Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 136 Cotton Jacket
Ling Xianwen scoffed and shook his head: "You're wrong about that. What has Lu Ying relied on to stay in the Shanghai police force for so many years without falling from grace?"
The Doctrine of the Mean.

He's the opportunistic type of bureaucrat. You can offer him benefits, but he might not take them. However, if you put him in a bad situation, he'll definitely avoid it.

The Japanese pressured him, and he had no choice but to comply. However, there was a lot that could be manipulated in determining how things would turn out, and in the end, any problems that arose would have nothing to do with Lu Ying.

If you ask him to do something for Minister Zhou, he definitely will, since the Japanese are pressuring him.

But he would never side with any single party; that's a trait dictated by his position as police chief.

Otherwise, with such complex interests in Shanghai, he couldn't remain neutral and would have been ousted long ago; at best, he'd be assassinated.

Ling Xianwen gave him a look, “If the Green Gang isn’t satisfied, can he hold onto his position? If the British aren’t satisfied, can he hold onto his position?”
In his position, it's unacceptable for even one side to harbor too much resentment.

Gu Yansheng nodded: "The Secretary-General sees things clearly. Lu Ying is indeed that kind of person. Last time, regarding the drug case, he asked me to work with him. As a result, I asked him to come to my office to discuss it. The only thing he did was remind me that this matter was not easy to handle. After saying that, he ran away and never showed up again until the matter was over."

"Hahahaha." Ling Xianwen laughed loudly: "Don't let his enthusiasm fool you, this man is very clear-headed. He knows exactly what kind of help he can give and what kind he can't."

Besides, what could the Wang family possibly offer him?
Lu Ying was already the police chief. If he were to rise further, with the establishment of the new government, he would be given the position of police chief in Nanjing, and even the head of the police department.

Do you think it's meaningful?
It may have a nice-sounding name, but in terms of comfort, can it compare to the Shanghai Police Department, which has been operating for so many years?

In Shanghai, he was practically the king of the land. His villa was in the French Concession. Would the Military Intelligence Bureau really try to assassinate him? Chongqing probably didn't even want him replaced.

"If you go to Nanjing, he's like the local earth god, surrounded by a bunch of deities; even a dog can bark at him."

"Hahahaha." This time it was Gu Yansheng who laughed.

Ling Xianwen was in a good mood seeing Fu Xiao'an get the short end of the stick, and he became very talkative.

"If there's one bargaining chip that could sway Lu Ying, it's the Minister of Police. But do you think the Wang family would hand over such an important position to an outsider? That's impossible."

“That’s impossible,” Gu Yansheng agreed. “Then let’s wait and see what happens. Cotton yarn for 50 troops is hard to find.”

This matter has nothing to do with Gu Yansheng. He likes to force people to do things, but if he does too much, it will cause trouble and problems with the Japanese. It's not so easy to get something for free in Shanghai.

Let's watch the show first.

Back in the office, Liu Xiaolou reported: "Director, Deputy Director Li from the Special Agent Headquarters called, and I told him you were in a meeting."

"Ok."

Gu Yansheng returned the call: "Director Li, I was in a meeting just now."

"Director Gu, there's been a resolution to the matter in Nanjing. When will you come over for a meal?"

"Okay, then let's do it at noon."

At noon, Gu Yansheng went to the Special Agent Headquarters.

Once you arrive, go find Ding Mocun first.

But why is the office so empty after all this time? Has everyone gone out on an operation?

It's not like going out for lunch anymore, because there are fewer cars parked outside.

Knock, knock, knock. The door was open, but Gu Yansheng knocked as usual.

"Brother Gu, what brings you here?" Ding Mocun stood up and greeted him with a smile.

Gu Yansheng sat down on the sofa by himself. "I came to see Li Shiqun, not you."

"Business?" Ding Mocun chuckled. "Why didn't you include me? What are you doing here?"

Gu Yansheng looked puzzled and joked, "Didn't you say that we have to see you, the director, before we can come to the Special Agent Headquarters? Have you bought the new coffee machine yet?"

"I bought it, I bought it, how could I not buy it?" Ding Mochun was about to sit down, but he got up again to make coffee. "The coffee beans are all imported, specially prepared for you. But I was just saying, you can't come all the way here to see me."

"Tch." Gu Yansheng scoffed, "How could I not come all the way here to see you? How did that matter go? The one with Li Shiqun was just a small skirmish, but this one with you is a big deal."

"Don't worry."

Ding Mocun put down his coffee, then closed the door. He came back and sat down, then said in a low voice, "When we left, weren't most of our relationships over there severed? Building trust requires a lot of communication."

"So, has it been established or not?"

"It's established."

"Okay, who is it?"

Ding Mocun chuckled: "You have to ask that too?"

