Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 129 Japan, going crazy

The tide of the times is so strong that even the top figures cannot control it.

On February 2, Zheng Yi received a distinguished guest without any surprise. Zheng Yi also made sufficient preparations for this distinguished guest and appeared extremely solemn.

"Mr. Toyota, please, I have prepared Japanese-style food specially for you."

As he spoke, Zheng Yi invited Kiichiro Toyota to sit down.

However, Zheng Yi specially chose a Japanese restaurant in the Japanese community to entertain Kiichiro Toyota. The restaurant had a Japanese-style dining table with tatami mats. The table was filled with authentic Japanese food such as sashimi and sushi, as well as sake and Japanese geishas.

Seeing this, Kiichiro Toyoda did not feel excited at all, but instead let out a long sigh.

"Mr. Zheng, it seems that he had anticipated my arrival and specially prepared such a table of dishes to trouble you."

"Mr. Toyota, I have always considered you a friend."

As he spoke, Kiichiro Toyoda sat down opposite Zheng Yi and suddenly said straight to the point, "The Japanese textile industry is extremely short of dyes. Mr. Zheng, can you sell me some dyes?"

"How much do you want?"

"Two hundred thousand tons. I know Mr. Zheng can afford it."

Zheng Yi laughed when he heard this. He was asked to take out 200,000 tons of dyes in one go. This was a joke. The Japanese textile industry could not digest so many dyes. Besides, Kiichiro Toyoda was just a textile machine seller, so there was no need for him to buy so many dyes.

However, modern dyes and paints are actually closely related to military explosives. With the Japanese chemical engineering capabilities, they can use chemical means to utilize them and turn them into explosives.

It was obvious that Kiichiro Toyoda had sensed something and was testing him.

Zheng Yi poured a glass of sake for Kiichiro Toyota himself and said without saying anything, "Since we are short of dyes, I think we can move the textile factory directly to Penang.

Penang has a better port, cheaper electricity, more favorable taxes, and also has a source of chemical fibers and dyes.”

"Mr. Toyota, Penang will soon be building a new city. We will develop twice as much land in the northern part of Penang Island based on the existing infrastructure.

With four large oil and chemical plants as its foundation, we will actively attract multinational companies to build factories here. The entire new city is expected to be completed within three years and accommodate at least four million people.

"Mr. Toyota, I sincerely invite you to move your factory in Japan here. I can give you free land.
Moreover, with the three connections and one leveling, construction will begin in one year and construction will begin in two years, and the entire construction cost will be recovered in three years of profits.”

"Please, please consider my suggestion."

When Kiichiro Toyoda heard what Zheng Yi said, he smiled and suddenly said, "If I withdraw my investment now and ask to move our Toyota factory in Penang or sell my shares, will you let me take them with me?"

Zheng Yi smiled calmly upon hearing this and said, "As expected, Mr. Toyota is very perceptive."

As he spoke, Zheng Yi enthusiastically poured another glass of wine for Kiichiro Toyoda and said, "I won't let you take a single cent of your investment in Penang, let alone the factory and equipment."

Kiichiro Toyota, however, showed no surprise at all. Instead, he said calmly, "What's going on? Penang is an international city, built on attracting foreign investment. Now, you're acting like a rogue and letting go of your agreement?"

Zheng Yi: "No, I am doing this to save Mr. Toyota. I am doing this because I cherish my friendship with Mr. Toyota very much.
Mr. Toyota, I am very serious in inviting you to relocate your Japanese business to Penang. This is for Mr. Toyota’s own good.”

Kiichiro Toyoda: "Doing this for my own good means confiscating my factory and not letting me get back my investment?"

Zheng Yi didn't answer directly, but said, "On October 1921, 10, in Germany, three military attachés with the rank of major founded the radical military group the Three Crows. They believed that the only way forward for Japan was for the military to control and govern the country."

"Soon after, they met with Hirohito, then Crown Prince, who was on a tour of Europe, and swore allegiance to him."

"From then on, the three men decided that, first, they must establish a system of total war with the whole nation of Japan and implement a system of 'military-led government'."

"Secondly, we must overthrow the Choshu faction warlords who dominated the army and reform the army. The young and vigorous factions must unite and form the Showa warlords."

"Hirohito, then only the Crown Prince, readily agreed in order to gain absolute power in the future. This was the controlling faction within the Japanese Army."

Kiichiro Toyoda: "Mr. Zheng, you really have a good understanding of our Japanese political arena."

"It's a pity that when Emperor Hirohito chose radical ideas and hoped to consolidate national power through militarism and get out of the economic crisis, he didn't realize that all political means have a price."

