Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 242: Teach You Step by Step How to Become the Godfather of Japan

In Japan from 1945 to 1950, and even until around 1980, the Japanese government had basically no executive and coercive power over the grassroots organizations of Japanese civil society.

The tax revenue is not enough to begin with. After deducting the military expenses to support the US military and the necessary expenses to maintain the existence of the government, the remaining money is indeed not enough to do anything.

The most crucial point is that the Japanese government’s credibility had already reached an extremely low point before 1950.

Everyone suffered so much and endured so much pain in order to support the imperial war. It is no exaggeration to say that the soldiers on the front line really sacrificed their lives and shed their blood, and the people in the rear really worked as belts to support the war.

The people squeezed oil out of their own bones, and various battle reports kept saying that victory was about to be won, and as long as they won, they would have a good life.

The result is now like this. Not only did they lose the war, but Hirohito was unwilling to let anyone die. He simply used the lives of these 60 million Japanese people as bargaining chips to negotiate terms with the US military. The country was reduced to a situation where men had no food to eat and women had to sell themselves as prostitutes. Tens or even hundreds of thousands of people starved to death every month.

The upper echelons and nobles at the top, however, were all extremely wealthy and were not even affected by it.

Who would continue to be loyal to such a government?

When ordinary people see government workers, they all say "Ha~tui!"

The lack of credibility will naturally lead to a sharp increase in the cost of governance. The government itself really has no money, so it has no choice but to completely give up management.

If the government completely abandons grassroots social governance, who will be responsible for truly governing Japanese society?

Then it can only be a gang.

Japan's gang culture is so popular that it has actually penetrated into every aspect of society. At least until the end of the 20th century, or even the beginning of the 2nd century, in a developed country like Japan, its influence was so great that even the government had to recognize the legalization of gangs.

However, at least in the period from 45 to 50, the main theme of Japanese gangs was the battle between local gangs and foreign gangs.

During the war, Japan captured a large number of prisoners from both home and Korea, and sent them to Japan to do hard labor.

After the war, these coolies naturally had a chance to turn their fortunes around and were all released.

However, due to various reasons, only a very small number of these people returned to their home country, and most of them stayed in Japan.

These people could not speak the Japanese language at all and had almost no legitimate means of making a living. During their time as laborers, they were abused to varying degrees by the Japanese.

In Showa Japan, in the later period of the war, they were completely inhumane to their own people, let alone the forced laborers. It is no exaggeration to say that every one of them could be said to have survived a narrow escape of death. Every one of them had a deep hatred for the Japanese.

They were full of hatred, lacked means of making a living, and even had the status of a victorious country, so they wanted to take some revenge on the Japanese. Even when Japan was just defeated, the National Army briefly accompanied the US Army to enter the country, which was equivalent to having a backer.

When you act naturally, you will inevitably be more unscrupulous.

It is said that some Koreans would rob, rape, and even beat Japanese people for no reason in front of the police station, and the Japanese police did not dare to intervene.

If the police don't do anything, the Japanese people will naturally organize themselves to resist the bullying of the Chinese and Koreans. The Yamaguchi-gumi was actually born in such a background and stood out among the local gangs.

Those Korean and Chinese people also huddled together for warmth, and Zhao Chunshu was the leader of this group of Chinese people.

Zheng Yi even felt it was a bit awkward to call him a gang member. He was neither a member of the Hongmen nor the Qing Gang. He originally ran a small shop in Tianjin. During the war, he resolutely joined the army. Unfortunately, he was captured on the battlefield and was sold to Japan. He worked as a laborer in a coal mine for several years and barely survived by rummaging through garbage cans for several years until Japan surrendered.

This guy is not a gangster at all, he is clearly an anti-Japanese hero.

As for what happened afterwards, Zheng Yi, a Tianjin native who couldn't speak Japanese, couldn't think of any other way to survive in this Japanese society where no one had enough food to eat except to fight for their lives with their fists.

