Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 144 Grain grabbing
The forced conscription began the next day.

Two days have passed since the news of the forced requisition of cotton yarn broke. The forced requisition took place on the first day, but there has been no further news since. Some people may think that the matter has been dropped.

Only those who were cautious enough to have experienced the last forced requisition know what to stockpile under such circumstances.

Under Japanese rule, it's not acceptable to forget past mistakes and learn from past hardships.

Gu Yansheng called Ding Mocun and asked him to provide some manpower for this dirty work. He asked people from the Special Agent Headquarters to act as enforcers, people from the Judicial Department's Inspection Section to keep accounts, and a large truck to be ready to go to the boss's place and have a friendly chat to explain the necessity of purchasing the new government's special bonds.

Whether you take it or not is up to you; in any case, the grain and cotton yarn used as cash will have to be taken away from the warehouse.

Gu Yansheng told his men to slow down, giving Sassoon and Zhang Xiaolin enough time to make the acquisition.

The mission must be completed, but the goods cannot all be left to the Japanese; the Japanese must buy them back from him.

Once the forced requisition was confirmed, the news spread, all the grain stores in the market opened, and large quantities of stored grain began to be sold off. The streets were bustling, and the residents were overjoyed. They would even borrow money to buy a little bit of cheap rice and flour.

Every time land was forcibly requisitioned, merchants suffered huge losses, but residents always managed to get something for themselves, especially the elderly men and women with free time, who would happily grab the land.

It would take time for the people on the mission to persuade people door-to-door, so the Shanghai merchants and Sassoon used their own methods to temporarily hide grain in warehouses, houses, ships, and even in the pipes of rickshaws—anywhere that could hold rice or flour, and any warehouse not listed in the register.

Even eating a couple more bites is better than exchanging for those damn bonds.

Who knows how many more years this Wang dynasty can last? Yuan Shikai once arrogantly forced the Qing emperor to abdicate, but he only reigned for 83 days. At least the Yuan Shikai silver dollars he issued were made of real gold and silver.

Nowadays, everyone recognizes it, but this bond is just a piece of paper, and it hasn't even been manufactured yet. They're just going to come and rob us without even issuing an IOU.
Ding-ling-ling. Ding-ling-ling.

Gu Yansheng received an overwhelming number of harassing phone calls.

It wasn't some big-shot businessman with connections; it was the officials themselves. Even in Nanjing, someone called the municipal government and asked them to come and plead on behalf of the government.

Gu Yansheng welcomed all comers. He had time today and could chat with them at his leisure, and they would chat with smiles.

"The grain store on Gongyuan Road used to belong to you, brother. Oh dear, isn't this a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple, and family members not recognizing each other?"

It was my fault, I will definitely make amends. Just tell me how much stock you have, and I'll have someone return it to you intact after I've checked.

No need to thank me, it's nothing, it's what I should do.

But my friend, let me remind you, the new Nanjing government is about to be established. This is something that Mr. Wang and Minister Zhou entrusted to us. If everyone else has handed it in but you haven't, what will Mr. Wang think when he finds out?
I can keep quiet, but if other people find out you didn't submit it, they'll get jealous and start talking about it everywhere. If Minister Zhou finds out and gets involved, what am I supposed to say?
Right, it's just a little bit of food, how much money could it possibly cost?

Twenty-two kilograms of flour cost only four yuan and fifty cents, and sixty kilograms of rice cost only twelve yuan. Even if you took six thousand kilograms, how much would that cost?

Yes, everyone wants to curry favor with him, since he'll be governing Nanjing in the future.

Besides, we're not getting this for free; it's being given bonds. We should have confidence in the government.

Hey buddy, I have a suggestion for you. These bonds were issued under the leadership of Minister Zhou and are the first batch of special bonds issued by the new government. Minister Zhou will definitely be concerned about who bought how much.

At that time, I will select some people to introduce to Minister Zhou. The Nanjing government was established and needed personnel at that time. So, I'll buy some more, right? 100,000? Okay, I will definitely put in a good word for you with Minister Zhou.

Okay, that'll do for now. I have a lot of people here. Listen, it's so noisy. Other phones are still ringing. How about another 100,000? Great! I'll definitely emphasize your support for the new government to Minister Zhou.

Why thank me? It's because you were willing to support me that I had the opportunity to speak up for you.

"Shall I send someone to pick it up? Okay, goodbye."

With a snap, Gu Yansheng hung up the phone, wrote down the name and amount in his notebook, wrote it again on a piece of paper, and then tore it off for Wen Yan who was waiting.

Wen Yan took the money, glanced at it, and then went out to instruct his men to come and collect the money.

Anyone willing to subscribe should be made to write a statement declaring their voluntary subscription; it shouldn't be made to seem like they're being forced.

Gu Yansheng was busy and had to answer the next phone call.

Anyone who dares to call him today to plead for them is powerful and influential; write them all down.

If they're willing to pay, that's fine; it proves the grudges are resolved. But if they're unwilling to pay and still come to us putting on airs, then I'm sorry.

