Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 241 Managing Japan and Making the Occupation Forces Self-Sufficient

Including technicians, teachers, and even some medical staff, in just three months, Zheng Yi transported a total of about three million Japanese people from Japan.

They are all elites.

Of course, there are also some young and beautiful girls.

In addition, there were already nearly one million Japanese in Southeast Asia, and the Japanese instantly became the second largest core ethnic group in the Southeast Asian Association, not much less than the Chinese.

Suddenly, there were so many people and so many factories. Singapore, in particular, was busy, and a large number of Chinese and English schools were opened, and even in Japan.

In order to transport these Japanese residents, Zheng Yi got all the ships he could, including American warships.

When we went to Nanyang, the ship was packed with Japanese, no, Japanese residents. All the people on board had voluntarily given up their Japanese citizenship. Like the Japanese residents in Penang, as long as they could speak simple Chinese, they could join the Nanyang citizenship and even be allocated welfare housing.

Of course, it was impossible for the ship to return empty. Various supplies, mainly food, filled most of the ship, and the remaining small part was filled with employees and soldiers of the Southern Alliance.

Japan's current social situation is unstable, and the Americans are unwilling to increase their troops, so the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation will do the job.

According to the negotiations between Zheng Yi and Yoshida, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation will increase its troops stationed in Japan by 100,000 within five years, and together with the US military, they will be ready to suppress possible national riots and social revolutions at any time.

However, the Japanese government will not bear the cost of stationing troops, and they will need to pay for the maintenance of the army themselves.

For the time being, Zheng Yi doesn't have to pay any money. When the Chinese in Southeast Asia heard that there was an opportunity to station troops in Japan, they all paid money instead.

It would be impossible to get this job without some connections or solid military achievements during the war.

But it will definitely not be possible in the future. It is indeed fun to be an Allied force and bully others in Japan, but fun cannot be used to make a living.

Although the Southern Alliance can afford to station a 100,000-man troop, if there is no actual benefit over the years, it will be quite costly and the board of directors will also have opinions.

Isn't this just throwing money away?

For the Southern Alliance, the essence of garrisoning troops can only be to carry out business with swords. The cost of this garrison must be earned back from the Japanese mainland, and the amount must be much more.

………………

Navy Hotel.

Zheng Yi and Marshal Mai were feasting on the food being served by beautiful women, and were even a little tipsy.

"Fuck those idiots in our country, those bastards in the Democratic Party!"

Everyone was drinking happily when Marshal Mai suddenly threw the cup in anger, cursing, which was extremely inconsistent with his status.

He was clearly quite drunk.

Of course, it also shows that he really did not regard Zheng Yi as an outsider, otherwise he would not show such an attitude.

Seeing this, Zheng Yi waved his hand, signaling the beauties serving them to go out, and then he lit a cigar and handed it to him.

Then he asked, "What's wrong? What's making the Marshal unhappy?"

"Ah~, it's really not happy. Now that the war is over, those bastards from the Democratic Party are now really against us. They're complaining that too many of us are working without getting paid."

Zheng Yi seemed to understand what he meant after hearing this, and said with a smile, "We Chinese have an old saying, 'Peace is established by generals, but peace is not achieved without generals.' So, in America, do you also put away your bows after the birds are killed?"

Marshal Mai: "When the bird is dead, the bow is put away? You Chinese are really good at using metaphors. Indeed, it is exactly like that."

In fact, the so-called "put away the bow after the bird is killed" is something that any mature country will inevitably do after the end of the war. The only difference is the extent to which it is done.

"Why? Did Lao Du do something excessive that affected your actions? You know, many of our partners in the Southern Alliance have some influence over Lao Du, and I have a good personal relationship with him. Maybe... I can help you a little?"

In the United States, the conflicts between Durant and MacArthur have become public. From personal grudges to public grievances, the grudge between the two is indeed a bit too great.

Speaking of personal grudges, as a veteran of World War I, Lao Du once participated in a collective wage-demanding activity among veterans because the government did not provide him with the full pension and resettlement funds.

