Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 40 We can't afford to lose our reputation.

Ono Oda admired it for more than ten minutes, so much so that he completely forgot about Cao Weida.

Cao Weida coughed. "Ono-kun, it is indeed difficult to identify the authenticity of this antique in a short period of time. Why don't you put it away for now and take it back to examine it at your leisure?"

"You're right, it does require careful examination to distinguish. I'll put it away for now." Reluctantly, she put the porcelain back into the box and pressed the box tightly against her feet. She was clearly unwilling to let go of it!
"Ono-kun, come on, let's keep drinking."

"Yoshi, Cao-san, come here!"

Having received a treasure, Ono Oda is in a great mood, and the smile on his face is much more genuine.

The two drank and chatted, their mood quite harmonious.

After a few rounds of drinks, Ono Oda spoke up: "Cao-san, I know it's difficult for him to find the murderer, but this matter has too serious an impact, and I have to give my superiors an explanation."

Ono Oda was not only not stupid, but rather quite shrewd. He naturally understood Xu Hancheng's intention in sending this treasure under the guise of 'appraisal'.

As a native of Osaka, I believe in integrity.

Since they offered a price and he accepted it, he naturally has to give something in return.

We can't afford to lose our reputation!
"Understood, understood!" Cao Weida nodded hurriedly. "We will definitely hand over the 'murderer' within three days, and we will also punish the patrol captain in that area accordingly. We will absolutely not make things difficult for Ono-kun!"

Isn't it just about finding someone to take the blame so they can report back to their superiors? In China, there are plenty of people who commit heinous crimes.

Just pick one at random.

In this way, not only will they be able to report back to Ono Oda, but they will also be able to rid themselves of a wicked menace.

He can also take this opportunity to deal with that bastard Sang Liuji, which is killing three birds with one stone!

"Yoshi, Cao-san, you've thought this through very well. It's settled then, three days!"

Ono Oda didn't really care about the two dead Japanese soldiers. Hundreds or even thousands of Japanese soldiers died every day, and in a single battle, an entire regiment could be wiped out.

Didn't one Japanese soldier die last time? Ono Oda wasn't too angry, and the higher-ups didn't even bother to ask about it.

The main reason was that the perpetrator stripped the soldiers of their clothes and threw them on the street, which embarrassed the Japanese soldiers and forced the higher-ups to intervene.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you get your results in three days." Cao Weida raised his glass and clinked it with his, the two exchanged a smile, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Oh right, I almost forgot," Ono Oda put down his wine glass, his eyes sparkling.

"If the murderer is caught, it would be best to make him compensate for the assassination."

"Two valiant warriors of the Empire did not die on the battlefield, but were instead shamefully assassinated and unjustly humiliated. This is an insult to soldiers!"

"Not only that, their families also lost their source of income as a result. I think such behavior should result in compensation of double for the economic and emotional losses of the two military families!"

Cao Wei scoffed inwardly, thinking, "What the hell are you waving around? Just admit you want to embezzle."

To actually believe that this money would end up in the hands of the families of those two dead Japanese soldiers would be utterly idiotic.

"Yes, yes, yes, the Warriors should indeed be compensated. Don't worry, I will try my best, and I will definitely make sure to get that compensation from them!"

"Yoshi, on behalf of the warriors of the Empire, I raise a toast to you!"

After finishing his drink, Cao Weida asked curiously, "Ono-kun, I heard that our Ministry of Finance plans to issue a large batch of Union Bank notes next month?"

The United Bank Notes were paper currency issued by the United Reserve Bank of China, the puppet regime known as the "North China Provisional Government".

Throughout the War of Resistance against Japan, the puppet regime issued a total of 1432 billion yuan from banks, while the issuance in the early days of 1938 was only 1600 million yuan.

In just seven years, the number of copies issued has increased nearly ten thousand times.

"That's true. Why are you asking about this, Cao Sang?"

This information wasn't classified; not too many people knew about it, but not too few either.

Anyone with a bit of inside information can find out.

"Ono-kun, this is a chance to make a fortune!"

"Oh? Get rich?!" Upon hearing the words 'get rich,' Ono Oda's eyes lit up. People from Osaka can't stand hearing those two words, otherwise, they'll all get excited!

His interest was immediately piqued, "Tell me in detail."

"Ono-kun, I've heard that this time they've printed an extra 500-yuan note, and the amount printed is enormous!"

"So what?" Ono Oda asked, puzzled.

"Of course, we should take this opportunity to make a fortune!" Cao Weida said excitedly. "Since last year, in order to support the war effort, banks have been printing money like crazy, which has made the already fragile currency market extremely vulnerable. This year, they have gone even further and printed an additional 500 denominations of Lianyin notes!"

Excessive money supply floods the market like worthless paper, inevitably leading to a dramatic collapse in currency value.

"Currently, 100 yuan can still buy a batch of flour, but if there is any over-issuance, let alone 100 yuan for a batch of flour, it is uncertain whether even 1,000 yuan can buy a pound of flour!"

