Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 83, Section 82: Proof of Ownership, Suspected Japanese Spy: Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen, New Tactical Maneuvers

The two new routes have been finalized as direct flights from Shanghai to Nanchang and from Shanghai to Jinan.

These two lines can cover a wider area of ​​land and have greater demand.

Once the new route is determined, the ownership certificate for the aircraft should be discussed.

During the Republic of China period, China did not have land certificates and property certificates in the modern sense. Instead, land deeds and property deeds were used as proof of ownership.

A land deed is a document used to purchase land, proving that a piece of land belongs to a certain person; while a house deed is a document used to purchase a house, proving that a certain property belongs to a certain person.

These contracts not only reflect changes in land ownership and transactions, but also embody the legal status of the owners.

Specifically, a landowner needs a land title to prove that a piece of land belongs to him, while a property owner needs a property title to prove that a property belongs to him.

These contracts held an important position in the legal system at the time and were the main form of property ownership certificates.

The reason why house deeds and land deeds have a universally recognized legal effect is because they are endorsed by the government. Signing and transferring contracts both require completion in a special department.

But establishing ownership of other things is not so easy.

For example, something like this happened in Shanghai a while ago.

A socialite from the bustling metropolis of Shanghai has died.

Her family came to Shanghai, causing quite a stir.

The reason was that some gold jewelry from the socialite's home was stolen by a big shot in Shanghai.

According to her family, these gold items were gifts given to the socialite by her patrons after their pleasure, and one or two of them may have belonged to that tycoon.

However, the bigwig released a message saying that the socialite and her subordinates had conspired to steal the gold jewelry, so the items should be returned to their rightful owner.

This matter caused a great stir, but ultimately came to nothing.

The reason for this is the lack of proof of ownership.

Therefore, providing tung oil merchants with proof of ownership of the aircraft would be crucial for the continuation of the tung oil trade.

This is not a transaction certificate; it is necessary to establish joint ownership of an aircraft among dozens of tung oil merchants.

Manager Liu and Fang Shouxin were at a loss for what to do and didn't know how to resolve the situation.

Fang Wen was taken aback. This was too simple. People from different eras have completely different ways of thinking.

Most people in the Republic of China believed that only the government could confirm ownership of other items, and that individuals could not do so either.

However, for Fang Wen, anything not prohibited by law is permissible. If the government cannot grant aircraft ownership certificates to dozens of tung oil merchants at the same time, then he should do it himself.

If you're worried about it not having the same authority as official documents, then you can make the property ownership certificate even more authoritative than official documents.

He thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Uncle Fang, go find someone who can write contracts."

Before Fang Shouxin could answer, Manager Liu spoke up: "No need to look, our company has them. He drafted many of the company's contracts."

Fang Wen nodded, "Then call him over."

Immediately afterwards, Manager Liu went out, and after a short while, he returned with a middle-aged man.

Fang Wen had seen this man several times. He worked in the general ledger office, didn't talk much, and wasn't good with words, but he never expected him to have such a skill.

Fang Wen explained the situation.

"I've called you here because of the plane. The plane will arrive next month, and according to the plan, Boeing Trading is going to sell it to twenty tung oil merchants who will jointly own it. You need to draft a title deed to confirm their joint ownership of the plane."

The middle-aged man remained silent, then found a brush and paper and began writing on the spot.

After finishing writing, he waited for the ink to dry before showing it to Fang Wen.

Aircraft Co-ownership Agreement

The rightmost column, in a vertical line, has text written on it from top to bottom.

Boeing Trading Co., Ltd., the party to this agreement, intends to sell one of its own aircraft to the public for joint ownership. Therefore, it has consulted with the other parties (named as several dozen businessmen listed in order) and entered into the following joint ownership agreement:

I. The detailed information about this aircraft is as follows (details of the aircraft model, manufacturer, condition, sales invoices, etc. are described here).

Second, Boeing Trading is willing to sell this aircraft to (tung oil merchants) for joint ownership, and each co-owner shall share rights and obligations in proportion to their investment.

Third, all co-owners shall jointly discuss and decide on matters concerning the use, safekeeping, and repair of this aircraft, and shall share the related costs.

Fourth, if anyone wishes to transfer this co-ownership to another person or withdraw from co-ownership, the consent of the other co-owners shall be obtained and the matter shall be handled in accordance with the agreed method.

Fifth, all co-owners shall abide by this agreement, and shall bear the liability for breach of contract in any case.

VI. This contract is made in (number of tung oil merchants) copies, with each (name of tung oil merchant) holding one copy as proof.

