Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 93 Twenty Percent
"Excuse me, Mr. Zhang, the Military Police Headquarters says that everyone should be treated equally."

Zhang Xiaolin couldn't believe his ears. He stood up and said sullenly, "Director Gu, are you saying that the Military Police Headquarters knows I've already paid the troops, and they want me to pay another one?"

Gu Yansheng shook his head: "It's not a question of issuing another one, but all the money must be kept in Shanghai."

Zhang Xiaolin narrowed his eyes. "Isn't this asking too much? I have a close relationship with the expeditionary force. You're tantamount to asking me to sever that relationship, and you're doing it on your own initiative. It'll only make me hate you. Why would I do this?"

Gu Yansheng smiled indifferently, "You can consider making new friends. A new emperor chooses new ministers. Now Shanghai is ruled by the Military Police Headquarters, not the dispatched troops. And the money you pay is to the Judicial Department, that is, me.

In the future, all drugs in Shanghai will be under the jurisdiction of our judicial department."

Zhang Xiaolin had never suffered such humiliation before, and laughed angrily: "When the Japanese came to Shanghai, they were very polite to me, only daring to talk about cooperation, not jurisdiction. Today I have witnessed the majesty of Director Gu, and I admire him.

But what if I say no?"

Zhang Xiaolin's attitude suddenly turned cold. He stared at Gu Yansheng, exuding the aura of a superior who had been in a superior position for a long time.

But Gu Yansheng didn't buy it.

"It's better to leave without seeing him off."

Without a word, Gu Yansheng turned around and walked back to his desk. He stared at him and said, "If you walk out of this door, I'll close down all the smoking dens in Shanghai. Do you want to try?"

Zhang Xiaolin's eyes darkened, his face filled with anger. "Aren't you afraid of chaos? The Qing Gang has hundreds of thousands of brothers!"

"There's no point in scaring me. There are 25,000 Japanese troops in Shanghai. Go and scare them. If you succeed, you won't have to pay a penny. Otherwise, won't you still have to walk through this door and talk to me?"

Gu Yansheng raised an eyebrow and said in a cold tone, "Zhang Xiaolin, I'm giving you a chance to talk today. Don't refuse. When you want to talk, I may not be in such a good mood. Do you want to talk or not? Just one sentence! I'm very busy and don't have time to chat with you."

Zhang Xiaolin stared at Gu Yansheng gloomily, his chest heaving, obviously very angry.

But to be able to reach this position and become a traitor to the Japanese, there is a saying that the Japanese like to say, he must have learned it well, "He who knows the times is a hero."

"How do we talk?" After a few seconds of stalemate, Zhang Xiaolin's voice became much calmer and his attitude softened.

Gu Yansheng came out again with a smile and patted his arm: "That's right, business talks are all about making money, what can't be discussed? Sit down."

Gu Yansheng sat down and said, "I haven't drawn up the specific details yet, because I'm still considering this matter. Of course, I also know that we need to leave food for everyone. Someone has to do the work, and the Japanese can't go door to door selling it themselves, so I will also fight for your rights over there.

At present, it is certain that we will accept the supervision of the Judicial Department, and it is also certain that we will hand over a portion to the Japanese, but how much profit we leave to you is negotiable. Do you understand what I mean, Mr. Zhang?"

Zhang Xiaolin looked directly at him and said, "Director Gu, just tell me, how much do you want?"

Gu Yansheng smiled slightly: "That depends on how much Mr. Zhang is willing to pay."

"Half profit?"

"Seventy percent will be handed over."

"10% profit?"

"Fifty percent will be handed over."

"One and a half percent! That's the limit, Director Gu. I still have to take care of others."

"You've already taken care of me, who else do you want to take care of?" Gu Yansheng raised his eyebrows. "Twenty percent, hand over forty percent, but I'll reduce the total amount for you on the account by 30 percent. Is that enough?"

Zhang Xiaolin just did some mental calculations and nodded: "Director Gu is quite kind and righteous."

"Not bad? Very good, okay? Honestly, I don't think it's much worse than your original situation." Gu Yansheng chuckled: "Now you can tell me, who gave you the news?"

