African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1532 Transfer of Cultural Assets
Ambassador Hughes's final mention of the copper mine issue greatly appealed to President Montero. Amid the recent economic crisis in Chile, the recovery of mineral exports is the most pressing economic concern for the Chilean government.

“Ambassador Hugh, our government needs to discuss this matter internally. Please give us some time, and we will be able to give East Africa a reply soon.”

President Montero's statement at least proves that he already has an answer in mind regarding his proposal for East Africa.

Ambassador Hughes added, “Your Excellency, I would like to remind you one last time that there is a saying in East Africa: ‘Once you miss this village, you won’t find another shop.’ Chile is not our only option. Alaska in East Africa is farther away, but that doesn’t mean Alaska is not useful.”

East Africa does not want the Chilean government to take advantage of them; it is not a business to be eager for something. Therefore, Hughes must make it clear that East Africa's position is not that the East African government is asking Chile for anything.

……

1932 1 Month 20 Day.

Far Eastern Empire, Shanghai, Commercial Press.

After providing some meager military assistance to the 19th Army of the Far Eastern Empire, the East African Consulate in Shanghai had an even more important mission to carry out.

Historically, the Far Eastern empires have been attractive to East Africa primarily for two reasons: firstly, trade, and secondly, culture, as East Africa possesses a vast collection of artifacts and ancient books from these empires.

Shanghai was one of the important cultural centers of the Far Eastern Empire, and it was also one of the important bases for collecting ancient cultural materials of the Far Eastern Empire in East Africa.

Businesses, government departments, individuals, and research institutions in East Africa are frequently involved in acquiring ancient books from the Far East. Shanghai, as the cultural center of the Far Eastern Empire during that era, has a significant number of East Africans engaged in such activities.

Luo Wen, the vice consul of the East African Consulate in Shanghai, is currently meeting with Zhang Yuanji, chairman of the Commercial Press, at its headquarters.

“Mr. Zhang Yuanji, the purpose of my trip is mainly to persuade your company to temporarily transfer the various ancient books and cultural relics collected by the Commercial Press and the Oriental Library to the consulate in East Africa for safekeeping.”

Zhang Yuanji was the chairman of the Commercial Press and an important figure in the dissemination of culture in the Far East Empire. He wore glasses and a simple gray-blue long gown, looking every bit the traditional scholar.

Zhang Yuanji was no stranger to East Africans, as he had dealt with them for a considerable period and had collaborated with them on numerous occasions. In his youth, Zhang Yuanji served as a secretary in the Zongli Yamen (Office for the Management of Affairs of Various Countries) of the Far Eastern Empire, which was equivalent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Far Eastern Empire at the time.

Therefore, he had dealings with diplomats from many countries when he was young, and East Africans were one of the most frequent groups among them.

During his tenure at the Zongli Yamen (Foreign Ministry), in the early 1990s, there was a period of "East Africa fever" in the Far Eastern Empire. This was because it was shortly after East Africa defeated Britain and Portugal and became a world power, attracting the attention of many countries around the world and becoming a model for some backward countries to learn from, so as to achieve "national wealth and military strength".

During this period, cultural exchanges between East Africa and the Far Eastern Empire were quite frequent, so Zhang Yuanji had many opportunities to come into contact with East Africans.

After entering the 20th century, with the internal turmoil of the Far Eastern Empire, Zhang Yuanji joined the Commercial Press and quickly helped it grow into the most prestigious publishing giant in the Far Eastern Empire.

Even without his official position, Zhang Yuanji, who went into business, still couldn't avoid dealing with East Africans. Over the years, many East Africans, companies, and organizations have collaborated with the Commercial Press to import ancient books from the Far Eastern Empire, reproduce them, and publish them in East Africa.

After all, the Commercial Press is currently the largest publishing giant in the Far East, so it is not surprising that East Africa is engaging in some cooperation with them.

They can better help East Africa collect cultural materials about the Far Eastern empires that are of interest to East Africa. At the same time, they can also help East Africa spread and introduce its culture within the Far Eastern empires through their channels.

Therefore, Zhang Yuanji was quite adept at dealing with East Africans. However, Rowan's words this time provoked him.

"Consul Luo Wen, I don't know what you mean by that? The ancient books in our Commercial Press and Oriental Library are treasures of ancient Chinese civilization. Your demands are too unreasonable. If you can't give me a reasonable explanation, then don't blame me for being ruthless."

Luo Wen didn't care at all about Zhang Yuanji's anger, because he knew very well the significance of those ancient books to Zhang Yuanji, who even valued them more than his own life.

