Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk

Chapter 228 A Decisive Strike! Farewell! Kouyuu Hiko! [Basic Update 5k words]

After those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the conference room became lively again.

Ushio Takeo, who was sitting behind Kouyuu Hiko, subconsciously sat up straight.

He originally thought that Keiko Miyazawa would readily accept the offer of 55 billion yen, after all, this figure had exceeded the board's highest expectations.

But instead of accepting, she pushed the price up.

Taishi Takahashi's assistant lowered his head, exchanged a few words with Taishi Takahashi himself beside him in a low voice, and then raised his head again.

"President Miyazawa, we understand your assessment of the long-term value of the Rinko City plot. However, we also have our own considerations. If prices continue to rise, we need to see stronger guarantees."

His gaze shifted from Keiko Miyazawa's face to Hiko Kouda.

"For example, if Mitsubishi Bank's written commitment to release the guarantee, and your group's intention to integrate the surrounding land after the transaction is completed, we can consider adjusting our offer to 58 billion yen."

Five hundred and eighty billion.

The moment that number was announced, the meeting room fell completely silent.

Masakazu Yamada, who was sitting in the audience, twitched his eyelids slightly.

He turned his head and lowered his voice to Kiryu Yaya, saying, "This price is 600 million higher than the upper limit of the valuation."

Kiryu Yaya nodded slightly, without replying.

His gaze fell on the head of the long table, where Kouyu Tianyan was leaning back in his chair, his hands clasped on the table, a hint of undisguised satisfaction on his lips.

In his eyes, this was a perfect deal.

Taishi Takahashi's offer far exceeded expectations.

Keiko Miyazawa was clearly satisfied with the price.

As the coordinator for Mitsubishi Bank, he not only successfully facilitated a large transaction but also strengthened the cooperative relationship with the Miyazawa Group.

More importantly, he could then turn around and claim credit with Seiichi Takatsukasa.

As for the price being several billion yen higher than expected, Seiichi Takatsukasa wouldn't care about that amount of money.

Takeo Ushio was clearly aware of this as well.

He took a document out of his briefcase, pushed it next to Kouyuki Hirohiko, and said in a low voice, "Minister, this is a template for a letter of intent. The key terms have been marked."

Kouyu Tianyan glanced down at it and nodded.

Then, he looked up at Keiko Miyazawa: "President Miyazawa, Mr. Takahashi's offer has far exceeded your group's board of directors' minimum expectations."

"If you find the terms suitable, could you please confirm your interest first?"

Keiko Miyazawa didn't rush to answer. Instead, she turned her head and whispered a few words to Akio Uesugi.

Akio Uesugi glanced at the data in front of him, then looked up and nodded slightly to her.

To Koudahiko and Ushio Takeo, this action meant that the financial advisor had approved the reasonableness of the offer.

Then Keiko Miyazawa raised her head again: "Okay, 58 billion yen, we can accept this figure as the basis for confirming our initial intention."

She paused, her gaze falling on Kouyu Tianyan's face.

"However, as Mr. Takahashi just mentioned, confirming the preliminary procedures is crucial. The guarantee release document from Mitsubishi Bank needs to be issued before the formal signing. Can Minister Kouda confirm this?"

Kouyu Tianyan almost immediately took over the conversation, his tone firm and unquestionable: "As for Mitsubishi Bank, I can personally coordinate the release of the guarantee for the Rinko City plot. It will be completed as quickly as possible after the transaction is finalized."

"President Miyazawa can rest assured about that."

After he finished speaking, he added, "If you require a written commitment, I can first issue a guarantee release coordination confirmation letter in the name of the executive director of Mitsubishi Bank as one of the attachments to the letter of intent."

97

Keiko Miyazawa nodded and didn't say anything more.

Then she turned her head and said to Akio Uesugi, "Then let's prepare the letter of intent."

Akio Uesugi responded and took a pre-printed document from his briefcase, spreading it out on the table.

Kiryu Yaya sat in the audience, his gaze fixed on the letter of intent. He estimated in his mind that, judging from its thickness and number of pages, it was probably seven or eight pages long, and the key clauses should have already been embedded in advance.

He had not seen the document beforehand, but given Miyazawa Keiko's cautious nature, she wouldn't make a mistake at this stage.

