money player

After leaving Kokamizu, Matsuda Yoshiko returned to Kono Garden, sat at the outdoor table in the garden, and slowly peeled a pumpkin seed.

She used to be a heavy smoker, and quitting wasn't easy. She needed some substitutes to distract herself, but she was very determined to quit. Even though she dreamed about smoking several times and suffered from the psychological torment of addiction, she never thought about relapsing.

She was originally just an ordinary woman, doing menial work to make ends meet. Matsuda Yoshiichi hurt her, but also ignited her ambition. She once thought that violence could continuously improve her status, but reality told her that this path was blocked. After hitting a wall, she planned to cook and live out her remaining years. Unexpectedly, the most important man in her life appeared and planned a broad path of ambition for her.

She was getting married, and before Takano-kun gave her a child, she needed a pure-blooded Japanese husband to cover up the child's mixed-race identity and make the child a pure Japanese. In this way, the child could easily gain a foothold in Japan and integrate into the inner circle.

Whether the child is of pure blood or not is not important. Even if she mainly inherited Western blood from Takano-kun, the key is that she needs to make a gesture and state her position.

She was already on the periphery of the innermost circle in Japan, but playing a rather humble role. This circle was not stagnant; it was highly fluid. Today it was led by a few people, and tomorrow it would be led by a few more. She could not get too involved or tie herself to a few people. Matsunaga Trading Company's goal was to become one of the forces that maintained the healthy operation of this circle.

The Yoshida Shigeru era should last a few more years, but it will eventually come to an end. She has already shortlisted a few names as to who will start the next one. She is most optimistic about Hatoyama Ichiro and also about Kishi Nobusuke, but she feels that Kishi Nobusuke is not ready. Perhaps the next one, and the one after that, will be the Kishi Nobusuke era.

Takano once circled a name for her: Kakuei Tanaka. He said that this young man from Niigata was quite interesting. He was practicing a kind of interest-driven politics, which is simply mutual benefit and gratitude. If you help him move up the social ladder, he will give back to you.

Kakuei Tanaka came from humble beginnings. After finishing elementary school, he became a construction worker. At the age of sixteen, he came to Tokyo to work hard, doing manual labor while studying for a diploma. He had unwavering perseverance. At the age of nineteen, he went solo and started a construction firm, but in reality, he was doing repair and maintenance work. Compared to the odd jobs he did on the street, he just had a storefront.

The following year, he was drafted into the army in Northeast China. Less than two years later, he was sent back to his homeland for medical treatment due to health problems and was discharged from the army. His "health problems" may have research value and could contribute to the study of self-harm.

Then he married Sakamoto Hanako, a divorced woman with a child who was about ten years older than him. Her father, Sakamoto Kihei, was the chairman of Sakamoto Architectural Firm, a large business with close ties to high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, he died shortly before their wedding.

Don't worry about the details, my dear, please believe that this is definitely love.

Although this sweet love affair did not last long, it came to an abrupt end after Sakamoto Architects changed its name to Tanaka Architects. Before Tanaka Hanako could finish humming "You said that changing the name meant it was a promise," she started humming "Finally, I became someone else's mistress."

It turns out that Kakuei Tanaka was not only a lecherous man, but also had a previous wife, Kazuko Tsuji, and an ambiguous relationship with Akiko Sato, the wife of a subordinate who helped him with his election campaign.

Kakuei Tanaka has both obvious strengths and weaknesses, making him a worthy candidate for support.

Just as Yoshiko Matsuda figured out how to contact Kakuei Tanaka, Yoshio Kodama, whom she had arranged to meet in advance, arrived.

Yoshio Kodama sat opposite her and said, "Matsuda, I'm going to Taiwan soon."

Yoshiko Matsuda did not respond, waiting for Yoshio Kodama to continue. She didn't wait long before Yoshio Kodama asked again, "You know about the Golden Lily Project?"

"know a little."

"Only a small portion of the treasures collected by the Imperial Army were transported back to Japan. Most of them were buried overseas. Shigeru Yoshida and the United States reached an agreement to hand over some of the burial sites to the United States."

"The US government?"

"And the CIA, and individuals."

Yoshiko Matsuda then asked, "Taiwan?"

