn calf. Joy.The problem dragged on for another year, and the compensation was still not fulfilled. When the shareholders meeting was held again, Wu Jichen invited Li Qiqing, the former director of the Jiangsu Finance Department, as the chairman. The shareholders were anxious because they had lost all their money, so they spoke one after another with fierce words. , Li Qiqing was so angry that he withdrew from the meeting halfway.From then on, Wu Jichen put all the embarrassing accounts on Yang Guanbei, thinking that although this younger generation is young and talented, he is unreasonable and rebellious.

Since then, Wu Jichen has always held a grudge against Yang Guanbei. This matter had to be resolved, and Du Yuesheng thought of an appropriate mediator, Yang Zhixiong.For one thing, Yang Zhixiong is personable and eloquent, and he is the first choice of diplomatic talents in his think tank; secondly, Yang Zhixiong is a student of Wusong Merchant Shipping School, which was founded by Zhang Jian. He once served as the principal of the school, so he has a close relationship with the Zhang family in Nantong. Ask Yang Zhixiong to discuss it, Yang Zhixiong said: "I have two options for this matter. Mr. Fourth's young master, Zhang Xiaoruo, is the chairman of the Yangtze River Waterway Committee in Hankou, and I am also the captain of the boat in Hankou. We are often together and are quite familiar."

"Is there another one?" Du Yuesheng knew.Mr. Four is what everyone calls Zhang Jian. "Wu Jilao has a nephew who works as a manager at Jincheng Bank. His name is Wu Yunqi. We are also good friends." "Then," Du Yuesheng suggested, "would you go and talk to Wu Yunqi first, and ask him to persuade Mr. Wu Ji that he wants me to go with Xiaokai to save Dada. At best, I can only make a name for myself. No, if you really want to save Dada, you have to rely on Xiaokai." Yang Zhixiong nodded in agreement and went back.At that time, he was working as the general counsel of German business Siemens, and Wu Yunqi often came to his office, so he saw Wu Yunqi the next day.He was also afraid that his message could not be conveyed clearly, so he purposely beat around the bush and said, "I have admired Uncle Ling for a long time. Wu Ji is always an old man in Tongzhou's industrial circle, but I have no chance to meet him." The implication is that I would like to invite Wu Yunqi to introduce me. Wu Yunqi said happily: "What's the problem? I'll tell my uncle when I get back today." On the second day, it was Wu Jichen, accompanied by his nephew, who went to Siemens Co., Ltd. to pay a sincere visit to Yang Zhixiong.When Wu Jichen arrived, Yang Zhixiong was deeply disturbed and a little embarrassed.However, Wu Jichen was in high spirits, he and Yang Zhixiong hit it off right away, and had a heart-to-heart talk.In this long talk, Yang Zhixiong skillfully put forward Du Yuesheng's opinion - everything should be saved on the premise of saving Dada. Carry forward the traditional institutions.Wu Jichen was very moved by Du Yuesheng's enthusiasm and sincerity. In front of Yang Zhixiong, he immediately expressed his determination and sincerity to welcome Du Yang. When Yang Guanbei's surgical wound healed and he left Renji Hospital, he only knew that there was a new job waiting for him, but he didn't know that there was a twists and turns in it.Hearing that Yang Guanbei was going to take over the business of Dada Company, Yang Guanbei's relatives and elders transferred the shares to him one after another, so that he could hold enough shares to strengthen his position in the company.At the same time, Yang Guanbei also suggested that Du Yuesheng should not be the short-term chairman. Du Yuesheng thought so, so he bought a large amount of his shares; as a result, at the shareholders meeting of Dada Shipping Company, Du Yuesheng and Yang Guanbei were elected as directors with sufficient equity. , and after the board of directors recommended Du Yuesheng as the chairman; Zhang Xiaoruo as the executive director and general manager, and Yang Guanbei as the deputy.In addition, Yang Zhixiong and Hu Yun'an were also elected as permanent directors, and the two permanent directors, Yang and Hu, were both members of the Du family. At this time, bandits and bandits were everywhere in the northern Jiangsu area, and their momentum was overwhelming.Because there are so many bandits and tyrannical bandits, the traffic in northern Jiangsu has almost stopped, and business travelers will be robbed at any time unless they pay the "expansion fee" in advance.This makes the remittance fee of 100 yuan as high as 20 yuan for remittances from Shanghai to northern Jiangsu within a province.The banditry made it difficult for the goods in northern Jiangsu to be transported smoothly, and the goods of the Dada Shipping Company were often robbed. After Yang Guanbei took office, he immediately became ambitious and prepared to open up the situation of Dada Company in this traffic jam.He asked Du Yuesheng to invite Gao Shikui, a senior member of the Green Gang, who sits at the top of the docks in northern Jiangsu, to help. Not only was he very polite to Du Yuesheng, but he also kept calling Mr. Du. Gao Shikui arrived as soon as an appointment was made, and Du Yuesheng told him: "It's a little thing, I want to invite Mrs. Gao to take a trip to Hongze Lake." Hongze Lake, located on the border of Jiangsu and Anhui, was the main road from Bengbu to Qingjiangpu in the early days, but later it became a shelter for robbers and bandits because of the