Lingshou County is located 60 miles northeast of Zhengding and is considered a small county in southern Hebei.
Caoji Grain Store is the largest grain store in Lingshou County. Its business scope covers wheat, corn, sorghum, etc. It mainly purchases people’s surplus grain from Lingshou County and then sells it to Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu and other provinces over long distances.
To make a profit, because the land in the northwest provinces is barren and the yield of food crops is low, the business of the grain shops has always been good.
But at this moment, the owner of Caoji Grain Store was asking a dozen guys to move bags of wheat out of the warehouse.
In the warehouse yard, thousands of bags of wheat had been piled up into a hill. Cao Dong's family looked at the pile of wheat and sighed while asking the waiter to bring out more than a dozen pots of foreign oil from the concierge.
"Master, is it really hot?" a waiter asked with great pity.
"What can we do if we don't burn it?" Cao Dongjia sighed, "You can't take advantage of the little devil, right?"
"Master, why not find a place to hide." An older waiter suggested.
"Hide it? Where to hide it?" Cao Dong's family asked angrily, "Gold and silver are not so soft. Just put a few cans and dig a hole in the ground and bury them. This is hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain, which is enough to fill several piles.
Ten rooms, where do you want me to hide? Besides, even if I hide, that bastard Masan is still not allowed to inform those stupid little devils?"
Masan is the mortal enemy of the Cao Dong family and is said to have hooked up with the Japanese.
"How about..." said the guy who spoke just now, "How about sharing these grains with the villagers?"
"You know nothing." Cao Dong's family said angrily, "Even if the grain is divided, when the little devils come into the city, they still have to take the grain out of the mouths of the villagers? Don't do bad things with good intentions, but because of
This little food has harmed the folks in the county. If that happens, our Cao family will be infamy in this Lingshou land for thousands of years."
The dozen or so guys had nothing to say and were now ready to burn food.
At this moment, a young boy rushed in like a flying bird and shouted repeatedly: "Master Dong, good thing!"
"What a fart! Little hairy monkey, where did you little brat go? Why don't you hurry up and help burn the food?" Cao Dongjia picked up the pole and threw it at the young boy. At this moment, he felt unhappy. Hundreds of thousands
The kilograms of grain were burned as soon as they were said to be burned, which cost tens of thousands of dollars. The Cao family had really lost all their money.
"Uh, no." The boy quickly stepped aside and shouted, "Master, there's no need to burn food."
"Don't burn the grain? Leave it to the little devil!?" Cao Dong's family became even more furious. He took off his cloth shoes and came to chase and beat the little boy.
The boy rushed to the courtyard wall and shouted: "My boss, the national army has issued a notice to purchase grain, cotton and all daily miscellaneous goods in the city, as much as you need! And they are all cash transactions. Just now in the city
At the door, I saw the national army bringing two large carts of gold, silver and jewelry."
Cao Dongjia said in astonishment: "Little hairy monkey, are you serious?"
"Of course it's true." The young man said, "Master Dong, stop burning the grain and quickly ask the National Army to sell the grain. I heard that Ma San from Maji Grain Shop has asked the National Army to sell the grain to him because he was hoarding grain.
Shot."
"Well done, this bitch Masan should be shot!" Cao Dong's family felt very happy after hearing this, and then ordered the dozen or so waiters behind them to say, "Don't be stunned, hurry up and go find the national army. I am Cao Ji."
All the hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain from the grain store have been given to them, so I, Cao, should be the one donating grain to the national army!"
Tianjin, Grand East Asia Hotel.
The hotel lobby was crowded with guests, many of whom carried cameras and were obviously reporters.
Three days ago, General Yoshiji Okamura, the new commander of the North China Front of the Japanese Army, sent invitations to all walks of life in Tianjin, claiming that a press conference would be held at the Grand East Asia Hotel. Major news would be announced at the meeting. Envoys from various countries stationed in the French Concession and
Media reporters are also invited.
Because the press conference has not started yet, the guests present are whispering.
"Hey, what news do you think Okamura Neji will announce at the meeting?"
"I heard that the Japanese military will make major adjustments to its strategy towards China, but I don't know if it's true."
"No matter how much we adjust, it's still not burning, killing, robbing, and raping? The Japanese are all the same."
"When Tada Shun was in office, the Japanese suffered a big loss. I wonder what measures Okamura Neji will take?"
"Who knows? Anyway, this is a matter between the Chinese and the Japanese. What does it have to do with us French people?"
"Stephen, the ambitions of the Japanese are growing day by day. We won't be able to stay in Tianjin for too long. Take the time to enjoy the wine, food and Chinese beauties. When we return to France, as civilians, we will think about it again."
Such a high-class life is just wishful thinking."
While the two Gallic chickens were whispering, Okamura Neji had already walked into the hall surrounded by a large group of Japanese generals.
