Chapter 258:
“There’s one more thing, I need Mr. Gu’s help,” Sato continued.
“Please speak,” Gu Yansheng was very polite.
“I heard the Military Department is vigorously promoting the establishment of the Wang government, and even the specific date has been set? Are you going to Beiping this time to negotiate related matters with the North China Provisional Government?”
“Mr. Sato’s information is very well-informed, it is true that there is such a matter.”
“Yes, after the new government is established, it will definitely require procurement of military supplies and equipment. I hope Mr. Gu can help persuade the Wang government to go through our Mitsui procurement channels for equipment procurement.”
“I see.”
“Business is sensitive, Mitsui considers problems very early. Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and said, ‘Mr. Sato, I am certainly willing to help, but I am not responsible for this aspect of affairs, so I am afraid I cannot help much.'”
Sato smiled, “Mr. Gu is too modest. As far as I know, your influence among the Wang Faction Personnel is not low, and your importance even exceeds that of some original elders of the Wang Faction. Among the four core figures going to Beiping, you are one of them.
With your recommendation, I believe we can persuade them to purchase our goods, rather than from Mitsubishi or other arms factories.”
Gu Yansheng certainly had to maintain his relationship with Mitsui.
After a brief moment of difficult thought, he said, “When it comes to specific orders, I will do my best to speak for Mitsui.”
Sato’s smile bloomed, “Mr. Gu, it has been a very pleasant cooperation with you. Please wait a moment.”
Sato stood up, walked to the desk, took out a box from the drawer, returned to his seat, and handed it to Gu Yansheng.
“What is this?” Gu Yansheng asked doubtfully.
Sato waved his hand, “Open it and take a look.”
Gu Yansheng opened the box. The contents were exceptionally dazzling, it was actually a golden pistol.
Gu Yansheng’s eyes inquired.
Sato laughed, “A sharp sword is given to a hero. This is a sample from our Mitsui Arms Factory. It’s a reciprocal gift. I hope Mr. Gu likes it.”
Such vulgar things, small favors and petty gifts, trying to buy off Gu Yansheng.
One could only say that they knew people very well.
The next day, Gu Yansheng went to No. 76 to show off.
He placed the box on Ding Mocun’s desk.
“What is this?” Ding Mocun opened the box in surprise, then his eyes lit up, he took out the gun and played with it, “It’s gold? That’s a generous gesture, brother. I really didn’t expect you to give me this gift. You are too polite. I don’t accept rewards without merit. Tell me, what do you need done, and I’ll do anything I can for you.”
“What are you thinking about?” Gu Yansheng crossed his legs and rolled his eyes, “Sato gave it to me last night.”
Ding Mocun’s expression went rigid, “I knew there wouldn’t be such a good thing. I even bought you a coffee machine, and you wouldn’t even give me a bowl, and it was a fake. How could you give me a golden pistol?”
Ding Mocun had a bitter face, full of resentment.
Gu Yansheng didn’t like hearing that, “Haven’t I made money for you?”
“We’ve made money, we’ve made money.” Ding Mocun joked, put the gun back, and looked at it a few more times reluctantly, “That’s very generous. When we first met Sato, I still remember how arrogant he was. Now he’s giving you gifts. That’s quite a quick change in attitude.
Did you handle things with Sato?”
“It’s handled,” Gu Yansheng let out a long sigh, “It took me a lot of effort and I pulled many strings to make this happen. From now on, some things will be up to you to operate.”
Gu Yansheng explained the situation. Mainly, the Burmese side had crossed the Japanese line, and the Party-State army needed to be looked after, which required the CC faction to get involved.
“As long as this channel is established, our smuggling will be much safer in the future.”
Ding Mocun understood, “The matter isn’t difficult, it’s just that they will definitely want a cut.”
“You negotiate that, push the price down hard,” Gu Yansheng didn’t mind the CC faction taking a share; those who eat alone often don’t have a good end.
“Okay, I’ll take care of it. I’ll communicate as soon as possible. It’s really beautiful.”
“Stop looking, your eyes are about to fall out. If you make money, you can get one made for yourself, it’s not even two catties.”
“Sato gave it, how can it be the same? Look, there’s also the Mitsui logo. If you find a private factory, would you dare to make this thing?”
Ding Mocun argued vehemently, he truly liked it.
Then Gu Yansheng took it away ruthlessly.
Back at the tea house, Gu Yansheng read the newspaper.
The concession capital had now turned against them. After going long on cotton, the concession newspapers were vigorously promoting the actual value of cotton yarn and the necessity of price increases.
The Chinese newspapers reported that various businessmen were indeed unable to sit still. Reporters interviewed businessmen about their views on today’s cotton yarn prices soaring to the sky.
The businessmen complained that it was too expensive and they were completely unprepared.
But when reporters asked them if they would buy, they said they still had to buy.
One reason was that the seller guaranteed smooth transportation. From Shanghai to their local areas, then processing into fabric, and finally making clothes to sell, the transportation, production, and sales stages all take time.
To sell high-priced clothes at the right time, they had to make the decision to buy now, otherwise their factories and shops would have to close down this year.
