Chapter 8: Seeing Through The Facade
Swallowing so many materials in one go, Chen Yang gave Lin Xueli a meaningful glance.
This Elder Brother is usually quiet and unassuming, unlike Lin Xueyi who acts so impetuously.
But he is definitely no pushover, Chen Yang was certain that among the partners he mentioned, Uncle Lin Zonghan was absolutely not included.
In other words, he was also secretly building his own strength.
In a daze, he recalled various Hong Kong and Taiwan dramas he had watched in later years, which featured many feuds among wealthy families, full of trouble.
But the struggles in reality were even more brutal than in the TV dramas.
Taking a deep breath, Chen Yang suddenly smiled and said, “Elder Brother, did you receive some intelligence that made you think of stockpiling large quantities of materials at this time?”
“You said you have studied the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s materials sales for nearly half a year, so you can go directly to meet Tanaka Ichiro.”
“But you want to do it secretly through me, which means the stockpiling of materials must be done privately and secretly, without letting others know.”
“It seems the person you connected with has considerable power and status.”
Lin Xueli was immediately stunned.
He could not imagine that without revealing anything, just from a few words, Chen Yang could deduce useful information.
No wonder his father liked this kid so much; he was indeed smart to a frightening degree.
After a moment of silence, Lin Xueli said leisurely, “Some things, even if you guess them, I won’t admit.”
“Chen Yang, what I want to know now is the answer: can you give me all these materials?”
Chen Yang looked at Lin Xueli and suddenly smiled: “Elder Brother, if you want them, of course I can help you.”
“However, this price.”
Lin Xueli hurriedly said, “Price is no problem, you name a number, as long as it’s reasonable, we absolutely won’t haggle.”
Chen Yang said slowly, “I don’t want cash or legal tender, I only want gold.”
“By the way, let me remind you: if your intelligence network is useless, just disband it. Four or five hundred tons of materials, heh, I can give you an accurate number: the materials in the Osaka Chamber of Commerce warehouse are not just a few hundred tons, but around one thousand seven hundred forty tons.”
“With my authority, I can give you at most a ten percent discount on various materials. If you want to take it all, one ton of gold, and it has to be the kind issued by the Shanghai Gold Bureau with international transaction markings, not the large yellow croakers on the market.”
“One ton of gold?” After hearing Chen Yang’s quotation, Lin Xueli silently began calculating if this deal was worthwhile.
Currently on the Shanghai market, one large yellow croaker is three hundred silver dollars, and one large yellow croaker weighs ten taels. In the Republic of China era, the popular sixteen-tael system was used, which according to the Gold Bureau’s weight is 312 grams; three large yellow croakers are 936 grams.
One ton of gold is one thousand kilograms of gold, which converts to nearly a million silver dollars.
Of course, it might be even more, because the Gold Bureau’s gold price fluctuates with the market, and now with large-scale war breaking out in China, gold prices have been soaring.
This nearly a million silver dollars, calculated at the current market floating rate, would probably cost over a million silver dollars.
One thousand seven hundred forty tons of materials for over a million silver dollars—if it were last year, that would be expensive, but now with war everywhere and material prices soaring, Lin Xueli pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, “Good, no problem. I need two days to raise the funds; transaction before the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month.”
Chen Yang chuckled lightly, “Elder Brother, the French people are so rich, able to scrape together a million silver dollars in two days.”
Lin Xueli’s face changed drastically in an instant, and he exclaimed, “How do you know?”
Chen Yang said amiably, “Isn’t that simple? You said Chinese businesses are resisting Japanese materials.”
“You’re operating in the French Concession, and able to sideline Uncle, which means the other party’s strength should be a level higher than Uncle’s.”
“As far as I know, Uncle is already a top businessman in Shanghai; there aren’t many more powerful than him, and even fewer merchants in the French Concession. I first thought it was a Shanghai Green Gang big shot.”
“But I immediately realized it wasn’t right; from your attitude toward Second Brother just now, it’s clear you don’t think much of these Green Gang people at all.”
“If not the Green Gang, yet able to wield influence in the French Concession, the answer is obvious: Elder Brother, the one you connected with should be a director of the French Concession Municipal Council. Besides the two Chinese Directors, there are nine other seats in the French Concession Municipal Council. Let me guess who you connected with.”
“No, no, I admit you’re formidable, don’t guess anymore.” Just a few short sentences nearly exposed all his secrets, leaving Lin Xueli flustered.
Although he knew Chen Yang had always been a demon, he didn’t expect him to be this uncanny; Lin Xueli hadn’t even asked an off-topic question, yet Chen Yang easily uncovered his background.
Fortunately, this was his own younger brother; if it were someone else, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.
“Chen Yang, you’re tired too, rest for a bit. Father has arranged a welcoming banquet for you tonight.”
“I’ll go first. I’ll give you a reply on the funds within two days. Oh, and you absolutely cannot tell anyone else.”
“Alright, no need to teach me the principle that secrecy ensures success.”
French Concession, 1066 Jinxian Road, garden house.
This was the private residence of Pi Shaona, one of the directors of the French Concession Municipal Council.
The directors of the French Concession were the group with the highest power in the French Concession.
In the earliest days, the French Concession had only five directors: one general director, usually concurrently held by the consul of the French Concession consulate.
Below him was one deputy director and three directors.
The deputy director’s main duty was to assist the general director in managing Municipal Council affairs.
These three directors were respectively in charge of finance, civil affairs, and police.
The French Concession was established in 1849, nearly a century ago.
Originally the French Concession was a French activity area; in 1853, the Taiping Rebellion broke out, and at that time, the famous Shanghai gang Small Swords Society leader Liu Licai, in response to the call, also led his men in uprising.
Shanghai had various forces clashing, in complete chaos, with large numbers of Chinese common people entering the concession for protection. After study, the French Municipal Council decided to open the concession and allow Chinese common people to enter.
It was precisely the entry of these common people that made the French Concession the most prosperous area in Shanghai.
With the population surge, the Municipal Council’s directors increased from three to six.
Now, besides the French people, the Municipal Council specially established two Chinese Directors for joint management.
These two Chinese Directors were the renowned Boss Du and Boss Zhang of the French Concession.
In the study on the second floor, Pi Shaona held documents sent by the Municipal Council, his face ominously grim.
This was a joint letter from these foreign merchants in the French Concession.
Since the Battle of Songhu broke out, the Japanese quickly controlled most areas of Shanghai.
Although the French Concession was not under Japanese jurisdiction, their Naval Landing Command tolerated their fleet intercepting merchant ships of various countries heading to Shanghai in the outer sea.
Not only the navy, the Japanese Gendarmerie Headquarters also dispatched patrol boats to detain vessels for various reasons.
The French Concession’s directly administered Sixteen Rows, Yangjingbang, Xinkaihe, and other wharves had all been inspected by them without cause.
From the report, from last October until now, the Japanese had detained at least hundreds of tons of materials.
Among them were no lack of important materials such as rubber, ore, and medicine.