Although some protection money was collected, the victims were all Japanese civilians. It is hard to say whether this is a crime or revenge.

Of course, these people's good days were short-lived. Historically, the Kuomintang's occupying forces withdrew quickly, and the Americans did not support them, so a group of foreigners naturally could not defeat the local gangs.

In the end, most of these Chinese and North Korean prisoners were absorbed into the Inagawa Society, one of the three major gangs in Japan, which was willing to accept foreign members.

In this moment, Zheng Yi has arrived, and the entire Southern Alliance Expeditionary Force has reached 50,000 to 60,000 people so far. Zheng Yi's initial plan is to increase it to 100,000. They are all Southeast Asian Chinese, and they must all be new Chinese immigrants who have actually killed the devils on the battlefield.

This time, it may not be so easy for the Yamaguchi-gumi to rise as it did in history.

After a while, Zhao Chunshu was found.

This was the first time Zheng Yi had seen this person. He had only heard of his name before, so he ordered Ma Kui to find the person and put him on standby, without meeting him in advance.

However, this man was tall, but obviously a little thin, and quite handsome. He was wearing an American suit. He didn't look like a man who lived on the edge of the market. He was so handsome that he looked like a gigolo.

At this moment, Zhao Chunshu himself was really confused. He was usually a smart man, but his mind was blank and he was at a loss. He grabbed the fabric on his trouser legs with both hands, and his palms were full of sweat.

I just felt my legs become weak and I couldn't stand at all.

Mr. Zheng, Marshal Mai.

These are the two retired emperors in Japan, and they are the top figures he knows from the limited knowledge in his mind.

Who the hell is he? Is he worthy of being received by these two people?

Zheng Yi smiled warmly and waved at him, "Brother Zhao, right? Come and sit down. Have you eaten yet? Let's eat together."

As he spoke, he gestured to the waiter to bring him another meal.

"If you're nervous, why not have a drink?"

As he spoke, Zheng Yi gestured with his eyes towards a bottle of red wine on the table.

Zhao Chunshu hesitated for a moment, but the maid beside him had already poured him a glass of wine. He did not refuse anymore and took the glass and drank it all in one gulp.

While drinking, Marshal Mai turned his head and spoke directly in English, "Zheng, do you think that relying on the gangs at the bottom is enough to control the Japanese economy, or even the agricultural imports and exports and food supply you mentioned?"

Zheng Yi said, "Power hates a vacuum. Wherever government power cannot penetrate, private power will inevitably fill the gap. Usually, this takes the form of gangs."

"Don't underestimate the role of gangs in society. East Asian gang culture is completely different from yours in the United States. Strictly speaking, our gang culture in Southeast Asia is also very prosperous. Even in the entire Southern Association of Southeast Asian Nations, secret societies are an important part of it."

"The Qiongzhou Chamber of Commerce, the Fuqing Chamber of Commerce, and the Xiamen Chamber of Commerce, strictly speaking, are all hometown associations, but in reality, they are clearly gangs."

"Ultimately, in East Asia, gangs need to take on some administrative functions, and even exist to replace the lack of these political functions."

"In Japan, not to mention the villages, even in the cities, whether it's hiring, community management, finding women to serve American soldiers, or even organizing unions and strikes, gangs are in charge everywhere. Even basic social security and economic order are inseparable from these gangs."

"And this is actually what the Japanese government did intentionally."

"Intentional?"

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "I remember that the Allied Command issued an order as early as last year, right after the landing, to disband Japan's zaibatsu, break up all conglomerates, and completely destroy Japan's industrial capacity. It's been over a year now, and what are the results? If I hadn't come to Japan and proposed the relocation policy, would you have been able to dismantle those zaibatsu?"

Marshal Mai: “Hmph.”

Upon hearing this, Coach Mai felt deflated, snorted, and simply stopped talking.

