Break out of the courtyard

"Those foreign investors are only after money; they will never destroy Japan's financial system!" An old man with a mustache looked at the attendees with great certainty. "Otherwise, no matter how much yen they earn, it will just be a pile of worthless paper!"

A short, thin old man in a black suit sneered, "The Ministry of Finance thinks those foreigners won't cripple our financial market, so what have they been doing lately?"

The old man with the mustache from the Ministry of Finance frowned and said, "We are all ears for any insights the Ministry of Cultural Exchange may offer!"

"What opinions could I possibly have?" the short, thin old man from the Ministry of Cultural Exchange sneered. "In May 1989, you said you wanted to curb stock market and land speculation and decided to raise interest rates by 0.75%."

"What did I say at the time?" The short, thin old man from the Ministry of Cultural Exchange looked at the other politicians. "I said that the total loans of banks in Japan amounted to 400 trillion yen. I told them to reduce the amount and see how the market reacted first."

"Then this guy from the Ministry of Finance said, 'I don't understand economics!'" The short, thin old man spread his hands and continued to bring up old grievances. "In October 1989, they said that the Nikkei index had broken through 38,000 points and that it was necessary to strongly curb speculative behavior in the Japanese stock market, so they decided to raise interest rates by 0.75% again."

"That time, although I felt it was inappropriate, I didn't dare to speak up and stop it! I was afraid that the bigwigs in Tibet would say I didn't understand economics!"

"And what was the result?" The short, thin old man stared at the minister from the Ministry of Finance and said coldly, "These people who know a lot about economics, under the pretext of urgently dealing with inflationary pressures, raised interest rates for the third time by 0.5% on December 25, 1989!"

"Well, that's it! The Japanese stock market has finally been hit hard by their repeated interest rate hikes!"

"However, these economically savvy idiots not only failed to stop, but also continued to raise interest rates by 1% and 0.75% in March and August of last year, respectively, making matters worse for the Japanese stock market!"

"Don't they know that the total loans of Japanese banks in the first half of last year had risen to 450 trillion yen?"

"Don't they realize that a sharp drop in the Japanese stock market will cause countless investors and companies who borrowed money to speculate on stocks to be unable to repay their loans, resulting in bad debts for banks!"

"Don't they know that those shareholders who can't repay their loans will jump off buildings? And that those companies that can't repay their loans will go bankrupt?"

"No! They all know!" The short, thin old man pointed at the group from Tibet Province and shouted angrily, "How could these idiots who study economics all day not know!"

Everyone in the meeting knew that the person from the Ministry of Cultural Exchange had publicly accused the Ministry of Finance of being ignorant of economics before taking the opportunity to retaliate against him, but everyone was used to results-oriented thinking.

Since the Ministry of Finance was unable to effectively control the short-selling of Japanese stocks by foreign investors, it indicates that they failed in their management duties, and their resignation was an inevitable result!

Now that the outcome is decided, that minister from the Ministry of Finance should keep a low profile and stand guard until the very end.

To make matters worse, he actually dared to talk back, saying he was all ears. Wasn't that just asking for a beating?

"My opinion is that only by collectively resigning can your Tibet Province apologize to the locusts and the islanders!" The short, thin old man from the Cultural Exchange Department revealed his true intentions, actually wanting to wipe out everyone in the Tibet Province!

……

March 31, Sunday afternoon.

While the Japanese government was embroiled in a heated argument, the Aso couple, carrying a Japanese high school history textbook that had not yet been widely adopted, arrived at the top floor of the biological gene laboratory building at Shenzhen Peace Academy, where they encountered a group of prominent Hong Kong businessmen outside the glass.

Without a doubt, the Aso couple could guess that these Hong Kong businessmen were here to discuss plans with Zhang Heping in order to jointly short the Japanese stock market the next day.

Aso Taro walked through the gap cleared by the group of Hong Kong businessmen to the glass partition and said loudly, "Mr. Zhang, we have brought the new edition of the high school history textbook. Please take a look!"

Zhang Heping, who was observing the mouse experiment in the remote control center of the space capsule, turned around and walked towards the glass door after hearing this.

Under the watchful eyes of a group of Hong Kong businessmen, Zhang Heping walked out of the control center, took the history textbook that was entirely in Japanese, and quickly began to flip through it.

A moment later, Zhang Heping handed the history textbook back and said calmly, "Change 'strategy' to 'aggression,' 'invasion' to 'intrusion,' and 'occupation' to 'termination.' Don't play word games with me!"

Taro Aso hurriedly bowed and said, "Hey! When I get back, I'll urge them to revise it and try to send it to the students next semester."

Zhang Heping nodded, then looked at the others and said, "Everyone should go to the Peace Hotel to rest. My experiment here won't be finished anytime soon."

“Mr. Zhang, you go about your business and don’t worry about us!” Chairman He glanced at the two Japanese islanders, and said with a smile, “Actually, we are also very curious about the space experiment. It’s a rare opportunity to observe.”

