Chapter 56: Equity Stake
Shanghai is a major cotton-producing city, and at one point, cotton was even Shanghai’s city flower.
Fu Xiao’an was the former president of the General Chamber of Commerce, and Gu Yansheng believed that Fu Xiao’an’s business industry certainly involved cotton yarn related businesses.
Now he is the mayor, backed by a Japanese Army General Commander, so his warehouse has a very high level of safety.
Not to mention the warehouses of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce; some chambers of commerce, with their backgrounds, are simply spokespeople for the Japanese Military Department’s general officers.
If nothing is found, it’s fine. But if something is indeed discovered, whether it’s the warehouse that has a problem or the person investigating the accounts, the probability of the latter is usually higher.
And if Gu Yansheng were to open his own upstream factory and have someone hold it on his behalf, his ability to evade investigation would certainly not be comparable to the two above, but it would still be very safe.
It’s not that no one dares to investigate, but the cotton yarn is placed in the warehouse. As long as this cotton yarn has not left Shanghai for a single day, this warehouse is merely the factory’s storage warehouse, nothing more.
Three legs walking at the same time.
Gu Yansheng needs someone who can hold it on his behalf.
Lu Bowen could do it too, but he is not familiar with the cotton yarn business. Moreover, this person needs to negotiate with multiple parties, so Gu Yansheng would prefer this person to be a stranger.
After thinking for a moment, Gu Yansheng picked up the phone and called the Prison Management Section to find Ma Sihai. No one answered. He thought for a moment and called Liao Litang, “Is Ma Sihai with you? Have him come over.”
Liao Litang was currently discussing with Ma Sihai how much money to deliver. Upon hearing this, he told Ma Sihai to hurry over immediately, not daring to delay in the slightest.
Ma Sihai was terrified, thinking it was his turn for an accounting of past deeds. As he walked, he felt extremely uneasy.
“Division Chief, you were looking for me.” Ma Sihai bowed as soon as he entered.
Gu Yansheng slowly walked out from behind the table and said as he walked, “Regarding the judicial reform, Section Chief Liao has explained it to you in detail, right?”
“He mentioned a little,” Ma Sihai replied, nodding.
“Mm, there’s something I forgot to tell him just now, but it’s your Prison Management Section’s business anyway. For these people who are to be released, weren’t they arrested without a trial?
We can release them, but we cannot lose face with the Japanese, so it absolutely cannot be a wrongful arrest.
So, please arrange your time to go through all the files in the archive room. After cross-referencing with the prison roster, if anyone was arrested without a trial, please supplement their paperwork for this group of people.”
Hearing that there was work to be done, Ma Sihai realized he wasn’t there to be held accountable and felt relieved.
After thinking for a moment, he immediately replied, “Alright. If you have no special instructions, I will find suitable charges based on the time these individuals have already been imprisoned, such as fighting, theft, or trespassing in military restricted areas. This way, they will be released precisely at the time you need them to be.”
Gu Yansheng nodded and leaned against the table, saying, “Section Chief Ma can manage thousands of inmates in two prisons without major mistakes, so you certainly have the ability. I trust you can handle it well.”
“Thank you for your trust, Deputy Division Chief Gu.” Ma Sihai had a subtle smile on his face.
“I have a personal matter I’d like your help with.”
“Just give the order, sir.”
Gu Yansheng looked at him and said, “I have a friend who wants to do some business, but his personal ability is average. He’s good at taking advice and knows how to utilize talent. He wants me to help him find one or two people who can be independent leaders in this field. Salary is not an issue; we can discuss it.
But as you know, I don’t care about business matters and don’t know any talented people in this field at all.
Moreover, I think he’s being a bit unrealistic. If someone is truly talented, why would they work for him instead of being their own boss and making money? Is that realistic? Right.
But he did come up with a point to persuade me. He said that many former bosses in this era went bankrupt, some even ended up in court. People who are down on their luck may not lack ability. Giving them a chance to make a comeback might just work.
What he said has some truth to it.
I can’t refuse him, and since he asked, I have to help. So, I wanted to trouble you to look through the past files when you’re cleaning them up and see if there are any such people who are unrecognized for their talents. It’s worth a shot.
Regarding this matter, do you think it’s troublesome?”
“It’s not troublesome. Isn’t it just a quick task while cleaning the files? I’ll just find all the cases related to businessmen.”
Ma Sihai quickly agreed, then thought for a moment and said, “Don’t say it, your friend’s idea is really not bad, especially for merchants who were framed and had their markets rigged, leading them to ruin. There’s no shortage of such people in this world.
The key is that those who are brought to this state usually don’t have any particularly strong connections. If your friend really wants to use them, he can control them and won’t have to worry about them being disloyal after making a comeback.”
Gu Yansheng smiled, “Are there many?”
“Yes, definitely,” Ma Sihai said confidently. “I’ve seen quite a few such cases. Just tell me what kind of business your friend is in, and I’ll help you find someone targeted.”