Those who give money may not remember, but those who don't give money will definitely remember; someone will remember them.

In the afternoon, Gu Yansheng took the time to complete his sordid transaction with Fu Xiao'an.

The formalities were naturally handled by his subordinates and the foreigners that Fu Xiao'an had found.

They drank tea at the teahouse, and Fu Xiao'an was in charge of counting the money.

A few million military notes—that sounds pretty impressive.

Gu Yansheng had always been quite curious. He originally thought that Fu Xiao'an's stock market losses, which had landed him in the hospital after being hammered by Sassoon, must have been extremely severe. He thought that even if he didn't go bankrupt, he should at least have sold off all his assets and businesses to make up for the losses in the stock market and avoid being forcibly liquidated by the exchange.

But who knew that Fu Xiao'an still had so much cotton yarn in his hands? This transaction alone was worth more than 100 million silver dollars, which was no small amount. This proved that Fu Xiao'an was far from being destitute at that time.

Where did all this money come from? This is really difficult to deal with.

The goods cannot be stored in Fu Xiao'an's warehouse. They should be taken back to the municipal government's special warehouse. This is a matter of appearances, and since the payment is settled, it's safer to take them back.

"I'll have to trouble Mayor Fu's people to help me exchange the price difference for US dollars."

Fu Xiao'an rolled his eyes. "I was wondering why you were being so kind this time, only asking for $10,000 in chips. So you're going to make $9 off me on the difference? Director Gu, isn't that going too far? I don't even make as much as you do."

Gu Yansheng smiled and didn't explain. "If you're so capable, then don't sell. We'll buy at the normal price. It's not like there's no stock to sell in the concession."

Fu Xiao'an obediently had the money exchanged for Gu Yansheng. For a businessman, once a sale is made, it's a sale. Now that Gu Yansheng has gotten on good terms with Minister Zhou, he's not someone to be trifled with. Fu Xiao'an didn't want to cause any more trouble in this matter.

If things really fall apart, it won't do him any good.

Having received the exchanged US dollars, Gu Yansheng needed to report to Minister Zhou.

After making a phone call to confirm that the person was at the hotel, Gu Yansheng rushed to the hotel.

"Minister Zhou, this is the detailed list of acquisitions."

Gu Yansheng handed over the transaction contract: "The 20,000 bales of cotton yarn that were purchased have been gradually stored in the municipal government warehouse. The price I originally asked the merchants was 75 yuan per bale, but because it was a large-scale purchase, some people gave me face, so I finally negotiated the price down to 66 yuan. The remaining funds are all here."

“That’s a significant discount.” Minister Zhou was quite pleased and waved his hand at the ledger, saying, “I won’t look at the ledger. Yansheng, I trust you. Just send the extra money back.”

Gu Yansheng chuckled and advised, "I've considered that the new government might need to purchase other things, and applying for them again would be too troublesome due to the procedures involving the Japanese. Besides, the Economic Department has already signed off on the accounts, and that's the total amount. Why don't you manage the rest for me? It'll be more convenient for you to use the money in Shanghai. Foreign businessmen are very tight-lipped. You've been working hard for the new government, so I can't let you pay for it yourself again."

That makes it quite clear. Minister Zhou's eyes flickered slightly, and a gentle smile appeared on his lips. He then looked at the money box and asked curiously, "Why is everything in US dollars? Weren't we supposed to be receiving military scrip?"

"The economy is fluctuating a lot. Since we were dealing with foreign companies anyway, we had them exchange their currency for US dollars. It's more convenient to use, since the merchants in the concessions don't recognize military notes."

"Okay, then leave it here with me."

Minister Zhou patted the box. "Yansheng, you have a wide network of connections and are very efficient. You've saved the new government a lot of money, which is a great achievement. I heard that the grain requisition has already begun?"

“That’s right.” Gu Yansheng nodded. “It’s already started to be stored. These 20,000 bales of cotton yarn were purchased. There will be more cotton yarn left. We’ll buy some, requisition some, and have people donate some. I will try my best to gather 30,000 pieces. When we requisition grain, we’ll look for more. If we don’t have enough grain, we can use cotton yarn to make up the difference. In addition, I’m also pushing forward with the bond issue. I will report back on any progress.”

Minister Zhou sighed, "You've worked hard. No one is as adept at handling things in Shanghai as you are. I can only ask you to put in the extra effort and make the trips."

"Of course, you can rest now. I'll report back when there's progress."

"Let's have a meal before we go?"

"I'm a bit busy, I'll take care of this first, maybe next time."

Gu Yansheng returned to the municipal government.

Back in the office, Liu Xiaolou told him that she had received several more phone calls while she was out, which she had already noted down.

Gu Yansheng glanced at it and handed it back to her, saying, "No need to write it down. They'll still call when they need to."

Liu Xiaolou nodded. "By the way, Director, a Section Chief Wang from the police station came looking for you. I told him you weren't here and had gone out, but he said he was willing to wait until you arrived. He's still in the conference room now. Would you like to see him?"

