Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 145 Expansion
Forced conscription continues.

The next afternoon, Gu Yansheng was working when the office door was suddenly pushed open, and Kobayashi Nobuo stormed in angrily, accompanied by two military police officers.

"I told you to stop! Are you deaf?"

Gu Yansheng put down the documents in his hand, slowly capped his pen, and came out: "Mr. Lin, how can you be so generous? Please sit down. Xiaolou, bring some tea."

"I told you to stop! Now! Call me right now!" Nobuo Kobayashi was furious, slamming his fist on the table.

Gu Yansheng sighed, picked up the phone, and called Yingzuo Zhenzhao. After the call connected, he said with a hint of resentment, "Mr. Yingzuo, is there any conclusion yet regarding the grain requisition? Lieutenant Colonel Kobayashi brought his troops to my office to question me. I don't know who to listen to."

"Give him the phone."

The external conflict has turned into an internal conflict within the enemy. Gu Yansheng handed over the phone.

Xiaolin glared at Gu Yansheng with resentment, then took the phone and started arguing with Yingzuo Zhenzhao in gibberish.

It seems that Kobayashi lost the argument. Gu Yansheng could still understand the insults, such as "idiot" and "wild boy".

Xiaolin nearly smashed the phone with a loud bang.

Approaching Gu Yansheng, he asked, "Don't you know how destructive forced land acquisition will be to Shanghai's economy?"

If you still ask him, then you've lost.

Gu Yansheng didn't give him a friendly look. "Mr. Kobayashi, what can I do even if I know? It's a difficult situation for me too! Your Military Police Headquarters keeps changing its mind. Can you please reach a consensus before issuing any orders?"

Xiao Lin stared intently at Gu Yansheng, her eyes practically spitting fire. "You bunch of idiots!"

Xiaolin stormed off in a huff.

Liu Xiaolou stood at the door, trembling with fear. "Director, will everything be alright?"

"Of course nothing will happen." Gu Yansheng's expression returned to calm, very composed.

"Kagesa is a soldier who wants to support the establishment of the Wang Jingwei regime, while Kobayashi is a scholar who wants to develop Shanghai's economy. If Kagesa could give Kobayashi two or three years to develop Shanghai's economy without being disturbed, perhaps Kobayashi would really become the Japanese army's money bag."

But now, when the two of them reached into their pockets, they were emptier than their faces. They had no money, and no amount of pleading would help. The establishment of the Wang faction was the only standard for whether Yingzuo Mei's work was successful or not. If we were to talk about someone who wanted the establishment of a puppet government even more than the Wang faction, Yingzuo would be one of them.

Kagesa won't pay him any attention; Kobayashi is destined to fail.

Forced conscription continues.

Citizens frantically hoarded grain, merchants frantically sold grain, joint law enforcement teams frantically moved grain from warehouses, and Sassoon Zhang Xiaolin frantically transported grain through various channels, rapidly depleting Shanghai's grain reserves.

Grain from other regions dared not enter the city anymore, and the grain reserves within the city were dwindling.

For five consecutive days, the entire city of SH went on a food spree. Finally, the joint law enforcement team completed a sweep, and all the grain stored in the registered warehouses of SH was emptied.

That evening, Wenyan reported that 12,000 tons of grain had been piled up in the municipal government's warehouse.

"I also sent my regards to the major businessmen. This is the total amount of bonds I have promoted in the past two days. Including those signed with grain merchants, the total amount of bonds is currently 4376 million."

Excluding the grain merchants' portion, the merchants donated approximately 3800 million. All the money was handled as you instructed, with no foreign currency involved. All military notes were converted into foreign currency on the same day and are now deposited in HSBC.

Sales are progressing slowly; it will take time to persuade each businessman individually. It's estimated that once all the businessmen in Shanghai's urban area are visited, the number should double.

“Good.” Gu Yansheng was very satisfied with this progress. “I’ve been reading the newspapers these past few days, and grain prices have actually risen instead of fallen.”

Wen Yan nodded. "At first, when we forcibly requisitioned grain, grain merchants rushed to sell their grain, so the price of grain was quickly suppressed. Merchants were desperately selling their grain, trying to get rid of it before we forcibly requisitioned it. However, after these few days of forcible requisition, the grain that was supposed to be exchanged for bonds has already been exchanged. The grain reserves on the market have decreased rapidly. Although citizens have been hoarding grain for a few days, there are still some people who did not have any stock, and there are quite a few of them."

Especially for companies and factories with canteens, it's impossible to stock up on so much stock like individual people; they usually buy things every day or every week.