Their reactions were reflected in the newspaper’s finance section, where cotton yarn futures prices remained high, and stock analysts were also strongly hyping this year’s cotton yarn market trend, urging everyone to participate quickly.
A series of feedback would eventually be reflected in the stock prices, which would be driven up again.
The situation looked very promising, but public opinion was the least trustworthy. Gu Yansheng had to ask Lu Bowen about the spot market.
He called Lu Bowen and asked him about the spot market.
“How is our cotton yarn selling now?”
“Not bad.” Lu Bowen’s smile wasn’t just “not bad,” it was practically radiant. “Although there are people from the concession causing trouble, spreading rumors that businessmen should procure goods from concession cotton yarn factories, and even saying that there’s been a bumper harvest of Indian cotton and that cotton has been procured from India for processing in Shanghai, and so on. But Fu Xiao’an’s control is very timely, so it doesn’t affect our business.”
“What about the concession factories you mentioned?” Gu Yansheng casually asked.
“It’s like this, in the past, the cotton yarn produced by concession factories, due to its good quality, and because they had some issues with the Japanese in the Chinese territory, their goods were used for daily use in the concession, or sold overseas, such as to the United States and Europe.
The places they sold to were good, so the prices were high, and they had no competitive relationship with factories in the Chinese territory.
But this year, our cotton yarn prices have increased, haven’t they? And they’ve increased quite a bit, so the prices of concession cotton yarn seem more affordable.
The quality is good and the price is cheap, so some people are promoting that businessmen should buy from concession factories.”
Gu Yansheng listened and found no fault. “How did Fu Xiao’an handle it?”
Lu Bowen chuckled, “He doesn’t need to handle this at all. This is completely a rumor. Factories in the concession sign contracts with foreign countries every year, and they can’t possibly sell their goods. At most, they’ll have a small amount of scattered goods. Otherwise, they’ll have to pay penalties to foreign countries for breach of contract.
Who would give up a long-term good business to do a one-off deal with you?
So, this is just a clarification, and there’s no need to worry about it.”
Gu Yansheng nodded, “What about the Indian cotton?”
“That’s even simpler. He’s in charge of trade between the Chinese territory and the concession now, right? Indian cotton, you have to unload it, right? If he wants to prevent this Indian cotton from entering Shanghai, he can prevent it.
The concession can import it.
But if he wants to prevent the concession’s cotton yarn from being exported, then he can prevent it.”
This was about what Gu Yansheng thought. If he were in charge, he would do the same; it was simple and convenient.
He suspected that someone wanted to spread rumors to depress the stock price. It sounded like the concession capital was doing it, probably not believing it could rise this much and not wanting to cut their losses.
“I called you here for something,” Gu Yansheng got down to business, “I’ve recently been arranging a business to produce quinine for the Japanese, which I told you about before, asking you to open a pharmaceutical company.”
Gu Yansheng explained the process. “My plan is that with such a good production line and process, we can send people under the guise of supervision, to learn the technology of pharmaceutical production from experienced people in Chongqing.
You can recruit some pharmaceutical students from universities who are willing to travel to the Nationalist controlled area for a long period and offer them a higher salary, and then look for experienced people in society, a few of whom can also join.
We can consider it as training our own reserve personnel. If the organization needs them someday, we can recall the people, and this company, with these people, will have complete experience in pharmaceutical production.
Don’t consider their beliefs, and don’t tell them anything else. They are just ordinary office workers, as long as they can be useful.”
“This is feasible,” Lu Bowen said seriously, “Personnel for pharmaceutical production will definitely be needed in the future. I’ll make time to recruit people from universities and try to recruit them within the twenty days you’re transporting goods.”
“Good, it’s up to you.”
Since it didn’t involve beliefs, recruiting people shouldn’t be difficult. It was a long-term plan, laid out casually.
Two days later.
Gu Yansheng and the Tax Bureau Chief Wang Rusong went to the City Government to attend the Greater East Asia Ministry’s reporting meeting.
“Hey, Yansheng,” Ling Xianwen had already arrived and waved to Gu Yansheng, “Come, come, I have something to ask you. It’s not easy to see you these days. I called you a few days ago and found out you were on a business trip. I heard you went to Beiping?”
Gu Yansheng walked over and smiled, “Yes, I accompanied Mr. Wang to Beiping to discuss the merger.”
The Director of Finance next to him quickly stood up, pulled out a chair, and said with a smile, “Don’t stand and talk, Brother Gu, please sit down. You, move back a bit, make some space. He’s Minister Gu now, you need to make room.”
With those words, the directors around them began to move, without any dissatisfaction. This was the current situation.
Minister Gu was now close to Mr. Wang, his status was different, and he would need to rely on Minister Gu for future care of the City Government.
One could envy, but not be jealous. Jealousy was courting death.
“Is it necessary? It’s just a matter of placing a chair next to me,” Gu Yansheng smiled.
The Director of Finance pressed Gu Yansheng’s shoulder, “Just sit down, and quickly tell us, what is Mr. Wang and the Japanese saying now?”
So he talked. Gu Yansheng had been polite enough, and sitting here didn’t demean their status. Leaking some information was more important.
