Chapter 81: Quinine
After seeing off Ding Mocun, Gu Yansheng continued waiting for news. It didn’t keep him waiting long; the news arrived.
Knock knock knock.
Wen Yan knocked and entered, quite pleased.
“Mr. Gu, the clerk at customs called. The merchants in the concession went to pay! Thirty or forty of them, all together.”
“They really paid up.”
Gu Yansheng set down the document in his hand, a smile also on his face. The first thing the Japanese had tasked him with concerned whether he could hold steady in this position, and with it ending in victory, it was certainly worth celebrating.
“Our Mayor Fu is very punctual, and he has great influence too. Look, as long as he doesn’t cause trouble, things can proceed. If he helps, things couldn’t be smoother— even foreigners have to follow his lead.”
“Haha.” Wen Yan smiled and said, “Then I’ll send more staff to customs to assist with the joint investigation. I’ll go there myself too. We can’t let anything go wrong with the first payment.”
“Mm, go ahead.”
Gu Yansheng picked up the phone and told Mr. Hase this good news.
“Mr. Hase, the foreign merchants have paid up. Yes, right at customs, at this very moment.”
“Mr. Gu’s ability to get things done really didn’t disappoint me.”
Since the counterattack in the concession began, Hase Jinagawa hadn’t urged Gu Yansheng even once, giving him full patience and trust. And now, Gu Yansheng lived up to expectations, delivering a perfect response.
Whether for SH city’s judicial construction issues or Japan’s control over Shanghai, this was undoubtedly a huge boost.
And for him personally, it was also capital to report merit upward.
“Mr. Gu, then please handle the upcoming inspection of foreign merchants’ cargo ships well. As for your merit, I’ll report it to headquarters along with everything else. As a Chinese, I’ll also request merit for you. The Empire of Japan never mistreats meritorious officials.”
“Thank you, Mr. Hase.”
As long as it wasn’t making him go to Japan personally to receive a medal from the Emperor of Japan, Gu Yansheng could accept any ordinary reward.
He’d heard the Emperor was only 1.5 meters tall. If Gu Yansheng went in person and bent down, he’d still be taller than the Emperor. Gu Yansheng worried it would make him feel inferior.
“By the way, Mr. Hase, Mayor Fu said tomorrow there’s a press conference, and I’ll be speaking on stage. Do you have any interest in attending together?”
“For such an important event, of course I’ll attend.”
How could Hase Jinagawa miss an event suppressing foreign merchants and showing face?
“Then see you tomorrow.”
After hanging up, Gu Yansheng calculated the revenue from this matter.
Right now he had options on $100,000 worth of cotton yarn. After selling, it should reach $200,000.
He hadn’t communicated with Lu Bowen yet, but receiving the goods should go smoothly. So he should have over $50,000 worth of cotton yarn and grain there. The big profit share from that money goes to No. 76. What he takes back is the capital and a portion of cotton yarn that needs to disappear.
He still had thirty yellow croakers in hand. That North Jiangsu Tycoon Gu Zhuxuan still needed to be released at some point.
Gu Yansheng planned to keep these yellow croakers as his bottom line. He needed to rent a safe deposit box at the bank to store them, for emergencies.
Tsk, unknowingly he’d embezzled so much money. Being a traitor official really makes money faster.
The prison factory didn’t require him to put in a single cent. The money the two section chiefs bribed him with was reinvested right away. Even if the rest wasn’t enough, the two section chiefs would handle it themselves.
They didn’t dare come ask him for money at all.
For now, there were no revenues visible from that side, but Gu Yansheng wasn’t anxious. Anyway, the prison factory’s bigger purpose was to backstop future cotton yarn demand.
There wouldn’t always be opportunities as good as this one now to acquire cotton yarn.
In the evening, Gu Yansheng attended a banquet.
Sure enough, nothing new— when Japanese pick, it’s always an izakaya to host guests.
Hongkou, izakaya.
Gu Yansheng entered and followed custom, kneeling opposite Sato Kenji. Of course, Ding Mocun was there as a big third wheel accompanying them.
“When Director Ding told me the stock market trader was also Mr. Gu, after I learned that, I went back and systematically looked into the whole matter. The more I understood, the more I admired Mr. Gu’s planning.
With foreign merchants banding together for hoarding and price gouging, plus obstruction from inside city government, with Shanghai facing grain shortages and public opinion collapsing entirely— under such great pressure, Mr. Gu actually thought to use the stock market as the way to break the deadlock, forcing the merchants’ alliance to disintegrate internally. That operation was truly astounding.
What’s more, he profited from it himself. Truly getting both fish and bear’s paw. Impressive.”
Sato Kenji raised his cup.
Gu Yansheng also raised his cup. “President Sato overpraises me. My success in this matter relied entirely on the support of the consulate and Gendarmerie Headquarters. Without their silence, even if I racked my brains, I couldn’t have broken their alliance. And Director Ding’s Agent Headquarters help was indispensable too.”
“Making good use of the resources around you is itself an ability. Director Ding, don’t you agree?” Sato Kenji looked at Ding Mocun.
