Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 266 Appointment
"Is there such a big movement?"

Before, No. 76 only killed police officers in the police station, which were considered expendable resources. Now, they are actually killing British directors.

Gu Yansheng was surprised, picked up the phone and dialed Ding Mocun.

"Hey, Director Ding, did you do this for Sato?"

Ding Mocun understood in a second, "That Englishman Keswick? How could it be me? It was Wu Sibao and his men who did it."

"Wu Sibao?"

"Yes, I heard from my subordinates that Wu Sibao had invested so much in futures trading that he mortgaged his house and his wife's jewelry, and in the end, he still lost everything."

"Is he an idiot?"

Gu Yansheng didn't know what to say after hearing this.

At the time, Gu Yansheng encouraged Wu Sibao to invest in stocks, partly to distract him, and partly to plan for a day when he would suffer a huge loss. Whenever Wu Sibao needed money, Gu Yansheng could control him.

But no one expected that Wu Sibao would lose everything in one go.

Talent.

"He's an idiot to begin with." Ding Mocun didn't hold back on Wu Sibao's feelings, sneering, "I know he loses every time he tries to trade stocks, and he still dares to do it? And he's going to gamble so much? If he's not an idiot, then who is?"

"Okay, I got it. It's fine if it's not you. I'm reminding you, it's still uncertain whether Sato can keep his position as the person in charge of Shanghai. If he makes any demands, be careful."

"How could I not understand? Don't worry." Ding Mocun wasn't stupid. Sato lost money and caused such a big incident as a confrontation with the concession. It was only a matter of time before he was taken down by Mitsui.

"That's all for now, bye."

Gu Yansheng put down the phone. Since it was Wu Sibao who killed him, there was no need to worry about it.

When Wu Sibao got into trouble, it was Li Shiqun who cleaned up his mess.

As for money, Gu Yansheng didn't really have any way to make a fortune for him at the moment.

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

"Hello, Minister."

"Are you busy? Come over to me when you have time."

"Okay, I'll be right over."

Gu Yansheng went downstairs and drove to Zhou Mansion.

Wang's faction has been busy with negotiations these days, so contacting him probably means there's more to the story.

Gu Yansheng's car drove into Zhou's residence.

"minister."

Gu Yansheng greeted them, and Mei Siping, the head of the publicity department, was also there. He greeted them and then left.

"Yansheng, you're here. Have a seat." Minister Zhou frowned and said, "I heard that a British director was murdered, and it was done by someone from the 76th Division?"

"Yes, that's true." Gu Yansheng explained what he knew, stating that it was Wu Sibao's personal behavior, and offered a solution.

"If you want to cover it up, you can blame it on the Military Intelligence Bureau, saying that the Military Intelligence Bureau tried to provoke conflict between the two sides."

However, Minister Zhou's ambitions lay elsewhere.

"I've heard about the cotton yarn war. It's like heaven or hell in a single moment. How's your business?" Minister Zhou asked with a smile.

Gu Yansheng smiled faintly, "I dare not risk the country's money. I'll take my profits and make a small profit of nearly 4000 million."

"4000 million?!" Minister Zhou's voice rose eight octaves, clearly astonished. "That much?"

Gu Yansheng nodded quietly.

Minister Zhou sighed with admiration, "Impressive, Yansheng, your ability to make money from money is truly masterful."

"The timing was right; I was just lucky," Gu Yansheng said modestly.

Minister Zhou didn't believe it. "Just by being able to see the timing, I'm far superior to others. Otherwise, why am I the one making money?"

"Isn't it you?" Gu Yansheng asked in surprise.

"Huh? Hahahaha, don't try to find loopholes in what I said."

Gu Yansheng continued his report: "The money is currently in the bank's accounts. Due to the recent economic turmoil in Shanghai, I told the people at the bank that they shouldn't lend money unless they were sure of success. So the total amount of loans is not much, and the balance is ample. I wonder if you have any instructions?"

