Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 201: 200 Taishan Airlines Makes 80% Profit, New Life Movement, Suspected Unit 731
Manager Liu led his men into HSBC Bank to withdraw gold.

The bank was bustling with activity today.

People crowded around the counter, scrambling to get their business done.

As a major client, Manager Liu was greeted by the lobby manager.

"What are they doing?" Manager Liu asked.

"Everyone's exchanging for dollars. The dollars they have have depreciated by 40% overnight. They're afraid of further depreciation, so they're all trying to sell them as soon as possible." The lobby manager was in poor spirits and was clearly a victim of the dollar's depreciation. He couldn't help but continue to grumble, "Everyone wants to exchange for dollars, but no one dares to accept them. Our bank mainly holds dollars, and we don't have many other currency reserves. We simply can't exchange them all."

Manager Liu, who deals with money every day, was very interested in this: "Yes, with the dollar depreciating so much, who can stand it? Luckily, our general manager was wise enough to exchange it for gold in advance, otherwise we would have lost some money too."

"That's right, you've made a fortune." The lobby manager said with envy as he led Manager Liu and his group to the manager's office.

Manager Liu produced the gold deposit slip and demanded that all the gold be withdrawn.

The manager asked, "Are you planning to exchange for silver? Everyone's betting on silver prices to rise, and they've already increased by 1%. The sooner you exchange, the better."

Overnight, due to the rise in gold prices, the price of silver in China also increased somewhat.

This means that exchanging gold for silver dollars would result in a 1% loss.

Manager Liu dared not make this decision and immediately called the company to inform the general manager.

In the general manager's office at Taishan Airlines headquarters, Fang Wen picked up the microphone.

Manager Liu's voice came through the microphone: "General Manager, the silver dollar has increased by 10%. Do you want to exchange it?"

"Tell me about the situation in Shanghai first," Fang Wen asked.

"At the gold exchange, everyone is scrambling to buy gold, and there are also people selling gold, but not many. At the banks, people are exchanging US dollars for other currencies, with silver dollars being the most popular. However, foreign banks do not have enough silver dollar reserves, so few people are able to exchange them."

Fang Wen pondered that the current situation was one of panic, with everyone fearing a further decline in the US dollar.

In reality, the US dollar is still pegged to gold, only the exchange rate has changed, and this exchange rate of $35 per ounce of gold is likely to remain in place for a long time.

Fang Wen is optimistic about the US dollar and believes it will not continue to depreciate in the future.

In this situation, isn't it a classic case of "buying when others sell"?

Why not take this opportunity to make a small profit?

He said, "Don't exchange your silver dollars for gold just yet, even if the price goes up by 10%. Go ask around and see if anyone is willing to exchange dollars for gold, but not at the current price, but at 10% higher. They might be willing."

"Understood." Manager Liu understood and hung up the phone, then said to the bank manager, "Let's discuss something."

"What is it?" the HSBC manager asked.

"We'll use your bank's premises to conduct a transaction on the spot later."

After finishing their conversation with the bank manager, Manager Liu and the bank manager went to the bank lobby together.

There, Manager Liu announced loudly, "Gentlemen, Taishan Airlines will accept the US dollars in your hands."

Immediately, all the wealthy businessmen and foreigners in the hall turned around to look at him.

Suddenly, the crowd turned from the counter to Manager Liu and surrounded him.

"How to collect it?"

"Exchanging for silver dollars?"

"Take mine first."

Amid the crowd, staff from Taishan Airlines quickly came to help and blocked the flow of people.

Left with no other choice, Manager Liu stood on the table and shouted, "Don't rush me! If you keep acting like this, I won't accept your order today!"

Immediately, those people fell silent and stepped back.

Relieved, Manager Liu continued, "We at Taishan Airlines are taking a risk by accepting US dollars now. We can't accept the original price; we'll have to raise it by 10%."

People were immediately enraged.

We've only lost 40%, and now it's increased by another 10%.

These wealthy Shanghai residents, including foreigners, glared angrily at Manager Liu.

Manager Liu said leisurely, "You don't have to exchange it. In Shanghai today, I reckon only Taishan Airlines dares to accept your US dollars."

Everyone hesitated; it really was the case.

Just as they were hesitating, Manager Liu added, "If we raise the price by 10%, we won't treat everyone unfairly; we'll use gold to exchange for it."

Immediately, everyone's eyes lit up.

Gold is currently the most valuable commodity, and exchanging your assets for gold is the best option; the gold exchange is going crazy with demand.

Thinking about it that way, a 10% increase isn't out of the question.

Someone immediately agreed.

The bank manager pulled out a stack of US dollars and said urgently, "I'll exchange it."

He wasn't just putting on an act; other bank employees also contributed their own US dollar savings.

The sharp devaluation of the US dollar also resulted in heavy losses for HSBC employees.

With HSBC employees taking the lead, others had no more reservations and readily agreed to the request.

