Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 140 Robbery
"idiot!"

"Who asked you to come?"

"Look carefully where you are! This is Mitsui's factory!"

"If you evade taxes, then we won't pay taxes!"

"What the hell are you doing, you ronin jumping around like that?"

The police officer in charge muttered, "Take him away, take him away, please move aside."

They might be afraid of Japanese soldiers, but these Japanese ronin were just low-level thugs who could only do menial tasks like guarding houses.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that this is a Japanese-owned factory. There are only a handful of Japanese people here; all the workers are Chinese." The old policeman knew this inside and out. "Who would have thought that in Shanghai today, someone would dare to block the gates of Mitsui?"

The old policeman found it amusing and laughed heartily.

Wenyan smiled along. He used to be an unknown lawyer, but now he has been in charge of the inspection department for so long. He has seen a lot of Japanese military police in Wusongkou. They have talked about drinking and smoking, and he knows people in the navy. He no longer has the fear that ordinary people have when they see Japanese soldiers.

The job gives me confidence, and besides, I have powerful backers, so I don't panic when I see Japanese people.

However, he still spoke very politely, "We have received orders from the municipal government and the military police headquarters to request that you donate two months' worth of production for the establishment of the Nanjing government's army. Please cooperate."

"Military Police Headquarters?"

These words stunned the ronin, who stopped resisting altogether, realizing that this was something he couldn't handle.

"let me go."

He ran in to report, and soon the Japanese supervisor who was actually in charge of the Mitsui factory came out.

"Did the Military Police Headquarters order you to seal it off? Are you sure?"

“Yes, the order I received came from the municipal government. My superiors told me that the establishment of the army was an order from the Military Police Headquarters, and it was the highest directive from the Japanese General Headquarters. Didn’t you read the newspaper? It’s about China and Japan working together to build a new Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. It’s not targeting you. All factories in the city are doing the same thing. Stop production first.”

"Work cannot be stopped; I need to verify this."

"Stop production. Go ahead and verify whatever you want, just stop production for now." Wen Yan waved his hand, pulling him back. "Let's make this clear: either donate two months' worth of production, or cut off the power and shut down the factory. Which do you choose?"

"The power must not be cut off!"

"That means we're donating production. Thank you for your cooperation. Someone, call all the workers out here."

"I didn't say I was donating production volume!"

"That means the power is off. Go and unplug the switch, and then get all the workers out of here."

"No power cuts allowed!"

"Isn't that still donating production volume? It's the same idea."

"I didn't say anything about cutting off the power, nor did I say I'd donate! I need to verify!"

"We'll let you verify it later, but you'll have to cooperate with us."

Wenyan had the power cut off. Without electricity, they couldn't work, so all the workers came out; they were all Chinese.

Wen Yan shouted, "We've received an order from the municipal government to collect two months' worth of production. All of you, move the cotton yarn out of the warehouse, load it onto the trucks, and hurry up!"

"Don't move!"

"Move it!" Wenyan gave the old policeman a look, and they understood immediately. Four policemen then gently surrounded the Japanese supervisor, smiling as they helped him walk.

Wen Yan pulled out his gun and fired a shot into the air with a loud crack: "Move! Otherwise, the next shot will be your heads!"

The guns were enough of a deterrent; the workers immediately got to work, and Wenyan didn't need to say anything more about where the warehouse was.

They carried out pieces of cotton yarn from the warehouse and loaded them into the large truck that had just arrived.

Many hands make light work, and the truck was filled up in no time.

During the patrol, Japanese soldiers came after hearing the gunshots, but when they saw that the Japanese soldiers were both police and municipal government officials, they checked their identification and asked why they had fired the shots. They found out that it was just firing blanks into the air to scare the Chinese workers, which was perfectly normal, so they left.

"They're using their own trucks too; 20% of Mitsui's cargo is too much."

The policeman nodded and instructed the workers to load the goods onto Mitsui's own trucks.