Akio Uesugi pushed the letter of intent to the center of the table, and Hiko Kouyu took it and began to read it.

He looked very carefully.

Kouyuhiko's gaze lingered on several key terms for a moment, especially the "Confirmation of Interested Party" and "Confirmation of Bank Coordinator" sections.

He looked up at Takahashi Taishi's assistant, his tone carrying a hint of confirmation: "Does your company have any objections to the terms of the letter of intent?"

Taishi Takahashi's assistant took the copy of the letter of intent, flipped through it from beginning to end, and then looked up: "No objections, we can sign it."

Kouyu Tianyan nodded, then lowered his head, picked up his pen, and neatly signed his name in the "Bank Coordinator Confirmation" section.

Kiryu Yaya sat in the audience, watching his smooth signature fall onto the paper, and finally felt relieved.

Kouyuu Hiko is doomed.

Then it was signed by Keiko Miyazawa and Taishi Takahashi himself.

Three signatures, one horizontal and one vertical, landed on that A4 paper.

After signing the document, Kouyu Tianyan tightened the pen cap, put it back in his suit pocket, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh.

He turned his head and whispered something to Ushio Takeo, who smiled and nodded.

Both of them looked very relaxed.

"President Miyazawa, Mr. Takahashi, today's communication went very smoothly."

Kouyuki placed his hands together on the table, his gaze sweeping from Miyazawa Keiko's face over Takahashi Taishi's assistant, finally settling on the signed letter of intent.

"Mitsubishi Bank will fully cooperate with the subsequent formal signing process. I will personally coordinate the release of guarantee documents to ensure that the process is not delayed."

Keiko Miyazawa nodded slightly, without saying anything more.

Akio Uesugi put the letter of intent into a folder and bowed slightly to Hiko Kouda: "Minister Kouda, thank you for your hard work."

"It's not hard work."

Kouyuki waved his hand, his tone relaxed and cheerful: "It's my honor to be able to do something for the Miyazawa Group."

Kouyuki stood up, straightened the hem of his suit jacket, and turned to Ushio Takeo, saying, "Prepare the template for the guarantee release confirmation letter before tonight, and send it to the Miyazawa Group for confirmation tomorrow morning."

"clear."

Ushio Takeo responded and quickly jotted down a few notes in his notebook.

Kouyuki then looked in Takahashi Taishi's direction and nodded with a smile: "Mr. Takahashi, if there is anything that requires the bank's cooperation, please contact Vice Minister Ushio at any time."

Taishi Takahashi stood up and returned the bow: "Minister Kouda, thank you for your trouble."

The atmosphere in the meeting room was relaxed and pleasant.

But just then, there was a sudden, urgent knocking on the conference room door—

Boom, boom, boom!

Kouyuki frowned slightly.

Everyone present instinctively turned their gaze towards it.

"Please come in."

Kouyu Tian's voice carried a hint of displeasure at being interrupted.

The door was pushed open, and a young staff member from the General Affairs Department walked in.

His face was a little pale, clearly from running all the way up.

Upon entering, before he could even bow to Koudahiko, he blurted out, "Minister Kouda—downstairs—"

—

He took a breath before finishing the sentence: "The Osaka National Tax Bureau is here! They're led by Investigator Hanayama-in Taki; they're already in the elevator and on their way!"

The air in the conference room suddenly tightened.

Kouyu Tianyan's smile froze on his lips.

"IRS?"

He repeated, his tone puzzled, "What are the IRS doing here at this time?"

He paused for two seconds, then looked at the young employee at the door.

"How many people did they bring?"

"Five or six—no, seven or eight, at least seven or eight people, plus two uniformed police officers standing at the lobby entrance who didn't come in."

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

"Seven or eight people? And police too?"

Ushio Takeo's voice noticeably deepened: "That's no ordinary case!"

After he finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the conference room.

A dozen seconds later, footsteps could be heard in the corridor.

neat and tidy.

Then, the footsteps stopped at the conference room door.

Then the door was pushed open.

Hanayama-in Taki walked in, followed by six administrative officers in black suits.

He was wearing a black suit, a white shirt, and a red tie.

His face was pale, and a faint smile played on his lips.