VII. This agreement shall take effect from the date of signing.

XX Month XX Day, 21st Year of the Republic of China

Contracting Parties: Boeing Trading (Signature and fingerprint of the transferor) (Signature and fingerprint of the first transferee merchant) (Signature and fingerprint of the second transferee merchant) (Signature and fingerprint of the third transferee merchant) ... (and so on, up to the last signature and fingerprint)
After reading this, Fang Wen shook his head.

"No, I was too naive. This property deed needs to be revised."

He thought for a moment and continued, "This is the master deed. Since the aircraft will actually be used by our company, we will delete the third clause. We will then draw up a sublease deed with monthly rent payments, one copy for each person, and finally, we will write a personal ownership deed."

Finally, the middle-aged man spoke up: "General Manager, I understand the rest, but how do you write a personal ownership deed? There's only one item."

"It will be counted as a percentage based on the amount of investment, accurate to the decimal point."

Manager Liu, Fang Shouxin, and the middle-aged man didn't understand. All three were traditionally educated, and even in accounting work, they always rounded up or down and didn't have the habit of calculating decimals.

However, the amount involved in aircraft ownership confirmation is huge, and the number of shares after rounding can have a large deviation. Only by using percentages can the calculation be more accurate, so that disputes can be avoided in the future.

After several busy days, the matter of confirming the ownership of the aircraft has been completed.

Those blank deeds without any content, as well as property ownership certificates, were all locked in a safe in Fang Wen's office.

With about ten days until the ship arrives at the port, Fang Wen has a lot of free time since he doesn't have to fly every day.

Invitations from Shanghai began to arrive one after another.

Fang Wen longed to experience the prosperity of Shanghai, but with the Japanese watching, he couldn't go there.

In his spare time, Fang Wen could only continue to conduct secret training in the Shrike.

Training with the Japanese army indefinitely was not a good approach; it would eventually be discovered. Therefore, Fang Wen turned to the inland areas.

Inland flight training has many advantages, since most future air battles will take place in inland areas, and better familiarity with various terrain environments will give you an advantage in future air battles.

At the same time, aerial tactical maneuvers are not limited to rolling. A combination of various tactical maneuvers, used in different environments, can produce better results.

This is also something that secret military training needs to master.

Through continuous training and exploration, Fang Wen figured out two extremely difficult tactical maneuvers.

Somersault, Cobra maneuver.

Somersault: This is an advanced tactical maneuver involving a large somersault in the air. Mastering this difficult maneuver and executing it in combat will essentially cause the enemy to lose their sense of target instantly.

The Shrike can barely complete a loop, which is an extreme behavior that consumes a lot of fuel and can only be achieved after jettisoning auxiliary fuel tanks to reduce weight.

The Cobra maneuver involves the aircraft rapidly pulling up its nose while almost stalling, and then quickly diving downwards.

This is a movement that mimics the instantaneous action of a cobra attacking its enemy, and its complexity and difficulty are even higher than a somersault.

Because the performance of the Shrike is insufficient, this action can only be conceived in Fang Wen's mind and cannot be fully realized.

Time passed slowly, and there were still five days until the American ocean liner arrived at the port.

Fang Wen arrived at the company early as usual to handle some company affairs before heading to his flight. His plan was to return in the afternoon, take the Shrike for a spin, and then relax at a pub in the evening; that would be how his day would pass.

But today, things seem a little different in the company.

I can't really say what's different.

Oh right, it's the administration office area. Why are so many employees gathered outside the door?

Fang Wen stopped an employee who was about to go over and asked, "What's going on?"

The employee replied, "General Manager, we heard that a princess from the Qing Dynasty has arrived. We've never seen what royalty looks like, even from the Qing Dynasty, so everyone is waiting outside to see the princess's appearance."

"A former Qing dynasty princess? What are you doing here?" Fang Wen wasn't expecting an answer from his employees; instead, he walked directly to the outside of the administration room, pushed open the door, and entered.

Inside sat a man, or rather a woman dressed as a man, as her skin and lack of an Adam's apple made her easily identifiable.

Fang Shouxin stood there obsequiously, his posture very humble.

Fang Wen recalled his last trip to Beiping. Fang Shouxin had spent the first half of his life in the Qing Dynasty and had an instinctive fear of the former Qing imperial family.

"Hmm. Uncle Fang, who is this?"

Startled awake, Fang Shouxin immediately stood up straight. "Young master, this is a princess from the family of Prince Su of the Qing Dynasty, named Aisin Gioro Dongzhen."

"Dongzhen?" Fang Wen looked at the so-called princess sitting upright on the sofa.

He felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen it before.

But I can't quite put my finger on what happened.

The woman dressed as a man, wearing small round sunglasses, stood up and extended her hand.

"East of the East, Zhen of pearl. Hello, Fang Wen, the hero of the skies."