Large quantities of cotton yarn were transported to the municipal government's warehouse.

"You can release them now, next one."

At the Special Agent Headquarters, Wu Sibao was slacking off when he received a phone call from Gu Yansheng.

"Captain Wu, how's the stock market doing lately?"

"Don't even mention it. It's like a chicken with chicken plague, all small fluctuations and apathy, it has no passion at all."

"I have some news for you. The Wang faction has decided to forcibly seize [something], and it has just begun. You should know how the stock market will react."

"Really?" Wu Sibao's voice rose a little, and he sat up straight, somewhat excited. "Are you telling the truth? They really conscripted me?"

“When have I ever lied to you? Now that I’ve given you the information, you have to do one thing for me: use your people at the stock exchange to spread this information.”

"How many short positions did you buy?" Wu Sibao grinned mischievously, this was the first thing that came to mind, spreading the news was nothing more than trying to suppress the stock price.

"You still have the mood to ask this? I didn't buy it. It happened suddenly, and I didn't have time. Hurry up, you can't hide it for long. Just treat me to a meal later."

"got it."

*Click*, the other end of the phone hung up.

Wu Sibao is always very concerned about making money. As soon as he thinks something is sure to make money, he immediately goes to find his sister-in-law, Ye Jiqing.

"Sister-in-law, Gu Yansheng said that cotton yarn and grain are going to be forcibly requisitioned. Buying short is a sure thing."

Upon hearing that it was the God of Wealth who spoke, Ye Jiqing immediately went to the safe to get the money and emptied out all the money in the safe. "Buy it, but I'll go myself. Sibao, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that your stock trading skills are really terrible, and I can't afford to lose any money."

Wu Sibao was annoyed. He wanted to say something, but he didn't seem to have any impressive achievements to show for it. Oh well, making money was the priority.

He and Ye Jiqing immediately went to the stock exchange and bought short positions in cotton yarn and grain.

After making the purchase, he sent his men in shouting, "Boss, the Japanese have started forcibly requisitioning our cotton yarn and grain!"

"what?"

"real or fake?"

The stock market investors were in an uproar, all asking him where he got the information.

However, Wu Sibao was now well-versed in stock trading. Without saying a word, he took out a box of money he had deliberately kept and rushed to the counter, shouting, "Buy all short positions in cotton yarn!"

He pulled out a large sum of money and slammed it on the counter. With his show of force, some people were uneasy. After all, he was using real money to short sell, which was very convincing.

Suddenly, a few daring individuals, eager to take a gamble, also shorted cotton yarn.

As more people joined in the fun, even more people rushed in to try it out.

The price of cotton yarn futures did indeed drop a bit because of the news.

But not much.

The rest of the people are still observing; they learned their lesson from the last time and are now more cautious.

"They said it was forced conscription by the Japanese army, but it turned out to be false. It was a hoax spread by the bookmakers. Who knows if the bookmakers are spreading false information again this time?"

The bullish but cautious investors loudly shared their stock trading philosophy in the crowd: "You can't just believe everything you hear. The big players are cunning. If they say the Japanese are going to forcibly seize our assets, we should at least confirm that they have actually started before we run away, right? Otherwise, we'll lose a fortune. We haven't even gotten our principal back yet."

That makes sense; everything should be verified first.

People nearby immediately agreed and offered suggestions on where to verify the matter.

Some people made phone calls, while others went to ask others for directions.

Stock market investors are always well-informed. Soon, some big investors called several Chinese-owned cotton mills to ask if they had received news of the Japanese army's forced conscription.

The answer is no, absolutely none. On the contrary, some people from Chinese-owned cotton yarn factories said that some of their workers saw the police inspecting goods from Japanese-owned cotton yarn factories.

"A Japanese-owned cotton yarn factory? This is definitely not forced requisition. Who among you has ever seen the Japanese forcibly requisition their own companies?"