Hanayama-in Taki's gaze first slowly swept around the conference room, lingering on Kiryu Yaya for a moment before finally landing on Kouyuu Hiko.

He smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Koudahiko, I am Taki Hanayama from the Inspection Department of the Osaka National Tax Bureau."

As he spoke, he took out a document from the inside pocket of his suit and showed it to Kouyuki: "This is an arrest warrant issued by the Osaka District Public Prosecutor's Office. Please come with us."

The words fell.

The meeting room fell completely silent.

The smile on Kouyu Tianyan's face also disappeared.

He stared at the paper for two seconds, his Adam's apple bobbing, before speaking: "—Arrest warrant? What crime?"

Kazan-in Taki withdrew the arrest warrant and slowly explained, "You are suspected of using your position as executive director of Mitsubishi Bank to accept 200 million yen from Nagoya Industrial Asset Management Co., Ltd. during the bidding process for the Rinku Castle land plot, in exchange for providing them with non-public guarantee assessment information and bidding strategy advice, which constitutes unfair competition assistance."

Kouyuki's face turned extremely ugly in an instant.

He stared at the arrest warrant in Hanayama-in Taki's hand, his Adam's apple bobbing twice, but he remained calm: "Investigator Hanayama-in, I think you must have made a mistake."

"I have never received any compensation from Nagoya Industrial Asset Management Co., Ltd., nor have I ever provided any non-public guarantee assessment information or bidding strategy advice to any third party."

He slightly raised his chin, meeting Hanayama-in Taki's gaze directly: "This must be a frame-up."

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

Everyone was looking at him; some were astonished, some were suspicious, and some were exchanging glances in secret.

Kayama Inoki did not immediately refute.

He simply stood there, holding the arrest warrant in his hand, the faint smile on his lips remaining perfectly still.

After a moment, he turned his head and winked at the young clerk behind him.

The clerk immediately stepped forward, took a document from his briefcase, and handed it to Hanayama-in Taki with both hands.

Hanayama-in Taki took the document, but didn't rush to open it. Instead, he looked at Kouyuu Hiko first, and said in a calm tone, "Mr. Kouyuu, you said you didn't receive any payment. Then let me ask you..."

"How do you explain the funds that were deposited into your private account last night?"

Kouyuki's brows furrowed sharply: "What funds?"

Kayama-in Taki opened the document and showed one of the pages to Kouyuu Hiko.

It was a bank statement, which clearly showed:

Account Name: Koudahiko; Account Number: Mitsubishi Bank Tokyo Main Store Ordinary Deposit 0126548

Transaction Date: May 21, 3rd year of Heisei (2004) Transaction Summary: Project consulting fee advance payment amount: ¥200,000,000 Payer: Yamato Trading Co., Ltd. "Yamato Trading Co., Ltd."

Hanayama-in Taki's voice was calm as still water: "It's a trading company registered in Tokyo, whose main business is the import and export of building materials."

"According to our overnight investigation, this company has a long-standing business relationship with Mitsubishi Bank and has repeatedly handled trade letters of credit and foreign exchange settlement through your bank's financing department."

He closed the file, his gaze falling on Kouyu Tianyan's face, which was beginning to lose its color: "And what's even more coincidental is that this 200 million yen underwent at least four layers of fund splitting and path restructuring before being deposited into the account."

"The funds originated from the account of 'Nagoya Industrial Asset Management Co., Ltd.,' passed through three shell companies registered in different locations, and finally entered your personal account under the name of Daiwa Trading Co., Ltd."

"Mr. Kouyu, you say you didn't receive any payment, so how do you explain this money?"

The air in the conference room froze for a moment.

Kouyu Tianyan stood still, his gaze fixed on the transaction record, his pupils slightly contracting.

His lips moved a few times, but no sound came out.

He certainly knew what Daiwa Trading Co., Ltd. did—it was a long-time client of the financing department of Mitsubishi Bank, and he had personally approved many of the company's letter of credit transactions.

But he had no idea about the money.

Just then, Hanayama Inoki's gaze slowly swept across the long table, finally landing on Takahashi Taishi's face, which was now completely bloodless.

He only glanced at it.

Then Takahashi Taishi's knees buckled.

"No, it's none of my business!"

His voice trembled with a kind of fear that had crushed him.