If it weren’t for his unusual relationship with Ling Xianwen, Ling Xianwen would also have to make way.
After a while, Tsuda Shizue walked in and went directly to the head of the table.
“Everyone is here. The economic situation in Shanghai has indeed improved recently. Compared to the last meeting, based on your performance observed over these past few months, there should have been significant improvement. We will now begin the reports.”
Ling Xianwen led the way, and they went one by one, with Gu Yansheng being second.
“Your Excellency Tsuda, I’ve been very busy recently and was on a business trip a few days ago. I haven’t seen the specific data. The development in West Shanghai should be good. Director Wang will explain the specifics.”
Gu Yansheng deliberately slacked off. Having achievements gave him the confidence to do so.
Achievements wouldn’t last forever, and it was time to withdraw at the appropriate moment.
Wang Rusong stood up and reported the intelligence, “Your Excellency Tsuda, under the leadership of Director Gu and myself, our West Shanghai district has achieved significant improvement. According to the amount collected in the past few days, the tax revenue increase is slightly over sixty percent. Here is a detailed list.”
“Oh.” A sixty percent increase! This achievement was very impressive. Except for Fu Xiao’an, who knew beforehand and remained calm, everyone else immediately started praising it.
Wang Rusong dealt with it with a smile, his face beaming with pride.
He was happy with the praise from his colleagues, but Tsuda Shizue also started praising him.
“The achievements in West Shanghai are outstanding. Director Gu and Director Wang, your efforts have fulfilled your previous promises.”
When Tsuda Shizue praised him, Wang Rusong straightened his back, his face full of pride, a highlight of his life.
“Thank you for your praise, Your Excellency. Your subordinate will certainly continue to work hard and strive for further progress!”
Gu Yansheng did not speak, but Tsuda Shizue still had to offer some encouragement, “Director Gu, you’ve done well.”
Gu Yansheng smiled, “Actually, I haven’t managed much recently. I’m just executing the plan that was set at the time. It’s within expectations. Your Excellency Tsuda, you mentioned that you would be in charge of the Greater East Asia Ministry in Shanghai and emphasized eight characters: ‘appointing people based on merit and governing by non-action.’ I found it very reasonable and inspiring. So, under Director Wang and my management, it’s roughly the state you described. The results are indeed good, and the facts prove that what you said is correct.”
This flattery made Tsuda Shizue feel very pleased, and he laughed heartily for the first time in a while.
One by one, they continued their reports. The people in the middle had very average achievements. The previous data was obtained through squeeze, and even buying vegetables required payment. Some people had already been squeezed dry, and even with other efforts in the past few months,
but the starting point of the previous squeeze was set too high, and now the retribution had arrived.
Tsuda Shizue’s expression was displeased; this was completely contrary to his expectations.
“I thought this year would be a day of surprises from each of you, but your data is so poor. And you, your performance is even worse than last time. What’s going on?”
The person reporting could not explain, rambling on, breaking into a cold sweat.
The reporting continued. Fortunately, Fu Xiao’an’s conclusion showed a significant improvement, which made Tsuda Shizue’s expression look a bit better.
He scanned everyone, his words sharp, “I really doubt if you are working with your heart!
Director Gu’s work is far busier than yours, and he’s also managing the affairs of the new government. His jurisdiction still has such good results, but what about you?
Useless!”
All of them lowered their heads after being scolded.
Tsuda Shizue cast a cold eye on these useless directors. “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. I’m giving you an order now. During the autumn harvest season, we need to requisition military grain from grain-producing areas.
Submit it once a month.
You will divide the specific amounts yourselves.
But I must remind you, there isn’t always grain available every month, so you’d better hurry. Now is the autumn harvest season, when there is the most grain. The more you collect now, the easier it will be to meet your monthly quota later.”
“What is the specific amount?” Fu Xiao’an asked, taking the lead.
Tsuda Shizue said, “I’ve calculated the entire region. Divided among Shanghai, Shanghai needs to bear one hundred thousand tons of rice and wheat annually, averaging about nine thousand tons per month.”
“One hundred thousand tons?!”
Those who were just thinking how fortunate Tsuda Shizue hadn’t gotten angry now had their eyes wide open.
They immediately became anxious.
“Your Excellency Tsuda, how can Shanghai possibly produce one hundred thousand tons of military grain? Last time Director Gu carried out forced requisition, it was only twenty to thirty thousand tons, and Shanghai was already running out of food. If one hundred thousand tons are taken, won’t the people of Shanghai starve to death? What will happen to the economy?”
“That’s why I told you to collect it separately and not too hastily.” Tsuda Shizue said expressionlessly, “The grain must be collected. You figure out the other methods yourselves. I don’t care about the process. One month later, I will send someone to the City Government to retrieve it. But the economy cannot be disrupted, and taxation can only increase, not decrease. Do you understand? You are dismissed.”
“Damn it!” As soon as Tsuda left and the door closed, someone started cursing.
“One hundred thousand tons, is this a joke? Even if you search every house in Shanghai, can you find one hundred thousand tons of grain?”