"That's right, it's fake news." "I knew it was fake news. The Japanese are wicked. They're using their own factories to spread fake news. Luckily, I didn't listen to that fatso and buy the long position. The big players are going to push the price up. They deliberately spread rumors before the price surge to trick us into giving them our shares. It's a common trick."

"Yes, buy on the rise."

A bunch of people rushed to the window to buy, instantly pushing up the price that the fat guy had just driven down.

Seeing that fat guy still pointing and gesturing defiantly, they said, "This fat guy must have been sent out by the bookmaker. He's rotten to the core and will make him lose a fortune."

Ye Jiqing looked at the fat Wu Sibao in shock, "Sibao, you really can't speculate on stocks. I was buying them and they were falling just fine, but you bought them and even with this news of forced requisition, you managed to make them rise?"

Ye Jiqing realized for the first time why Wu Sibao always lost money in the stock market. Some people are just born with a knack for stock trading. Thinking of this, she had to sit a little further away.

As for worrying, she wasn't worried. She believed it was only temporary, a short-term effect of Wu Sibao's illness, and that Gu Yansheng, the God of Wealth, would ultimately achieve his goal.

"What does this have to do with me!" Wu Sibao glared angrily at the group of stock investors opposite him, his teeth itching with hatred.

The angrier he got, the happier the stock market investors opposite him became.

But the happiness won't last long; what's meant to happen will happen.

When the inspection team arrived at the Huazi factory, the factory was unable and had no way of producing the goods. The inspection team cut off the power and stopped the factory from operating!
A large number of workers were driven out of the factory and wandered around the factory gate, not daring to leave. Such a big event quickly spread to the stock exchange.

"They really conscripted us! They really conscripted us!"

Someone rushed in, shouting in panic, "The cotton mill's warehouse has been forcibly opened! The cotton yarn has been looted! Gunshots have been heard! The goods have all been moved to the city hall!"

"What? Really?" The crowd immediately stirred.

But there was no need to answer again, because the big broker upstairs had already started operating, and large amounts of call options were being liquidated without thinking, causing the futures price of cotton yarn to fall layer by layer.

There are relatively few players in futures, but stocks related to grains were dumped by large investors almost instantly.

The exchange staff, who had been idle just moments before, were now frantically rewriting the current prices on the blackboard.

The crowd in the trading hall seemed to be ignited, their blood boiling, and they rushed towards the counters without saying a word.

"Sell!"

“Sell! Sell!”

Throw it all away!

"This scene seems familiar," Wu Sibao said, shaking his leg as he laughed.

Not satisfied yet, he stood up, hands on his hips, puffed out his suit jacket, and shouted, "What happened to those who said my information was inaccurate? Did you make a fortune by listening to me? Now you're in a hurry? Too late, hahahahaha!"

Several people immediately surrounded him, shamelessly praising Wu Sibao's wisdom and prowess.

Believe it or not, those who acted decisively just now did make money following Wu Sibao's lead.

"Brother, any other news? To what extent exactly did the Japanese forcibly conscript people?"

Wu Sibao considered that Gu Yansheng had said that the news should be widely disseminated, and that such dissemination would indeed help the stock price fall.

He immediately said, "I might as well tell you. This time, the Japanese are going to forcibly requisition cotton yarn from 100 million soldiers to make uniforms for the war, and they are also going to forcibly requisition a large amount of grain for military rations. The Japanese also like to eat canned food, especially beef, and they want to move all the cattle in Shanghai away! If you have cattle at home, don't blame me for not reminding you, eat them quickly, or they will be gone!"

Wow! A huge shout erupted at the exchange. A group of people were so frightened that their faces changed instantly. Some were selling their stocks, while others were making phone calls.

Hurry up and rush to the streets to grab food; Shanghai is about to run out of food.

The phone on the table kept vibrating—the city government's judicial office was ringing incessantly.