"Dear guests, I'm really sorry to keep you waiting for so long." Neji Okamura strode up to the rostrum and bowed deeply to all the guests. The accompanying Japanese generals also bowed after him. This scene was full of excitement.
The guests in the hall looked at each other in confusion. Obviously, no one expected Okamura Neji to be so polite.
After three full seconds, Okamura Neiji stood up and spoke into the microphone: "My predecessor, Commander Tada Shun, adopted extremely inappropriate policies in North China, which caused great harm to the people of North China. Here,
On behalf of the Empire, I would like to express my sincere humility to the people of North China, and my deepest condolences to the people who lost their lives."
After saying that, Okamura Neji and the generals behind him bent down and bowed again. This time the bow lasted for half a minute.
Half a minute later, Okamura Neiji straightened up again and continued: "However, the empire's China policy is always 'China-Japan goodwill'. The reason why the imperial army entered China was not to burn, kill and loot.
It is not to annex China, but to help the Chinese people get rid of the enslavement of the Western world and gain independence, freedom, and a happy life."
As soon as he finished speaking, a Yongbao reporter asked: "Mr. Okamura, you said that the Japanese army entered China to help the Chinese people get rid of the slavery of the Western world and to help the Chinese people gain independence, freedom, and a happy life. But the Japanese army did not
He also carried out a brutal and inhumane massacre against the people of North China, what is Mr. Okamura’s explanation for this?”
"I personally express great regret for the previous bloodshed." Okamura Neiji said, "However, this tragedy was caused by personal factors and was by no means the result of the empire's China policy. Moreover, my predecessor Tada
Commander Jun has been duly punished for this bloodshed."
"What kind of punishment is it? Hundreds of thousands of people died. Is it enough to punish only Shun Tada?"
"We should look forward, instead of dwelling on the past, and we should not let hatred blind our reason." Okamura Neiji said this, and then said, "In fact, the bloody incident in North China was not because of Tada Shun.
This was caused by the commander alone. If Yue Weihan hadn't sent someone to assassinate him and severely injured him, he probably wouldn't have lost his mind and ordered the troops to cause bloodshed. Now, Tada Shun has been punished for his impulsiveness.
But what about Yue Weihan? As far as I know, the Nationalist Government not only did not punish Yue Weihan, but secretly rewarded him through telegrams. I would like to ask, is this what a responsible government should do?"
When the Yongbao reporter was about to refute, Okamura Neiji said first: "Sir, if you have different views on the bloodshed in North China, we can communicate in private, but today, I have important news for you.
Dear guests, please cooperate with me for a moment, okay?"
The Yongbao reporter curled his lips and stopped talking.
Okamura Neiji continued: "Mr. Wang is about to form the National Government in Nanjing. As an integral part of the National Government, all provinces and cities in North China will gradually establish provincial offices and municipal offices."
"Three days later, Tianjin will take the lead in holding public elections in the French Concession. All Tianjin citizens will vote to publicly elect the director of the Municipal Office, and the newly elected director of the Municipal Office will nominate officials from various government agencies. In order to ensure the fairness of the election
, the voting and counting will be conducted under the supervision of the French Concession Industry Bureau.”
As soon as Okamura Neji said these words, the guests in the hall were in an uproar!
If only representatives from all walks of life vote, the guests will just sneer at it, but if it is a referendum, they are two completely different concepts. Compared with representative voting, it is much more difficult to manipulate the election in a referendum, because it is done under the law.
Elections in the concession must be supervised by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Bureau of the concession!
It seems that the Japanese really intend to respect the Chinese choice this time.
According to what Neiji Okamura just said, the democratically elected city government this time will never be a traitorous government. Then problems will arise. Once a dispute arises between the democratically elected municipal office and the Japanese garrison or Japanese expatriates, another problem will arise.
How to deal with it? Should Okamura Neiji continue to respect the Chinese, or should he protect the Japanese?
It wasn't until the hall became quiet again that Okamura Neji smiled and said: "I know that everyone must be worried about how to maintain the prestige of the democratically elected government? But I can tell you that this kind of worry is completely unnecessary. Once the democratically elected government is formed,
The imperial army will definitely show sufficient respect, and all other powers, except the right to garrison troops, will be returned to the government."
As soon as Okamura Neji said these words, even the Yongbao reporter who had asked the fierce question just now was horrified.
A middle-aged gentleman stood up from the crowd and said, "Then we Tianjin people will wait and see."
When Okamura Neiji was about to turn around and ask about this person's identity, Nanzo Yunzi, the head of the Peking Secret Service, had already stepped forward and lowered his voice and said to Okamura Neiji: "Your Excellency, Commander, this person, Cao Mosan, is from the Tianjin Chamber of Commerce.
The president is extremely popular among the people of Tianjin. If elected publicly, this person will definitely be the best choice for the director of the Municipal Office!"
"It turns out to be Chairman Cao." Okamura Neiji smiled and said, "Soon, you will believe in the sincerity of the imperial army."