Kodama Yoshio sarcastically remarked, "The Nationalist government is not qualified. I went to Taiwan to discuss joint excavation. Taiwan was once a transit point, and there are several burial sites there."

Then, he gazed meaningfully at Yoshiko Matsuda's face and said, "The people from the Arisu Agency have been making a lot of moves lately. Arisu-kun probably doesn't know about it."

Yoshiko Matsuda frankly said, "Arisue-kun doesn't know."

"You've already identified the burial sites in Taiwan?" Yoshio Kodama emphasized the word "you."

Yoshio Kodama is a somewhat mysterious person. His true background is a mystery. His own version has been exposed as fabricated. His verifiable experience begins when he was eight years old. He lived with relatives in Seoul and was exposed to communism during his youth, and was a fanatical communist for a period of time.

For some reason, his faith later changed, and he turned to fanatical militarism and fascism. At the age of eighteen, he devoted himself to the right-wing movement and became a capable assistant to Mitsuru Toyama, the founder of the Black Dragon Society. He also became friends with Mitsuru Toyama's third son, Hidezo Toyama.

He was involved in several right-wing incidents:

In 1931, Inoue Junnosuke, then Minister of Finance, offended the Japanese military headquarters by implementing austerity measures and drastically cutting military spending. Public opinion, controlled by right-wing ideology, overwhelmingly blamed the Inukai Tsuyoshi cabinet, especially Inoue Junnosuke, the Minister of Finance in charge of the economy, for the economic difficulties in Japan and the hardships of the people's lives.

At the young age of twenty, Yoshio Kodama sent a letter to Junnosuke Inoue with a short sword attached, saying, "Whether you use this sword to protect yourself or to commit seppuku is up to you." The implication was: rather than be assassinated by us, you might as well kill yourself.

Because of this threatening letter, Yoshio Kodama was sentenced to five months in prison.

Not long after his release from prison, Yoshio Kodama gathered a group of accomplices from the right-wing organization "Tengyōkai/Independent Youth Association" and planned to first blow up a power plant in Tokyo with explosives, and then kill government officials under cover of darkness to achieve his goal of a coup.

As a result, an accidental explosion occurred while preparing a grenade. After fleeing, Yoshio Kodama was reported and surrounded by police at his hiding place. He attempted suicide with a handgun but failed and was seriously injured. He was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison.

At that time, Japan was fanatical and obsessive. As long as one waved the banner of "loyalty to the Emperor" and donned the cloak of "patriotism," any illegal act such as murder and invasion would gain fervent supporters.

Junnosuke Inoue, who was threatened by Yoshio Kodama, was eventually assassinated by the right-wing group Blood Alliance in March 1932. In May of the same year, Tsuyoshi Inukai was shot and killed at his home by eleven young naval officers, including Hiroshi Yamagishi and Taku Mikami.

The people of Japan not only did not condemn the violence, but also petitioned for the "Eleven Heroes" by writing letters in blood and sending their fingers, demanding that the "patriotic" youths be treated leniently.

Against this backdrop, Yoshio Kodama's horrific acts were not condemned, but rather seen as an act of "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism," which solidified his position within the right wing of the activist movement.

In 1936, Yoshio Kodama was released from prison and immediately joined the right-wing political group, the Kokusui Taishin Party.

In 1937, he gained the appreciation of Tatsuo Kawasaki, the head of the Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and gradually began to get involved in intelligence and espionage work in China. After the Battle of Shanghai, the Japanese army occupied Shanghai, and Yoshio Kodama was entrusted by the Navy to establish a special intelligence organization in Shanghai.

Yoshio Kodama established a "special" intelligence organization called the Kodama Agency, or what could be called the Kodama Shop.

Kodama Yoshio was not interested in intelligence and focused his energy on making money. He not only interfered in the salt and iron trade and seized mineral resources, factories, farms, and fish farms, but also ran a secret weapons workshop. He sold whatever customers he wanted, and also sold heroin. He had cooperated with the Green Gang's Huang Jinrong faction and Du Yuesheng faction.

Kodama Yoshio came to Shanghai to make money, and his behavior was not very respectable. Even the Military Police Headquarters couldn't stand it and arrested him, preparing to sentence him to five, six, seven, or eight years.

