Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 96 Transferring Power
Not counting Lu Shan, Sassoon and others, Fu Xiaoan alone knew that he had $100,000 in his hands.

As for Wu Sibao, he would know that Gu Yansheng had a large sum of money at the latest after the cotton yarn was sold.

Such a rich person doesn't even own a house in Shanghai and has to live in a city government apartment. This is actually unacceptable in the long run.

So Gu Yansheng had to spend some money and had to have a house that suited his status, not for the sake of spending money, but mainly because he had to have it.

The first choice is of course a house in the French Concession, where the environment is better and you may be able to get a discount if you contact the French consul.

However, this idea was quickly abandoned because the existence of the Iron-Blooded Anti-Traitor Corps had to be considered.

Gu Yansheng thought about it and went to find Ling Xianwen.

"Secretary-General, are you busy?" Gu Yansheng knocked on the open door.

"Yansheng." Ling Xianwen looked up and said, "Sit down. What do you want to talk to me about?"

"I want to ask you something." Gu Yansheng walked over and sat down. Seeing Ling Xianwen's face, he frowned, "Your face is still swollen?"

Ling Xianwen's face darkened upon hearing this: "He's showing off his power here by relying on the support of the Military Police Headquarters. I'll kill him sooner or later."

Well, that’s right. You’re bringing up something that’s not relevant to the topic. This is exactly the effect we want.

"He's a deputy mayor after all. He hits people when he can't win an argument. His character is really bad." Gu Yansheng sarcastically joined in.

Ling Xianwen sneered, "He's just a landowner. If he wasn't backed by the Japanese, he'd be nothing. He wouldn't even dare to show up. He's just a piece of crap. Let's not talk about him anymore. If you have any questions, come to me."

Gu Yansheng nodded. "I've run into a problem. I don't have a house in Shanghai. I either rent or own an apartment owned by the city government. I want to buy a house and settle down. At first, I thought about buying in the concession, but then I realized that it wouldn't be safe for us with our status. I'm not familiar with other places in Shanghai, so I came to ask you if there are any suitable places?"

"Hongkou."

Ling Xianwen blurted out, "First of all, we're close to Hongkou, so it's convenient for commuting. If we really need to go to the Japanese for a meeting, it's just on the way. Plus, there's a Japanese military camp on the edge of Hongkou. Buying a house there is absolutely safe. It's like the Japanese are guarding your house. Fu Xiaoan's villa is right over there."

"How can I buy it? I heard that Hongkou has restrictions on Chinese people buying and selling houses."

"That's for ordinary people. We can buy it casually." Ling Xianwen thought for a moment and said with a smile: "I don't think you need to spend money on this matter. Do you know how Fu Xiaoan got his villa?"

"how did it get here?"

"The Japanese gave them to the Military Police Headquarters. They own a lot of houses. They are all military assets."

Ling Xianwen smiled: "Aren't you helping the Military Police Headquarters deal with the drug issue now?
I think you should contact the Military Police Headquarters and tell them that you are being disliked for handling this matter and are vulnerable to backstabbing, so you are thinking of moving to Hongkou and asking them to give you a house. It would save you a lot of money.

Gu Yansheng looked uncertain and laughed, "Is it appropriate for me to ask for it? Doesn't that make me ask for something? How embarrassing would it be if they don't give it to me?"

"Why should you be embarrassed? I'm doing work for them, so what if I need a place to live? It's all for work." Ling Xianwen paused and said, "You'll definitely have to report to the Military Police Headquarters when the time comes. Take the opportunity to mention it to General Iwasa. It's just a matter of a word from him, right?"

It seems that the money cannot be spent yet, and buying a house can be done for free. Since he can get it for free, Gu Yansheng has no reason not to do so.

Since you already have a house, it makes sense not to buy another one.

"Then I'll give it a try then." Gu Yansheng smiled and said, "Thank you for your advice, Secretary General. You are very experienced."

Ling Xianwen sneered and waved his hand, then remembered something and opened a drawer. "Hey, I just happened to show you something. It just arrived today."

Ling Xianwen took out an envelope and poured out a few Japanese banknotes from it.

"Military notes, take a look."

“Is this the military note?”

Gu Yansheng picked up a one-yuan note and looked at it. "Isn't this Japanese Yen? Just write four words on it and it's done?"

The Japanese yen is issued by the Bank of Japan. It is not called a banknote in name, but a Bank of Japan exchange certificate. This means that you can use this certificate to exchange for one dollar's worth of gold at the bank, which is considered the gold standard.

The one in Gu Yansheng's hand is also an exchange certificate, exactly the same as the Japanese yen he usually uses. The only two differences are that someone stamped a red stamp with the four words "Military Promissory Note" on the Japanese yen paper, and then manually crossed out the words "Japanese Bank Exchange Certificate" with a red pen.

"The Japanese are pretty lazy, aren't they?" Ling Xianwen scoffed, leaning back in his chair and saying, "This money was printed by the Bank of Japan specifically for use in Shanghai. I heard that because of time constraints, they didn't even have time to make a new master copy. They simply used their own money, made a new military note stamp, and stamped it, thinking it was done. It's a complete scam."

"It's really confusing. When are the Japanese going to officially implement it?" Gu Yansheng asked.

"almost."

Ling Xianwen frowned in thought, paused, and said, "Now that the opposition in the market is so strong, and the Japanese have asked Su Xiwen to increase the number of companies to ten, I think this matter is bound to explode in the near future. Either the companies choose to accept it, or the Japanese will send troops to kill a group of people and force it through.

Anyway, it can't be delayed any longer. Look, the money has already arrived, the Japanese must be anxious, why should they withhold it?"