In fact, one of the important reasons why the implementation of this plan was hindered was Japan’s gang problem. Historically, this policy was implemented for more than five years but it was always implemented in vain and never damaged the foundation of Japan’s economic model.

It's not even just these five years. It should be said that until the rise of South Korea, that is, before the 80s and 90s, whenever the US military forced the Japanese government to implement something that the Japanese government was unwilling to implement, these gangs would obstruct the policy implementation at the civilian level, resulting in the policy being unable to be implemented at all.

When the US military asked for accountability, the Japanese government threw up its hands, saying that it was powerless to do anything about the gangs.

It is impossible for the US military to manage Japan's local gangs themselves.

Japan had been lying low and letting the United States slaughter it for five years in order to deindustrialize it. As a result, it suddenly seized the opportunity in 1950, and those pre-war heavy industries were suddenly restarted. That year, % of the pre-war production capacity was restored, and within one or two years, the industrial production level was completely restored to the pre-war state.

Throughout Japan's industrialization process, gangs have always played a significant role.

The reason why Zheng Yi did not think of dismantling Japan's industry and completely destroying Japan's industrial capabilities so that it would forever become an agricultural country was largely because of these people.

It’s not that there is no way to deal with it, but Zheng Yi is very clear about the Japanese’s obsession with industry.

Japan's obsession with industrialization is almost pathological. Even after sanctions and constraints were lifted in history, there were many special periods in its development process when it would rather sacrifice the living standards of all citizens and everyone had to tighten their belts to protect its industry.

There was even a period of time, around 195-1960, when the more a country developed and its industry became more advanced, the worse off the people became. Their income even decreased as GDP increased.

Simply put, the main advantageous industries are at a disadvantage in the competition with Japan and the United States, especially when there is an imbalance between supply and demand in the market and heavy industries such as steel have overcapacity. If we really follow the views of the free market economy and the Austrian school, these industries should be directly shut down. We should continue to develop industries with comparative advantages, and those industries with overcapacity should also reduce their capacity.

However, under the 1940 system, the Japanese people adopted the strategy of "suffering for the people", "suffering for the country", and "suffering for the government", tightening the belts of the people, the government, and enterprises, and gritting their teeth to protect their industry.

If this happened in other countries, it would have exploded long ago. However, although Japanese society has accumulated a lot of public indignation about this, it has basically been able to maintain itself until it has completely overcome this difficult period and outlasted all its foreign counterparts in Japan's advantageous industries.

Low-end industry: My foreign counterparts have all been crushed by me, so I have no excess production capacity.

High-end industries: Just hold on for a few more years, and sooner or later I will catch up. By the time I catch up, the world will have overcapacity, and then I will crush you just like the low-end industries!
You have to know that they are not a strong government. In addition to the cultural attributes of Confucian civilization itself, that is, the cultural heritage of sacrificing oneself for the country, a very important point is the suppression of trade unions by gangs and the suppression of public dissatisfaction during special periods.

Controlling the gangs actually means controlling the trade unions. Japan has a corporate union system rather than the industry guild system of Europe and the United States. As a result, Japanese gangs can easily use the power of trade unions to directly compete with the board of directors of companies, thereby infiltrating the management and shareholder levels of the companies, and then use the power of the gangs to suppress the trade unions.

This created good prerequisites for the development of Japan's manufacturing industry.

In other words, controlling the gangs was equivalent to completely controlling Japan's manufacturing industry, at least before the rise of the Korean economy.

This is just the effect in cities and industrial areas.

In the vast rural areas of Japan, until Zheng Yi traveled through time, Japan's agriculture was still completely under the control of gangs.

Many people in China always think that the Japanese Farmers' Association is so great. In fact, it is just a gang. After making money, the members all put on suits and became whitewashed.

Zhao Chunshu drank the whole glass of red wine in one breath. The sour taste made him grimace in disbelief, but he was still a man of some stature after all, so he calmed down and at least his mind was not empty.

