Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 95 Black Market
Sassoon Building.

Sassoon received Gu Yansheng, the uninvited guest.

"I didn't expect Director Gu to come to me. Director Gu's Judicial Department has caused me a lot of losses." Sassoon spoke quite bluntly.

"The scenery here is really nice." Gu Yansheng is now on the top floor of the Sassoon Building.

The Sassoon Building is also a landmark building on the Bund. It also has another name, the Peace Hotel. Of course, this name is not the current one.

Gu Yansheng turned around and looked at Sassoon with a smile. He took two steps over, sat down, and took a sip of coffee. "Loss is a matter of opinion. If I had suffered a loss, I might not have come today. But since I have caused Mr. Sassoon a loss, I came to visit him in person today, didn't I?"

Sassoon crossed his legs and teased, "Director Gu's words are really interesting. Can you make up for my losses?"

"Why not?" Gu Yansheng said quickly, "Mr. Sassoon should know that the Japanese are going to introduce military notes in downtown SH."

"I know, but I object. This completely harms the interests of our British businessmen. If Director Gu is trying to persuade me to accept it, then there is no need. I have no interest in doing anything that would harm my own interests.

We at Sassoon & Co. gather many businessmen, and they will all oppose it."

Gu Yansheng didn't answer and continued, "The Japanese also want to unify the drug market in downtown SH and confiscate all profits."

Sassoon frowned, puzzled, "Director Gu, are you threatening me? Are you trying to get me to submit?"

Gu Yansheng sneered: "Everyone knows that military notes are unreliable. Everyone opposes them simply because they are afraid that they can't be exchanged for real money. It can be said that there will definitely be a day when they can't be exchanged.

The simplest logic is that if it can be exchanged at will, why would the Japanese bother to come up with this thing?

Even though it has not been actually implemented yet, the city government has made it very clear that foreign chambers of commerce can exchange at any time, but there is no explanation for SH citizens at all, because the Japanese themselves have not yet made a clear statement.

But when one thing is restricted, it will inevitably give rise to something else.

That is the black market.

You are a foreigner and I am a law enforcer. As long as the Japanese want to maintain the credit of this military note, your existence must be exchanged, otherwise the credit will collapse in an instant.

I wonder if Mr. Sassoon understands what I have said here?
How about this gift?"

In fact, when Gu Yansheng uttered the word "black market", Sassoon had already adjusted his sitting posture and sat up straight with a focused expression.

"Director Gu, are you willing to work with me to establish this black market for fund exchange?"

"The black market is too ugly. I have a saying. A real Economic Department is one that wholeheartedly solves the problems of the people of SH. Of course, if Mr. Sassoon wants to take over the Economic Department, the prerequisite is that your drugs must be under the jurisdiction of the Judicial Department."

Sassoon didn't have to object this time. Instead, he smiled. This was a huge deal.

Is there any other business that has a wider scope and makes money faster than the business that all Shanghai people need?
And it is a huge profit with no investment.

Sassoon was in high spirits and asked seriously, "How do we divide the profits?"

"half each."

"It's too much. You should know I have operating costs. I need to hire people to expand the underground market, and my company also needs to communicate with Japan. If they don't exchange it, I might even start a war of words with them. I also need to find bigwigs in the UK to put international pressure on them. 37."

"Four six."

"make a deal!"

As Sassoon spoke, he stood up, laughed, and walked forward to shake hands. "Director Gu, it's a pity we met so late. I think we will have a perfect cooperation."

Gu Yansheng stretched out his hand and shook his hand: "I want 10% of the profits from the drugs."

"This is impossible, Director Gu, are you too greedy? I thought the price was already included in your 40%." Sassoon's expression changed so quickly.

Gu Yansheng smiled calmly: "I have no choice. If I want to keep the business running smoothly, do I also have to take care of other departments, such as the secret service headquarters? Do you think they don't know about the existence of the black market?"

Sassoon frowned, "This should be taken care of with the 40% you take."

"Can you be more generous? This is not a small business we are talking about."

"OK." Sassoon finally accepted it and smiled helplessly: "It's because I really want to make friends with Director Gu."

"Then it's not too much to treat a friend to a meal, right? I'm hungry."

"Of course, we have the best ingredients and wine here."

After working so hard for so long, the Japanese finally dug the hole. Gu Yansheng now has plenty of time to enjoy the food, so there is no reason not to eat for free.

All that remains is to wait for the flowers to bloom and for the Japanese to officially implement it.

"By the way, regarding the use of military notes by companies, I need some cooperation from them. You own so many companies, do you mind helping out?"

Gu Yansheng completed this task by the way. In fact, he could find anyone. Those people who sold opium all had several companies.

There was nothing wrong with Sassoon. Instead, if he responded earlier, he could actually gain the Japanese's favor, and the exchange of money would be smoother in the future.

The next day, Gu Yansheng came to the office.

Liu Xiaolou immediately reported, "Director, after you left yesterday, the deputy mayor's office actually called and asked for a meeting, but I used the excuse that you were out on business to evade them."

