Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 65 Tax Farmer?
After the signing of the Tangku Agreement, foreigners at home and abroad were all in an uproar.

In China, except for Mr. Hu Shi who praised it highly and said that it was a sacrifice that had to be made for the peace between China and Japan, all celebrities were deeply saddened by this.

As for overseas Chinese, they have even less to worry about.

At the beginning, they organized a formal petition to the government. A group of tycoons represented by Tan Kah Kee urged the government to resist Japan, and the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia were willing to tighten their belts.

The Chinese in Malaya are willing to follow the example of the Chinese in Vietnam and take the lead in "daily donations".

In Penang and New Town, members of the Hongmen clan also expressed their willingness to follow the example of overseas Chinese in Vietnam and save 20% of their food expenses to support the anti-Japanese war.

The overseas Chinese in Europe were more creative and directly found the League of Nations representatives to force them to express their stance. They lodged solemn protests with Nanjing and strongly condemned it.

As a result, Nanjing mobilized troops from all over the country and headed west.

This made the overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, Europe, America, Africa and South America so angry that they broke down. Almost every overseas Chinese liaison office was cursing about this matter.

The Northeast Army stopped fighting Japan and moved westward.

Without Tianjin Port, Zheng Yi's Penang military factory couldn't deliver the weapons they produced. Would it be necessary to send them through Nanjing? Wouldn't that be like throwing meat buns at a dog, with no return?

Even Zheng Yi was stunned.

Although he had some knowledge about the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he could not remember the specific details. He only knew that the Great Wall War of Resistance was probably lost, but he really didn't know how it was lost. After all, he didn't study history.

Objectively speaking, this may not be a very important battle. It was only mentioned briefly in high school textbooks, and the total description did not exceed fifty words.

And I have to say that the atmosphere in Penang during this period is so exciting.

He was so engrossed in it.

Once you immerse yourself in it, you will inevitably become involved.

He really didn't expect that the battle to defend the Great Wall would be fought so quickly.

Not a big disadvantage, right?

Didn’t the big knife team attack the Japanese very fiercely?
Why don’t you fight anymore?
Even he, a time traveler, felt dizzy.

In Penang, the Hongmen was already organizing a second batch of volunteers to go north to serve as a suicide squad. Zheng Yi even equipped them with weapons and randomly found someone to start intensive military training.

As a result, the war was over before we even set off.

Just how to say it.

I felt like vomiting blood all over my body.

Zheng Yi didn't feel wronged, but he felt sorry for those two workers who were stuck inside the steel furnace and suffocated to death due to lack of oxygen while trying to repair it.

If you had told me earlier that you were hitting me so fast, I would have taken my time to fix it! Didn’t these two workers die in vain?

The Japanese side was originally discussing whether to put some diplomatic pressure on Britain and send diplomats to notify them.

After all, the Chinese in Southeast Asia played a very important role, and the 19th Army fought very well indeed.

Everyone has inertia. Although there are war advocates and radicals in Japan now, and rational analysis shows that the British are nothing, most Japanese are still quite afraid of Britain. The thought of intimidating Britain in diplomatic occasions makes them all scared.

And to be objective and realistic, the Northeast Army fought this battle really well after being driven out of the Northeast.

In this battle, Xiao Zhang really showed some of Lao Zhang's spirit.

The Chinese in Southeast Asia did provide them with great help, especially after Zheng Yi started working.

As a result, the fighting on the front line was over before the diplomats could even be sent.

Fucking peace.

After being angry, losing their defenses, and cursing, the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia soon became numb.

People in China have this attitude, so why are those overseas people so anxious?

The emperor is not anxious, but the eunuchs are. Are they cheap? At this time, in Penang.

Zheng Yi, who looked haggard, was chatting with Chen Jiageng and Xu Shengli, cracking melon seeds and drinking a pot of wine.

He was very tired during this period. Xu Shengli and Chen Jiageng were probably not much more relaxed than him. Now that they had nothing to do and were free, they had no energy to continue working.

At least Zheng Yi himself just wanted to have a few days to waste in leisure time.

"Mr. Chen, there's still 940,000 US dollars left in the Arsenal's account. You took the lead in donating this money, and I haven't spent it. How about I return it to you?"