“It’s not decided yet. He’ll do whatever business is profitable. Doesn’t that depend on the specific talent we find?”
“Ah?” Ma Sihai laughed in surprise. “Then your friend is quite ambitious. Doing business in such a way…”
As he spoke, a flash of inspiration struck Ma Sihai, and he seemed to understand.
Could this friend be Deputy Division Chief Gu himself?
If that were the case, after discussing with Liao Litang for a long time about how much money to send and when it would be appropriate, wouldn’t this be an opportunity presented on a silver platter?
Ma Sihai quickly said, “Division Chief, there’s something I’d like to ask you for a favor.”
“What favor? Tell me.” Gu Yansheng started making coffee.
Ma Sihai sighed, “It’s like this, my wife’s family has some money, but my brother-in-law is a spendthrift. No matter how large the family fortune, he can’t stop squandering it. So, he’s always asked me to think of a solution for him. And now, with your reminder today, I’ve thought of a good way.
He’s not good at running a business himself, but if he can invest in some companies that are good at business, alas, he won’t deplete his assets by eating them away. It would also be my contribution.
I just don’t know if your friend needs funds? Can he give us an opportunity to invest a share?
Don’t worry, I will absolutely not interfere with the company’s operations, I just want to receive dividends.”
Invest a share?
Gu Yansheng’s hand paused while making coffee. This response was somewhat unexpected.
Gu Yansheng could understand their eagerness to deliver money, especially since he knew that the monthly income was seven to eight thousand silver dollars. If the top few officials divided it, these two section chiefs would likely each get 1500 to 2000 silver dollars per month.
This was just for one prison. If they didn’t give their superiors something, they wouldn’t feel at ease.
But he was running a Red Party company.
You dare to invest in a Red Party company?
If the Japanese were to find out in the future, he had a nominee holder, but this share you invested in would probably be enough to lose your head.
If he could say it, Gu Yansheng really wanted to remind him that delivering money would be safer.
To put their lives on the line like this, the gift was truly substantial.
However, he had saved him once. In the worst-case scenario, losing one life for another would be fair. It was entirely voluntary.
“I need to ask him about this. How much are you planning to invest?” Gu Yansheng asked.
Ma Sihai thought for a moment and said, “The business should definitely be made large. I think my brother-in-law can come up with 3000 silver dollars, which should be no problem.”
“3000,” Gu Yansheng nodded. That was equivalent to one or two months’ dividends.
Before he could say anything, Ma Sihai continued, “Division Chief, actually Section Chief Liao also has a brother-in-law, and he also wants to invest a share.”
Ma Sihai had to help Old Liao this time, otherwise, if such a good opportunity were missed, he would surely be blamed afterward.
“Also 3000?” It wasn’t enough to block a bullet once, and now they were lining up to block it. This was quite rare.
“Around that much,” Ma Sihai said sincerely. “Section Chief Liao and I have known each other for a long time. Our wives often play mahjong together, and we know each other’s family situations. They all say their brother-in-law is useless and they’re worried. We hope your friend can help us this time.”
“Alright, I’ll ask him. But don’t talk about these commercial matters outside, as our identities are different, and rumors can easily cause criticism. Not within the department either.”
“Of course, Division Chief, don’t worry.”
“Okay then, I’ll wait for your news.”
“Okay, Division Chief, I’ll leave now.”
Ma Sihai smiled and backed away, then hummed a tune as he went to the General Affairs Section to find Liao Litang.
He pushed the door open with a confident air, “Old Liao, your matter is settled. I’ll tell you…”
Ma Sihai vividly described to Liao Litang how he had seized the opportunity to deliver money, resolving the biggest difficulty they had discussed for a long time in one go.
“I knew it was strange back then, why were we looking for people in the judgment documents? Now I realize, they were hinting at me.”
“3000, right?”
“Yes. Don’t blame me for saying too much, sometimes problems that money can solve are not problems at all. Safety first. As long as we send this money out and he accepts it, our matters will not be matters.”
“Not much, not a bit too little.”
Liao Litang waved his hand, “I even think it’s a bit little. It would be better to give 5000 directly. He knows how much money we’ve received. If we really give 5000, he’ll know it’s almost half of our income. You’re not generous enough.”
“Aren’t there future opportunities? If we give it all at once, what will we have left to give later? Mainly, my wife’s family is extravagant and spends money quickly,” Ma Sihai sighed.
Liao Litang scoffed and didn’t want to say more, but thinking of Gu Yansheng’s methods, he pondered and said, “You say Deputy Division Chief Gu is young, but are his methods very shrewd?
He doesn’t accept money himself and finds an outsider to start a company as a cover, leaving no trace of evidence. If the company fails someday, no matter how much is said, it will be that we voluntarily invested, and it will have nothing to do with him.”
Hearing this, Ma Sihai nodded in agreement with a serious expression, “You know, this method is quite effective. If we need to use it someday, we can do it this way too.”
“Thinking about it this way, our previous methods of receiving money were indeed a bit crude.”
“Too crude.”