"Mr. Zheng, Marshal, is there anything I can do for you? It would be my honor to serve you two. I will be happy to do anything you ask of me."

Zheng Yi laughed and said, "I heard that you guys have been badly bullied by the National Essence Association recently?"

The Kokusuikai was the largest gang in Japan before the rise of the Yamaguchi-gumi. Its main job during this period was to fight with the Chinese and Korean people, and its power expanded very quickly.

"Ah, this... We Chinese are fine. The main people that the national quintessence bullies are the North Koreans."

Zheng Yi: "Whether they are Koreans or Chinese, why should we, the people of the victorious nation, be bullied by the defeated nation? I will have Ma Kui get you some arms. If you are bullied again next time, you can go directly to the Allied garrison to find He Shili. Do you understand?"

Zhao Chunshu was overjoyed and immediately bowed and nodded like a lackey, overjoyed.

With the help of Mr. Zheng and He Shili, this damn National Essence Society must be eradicated completely.

And in this way, those North Koreans will definitely and only follow his lead.

Zheng Yi smiled and said, "It's not easy for the garrison to directly intervene in the fighting in the Jianghu. After all, we Chinese are a nation of etiquette. On the surface, these things must have nothing to do with us. But we can provide you with some weapons in normal times, change clothes and help you fight when necessary, or even come forward to mediate if the situation reaches the police station. That's still possible."

"Of course, as the saying goes, even a powerful dragon cannot defeat a local snake. Matters in the underworld can't be resolved simply by fighting and killing. Back when the Japanese invaders ruled Shanghai, they also recruited and used a large number of local gangs like the Green Gang. Can Ming Ai grasp the ins and outs of this?"

Zhao Chunshu nodded again and again. To put it bluntly, while the garrison could be used as a backup at a critical moment, it was important to avoid using them if possible. It's not appropriate to use a butcher knife to kill a chicken.

"I have an apprentice named Lin Shaoliang. He's been really busy lately. I'll try to arrange for him to bring the Fuqing Gang over in a while. We plan to purchase some assets in Japan in the name of the Fuqing Gang."

"But my apprentice is usually quite busy. You know, I recently relocated over a million Japanese to Singapore, and it's not over yet. Ultimately, my apprentice still has to focus on the affairs of the Southern Alliance."

"Normally, these assets require your help to take care of them."

Historically, the Fuqing Gang was an important part of the Japanese gangs. However, today the Fuqing Gang has upgraded its weapons and has become the second largest force in the Southern Alliance after the Xiamen people. They all wear suits and ties. Not only is it impossible for them to focus on industries in Japan, but they have basically stopped fighting and killing.

Zhao Chunshu: "Of course I should. It is my honor to be able to manage the industry for the Southern Alliance."

Zheng Yi: "Don't be so reserved. I have some instructions for you. As the saying goes, even thieves have their code of conduct. In Japan, we don't engage in pornography, gambling, or drugs. Americans will naturally take over this part. Some Americans will come here to serve as senior management. We Chinese will only provide the venue for the Americans."

Zhao Chunshu: "Uh...ah?"

But he couldn't help scratching his head.

If gang members stay away from prostitution, gambling and drugs, how can they make money? Besides, what else is left in Japan now besides prostitution, gambling and drugs?

If it's a normal, legal business, why use them? If the SAARC people were doing legitimate business in Japan, would there be local gangs causing trouble?
Zheng Yi: "Although pornography, gambling and drugs make money quickly, they also have serious side effects. Even if the Japanese can't do anything to us, it will only intensify ethnic conflicts. I'm also afraid that if you become too powerful, you will export it to the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation."

"There's no need to say you won't do that. It's a sure thing. Those who play with fire will eventually get burned. Things exported will eventually be imported back. Besides, this industry only makes money quickly, not steadily. I don't think much of this little money. Let the Americans make it."