Seeing Zhang Heping turn to leave, Aso Taro hurriedly said, "Zhang-san, about your shorting of Japanese stocks..."

Because other Hong Kong businessmen were present, Aso Taro couldn't openly ask Zhang Heping how far he intended to short the stock, or what conditions would be required for him to stop.

Fortunately, Zhang Heping didn't speak too bluntly. He simply stood to the side in the doorway and said to Aso Taro, "You know what I want. The question now is, what can you get out of it?"

Zhang Heping looked at Mrs. Aso and smiled, "I'll wait for your call!"

"Hey!" The Aso couple quickly bowed, which was considered as acknowledging Zhang Heping's unspoken meaning.

After Zhang Heping entered the remote control center, the Aso couple got up and left.

After the two Japanese men left, Rong Lao from Zhongxin casually remarked, "Mr. Zhang seems to think highly of this Vice Minister Aso!"

Over the years, apart from the experts and students of the Hong Kong Peace Academy, the only Japanese people who have been received by Zhang Heping are the Aso couple, and there have long been various speculations about this.

Now, at this sensitive time of shorting Japanese stocks, these two not only came to us, but Zhang Heping also personally met with them.

Regardless of what happened with the history textbook, their ambiguous conversation alone sparked much speculation among the Hong Kong businessmen present.

“He has the potential to be a town mayor!” Zhang Heping casually remarked before anyone else could think too much about it.

As a result, this statement only fueled the speculation among those both inside and outside the institution!
The term "town mayor" in the context of Rijima usually means "town mayor".

However, placing it behind Chiyoda Ward would make it the highest-ranking position on the island.

The key point is that Aso Taro's grandfather served as a town mayor, and Mrs. Aso's father also served as a town mayor.

Thinking about the network of relationships involved, many people present understood that Zhang Heping was investing in the future mayor of Ridao.

However, a new problem has arisen!
If Taro Aso were to become the town mayor, what would Zhang Heping hope to gain from it? What could he possibly gain?
~
A video conference was held on the top floor of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, connecting the capital, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

The elderly man sitting at the head of the table in the conference room in the capital said in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, this sharp drop in Japanese stocks, like the war in the Middle East, has taught us a harsh lesson!"

The head of the Shanghai Stock Exchange replied, "Please rest assured, leaders, we use a T+1 trading model and do not support speculative activities such as shorting or going long on stocks."

The elderly man on the screen in the capital city was interrupted by the man from Shanghai before he could finish speaking. His tone had become stern: "Now that we have established a stock exchange, we will definitely align with international standards and attract foreign investment."

"Therefore, I ask each participant today to pay attention to the recent movements of the Japanese stock market, prepare a written report, and send it to my email address."

Upon hearing that they had to write a report, some people were happy about this rare opportunity to gain exposure, while others secretly lamented their bad luck in encountering such a situation.

"Next, let's welcome Professor Dai from the Capital University to analyze the causes and consequences of this sharp drop in the Japanese stock market. Please give him a round of applause!" As the elderly gentleman from the Capital University finished speaking, the microphone on the table was moved to an elderly man in a gray plaid suit.

"Let me share my humble opinion. If there's anything wrong, please correct me directly to avoid making a fool of myself," said the elderly man in the gray plaid suit, pulling up a slideshow he had prepared. He continued, "..."

"This sharp drop in Japanese stocks has exposed many economic, regulatory, and social problems in Japan. These issues cannot be discussed in isolation and require comprehensive analysis."

"For example, last year the land price in Dongdu was equivalent to the land value of the entire United States. Is that normal?"

"Everyone, do you know how many times larger the area of ​​the United States is than that of Tokyo?"

"4177 times!" The elderly man in the gray plaid suit exclaimed excitedly before anyone else could answer. "When you hear this number, can you imagine how arrogant the Japanese islanders were before?"

"Some people may wonder, what does the arrogance of the Japanese have to do with the Japanese stock market?"

“That’s a huge deal!” the old man in the gray plaid suit laughed. “Back in 1989, if you told those arrogant Japanese people that Japanese stocks would be shorted by foreign capital and would all hit the daily limit down by 20% in one day.”

"Mocking you or cursing you is the least of it; the worst Japanese people will directly beat you up!"

“If it were my students, someone would definitely ask at this moment: Teacher, the Japanese stock market fell by half from January to October last year, they can't be so arrogant now!”

"The student who asked this question clearly didn't listen carefully to what I just said: what was the land price in Dongdu last year?"

"That's right, last year's land price in Dongdu was equal to the total land price of the entire United States!"

"So, the Japanese were still very arrogant last year!"

"It was this arrogance that led them to believe that Japanese stocks would rebound quickly, prompting them to take out loans one after another to buy Japanese stocks at the bottom."

"What they didn't expect was that the decline in Japanese stocks last year would last for 10 months."

"Ten months later, they really did see a rebound in the Japanese stock market..."

~
Top floor of the First Industrial Bank building on Hong Kong Island.