He stood up abruptly, the chair legs scraping loudly on the floor, and then he pointed at Kouyu Tianyan, his voice almost distorted.

"It was him! Minister Kouyuta made me do it!"

"He said that as long as I transferred the money, he could handle the bank's guarantee assessment. He also said that this land wouldn't go through a public process, and that I could confidently make a bid!"

"That 200 million was his consulting fee; he said he wanted it!"

The meeting room erupted in chaos.

Ushio Takeo suddenly stood up: "Mr. Takahashi, what nonsense are you spouting?!"

Takahashi Taishi, however, no longer looked at him.

He staggered a step toward Hanayama-in Taki, as if grasping at a last straw: "Investigator, I was used by him!"

"He said he was the executive director of Mitsubishi Bank, and that as long as the money was in place, all the procedures wouldn't be a problem. I didn't know it was illegal; I really didn't know—"

—

Hanayama-in Taki didn't say anything, but just watched his performance quietly, as if he had expected it.

Kouyuki's expression changed completely.

"Shut up!"

For the first time, his voice lost its composure, becoming somewhat hoarse: "I don't know you at all! What two hundred million, what consulting fees, I've never..."

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence.

Because he saw the fleeting cunning in Takahashi Taishi's eyes.

For a moment, Kouyu Tianyan's mind went blank.

He abruptly turned his head, his gaze sweeping across both sides of the long table, over Miyazawa Keiko's calm face, over Uesugi Akio's lowered eyelids, over Yamada Masakazu's shocked face in the audience, and finally—

It landed on Kiryu Yaya, who was in the corner.

Kouyu Tianyan was startled.

Kiryu Yaya didn't look at him.

He was looking down, as if writing something in a notebook, the pen moving at a steady pace across the paper, his posture unnaturally composed.

But it was precisely this composure that made the hairs on Kouyu Tianyan's back stand on end.

He suddenly understood.

It's all part of a scheme.

The Miyazawa Group's Rinku Castle, the soon-to-be-acquired board position, Kuroda Shuichi, Takahashi Taishi, the shell company in Nagoya,

That 200 million yen transfer and that letter of intent he personally signed were all traps to lure him into a snare.

He just didn't know how Kiryu Yaya, a mere newcomer, could have such power.

In that instant, he suddenly recalled Kiyomasa Ogaki's words: "Minister Furuta—this young man has a rather complicated background."

"If you're looking to deal with him, please seek help from someone more capable."

Kouyuu Hiko felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

Could it be that Kiryu Yaya really has some unfathomable background, just as Oogaki Kiyomasa said?

But he is clearly an orphan who lost both his parents.

He was puzzled.

Kouyuki's voice trembled as he looked away from Kiryu Yaya and then at Takahashi Taishi: "You guys."

"Who exactly are they working for?"

Takahashi Taishi had already shrunk behind Hanayama-in Taki, looking like a terrified mouse, only daring to peek half his face out from behind the investigator's shoulder: "Y-yes, it was you who asked me to do this, Minister Kouyuta. I was just following your instructions. You said the funds in Nagoya were ready, and you said there wouldn't be any problems."

"I didn't say that!"

Kouyuhiko's voice had completely spiraled out of control.

The veins on his forehead bulged, and he slammed his hands on the table: "You've framed me! Someone's setting this up!"

Kayama-in Taki finally spoke.

His voice was like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing Kouyuhiko's desire to struggle.

"Mr. Kouyu, you can save these words for the investigation room."

He closed the arrest warrant in his hand, turned his head, and nodded to the officer behind him: "Take him away."

Two officers immediately stepped forward and stood on either side of Kouyuu Hiko.

Kouyuhiko did not resist.

He stood there, looking at Hanayama-in Taki, then at Takahashi Taishi hiding behind him, then at Miyazawa Keiko at the other end of the long table, and finally his gaze traveled across the entire conference room to Kiryu Yaya in the corner.

Kiryu Yaya finally raised his head.

Eyes facing each other.

Then he revealed a kind smile, slowly raised his right hand, fingers together, back of hand facing up, and sliced ​​across the side of his neck as if a blade had slicing through his throat.

Clean, neat, and silent.

Farewell!

Ko Utahiko!