Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 183, Section 182: Disagreements, Secret Support, Searching for the Third Red Army

The work reports from Fang Wen's small group are still ongoing.

However, everyone's attention turned to the Red Army.

Opinions about the Red Army in Shanghai are very divided.

Some people appreciate it, while others criticize it. Different perspectives and interests lead to different opinions.

However, compared to the Nationalist government, many people recognized that this was a pure and idealistic team.

Huo Duanyang's perception of the Red Army changed dramatically after he actually came into contact with them.

He explained to everyone what he had seen of the Red Army.

“Last month, a part of the Third Red Army entered Longshan and was intercepted by the local bandit Shi Xingwu. The battle lasted only about 20 minutes. All the high ground was controlled by the Red Army. Shi Xingwu lost more than 60 soldiers and ten machine guns.”

After a pause, Huo Duanyang looked at Fang Wen and continued, "The general manager once said I had a prejudice against the Red Army. Therefore, I specifically inquired about the situation regarding the establishment of the base area in western Hunan. The poor people genuinely supported them, and the soldiers sincerely joined the army and fought bravely to protect their own interests. They truly wanted to change the world. What moved me most was their statement: 'Break the old world and build a new China.'"

Huo Duanyang's words stirred everyone's interest.

They couldn't help but start discussing it.

In this absurd era, the gap between the rich and the poor is unimaginable, and injustices are everywhere.

In Nanjing, a rickshaw driver earns four silver dollars a month, and that's not even considered low-income.

In impoverished areas, tenant farmers who farmed the land had never even seen a silver dollar; their greatest hope was simply to make a living.

Take western Hunan as an example. It is mountainous with little arable land, resulting in low per capita planting area and low yield per mu. Land is still concentrated in the hands of a few people.

In such an agricultural society, the poor, who lacked even the factors of production, had to compete to work for the landlords.

What do people who can't compete do? They go up the mountain and become bandits.

this is the truth.

In Shanghai, the silver dollars or gold that a wealthy family's son spends on a summer trip can provide a good life for a poor family of three for several years.

Buying a custom-made suit costs 200 silver dollars, an expense that the poor simply cannot afford.

The discussion became increasingly heated at this point.

People spoke out about the various injustices they had witnessed.

Leaving aside other places, let's take Shanghai, the Paris of the East, for example.

There are also many, many poor people here.

They often live in dilapidated shantytowns or slums, with appalling living conditions. Many are forced to engage in heavy manual labor or low-paying jobs to survive. Furthermore, due to inadequate medical care and malnutrition, the health of the impoverished population is generally poor.

Those emaciated child laborers in the factories.

Those people begging along the Huangpu River with children in tow.

They reach out expectantly to the glamorous passersby, among whom may be corrupt, incompetent, or misbehaving.

But these things are none of their concern.

With class stratification, the poor will never have a chance to rise up.

No, it should be said that there was no proper opportunity to turn around.

Their only options were to engage in illegal activities such as gangster work, thuggery, pimping, theft, and fraud.

Otherwise, they would only starve and wait for the slow death from malnutrition.

Is this social situation normal?!

Lin Shuiwang, who had just returned from abroad, recounted what he had seen and heard.

"Everyone says society is bad, but I think whether it's good or bad depends on the people. If those rich people don't treat their fellow countrymen as human beings, they're capable of anything. Even in Europe and America, no matter how much they exploit, they don't disregard people's lives. There's always a meal to live on, but they deliberately don't provide that. I think those in power in China today are wicked to the core. If things continue like this, it'll be worse than the Qing Dynasty."

Shunzi, who once came from the bottom, understands this the most.

He looked at Fang Wen expectantly.

"General Manager, do you really think it's possible to overthrow the old world and build a new one?"

Everyone looked at Fang Wen, seemingly waiting for him to make a statement.

How should I respond to them?

Fang Wen was deep in thought.

He knew the future, and he knew that as long as things took their natural course, China had the greatest chance of rising to prominence.

Therefore, they definitely supported the Red Army.

However, this attitude cannot be easily revealed.

Judging from the Kuomintang's behavior in recent years, bombing the Japanese might not be a big deal, but if they found out that the Red Army was involved, they would definitely persecute them to death.

He was unsure which people in his inner circle he could always trust, and which might turn against him in the future.

Therefore, it's best not to express this attitude publicly. If you're going to do it, do it secretly, and at most, involve those who truly appreciate the Red Army's approach.

Who admires the Red Army now?

He made his judgment.

Shunzi and Fang Shouxin identified with the Red Army, their class affiliation was correct, and they were essentially one of their own.

Huo Duanyang may be undergoing a transformation.

Sun Debiao, Manager Liu, and Lin Shuiwang are neutral.

Pan Jiafeng and Kuang Mingzhu were disgusted by the current social situation and did not appreciate the Red Army's actions.