Because they have a demand to buy grain, or even a demand to scramble for grain, it has driven up the price of grain. Moreover, because there are far fewer merchants with grain to sell now, the price is rising rapidly, very quickly, with several prices every day, or even several prices every hour.

The price difference between the person in front and the person behind in line can be several hundred yuan. Those actively selling now are a bunch of money-grubbing merchants, selling secretly. Their small warehouses are well-hidden, making it difficult for us to investigate.

How much is it now?

"Originally, 60 kilograms of rice cost 12 yuan, but now it costs 2,400 yuan."

Wenyan added one more thing.

"Luckily, Chief, you had the foresight to let me exchange the military notes I received for foreign currency on the same day and take them out. Otherwise, the actual value of the military notes we had would have been greatly reduced."

When I went to exchange my documents today, there was a huge crowd gathered at the entrance of the Economic Department. Judging from the scene, they were all in a state of panic.

"It's starting." Gu Yansheng smiled.

Inflation has begun.

If you want chaos in the world, then let it be chaos. The first step is to abolish military scrip.

The inflation of food prices then affects the pricing of other goods.

If flour costs 2000 yuan, bread can't possibly cost 50 yuan. If bread costs 3000 yuan, then labor, utilities, rent, and the rickshaw pullers who need to eat—all prices will rise. This trend is unstoppable.

Wenyan continued, “I asked the people in the Economic Affairs Department and they said they had contacted Lieutenant Colonel Kobayashi of the Military Police Headquarters. He seems to have come up with something called a floating exchange rate, but this thing updates prices every day, and now it seems to be completely out of touch with the actual situation.”

Some of the businessmen who donated money called me or even came to the city government, crying and begging me what the final redemption money for our bonds would be. They were begging me not to give them military scrip, or they would go bankrupt.

The Japanese implemented a military currency system, and they kept a lot of it. When I went door-to-door begging for alms, many people gave me a large sum of military currency. They are the last people who want military currency now.”

Gu Yansheng smiled and said, "You can tell them that the new government will have its own currency, and the bonds they hold will be the safest thing. This will put their minds at ease. We will definitely remember this favor for helping the new government."

"Okay, then I know how to reply." Wenyan took out a wooden box from his briefcase, inside which was a seal and a key.

"Sir, besides the bond account, those businessmen were too enthusiastic and insisted on giving me some things, otherwise they wouldn't donate. I couldn't refuse, so I accepted some gifts. It wasn't much from each person, but it added up to quite a lot. So I opened an anonymous safe deposit box at HSBC and put it all in there."

It wasn't easy. Gu Yansheng was so moved that he almost burst into tears. He finally saw a return on his investment from Wen Yan.

The last time I asked him about the Hongkou Inspection Department, it turned out that Wenyan had been in charge of the department for two months, but he hadn't handed over a single penny to him. I thought Wenyan was clueless, but he was very diligent in his work for the Japanese.

As a result, they were being watched by the intelligence headquarters and dared not make any big moves. They couldn't even afford to hand over small amounts of money and had to support their subordinates. Gu Yansheng could understand this.

Now that the road has been paved over, we can finally see the money.

If someone did something for the Japanese without getting paid, Gu Yansheng would be the first to fire them.

"What are they?"

"Antiques, calligraphy and paintings, ginseng and deer antler tonics, and some gold, silver and jewelry. The merchant said they were for my wife, but he kept finding excuses to stuff things into my hands." Wen Yan smiled sheepishly.

Gu Yansheng smiled and pointed to the box. "Then take it back yourself. I can't finish all these supplements. You need to take care of yourself as you get older. Pick out some jewelry for your wife. I don't need it."

"Sir, this isn't appropriate."

“No need to refuse.” Wen Yan was about to say something when Gu Yansheng waved his hand: “I don’t lack these things either. You can pick some for your own family first. When leading a team, you should share some profits with your subordinates. I do this, and so do you. You can bring the rest to me.”

"Thank you, sir."

"Okay, get to work. Stop collecting grain and take a break. We still need to hurry up and promote bonds to merchants. But we don't need to use military scrip for payment. It has to be other assets. Let them exchange the military scrip with the Japanese themselves. I estimate that the Japanese might make a move on the military scrip later. We can't let it get stuck in our hands."

"Yes, understand."

"By the way, how much cotton yarn do you have?"

"Quite a lot, around two thousand packs."

"Okay, let's go."

Kobayashi has been quiet these past few days; it seems he still hasn't found anyone capable of persuading Kagesa.

However, it's too late to persuade them now. The die is cast. Even if the King of Heaven himself came, it wouldn't make a difference. Only the God of Rice could make a difference. If millions of tons of rice fell from the sky, Shanghai's prices would plummet.