Gu Yansheng chuckled: "What's there to hide? We're all in this business together. If anything goes wrong in the future, I'll have to clean up your mess. You're worried I'll leak secrets?"

Ding Mochun thought about it and agreed, then whispered, "Who else can I go to? My old boss, CC."

"Ah~" Gu Yansheng nodded with a look of realization. The Jiang family ruled the country while the Chen family was in power. The two Chen brothers were indeed formidable. "Okay, they should be able to keep things under control in Chongqing. That puts my mind at ease."

"Reliable, right?" Ding Mochun gave him a smug look. "Who would dare to do this business if it weren't for a powerful figure?"

"When can we start?"

Speaking of this, Ding Mocun looked a little upset. "It's still because of my departure. Everything else is fine, but they need medicine over there. It's just about the advance payment. They're unwilling to do it, not that they're unwilling, but they're afraid I'm trying to rip them off."

"Haha." Gu Yansheng laughed loudly, "To be honest, if I were them, I wouldn't think it's impossible either, right?"

Ding Mocun's expression tightened slightly. "Stop joking. Tell me, what should we do about this? I can continue to talk about it, but I'm afraid the results won't be very good."

Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and said, "Then let's do it your way. Trust will be built slowly. Practice makes perfect. Let's start doing business from scratch. Let's be generous and ship the first batch of goods directly. You put up ten thousand US dollars, and I'll cover the rest first."

Ding Mocun pointed his finger and said, "I admire you. I knew Brother Gu had guts."

It's true that the other side is afraid of being cheated, but it's not impossible for them to cheat as well. Before the transaction is completed, no one can say for sure. Once the goods arrive in the Nationalist-controlled area, they won't have a say in the matter, and they will lose money.

"Life is short, and you only get a few chances to fight for it."

For Gu Yansheng, even if he lost money, it didn't matter. The most valuable thing about this was that everyone held hands and boarded the ship together.

"Since you have no problem, then I'll confirm the transfer method with them?" Ding Mocun asked. "Anyway, once the goods arrive in the Nationalist-controlled area, they'll handle the rest themselves."

Gu Yansheng nodded, "Okay, I'll go to the merchants to pick up the goods whenever I have time. I should have already brought back a batch these past few days."

"Okay, let's go, let's go eat." With everything settled, Ding Mocun got up and headed out.

Gu Yansheng said with disdain, "I'm busy, I really have something to discuss with Li Shiqun." Ding Mocun said with even more disdain, "Fine, I'll eat by myself."

"Hehehe."

Gu Yansheng smiled and went out with him, asking, "Why are there so few people at your special agent headquarters today?"

"I went to southern Anhui."

"Southern Anhui? Why are you going so far?"

Ding Mocun sighed, tilted his head and said, "You don't know this? Isn't there a New Fourth Army of tens of thousands of men in southern Anhui?"

"hold head high."

“They were very, very poor, so poor that they couldn’t afford clothes.” Ding Mocun paused and said, “This winter in southern Anhui is particularly cold. Those New Fourth Army soldiers who stayed in the mountains to spend the winter must have been frozen solid. It would be a miracle if three or four thousand out of ten thousand survived.”

So the Japanese army planned to take advantage of their weakness and wipe out these soldiers who were starving and freezing to death. A couple of days ago, when the weather was a little better, the Japanese went into the mountains through the snow. But what they encountered was not the New Fourth Army soldiers who were about to freeze to death, but the Japanese soldiers were wearing cotton-padded coats that were thicker than their own.

The Japanese troops, munching on dry rations, trekked into the mountains, while the New Fourth Army, enjoying hot meals and waiting in comfort, caught the Japanese completely off guard. Their surprise attack was like falling into a trap.

"How could this be?" Gu Yansheng asked in surprise.

Ding Mocun shook his head and sneered: "Who knows? The Japanese were stupid. The New Fourth Army did manage to smuggle a little cotton yarn back from nearby towns, but their spies discovered it very quickly. They calculated that the amount the New Fourth Army had stolen was not enough to supply all of them, which is why they decided to brave the snow and storm the mountains."

Now, those people are wearing even thicker clothes than him, and he's suffered a loss. They're causing us trouble, demanding we send someone to southern Anhui to investigate where the New Fourth Army got these cotton-padded coats.”

Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and asked, "How far is that place from the Kuomintang-controlled area?"

Ding Mocun thought about the battle for a moment, "There's still some distance, not too far. What's wrong?"

Gu Yansheng patted his back and leaned closer, saying, "This time you're sending people over, why don't you set up a station for your own people there?"
You just said that the New Fourth Army's smuggling of cotton yarn was quickly discovered by Japanese spies. By investigating this matter, you can clearly understand who these spies are.

Write this down, and we can avoid them in the future. That way, we'll have another route, right? We'll rely on the waterways as our main route, but if something goes wrong and the waterways are disrupted, we can still get the goods delivered by land, right?