"The real money-makers have always been monopolies. Right now, the most important things in Japan are, first, the relocation of industrial enterprises and talent to Southeast Asia, and second, land reform and political reform."

"Political reform has little to do with us, and I'm not interested in directly participating in Japanese politics, but I am very interested in land reform."

"The whole land reform had two parts. One was to confiscate and 'buy' the land from the aristocratic landlords, and the other was to sell the land to tenant farmers who originally had no land to cultivate."

"Let's talk about confiscation first. So far, the confiscation of these lands has not been particularly smooth and progress has been very slow (even before the US military withdrew, only 80% had been completed. The Americans stipulated that each family could retain a maximum of one hectare, but in reality, most nobles retained far more land than that)."

"Most of those nobles in the countryside have their own armed forces, ranging from a hundred to a thousand or eight hundred men. Some of them are armed with guns and even heavy weapons like mortars."

"As for the tenant farmers, the red tide ideology is now spreading extremely badly in rural areas. They want to establish so-called large farms. You know, large farms are absolutely not in the interests of the American people or us."

As he said this, Zheng Yi couldn't help but smile bitterly.

These American experts, ah~
When Marshal Mai was governing Japan, his thinking was relatively simple and crude. He believed that the scissors gap between industry and agriculture was the essential accumulation for industrial development. After all, during the Meiji period, Japan accumulated the initial funds for industrial development through cruel oppression and exploitation of farmers.

Therefore, in order to curb Japan's industrialization, it was decided to divide the land.

Little did they know that Japan's initial industrialization had already ended during this period.

People all over the world have to go through cruel oppression and exploitation when they develop initial industrialization. Japan's bloody rule during the Meiji period, South Korea's Park Kaka's nationwide oil pressing, and the slogan of the early Soviet Union was: Being the master of one's own house does not mean paying less taxes, but contributing more.

Even Britain had its own problems, such as the cannibalism of sheep and the slave trade in the United States. Our country also had its first thirty years of hard struggle.

All countries have come this way. Most of the developing countries in the world implemented one person, one vote before achieving industrialization. As a result, no one wanted to be the sacrificed generation, which led to them never being able to embark on the road to industrialization.

However, a country that achieves primitive accumulation in this way will inevitably develop path dependence, leading to the people's eternal hardship and acute class contradictions, which is the situation in pre-war Japan.

During this period, if a country cannot solve the problem of resource share, it will stagnate forever until a huge social crisis occurs. This is also the first and biggest threshold that a normal country will face after industrialization.

Typical examples include Brazil, Argentina, and even Eastern Europe and Russia, all of which are stuck at this stage.

Generally speaking, unless there is war or revolution, this threshold is very difficult to cross.

Japan is really amazing. It was Marshal Mai who helped them overcome this obstacle.

Land distribution and the historical dissolution of the zaibatsu did promote social equality in Japan to a certain extent, giving Japan the opportunity to continue moving forward.

Because Marshal MacArthur's Japan policy was not formulated by Japanese experts at all.

The United States is not without experts on Japanese issues, but General MacArthur simply does not need them. He believes that those so-called experts who understand Japan must be pro-Japanese at heart.

He wants to find people who hate Japan to bring harm to Japan.

All the people used are experts on China issues.

He believes that these Chinese experts must be pro-China, and those who are pro-China must be anti-Japanese. He also doesn't know how these Chinese experts studied China's problems, but they can actually prescribe a prescription for Japan to divide the land and believe that this is harming Japan.

Neighboring India, also a fellow Asian country, is crying with envy.

The heart is indeed bad.

It really went astray during execution.

Then of course Zheng Yi had to correct their mistakes.

"Right now, the priority is to redeem the land. The power of the tenant farmers can be used, but it must be used in moderation. As for the property of the nobles, especially their valuables, if there are any Chinese cultural relics that were looted during the war, you must return them to me."

