Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

"Hahaha, good, straightforward, Little Celestial Master!" Liu Mang laughed loudly.

“The commander is truly upright; most people wouldn’t have the awareness to put righteousness before family,” Zhang Zhiwei said with a smile.

“The eldest brother is indeed straightforward,” Fan Pengju said.

Liu Mang waved his hand, and said with a righteous expression:

"There's no other way. Who told me to raise funds to fight the Japanese pirates? I had no choice before, but now that the Little Celestial Master is helping me, I have to set an example without hesitation. How can I convince the masses otherwise?"

"It's my own property, so there's no need for you to worry about it, Little Celestial Master. I'll just donate the money directly... I'll donate half of my family's assets first, and if needed, I can donate the rest later."

"As for the other members of the Liu family, Little Celestial Master, you have to promise me one thing."

"You said."

“I’m a very sentimental person. Even though my uncle’s family doesn’t treat me like family and has repeatedly sent people to assassinate me, I can’t do something as despicable as that.”

Liu Mang recalled the past: "Back then, I defeated my uncle's family and was about to kill them when he sent me a telegram begging for mercy."

"He was crying and saying that his uncle couldn't take it anymore, that he couldn't fight anymore, and that his uncle should save some troops so they could go out and 'have some fun'..."

“At that time, my army was already pressing on his doorstep, ready to kill him in a minute, but I didn’t. I made him retreat to Xikang, where he became a local tyrant and has been playing his part ever since.”

“I treat my uncle who wanted to kill me like this, not to mention other relatives. So just rob them of their money, don’t kill them.”

Zhang Zhiwei nodded and said, "Since Commander Liu said not to cause any deaths, then we won't cause any deaths."

It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. The psychological gap between sudden wealth and sudden poverty is something most people can't handle.

Liu Mang continued, "Most of my Liu family's assets are in the hands of my fifth uncle, Liu Cai. As for the exact amount, I don't know yet; I'll have to investigate to find out."

"However, he wields considerable power. If I were to investigate him, I fear it might alert him and make him wary. You'll have to handle that yourself, Little Celestial Master."

“Fatty, do you know?” Zhang Zhiwei asked Wang Ai.

“I know it all too well,” Wang Ai said with a smile.

In fact, ever since Tiantong Steel Plant moved to Chongqing, Wang Ai had been investigating information about the surrounding landlords.

Although Zhang Zhiwei did not order him to do so, based on Zhang Zhiwei's behavior in Shanghai, he reasonably guessed that his senior brother would eventually extend his "claws" to them, so he had already done his investigation.

Moreover, the business world is like a battlefield; knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory. It is always good to know more about the capitalists around you.

Immediately, Wang Ai began to list the various properties of Liu Mang's fifth uncle, Liu Cai.

If the Liu family is the largest landlord family in the Sichuan-Chongqing region.

Liu Cai was the largest landlord in the Sichuan-Chongqing region, owning nearly 20,000 mu of fertile land.

This figure is extremely staggering in the western Sichuan plain, with annual land rent reaching tens of thousands of shi (a unit of dry measure).

He owned many businesses spanning multiple industries, including banks, transportation companies, grain and oil mills, breweries, and salt production...

After listing Liu Cai's businesses, Wang Ai pondered for a moment and said, "According to my estimate, his total assets are probably around three to four million dollars."

Upon hearing this, everyone was greatly shocked:
"How many?"

"Three or four million dollars?"

Even Zhang Zhiwei was surprised. It had only been three or six years, and the inflation in Dallas was far less severe than in later years. Its purchasing power was beyond imagination.

Although Fan Pengju wasn't well-educated, he could still do basic math. After calculating it, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:
"Damn, nearly fifteen million silver dollars! How many years has he been rich? This bastard's ass, his little cunt is black!"

"What silver dollars? Silver dollars are a thing of the past. The official currency now is legal tender," Liu Mang reminded him.

Fan Pengju said, "Alright, alright, legal tender, actually it's not much different, anyway, one silver dollar equals one legal tender."

"Let me do the math. Right now, a rifle costs a dozen or so yuan, a machine gun a thousand yuan, and a mortar three thousand yuan..."

"The total cost of equipping a division is only between two and three million yuan."

Fan Pengju became more and more excited as he spoke. He looked at Liu Mang and said, "Boss, if we take out your fifth uncle, we can buy the equipment for four or five ordinary divisions. If it were a German-equipped division..."

He counted on his fingers: "Twelve 75mm mountain guns, four 37mm anti-tank guns, nine thousand Mauser rifles... plus hiring German advisors, we can probably build three German-equipped divisions."

Fan Pengju rubbed his hands excitedly: "Damn it, boss, aren't we going to do this?"

"Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead! I didn't say I wouldn't go ahead. I never expected my fifth uncle to be so greedy. As his nephew, I'll confiscate it and convert it into military equipment to protect our country and accumulate some good karma for him." Liu Mang said with a happy expression.

But then he added, "However, my fifth uncle probably has quite a few capable men under him. If it's going to be a fight against him, I'm afraid an ordinary person wouldn't be able to handle it."

Zhang Zhiwei understood Liu Mang's meaning and laughed, "Isn't he just a small landlord? I'll take care of him."

"Hard!" Liu Mang slammed his hand on the table.

"Is it hard?" Zhang Zhiwei asked.

"That's tough enough." Liu Mang gave a thumbs up.

"Whether it's tough or not can wait. Right now, there's only one thing on my mind: to quickly seize all the money from this Liu Cai guy and the other landlords. If we're too late, someone else will take it," Zhang Zhiwei said.

"What do you mean by that, Little Celestial Master?" Liu Mang asked, puzzled. "In this world, anyone who dares to rob you and me is probably not even born yet."

Zhang Ziwei tapped the table with his hand and said, "It's your Chairman."

"Chairman?" Liu Mang reacted: "You mean Baldy? He only ever gives me money, when has he ever robbed me? Even if he wanted to, I wouldn't let him."

Seeing that Liu Mang didn't understand, Wang Ai explained, "What Senior Brother Zhang means is that we need to rob money quickly, and try to finish it within a few months. If we drag it out, the money in their hands will depreciate, which is the same as the money in our hands depreciating, right?"

"The money's worthless... Baldy robbed us..." Liu Mang was a smart man; after a moment's thought, he realized what was going on. "You mean French currency?"

Wang Ai nodded. The legal tender was introduced last year, intended to replace the silver dollar. The silver dollar was the currency of the Beiyang period, minted from pure silver. Silver was considered a hard currency at that time, and it had value everywhere.

Especially in the year before last, the United States introduced the Silver Act, which caused the price of silver to continue to rise, and silver from all over the world flowed to the United States.

In order to curb the massive outflow of silver from the country, Chiang Kai-shek began to promote the legal tender and forcibly took back the silver dollars from the people at a one-to-one ratio.

Because the policy had been in effect for less than a year, the purchasing power of the legal tender and the silver dollar was still equal.

When the legal tender reform was first implemented, Wang Ai consulted Zhang Zhiwei for his opinion.

Wang Ai was a smart man who keenly perceived the problem, because once the currency was no longer linked to gold and silver, it would undoubtedly lose its intrinsic value.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the exchange rate between the legal tender and the silver dollar is currently 1:1.

But what if the Chairman keeps printing money?
The more money printed, the greater the inflation, and won't the money in your hand become worthless?!
The mastermind who exchanged a piece of worthless paper for a large amount of silver from the people was able to preserve his assets because he controlled the silver, and he could also make a fortune because the price of silver rose.

No one can say for sure how much of what was earned was used where it was needed, or how much was pocketed.

If it's something that's taken from the people and used for the people, Zhang Zhiwei wouldn't care if his assets shrink, but this kind of thing is even more absurd than Qin Shi Huang giving money away.

Indeed, in the following decade or so, the Chairman printed 660 trillion yuan of legal tender, which caused inflation to increase 470,000 times, making it less valuable than the Zimbabwean dollar later on.

Back then, if a piece of paper was printed as legal tender, it was considered a disgrace, and its value would actually decrease.

Wang Ai didn't want to step into this huge pitfall, and neither did Zhang Zhiwei, but he didn't directly object.

After all, exchanging silver dollars for legal tender did have some significance at the time, at least the silver was still in the hands of the local landlords and had not been taken away by foreign countries.

But he didn't sit idly by. The Tiantong Chamber of Commerce had many foreign companies, so he had Wang Ai exchange some of his reserve funds for US dollars and British pounds in advance.

The remaining working capital was used to expand rapidly as soon as it was converted into fiat currency, before the currency depreciated, and was all invested in factories, machinery, and so on.

Zhang Zhiwei's reminder made Liu Mang realize what was happening, and he frowned and said:
"Although Er Tuzi is unreliable, he shouldn't be this unreliable. Although the legal tender is not pegged to gold and silver, it is pegged to the currencies of other countries, and the value of the legal tender is determined by the value of the currencies of other countries."

"If money becomes worthless, unless he prints a lot of paper money, but that's pointless. Destroying the economy won't benefit him either, unless..."

Liu Mang paused for a moment when he said this. He recalled what Zhang Zhiwei had said before that a major war was coming, and he immediately realized that if there was going to be a war, it was possible that a lot of money would be printed.

