Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 170 Normal
It's not a bad idea to bring Fu Xiao'an along.

In fact, Gu Yansheng had originally planned to bring Fu Xiao'an along.

The original plan was to wait until the business started, and then, if Fu Xiao'an became envious, to make contact.

It's a bit early now.

The Wang Jingwei regime had not even been established yet.

The cotton purchasing season is usually in the summer and autumn. After production, the cotton is stockpiled, and then a large amount of cotton yarn is produced in winter, when the price is high and the timing is about the same.

Once the power structure in each region is established and the right people are in power, we'll distribute some money to Minister Zhou, smooth things over, and the whole process will proceed very smoothly. After all, it's a long-term business, and stability is the top priority.

If Fu Xiao'an gets greedy and wants to hitch a ride, then charge him some money to sell it. If you don't pay, and the cotton yarn is robbed by bandits while passing by, then you can't blame anyone else.

Gu Yansheng has to put in effort to raise prices; we can't let him get away with it for nothing.

It's just that Fu Xiao'an's business isn't doing so well right now.

Logically speaking, if everyone had roughly the same level of access to information, Fu Xiao'an should have been the fastest to react to the cotton yarn factory incident, at least faster than Gu Yansheng.

But it's so pitiful. Minister Zhou invited even Ding Mocun and He Xingjian to the core positions of the Wang Jingwei regime, but he didn't invite Fu Xiao'an.

This old guy doesn't even know he's going to join the core of the Wang Jingwei regime. He's probably still thinking about the time he fell out with Luo Junqiang, one of Minister Zhou's subordinates.

Indeed, since he was a member of the Nanjing Military Police Command, when he was entertaining the negotiators from the Wang Jingwei regime, Fu Xiao'an happened to be hospitalized due to the stock market crash, and it was Ling Xianwen who represented the government in hosting him.

Before this, Ling Xianwen had mentioned that he had hosted negotiators before, but at that time the Shanghai Reform Government was still in charge of Su Xiwen, and neither Gu Yansheng nor Fu Xiaoan were allowed to enter.

What a coincidence, they were all completely different.

Thinking of this, Gu Yansheng felt sympathy. It was so pitiful; he had suffered one bad thing after another, but hadn't had a single good thing happen to him.

"Mayor Fu, I welcome your participation, and I can provide the necessary channels, but I have three conditions."

First, if there are any problems with the army, you need to step in to communicate and resolve them. Second, the pricing power for cotton yarn in Shanghai belongs to my people; they can't set a price lower than that. Third, I want to take 30% of the profits: 10% is mine, 10% goes to the Japanese, and the remaining 10% goes to the Nanjing government.

“Okay.” Fu Xiao’an agreed after only a moment’s thought. He was a businessman, and he was happy to make a profit. Besides, Gu Yansheng’s asking price was not expensive.

"But let me make this clear: after deducting 30% profit, the selling price can't be lower than 70 yuan. Otherwise, I might as well sell it in Shanghai."

"Of course."

Fu Xiao'an raised his glass and said with a smile, "Then I'll have to rely on Director Gu from now on."

Gu Yansheng raised his glass and smiled, "What do you mean by relying on others? It's because of our win-win cooperation that we are invincible."

With Fu Xiao'an joining the company, and the factories acquired by Lu Bowen, they have absolute control over the pricing of cotton yarn, which is definitely beneficial.

Fu Xiao'an said with a smile, "Now that we've reached an agreement, I still have some cotton yarn on hand as to when the price will start."

"There are many?"

"Six thousand packs."

"How come you have so many?" Gu Yansheng asked in surprise. "You've been selling them yourself for so long, and I even helped you sell 20,000 packs. How do you still have so many?"

“The machines can’t be stopped. We still haven’t used up the cotton we harvested last year. Who would have thought the cotton yarn market would be so bad last year? We’re stuck with it. I can’t just sell it all at a low price, can I?” Fu Xiao’an frowned. “People in Shanghai don’t lack clothes at all right now. Where are we going to sell them?”

He had acquired a large quantity of goods, and his factory had produced a large quantity of goods as well. He was supposed to make a fortune, but who would have thought that the price of cotton yarn would collapse in winter?