Zhang Xiaolin stopped hiding his intentions and said, "Lu Ying, he's the police chief. He should have a share of the daily work, right?"

Guessing it was him, Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and asked, "Someone once told me that Chongqing seems to be doing this business as well. Do you know who they are?"

"Du Yuesheng's disciple is called Chen Mo. He doesn't have much influence. What's wrong? Are you going to deal with him?"

"Chen Mo." Gu Yansheng remembered the name and paused before saying, "That's not the case, but didn't Du Yuesheng leave Shanghai? Didn't you seize his territory?"

"Du Yuesheng is a righteous man, and many people remember him well. Besides, they're all brothers in the Green Gang. Even if we behave badly, we can at least leave them a chance to live, right?" Zhang Xiaolin sneered. "In Director Gu's eyes, it seems that the character of us gangsters is quite ordinary."

The main thing is that you are the only traitor among the three tycoons.

"I'm not familiar with the martial arts world, please don't be offended."

Gu Yansheng nodded. Since it had nothing to do with the remaining major forces, he didn't need to worry about it. Otherwise, it would offend Chongqing. The Iron-Blooded Anti-Traitor Group would be really scary.

"I don't know how much money you earn a month yet. Don't hide it from me. It will be profitable if you keep doing this for a long time. I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation and there is no end to the money we can make." Gu Yansheng was curious.

"No matter how I try to hide it, the accounts have to go through you." Zhang Xiaolin squinted and said, "It's about 280,000 to 320,000 yuan a month now. As long as Director Gu takes good care of you, I will give you 50,000 yuan every month on time."

If it's 300,000, 70% is 210,000, and 40% is handed over, which is 80,000 yuan.

Gu Yansheng figured it out.

If we can deal with Zhang Xiaolin, the second most difficult problem will be solved. The first most difficult problem is Liao Shan and Huang Jinrong behind him.

Liao Shan is the chief Chinese police officer in the French Concession. Gu Yansheng cannot force him like he did to Zhang Xiaolin because his territory is not here.

But it’s not that there is no way. We can always find a way.

"Now that the matter is settled, I will leave first. Director Gu, since we are destined to be together, I ask that you take good care of me in the future."

"No problem." Gu Yansheng smiled and said, "By the way, why don't you just give me a ride? Is that convenient?"

Gu Yansheng decided it would be more comfortable to go home and sleep.

"Director Gu doesn't have a car?"

"How am I supposed to get out with so many people downstairs?" Zhang Xiaolin smiled as he thought of the grand scene downstairs. "How about I get someone to chase them away? I can still help Director Gu with that."

"Don't do that! It's ruining a good show. Secretary Ling will be unhappy later. Let's go."

He went downstairs and got into the back seat of Zhang Xiaolin's car. When the car drove out, it was stopped by protesters. However, when Zhang Xiaolin's driver rolled down the window, glared at him, and cursed, he said, "Green Gang boss, who dares to do this?"

Gu Yansheng went home safely and went to sleep.

He's gone, and the protests continue.

Seeing that none of the city government employees came out at the end of the working day, the protesting crowd immediately realized that the people inside were cowards, and they cursed even more fiercely and became more emotional.

Reporters took photos and joined foreigners in urging them to fight to the end to see who would outlast the other.

The next morning, newspapers all over Shanghai reported this amazing sight.

When the Japanese introduced military notes, citizens went to the government gate to protest, but no one from the city government came out to respond, not even people who were off work.

Moreover, according to reliable sources, the person who made this decision was Deputy Mayor Su Xiwen, and Su Xiwen himself actually ran away.

A larger wave of protests broke out, and Su Xiwen became a laughing stock on the streets and was awarded the title of Su Turtle.

Su Xiwen appeared at the municipal government with a gloomy face. As soon as he got to work, he went straight to Ling Xianwen's office and started a quarrel with him.

Gu Yansheng was oblivious to what was happening outside the window and was focused on entertaining Lu Bowen who had come to visit him.

"I've made some progress." Lu Bowen took out his notebook and said, "I looked around the flour mills and cotton mills in the city yesterday, and there are indeed some that are ready to be sold.