"What does this have to do with us?" Ono Oda was even more confused. Their transactions involved gold, US dollars, and other stable currencies; even if the Union Silver Certificates depreciated significantly, it wouldn't affect him in the slightest. "Of course it's relevant!" Cao Weida exclaimed excitedly.

"Think about it, if we borrow money from the bank now, exchange it for supplies, and then do nothing but wait for the over-issued UnionPay vouchers to flow into the market, wouldn't we be able to make a fortune without doing anything!"

"Alternatively, we can borrow supplies from the gentry, convert them to the current price, and then sell them when the price goes up. We can then pay the gentry back the money, and keep all the difference!"

Cao Wei had practically crushed the food, almost feeding it to Ono Oda himself, so Ono naturally understood.

Because he understood, his heart was pounding uncontrollably, and the noise was so loud that anyone who didn't know better would think someone was banging a drum!
His eyes grew brighter and brighter, and an emotion called greed began to grow within them.

Cao Weida looked at him expectantly, but his heart was completely calm.

Human nature is greedy; he threw out such a huge bait to lure Ono Oda into the trap.

He was always wary of the Japanese, especially after discovering that Nakamura was quite capable, he became even more cautious.

He suspected that those damned Japanese devils wanted to discard him after he had served his purpose!
Therefore, he had to demonstrate his value; he had to let the Japanese devils know that his life was not important, but he as a person was very important!

He can help them make money!

Of course, his purpose was not limited to that.
Ono Oda has indeed taken the bait. This is a huge windfall, and he can't help but be tempted!

"Cao Sang, you're very good! Okay, I'll go out and make a phone call, I'll be right back."

After a while, not only Ono Oda arrived, but Fujita Sousuke and the others also came.

Before they could exchange more than a few pleasantries, Matsui Koji impatiently interrupted them, asking about their plans to make a fortune.

Cao Wei Da naturally did not hide anything and explained his thoughts one by one.

"This is a real chance to make a fortune!" Matsui Koji's face was full of longing and greed for money. They weren't stupid; they just hadn't thought about it this way before.

Duobianyi, however, felt something was amiss: "Isn't this behavior tantamount to undermining the empire?"

Upon hearing this, he was met with a look from Matsui Koji as if he were an idiot.

Undermining the empire?

So what if we dig it up?
What does it matter to him whether the empire has money or not?

He doesn't care about any damn country; he just wants to stuff money into his own pocket!
He strongly agrees with the Chinese saying, "If a person doesn't look out for themselves, they'll be punished by heaven and earth!"

Was his purpose in coming to China really for some damned Emperor?
Risking his life at any moment, isn't it all just to sleep with more women and make more money?
Then take this money back to his hometown and restore the glory of the Matsui family!

Ignoring the seemingly mentally deficient Duobian, he turned his gaze to Ono Oda and Fujita: "Ono-kun, Fujita-kun, let's do it!"

"We want to live a life of luxury forever, and that all comes down to money!"

“My father called me yesterday. That damned Emperor is using this excuse to make our family donate money again. If this keeps up, our Matsui family will be eating dirt!”

"Do you still harbor any fear that the empire has a future?!"

In 1942, the Japanese army suffered a complete defeat in the Battle of Guadalcanal, which turned the Japanese army from a strategic advantage into a disadvantage.

In 1943, during the Burma-Western Yunnan Campaign, 25,000 Japanese soldiers were annihilated, and the Japanese completely lost the Burma Road. The Japanese military situation in the international arena was once again severely damaged!

In addition, China's occupation efforts have been unable to gain any traction, and the occupied territory has even been reduced at one point.

Looking at the various currencies that were frequently over-issued in the Chinese-occupied territories, it is not difficult to see the dire situation the Japanese army was in at that time.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Japanese army is now at the end of its rope.

Those with connections and a way out are already making preparations quietly.

Only a fool like Duobian Yi, who has no connections or background, is so foolish as to worry about this and that.

It's only because of Duobian's special position that Koji Matsui really didn't want to include him.

Ono Oda didn't answer immediately, but looked at Fujita Sousuke: "Fujita-kun, what do you think?"

All eyes, including Cao Weida's, were once again focused on Fujita Sōsuke.

Fujita Sosuke was clearly not a fool, nor was he a staunch anti-Japanese fighter; he had his own selfish motives.

After only a brief consideration, I made a decisive decision.

However, he still had some questions to answer: "Cao Sang, everyone knows the current situation in the occupied territories within China. Even if we borrow money, where will we buy so many supplies?"

"We're not the only smart people. If we make too much of a fuss, won't people get suspicious? What if they refuse to sell us supplies then?"

Yes, the money has been lent out, but it's useless if it doesn't come with supplies!
Even if you can make some money when you pay back the money, you're just borrowing some toilet paper, paying back some toilet paper, and what's left is still toilet paper. What's the point?

We can't just leave it as toilet paper, can we?
All eyes turned to Cao Weida.

(End of this chapter)