Film and Television World Life Record

Tan Lin said, "If that's the case, everyone will go crazy scrambling for it as soon as it's released. How should it be distributed? Should the workers exchange it freely, or..."

Li Mu said, "The number of grain coupons must also be limited. They cannot be freely exchanged, and we don't have enough grain for everyone to freely exchange."

"I think we can distribute it to everyone by paying them a reward."

"From now on, everyone's salary will be based on a certain percentage of grain coupons, according to their position and salary."

“For low-level positions, the salary is low, and most of the money earned has to be used to buy food to keep the family fed. So, issue more food coupons and less cash.”

“Middle and high-level positions have high salaries and don’t have to worry about food. Their other expenses are high, so we should issue less food stamps and more cash.”

"We're trying to be as humane as possible. We're doing this to make things easier for everyone, not to make things more complicated for them."

Tan Lin said, "Yes, I understand."

Li Mu continued, "The promotion of silver dollars should not be forced. From now on, we will start with the payment of wages. All projects initiated by the government will be paid in silver dollars plus grain coupons."

"As for taxes and commercial activities, there is no need to force it. With the government setting an example, everyone will realize that the legal tender is depreciating more and more, and naturally more and more silver dollars will be used."

Tan Lin hesitated for a moment and said, "But... Commissioner, wouldn't it be too slow to wait for everyone to react on their own? As long as the Commissioner's Office convenes a meeting, silver dollars will soon replace legal tender in the trading system."

Li Mu sighed and said, "The government is not having an easy time either. They rely on issuing legal tender to make some money. The legal tender is depreciating too fast, which is not good for the war of resistance. Let's not kick them when they're down."

Tan Lin hesitated for a moment, then nodded silently.

Chapter 450 Reconstruction Bank

After discussing the use and distribution of silver dollars and grain coupons for a while, Tan Lin suddenly said, "Commissioner, I actually feel that our region is still lacking one thing..."

Li Mu asked, "What's missing?"

Tan Lin said, “Our area has a developed commercial sector, stable prices, a large population, and many merchants and travelers. The daily transactions and financial transactions amount to millions or tens of millions, but we lack a central financial institution to coordinate them.”

Li Mu said, "You mean, we're missing a local pillar bank?"

Tan Lin cupped his hands and said, "That's right."

Li Mu thought for a moment and said, "We have a few small banks from outside the area, but they are not very large. We do lack a pillar bank that can lead the local financial economy."

Tan Lin said happily, "With banks, not only can the efficiency of capital use in the whole region be improved, but also some promising enterprises can be supported to develop, allowing a hundred flowers to bloom and more outstanding talents and enterprises to emerge."

"Only with enough businesses can we absorb enough jobs. We've recently absorbed too many people, so we're trying to ensure that everyone has a livelihood."

Li Mu nodded and said, "Okay, I agree with this. It is indeed necessary to establish a financial institution. You can help me find a few suitable candidates for the bank president. As for the requirements... the banking industry is more developed in the West, so it would be best if they have studied abroad, worked in some large banks, and held senior management positions."

Tan Lin said, "Yes, I will take care of it in a moment."

Li Mu said, "Alright, I will allocate ten million yuan in legal tender, five million silver dollars, three tons of gold, and one million US dollars as start-up capital for the bank."

Tan Lin was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, Commissioner. The bank is all set."

He then bowed and clasped his hands, saying, "Please, Specialist, bestow a name upon the bank."

Li Mu said, "Let's call it the Revival Bank, hoping that our Chinese land will be revived soon and return to the top of the world!"

Tan Lin exclaimed excitedly, "Revival Bank, great! Let China return to the top of the world!"

……

After Tan Lin left, Li Mu took stock of his domestic assets, excluding the promised start-up capital and the foreign currency he had on hand.

He currently has approximately 12 million silver dollars, 23 million legal tender, and two tons of gold.

It looks like a lot, but it's actually not that much.

Despite the fact that he has recently purchased a lot of grain for the sake of people's livelihood, he has purchased less of the more profitable military supplies and commodities.

In fact, when you calculate it, considering his procurement costs and selling prices, the profit from grain is really not low, usually exceeding 150%, which can be considered a huge profit in a sense.

Selling so much grain brought in a huge amount of money, although most of it was in fiat currency.

Recently, Li Mu has been using Muwu Trading Company and other channels to exchange large amounts of legal tender for silver dollars, gold and foreign currency in other places, which has consumed a large portion of his funds. Otherwise, he would have had even more legal tender in his hands.