The army general at that time was Marshal MacArthur. In order to please the government, he openly stated: These troublemakers are spies from other countries, or they are hooligans who are plotting to overthrow the country, people with ulterior motives, and troublemakers. In any case, they are definitely not soldiers of our army.

These are no longer ordinary people, we must take strong measures!

The army was sent directly to suppress the rebellion violently.

It is said that Mr. Du suffered a minor disability because of this.

When the two met after the war, Marshal Mai refused to salute Lao Du, and Lao Du publicly said, "Why is Marshal Mai not a martyr?" It was really that they were too lazy to even pretend to be nice to each other.

This is even more so when it comes to public grievances. Putting aside the fact that the two men belong to different parties, Duterte advocates managing Europe, while MacArthur believes that Europe has been broken down, and supporting Europe is not only meaningless but will also cultivate competitors for the United States. The UK should focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

Marshal MacArthur is actually the spokesperson for the military-industrial complex, arguing that the war is not over yet and that the United States and Britain should take advantage of the precious period of nuclear monopoly to thoroughly establish the United States' position as the world hegemon.

MacArthur is inclined towards big capital, and the Republican Party is also inclined to serve big capital. Given the current industrial structure of the United States and the fact that World War II has just ended, the military-industrial capital is too large to be eliminated.

The more wars there are around the world, the more beneficial it is for American multinational capital.

Continue the war, gradually reduce the intensity from high to low, slowly stop the war, let the military-industrial enterprises gradually reduce their production capacity, and slowly convert the military industry into civilian use. This will be more in line with the interests of large multinational companies.

Lao Du advocates focusing on economic development while limiting the power of large multinational corporations.

It seems that in the entire history of the United States, there has never been another pair like them where the head of the government and the head of the military are so discordant.

Because Zheng Yi had invested heavily in Duterte when he was a member of parliament, their relationship is quite good. He and MacArthur also became comrades-in-arms during World War II. Therefore, he is one of the few people in the world who can have a say on both sides.

However, Zheng Yi has always kept his distance from the conflicts between the two, and even their political views.

First of all, he is a foreigner after all. It is inevitable that there will be some inappropriateness if he rashly gets involved in such a high-level political vortex in the United States, even if he is just trying to mediate.

Secondly, he himself didn't actually want to support anyone.

It is in his personal interest to support MacLaren. Firstly, it would be more beneficial for him if the United States focuses on the Asia-Pacific region. Secondly, the multinational capitalists in the United States have been living in fear under Ronaldinho for several years and they really can't stand it anymore.

Now that Ronaldinho is dead, these big capitalists have all jumped out in the United States, and they are all doing everything they can to ensure that there will never be another Ronaldinho in the United States, or even a CEO like his uncle Lao Luo.

It is obvious that Duterte follows the old ways in economic policies, so these big capitalists do not have a good relationship with him. There is almost a consensus among the big capitalists, that is, to replace the next term with a Republican as much as possible.

However, in addition to being the leader of the Southern Alliance, Zheng Yi is also a Chinese and even a time traveler.

He knew very well that allowing Marshal Mai to gain power, especially the Asia-Pacific strategy that he valued, would actually be detrimental to the motherland.

No matter how you look at it, Coach MacArthur should be considered a villain in China.

This made Zheng Yi quite embarrassed, so he simply did not get involved in these things.

Marshal Mai was drunkenly covering his head. Zheng Yi didn't know if he was truly drunk or just using it to curry favor. He said, "This year, Congress has been cutting back on wartime agencies. Of the original 165, only a dozen remain. The government has laid off over a million employees. Sigh~"

Zheng Yi: "Is Lao Du really that ruthless? I didn't expect him, a vice president, to be so powerful."

"Humph!"

Marshal Mai snorted angrily, feeling extremely unhappy.

Although the US military is nominally not allowed to have political inclinations, in reality, at least during this period, most US troops were pro-Republican, or in other words, the US military of this era only had pro-Republican and non-partisan centrists.

After retirement, almost all those who entered politics were Republicans. The most famous ones were MacArthur and Iverson, both of whom were Republicans.