"The consequence of reusing radicals in the military is that there will always be people who are more radical than the radicals he uses, and they will gradually slip away from his control."

"In addition to these radicals, Japan also gave rise to a group of conservatives who disliked the radicals as too conservative: the Imperial Way faction."

"The theoretical guide of the Imperial Way Faction was Kita Ikki, who, inspired by the Russian Revolution, actually wanted to establish a system based on land ownership, communism, and social communism.

Through the lower classes' assistance to the Emperor's 'co-governance', a great revolution of chauvinism, centered on respect for the Emperor, will be accomplished."

"It can change the color society in Tsarist Russia, the emperor's monarchy in Japan, and the social revolution in which the lower class overthrows the upper class.
The three are so perfectly combined, and they also draw heavily on the ideas of Shang Yang, the Legalist of China. I have to say, the thinking of you Japanese sociologists is... quite abstract."

"There's also a man named Okawa Shumei who's written many books, including 'On Manchukuo Becoming a Japanese Subordinate State After Independence,' 'On Japan's Territorial Expansion Targeting China,' 'On Britain and the United States' Sovereignty in the Pacific Should Be Replaced by Japan,' 'On the Yamato People Being the Most Excellent Nation in the World,' and so many other 'works.' Each one is crazier than the last, but it seems like your people really believe it?"

"Influenced by these two people, a large number of young military officers who shouted "Return of Power to the Emperor" and "Long Live the Emperor" and were extremely devoted to the Emperor formed the so-called Imperial Way Faction.
Not only do they want to go to war with China immediately, in an all-out war, they also want to kill you, the plutocrats, the aristocrats, the warlords, all the upper-class elites except the emperor, and confiscate all the money you use for your enjoyment to pay for the war against China."

"Even though the Control Faction was already a very radical group, when the Imperial Way Faction went crazy, even the Control Faction, and Emperor Hirohito himself, who was behind them, were frightened."

Under the banners of 'cleansing the imperial court' and 'respecting the emperor and punishing traitors,' they openly gather young officers in the army who are dissatisfied with the government. Their spearhead is directed at you, the chaebols who control Japan's economy, the aristocrats who control Japan's politics, and the warlords who control Japan's military."

"From then on, the Control Faction and the Imperial Way Faction gradually became antagonistic."

"On September 1921, 9, Zenjiro Yasuda, the head of the Yasuda Zaibatsu, one of Japan's four largest zaibatsu, was assassinated. I heard that Mr. Toyota and Mr. Zenjiro Yasuda were also good friends?"

"Hey~"

Kiichiro Toyota didn't say anything, but sighed deeply, drank the wine in the glass, and then let Zheng Yi refill his glass. He said, "Mr. Zheng, you know a lot about our Japanese affairs."

Zheng Yi: "Just two months later, a young soldier named Nakaoka Genichi, dissatisfied with Japan's signing of the Washington and London Treaties, assassinated Prime Minister Hara Takashi at Tokyo Station. From then on, Pandora's box was completely opened, and the Blood Alliance was established shortly thereafter."

"I heard the Blood Alliance's slogan was 'Kill one man, create a new Japan,' and their assassination targets included numerous prominent figures in politics and business. On February 1932, 2, Finance Minister Inoue Junnosuke, who opposed increased military spending, was shot to death with three bullets." "On March 9, Takuma Dan, president of the Mitsui Zaibatsu, was assassinated."

"On May 5, the pro-China Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated for secretly sending envoys to sign a peace treaty with the Chinese government."

"These are all successful assassinations. There are many unsuccessful assassination attempts. I heard that they have a very long assassination list with more than 20 people on it.
Known targets include Kimmochi Saionji, Takejiro Tokotsugi, Kisaburo Suzuki, Seibin Ikeda, and others. Do you think you, Mr. Kiichiro Toyoda, are on this assassination list? "

After a long silence, Kiichiro Toyota retorted, "Mr. Zheng, you are indeed very concerned about the domestic situation in Japan. However, most of the members of the Blood Alliance have been arrested. They will surely face legal judgment."

Zheng Yi: "Is that so? But I heard that none of the captured Blood Alliance members received the death penalty, and their leader, Inoue Nissou, was released on parole the following year."

"After the assassination of Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi, the nine murderers were apprehended. However, the court received a petition signed in blood by 11 people. Nine young military officers even cut off their own little fingers to threaten the judge to give a lighter sentence."

Zheng Yi couldn't help laughing as he spoke, "The Prime Minister of a country, no matter what the reason, was assassinated by his own people, and nine murderers, not a single one of them paid for his life?
The Empire of Japan is truly eye-opening. Mr. Toyota, do you actually think that such a verdict can put a damper on the arrogance of the Blood Alliance?