Minister Zhou gave a drawn-out "hmm" and pondered, "Our recent negotiations with Japan are basically nearing completion. The main framework has been set, and we are just checking and filling in the gaps in the details. Cooperation is a certainty."

However, we did make concessions, such as the advisory system.

We must admit that, to a certain extent, we need to consider the opinions of the Japanese when we do things. This means that we will know where the country's funds will flow in the future, and the Japanese will also know.

Therefore, it's best to keep this money in separate places.

We need both a transparent accounting system and a secret accounting system; in other words, we need our own slush fund, instead of having to rely on the Japanese for every expense.

Gu Yansheng nodded in agreement, thought for a moment and said, "There shouldn't be any problem. Currently, only Fu Xiao'an knows how much money we've made, but he also has his own agenda. I don't think he would report his financial gains to the Japanese, so this money can indeed be hidden."

Minister Zhou smiled with satisfaction, pointed to Gu Yansheng and himself, and said, "For now, it's enough for just the two of us to know about this money. Do you understand what I mean?"

How could you not understand? They were guarding against Wang Ni.

"I'll take care of it."

"Alright, have some tea." Minister Zhou waved his hand and waited for Gu Yansheng to finish his tea before personally refilling his cup. "Although the negotiations with the Japanese are nearing their end, they are not over yet, so we cannot interfere with the actions of the 76th Division."

Wu Sibao's actions are none of our business.

Recently, I decided to go to Nanjing to have a talk with Liang Hongzhi.

I've been waiting for Liang Hongzhi to take the initiative to talk to me these past few days, but I haven't received a single phone call. This guy is a bit tactless.

"Are you free to come with me?"

“Sure, I’m available anytime.” Gu Yansheng nodded.

Liang Hongzhi was indeed a bit tactless; his position as chairman of the Nanjing Reformed Government was far worse than that of Wang Kemin in North China.

Most importantly, the North China Army's support for Wang Kemin has never changed, but the Central China Expeditionary Army has even had its headquarters abolished, leaving Liang Hongzhi with absolutely no leverage.

Oh, perhaps he thought the pacification army in his hands was a bargaining chip, who knows?

Taking him down should be a piece of cake.

They invited Ding Mocun, and the group headed to Nanjing the next day.

On the train, Minister Zhou was still joking, "Do you think Liang Hongzhi will be like Wang Kemin and not come to pick us up?"

“It’s possible. He didn’t come when we came to Nanjing last time, did he?” Ding Mocun held a grudge.

Minister Zhou smiled. "Yansheng, what do you think?"

Gu Yansheng scoffed, "He definitely won't come. Isn't he putting on airs right now? If he comes now, what's the point of his previous tough attitude? He'll have been putting on an act for nothing."

"Hahahaha." Minister Zhou shook his head and laughed. "We are so disliked, unpopular everywhere. Sometimes I really think, if they were a little more sensible, I would give them some face, and we could all live in peace. The government is not something that one or two people can manage, so they will definitely have a way to make a living."

But they insisted on being number one, even knowing the Japanese weren't on their side anymore; it was astonishingly stupid.

When the train arrived at the station, the group exited the platform and saw that the person from number 76 was standing like a wooden statue, and Liang Hongzhi was indeed nowhere to be seen.

Minister Zhou sighed, in a good mood, and smiled at the two people beside him, "It's best if they don't come, then we don't need to save face for them."

The car drove directly to the headquarters of the dispatched army.

He met with Seishiro Itagaki.

Minister Zhou said, "Your Excellency Itagaki, we have come to Nanjing this time to deal with the issue of merging with Liang Hongzhi. Our peace negotiations have reached the final stage, and the only thing missing is the merger."

Now Liang Hongzhi is avoiding us. I don't know what he means by this.
I think you might need to invite him before he'll be willing to sit down and negotiate.

Itagaki had no objection to this. Whether it was from the perspective of forcing Chongqing or from the perspective that Chongqing would not agree and the Wang Jingwei regime would have to be established, supporting the Wang Jingwei regime was imperative.

Without Liang Hongzhi's involvement, this person has little value.