Then, Liu Mang thought of Er Tu Zi's behavior. This guy was extravagant and didn't know how to calculate money at all. A few years ago, he even got into a fight in public with his brother-in-law who was in charge of the money because of money issues. Now, the only brother-in-law who could still restrain him has been squeezed out. If he encounters an emergency, wouldn't he print money like crazy?
Liu Mang hurriedly said, "Little Celestial Master is right. This matter must be done quickly and cannot be delayed even for a moment. Also... I plan to donate all my family's assets to expand the equipment for the brothers."

Previously, Liu Mang had been somewhat reserved, but now that he knew money was becoming worthless, he made a decisive move to use it all to expand his military.

He wants to convert money into his own strength as much as possible while it still has value.

Even if the prediction is wrong, it's not a loss. In chaotic times, everything is illusory, only the weapons in your hands are real.

"So, Little Celestial Master, when shall we begin?" Liu Mang said, "To avoid any unforeseen complications, I've thought about it, and we'll start right away, digging air-raid shelters while we begin construction. What's the plan?"

Seeing this, Zhang Zhiwei laughed and said, "General Liu, don't be in a hurry. You have to drink wine one sip at a time and walk one step at a time. If you take too big a step, you'll easily break your balls. Here's what we'll do: I'll have Fatty draft a list of the first batch of landlords to target. You can use that list to coordinate. As for the specific details, you and Fatty can discuss them together. How about that?"

"Boss Wang, Bishop Wang, I look forward to your guidance from now on," Liu Mang said with a smile.

"General Liu, you're too kind," Wang Ai said with a smile. He had been called Bishop Egg for several years, and he was still a little unaccustomed to being called Bishop Wang.

"What about me, Senior Brother Zhang?" Seeing that Wang Ai had something to do, Lü Ci quickly asked.

“Why don’t you come with me to dig an air-raid shelter? Aren’t you a master of digging? This is the perfect time for you to show off your skills,” Zhang Zhiwei teased.

"No way!" Lu Ci said dejectedly, "I'm hoeing the ground, not digging mountains. This isn't my specialty. Let the Unloading Ridge Warriors handle this kind of thing. How about I go with Fatty to deal with the landlord? Fatty isn't strong enough, I'm afraid he can't handle it."

Wang Ai said, "Hedgehog, just say you want to go. Why are you putting me down? I've been cultivating diligently these past few years, and I'm not necessarily going to lose to you in terms of strength. Besides, I have the Tang Clan's help, so you don't need to worry about me at all."

"Alright, alright, I won't drag you down," Lu Ci said. "Actually, I want to see the methods of the Tang Clan. I have long admired the Tang Clan leader and have wanted to get to know him for a long time. I hope Senior Brother Zhang will grant my request."

Zhang Zhiwei waved his hand: "Since you want to go so much, then go ahead."

He was just teasing Lü Ci; he originally intended for someone as ruthless as Lü Ci to go and collect money from the landlord.

With Zhang Zhiwei's approval, Lü Ci was overjoyed: "By the way, Senior Brother Zhang, bandits all have a resounding name. For example, some are called Zuo Shandiao, some are called Zhen Sanshan, and some are called Sanjiang Hong. What should we call ourselves?"

"Then what name do you think would be good?" Zhang Zhiwei asked.

Lu Ci pondered for a moment: "Should I call him the Great Thief Who Reaches Heaven? Or the Thief Who Acts on Behalf of Heaven?"

Wang Ai: “…”

Zhang Zhiwei: "..."

"Alright, alright, stop choosing, I'll choose it," Zhang Zhiwei said. "No matter how impressive or righteous a bandit's name is, no one will believe he's righteous."

"Since it's a fake identity, then we should stay fake to the end and not label ourselves."

"These days, bandits are always called things like 'Pockmarked Man,' 'Lame Man,' or 'Donkey.' In my opinion, let's call him Zhang Pockmarked Man."

“Zhang Mazi?” Wang Ai frowned. “That’s such a corny name.”

Lu Ci clicked his tongue and said, "I think it's not bad. The name I mentioned earlier may be grand, but it doesn't have the same charm as the one Senior Brother Zhang chose. It fits people's stereotype of bandits."

"Even when Senior Brother Zhang farts, you smell good..." Wang Ai thought to herself.

Fan Pengju clapped his hands and said, "Zhang Mazi is a good name. I've seen a bunch of bandits named Li Mazi, Wang Mazi, and Wang Er Mazi. This name is fitting..."

Liu Mang looked at Fan Pengju and said, "Fan Ha'er, why are you joining in this commotion? You're not doing this yourself."

Fan Pengju's voice abruptly stopped.

Liu Mang continued, "I'm here to coordinate with Bishop Wang on making money, and you go and coordinate with those scoundrels. Make sure they're well taken care of, and if they need manpower or resources, provide support immediately! After all, this is for the defense of Yucheng!" (End of Chapter)