"If they can't hold on to this trick, they will definitely have to let him go, unless they want the Japanese in Shanghai to starve to death or to withdraw all of them to Japan." Zhang Ziyang patted Lu Ming on the shoulder and said.
Even though he said this, Lu Ming was still under great psychological pressure. Now it was not only the lives of Japanese expatriates that were affected, but the interests of Chinese businessmen were also being damaged every day. He didn't know if these businesses could persist.
However, the attitude of these merchants is still resolute at present. Although there are losses, they can still afford it. This kidnapping incident has made every Shanghainese feel the shame, and it has also inspired the patriotic enthusiasm in their hearts.
Lu Ming knew that the reason why Yan Hongdao firmly supported him was that the old man had not given up on him yet, and he still thought that one day Lu Ming would change his mind and become the son-in-law of the Yan family.
Lu Ming could only pretend to be confused about this kind of thing, but he couldn't make it too difficult for Yan Hongdao to be a good person in the chamber of commerce, and he couldn't make the Chinese businessmen pay too high a price.
On the one hand, the Shanghai Municipal Government is negotiating with the Japanese side, and on the other hand, it is also talking to businessmen in Shanghai. It is hoped that both parties will calm down, ease the current situation, and not get into a tense situation. The most important thing is to restore social order and normalcy in Shanghai.
business dealings.
Shanghai is China's financial center and industrial powerhouse. Even a day's pause will cause astronomical losses, and the Republic of China government cannot afford it.
"Brother, I heard that the Japanese have an evacuation plan. What if they evacuate all Japanese citizens from Shanghai and insist on not letting them go?" Zhang Ziyang asked.
"No, they would rather fight a war than give up control of Shanghai, but they don't dare to fight it yet, at least they don't dare to fight it in Shanghai." Lu Ming said.
Sheng Youde also talked to him in the past two days, expressing firm support for all his actions and asking him to go ahead and take responsibility for anything that happened.
All businesses under Sheng's Enterprise jointly issued a statement in the newspaper to support the Fuxing Society's arrest of the two criminals wanted in the kidnapping case.
Until Ning Xiner is safe, the Sheng Group is determined not to buy, sell or distribute any Japanese goods, and is prepared to stick to this policy for a long time.
"Brother, I think procrastinating like this is not an option. The Chinese will still suffer." Zhang Ziyang said worriedly.
He did not expect that the Japanese attitude would be so tough and they would fight to the end.
"It can't be delayed for a long time. The fire has been lit. As long as the fire reaches the right temperature, the matter will be solved naturally." Lu Ming said with a smile.
After sending Zhang Ziyang away, Lu Ming went back and compressed and organized the interviews published in the newspaper, and added the core content of the confessions of Chang Gui Yingzi and Kawaki Rin into a news report of almost 2,000 words.
Afterwards, he immediately went to find Mr. Dong and asked him to translate the message into code and send it to the "Washington Post" as soon as possible. This month, he finally assigned Mr. Dong a heavy job. Thinking of this, Lu Ming couldn't help but laugh.
In the past, An Yi had objections to Lu Ming's high salary to Mr. Dong, thinking that it was Lu Ming trying to win over Mr. Dong. Although he doesn't think so now, if Mr. Dong is not allowed to do any work, An Yi will look at it
There's always something wrong with his eyes.
In the afternoon, Lu Ming made an appointment with Qian Tian, this time at a Western restaurant in the public concession.
The purchase ban policy on Japanese people in recent days has caused many Japanese restaurants to close their doors, and Kenta's favorite Japanese restaurant has also closed.
Because all kinds of ingredients shipped by merchants from Japan are piled on the ship without anyone unloading them, and the corresponding ingredients cannot be purchased in Shanghai.
This Western restaurant is opened by a Frenchman. If it were opened by a Chinese, Qian Tian would not be able to enter.
"Lu Sang, we Japanese also have good people, you can't overwhelm a whole boat of people with one stroke." Kenta complained as soon as they met.
"There's nothing you can do about it. These gangsters in your country have pissed off the people of Shanghai this time. Don't think that Shanghainese usually only focus on making money and don't care about anything else. They are really pissed off. Money is nothing.
"Lu Ming said with a smile.
The two chatted for a while, nothing more than the critical and precarious situation in Shanghai in recent days.
Now even the Japanese Consulate needs to rely on the Japanese Concession to provide daily necessities. Fortunately, the Japanese Concession is there, otherwise these expats in Shanghai would not be able to survive for three days.