Fang Wen shook hands with him and asked, "May I ask what brings you to Taishan Airlines?"

“I wanted to go north. I originally planned to take the sea route, but I heard from others that you are about to launch a flight from Shanghai to Jinan, so I plan to book in advance and be among the first customers.”

"Just for this?"

"Not only that, I also wanted to see you, the hero of the skies."

Fang Wen felt out of place while communicating with the other party.

In his view, the other party did not resemble a princess at all, nor even a Chinese person.

Even dressed in a long gown and a round hat, disguised as a man, she exuded a hidden disdain.

This disdain is not the kind of disdain that royalty holds for commoners, but rather a different kind.

That's right, it's the way Japanese soldiers looked at Chinese people.

Fang Wen subconsciously glanced at Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen's legs, then quickly looked away.

He then smiled and said, "Your Highness has come from afar, you must be tired. Please come to my office for a short visit."

This was normal etiquette. The other party nodded in satisfaction, and Fang Wen stepped aside to let them go first.

Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen walked ahead with satisfaction, unaware of the strange emotion in Fang Wen's eyes.

Fang Wen, watching Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen walk behind him, was extremely surprised.

Although the other person tried to conceal it, there were signs of bowlegs when they walked.

Bowlegs, also known as O-shaped legs, are characterized by legs that bend inwards. When standing, the feet are together but the knees cannot touch.

Therefore, there will be a slight outward gait.

Although it was deliberately concealed, some traces still leaked out.

Bowlegs are a medical condition in China, but in Japan they are a lifestyle.

In Japan, the idea of ​​male superiority over females is deeply ingrained. Women are often required to maintain a kneeling or cross-legged sitting posture, with their legs bent and the outer sides of their feet subjected to pressure from the mat. Sitting like this for a long time can lead to leg deformities and the formation of O-shaped legs.

Fang Wen was almost certain that this might be a Japanese spy disguised as a former Qing dynasty princess.

If there were no doubts about this, there would be nothing wrong with this person's name.

But now, Fang Wen silently recited in his heart.

Dongzhen, isn't that the same as Zhengdong?!

The Japanese are obsessed with replacing Tokyo University and China, and they even put that idea into the name.

Fang Wen was furious inside, but outwardly he acted as if nothing had happened, sat behind his desk, reached into a hidden drawer, disengaged the safety of the Browning pistol, and pointed it at Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen.

Start a conversation with them.

"Miss Dongzhen, why are you dressing up as a man?"

"Being a woman is still very troublesome; many things are inconvenient, especially here in Shanghai."

"Really? Are you new to Shanghai, Miss?"

"No, I came last year, but now that I've finished my business, I'm preparing to go back north."

Are you going to Beiping to see your father?

"No. By the way, Mr. Fang, I heard your airline is recruiting flight apprentices. I have a nephew who really wants to learn to fly. Can he join?"

"That depends on whether he can pass the test. We have very strict requirements for flight apprentices, and we cannot rely on any connections."

"That's true, I agree with you. Okay, that's all for today, let's talk again next time."

Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen stood up, and Fang Wen raised his pistol as well.

They were about to use the method of suddenly speaking Japanese to determine whether the other party was a Japanese spy.

At this moment, a burly man in black came in and leaned down to report in a low voice.

His burly body blocked Fang Wen's gun barrel.

"Sorry, there's an emergency in town, I have to go."

After saying this, Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen hurriedly left.

Fang Wen put down the Browning pistol.

I rubbed my forehead. What exactly was that strange feeling of déjà vu?

Since the other party claims to be a princess of the Prince Su's family, will investigating further lead to any results?
Fang Wen immediately left the office to find Manager Liu.

Manager Liu is from one of the Eight Great Families, who lived in Beiping for a period of time and should have some knowledge of the former Qing imperial family.

This line of thinking is correct, Manager Liu said after asking some questions.

Prince Su of the First Rank, Aisin Gioro Shanqi, died as early as 12, which was ten years ago.

He had over thirty children, so it would be easy for him to impersonate his descendants. After all, the original owner had passed away, and his children had gone their separate ways, so no one could prove it.

After listening to Manager Liu's explanation, Fang Wen returned to his office alone, leaned back in his chair, and pondered.

The sense of déjà vu was definitely not a memory from this era. After all, I had only stayed for two years and I was certain that I had no contact with this Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen.

Those are the memories from before my rebirth.

Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen, Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen, he silently repeated in his heart several times.

Suddenly it occurred to me that Aisin-Gioro Dongzhen, also known as Jin Dongzhen, was the Chinese name of Yoshiko Kawashima, a Japanese spy during the War of Resistance against Japan.

(End of this chapter)