It was all Gu Yansheng's doing, spreading false news about forced requisition. Originally, all the cotton yarn in Shanghai was sold all over the country, and merchants from all walks of life used their own methods to get things done.

As a result of the forced requisition, all the cotton yarn that had been stockpiled from summer to winter and supplied the whole country was dumped in Shanghai, causing prices there to plummet.

He and Sassoon had a falling out over the stock market crash, and now even their smuggling channels in the concession were gone.

The happiest people were the fabric merchants in Shanghai. Cotton yarn was cheap, so they stocked up at that time and are now eating their fill.

As a result, the cotton yarn couldn't be sold out in Shanghai. The machines were still running, and new cotton yarn was coming out every day.

Gu Yansheng pondered the matter for a moment and said, "There's no good solution to this, and I advise you that the price of cotton yarn absolutely cannot rise at this stage; it must remain stable."

Let me tell you, my businessmen also own many cotton yarn factories. If they could raise prices, they would have done so long ago. But why don't I allow price increases? You need to think this through. There's a cotton control committee over the Japanese companies.

If you dare to raise the price of finished products now, they will dare to raise the price of cotton. In that case, if we raise prices, we will be doing all the work for others.

We can only raise prices after this year's cotton harvest and storage.

Fu Xiao'an lightly tapped the table, his eyes showing a hint of realization as if he had been reminded. "I almost forgot about these people. You're right, we absolutely cannot raise prices now."

Given the nature of those Japanese businessmen, they know that with cotton yarn prices rising, they can't possibly refrain from taking a bite out of it.

"If we raise the price of this year's cotton yarn and sell it at a higher price, they'll find out next year. What will we do then?"

Gu Yansheng smiled, picked up a crab and ate it, "Eat as much as you can for a year, why think so much? Earning ten years' worth of money in a year, isn't that enough to satisfy you?"

Fu Xiao'an nodded, thinking about it, and agreed. There was a lot of trouble with that. With so many problems arising from just one year's worth of cotton yarn, there was no point in thinking too far ahead.

"So, with so much stock, I really have no choice but to sell it cheaply?"

“Sell it if you want.” Gu Yansheng said while eating, “Shanghai people don’t lack clothes, but there are always poor people who can’t afford them. Let me tell you, you should stop selling cotton yarn and open a few fabric factories and dozens of tailor shops. Produce and sell your own clothes to the poor.”

"You're the mayor, which has improved your image. The cotton yarn has been disposed of, and tax revenue has increased. With so many factories and shops, sales are quite substantial. It's a win-win situation."

“That’s barely enough to make any money,” Fu Xiao’an scoffed.

Moreover, opening so many stores is too troublesome. Taxes may increase, but he's not here to work for the Japanese for free.

You have to pay taxes to open a shop.

Gu Yansheng couldn't care less about that; it wasn't his cotton yarn, so he could leave it there to get moldy if he wanted.

During the plum rain season in Jiangnan, cotton yarn is prone to mold if not stored properly. It's not a gamble to see it survive until winter.

"Don't you have a better idea?"

"There's nothing we can do. The weather is about to warm up, who's going to buy cotton yarn? It takes time for factories to process it into fabric, for transportation, and for it to be made into clothes. By the time it gets to other places, it'll be past season."

"What about your cotton yarn? What are you going to do with it?"

"I'll do what I just said: open a factory, make clothes, and sell them cheaply to the poor. My goal is to recoup my investment. I still need to spend money to buy cotton this year. I want to make a big profit. What else can I do if I don't sell?" Gu Yansheng smiled and said, "I don't have the financial resources of Mayor Fu. I'll just break even."

Fu Xiao'an frowned. Gu Yansheng would do such a thing? He just couldn't believe it.

But there's nothing he can do if people don't say anything. He has to think of another way to deal with this. The cotton yarn definitely has to be disposed of.

eat first.

the other side.

Li Shiqun and Ding Mocun arrived at the Military Police Headquarters.

In the commander's office sat Jiro Miura and Li Shih-Chun's backers, Lieutenant Colonel Haruki Keiichi.