The main issue is food, which is essential for people's livelihoods, unlike military supplies, which Li Mu could forcefully accept only foreign currency and gold. Fortunately, the legal tender won't start its real major devaluation until next year, and the market is still relatively accepting of it for now.

The legal tender obtained from buying grain could be exchanged for silver dollars, foreign currency, or gold in other places by offering a discount.

……

A major project will be launched in the next two days.

As the population of Nanyang grows and commerce flourishes, the small city of Nanyang has become increasingly crowded, to the point where expansion is no longer an option.

So, a few months ago, Li Mu marked out a plot of land of over 100 square kilometers east of Nanyang City, planning to build a new district.

Once completed, it will form a new Nanyang city together with the old city of Nanyang.

In recent months, he has been pushing this project forward, not only inviting many urban designers from the concessions, but also inviting some well-known domestic design and architecture masters, such as a master surnamed Liang and a master surnamed Yang from Nanyang... They are currently all in Nanyang.

The new district naturally had no city walls; Li Mu built it entirely according to the existing city model, with a well-planned sewer system, a water supply system that runs throughout the city, a garbage disposal system, and a power supply system…

The road is also very forward-thinking, designed for future cars to run on it, with eight lanes in both directions, of course, this is the width of the main road.

In accordance with 21st-century practices, green belts were designed along both sides of the road. This was rare in cities during the Republic of China era, and it was the same abroad. Because cities were built early, there was too little space left, and there was simply no place to create green belts.

In the future, any city in China without green belts will be embarrassed.

Now, after several months of preparation, all the preliminary work, including design, has been completed, and construction can officially begin.

With Li Mu's order, the construction of the new city officially began.

Coincidentally, Nanyang was flooded with too many people, many of whom were refugees who had no money and needed to work to support their families.

Well, that's great. In order to keep things moving and to create jobs, Li Mu accepted all comers. Soon, a huge construction site covering hundreds of square kilometers appeared.

Hundreds of thousands of people are working hard here, and the outline of a city is gradually taking shape under their hands. This is a new city born in the flames of war...

As the flames of war spread across the front, or the roads were blocked, or those who were supposed to migrate west had already done so, the number of people flocking to Nanyang finally decreased, to only a few thousand per day.

This relieved Li Mu greatly, as Nanyang's population was now just right.

……

After dealing with these matters, Li Mu turned his attention to the front lines. In recent days, he had frequently flown reconnaissance flights to investigate the situation and, combined with intelligence from the Military Intelligence Division, had gained a general understanding of the battle situation at the front.

Among them, Commander Chen of the Ninth War Zone commanded 27 armies to be responsible for operations on the south bank of the Yangtze River. The First Army Corps was responsible for defending the Nanchang-Jiujiang line and deploying troops along Poyang Lake. With Nanchang as its base, it aimed to defeat the westward-advancing Japanese army from the outer line and prevent the Japanese army from attacking Nanchang and outflanking Changsha. The Second Army Corps was responsible for securing the front line from Jiujiang to Ruichang and forming a defensive zone along the river to prevent the Japanese army from advancing westward from Ruichang and heading straight for Yueyang, Puqi, and Xianning. Tang En's army was controlled between various important strongholds so as to support the front-line operations at any time.

On the southern front, the Japanese have captured Jiujiang and split into two groups: one advancing along Nanxun Road towards De'an, and the other continuing westward along the Yangtze River to attack the next key point, Ruichang.

Currently, the two sides are locked in fierce fighting in De'an and Ruichang.

In the Jiangbei region, Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone commanded the 23rd Army to be responsible for the Jiangbei operations. The Fourth Army Corps under Li Pinxian was the right wing army corps, which took advantage of the favorable terrain of the hills and lakes on the southern slope of the Dabie Mountains on the north bank of the Yangtze River to block the enemy and take a shortcut to capture Wuhan. The Twenty-first Army Group under Liao Lei was the central army corps, which was deployed in the Taihu and northwest mountainous areas of Qianshan, and would move south to flank and attack the enemy advancing westward.

The Third Army Corps, under Sun Lianzhong, was the left-wing corps, positioned between the northern foothills of the Dabie Mountains and the Huai River. Utilizing terrain advantages, its main objective was to prevent the enemy from outflanking north of Wuhan. The Twenty-Fourth Army Corps, under Han Qin, was responsible for guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. The Twenty-Ninth Army Corps, under Wang Zuan, was the second-line corps, supporting the front-line operations.