Kodama Yoshio wasn't particularly clever and was more inclined towards violence, but he also understood the simple truth that to make money, you need a protector. Onishi Takijiro, a right-wing elder and the father of the Kamikaze, was his protector. After being imprisoned for only a few days, Onishi Takijiro stepped in to bail him out.

In fact, a key reason why Yoshio Kodama was accused of being greedy was that the benefits were only being transferred to the naval system, while the army could only smell the aroma and not get any benefits. It would be strange if the army didn't target him.

After that, Yoshio Kodama strengthened his emotional ties with the army and became a temporary employee of the Army General Staff. In 1939, when Wang Jingwei was in Hanoi, he participated in the protection work and personally witnessed the assassination attempt on Wang Jingwei in Hanoi.

Later, through Ishihara Kanji's introduction, Kodama Yoshio briefly worked at the Kwantung Army Headquarters. However, because Tojo Hideki disliked the East Asia Alliance organization led by Ishihara Kanji, Kodama Yoshio was dismissed and returned to Japan.

Kodama Yoshio did not remain in obscurity for long. Through Sasakawa Ryoichi's introduction, he went to work for the Naval Air Headquarters, the external agency of the Ministry of the Navy. The head of the headquarters, Yamamoto Isoroku, appointed him as a naval commissioner, responsible for procuring the necessary materials for the aircraft of the Naval Air Headquarters.

It is common knowledge that the Japanese Navy and Army are at odds, even in logistics procurement. They are always at odds with each other and are happy to make things difficult for the other. Kodama Yoshio's procurement work in Tokyo was not going well, so he suggested to his superiors that he go to Shanghai, his lucky place, to make the procurement. He was approved and returned to Shanghai after two years to rebuild the Kodama Store. The business that had been interrupted was resumed, and he also gained a large business in naval procurement.

The procurement of supplies for the East Asian Navy mainly took three forms: payment in Japanese yen in Japan, payment in hard currency or barter in non-occupied territories, and payment in puppet currency in occupied territories. For example, in the areas controlled by the Wang Jingwei regime, the Central Reserve Bank Notes were used—a currency issued by the Yokohama Specie Bank and the Bank of Taiwan. The Wang Jingwei regime forcibly exchanged these notes for the legal tender held by the people at a ratio of 1:2.

Warfare takes many forms, not just direct combat. Destroying the enemy's economy is also a very effective form of attack. So, they print counterfeit money to make the good people under the other side's rule suffer. No matter how much the illegal black market exchange rate drops, the government will only consider the legal official exchange rate when making purchases.

The Central Reserve Bank notes were, in essence, tools used by the Japanese to plunder the occupied territories. But surprisingly, they were quite valuable at first. If it weren't for various reasons, they could have remained "valuable" for quite a while. However, by the time Yoshio Kodama was in charge of procurement, they had become less valuable, especially compared to the Japanese yen.

With the Central Reserve Bank notes and the Japanese yen as two currencies, anyone with a little financial knowledge should realize that there is a way to inflate profits—goods purchased with Central Reserve Bank notes can be changed to be purchased in yen on the purchase order, and bang, the profits inexplicably increase.

By reforming the currency law, Yoshio Kodama made a fortune, which also benefited a large number of naval officers. To some extent, he became a front man for naval interest groups. Although the military police arrested him many times during his money-making period, he was quickly released by the naval forces and, with the support of the naval forces, participated in the 21st House of Representatives election in 1942.

Before the war ended, Yoshio Kodama took away a large amount of assets from Kodama Stores, including personal assets and assets belonging to the acting naval forces, from Shanghai.

The day after the Japanese announced their surrender, Yoshio Kodama was invited by Takijiro Onishi to be the second. It is likely that Takijiro Onishi left some last words for Yoshio Kodama, as well as some political legacy of naval power. Some political forces were playing with this bastard.

When Higashikuni Naruhiko formed the Peace Cabinet, Kodama Yoshio served as a cabinet advisor. In 1946, on the eve of his arrest by the Allied Powers, he used a portion of the "Shanghai Funds" to support Hatoyama Ichiro in forming the Democratic Party, at the suggestion of the famous broker Tsuji Karoku.