"I'll call him and ask him to come over."

"grateful."

After Itagaki finished his call, while waiting, Minister Zhou asked, "Any new information regarding the contact with Chongqing?"

"No." Itagaki frowned and sighed deeply. He didn't know whether Chongqing should negotiate or not.

How could someone go back to report and receive no response for over a month? This attitude is indeed very abnormal, just as Gu Yansheng said.

If you're saying Chongqing is lying to them and stalling for time, then they should at least continue negotiating, even if it's just once a month. There's absolutely no need for them to disappear.

"It's been over a month, and there's still no news?"

“We asked around, and according to reports from Hong Kong, Song Ziliang communicated with them once via telegram in Chongqing. The upper echelons in Chongqing need to discuss the terms we proposed. Due to the large number of factions, it will take time to reach an agreement, so it will be quite long. We are asked to wait patiently.”

"Ha." Minister Zhou laughed. "Isn't this just playing you for fools? It's obvious they're not sincere. In a month and a half, we've finished discussing and finalizing so many details, while they only have a few framework agreements. Why would they need to discuss this for so long?"

Lord Itagaki, have you ever considered that if their goal is simply to delay, how many things will fall apart if they drag things out for a year? How many unexpected events might occur as a result?
For example, might he be thinking of delaying the establishment of the new government while sending the Military Intelligence Bureau to Shanghai to assassinate Mr. Wang?

If he succeeds, not only will the government not confront him, but his prestige within the party will also rise again.

In that case, Japan will lose everything.

These words were hard for Itagaki to accept, since the establishment of the Wang Jingwei regime was not his achievement; it was the successful negotiations with the whole of China that allowed him to return to the central government.

“I know what Minister Zhou means. He wants me to do my best to promote the new government. My promise to you will not change. March is the deadline. If the Chiang Kai-shek government fails to negotiate a settlement in March, the new government will be established.”

Minister Zhou's alarmist rhetoric achieved its purpose, paving the way for the upcoming conversation. He smiled and nodded, "Everything is getting better. With unity of purpose, anything is possible. We and Japan are truly friends in the same boat."

After waiting for half an hour, Liang Hongzhi arrived.

When Itagaki made the call, he only asked Liang Hongzhi to come over, without mentioning that they were there. Now that Liang Hongzhi saw Minister Zhou and the others, his expression changed from a warm smile to a fake one.

Itagaki didn't care about his feelings and greeted him, "Mr. Liang, Mr. Wang's representative, Minister Zhou, is here to discuss the merger of the new government. We hope you can reach an agreement as soon as possible and complete the handover of the various departments of the new government. Let's begin."

Minister Zhou smiled and said, "Mr. Liang, it's been a long time. The merger is beneficial to the country and the people. Mr. Wang knows how hard Mr. Liang works in Nanjing, so he came to ask me what your demands are."

"Demands? Ha." Since things had come to this, Liang Hongzhi simply sat down on the single seat of the sofa with an air of nonchalance. "I agree that the merger of the new government is beneficial to the country and the people."

From the perspective of benefiting the country and its people, wouldn't it be more beneficial to let those familiar officials govern these neighboring provinces?

Liang Hongzhi waved his hand at Itagaki, "It will benefit the interests of the Great Japanese Empire in China."

Liang Hongzhi turned around and smiled, "Mr. Zhou, do you think I'm right?"

Minister Zhou paused for a moment, then smiled faintly and said, "That's not quite right. Yes, from the perspective of handling things, experienced people are definitely faster than novices. But from the perspective of the final result, the winner always wins. The so-called 'latecomer surpasses the old' means the same thing. Does Mr. Liang think what I said makes sense?"

Liang Hongzhi scoffed, "That doesn't make sense. We're at war right now. There's no time for you to get familiar with things slowly. These cities in the Japanese-occupied zone are like a sophisticated machine. Every day, its output is used to support the Japanese army's frontline operations."

If a city changes its leader, it may cause the city's operation to fall into chaos, causing the entire machine to collapse and stop working.