The two men greeted each other, and Jiro Miura frowned and said, "I called you here to ask you something: Is there a large-scale arms trade in Shanghai's black market?"

"Arms?" Li Shiqun frowned, thought for a moment and said, "There is definitely a trade in guns and ammunition. There isn't much in the city, but merchants in the concessions can definitely smuggle some in using their travel policies. But to say it's on a large scale, there probably isn't."

Military intelligence agents usually brought their own guns when they entered Shanghai, and even if they didn't, they might smuggle them in through various channels.

According to He Xingjian, the Loyal and Patriotic Army had only helped the Military Intelligence Bureau in Shanghai transport guns, so there was probably little need for buying and selling.

"General, what has happened?"

Jiro Miura stared at the two men and said, "The New Fourth Army in southern Anhui has been making frequent moves these past few days. According to the investigation, they have acquired a large number of weapons. The frontline command suspects that these weapons came from Shanghai."

"The New Fourth Army?" Li Shiqun was very surprised. He paused and asked, "General, if you were talking about the Military Intelligence Bureau buying guns, that would be possible. But the New Fourth Army, how could these guns have come from Shanghai? Guns aren't cheap. The New Fourth Army simply doesn't have the financial resources. How many guns?"

"At least two thousand."

"Two thousand? That's even more impossible, how much money would that cost?"

Jiro Miura's eyes widened. "Then tell me, where did they get their guns?"

Why ask him this question? Li Shiqun thought for a moment and said, "It should have been given by the Third War Zone, right?"

"Have you ever seen the Third War Zone issue guns to the New Fourth Army, including our Type 38 rifles?"

"The Type 38 rifle?" Li Shiqun was genuinely taken aback, but upon reflection, it made perfect sense. "It was lost by the Japanese army and the Third War Zone during the battle, then collected by the Third War Zone and given to the New Fourth Army."
Actually, it's quite normal for rifles collected from other war zones to be transported to southern Anhui.

Qing Qiqing said, "But according to our intelligence, the Chongqing government doesn't really like the New Fourth Army. Although the New Fourth Army is part of the National Revolutionary Army's combat order, the Chongqing government has never given them military funds and supplies on time, and has always been embezzling them."

What the New Fourth Army now possessed was not just a few guns, but many guns and many bullets.

These people used to carry machetes, but now they're carrying guns.

He was still carrying a Type 38 rifle!

They changed into our soldiers' uniforms, carried Type 38 rifles, and swaggered to the guard post, so much so that the guards at the outpost couldn't tell them apart.

This is very unusual and doesn't seem like the way the Chongqing government operates. We suspect that the guns weren't provided by the Chongqing government, but rather smuggled in through the black market.

“Is there anything wrong with this?” Ding Mocun said, “General, Lieutenant Colonel Qingqi, things are different now. In the past, the Chongqing government may have indeed disliked the New Fourth Army.”

But things are different now. He Xingjian has defected to us, and their strength in the Jiangnan region has been reduced by more than half. If they want to continue causing trouble in the Jiangnan region, do they have to provide guns to the New Fourth Army?
Besides, the Type 38 rifles were second-hand. Giving them second-hand rifles would perfectly fit the Chongqing style of giving them things, but not wanting to give them anything too good.

Furthermore, where would Shanghai's black market get so many Type 38 rifles?

After Ding Mocun finished speaking, he seemed to realize something and exchanged a glance with Li Shiqun, who had also come to his senses.

Ding Mocun tentatively asked, "Do you suspect that someone inside is reselling Type 38 rifles? Or do you suspect that someone in the army has been bribed by the Communist Party?"

"Investigate!" Jiro Miura said, his eyes wide. "Regardless of whether our people are involved in the reselling, this matter must be thoroughly investigated!"
"How did these guns get out? Who bought them? And how were they transported to the New Fourth Army? You two must find out the truth!"

How can they investigate this? It's a matter for the Japanese themselves; how can they investigate it? It's inconvenient.

Haruki Keiichi added, "If it were our people reselling guns, our investigation would likely alarm them. You should investigate secretly, starting with the quartermasters, to see if they have any unusual activities."

(End of this chapter)