Luo Wen reassured him, "Mr. Zhang Yuanji, please don't blame me for speaking so bluntly. I came here not to covet your country's cultural treasures, but on the contrary, to save the cultural assets you possess as a whole."

"Our consulate simply hopes that you will temporarily store these ancient books and artifacts with us to prevent the destruction of this precious cultural heritage of mankind by the war."

"If you believe that our East African intelligence agencies have obtained some information, perhaps you can make a decision later."

"According to our East African intelligence, Japan may launch a war against Shanghai soon, and your Commercial Press and Oriental Library may be targets of the Japanese government. The Japanese may bomb you."

Luo Wen's words shocked Zhang Yuanji, who asked, "Are you telling the truth?"

The general public in the Far Eastern Empire is completely unaware of whether Japan will invade Shanghai. Only the high-ranking officials of the Nanjing government of the Far Eastern Empire are aware of this. After all, Japan's military movements in Shanghai cannot be kept secret. However, the Nanjing government knows this in its heart, but it pretends to be dead in its actual actions.

Rowan replied affirmatively, "I have no reason to joke with you about this. After all, I am a diplomat in East Africa, representing the Imperial Government."

"Of course, I also hope that Mr. Zhang Yuanji will not reveal these 'intelligence' we obtained in East Africa to the outside world, as that would cause unnecessary trouble for the Empire."

Zhang Yuanji's expression was very unpleasant. At this moment, he had no time to consider East Africa's attitude; instead, he was worried about the safety of Shanghai.

He asked, "When Japan launched its war of aggression against Shanghai, did you not inform the Nanjing government?"

Luo Wen sighed and said, "Mr. Zhang Yuanji, you must understand that there is no need for us in East Africa to inform the Nanjing government of this matter, especially since it is a war that has not yet begun. Moreover, the relationship between East Africa and the Nanjing government is not that close." "To put it bluntly, given the recent performance of the Nanjing government, they themselves do not have the courage to confront the Japanese. To put it even more insidiously, we suspect that many high-ranking officials of the Nanjing government have been bribed by the Japanese government, otherwise they would not have made the foolish move of directly handing over your country's Northeast to them."

"There's one last point: no matter what your Nanjing government says, it's impossible for them to be completely unaware of Japan's activities in Shanghai. For example, almost all the major powers in the world know that Japan has increased its troop strength and weaponry in Shanghai..."

Zhang Yuanji slammed his hand on the table, filled with righteous indignation, and exclaimed, "These beasts!"

Clearly, the "beasts" Zhang Yuanji referred to included not only the Japanese, but also the vast majority of people in the Nanjing government.

At this moment, Luo Wen said, "Mr. Zhang Yuanji, at this time, you are just a small businessman and cannot influence the decisions of the Nanjing government. Now, you should try to find a way to prevent the Japanese from deliberately targeting your company and assets during the war."

"You don't have much time left. Japan could launch a war against Shanghai at any time. The pessimistic view is that it might happen tonight, and the optimistic view is that it will happen within this month. After all, Japan is in a great hurry to launch a war to divert domestic conflicts due to the economic crisis."

At this point, Zhang Yuanji had already begun to believe most of what Luo Wen had said. He smiled bitterly and said, "If that's really the case, what can we do? The Commercial Press is a large and powerful organization. Even now, it's too late to relocate."

As the largest publishing giant in the Far Eastern Empire, the Commercial Press had a considerable presence in Shanghai, with various printing equipment and a massive amount of printed materials. It was unrealistic to expect them to move out within half a month, especially since the Japanese would not give them that much time.

In response, Luo Wen said, "Mr. Zhang Yuanji, you only have one option now: to temporarily store the most important books, documents, and artifacts in our consulate."

"We will use our convoy to help you complete the relocation. You can make your next decision after the war ends. We in East Africa will never covet your assets, after all, this concerns the empire's international reputation."

That's what they say, but Zhang Yuanji clearly still had doubts. Despite Rowan's Asian appearance, East Africa was still a foreign country.

Rowan continued, “Our East Africa has had many collaborations with your company, so Mr. Zhang Yuanji, you should believe in our sincerity. East Africa highly values ​​the ancient cultural books of the Far Eastern Empire, which are important treasures.”

"We also do not want these ancient books to disappear into the annals of history because of war. Of course, we do have some ulterior motives for extending a helping hand this time, which is to make copies of some books that East Africa needs and back them up through copying, photographing and other methods. As for the originals, we will absolutely not touch them, nor is it necessary for us to."