Shao Sishen, who is still in South Asia, is likely to end up like Pan Jiafeng.

Howard, an American, this has little to do with him.

From this perspective, only one-third of my inner circle (myself, Fang Shouxin, and Fang Shun) definitely identify with the Red Army.

After making this judgment, Fang Wen said, "Overthrowing the old order and establishing a new one is a very difficult thing. I admire their lofty ideals. Well, let's leave this matter here and move on to other topics, such as the Asia-Europe route and aircraft ownership certificates."

Fang Wen did not express any opinion and changed the subject.

He arranged the work for the future Asia-Europe routes. After finding a suitable French translator, Lin Shuiwang will become the overseas manager of Taishan Airlines' Asia-Europe routes. His main tasks will be to inspect the various transit airports along the routes and maintain communication with various regions.

This is an important position, and good communication is essential to ensure the long-term operation of the Asia-Europe route.

Lin Shuiwang himself enjoys this kind of work and has no objections whatsoever.

Regarding the aircraft ownership certificate, at the end of the meeting, Manager Liu and Fang Shouxin were specifically asked to stay behind to discuss it.

Manager Liu said, "General Manager, there's been another twist regarding the property ownership certificate. The Japanese have encountered a competitor in the process of acquiring the certificate."

"There are still people going against them?" Fang Wen asked in surprise.

"Yes," said Manager Liu, recounting the interesting things that had happened in Shanghai over the past three months.

After Fang Wen left Shanghai, the Japanese accelerated the acquisition of aircraft ownership certificates.

The counters they set up at the Shanghai Securities and Commodities Exchange offered transaction prices that were 20% to 30% higher than the actual value of the property ownership certificates.

This premium is intended to attract property owners to sell.

However, they did not expect that their invention of trading aircraft ownership certificates would be imitated.

In Shanghai, any profitable business will never be exclusive; once a lucrative opportunity is discovered, others will intervene.

The first imitator even opened a counter offering the same services at the Shanghai Securities and Commodities Exchange.

They sent people to the Japanese counters to copy the prices, and then listed the transactions at their own counters.

Unlike the Japanese who only buy and don't sell, this counter handles both buying and selling. With buying and selling comes price differences, which in turn generate profits.

Soon everyone discovered this way of playing and came to participate.

But with so many people buying, what happens if there aren't enough property ownership certificates for the transactions?
They actually came up with another idea.

Just like stocks, the aircraft ownership certificate is split into shares.

A single property certificate can be divided into ten parts, allowing more people to participate in the transaction and generating greater profit margins.

After hearing what Manager Liu had to say, Fang Wen was also stunned by this bizarre operation.

He tried to analyze it.

"According to your logic, they issue stocks using property ownership certificates as collateral, and then trade them privately?"

“Yes. And this wasn’t just one company doing this; several other companies with the same business emerged later,” Fang Shouxin replied.

"Aren't they afraid of forging property ownership certificates?" Fang Wengang realized he had made a mistake as soon as he finished speaking.

To ensure the authenticity of the tung oil-for-airplane deal, a special aircraft ownership certificate was made that was very difficult to imitate.

Later, in order to make the property ownership certificate more credible, Taishan Airlines also offered the business of confirming and transferring ownership.

As long as the property certificate is approved by Taishan Airlines, the property certificate owner can be changed, and then the new owner's file will replace the original file.

This resulted in Taishan Airlines having a copy of every property ownership certificate and establishing an archive, as well as anti-counterfeiting measures including secret marks and serial numbers.

Simply bring the property ownership certificate to Taishan Aviation for authentication, and you'll know whether the certificate is genuine or not.

They established a credit system by using this method of determining authenticity, and then issued stocks for speculation.

Fang Wen hadn't expected things to be handled this way.

The stock-like conversion of property ownership certificates has become a new financial practice in Shanghai, disrupting the Japanese plans.

Fortunately, it's not easy to find a replacement for the Boeing 247, so there's no need to continue playing with the Japanese.

He announced.

"The Japanese probably won't allow it to continue either, and will probably have to suspend the related plans for property ownership certificates."

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements." After saying that, Manager Liu and Fang Shouxin got up and left.

After the two had walked away, Fang Wen went out and went to Fang Shouxin's house next door.

Fang Shouxin returned just then and, seeing Fang Wen following behind, asked in surprise, "Young Master, is there anything else?"

"Let's go inside and talk."

Fang Wen entered the room and saw Shunzi lying on the bed. "Shunzi, get up. I have something to say."

The father and son sat opposite Fang Wen, waiting in bewilderment.

"What do you think of the Red Army?" Fang Wen asked directly.

Upon hearing that they were Red Army soldiers, Fang Shun became excited: "Young Master, they are good people. I heard that the Kuomintang has been persecuting them. Can you help them?"