During his imprisonment in Sugamo Prison, he met political figures such as Ryoichi Sasakawa and Nobusuke Kishi. After his release, he was noticed by the Alliance and became a member of G2, forming the Kodama Agency, which was on par with the Arisue Agency.

However, unlike the Arisugawa Corporation, which is focused on intelligence and smuggling, Yoshio Kodama is transforming into a political broker, becoming a bridge between politicians, businessmen, and the underworld.

"Yes." Yoshiko Matsuda nodded slightly. "It's already underway."

Yoshio Kodama was not surprised by Yoshiko Matsuda's answer. He simply said, "The burial site in Taipei cannot be moved. That's what I used to make a deal with the Nationalist government."

Yoshiko Matsuda feigned reluctance: "Koudama-kun, this is not something I can decide."

Kodama Yoshio said seriously, "Matsuda, do not forget that you are a citizen of the Great Eastern Empire. Imperial interests come first, personal interests come second."

"King Kodama, the Americans may leave, but the American troops won't. Can I disobey their orders?"

“I know the Chinese man behind you, Sin Yiu-man.”

"Koudama-kun, since you know Takano-kun, you should naturally understand that he represents the interests of the United States."

Kodama Yoshio pondered for a moment, then said, "I will speak with Mr. Charlotte."

As soon as Sin Yiu-man parked his sidecar, Elizabeth Van Fleet appeared in front of him.

"Adam, there's a plane flying from Taipei to Busan tomorrow at noon."

Xian Yaowen nodded. "It's a little earlier than I expected. Come to my study tomorrow morning and take a few letters to Kong Lingxian for me."

"OK."

"go to bed early."

"Good night."

Watching Elizabeth disappear into the entrance hall, Sin Yiu-man walked to the pavilion, sat down next to Wong Yau-ka, and put his arm around her waist.

"I left home at 5:30 and didn't see you."

"I arrived at six o'clock." Wang Youjia turned to the side, resting his head on Xian Yaowen's shoulder. "You don't smell of alcohol. Where have you been?"

"Billiards room."

"Social?"

"No."

"woman?"

"Ah."

Wang Youjia stopped asking questions and murmured, "I signed a contract for 30 Malaysian Ringgit, 26 of which was for low-grade tea. After deducting travel expenses, I won't make much money on this trip."

"It's good enough if we don't lose money on the first order." Xian Yaowen patted Wang Youjia's side. "You must be tired after sitting on the plane for half a day. Get some rest."

Wang Youjia shook his head. "I'm not tired, and I don't want to go to sleep so early. Besides, they're still playing cards inside, so I can't sleep."

"Oh, who is it?"

“Your sister-in-law, Tang Yiying, Pu Ru’s wife Li Moyun, and another one I don’t recognize, wearing a lotus-patterned cheongsam.”

"It should be Madam Lan, Liang Huilan."

"Madam Lan?" Wang Youjia recalled briefly, "I've never seen her before, nor have I ever heard of her. Which Lan?"

"There is no husband with the surname Lan; it's just a title."

Whose outer residence is this?

"I don't know, his identity is a bit complicated, but he's well-connected in US military clubs."

"Oh," Wang Youjia said, tilting his head back. "I've put the clothes in the walk-in closet."

"Let it go. Tomorrow I'll have Danru put Baoshu's clothes away."

"Won't she have any objections?"

Xian Yaowen pinched Wang Youjia's cheek. "You think the magpie has any objections to the cuckoo taking over the magpie's nest?"

Wang Youjia smiled and said, "Since you didn't say anything, she probably won't have too much of an opinion."

“I told you, Baoshu has retired and will rarely come to Taipei in the future. You can take it if you want, but if there are similar things in the future, remember to let me know first and don’t act first and ask for my permission later.”

"I understand," Wang Youjia said quietly. "In less than two days, the news of my relationship with you will spread throughout Taipei. I'm not mentally prepared to face it."

"What are you preparing? You're more than a decade older than me. Those ladies may talk about you, but they're secretly incredibly envious."

"That's true, but there will definitely be a lot of rumors and gossip."

"People can say whatever they want, so let them have their way."

"That's the only way." (End of Chapter)