As soon as these words came out, everyone present took a breath of cold air in unison.
After all, having Chen Yaozu alone in this kind of thing would be enough of a headache for everyone. If the Japanese were to get involved, the deal would most likely be ruined.
"Don't the Japanese focus mainly on the British? Why did they end up in the waters near Macau?" Lin Shiliang said with a headache.
Dong Jianchang also had a solemn look on his face, "I'm not worried about anything else. I'm just afraid that the Japanese will completely block the sea area, and then our deal may not be completed."
"Yes, yes..." Others nodded in agreement after hearing Dong Jianchang's words.
And just when everyone was at a loss what to do, Li Qiang suddenly asked Ying: "How about... I take two people over to inquire about the specific situation."
"Well, this is not just a solution!" Dong Jianchang muttered after hearing this, and then turned to look at Lin Shiliang and others, "What do you think?"
"It doesn't hurt to inquire carefully. It's better than making random guesses here." Lin Shiliang was the first to say in agreement.
"In that case, Brother Aqiang, I would like to trouble you to take someone with you. We are waiting for your news."
"Um."
After making up his mind, Li Qiang immediately started preparations. However, what surprised him was that in addition to Dong Jianchang's adjutant Liu, there was another person who took the initiative to find him and expressed his willingness to follow him. That was almost everyone along the way.
Wu Fangzhi has no sense of presence.
Although he was a little surprised, Li Qiang did not refuse. After all, this person was someone who could catch Kong Xiangxi's eyes, and he was definitely not an ordinary person.
So after a night of preparation, Li Qiang took only Haitang, Adjutant Liu and Wu Fangzhi with him, and they set out from Guilin lightly.
Since they were still within Dong Jianchang's sphere of influence, the first half of the journey was relatively smooth. However, when the group arrived in Wuzhou successfully and were about to take a boat to go south along the river, they were intercepted by the puppet troops as expected.
examine.
After stopping the passenger ship, a group of guys under the banner of Qingxiang Inquisition Office jumped up and started interrogating everyone one by one.
The so-called "examination" is actually just extortion from passing passengers, and the price is even clearly marked. Adults and children alike are charged five yuan per person to pay for the passage.
Even though five yuan doesn't sound like much, in just half a day's journey from Wuzhou to Yun'an, I was stopped no less than ten times, and the slightest slight was either punched or kicked, or even more serious.
He was thrown directly into the river and left to die. He was extremely arrogant and arrogant. When the ship arrived at Yun'an, almost all the passengers who had boarded the ship in Wuzhou disembarked early because they could not afford the passage money.
However, even though there was no need to worry about paying for passage, Li Qiang and his party still disembarked in Yun'an. After all, if they continued to take the boat, they would have to detour through Zhaoqing.
But as luck would have it, just after a group of people got off the boat and walked not far, they came across another interrogation center that looked very special.
The reason why it is called special is that not only is this interrogation station equipped with complete facilities such as roadblocks and sentry booths, it is even guarded by Japanese soldiers, which shows its importance.
But even so, the puppet soldiers who were responsible for interrogation and questioning were still bold enough to openly extort money from passers-by. If they encountered someone who was willing to pay a few extra dollars, they would simply check them and let them go directly. But if they encountered those
Those who are "ignorant" will not only be subject to interrogation, they will even be put in a difficult position, and they may even be directly detained and taken away on charges of being anti-Japanese.
However, although such behavior was extremely disgusting, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, for that batch of medicines, as long as it could be done with money, it was no big deal.
In this way, under Brother Kong Fang's divine power, the group passed through more than a dozen interrogation centers, large and small, and finally arrived at Jiangmen smoothly before dark.
The business lines are divided into the north and the south along the river, and overseas merchant ships are arriving one after another. There are majestic hero trees and majestic ancient forts.
This is the truest portrayal of Jiangmen. Although broken walls and ruins can be seen everywhere under the iron hooves of the Japanese invaders, the scarred buildings and ancient forts still standing on the riverside are still tenacious and unyielding in their silent struggle.