"Do you know what was said in the meeting?" Gu Yansheng was not surprised. When someone suffers a loss, he will always seek revenge, especially if it is the deputy mayor.

Liu Xiaolou said, "Deputy Mayor Su, in his capacity as Director of the Economic Department, convened a meeting and raised the requirement of three bureau-level companies to ten." "Ten?" Gu Yansheng's voice amplified. He was stunned for a moment, then sneered. Okay, Su Xiwen is ruthless enough.

What kind of god-like figure is this? He can solve the problem of ten companies a day, ten companies a day, and 300 companies a month. If he can really solve it, the directors alone can take over all the companies in SH City.

A mission that is impossible to complete, a naked assertion of power.

"How did they react?"

"The reaction was huge. This is simply impossible. There was an uproar in the meeting room yesterday. But in the end, the military police headquarters came and not only did they not reduce the number, they even raised the employee requirement for each company to at least 30 people."

"30 people, why?"

"It's said that during yesterday's meeting, Vice Mayor Su asked all departments to submit the lists of three companies they had completed the day before. The departments did complete the list, but the companies they submitted were all small businesses with only a few employees. They even passed off a grocery store as a business. The Japanese were furious about this and said it was a scam, so they made this request."

Gu Yansheng laughed out loud. It really is true that every policy has its own countermeasures.

When he assigned the task to the department, he didn't specify how many people to look for. He just asked them to report on whichever company they could successfully persuade.

Thinking of this, Gu Yansheng's smile faded slightly: "Have we signed up?"

"I submitted it." Liu Xiaolou nodded. "The Japanese required each department to submit a report, so I submitted the reports from the section chiefs. To be honest, our quality is about the same."

".Fine."

Anyway, it’s not just the Judicial Department that is embarrassed.

Liu Xiaolou said in embarrassment, "Director, there are a few more companies reported by the section chiefs below, but they are all small businesses with only a few employees. Deputy Mayor Su now requires daily submission of tasks. None of our tasks have met the standard today, but they need to be submitted before the end of the day. What should we do?"

Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry about it. If you ask, just tell me what I said. I won't pay it for now. No one will pay it."

With so many things on his hands, Gu Yansheng was not really afraid that Su Xiwen would cause him trouble. Sassoon was the former richest man in Shanghai and owned many companies. Sassoon alone was enough to offset all the negative impact.

Ding-ling-ling. Ding-ling-ling.

Gu Yansheng walked to the desk and answered the phone.

"Hey."

Hasegawa's voice came over the phone, deep and rapid: "Mr. Gu, have you read today's newspaper?"

"Are you referring to the gossip in the concession about our handling of the drug incident?"

Of course Gu Yansheng saw the newspaper, and he thought it was well written by a kind person.

Public opinion has certainly risen up, criticizing Japan.

However, drug dealers and addicts will not take to the streets to protest, so this incident is just a lot of noise but little results. The media pays attention to it, and the citizens just watch it for fun. It is not at the same level as the trouble that the protest against military notes could bring to the Japanese.

Hasegawa said seriously, "Yes, Mr. Gu, the news is very negative right now. Major newspapers have called me to verify this. I can only say no. This has temporarily resolved public opinion. But Mr. Gu, this matter must be dealt with. Once it is dealt with, public opinion will point to us again. It's too passive. Do you have any good ideas?"

Gu Yansheng paused for a moment, as if thinking, "Reversing public opinion isn't difficult. We can set up a Narcotics Control Bureau to combat the rampant drug trafficking in Shanghai. As long as I take action and clean up the opium dealers in Shanghai, I can demonstrate my resolve to combat drugs, and the negative public opinion will collapse on its own.

But Mr. Hase, the final resolution of the matter always depends on the willingness of these big businessmen to negotiate, so that it can be moved forward quickly.

I have been in contact with them these two days, and I can say that none of them cooperated. Their own interests were involved. Some people relied on their power, and some relied on the protection of the concessions. It was very difficult to move things forward.

I still need some time to sort out the relationship.

What did the Military Police Headquarters say?"

"They haven't responded yet."

"Okay, I'll think about it and get back to you later."

"Okay, I'll wait for Mr. Gu's good news."

"Ok."

Gu Yansheng put down the phone, picked up the cup and started making coffee, not feeling anxious at all.

If we talk about the most uncomfortable position in Japanese government, it must be the consulate position.

With Japan's current style, the consulate is never responsible for any good things and all the bad things are the responsibility of the consulate.

The fact that Hasegawa Inkawa has lived to this day without dying of depression can be attributed to his excellent mentality.

Take it slow and drag it out for a few days. The Japanese will get fed up with it and Hasegawa Inkawa won't want to be scolded anymore, so the matter will naturally be resolved.

I have to find something to do. I can't stay in the government. The people here are all resentful.

Gu Yansheng thought about it and decided to find a big house to live in.

Being a traitor doesn't mean you just work and don't enjoy anything.

The consul of the French Concession still owed him a favor. He wondered if he could get a discount on the house he was buying there.

(End of this chapter)