mist. When Gao Shikui heard that Du Yuesheng was going to invite him to take a trip to Hongze Lake, he felt homesick all of a sudden, and he said happily: "I haven't been back home for 30 years. Since Mr. Du wants me to go, I will go this time." Du Yuesheng was overjoyed, now I would like to ask: "When are you leaving?" "Whatever," Gao Shikui replied, "Anyway, I'm idle, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow is fine." After sending old Mrs. Gao away, Du Yuesheng called Yang Guanbei to come and ordered him to send Mrs. Gao 3,000 yuan of "travel expenses". Yang Guanbei is not in the Green Gang, but he is very familiar with the members of the Green Gang. He is under his command. line of special ships. When Mrs. Gao arrived in the village, the news immediately spread across Qingjiangpu. The pier was crowded with darkness, and there were countless people who came to welcome him——in fact, there were still many members of the Qing Gang who went all the way to welcome Mrs. Suhou. Mrs. Suhou had dinner on the boat , the ship sailed to Huai'an, and when he arrived at Qingjiangpu, he received a grand and warm welcome. Friends in Qingjiangpu tried hard to keep him for 6 days, feasting every day and never having a moment to spare. Six days later, Mrs. Gao drove to Yangzhuang's hometown. In Yangzhuang, Mrs. Gao stayed for another 10 days.His relatives, relatives, and neighbors in the neighborhood ran to kowtow to the old man one after another.Mrs. Gao is also busy with family visits and reminiscing about the old days. He has 300 shimi in his home, plus the 3,000 yuan he brought, until they are all given away. On the second day after arriving at Yangzhuang, Mrs. Gao sent someone to send a message that between Gao Liangjian and Lintuitou, that is, the two sides farthest apart from Hongze Lake, the elder Wu, the head of the village in charge, came to see him.Word spread, and on the morning of the fourth day, the most powerful bandit leader in northern Jiangsu rushed to Yangzhuang with his oars. As soon as he entered Mrs. Gao's house, Mrs. Wu kowtowed three times and kowtowed nine times to Mrs. Gao, performing the ceremony with unexpected respect.Gao Shikui told him that the youngest Wu was also of the "Wu" generation, he was the grandson of the old man. Mrs. Gao glanced at Mrs. Wu who was standing with her hands down, and said: "You know, right? I'm here for you this time!" The youngest Wu made a bow, and said in great panic: "Old master, how dare I be that?" "There is Du Yuesheng in Shanghai," Gao Shikui asked, "Have you heard of it?" "I've heard about Mr. Du's name for a long time," the youngest Wu replied, "it's just that I haven't paid my respects so far." "Mr. Zhu Xinke," Gao Shikui pointed out, "is Mr. Du's good friend. Yang Guanbei invited you to contact you as a representative. Mr. Du and Mr. Yang are running the Dada Shipping Company. Open up the route to northern Jiangsu. That’s why I’m looking for you——when you see the Dada company’s ship coming, you have to take good care of it!” "Please don't worry, old lady," the youngest Wu promised, "Dada's ship will take care of it. If there is a grain missing on their ship, I will make all the compensation." In this way, in a few words, the northern Jiangsu route was opened, and it even extended far to Bengbu and Qingjiangpu.When Gao Shikui returned to Shanghai, Yang Guanbei immediately started to prepare for the Xue Hongji Sailing Shipping Co., Ltd., and separately organized the Datong Small Steamship Co., Ltd. to sail various routes in northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu, only carrying cargo and not passengers.He set up branches in various places and tried to use the Qing Gang figures. For example, the Bengbu office invited Xia Jinguan from the "big" generation to preside over it, Qingjiangpu had Feng Shouyi from the "big" generation to sit in the town, and Yangzhou and Zhenjiang used the Tong character to take charge of everything.All the members of the Youth Gang were paid a monthly salary of 200 yuan in the name of the manager.However, Yang Guanbei still had to select another experienced person to handle the actual business. However, thrilling footage emerged on the first voyage.A boat from the Datong Small Steamboat Company sailed to Cypress Bay. Due to the terrain, the river channel in this area is zigzag, and it has always been a place where bandits rob ships.At this time, the ships sailing in this area are like a long queue, forming a fleet.The first was a ship from the Yangtse Company, the second was a ship from Dai Shengchang, and the steamer from the Datong Company was in the rear, dragging a dozen wooden boats in a row. When the fleet arrived at Cypress Bay, it was about nine or ten o'clock at night, and the surroundings were pitch black, and you couldn't see your fingers. Suddenly, there was a clear and clear gunshot on the shore, followed by a rough voice shouting: "Turn off the lights! If you go back to the cabin, whoever pokes his head out, the gun will not recognize his head!" The moon was dark and the wind was high, and the robbers were encountered. At this time, the atmosphere of terror and tension reached its peak.The employees and sailors on the Datong tugboat and the wooden boat were all pale and trembling with fright, but after being frightened for a long time, they only heard the cries from the boat moored in front, and there was no movement on their own boat.So those who were more courageous looked out, the two sides of the bank were quiet, and there were no shadows or lights, thinking