Civil servants in this period were much easier to lay off than those eighty years later. Trump could lay off one million civil servants at will. Needless to say, those he laid off were all in the military system and were pro-Republican, and he gave priority to MacArthur's people.

Other civil servants who were laid off could be assigned to other departments, or at least given a good job. After all, the United States during this period was still a Keynesian big government, and the number of people who made a living from the government other than civil servants was actually no less than that of civil servants.

However, after Coach Mac's players were laid off, they can only fend for themselves.

Zheng Yi thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps I can help. Many of these laid-off personnel are probably our comrades in the Asia-Pacific battlefield."

"SAARC is in a state of disrepair right now and is in great need of talent with practical administrative experience. And as you know, we have many American multinational corporations here. I could talk to them about how we could work together to establish a relevant recruitment mechanism."

Marshal Mai smiled wryly and said, "Some people are heroes on the battlefield, but when the war is over, especially if they've been injured or even disabled, their ability to adapt back to society is very low."

"Without the support of the state, what can these people do? You are a business, and you hire people based on profitability. To put it bluntly, the people you can hire can also find jobs in the United States."

"Those who can't find any good jobs in their own country, do you think you can keep them as waste? Alas~" As he said this, General Mai smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Zheng Yi asked, "Then has the Marshal ever thought about letting them come to Japan?"

"Japan?"

Marshal Mai shook his head and said, "The Allied troops stationed in Japan may also be disbanded. You should know that Congress is now forcing me to enforce military discipline and ban Japanese women from prostitution. Fuck, what is this? It's clearly targeting me."

Zheng Yi: "Just treat that order as a joke. Given the current social situation in Japan, if they don't sell sex, how will they eat and drink? It's nothing more than going underground. But the more this goes on, the more room there is for the gray market to exist, right?"

"If our former comrades can't find suitable jobs in the United States or in the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), I think we could have them come to Japan to work. It doesn't necessarily have to cost the government money. I'm planning to increase my investment in Japan recently, and I'm in great need of manpower."

Marshal MacArthur frowned, puzzled, and said, "I know that you, the Southern Alliance, have recently recruited quite a few troops from the Japanese occupation forces. I heard you want to stay permanently? How can you afford to support so many soldiers?"

Zheng Yi: "That's why I said I invested in Japan. It was all thanks to the loan you helped me lend me before. Otherwise, I wouldn't have such abundant funds."

Coach MacArthur: "Japan, is there still a need to invest? With international blockades and sanctions, coupled with your cutting off of financial resources, does this country still have a future? Is there still a way to make money?"

Zheng Yi nodded confidently, "Yes, as the saying goes, when you're poor, you'll want to change. After all, Japan is a country where everyone has completed basic education. Although its industrial system has been destroyed, its foundation is still there."

"As for the international blockade, Yoshida is absolutely right. Throughout history, any country defeated in an external war has almost inevitably experienced social revolution. This is especially true in a country like Japan, where the gap between the rich and the poor is so drastic. If you don't intervene, the nobles and capitalists will surely be hanged on the street lamps. If we intervene, the fire will very likely be directed at us."

"As far as I know, the vast rural areas of Japan, even some small cities, and even right here in the suburbs of Tokyo, are now surging with red waves. Mr. Nosaka's influence in Japanese politics seems to be no less than that of Yoshida."

"If you keep it sealed for a few more years, I'm afraid all of Japan will be taken over by the Soviet Union. That old man Yoshida always appears humble on the surface, but he's actually full of evil intentions. Can't you see that he's deliberately indulging this red wave?"

"I don't care, but what about you Americans?"

Marshal Mai: “Hmm…”

However, he could only sigh helplessly and said, "Indeed... maybe they will try to open up a few loopholes. The social contradictions in Japan right now are indeed too acute."

As he spoke, Marshal Mai couldn't help but pinch his temples. It was obvious that he was extremely unwilling to loosen the reins on Japan.

But he couldn't help but curse: "It's all the fault of those damn Democrats, it's all the fault of that damn President Du!"