Shanghai is a good example. After changing its leaders, the economy collapsed twice in a short period of time. In the end, it was because Fu Xiao'an had a great reputation, but his political ability was quite average.

Some people are all show and no substance, their reputation far exceeding their actual abilities.

Minister Zhou chuckled lightly, ignoring the veiled insults, and raised his hand to introduce, "This is Minister Gu Yansheng. He's not from Chongqing, nor is he an acquaintance of mine, but in my eyes, his abilities are, in your words, that he may not be well-known but is very powerful. Mr. Liang, do you think he's capable of governing Nanjing?"

“Him?” Liang Hongzhi glanced at Gu Yansheng and laughed. “He’s about the same age as my grandson, and he’s the minister you’ve chosen. Doesn’t that just prove you have no one else?”

"Why don't you think this is meritocracy?"

“Only the virtuous?” Liang Hongzhi laughed heartily. “Alright, then let’s discuss it. In terms of family background, my family has produced many famous scholars for generations, including two governors. As far as I know, Mr. Wang’s ancestors didn’t have any official positions, right? His father didn’t even have a basic degree.”

In terms of scholarship, I am a Juren (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), one in a million, if not one in ten thousand. And him? A Xiucai (a lower-level scholar).

In terms of experience, my father was the vice consul at the Chinese Consulate in Nagasaki, Japan. I am familiar with Japanese customs and how society works. Japan is my second home. I know how to cooperate with the Japanese and I am capable of doing so.

What about him? He went to Japan to study on government scholarship. He was lucky if he could learn some knowledge from Japanese textbooks in that short time. Did he even know anything about Japan? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he knew absolutely nothing.

In terms of political ability, when he took his wife to study in France, I was already participating in Yuan Shikai's cabinet.

In terms of personal ability, I reached the position of Chairman, while he, by associating with President Sun, only managed to obtain the position of Vice President and was suppressed by Chiang Kai-shek for half his life, having no real power.

In terms of experience, how long did I stay in the Japanese-occupied zone, while he only served as a traitor for a few days?
"Personnel selection is based on merit, Minister Zhou, why don't you just appoint people then?"

He truly surpassed Liang in every aspect, and his words were well-reasoned, supported by evidence, and verifiable. Even Minister Zhou was somewhat taken aback by his own words, saying, "Mr. Liang's eloquence is truly remarkable."

Liang Hongzhi laughed heartily, “This is nothing! As for literary talent, I wouldn’t say I’m a scholar with vast knowledge, but I can certainly rival Su Dongpo. If Mr. Zhou can convince me with words, then you’re already at the level of a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), hahahaha.”

Minister Zhou smiled and glanced at Gu Yansheng. He believed that Gu Yansheng could speak better than him when it came to words.

"Yansheng, do you think what Mr. Liang said makes sense?"

“There’s no logic to it.” Gu Yansheng immediately stirred up hatred with his words. “So-called family is nothing but what the previous spouse left behind. Chickens have their coops and dogs have their kennels. It’s nothing.”

In terms of knowledge and insight, if the son of a vice consul at a consulate is a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, and a man without official rank raises a son who is a scholar, I would lean towards the latter being more hardworking and intelligent.

He could only reach the level of a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations), but he could only reach the level of a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examinations).

Without that family background, he might be nothing.

Things are different now; comparing who glanced at Japan more often is utterly meaningless.

The new government urgently needs to address issues such as development, economic growth, and stability.

Mr. Liang felt that he managed his subordinates very well.

But in fact, even in Nanjing, where Mr. Liang himself was in charge, the economy was a complete mess.

The surprisingly low housing prices in Nanjing only prove that many people haven't returned to the city.

Why not come back? In four words: Nanjing is not good enough.

"Sharp-tongued." Liang Hongzhi was too lazy to argue with Gu Yansheng, and looked at Minister Zhou and said, "Merger is fine. The jurisdiction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, as well as Shanghai and Nanjing will all belong to me."

"impossible."

(End of this chapter)