that the bandits must have retreated after they succeeded.That night they went to bed in doubt, and when they asked questions the next morning, as expected, the two boats, cargo and luggage of Yangzi and Dai Shengchang were all robbed, but the boat of Datong Company did not seem to exist in the eyes of the gangsters. It seems that Qiu did not commit any crimes. Afterwards, Datong Company was insured, and Datong cargo bandits would not come to snatch it. The news spread quickly, and customers consigned goods came in droves.The establishment and opening of the Datong North Jiangsu route has made the business of Dada Company advance by leaps and bounds, and the profit has risen in a straight line. Du Yuesheng took over as the chairman of Datong Shipping Company and sent Yang Guanbei to take over the business. Anyone would think that the first thing they would do after taking the stage was to enter into an agreement with Datong Company to curb price-cutting competition so as not to lose more money. Both lose.Because of the friendship and style of Du Yuesheng, Yang Zaitian and Lu Feibohong of Tongda Company, everything can be settled with a word of gossip.However, it is strange to say that after Yang Zaitian and Lu Feibohong lost a lot of money, they saw Du Yang take office, and they were waiting for Du Yuesheng to hand over his ideas to pay homage to the pier, but Du Yuesheng was silent and unmoved , there is no sign of negotiations and talk about the weight. At first they were puzzled, but then they suddenly realized that Du Yuesheng and the others were ruthless enough, since Du Yang's debut in Dada Company, the situation has changed drastically.Du Yuesheng's friendship with the banking industry is deep enough, and a large number of oceans can be transferred with just a phone call, which is one of the best.Dada opened the northern Jiangsu route and established Daxing Company, which has a capacity of 30 million in one hit.Dada, Daxing, and Xue Hongji formed a single line. The goods were handled on behalf of them, they were delivered safely, and they were immediately billed. The three major businesses were bustling, and one business made a lot of money. It can be said that it is easy and effortless to compete with Datong Company on the same route --- playing mahjong and losing the other party, Datong Company is not what it used to be, and they are always at a disadvantage. So, after a year of hard work, Datong Company was about to call for help—if it lost any more money, it would collapse.Therefore, Yang Zaitian and Lu Feibo turned against customers, and had no choice but to make a request to Da Da, hoping that the two sides would be patient and peaceful, and the best way was to think of a way to calculate the cost and open up this vicious competition, so that both parties could obtain reasonable profits. There is a wonderful idea, but Du Yuesheng didn't say it in front of his old friend, he excused plausibly: "Dada's affairs are all under the control of Xiaokai. The brother's intention is very good, but I have to discuss it with Xiaokai." Datong Company had no choice but to talk to Yang Guanbei again, and Yang Guanbei's reply surprised Datong Company—he seized the generous statement of the people in Datong and said this smoothly: "Since competition is not good for both sides, then I offer you an opinion—why not join forces?" "Joint operation? What kind of joint venture law?" "That's not easy." Yang Guanbei spread his hands together: "Dada and Datong set up a joint venture to jointly operate the route from Shanghai to Yangzhou." "How do you calculate the ratio of the two sides?" "There is a most reasonable calculation method. We will jointly invite a most famous accountant to carefully examine the accounts of Dada and Datong for the past three years. Based on the total turnover of the two companies, we will establish percentage." Datong was in a critical situation, so they had to follow suit. The two parties invited Xi Yushu, a well-known accountant in Shanghai, to check the accounts. The records showed that in the past three years, Datong accounted for 63% of the total turnover of the two companies, and Datong accounted for 63%. 37%. According to this ratio, in the joint venture to be established, regardless of the tonnage, new or old, equipment, speed of the ship, and all assets including water and land, whichever is more and the acquaintance is less, the share that Dada should share The profit is nearly double that of Chase.In this way, Datong said that it cannot be done, and Dada said not to do it.After several twists and turns and negotiations, Dada finally made concessions, adjusting the proportions of the two parties to 55% for Dada and 45% for Dada.The contract had just been signed, and the Ministry of Communications held the first national shipping industry conference. Yang Guanbei impromptuly proposed a report on the 10-year joint venture between the Dada and Datong shipping companies, and asked the Ministry of Communications for approval. At the same time, the joint venture office provided guarantee: no Passenger and freight are divided, and prices will never be raised in the future. After subduing the Datong Shipping Company, the profits of the Datong Shipping Company increased day by day.Soon, when Yu Qiaqing had to be re-elected for the second term as the chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Shipping, Du Yuesheng, as the chairman of Dada Shipping Company, got his wish and won this important title in the industrial and commercial circles.