"Apart from the Chinese cultural relics, anything that can be divided and is easy to divide will be given to the local villagers. For some things that are difficult to divide, such as some large items and antiques, I can buy them with money."

"Use this money to buy some clothes, food, or other useful things, and distribute them directly to the tenants. Don't be greedy with this money. If I find out that you dare to take even a cent, I will kill you."

Zhao Chunshu nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, yes, even if I had the courage of heaven, I would not dare to embezzle Mr. Zheng's money."

Zheng Yi: "Americans are more afraid of trouble and are unwilling to delve too deeply into grassroots social affairs in Japan. I heard that during the land purchase process, some aristocrats were quite stubborn and would resist stubbornly, even seeking various people to intercede for them."

Zhao Chunshu: "Don't worry, Master Zheng. We are willing to do what the Americans are unwilling to do. As long as we have the garrison to support us, we have plenty of ways to pull out even the dentures in their mouths."

Zheng Yi: "Well...we in the Southern Alliance are all law-abiding citizens, after all. Some things are indeed inconvenient to do. We can't just kill an entire family, drag their children into a well, and send their wives and daughters to brothels just because they don't hand over their land, right? Anyway, you'll have to worry about the collection of land."

Zhao Chunshu: "It's an honor to be able to work for Master Zheng."

Zheng Yi: "Compared to floating wealth, land is the real root. Half of the land we have collected will be purchased by our Fuqing Chamber of Commerce in the Southern Alliance. Most of it will be directly distributed to the garrison personnel. Of course, some may be handed over to the Japanese for management, and we will also need your help in management."

"Japan is actually quite suitable for pig farming. People in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation also like to eat pork. However, due to the dense population and limited land, many suitable places for pig farming have to take into account the religious beliefs of the indigenous people and consider ethnic sentiments. And to be honest, the chemical industry foundation is not good. Penang's chemical industry is entirely petrochemical."

"Japan is a great option. Not only does it have a long tradition of pig farming (Japan was practically the only pork exporter before World War II), but it also has a strong chemical industry foundation. I've discussed this with Shaoliang and we're planning to acquire a local chemical plant in Japan and directly renovate it to produce amino acids, and then pig feed."

"As for a chemical plant, it's very difficult to relocate its equipment. To be honest, there's no need to relocate. When the time comes, you'll be the ones purchasing the raw materials that the feed factory needs."

"The remaining land will be sold to local people through mortgage auctions. SAARC will establish a bank dedicated to agricultural loans. You only need to help review loan qualifications and collect debts when necessary."

"Of course, greed is the key. I know that among Japan's current tenant farmers, some believe that because they are poor, they are justified. They hope to unconditionally divide the land among these landlords, or even refuse to divide the land and instead build state-owned farms."

"I hope you can have a good talk with these people and persuade them that Japan's actual national conditions are obvious. How can a defeated country without even basic sovereignty establish so many state-owned farms? Do they think they are the victorious country?"

"They're just ordinary, impoverished people who might not have much wisdom. We must persuade them. At the very least, you have to ensure they don't cause trouble when the land is distributed. You can't really let our SAARC troops go shooting at the rural people with guns, can you? We absolutely wouldn't do such a thing. SAARC has to maintain its reputation internationally. Do you understand?"

Zhao Chunshu: "I understand. You are a big shot and you need to maintain your dignity. I am a scumbag and I don't need it."

Zheng Yi glanced at him dissatisfiedly and slammed the wine glass on the table quite heavily.

Zhao Chunshu nodded and apologized repeatedly: "Yes, yes, I'm sorry, I... I..."

Zheng Yi was not willing to argue with the ignorant lower class people. Everyone needs a process of growth.

The reason why Zheng Yi hired him was, after all, because he valued his background.

After all, for the same thing, Zheng Yi could directly ask Du Yuesheng and his team to come to Japan to handle it, and it is guaranteed that they would do it much more professionally than Zhao Chunshu.