This is how urban life is. All walks of life are like a series of precision gears meshing together to keep running. As long as one gear breaks down, the machine will stop. Now it is not a matter of one gear or two gears, but this machine.
The machine completely stopped working.
"I found out that Miss Ning is currently detained in the military police station of the garrison." Qiantian said after taking a sip of the wine brought by the waiter.
"Isn't it the work of the Manchurian Railway? Why was it detained in the gendarmerie stationed in the army? Could it be that the military was also involved?" Lu Ming said in shock.
"That's not true. The person was indeed kidnapped by the Manchurian Railway Action Team. Because many senior management of Manchurian Railway did not agree with violent activities, the action team did not lock the person in the Manchurian Railway Building, but in the gendarmerie. It's a borrowed word.
Let’s take over the military police’s territory.” Qiantian didn’t give any further explanation, he just explained the situation.
"Then can you think of a way for me to go in and take a look? I want to see Miss Ning's condition."
"I'm afraid we can't do this. Don't talk about you. Even our Consul General wanted to go in to visit Miss Ning and was rejected." Qiantian said with a bitter smile.
Lu Ming put his hands on the table and gently rubbed his temples. He felt a very bad taste.
"You said Miss Ning Xin'er won't be killed by them, so they can't hand her over, so they're going to fight to the death?" Lu Ming said, and was actually startled by his own words.
"This should not be the case. The Consul General met with the gendarmerie captain. The gendarmerie captain guaranteed that the person is fine and is still being interrogated." Qiantian said.
"Then why don't the gendarmerie allow your consul general to meet? Does this mean there is still a problem?" Lu Ming asked.
"It's a long story. Military people and diplomats are not the same people at all. As long as they can make things difficult for us, they will never be accommodating. This is a very common phenomenon. They just want to make us uncomfortable." Qiantian smiled bitterly.
road.
Lu Ming didn't believe the reason was so simple. He had a bad feeling in his heart. He could no longer wait passively. He could only take the initiative and rescue Ning Xiner as soon as possible.
"Mr. Qiantian, Mantetsu is refusing to let me go now. Which link do you think is stuck?" Lu Ming asked.
"I heard from the Consul General that military attache Takata Junzhang will release him immediately. Mantetsu's attitude is also the same. The problem now lies with the military police. They refuse to release him. In addition, Seigoro Ozawa also
He hates you for forcing his brother to death and refuses to let go."
When Lu Ming heard this, he felt that it was very difficult. If the Japanese military intervened, the difficulty of this matter would suddenly increase several times.
After all, Manchuria Railway is a commercial organization, and it can still use trade to force them, but the Japanese military cannot force them. It is impossible to send out the national army to besiege the Japanese garrison in Shanghai, right?
Just for one person, even if it is a socialite in Shanghai, the government will not agree to do this. It is not in the interest of the government.
"Isn't Mr. Muto at the base camp? Can he help?" Lu Ming asked.
To be honest, he was very reluctant to beg this guy Muto. Although he was a classmate, he had tricked him last time, and since he returned to Japan, the two of them have also cut off contact.
"I talked to Mr. Muto on the phone, and he was very willing to help. But as you know, the garrison in Shanghai is the Navy, and Mr. Muto is the Army Major General. They belong to different systems. Even if he is in the General Staff Headquarters, he cannot garrison Shanghai.
issued an order, but he said that he would talk to the Minister of the Navy and the Navy Commander about the matter and ask them to give the order to the garrison in Shanghai." Qian Tian said.
Lu Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Since Wu Teng agreed to help, it was probably not a lie. If he could really persuade the two top officers of the Navy to order the release of Ning Xiner, it would not be a problem.
"Actually, the most effective ones are the US and British governments. Don't you have a lot of connections in this area? Why don't you use them?" Kenta said with a smile.
Although it is somewhat unethical to use foreign governments to oppress their own governments, Kenta does not feel guilty at all. He feels that the Japanese military currently lacks sufficient external pressure, which makes Japanese soldiers increasingly arrogant. If things go on like this, it is likely to bring consequences to Japan.
to devastating consequences.
"Well, I have already sent a press release to the Washington Post. It should be published in the newspaper in two days." Lu Ming believed that this was the most effective way to restrain the Japanese.
"Oh, Lu Sang, it's too slow, too slow. You should go directly to the British and American embassy!" Qian Tian waved his hands repeatedly.