"Section Chief Wang?" Gu Yansheng frowned and thought for a moment, but he really didn't know who this person was.

"The conference room, right?"

"Yes."

"Then let's meet."

Gu Yansheng went directly to the conference room. Liu Xiaolou helped open the door. There was a man sitting in the seat, who looked to be about forty years old and was wearing a police uniform. When he saw Gu Yansheng, he immediately stood up with a smile and took two quick steps: "You must be Director Gu? I am Wang Desheng, the head of the Legal Affairs Section of the Police Station."

"What do you want?" Gu Yansheng asked quickly.

"I have something to report."

Wang Desheng chuckled and glanced at Liu Xiaolou, who was standing next to Gu Yansheng.

Gu Yansheng gestured for Liu Xiaolou to step back, then pulled out a chair and sat down. "Can you speak now?"

Wang Desheng's expression turned serious, and he bowed as he said, "This humble servant dares not conceal anything. Today, this humble servant learned that Director Gu is helping the soon-to-be-established Nanjing government to prepare military supplies and promote bonds. This humble servant has come today with great courage to ask Director Gu for help in transferring me to Nanjing so that I can obtain a position in the police department of the new government."

After speaking, Wang Desheng took out a box from under the chair he had been sitting on, opened it, and placed it in front of Gu Yansheng. Inside were gold, US dollars, and something resembling a land deed or house deed.

Wang Desheng stood up straight and bowed his head respectfully, saying, "This humble servant is willing to follow Director Gu's lead. In the new government, whatever Director Gu needs to do, no matter how big or small or how difficult it is, I will do my best to do it well. This is a small token of my respect, and I hope Director Gu will accept it."

See? That's what it means to have sharp eyes. After gathering information and making a few connections, they came knocking on my door with gifts.

Gu Yansheng smiled and said, "You've got some nerve sending gifts to the judicial department. But I heard you say that you're a section chief, and you're not happy with your job in Shanghai? Why do you have to go to Nanjing? You'll have to start all over again."

Wang Desheng smiled bitterly, adjusting the clothes on his shoulder. "After all these years, I'm only a section chief, and it's a lowly legal department. What's a section chief like that in Shanghai?"

Even inside the police station, I'm not as prestigious as a captain in the operations section. I feel I'm still young and want a different way of life, so I dare not hide it from you, Chief Gu, all my belongings are here; I've even brought the deed to my house.”

With their backs to the wall, Gu Yansheng was filled with awe and his expression became more serious. He picked up the land deed from the box, looked at it, put it back in the box, closed the lid, and thought for a moment before speaking.

“If your house in Shanghai is too old, then let’s move to a new one. I’ll reserve a villa for you in Nanjing.”

"Thank you so much for your guidance, Director Gu!" Wang Desheng bowed deeply, his face flushed with excitement. He had made the right bet; he had succeeded in taking this step today.

"This will take some time. Just continue with your normal work. When it's time for the transfer, I will definitely transfer you there."

"Yes! Then I won't bother you any longer, Director Gu, please continue with your work."

"it is good."

Watching Wang Desheng leave, Gu Yansheng picked up his suitcase and left. Money was secondary; it was indeed necessary to place one or two people in the Nanjing Police Department.

He's lucky to have found this opportunity; otherwise, the gold bars and cash combined wouldn't even amount to $10,000, and he'd have to buy a villa in Nanjing. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

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

Gu Yansheng picked up the phone, and Kobayashi Nobuo's angry roar came through the line.

"What are you doing! Do you know that your forced land seizure will cause economic chaos in Shanghai! Gu Yansheng, are you out of your mind! Who gave you permission to make such a decision! You idiot!"

Gu Yansheng put the microphone on the table, picked up his coffee and took a sip. What was coming would come sooner or later, and he would let others finish their rant first.

Hearing a pause in the voice on the phone, Gu Yansheng picked up the phone wearily and said, "Mr. Lin, forced conscription was not my idea. You should know that this was an agreement reached between the military and Minister Zhou. I had no choice. What could I do?"

Kobayashi Nobuo roared furiously, "You're all a bunch of idiots! You completely ignore stupid suggestions. You can tell me, you can report it to the Military Police Headquarters!"

"May I? Mr. Kobayashi, aren't you giving me too much credit?"
I truly don't want to resort to forced conscription, and the judicial department doesn't want to bear this infamy. If possible, I hope you can persuade Mr. Kagesa to give me an order to stop the forced conscription, okay?

"Stop! Wait for my message!" *Click*, the phone was hung up.

Gu Yansheng's ears hadn't even been ringing yet when he saw the look of disgust on his face.

Kobayashi is really something else. He can't even tell the difference between the big and small kings. How can a mere lieutenant colonel compare to Kagesa?

If things were peaceful, that might be possible, but now the new government's army is facing an urgent food problem, so it's impossible for Kagesa to give up.

Even if Yingzuo agrees to give up, Gu Yansheng still has to consider the consulate's suggestion.

Xiaolin, she's not in the running.

(End of this chapter)