After all, if he had not created the Iron Curtain and opposed the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union would not have launched attacks everywhere, and the Japanese issue would not have become as difficult as it is now.

If you ask him, he should just take advantage of the fact that the Soviet Union does not have nuclear weapons yet and destroy it directly, which will ensure that the world will be peaceful and nothing will happen in the future.

Of course, Japan's roots have been dug up by Zheng Yi, and the so-called historical opportunities will most likely be snatched away by Zheng Yi. The lower limit of this country may not be too low in the future, but the upper limit will be nailed down by him for at least three or four decades.

Zheng Yi: "Seriously, I intend to strengthen my control over Japanese society through stationing troops and investment. I'm not even satisfied with just covering the cost of stationing troops. I still want to make some money. The Japanese are actually quite useful."

"We in the Southern Alliance are not as wealthy as you, the United States. Even after the war, the Southern Alliance does not have the financial resources to support real full-time soldiers. These occupation troops currently stationed in Japan will not be around for long and will still have to do something. It's nothing more than having guns to equip them."

"But you know, we have accepted too many Japanese expatriates in SAARC. They will be an important part of SAARC for a long time to come. Even if they learn Chinese and try to integrate, it will always take time."

"For the sake of stability within SAARC, many of the things I will be doing in Japan are not convenient for the Chinese to do on their own. I hope that in the future, whether inside or outside SAARC, the people of both ethnic groups can live in harmony, peace, and friendship, and at least avoid major conflicts."

Coach MacArthur: "So you want us Americans to be the bad guys, and the Chinese to be the good guys, right?"

Coach Mac didn't even find it strange. After all, Zheng Yi had always been like this. He was always a good person and always did bad things secretly. He was cruel and ruthless, but had a kind face.

Like a politician.

"What are you planning to invest in? In Japan, what kind of business can support so many people and still have some left over?"

Zheng Yi smiled, leaning back in his chair, and said, "Some things do involve some shady business. Currently, the two biggest drivers of crime in Japan's cities are the black market and prostitution, especially prostitution. If ordinary people don't engage in prostitution, where will they get the money to spend on the black market?"

"Japanese society is completely broken right now. Even if you really shut down Japan's special operations teams and those legal trading venues under domestic pressure, what about those illegal ones and those soft pornographic ones? Sleeping with someone is illegal, but what about eating with someone, drinking with someone, chatting with someone? Who will be in charge of this, the Allied Forces Command or the Japanese government? Who can really control it?"

"After all, pimps are still needed. I brought some Chinese people from the Southern Alliance and bought two streets and some land. I plan to create red-light districts in cities like Tokyo and Osaka, and build a few hotels, dance halls, shopping malls, and of course, an import and export company."

"We Chinese can be responsible for providing the venue and services, but the actual matchmaking, which we Chinese call pimping, is sometimes not suitable for us to do. After all, the customers are all you Americans."

"Of course, there's also the black market. Everything in Japanese society today is inseparable from the black market. I heard a while ago that a professor at the University of Tokyo and his family of six starved to death because they followed the government's call not to shop on the black market."

"Warehousing, logistics, and even black market transactions should be as formal as possible and charge some management fees."

Marshal Mai nodded, but said, "I can kind of understand that. But honestly, in this kind of situation, it's always hard for a powerful dragon to defeat a local snake. Besides, how much money can you make from this?"

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "Is this just a pretext, a beginning? Marshal, you told me before that Japan's land reform has encountered some problems. Some people in the country, especially the Democratic Party, think that what you are doing is communist?"

It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned this, but as soon as he mentioned this, Coach Mai became even more furious and immediately started cursing again.

"Those bastards in the Democratic Party are simply targeting me. If they don't distinguish between lands, the Japanese people will riot, and it will be a huge riot. When the red wave sweeps across Japan, won't the responsibility be mine? Japan is not an agricultural country with no experience of modern society. If such a large industrial country goes red, ah~"

"Ultimately, it's because the Democrats have been in power for too long. Congress is completely dominated by their people, and everything is monolithic. President Tu is just trying to make things difficult for me."