Ding Mochun paused, chuckled, and said, finding it quite amusing: "You know what, it's really true. The Japanese have exposed all the local spies."

As it was time to part ways, Gu Yansheng pointed in the direction of Li Shiqun's office and stopped. "When will the money arrive?"

"I'll have someone deliver it to you this afternoon."

Wave goodbye.

Gu Yansheng went to find Li Shiqun and knocked on the door.

"Director Li."

"Director Gu, come, have a seat." Li Shiqun took out a telegram from the drawer and handed it over: "Take a look, Liu San's report has arrived, and it's completely unexpected."

"Is that so?" Gu Yansheng took the telegram and began to read it.

Although direct calls are now possible between Nanjing and Shanghai, there are restrictions. It's generally reserved for government agencies and some registered large trading companies. Ordinary people don't have this privilege, and they can't afford the phone bills. Considering that Liu San and his group don't have much influence in Nanjing, they don't necessarily need to get a phone call. The radio station is still more convenient.

After reading the content, the gist was that Nanjing's housing prices are ridiculously cheap. Liu San gave an example: the Yihe Road villa area, which used to be home to many high-ranking officials in Nanjing, is now mostly occupied by Japanese people, but that was just the beginning.

Even now, as time goes on, Japanese people are still putting them up for sale, and some foreigners who originally bought here are also selling them.

It's not at all what they initially imagined, that the villas on Yihe Road were all occupied by high-ranking Japanese officials.

The cheapest villa on Yihe Road is now priced at only 800 yuan.

"800?" Gu Yansheng was taken aback.

A two-story detached house in Zhabei District, Shanghai costs 800 yuan, and that's for a residential house. Yet, even in Nanjing's top villa district, it only costs 800 yuan.

"Cheap, right?" Li Shiqun chuckled and shook his head. "I find this price a bit unbelievable; it's much cheaper than I remember."

A house on Yihe Road costs 800. During the Nationalist government's Nanjing period, a minor officer's salary plus allowances for two years would easily exceed 800.

"Why is it so cheap?" Gu Yansheng frowned.

Li Shiqun sighed heavily: "The Japanese killed too many people. They killed so many people in Nanjing. The rest either ran away or fled. How many people were willing to buy property? Look at the houses that Liu San investigated. You could buy a house in Nanjing for ten or twenty silver dollars. Even rickshaw pullers could afford it."

Housing prices reflect purchasing power, and this price reflects how bad Nanjing's economy was after the war.

The Japanese are truly incompetent when it comes to the economy. Perhaps it should be said that they are using war to sustain war. They never intended to develop the economy; they wanted to achieve a quick victory, but when they realized that wouldn't work, they finally thought of using puppets to manage the economy.

"Was Director Li in Nanjing at the time?"

Li Shiqun nodded. "Yes, he went out when the fighting was fierce, but later went back to lie low. Let's not talk about that. Look down there, there's more fun stuff."

"Fun?"

Gu Yansheng continued reading and was shocked by what Liu San said. Liu San asked if they wanted Chiang Kai-shek's official residence, the Meiling Palace, which was also worth buying.

"Meiling Palace?"

Gu Yansheng's eyes widened. "Are the Japanese in Nanjing so desperate for money that they're trying to fleece any outsider they can find?"

"This looks like a trap."

“It’s definitely a trap.” Li Shiqun chuckled. “The Meiling Palace has such a huge influence, if they really wanted to sell it, why would they wait until now? And how could the sale of the Meiling Palace be decided by one or two small Japanese figures?”

However, Liu San did go inside and take a look around. Even a major general might not have been able to get in before, so he made the trip.

"Although the Meiling Palace is out of the question, he said the villas around the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum are a good option. Most of the residents there are Japanese now; isn't that a bit like Hongkou District? I think they'll be in high demand then."

Gu Yansheng nodded and continued reading. In addition to the villa area on Yihe Road and the villa area near Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Liu San reported that there was a nice Western-style villa area near Xuanwu Lake, which was very beautiful.

However, the nature of this villa area is somewhat different from the previous two.

The villas near Xuanwu Lake have now been confiscated by the Japanese, but the ownership is complicated. Some belonged to Kuomintang generals, while others were the private property of some embassy staff of foreign consulates in Nanjing at the time.

According to Liu San's inquiries with the Japanese, these embassy staff are now using various connections to create a disturbance, wanting to take the money back, or at least receive compensation.

However, the so-called private property of embassy staff is mostly real estate purchased with bribes, which is not something that can be brought to the table. If their own country found out, they might be sentenced for bribery. So the Japanese pretended not to see it and wanted to confiscate it.

There are mainly these three villa areas. The remaining scattered luxury homes mostly belong to businessmen, and they can be found everywhere.

(End of this chapter)