Tan Kah Kee: "This money is not mine alone. It is a drop of water that makes a river. If you return it to me, who can I ask for a refund?"

"Then we can't just use it as money for the show, right? We should continue to produce weapons and donate them to Nanjing. If we donate to Nanjing, are we going to fight the Japanese or the Chinese?"

Xu Sheng said, "Then leave it in the factory. It's a military factory anyway. Can't we Chinese in Southeast Asia use the things produced with this money ourselves?"

Zheng Yi: "How do we use it? To set up an army right under the noses of the British?"

Xu Shengli said: "Damn it, why not? There are over 300,000 Hongmen members in Penang. We can select 5,000 of them and train them into an army. Is that difficult?

We are now capable of producing our own weapons. If we produce 100,000 rifles and distribute them to our Hongmen brothers, what can the British do? Let them come and attack Penang. They only have a few soldiers in Malaya.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi and Chen Jiageng were both stunned, and for a moment, they did not refute.

Even Tan Kah Kee was seriously considering the feasibility of doing so.

After all, they chose Penang as their base because they wanted the whole city to be full of fraternities.

The British had a maximum of 80,000 ground forces in Malaya, and at least 60,000 of them were Malays and Indians, with very few real British people.

Rebellion is unrealistic, and we certainly don't have the ability to do that, but we can definitely have the ability to challenge.

Tan Kah Kee: "Old Xu, did your family ever serve as tax farmers in Penang?"

Xu Shengli said: "My grandfather and my father both did it. In my generation, the British no longer do tax farming."

"Actually...it might not be impossible to wrap it back up. If he doesn't wrap it up..."

But I couldn't help but think of taking a hard approach.

More than one million US dollars did not help the country, but if it can restore Penang's relative independence and really distribute guns to the Hongmen brothers, then it would actually be worth it.

Xu Shengli said, "Times have changed. If we, the Xu family, really want to be tax collectors again, to be honest, I don't have the ability of my father and grandfather. However, I think that if tax collection is really possible, Mr. Zheng would be quite suitable for this position."

Zheng Yi: "Me? Tax included? Mr. Xu, you must be kidding."

Xu Shengli: "The Yangtze River's waves behind push the waves ahead. Our Xu family used to rely on fists, money, and Hongmen background. These methods no longer work in Southeast Asia. In this era, we Chinese want to strengthen ourselves, and we can only rely on industry. Who else can do it besides you?
Don't worry, if you become a tax collector, our Xu family will definitely support you. We know you are not familiar with the underworld, and I will handle the internal affairs of the Hongmen."

Tan Kah Kee said, "I think so too. If you can do it, Mr. Zheng, please make some plans. On behalf of the Fujian Gang, I will fully support you. Besides, Mr. Zheng is now the president of the Northern Fujian Chamber of Commerce. The Fuqing Gang in Malaya respects you as the leader. You are qualified."

Zheng Yi didn't expect even Mr. Chen to say that, but he still shook his head in self-mockery and said, "I really haven't thought about tax-sharing. If it were really done, how difficult would it be? We haven't even started yet."

"Most of the craftsmen brought over from the Northeast Army were experts in making cannons, and very few could make guns. In fact, making cannons is much easier than making guns.

We can make cannons, but as for guns, it’s not that we can’t make them, but our production is limited. I can’t make 100,000 guns.”

"You can't just make cannons and give them to the Hongmen brothers."

"The most important thing is that guns are actually easy to make. Strictly speaking, if you don't mind just rubbing it by hand, Yitai has the mechanical processing capabilities to process guns.
But bullets are a big problem. We simply don't have the ability to mass-produce them. We can't just hand-make them."

Tan Kah Kee: "We're not asking you to produce 100,000 guns right now to challenge the British, tax included. But we all know your ability. If you go to Europe and convince such a large European company to cooperate with you, can you do it if we give you our full support?"

Zheng Yi didn't say anything after hearing this, but poured another small cup of white wine and started drinking.

Neither said yes nor no.

He simply said, "If you support me, I will go all out to develop. As for how it will develop, it still depends on the specific situation. I can't guarantee anything. If it really develops one day, I will say something then."

(End of this chapter)