Subsequently, the gold in the vault was taken out, all of which were standard gold bars purchased from the gold exchange, in two sizes: 1 tael and 10 taels.

One tael is called a small yellow croaker, which weighs 31.25 grams.

A 10-ounce croaker is called a large yellow croaker, which weighs 312.5 grams.

Based on the current price of $35 per ounce, adding another 10% would give you the transaction price.

Manager Liu conducted the transaction directly at HSBC Bank, exchanging gold for US dollars on the spot, with cash on delivery.

As the news spread, more and more people rushed to the scene, eager to exchange their dollars for gold.

Unfortunately, Taishan Airlines only had so much gold reserves, which was not enough to exchange. The exchange lasted for less than two hours before all the gold was gone.

Of the US dollars obtained, Manager Liu deposited 50% in HSBC and converted the other 50% into silver dollars to supplement the company's working capital.

In this way, they made money again during the dollar devaluation crisis.

With the depreciation of the US dollar and the rise in gold prices, Taishan Airlines made a profit of 85% on its own capital through this operation.

It's like a windfall; thank you, Federal Reserve.

at the same time,

Construction of the oil refinery is halfway complete.

Taishan Airlines' international routes have also begun to enter a period of growth.

In just over a month since the international routes resumed operation, the load factor has steadily climbed from 40% to 70%.

A 70% occupancy rate is sufficient to guarantee the profitability of international routes. In addition, the flights also transport air cargo and mail, so the actual profit is quite considerable.

Silver was also transported to Switzerland via the Asia-Europe shipping route, awaiting the next round of actions by the Federal Reserve.

Cigarettes were also sold overseas through the international branches of airlines.

Taishan brand cigarettes, as a brand product of Taishan Airlines, are available in airport shops in Yangon, Kolkata, Delhi, Kabul, Tehran, Ankara, Rome, and Paris.

Meanwhile, in order to expand the influence of cigarettes, Taishan brand cigarettes also became a complimentary gift for airplane passengers.

Airport offices in various regions are also responsible for distributing goods through retail channels in these cities.

This is replicating the domestic airline distribution center model, aiming to create an international distribution network.

However, different regions have different customs and languages, and the original packaging of Taishan brand cigarettes was not suitable and needed to be changed.

Therefore, Fang Wen needed to find someone to make some cigarette labels with distinct regional characteristics. In addition, the script he discussed with Huanzhu Louzhu two months ago had made progress, so Fang Wen decided to go to downtown Shanghai again.

Disguise is necessary when going to downtown Shanghai.

This time, he wanted to do it himself so that he could complete the disguise process even without Kuang Mingzhu's help in the future.

First, cleanse your face of oil, then put on the thin and elastic human skin mask.

Fang Wen looked at himself in the mirror, planning out his disguise.

He designed a gaunt face shape.

The chin was filled in, the face was slightly elongated, the mask was then painted a light yellow, and eyebrows and a beard were added.

A beard is an essential prop. A human skin mask is not perfect; the mouth is the easiest place to give it away. Without a beard, the wrinkles created when the lips open and close while speaking will make others notice something is wrong.

After finishing the face painting, Fang Wen put on a wide-brimmed hat and a long trench coat.

His entire appearance changed instantly; he became a gaunt, long-faced, bearded man, weathered and cold.

That face looks familiar.

Fang Wen looked at it again and again, and suddenly realized that it seemed to be a certain assassin from a movie or TV series he had seen in his previous life.

He's supposed to be a supporting character, but he's really cool.

He pulled his wide-brimmed hat down, stepped out of the room, and let his wife outside give her opinion.

"How was my disguise?"

Kuang Mingzhu looked on in surprise: "It feels so strange. I feel like you are very fierce, but I am not afraid. But overall, there are no flaws. Others should not associate this appearance with you."

"That's good. I'll go out from the back. You'll cover me today."

As Fang Wen spoke, he turned and walked towards the kitchen, then through the kitchen's storage door to the backyard.

There was originally no way out, but there was a ladder. Fang Wen set up the ladder and climbed over the wall.

After leaving his own yard, he took a detour through the alley to the houses where cars were hidden, and drove out his modified bulletproof vehicle.

The car drove towards downtown Shanghai and stopped in front of the home of Mr. Liang and Mr. Lin.

He locked his car, went upstairs, and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and Mr. Liang eyed Fang Wen warily. "Who are you?"

“Flying a plane,” Fang Wen replied.

Mr. Liang immediately understood and jokingly said with a smile, "The Thousand Faces General Manager is here. You're really amazing. Every time I see you, you're a completely new person."

He brought Fang Wen in, but instead of introducing him to the people at the salon, he led him to a guest room.

After a while, Fang Wen, having revealed his true colors, came out of the guest room and quietly joined the salon, sitting silently in a corner.

The salon was currently filled with the exchange of information.

"I've lost a lot of money. If I had known the dollar would fall this much, I would have converted my money into gold."