Zheng Yi: "Then how does the Marshal plan to deal with this matter?"

"There's no other solution right now. Let the rural people buy the property. Add a maximum price and set a maximum amount each person can buy. This is the only way to deal with the domestic situation."

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "I have a better idea. Since you want to sell the land, and those tenants have no money, why don't we lend them money?"

"A few days ago, I personally worked with Yasuda Bank to establish the Japan Agricultural Bank, which is dedicated to serving the Japanese people."

"Those nobles who have occupied large amounts of fertile land in the countryside are all war criminals. There are actually many ways to redeem their land at a low price. We can leave this to our people in the Southern Alliance. I can assure you that no one will refuse to sell."

"These confiscated lands are sold to tenant farmers. If the tenant farmers don't have money, can't they get loans? The price of land in various places can be determined entirely by the amount of loans the tenant farmers take out. That way, we can also recover some of the SAARC costs from the land."

Marshal Mai: "But the tenant farmers have nothing. What can they use as collateral?"

Zheng Yi: "Land itself is the best collateral. If they don't have money, they can pay it back in installments or take out a mortgage. A piece of land that originally didn't belong to them can be theirs with just a 30-year loan and a symbolic down payment."

"Of course, the necessary down payment is still very necessary. How can we raise the down payment? Can we use the income from work in the next few years as collateral? Can we have their wives and daughters sign work agreements and come to the city to serve you American soldiers? These days, all Japanese women are doing this, so why should they worry about it? Doesn't this align with what we said before?"

"Although they have to repay the loan every month, and this loan may indeed be higher than the previous rent, so what? They have their own land. As long as the loan can be repaid, they will still own the land."

Coach Mai: "What if, during the 30-year loan repayment period, there is a single month where they cannot pay their loan?"

Zheng Yi: "Just auction the land off or confiscate it. Of course, you can also borrow money from loan sharks."

General Mai: "That's a rural area. How can we ensure its implementation?"

Zheng Yi: "So, we in the Southern Alliance carry guns."

Coach Mai: “Ah~~~”

But I kind of understand.

This is because mortgages were not popular in the United States at that time, and Coach Mac himself did not think of it at the time. Otherwise, he might have done the same without Zheng Yi's guidance.

Zheng Yi: "The Japanese government now has absolutely no grassroots governance to speak of. This is true in the cities, and certainly even worse in the countryside. Therefore, it is crucial to organize local agricultural cooperatives after distributing land in the vast rural areas and putting those nobles on trial."

"Marshal, you know, our situation in the Southern Alliance is quite special. In areas where the Southern Alliance has a strong influence, there is no well-developed agriculture. Even if there is, it is controlled by indigenous people such as Malays, Thais, and Javanese. Agriculture is still our weak point."

"So, Marshal, if you don't mind, during this land reform, we in the Southern Alliance also intend to contribute money to purchase about one-third to half of all the land in Japan for cultivation, and we will take the lead in establishing an agricultural cooperative."

"As the saying goes, food is the most important thing for the people, and agriculture is the foundation of industry. Japan, with its small land area and dense population, needs to import food every year. However, the exact amount of food to be imported each year is ultimately stagnant. Moreover, if land is distributed and everyone buys it, Japan's agricultural society will be forever trapped in a small-scale peasant economy."

"Everyone owns land, which actually means that everyone's land output is limited. And there will inevitably be a large number of agricultural groups across the country. As long as I can coerce them and use the power of the agricultural cooperatives, I can easily control the prices of Japanese agricultural products."

"As long as the prices of agricultural products can be controlled, honestly, I don't care who controls the so-called industrial products in the city. Of course, when it comes to specific implementation, some things still need to be done by you Americans."

Marshal Mai nodded thoughtfully after hearing this, but then asked, "Specifically, how do we implement it?"

Zheng Yi: "Can I introduce someone to you?"

"Who?"

Zheng Yi smiled and called Ma Kui over, saying, "Go, get Zhao Chunshu for me. Coach Mai and I want to see him."

(End of this chapter)