Fang Wen didn't respond directly, but looked at Fang Shouxin: "Uncle Fang, what about you?"

Fang Shouxin hesitated for a moment: "Young Master, I was born into a poor family. When I was a child, three people chose to share a pair of pants, but in the end, I was the only one who survived. This world is truly cannibalistic. If things don't change, it will always be like this. I know that you are different from us, Young Master. You haven't experienced those things and can't understand what hardship is like. You may not understand our thoughts, but I still want to say that the Red Army is great. They are the hope for the poor."

Fang Wen nodded: "Only the three of us know about tonight's events. Don't speak well of the Red Army outside in the future."

Fang Shun nodded dejectedly.

Fang Shouxin sighed and agreed.

But before Fang Wen could finish speaking...

“We won’t talk, we’ll just do it. Shunzi, go and secretly contact the Red Third Army and ask them what they want. Once we find out, we’ll buy it and then airdrop it to them.”

Fang Shun was overjoyed and defended his father: "Dad, I knew the young master was a good person. See, I wasn't wrong."

Fang Shouxin smiled and gave his son a nudge: "What are you saying? Young Master has always been a good person."

"Yes, yes, he's always been a good person." Realizing she had misspoke, Shunzi immediately corrected herself.

Looking at the father and son, Fang Wen couldn't help but smile.

The small group meeting has concluded, and everything is proceeding according to plan.

The aircraft ownership certificate issue has fallen through.

The Japanese plan was thwarted before it could be completed, amidst the emerging wave of investment.

Taishan Airlines' international flights are also in the planning stages.

The four-month preparation period required the completion of all construction and preparation for overseas routes.

This includes: training of resident personnel at various transit airports, construction and improvement of Kabul Airport, flight training for French pilots, flight training for five flight apprentices, and training for twenty flight attendants.

And a lot of other miscellaneous things.

It's already quite good that they were able to do it in just over four months.

In addition, Taishan Airlines has also resumed its own cargo trade.

This time, the transportation and sale of medicinal materials were expanded. Taishan Airlines established medicinal material warehouses in five major airport cities, communicated with medicinal material wholesalers, and then negotiated with pharmacies in various regions.

Having witnessed Taishan Airlines' performance in the cigarette sales sector, the pharmacies are generally accepting of direct air-supply of medicinal herbs.

For the fresh medicinal herbs they need that are from distant places and require local processing, air transport is the best option.

Some precious medicinal herbs, which used to require pharmacy owners and clerks to carefully carry back over long distances, can now be transported via Taishan Airlines with insured shipping, greatly reducing the risks.

Currently, only these two pilot programs are underway. These pharmacies will only cooperate with more pharmacies after the safety and reliability of finished drugs and larger quantities of traditional Chinese medicine have been confirmed.

Besides these matters, Fang Wen also maintained his attention to western Hunan.

Shunzi and his father, Fang Shouxin, returned to Xiangxi Airport together.

Fang Shouxin was definitely worried about Shunzi going to find the Third Red Army alone.

This is his only son.

Western Hunan region.

On the mountain road from Yongshun to Longshan.

Fang Shouxin, Fang Shun, and five other members of the Ganjun Security Team disguised themselves as traveling merchants.

The mountain road was rugged and teeming with bandits, making it a difficult journey. Everyone was very careful along the way.

As they walked, Fang Shouxin and his son Fang Shun discussed something in hushed tones.

"Dad, where are we going?" Shunzi asked.

The Red Army is now surrounded by enemies and their whereabouts are uncertain. The father and son want to go find them, but they don't know where to go.

Fang Shouxin frowned and said, "The letter the general manager gave us yesterday said that in June, the 'Hunan-Hubei Border Bandit Suppression Headquarters' mobilized three regiments of the HUB Provincial Security Regiment, the New 3rd Brigade, the 142nd Brigade of the 48th Division, the security regiments of Shimen, Lixian, and Cili counties, as well as the Hunan Army's New 34th Division Training Regiment and 3rd Brigade to launch an attack on the Hunan-Hubei Border Soviet Area. In July, the Third Red Army sent one part to Enshi, Xianfeng, and Lichuan, one part stayed in Hefeng to continue the struggle, and another part entered Longshan. We can only find the nearest guerrilla force in Longshan."

It's easier said than done.

The route from Yongshun to Longshan is entirely mountainous with an extremely harsh environment.

Finding a guerrilla force operating in the mountains is extremely difficult.

After crossing three mountain ridges, the group finally arrived at a terraced hilly area. While resting, Shunzi took out his binoculars and looked around. He suddenly noticed that there were more than a dozen people fighting each other down the mountain to the northeast.

These dozen or so men were highly disciplined and extremely capable in combat, while the opposing force of several dozen men could only keep their distance.

This was clearly an attempt to stall them, allowing reinforcements to encircle them.

(End of this chapter)