Inflation continues.

The prices of goods in Shanghai were completely disrupted, with grain prices soaring, which drove up the prices of all other goods.

This was followed by a shortage of military credits. Citizens couldn't buy anything with their military credits, so they flocked to the Economic Department to exchange them for foreign currency.

Although the city of Shanghai is out of food, there is food in the concession. As long as it is exchanged for foreign currency, rice can still be smuggled back from the concession.

However, the amount of foreign currency that Kobayashi brought back from Japan was ultimately limited and could not withstand the rush of citizens to exchange it. Even though the floating exchange rate had been adjusted several times, the crowds still forced the gates to close.

It was announced that due to recent abnormal price fluctuations, the value of military notes had become abnormally volatile, and all military note exchanges would be temporarily suspended.

Xiaolin tried to salvage the limited foreign currency inventory in the warehouse.

However, this notice posted at the entrance of the Economic Department directly led to the de facto collapse of the credibility of military bills.

The Economic Affairs Department is closing down!
"Military scrip has become worthless!"

This news caused even more people to flock to the exchange offices set up by the Economic Department in various places, and the closed doors were smashed open on the spot by the angry crowd.

All the equipment and furniture inside were looted.

Military police arrived to maintain order, and the citizens scattered.

Unable to get food or buy grain, and with their military stamps becoming worthless, ordinary families might be able to survive for a few days because they had bought in advance, but factories that provided meals for workers were the first to shut down.

The far-reaching impact begins.

"If you don't give us food, then we'll go on strike!"

The cotton yarn factories and grain factories were the first to experience a wave of strikes, and they suffered the most severe losses in this incident.

Businessmen may be pro-Japanese, but workers are not. If they are not fed, no one can help them.

Following closely behind, other factories also began to strike.

Some people took to the streets to protest, while others looted.

Every day, crowds gather in front of the municipal government building, shouting for a solution to the food shortage.

The chaos in Shanghai could no longer be contained.

The newspapers criticize it every day.

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

"Director Gu, come to the Military Police Headquarters immediately." The voice of Military Police Commander Jiro Miura came through the phone.

"Yes."

Things had escalated completely. Gu Yansheng hung up the phone and redialed Hasegawa.

“Mr. Hase, the Military Police Headquarters wants me to come over. To be honest, I’m quite worried they’ll cause me trouble.”

Hasegawa readily agreed: "Don't worry, I'll be there."

"Ok."

Gu Yansheng needed to call out his backers; Hasegawa was one, and Minister Zhou was another.

I made another call to Minister Zhou.

Minister Zhou said, "Come directly to me, and I'll go with you."

Gu Yansheng drove to find him. As soon as they arrived, they were taken to the conference room. Hasegawa was already there, along with Kobayashi Nobuo and Kagesa Yoshiaki.

Judging from Kobayashi's expression, he had already argued with Kagesa.

"Since you're all here, let's start the meeting. Please have a seat."

Jiro Miura said seriously, "The forced requisition incident has brought serious problems to Shanghai's economy. Now the strike wave and rice shortage are very serious. Director Gu, you are the person in charge of this matter. What do you think should be done next?"

Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and said, "The solution is to bring rice from Jiangsu and Anhui to Shanghai. Once the workers have food to eat, they will naturally stop making trouble."

Jiro Miura seemed somewhat puzzled: "We send troops to collect grain, and then bring in grain from other places. What do we gain by going through all this trouble?"

Gu Yansheng frowned, his expression even more puzzled than Gu Yansheng's: "General Miura, the purpose of the forced requisition was to solve the problem of the pacification army's military supplies. Now the rice is piled up in the municipal government's warehouse, so the problem is solved."

"But he has created new problems."

"Of course, new problems will arise. There are only two pairs of pants in the family, one in Shanghai and one in Jiangsu. Now the pants in Shanghai have been taken away by the pacification army. Isn't Shanghai left with nothing? Isn't this the result we could have foreseen from the beginning? Forced requisition is not production, and it won't produce new rice."

"Then how do we solve the problem in Shanghai?"

"Buy rice."

"Where's the money?"

Gu Yansheng did not answer, but paused with a smile, "General Miura, I know you are criticizing me, but if I ask myself honestly, given the established outcome, I don't know what I did wrong. I acted according to orders and carried out the forced requisition."

But now, it seems you want me to conjure something that doesn't exist, either money or food.

If it already exists, then what's the point of forced requisition? I'm sorry, I lack the ability to answer your question.

(End of this chapter)