Ding Mocun nodded immediately. “Exactly right. From what I know, this matter had troubled SH city for months. These conditions weren’t new today either. The key was Director Gu’s strategic planning to achieve such remarkable results.”
Gu Yansheng chuckled lightly, drank his wine, and said, “Since you two praise me so much, I’ll accept it. Otherwise I’d seem hypocritical.”
“Hahaha.”
Such candid words instantly made both men laugh, also drawing everyone closer.
Gu Yansheng struck while the iron was hot and asked directly, “Mitsui Company is a highly influential enterprise whether in Japan or China. President Sato sought me out today— is there something you need my help with?”
“Mm.” Sato Kenji nodded and gestured. “Please, eat while we talk.
Quinine— I believe you two both know it treats malaria.
But due to the war, the major quinine exporting countries have in fact embargoed us.
The quinine circulating in Shanghai currently, aside from some imported via the concession, is basically all smuggled goods.
So I want Director Gu’s Judicial Department and Director Ding’s Agent Headquarters to help me out: eliminate risks and control Shanghai’s entire underground medicine market. That’s the matter. Can you two assist?”
Ding Mocun spoke first. “This shouldn’t be too hard. Spend time investigating, find one or two black market people as leads, and I’ll follow the vine to the root. I should be able to sweep the entire underground medicine market and send all the seized quinine to you.”
Sato Kenji shook his head. “Director Ding didn’t get my meaning. I said control, not eliminate.
What I want is a steady stream of medicine, and cheap medicine at that.”
He’s eyeing their smuggling channels. “That should be possible too.”
Ding Mocun smiled and said, “It’s just making that bunch earn a bit less. Methods unchanged, find them out, I’ll go talk to them. Shouldn’t be a big problem. As for this cheap price President Sato mentioned, what specifically? So I know what to aim for.”
Sato Kenji smiled faintly and said to Ding Mocun, “Medicine’s cost price.”
Making people work for you for free?
Ding Mocun’s smile froze.
If this weren’t Mitsui’s man, he’d curse him out. Black market merchants take such huge risks smuggling in and out, and not giving them a dime profit? Crazy.
No, medicine’s cost price— not even the cost on delivery. The price Sato mentioned wouldn’t just be the production cost, right?
Then this middle bit for greasing palms and transport smuggling back— adding that up, wouldn’t these merchants have to subsidize it themselves?
But from Sato’s offer, it really seemed possible.
“President Sato, what’s your specific demand volume for quinine?”
“No less than ten tons a year.”
Totally crazy!
If it were a few hundred packs, even a few thousand, merchants could take a loss. Split among all Shanghai’s underground forces, share the burden, losses shouldn’t be huge. But ten tons? Joking?
He really knew quinine’s black market price: not much or little, one gram of quinine per gram of gold.
Ten tons of quinine was ten tons of gold. Dollars equaled gold value, but actually one dollar didn’t buy one gram of gold. That meant all Shanghai’s underground merchants providing him quinine worth ten million dollars.
And by regular black market medicine profit ratios, selling price at least five times cost. Black market merchants’ annual loss on this deal would reach eight million dollars.
Who’d take this business?
This Sato was too ruthless.
Ding Mocun frowned and said, “If it’s like that, this matter probably won’t be easy. President Sato, these people smuggle for huge profits. If it’s just earning a bit less, that’s fine. But this cheap is too cheap— it doesn’t fit their original intent. Tsk.”
“What does Director Gu think?” Sato Kenji asked.
Director Gu thinks you’re nuts. Gu Yansheng paused and asked, “From what I know, Japan’s medical technology should be pretty good, right? Can’t produce quinine?”
Sato Kenji sighed. “Production technology isn’t hard at all. Main problem is raw materials.
Quinine is extracted from something called cinchona bark. Ninety percent of the world’s cinchona trees are planted in Dutch East Indies and South America— neither friendly countries. We get very little supply, and at high cost.
For this, Medical Division considered alternatives, developed a substitute called atabrine, but effects are poor, big side effects, soldiers unwilling to take it. So we still need to find ways to get quinine.
Currently, China’s richest medicine resources are in Shanghai, and also British-controlled Hong Kong. So we can only start from Shanghai.
Cracking down on the black market can have a one-time effect, but only one-time. We need a steady stream of quinine. That requires these opportunistic merchants to help us develop channels and bring back medicine.
I know this is difficult, but Director Gu even solved Shanghai’s such thorny situation. I believe you can think of a way to solve this problem too.”
“Just luck. Let me think on this matter.”
The opening flattery to prop him up was waiting here. But Gu Yansheng had thick skin, smiled while drinking and pondering, not speaking.
“Can we add some money? Give merchants a little profit margin. Doesn’t need to be much, say twenty percent? More than that I can squeeze the price.” Ding Mocun asked.
He wanted to help, but at least give others a little meat to chew on for room to negotiate.
Sato Kenji chuckled lightly. “Director Ding heads Agent Headquarters, yet seems too lenient. I think leaving them a way to survive in Shanghai’s underground medicine market is already a huge grace. No need to add money, right?”
