"Brother Wei, the owners of those opium dens want to see you!" Chen Zhenghu opened the door and said.
"Oh?" Chen Zhengwei smiled playfully: "Bring them here!"
Chen Zhenghu went downstairs and said to the three of them: "Brother Wei, let you go up!"
The three of them were very happy. As long as they were willing to see them, there would be more to talk about.
"Thank you so much brother!"
Although they scolded each other fiercely in the opium den, they were very honest in person and did not dare to neglect even when facing Chen Zhenghu.
After being taken to the second floor, the three of them pushed the door open and saw a short-haired young man in a black suit sitting behind the table with his legs crossed and playing with a cigar in his hand.
Not far from him stood a young man in a suit. The young man looked very young, only fifteen or sixteen years old, with soft fluff on his lips.
"Mr. Chen!" All three of them put their hats on their chests and bowed slightly.
"Three bosses, sit down!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.
"Thank you Mr. Chen!"
"Tell me, you three, what do you want from me?" Chen Zhengwei picked up a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and looked at the three of them through the smoke.
"Mr. Chen, it's like this. This opium shop is not only ours, but also yours, Mr. Chen!" Boss Sun said first.
"Oh? I still have a share? I didn't even know I had a share in this opium den!" Chen Zhengwei sneered.
"That's it, Mr. Chen. We used to hand over 50% of the profits to Ansongtang every month. Now you make the decision here, and the 50% of the profits will naturally be handed over to you!" Boss Sun continued.
"So it turns out that I have a share in this!" Chen Zhengwei laughed.
"Yes! Our opium dens alone can pay Mr. Chen two thousand yuan a month!" Boss Sun and Boss Li nodded.
"It's quite a lot. With two thousand yuan, the horse breeder can raise more than a hundred people!" Chen Zhengwei smacked his lips.
A cigarette factory as big as Huang Baoru's takes up half of the cigarettes in Chinatown and only earns 1,000 yuan a month.
There are so many opium dens on one street, and half of the profit is 2,000 yuan a month. The total profit in a year is more than 50,000 yuan. How many opium dens are there in the entire Chinatown?
At least fifty or sixty.
Otherwise, this thing is a huge profit!
Not to mention the Hongshun Hall, which controlled the entire opium import and export channels, and the various halls where opium was refined.
The entire opium market in Chinatown costs at least one million yuan a year.
This doesn’t mean I don’t know, it’s really fucking scary!
Chen Zhengwei had never calculated this amount before, but now that he was thinking about it in his mind, he was also shocked by this number.
The three of them looked a little surprised when they saw Chen Zhengwei, and smiles appeared on their faces. It would be fine if the other party understood.
They didn't believe that a low-level person could really refuse such a large sum of money.
"Don't tell me, I'm a little excited for such a big sum of money!" Chen Zhengwei smiled at the three of them, then changed his voice and curled his lips:
"But this money is hot for me to hold!"
"Mr. Chen, those who smoke cigarettes, even if you put a knife on their neck, they still have to take a puff first. Even if our cigarette shop is closed, they will have to smoke somewhere else, and the money will not be enough." You have to give it to others! You can't close all the opium dens in Chinatown, right?" Boss Li said anxiously.
"You're right, I really have this idea!"
After Chen Zhengwei finished speaking, the expressions of the three of them froze, showing incredulous expressions.
"I'm kidding you! You don't take it seriously, do you? Why don't you have any sense of humor?" Chen Zhengwei patted his thigh and laughed.
"Mr. Chen scared me!" Boss Li couldn't figure out what Chen Zhengwei was thinking. He thought he couldn't survive without bleeding. He gritted his teeth and said, "I'm willing to pay 10% more! 60%, I'm willing to pay 60%!"
"I'm willing too!" Boss Sun also followed suit.
"Sixty percent...where are you? Why don't you say anything?" Chen Zhengwei looked at the last person. Boss Huang had been sizing up Chen Zhengwei since he came in.
Except for the initial question, not a word was said.
"I will do whatever Mr. Chen says!" Boss Huang said after hesitating.
"So smart?" Chen Zhengwei laughed, then suddenly took out his gun and shot Boss Li.
boom!
"I've already told you that this money is hot, and you still want to give me 60%? Why do you think I have a share in the fucking smokehouse? Do you think I'm farting!" Chen Zhengwei still had a smile on his face. Now, a fierce light surged in his eyes.
Boss Li clutched his chest and fell to the ground. Boss Sun and Boss Huang were frightened and stood up.
Chen Zhengwei pressed the trigger and shot Boss Sun again.
"Brother Wei!" Chen Zhenghu rushed in with people and saw the two bosses falling to the ground. Chen Zhengwei pressed his gun on the table.
"Junior brother, do you think they deserve to die?" Chen Zhengwei turned to ask Li Xiwen.
"The smoke has harmed countless people, damn it!" Li Xiwen said firmly.
"Look, my junior brother is smarter than you! Although he is young, he also knows good and bad!" Chen Zhengwei pointed his gun at Boss Huang and sneered.
"Mr. Chen, I didn't say anything! If you ask me to lock you up, I will lock you up, no matter what, they insist on dragging me here!" Boss Huang knelt down and begged.
"So you can still talk now!" Chen Zhengwei sneered, casually threw the gun on the table, took out the silk scarf and wiped his fingers, then lit up another cigarette.
