Chapter 665 Sassoon, I'm after you (Second update, please subscribe)

Early in the morning, as usual, Jacob Elias Sassoon, the boss of Sassoon & Co., had breakfast and then drove away from his villa in Yuntaishan in a carriage.

"…the increasing local production of opium by the Chinese has had a great impact on our market. I found that last month our opium sales were more than 15% less than the same period last year."

On the way, listening to Hardoon's report, Jacob just nodded from time to time. He admired Hardoon, a young man in his twenties, very much, otherwise he would not have promoted him many times in just one year.

Of course, another reason is that he is also from Baghdad, and the Sassoon family is also from Baghdad. Influenced by the anti-Semitism of the Ottoman Empire, he fled to Mumbai, India almost 20 years ago. Two years ago, he came to Hong Kong alone. The next year, he moved to Haizhou and worked for Sassoon. It only took him one year to win Jacob's trust.

After all, they are all Jews, and Jews always help each other. Of course, although they are Jews, the Sassoon family is a prominent family. Their family history can be traced back to the Canaan period. Since the Jewish people were driven out of Canaan, the Sassoon family has been scattered to the city of Baghdad.

And what about Hardoon?

He was just an ordinary Jewish man, and a very poor one at that, but he was a very smart and good at studying guy.

"Homemade medicine!"

Jacob said, opening his eyes.

"The Chinese call it native medicine, and their government has even formulated corresponding policies - trying to use native medicine to drive out foreign medicine, that is, the opium we brought from India. Compared with native medicine, Indian opium is of better quality and more popular with the rich. As for native medicine, all the poor people can afford it, but if they smoke opium, the rich will always become poor in the end, unless they grow their own opium..."

As he spoke, Jacob tapped his fingers. In recent years, the Qing people have been promoting the development of their opium cultivation, and even their government is encouraging the people to grow opium because growing opium can bring more tax revenue.

The rise of the so-called "local medicine" naturally affected his business. After all, "foreign medicine" is very expensive.

"Hartung, we need to find a way to take advantage of the trains and transport our opium as far inland as possible to further expand our market. Of course, compared to local medicines, the biggest advantage of foreign medicines is the low tariffs and no likin along the way, so we don't need to worry about the impact of local medicines. This impact will have a very limited impact on us."

Thanks to the British Empire. Without the many privileges the British Empire had here, how could they have made such huge profits from this land?

"Yes, sir, but I think, can we buy local medicine and process it, such as fermenting it in a cellar, to improve its quality, and then sell it to the Chinese?"

Naturally, Hardoon's suggestion was... rejected, because the Sassoon family had large opium plantations in India, so how could they cut off their own source of income?

In another world, Hardoon eventually left Sassoon & Co. by purchasing domestic "local medicines" for deep processing, and then in just over a decade, he became a wealthy man who was no less wealthy than Sassoon.

The most fundamental reason why Ha Tong chose "local medicine" was because he did not have his own supply chain. In order to compete with other banks, he chose "local medicine".

He also took advantage of the many privileges enjoyed by foreigners to further expand the market for "local medicine". It can even be said that it was thanks to his efforts that the "domestication of opium" that the Qing Dynasty had long dreamed of was finally realized.

From then on, silver would never flow out again. As for poisoning the people's health? They never considered that the people's health was not as important as silver.

Of course, now, Hotung was just an employee who had just joined the foreign company.

"The car is coming, signal!"

When Li Chengliang, who was standing on the roadside, saw the Sassoon Company's carriage, he immediately made a gesture to his subordinates not far away. The team members on the roadside hurriedly took out mirrors and flashed signals towards the sunlight in the other direction of the mountain road.

“Prepare for action!”

After receiving the signal, Zhang Wenjie moved the carriage across the middle of the road, creating a car accident scene in which the carriage hit people. The other team members hid in the woods on the side of the road.

As for the passengers in the carriage, they certainly didn't know that someone was waiting for them up ahead. Even the two Indian bodyguards standing behind the carriage stood behind the carriage as usual, without any vigilance at all.

Why should we be vigilant?

No one, whether inside or outside the concession, would provoke foreigners. Provoking foreigners is more troublesome than offending themselves.

In my Qing Dynasty, foreigners have always been first-class, officials second-class, and as for the common people, they are not human beings.

Indian Asan is also a foreigner.

The driver of the carriage stopped the carriage immediately when he saw a car blocking the road ahead. The moment the carriage stopped, four rangers on the roadside immediately pulled the trigger of their crossbows, and four sharp arrows flew towards the Indian bodyguard who had just jumped off the carriage.

"ah……"

The two Indian bodyguards only had time to let out a scream before they fell down.

Before the coachman could react, another man came out from the roadside with a gun, pointing the muzzle at him.

"Sir, sir..."

When the driver was about to warn the enemy, another team member pulled the trigger of the crossbow.

With a "whoosh", the powerful arrow accurately pierced his chest. When the coachman fell off the carriage, Jacob used his cane to lift the curtain of the carriage, and then he saw a Chinese man appear outside the carriage.

"What's going on?"

The car door opened and Zhang Wenjie pointed a gun at him.

Hardoon immediately shouted loudly.

"Who are you? Don't you know who we are?"

Zhang Wenjie asked.

"Are you Jacob Elias Sassoon? You are under arrest!"

"What, what did you say? Who are you?"

Jacob, who has been in China for more than 20 years, can of course speak Chinese and understand it, but when he heard this sentence, it was like listening to a foreign language. Arrest?

Is he kidding?

arrest?

Who are they and what right do they have to arrest him!

"What power do you have? Whose subordinates are you? I am the director of the concession, you damn yellow monkeys!"

Jacob shouted a little excitedly.

"Do you know who I am? I am Sassoon! Jacob Elias Sassoon!"

No wonder he was so excited. He was Sassoon! He was the king of the concession, the most powerful man in the British Concession. How dare they arrest him?

Not to mention that he didn't commit any crime, even if he killed someone or set a fire, he wouldn't have to pay any price for it.

And now?

A Chinese man stood in front of him and actually said he wanted to arrest him!

This was simply a joke, no, it was a joke at all, but Jacob couldn't laugh because he felt he was being ignored!

It's not being ignored, it's being despised. Who is kidding him?

Why is this guy so arrogant?

A movie press dealer was arrested, but he was still so arrogant. It was simply an insult to them!

Feeling that his dignity as a policeman was insulted by this opium dealer, Zhang Wenjie grabbed him by the collar and slapped him on the face. He then picked him up like a chicken and slapped him left and right, causing Jacob to see stars in his eyes and he was completely stunned.

Amid the sound of slapping, Hotung was dumbfounded. He had never imagined that one day someone would dare to slap Mr. Sassoon!

He is Mr. Sassoon.

How dare you hit him?

These people were too violent. Faced with these wolf-like and ferocious Chinese, Hardoon was so scared that he didn't even dare to speak. After all, he came from the lower class and knew very well what it meant to know the times.

“Bang!”

After several slaps in succession, Zhang Wenjie said loudly.

"Boy, I'm going to catch you!"

(End of this chapter)