But that is called a fierce dragon crossing the river, which is not conducive to uniting the Chinese studying in Japan, at least it is not conducive to uniting the Koreans.

What’s more crucial is that the shadow of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is too heavy. If anything goes wrong, the whole world will know that Zheng Yi and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation are behind it.

It goes without saying that the process of buying and selling land is bound to be accompanied by countless bloody killings, and many of the methods used are not very clean. Most of the Japanese landlords and nobles are also somewhat armed. If they really don't leave them any way to survive, how can they not resist? Even a rabbit bites when it is cornered.

If some serious case happens and makes international news, Zheng Yi will be in a passive position.

But if Zhao Chunshu is used.

Is Zhao Chunshu also from a local gang?
Although the whole world still knows that it is Zheng Yi who supports him behind the scenes, Zheng Yi himself can just throw up his hands and insist that it has nothing to do with him, or simply say that he can't do anything about it.

He's just from Tianjin, what does he have to do with us, the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation?

"After the land is distributed, I hope to establish an agricultural association throughout Japan, led by our Chinese landowners, through voluntary participation from the public—remember, voluntary participation from the public, not government coercion—to organize a purely grassroots agricultural association."

"With the vital interests of Japanese farmers as the top priority, the association must implement unified purchase and sale of agricultural products. All agricultural supplies, including seeds, fertilizers, and agricultural machinery, must be purchased centrally by the agricultural cooperative to ensure the interests of the farmers themselves and guarantee the quality of Japanese products."

"If farmers are short of money, the association can work with the Agricultural Bank to provide them with low-interest loans."

"Of course, compared to unified purchasing, unified marketing is more important. Agricultural cooperatives must have their own agricultural product processing companies. In order to protect the interests of Japanese farmers, all agricultural products must be of high quality. We must not compete with each other and lower prices just because we are small farmers."

"Good things must never be discounted. If things were sold cheaply, how could Japan's farmers live a good life? All agricultural products must be monopolized and sold uniformly by the agricultural cooperatives."

"To protect the interests of farmers, the customs must approve any agricultural products they allow to be imported only with the consent of the agricultural cooperatives. Otherwise, you will organize strikes, demonstrations, and even riots, smashing customs and foreign grain importers. You can even attack people from the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). These people are clearly demons who want to bully Japanese farmers!"

Zhao Chunshu: "I understand. Then...do the profits from these agricultural products really have to be shared with the farmers?"

To put it bluntly, isn't this just about selling for as much money as possible?

Zheng Yi: "Some of the profits still need to be shared. The farmers' cooperative can take the bulk of the profits, but at least the farmers' income must be higher than that of workers in the city. Also, you can't just take the money for free. Wouldn't that make you a gang?"

Zhao Chunshu: "Uh... isn't it?"

Zheng Yi glared at him fiercely. "Of course not! The Farmers' Association! It's a civil justice organization representing the interests of the vast majority of Japanese farmers! Do you even know what whitewashing means?"

"Ah? Oh, I see, I see, I understand."

"Once we make money, we'll provide insurance for the farmers, offer them loans, and recruit their children to work in the agricultural cooperative's factories. We'll tie them up, you know? We'll form a community of interests. Anyway, the city workers will pay for it, understand?"

"We need to make foreign farmers feel a deep envy for Japanese farmers. In short, the Farmers' Association is to serve farmers, not to bully them. Do you understand? Just get together and go bully the city dwellers!"

Zhao Chunshu: "Yes, Mr. Zheng, I, I understand."

Zheng Yi: "We can use rural reforms to cultivate our own local forces. Once we have established a solid foundation, we can then move back to the city. After all, there will always be some rural children willing to work in the city."

"If you replicate the model of the farmers' association, you can form a union. If others want to organize a union besides you, you can just... think of a way to swallow them up. As long as you control the union, you can force major companies to sell their shares to you. Our troops stationed in the Southern Alliance can also find more jobs in these companies."

(End of this chapter)