If East Africa really didn't want anything, then Zhang Yuanji would be worried. But now that Luo Wen said that, his wariness has lessened a bit.

As Rowan said, Zhang Yuanji had dealt with many East Africans, including Rowan and others from the East African consulate in Shanghai. After so many years of contact, the credibility of this East African country in the Far Eastern Empire was still not in question.

Therefore, at Luo Wen's urging, Zhang Yuanji finally agreed to the cooperation between the two parties, and temporarily deposited some of the collections of the Commercial Press and the Oriental Library at the East African Consulate in Shanghai.

The fact that it was only a part of the portfolio naturally indicates that Zhang Yuanji remained wary of East Africa. Therefore, he did not want to put all his eggs in one basket. As a result, the Commercial Press decided to transfer other ancient books and important assets to the concessions of various countries.

The East African consulate also began photographing, copying, and properly storing these ancient books.

The vast majority of these books came from the Oriental Library, which was the largest private library in the Far Eastern Empire at the time. The librarian was Zhang Yuanji himself. The library had more than 400,000 books, including many rare copies from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

Of course, this library also possessed a vast collection of Western documents, making the Oriental Library an important venue for the Far Eastern Empire to introduce Western culture and technology. East Africa, however, was completely disregarded; after all, by the Far Eastern Empire's standards, East Africa belonged to Western countries.

February 1931, 1, late at night.

The Japanese Navy's First Outpost Fleet opened fire on the Wusong Forts, while the Japanese Marines attacked the 19th Route Army's garrison in Zhabei. The 78th Division of the 19th Route Army, which was stationed in Zhabei, resisted. The first Battle of Shanghai, known as the "January 28 Incident," officially began.

On the first day, the military police in Shanghai stubbornly withstood the Japanese offensive. Following closely behind, the 19th Army quickly entered the battlefield and engaged in fierce fighting with the Japanese.

On the morning of January 29, the Japanese army launched its first bombing raid. The Japanese Marine Corps and Air Force carried out indiscriminate bombing of Zhabei. At 10:00 a.m., Japanese planes specifically targeted the Commercial Press headquarters and dropped incendiary bombs. The printing plant, compilation office, warehouses and other facilities were all set on fire. Later, Zhang Yuanji recorded in his diary that "planes dropped bombs and burned down my Commercial Press headquarters. Flames soared into the sky, and paper ash flew everywhere, visible for miles."

The Oriental Library, located next to the main factory, was not completely destroyed by the earthquake due to its sturdy building. However, from the 29th to the 31st, the fire spread rapidly because most of the library's books were printed. Although some employees and citizens tried to salvage the books, the fire brigade could not enter due to the war-related blockade and could only watch helplessly as the books burned.

According to survivors, the Japanese army set up a cordon around the area to prevent the fire brigade from entering to put out the fire. On February 1, Japanese ronin broke into the library, poured gasoline and set it on fire, ensuring that it was completely burned down.

The destruction of the Oriental Library is known as "one of the most serious cultural disasters in the modern history of the Far Eastern Empire," with losses far exceeding those caused by ordinary war.

The East African consulate also documented this "cultural genocide" with its camera. Later, East African Consul Krus recalled: "The fires at the Oriental Library and the Commercial Press spread thick smoke and ash that even drifted into the concession area. Millions of valuable documents were deliberately destroyed. This was a cultural genocide of a very heinous nature."

Japan cannot deny this point, because Japanese Navy Commander Koichi Shiozawa once publicly declared: "Destroying the Commercial Press in Zhabei would be enough to deter the Chinese from resisting for thirty years."

……

The first Battle of Shanghai, just like in the previous life, had an outcome that was enough to make one's blood pressure soar. The Nanjing government hoped to rely on international intervention to stop the war and delay aid to the 19th Army, advocating for limited resistance. Only later, under pressure from various sectors of the country, did it have no choice but to support the battlefield.

In March, both sides announced a ceasefire. The subsequent ceasefire agreement restricted the Far Eastern Empire's right to station troops in the area surrounding Shanghai, but granted Japan the right to station troops. At the same time, the Far Eastern Empire's right to conduct military investigations and supervision was transferred to Japan, Britain, the United States, and France.

The 19th Army, which persisted in resisting, was also purged by the Nanjing government after the war.

Ernst had long anticipated the outcome of the war in Shanghai, the capital of the Far Eastern Empire. The Nanjing government's performance was entirely in line with his judgment. This was also the main reason why East Africa had not cooperated deeply with the Nanjing government in recent years, after all, "a mere upstart is not worth discussing matters with."

(End of this chapter)