At the end of last month, the small notebooks successively captured Taihu and Susong, and after fierce offensive and defensive battles, they also occupied Huangmei, the gateway to Guangji.

A few days ago, Li Pinxian's army group launched a surprise attack to recapture Taihu and Qianshan, and also cut off the Japanese 6th Division's land supply line and land retreat route, putting the Japanese 6th Division in a difficult situation.

Bai Zongxi seized the opportunity and commanded the 28th Army, 84th Army and other troops facing each other to launch a fierce attack, intending to annihilate the 6th Division, which had committed numerous crimes in Nanjing.

Unfortunately, he underestimated the fighting power of the Japanese. The 6th Division held its ground and released large amounts of poison gas, managing to hold out and overcome the crisis.

In addition, Commander Okamura on the other side immediately dispatched the navy to open a supply channel at Koike across from Jiujiang to provide ammunition and replenish troops for the 6th Division.

After receiving reinforcements, the 6th Division launched a counter-offensive. Although Bai Zongxi personally supervised the battle at the front, it had little effect. Under the fierce attack of the Japanese, the 28th, 68th, and 84th Armies suffered heavy casualties and were still unable to stop the Japanese offensive.

In another day or two, they might be completely unable to hold out and retreat to Guangji. This will allow this army, which has committed countless crimes in Nanjing, to continue roaming our land with impunity.

When Li Mu finished reading this page of intelligence, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. Today's target was the Sixth Division.

Those who dare to commit such crimes in Nanjing should be prepared to be left to feed the dogs.

After studying the map for quite a while, Li Mu found even more frontline intelligence, especially regarding the besieged Sixth Division and the Twenty-eighth, Sixty-eighth, and Eighty-fourth Armies fighting against it.

Their respective troop deployments, the locations of artillery positions, armored positions, and infantry positions.

……

The next day, around 3 a.m., Li Mu woke up on time. After washing up, he went to the military airport, where the ground crew had already completed all the preparations.

This time, Li Mu was flying an improved version of the I-16 fighter jet, which has a top speed of 580 kilometers per hour and a combat radius of more than 700 kilometers.

Put on the flight helmet, close the canopy, the plane starts up, and gradually begins to taxi. A dozen seconds later, it quickly soars into the night sky.

This time the distance was much closer than Xuzhou, and the plane was also faster, so it took less than an hour to reach the airspace above the battlefield.

Li Mu slowly circled at an altitude of over 3,000 meters, opened the hatch, took out his binoculars, and while circling the battlefield, he observed the situation below and compared it with the contents of the intelligence report to avoid bombing the wrong target.

However, what gave him a headache was that although he had determined the location where the Japanese 6th Division was surrounded, the area was dozens of kilometers in size, and the Japanese troops were scattered throughout it. They had obviously made camouflage and air defense preparations, so he couldn't find a place to attack for the time being.

Li Mu also figured out the reason. This battle was different from the Battle of Xuzhou. This time, the principal was personally in charge of the overall command, and some of the best resources had been deployed. For example, aircraft, which were rare in the Battle of Xuzhou, were sent out in large numbers this time. Some time ago, they had fought several fierce battles with the Japanese in the air, especially over Wuhan. Although they mistakenly bombed many places, they had won a few small victories and shot down quite a few Japanese planes.

However, the Japanese had an overwhelming numerical advantage in fighter jets. Although some were shot down, they quickly replenished their numbers and regained the upper hand. During this period, the Guo government's fighter jets faced increasing pressure and were besieged by large numbers of aircraft every time they took off, making their situation increasingly difficult.

In the past, it was possible to sneak off at night to bomb an artillery position, but now, that's rarely seen on the front lines.

The Japanese, on the other hand, after being bombed several times by the government's warplanes, gradually learned to camouflage themselves and began to guard against air attacks.

Just like now, Li Mu flew his fighter jet around a few times and found many places that looked like Japanese camps, but after observing them carefully with binoculars, they didn't seem quite right.

It was nighttime, and despite the good moonlight, visibility was still quite limited.

After circling for half a circle, risking being discovered, Li Mu began to descend, from three thousand meters to two thousand meters, until he finally found the actual artillery positions using his binoculars in several places that resembled artillery positions.

As soon as it flew over the artillery position, the soldiers below spotted it. Soon, anti-aircraft machine guns and cannons began to strafe the sky, and the sound of anti-aircraft guns also rang out.