As Ling Xianwen was talking, he looked at Gu Yansheng grinding banknotes.

Gu Yansheng smiled and showed the money: "I'll try to remove this red mark. I'll deposit it in a Japanese bank later. It's much more valuable than French currency."

"Ah? Hahahaha." Ling Xianwen immediately laughed. "You're dreaming! This technology belongs to the official Bank of Japan. How could you possibly seize it?"

He said he had tried it, but what good would it do to try it?

After the two of them finished joking, Gu Yansheng said goodbye.

He slacked off as soon as he got back to the office. He wasn't in a rush about anything he was working on. He just had to wait for the wind to blow and for things to ferment. The next day, the newspapers in the concessions were still blasting Japan's illegal actions in Shanghai, from military notes to drugs, full of points to criticize.

At noon, Gu Yansheng received a call.

"Director Gu, please come to the Military Police Headquarters. Commander Iwasa wants to hear your personal report."

"Ok."

Gu Yansheng put down the phone. The Japanese were even more impatient than he had imagined. He originally thought that they could hold out for a few more days.

It is estimated that things are not going well for Hasegawa Incheon, and the pressure is put on the Military Police Headquarters.

At two o'clock, Gu Yansheng arrived at the headquarters and was taken directly to Iwasa Taro's office.

Besides Iwasa Taro, there was another person in the room. He was dressed in a suit and had a slicked-back hair. He looked like a Chinese.

Gu Yansheng didn't know him, and Iwasa Taro didn't introduce him.

"General Iwasa."

"Director Gu, I called you here today to inquire about your work progress." Iwasa Taro didn't even let Gu Yansheng sit down. He said directly, "Recently, public opinion has been criticizing our Great Japanese Empire. The consulate told me that Director Gu's implementation of this work is not going smoothly and is very difficult. Is that right?"

Gu Yansheng pondered and said, "Because the profits of Shanghai drugs involve many forces, such as the British, the Green Gang, and the French, they will definitely not be willing to take back this part of the profits from them."

"Why not take a tougher approach? In downtown SH, they don't have the power to say no, right?"

"The method you're talking about is to inspect the goods and detain people?" Gu Yansheng asked.

Iwasa Taro nodded. "If there is resistance, arrest them directly. Drug trafficking is a crime under the law. Director Gu, your judicial department should not encounter any legal difficulties in handling this matter."

Gu Yansheng shook his head: "There is no difficulty in the law, but I can't do this. Doing so will inevitably cause an explosion of public opinion.

Drug dealers won't speak out, but they will resist. Take the Green Gang, for example. There are hundreds of thousands of members of the Shanghai Green Gang. If we arrest them, will they resist under other pretexts? Do I have to arrest them all?

Even if I could arrest them all, would it cause turmoil in Shanghai's economy?

General Iwasa, this is a complex issue, and I need to consider more than just drugs."

Iwasa Taro remained noncommittal and asked, "So, according to Director Gu's idea, what do you plan to do?"

"Negotiate with them, let them give up some of their interests, keep some, and resolve the drug incident peacefully."

"What's a portion?"

"Every situation is different, and the details still need to be discussed, but I will try my best."

Iwasa Taro sneered, "I know Director Gu is Consul Hase's favorite general, and he always takes calming public opinion as his primary consideration when doing things. But as you said, the consequence of doing so is that the interests of the military will be damaged.

Now that public opinion has started to attack us, and we've already suffered losses, does Director Gu think it's necessary to talk to them?"

"Of course we have to talk about it. Right now, public opinion is just building, not exploding."

After hearing this, Iwasa Taro turned his head and looked at the man standing there, "Mr. Sheng, what do you think?"

Sheng Wenyi, who was standing nearby, chuckled, glanced at Gu Yansheng, then at Iwasa Taro, and bowed his head, saying, "General Iwasa, I don't think there's any need to talk, just fight! We have tens of thousands of powerful Japanese soldiers in downtown SH. Why should we negotiate with a bunch of land thugs like them?
If you don’t accept it, beat me until I accept it!

Those who need to be arrested should be arrested, and those who need to be killed should be killed until they surrender.

Even if we want to negotiate, we have to wait until they are frightened and kneel down to beg us to talk. Only in this way can we get the greatest benefits!

General, do you think I am right?"

Iwasa Taro looked back at Gu Yansheng and asked, "Director Gu, what do you think?"

"Who is this?" Gu Yansheng asked.

Iwasa Taro introduced him as "Mr. Sheng Wenyisheng, the third son of Sheng Xuanhuai, the Minister of Posts and Communications of the Qing Dynasty."

"So it's Mr. Sheng San. I've heard of your great name for a long time."

Gu Yansheng smiled politely, looked at Iwasa Taro, paused and said, "It seems that General Iwasa already has the best plan in mind. I think no matter how much I say, it will be of no use.

In that case, let General Iwasa's chosen candidate handle this matter. I have no objection and I will hand over the power."

Iwasa Taro was quite satisfied with Gu Yansheng's straightforwardness. He believed that a man of insight is a hero and a sensible person. He didn't want to see any excuses.

"Very good, Director Gu is a reasonable man." Iwasa Taro nodded. "Then follow Director Gu's suggestion and establish a General Smoking Control Bureau with Sheng Wenyi as the director. Director Gu can stop worrying about this matter. Of course, the legal documents will still need to be issued by your Judicial Department."

Gu Yansheng pursed his lips and nodded: "I'm fine, can I go now?"

Iwasa Taro raised his hand and said, "Please do as you please."

Gu Yansheng nodded, glanced at Sheng Wenyi, and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Director Sheng. Goodbye."

(End of this chapter)