"That's because you just returned to China; we don't have many US dollars on hand."

"What are your thoughts on the New Life Movement promoted by the Nationalist government this month?"

"It's nothing more than a different way of saying the Confucian principles of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame. What he's saying is putting the cart before the horse."

"Yes, only when the country is prosperous and the people are strong can people learn to be polite. If you are so poor that you can't even afford to eat, how can you have a new life?"

"I have his speech; would you like to see it?"

The "he" being discussed in the salon was naturally Chiang Kai-shek. Fang Wen was not familiar with Chiang Kai-shek's New Life Movement, and he was also curious about what he would say.

A man picked up a piece of paper and, pretending to give a speech, said: "Weimar was able to revive in less than fifteen years... They were just defeated, and after a few years they could stop paying reparations and default on their debts, while we still have to pay reparations every year for decades or even a hundred years. In short, Weimar was a country, and China was a country. Weimar, without military force, was able to be equal with other countries, while China, despite having military force, still could not achieve equality. What is the reason for this? There is no other reason than that the knowledge and morality of our ordinary citizens are inferior to those of others."

Fang Wen chuckled, but his laughter went unnoticed by everyone else, who was already laughing.

The president of the Republic of China actually believed that the reason for China's decline was that the general public's knowledge and morality were inferior to those of the Weimar Republic.

Fang Wen sensed a strong influence of public intellectuals: magnifying a local problem into the whole issue, and then completely negating it.

It turns out that this practice had already been established as early as the Republic of China era.

The salon continued, and Fang Wen was eager to hear what else would be discussed, so he didn't reveal his identity and continued to listen quietly.

During this period, intellectuals viewed it as if another book burning and burying of scholars had occurred.

In February, five radical writers were killed in Shanghai, and a large number of books containing progressive ideas were destroyed.

This is not just happening in Shanghai; the same thing is happening in other major cities as well.

This highly threatening behavior made the atmosphere in the salon heavy.

Mr. Liang said, "Alright, let's not discuss this anymore. Let's welcome Mr. Shi Fengyuan from the Northeast and let him tell us about the current situation in the Northeast."

Shi Fengyuan, dressed in a long robe, stood up, clasped his hands in a salute, and sighed, saying:

"Alas, coming from the Northeast is like going from hell to heaven, but the things the Japanese did are still vivid in my mind and I will never forget them."

The salon was quiet as everyone listened to Shi Fengyuan recount his experiences in Northeast China.

He, Shi Fengyuan, an ordinary cultural teacher in Harbin, witnessed firsthand the changes that occurred in Harbin during the two years of Japanese occupation.

Shi Fengyuan lived in Lalin Town, a suburb of HEB City. He usually went to the city to teach. His life was not wealthy, but it was peaceful.

In February 1932, the Japanese occupied Harbin, and those days were over.

At first, the Japanese were still active in the city. Later, a group of officers came to Lalin Town. They chose a small market with about a hundred households near Lalin Town, drove all the homeowners out of the market, demolished the houses, and built a military camp.

The Japanese even gave this military camp a name: Zhongma City.

The Central Malaysia City block is located on the only highway, blocking the passage for travelers. To get through, one has to take a detour.

For nearby residents, this place is forbidden territory; someone who went out of curiosity to observe the area was once shot dead.

Shi Fengyuan's words aroused indignation among the salon participants.

Someone angrily denounced: "The Japanese have forcibly occupied our land and wantonly killed our people. This is outrageous!"

Everyone agreed.

Fang Wen, however, was deep in thought.

What Shi Fengyuan said made him feel a little strange.

He couldn't help but ask, "Normally, military camps aren't this heavily guarded. There must be something wrong."

Everyone turned to look, surprised that the general manager of Taishan Airlines had arrived.

Shi Fengyuan also responded, "Yes. There must be a problem. Ever since this military camp appeared, people have been disappearing frequently, causing widespread panic. My family had to block the doors and windows with large pieces of wood before they dared to sleep at night. Later, they couldn't stand it anymore, so they used their connections with the Russians and escaped on their cargo ship."

The others didn't react much to Shi Fengyuan's words, but they stirred up a storm in Fang Wen's heart.

He knew about the atrocities the Japanese were doing in Northeast China, including the human experiments conducted by Unit 731.

Although Unit 731 may not have appeared yet, it cannot be guaranteed that the Japanese have already begun human experiments.

Those who went missing are probably in grave danger, having become test subjects for the Japanese.

Anger rose in his heart, and Fang Wen wanted to destroy Zhongma City.

No, we must not only destroy Zhongma City, but also uncover and expose the atrocities committed by the Japanese in human experimentation.

Just then, a hand gently patted Fang Wen's shoulder: "General Manager Fang, why are you daydreaming?"

Fang Wen suddenly realized that he should deal with the Japanese later and finish what he needed to do on this trip first.

(End of this chapter)