One call after another, but no one answered, so the phone was dialed to the mayor's office and the secretary-general's office.

Coincidentally, it was as if all the leaders of the municipal government had died; not a single senior official answered the phone.

Finally, someone answered the phone for the new management. Luo Junqiang received the call and was given a severe dressing-down.

Tell him to return the goods immediately.

"Okay, okay, I'll verify it right away."

The phone had just been hung up when it started ringing.

"Okay, okay, I'll verify it right away."

"Ok, I know."

"Yes, I'll go check right now. Please don't call again."

With a snap, Luo Junqiang hung up the phone, instinctively feeling cheated, and angrily went to find Gu Yansheng.

Only Gu Yansheng's office is inside the municipal government building; the other two bureau chiefs work outside.

"Where is your section chief?" Luo Junqiang asked, only to find that Gu Yansheng was not there.

Liu Xiaolou told him that the section chief had gone to the warehouse to receive the items recovered by the inspection department.

Luo Junqiang hurriedly ran to the municipal government warehouse.

When he arrived, Gu Yansheng was diligently checking the catalog under his command and directing the inspectors to have the workers store the cotton yarn properly.

"Director Gu, are you trying to frame me?" Luo Junqiang stormed into the warehouse, angrily accusing him.

"Huh?" Gu Yansheng frowned in surprise, his face darkening. "Vice Mayor Luo, have you lost your mind? What do you mean by that?"

Luo Junqiang's face was grim: "Why are you raiding the warehouses of Japanese-owned companies? Who told you I was going to raid the warehouses of Japanese-owned companies? And you're using the name of the new government!"

"Wait a minute, I don't understand. Let me sort this out." Gu Yansheng frowned. "You mean we don't need to search the warehouses of Japanese-owned companies?"

"Can we inspect the warehouses of Japanese-owned companies?" Luo Junqiang shouted. "You even need to ask this question? You're just making trouble for me."

Gu Yan paused, looked around at the warehouse full of cotton yarn, pointed at it, and chuckled at him: "Fine, fine, I'm helping you, and you're still criticizing me."

Gu Yansheng's face darkened and he shouted, "That's it for the day. Everyone go back to work. Tell Section Chief Wen to bring the people back and tear off every single seal that has been put up by the Judicial Office."

"Yes."

Gu Yansheng strode forward, and all his men followed.

Luo Junqiang was left alone, his face grim. "You take the cotton yarn back to them!"

There can be no response.

Luo Junqiang gritted his teeth and went upstairs to find Fu Xiao'an.

Gu Yansheng returned to the judicial office and received a phone call from outside. After listening for a few minutes, he shouted, "If you have any problems, go find Luo Junqiang. He's the vice mayor. What do you need me for? He can handle his own business."

*Click*, the phone rang.

Ding-ling-ling. Ding-ling-ling.

"Hey."

"Director Gu, it's so hard to get through to you."

"Mr. Kobayashi." Gu Yansheng recognized the voice.

Nobuo Kobayashi asked, "Why is the judicial office putting up seals all over the city? Don't you know how much your actions are affecting SH's economy?"

"Mr. Kobayashi, please don't ask me about this. It was Vice Mayor Luo Junqiang's idea. If you have any questions, go to him. Besides, I've already had my people withdraw."

Knock, knock, knock, Liu Xiaolou knocked on the door.

He pointed upwards and mouthed, "Meeting."

Gu Yansheng said into the phone, "Mr. Lin, I have a meeting. We can talk later, or you can come to the municipal government directly. Let's talk things out in person. Luo Junqiang is fickle and a scoundrel."

With a snap, Gu Yansheng hung up Xiao Lin's phone after applying the eye drops, then drank a cup of coffee before leisurely heading to the conference room.

When they arrived at the conference room, Fu Xiao'an, Lu Ying, Ling Xianwen, and several bureau chiefs were already there.

Gu Yansheng sat down with a displeased expression.

(End of this chapter)