As soon as Aso Taro returned to his base in Hong Kong, he called his father-in-law. “Father-in-law, I don’t understand. Japanese car companies can pay taxes to the Japanese government. Even after being acquired by the Peace Group, they can still pay taxes to the Japanese government. Why are you stopping them from acquiring Japanese car companies?”

The deep voice of the former Suzuki Mayor came from the other end of the phone, "Because the Heping Group is shorting Japanese stocks! If you push for the Heping Group to acquire Japanese automakers at a time like this, it's not an acquisition, it's plunder!"

"Father-in-law, forgive my bluntness!" Aso Taro frowned as he looked at the Peace Hospital in the distance and said seriously, "The product advantages of Japanese automakers have been completely suppressed by Peace Motors' new technology!"

“Once Peace Motors lowers its prices and dumps its products, the price advantage of Japanese automakers will disappear.”

The voice of the former mayor of Suzuki rang out again, "However, Peace Motors has already been restricted by the EU and other countries!"

"That's the second thing I wanted to say," Taro Aso said into the phone. "We also want to publicly declare that the health products from Heping Automobile and Heping Group are exempt from inspection due to their superior quality!"

"That's impossible! The Americans and other allied nations won't agree!" The former mayor of Suzuki rejected the idea without even thinking.

Aso Taro said calmly, "They will agree! As long as Zhang-san shorts the stock markets of one or two more allied countries, they will follow suit and issue the same exemption declaration!"

"Moreover, capitalists from the United States and those allied countries are shorting our Japanese stocks. What right do they have to disagree with our statement!"

The former mayor of Suzuki seemed to be persuaded by his third son-in-law. He remained silent for a long time on the other end of the phone before speaking again, "Which department do you want to transfer to this time?"

“Ministry of Foreign Affairs!” Taro Aso said firmly, “The Ministry of Finance’s resolution of this crisis of shorting Japanese stocks can only be considered as making amends for its mistakes.”

"Only by going to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and using diplomatic means to communicate with the Peace Group and other Hong Kong businessmen to stop shorting Japanese stocks can I consider this a political achievement!"

~
Peace Hotel, Shenzhen.

After Zhang Heping finished his experiment, he came here to discuss with a group of Hong Kong businessmen their plan to short Japanese stocks next week. Then he heard others talking about the continuously falling land and buildings in Japan.

"Land and housing prices on Ridao Island will definitely drop by more than half!" said the head of the Li family, who was in the real estate business, with great excitement.

"At that time, we can not only buy up Japanese Island stocks at rock-bottom prices, but also Japanese Island's land and those unfinished buildings!"

"Even Japan Bank has collapsed, where did you get so much money to buy up Japan's land and unfinished buildings?" Chairman Guo, who was also in the real estate business, sneered.

"Aside from those Japanese banks, go ask other banks who would lend you money to buy up stocks and real estate in Japan."

Chairman He nodded in agreement and kindly reminded him, "After this battle, Japan's economy will definitely plummet."

"Furthermore, with so many bad debts in Japanese banks, if the Japanese government allows them to go bankrupt, it will plunge the Japanese economy into an abyss of no return!"

"I think if you want to buy up land and unfinished buildings in Japan, you can patiently wait for the Japanese government to deal with Japan Bank before making a decision."

Seeing that Zhang Heping had not expressed any opinion, someone boldly asked, "Mr. Zhang, will the Heping Group continue to invest in Japanese island real estate?"

Zhang Heping smiled and said, "I share the same idea as Chairman He. I want to see if the Japanese government will help those Japanese banks and those Japanese companies that are deeply mired in debt crisis, and see how they will overcome this difficulty."

When Chairman He saw that Zhang Heping agreed with his statement, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "When you asked Mr. Zhang if he would invest in Japanese real estate again, didn't you notice that Heping Group has already invested in Haicheng and Pudong, Shanghai?"

A small real estate developer said helplessly, "We are naturally aware of the Peace Group's investment activities in the mainland, but it is very difficult to get loans from mainland banks!"

Upon hearing this, many small real estate developers in Hong Kong looked to Zhang Heping, because HSBC had opened branches in Shenzhen and Shanghai, and even branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Xishuangbanna were under construction.

Therefore, as long as Zhang Heping agrees, they can obtain funds for real estate speculation from the Huifeng Bank branch.

Unfortunately, the charity under the Peace Group is not HSBC, so Zhang Heping would not easily agree to their request.

The key point is that HSBC has not restricted its domestic lending business. As long as collateral is available, HSBC is still very willing to lend.

After all, the Peace Group has too much money in its accounts at Huifeng Bank, and they also have a lot of pressure to pay deposit interest!

Just as Zhang Heping was smiling without saying a word, a Hong Kong businessman suddenly said:
“Mr. Zhang, I heard from a friend that the six major Japanese conglomerates have sent people to Europe, the United States, and other countries to try to persuade those large conglomerates and capital to go long on Japanese stocks and target our funds!”

...(End of chapter)