I've picked out a few good ones and I'll tell you a few so you can compare them."

"I don't want to listen. I don't know anything about business. How can I compare who is good and who is bad? As long as you think it's okay, it's okay." Gu Yansheng didn't understand flour mills in that era. Since the organization felt that Lu Bowen had the ability to do business, then he could just trust him.

If you really have to pay compensation, we’ll talk about it later.

Lu Bowen was still unhappy with what he said. "Comrade Gu Yansheng, if you don't understand, you can learn. But with so much money to buy a factory, shouldn't you listen? We are a team, and we can't be arbitrary in how we use this large amount of money."

"It's called don't employ a person you doubt, and trust a person you employ. I absolutely believe in your business acumen, Comrade Lu Bowen." Gu Yansheng smiled. "I accept your criticism, but I refuse to correct it."

Lu Bowen laughed angrily and rolled his eyes: "Okay, anyway, He Yun and I looked at this together, and she has also reviewed these targets, so I will just talk about money."

"Okay, we still have to talk about money, but don't overspend."

"First, a flour mill. Now a medium-sized flour mill, including equipment, costs about 15 yuan.

The main reason is that the equipment is expensive. A German-made grinding mill costs 1 yuan, and a British-made boiler costs about 8000 yuan.

Every 100 kilograms of wheat produces about 80 kilograms of flour, and the rest is bran.

If operating normally, a flour mill like this can produce about 400 tons of flour and 100 tons of bran per month.

I have investigated the recent price of flour. The price of a standard 22-kilogram bag of flour fluctuates around 4.5 yuan. The flour produced this month can be sold for more than 80,000 yuan.

Bran is 30 yuan per ton and can be sold for 3000 yuan.

After deducting the cost of wheat, which is 50 yuan per ton, and the operating costs of coal and labor transportation, which are 10,000 yuan, our monthly income can reach nearly 50,000 yuan.

Of course, the reality is not so ideal.

Because it was wartime, the transportation of wheat from Jiangsu and Anhui was not so smooth, and the Japanese also implemented a quota system, so the supply was not that much.

Among the factories I visited, the boss who bought the most was 300 tons, and the rest were basically able to buy enough to buy 200 tons of flour.

Basically, 9000 bags of flour and 50 tons of bran are produced in a month.

And now there is a rule that 30% of the flour produced must be forcibly requisitioned by the Japanese army, at three dollars a bag, for all factories. The only thing we can make a profit from is the 70% (6300 bags).

The Japanese are making a net loss, so their income has gone down. All their income added up to only about 38,000.

The cost of 250 tons of wheat is 12,500 yuan, and after deducting the operating cost of 10,000 yuan, we can earn a profit of about 15,000 yuan."

"A factory worth 150,000 yuan, with a profit of 15,000 yuan, and a payback period of ten months, this business is worth doing."

Just because others can’t get the quota doesn’t mean Gu Yansheng can’t get it. If production capacity is maximized, he can earn more.

“Is the data accurate?”

"It's almost certain. I've inspected many companies and even looked at their accounts. These owners are eager to sell and are very easy to talk to."

"That's fine, then. Let's open a flour mill. Forget about cotton mills. One hundred and fifty thousand is enough for two."

The money Gu Yansheng has on him now is the 100,000 US dollars that Fu Xiaoan bribed him with, which is about 400,000 British taels, enough for the two families.

If you want to open more with the remaining money, you have to wait until the cotton yarn is sold. As for the extra 100,000 yuan earned from stock trading, you can't spend it. You have to always keep cash.

Gu Yansheng pondered and said, "I opened this flour mill not to make a lot of money immediately, but I am mainly considering the transportation channels.

Last time I learned about their difficult transportation method, I was disappointed. They were helpless, but since we have the ability, I was thinking, can we open up a transportation route ourselves?

It spread little by little, first to the surrounding areas of Shanghai, and then slowly extended to Yan'an.

I just heard you say that the main sources of flour for Shanghai are Jiangsu and Anhui. This location is perfect.

This is the main area of ​​activity for the New Fourth Army."

(End of this chapter)