"Thank you, Mr. Chen, for sparing your life, thank you, Mr. Chen..." Boss Huang trembled.
His pants were almost wet, and his head was covered in cold sweat. He was grateful that he was cautious enough.
But even he didn't expect that Chen Zhengwei would suddenly kill someone while smiling, which scared him badly.
"I've let you go, so you don't have any expression, right?" Chen Zhengwei asked with a smile.
"I am willing to give those two opium den shops to Mr. Chen! I will give another 10,000 yuan to Mr. Chen!" Boss Huang said with a cold sweat on his head.
"Look, this is the way to go, so Boss Huang lives longer than others!" Chen Zhengwei laughed.
"Zheng Hu, drag those two people out of the street! By the way, take people to their homes. They are all dead, and you can't take any money with you!" Chen Zhengwei waved his hand.
Then he said to Boss Huang: "Boss Huang, you are welcome to do serious business in my place! Except for the opium den!"
"I know I know!"
"You know what to say when you get out, right?"
"Mr. Chen doesn't like opium harming people. Those two people don't understand current affairs..."
Chen Zhengwei nodded. "As long as you know, go out! Remember, explain everything clearly when you go out, otherwise it will be misunderstood!"
Otherwise, the other bosses on the street would think that Chen Zhengwei was here to kill and rob big businessmen. How could we do business when people would be in panic?
"Don't worry, Mr. Chen, I will make it clear!" Boss Huang exited the room and wiped the sweat from his head, feeling that his whole body was soaked.
Then he quickly left the casino and slumped in his chair as soon as he returned to his smokehouse.
"Boss, how's it going?"
"Pack up your things. I don't want this opium den anymore. I won't do it again..." Boss Huang said with lingering fear. He was almost scared out of his mind.
…
"Brother, although you praised me just now, you still feel like something is wrong! It seems like you are scolding me!" After Boss Huang left, Li Xiwen said to Chen Zhengwei.
"Yes? Which sentence?" Chen Zhengwei said in surprise.
"That's the sentence, even my junior brother knows it..." Li Xiwen scratched his head.
"Hahahaha!" Chen Zhengwei laughed!
"Senior brother, is what you said true?" Li Xiwen asked after hesitating.
"Which sentence is it again?" Chen Zhengwei asked lazily.
"Close all the opium dens in Chinatown!"
Chen Zhengwei put his feet up on the table, smoked a cigarette and said lazily: "Do you know what Chinese people look like in the eyes of ghosts?"
"They say we are pure insects, bitches!" Li Xiwen said.
"Although it is stereotype and prejudice, opium and casinos play a big role in it! In the eyes of Gui Lao, Chinatown is dirty, chaotic, and full of opium and casinos..."
Chen Zhengwei stood up and walked to the window, pointed down and said:
"Look outside, you can see heavy smokers everywhere. They are willing to kill their own parents for a puff of smoke. We ourselves look down on them, let alone those ghost guys."
"In the eyes of the ghosts, they are us!"
"So, senior brother, you want to close the opium den." Li Xiwen said with admiration in his eyes.
"Yes, not for them, they are already useless! But for ourselves!" Chen Zhengwei smiled.
"But closing opium dens is only the first step. We Chinese have to get out!" Chen Zhengwei knew in his heart that the Chinese Exclusion Act would be passed in 1882, less than four years from now.
In the half century since then, Chinese people in the United States have absolutely no chance of making a comeback.
Even for his own sake, he had to stop the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Therefore, the Chinese must go out and not stay in this small Chinatown.
But it is difficult for Chinese people to go out. California now has various discriminatory laws and regulations that restrict Chinese people.
For example, Chinese are not allowed to own land and property, and Chinese are not allowed to work in most industries. If you leave Chinatown, they will not rent a house to you if you want.
Even in industries where Chinese are allowed to work, the requirements for Chinese are more stringent.
Therefore, Chinatown must be unified and the current state of disunity must be ended. Only then can we have the qualifications and identity to talk to the outside world and do something.
Li Xiwen chatted casually for a few words, and Chen Zhengwei picked up the account book and looked through it.
Ansongtang originally directly controlled only two casinos and one brothel. In addition, it also had shares in other casinos and opium dens. The total income was about 8,000 yuan per month. In addition, there were many large and small businesses in this neighborhood. The monthly fees for ten shops add up to one thousand yuan.
However, Ansongtang pays four to five thousand yuan every month. In addition to conflicts with other church members from time to time, they also have to pay for settlement expenses.
In addition, the senior management of the hall still wants to make some money from it, so the money in the account is not too much.
"Damn it, I have to scrape out those guys even if I scrape the ground three feet away!" Chen Zhengwei got angry when he thought of this.
Now that all opium dens are closed, not only will this part of the income be lost, but the passenger flow in these two blocks will definitely be affected.
Chen Zhengwei estimates that the combined monthly income of the two blocks is about 10,000 yuan.
It seems like a lot, but it's enough to draw two ten-consecutive rounds.
Even if you support your subordinates, you can only support about three hundred people, and you can't even save ten companies in a month.
"Sure enough, people can't be rich without windfall!" Chen Zhengwei thought about it. If he expected to make money like this, he would have to save it until forever.
Sure enough, we still have to make plans for other halls and guild halls.
In addition, we need to recruit people and build up a labor agency in Portsmouth Square.