Kiichiro Toyoda: "…………"

For a moment, he was speechless.

Simply put, Japan has gone crazy.

The two dominant factions in the political arena are the emperor himself and the right-wing control faction he relies on the most.

And a group of extreme right-wing imperialists who think these right-wingers are not radical enough and are too weak, and are simply crazy people.

And Kiichiro Toyoda is fucking left-wing.

In fact, in other countries or in the modern political environment, he would at most be a centrist, or even a little to the right.

But in Japan during this period, he was really too left-wing.

Politics is always like this, "the left is always right, but the right is always successful."

Japan is a country with such a large population and so many intelligent people. Can't they see that militarism is a dead end? However, as the majority of the left, they are useless!
They only pay lip service to peace, but how many of them can actually make sacrifices for it?

Even though the right wing is smaller in number, they really dare to take action and they really kill people.

What is even more terrifying than these right-wingers is that after the rise of the normal right-wing, there will definitely be a crazier right-winger. The right-wing itself will definitely be defeated by the extreme right-wing because it is not radical enough. The extreme right-wing will be defeated by the completely brainless lunatics because they are still normal people.

The extreme right-wing Blood Alliance is a pure mad dog. They are not afraid of sacrifice and will kill anyone who dares to talk about peace, anyone who dares to cut military spending, and anyone who dares to stop Japan from moving towards militarism.

Simply put, a part of the current Japanese army is the right wing that wants to force these capitalists to bleed to support military construction.

The other part is the extreme right who want to kill them all, even the right wing.

You let him choose.

If the right-wing control faction came to power, it would not be a big deal. The control faction is relatively normal people. They would be very satisfied with just swallowing up Manchukuo.
They never thought of tearing up the Washington Treaty and turning against the Americans. In fact, there is still hope for peace between Japan and China, and Toyota and Penang can still maintain cooperation.

At least Japan can still maintain the appearance of a normal society.

But once the extreme right-wing imperial lunatics come to power.

Toyota still wants to make textile machines?

Do shit! All of society's industrial capacity must be diverted to military production.

Do you still dare to cooperate with the Chinese?
Ha ha.

In the eyes of those lunatics, this was clearly a way to seek death. Zheng Yi said that he was very likely on the assassination list of those big lunatics, and he was not really trying to scare him.

To a large extent, the reason why Showa Japan seemed to be crazy and the slogans were shouted loudly was because no one knew who was the real lunatic among the people around them. They were afraid that they would be killed if they didn't shout slogans loud enough and be mistaken for normal people, so they could only pretend to be crazy.

In the end, the country of Japan, with a small number of real lunatics leading the majority of people pretending to be crazy, really went towards its own crazy self-destruction.

Kiichiro Toyota knew that Zheng Yi was going to confront him today, and that his understanding of Japanese politics far exceeded that of the average Chinese, or even the average Japanese.

Even he felt a little ashamed of himself and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Mr. Zheng, what exactly do you want to do? What do you mean?"

Zheng Yi smiled mysteriously, glanced at the date on the calendar, and said, "Today is February 1926th, 2, right?"

Kiichiro Toyota: “Yes.”

"Today, Mr. Toyota, please just enjoy your meal. I'll wait for a day. Tomorrow, no, the day after tomorrow at noon, I'll still be here, in this box, waiting for Mr. Toyota's reply.

I'm not threatening you or bullying you; on the contrary, I'm saving you and the entire Toyota Group."

After saying that, Zheng Yi actually threw down his chopsticks, stood up, turned around and left, in front of Kiichiro Toyota's puzzled gaze.

　The author solemnly declares that he has absolutely no sympathy for Japanese militarism, nor for Kiichiro Toyoda. The Toyota Group produced a large number of military equipment, armored vehicles and tanks during the war of aggression against China. They are extremely guilty and are bastards. The author has an immense hatred for them.

　　It's just the period in the book. It's similar to when we are rich people, living in mansions and supporting a bunch of young wives, but two waves of politicians in the country are fighting. One wave advocates declaring war on Europe, the United States and Russia at the same time, while the other wave thinks there's no point in declaring war and just dropping nuclear bombs on Europe, the United States and Russia.

　　In the end, the group that advocated dropping the nuclear bomb directly won. What kind of mentality would a normal person have?
　　So for now, Toyota is indeed worth winning over.

　　My protagonist was being polite and said that he considered Kiichiro Toyoda as a friend.

　　But it’s not that my protagonist really wants to be friends with the Japanese from the bottom of his heart.

　　I hope all the godfathers will understand

　　
　
(End of this chapter)