Protest.
The reason why Li Qiang decided to set the first stop of his trip to Macau here was also after careful consideration.
After dark, Li Qiang left the hotel where he was staying alone and went straight to a tavern by the river. He ordered a pot of old wine and sat by the window to drink it.
However, not long after, a deep voice rang out, "Little brother, this is not how you drink this wine!"
Looking around, I saw that the person speaking was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his early thirties. His face was slightly drunk, and he had obviously drunk a lot.
Naturally, Li Qiang would not argue with someone who had drunk too much, so he did not answer and continued to drink alone.
Without thinking about that person, he simply walked over to the opposite side of Li Qiang with the wine glass and sat down, and continued: "Brother, this is the first time I have seen someone who only drinks wine and does not eat vegetables. Don't you think it is too monotonous?
Is it done?”
However, before he finished speaking, Li Qiang asked in an understatement, "Is there anything more suitable for drinking wine than the river view here?"
As soon as these words came out, the man was stunned for a moment, and then he suddenly replied: "What a good person to accompany wine with scenery. I didn't expect that my brother's drinking level is so high at such a young age. I admire you! Let me introduce myself.
My name is Pang Lun. Didn’t you ask for advice?”
"Open wall."
"It turns out to be Brother Ming. As the saying goes, meeting is fate. It's rare to meet someone who knows how to drink. If you don't mind, how about having a few drinks together?"
Li Qiang shrugged noncommittally, neither agreeing nor objecting.
So Pang Lun shamelessly sat over, and after confirming that it was safe, he lowered his voice and said, "Director Ming, I have been waiting here for a long time under the orders of Mr. Zhou."
Yes, this Pang Lun is the person who was mentioned by Lao Wenchi before to help Li Qiang return to Hong Kong.
However, the Mr. Zhou he spoke of was not Zhou Fohai, but his younger brother, Zhou Huaren, who served as the mayor of Guangzhou.
Li Qiang, still holding the wine glass and looking at the river, asked calmly: "I heard that the port in Macau has suddenly been closed these days. Do you know what happened?"
"It is said that some thirty boxes of belongings consigned by someone at the Provincial Hong Kong and Macao Shipping Company were inexplicably lost."
"The consignment is lost? That's not a big deal. Is it necessary to close the entire port? Isn't this too big a deal?"
"Director Ming, you don't know this. As far as I know, those boxes are not just ordinary possessions, but full of jewelry and expensive clothes. Everything you take out is a priceless treasure!
"
"So that's the case, no wonder..." Li Qiang nodded suddenly after hearing this, but then couldn't help but ask, "But then again, who are the owners of those boxes? They lost them.
The thing actually alerted the Macau authorities?”
"This... humble position is not clear."
Li Qiang didn't hesitate, "Forget it, no matter who he is, it has nothing to do with us. I only care about when the port can reopen."
"It's hard to say. It could be as short as a few days, but half a month is not impossible."
"Half a month? I can't wait that long."
However, after hearing this, Pang Lun asked with some confusion: "Director Ming, I'm sorry to be blunt, even if the port in Macau is temporarily unavailable to navigation, we can still return to Hong Kong by land!"
"Overland? What about the more than two thousand boxes of goods I brought back? Can you guarantee that they can pass customs smoothly without attracting the attention of that Chen Yaozu?"
"This... humble position..." Pang Lun never thought about why Li Qiang would bring so much goods back, and he was a little dumbfounded. After all, it was too ostentatious to bring so many goods on the road, even if Chen Yaozu's
No matter how slow your reaction is, you will never be unaware of it.
"Since there is no way to guarantee it, the only way is to wait for the Macau port to reopen and enter the port by water. So I can only help you set off overnight to find out the specific situation first. I will arrive with my people later."
"But Director Ming, if you want a waterway, you don't have to go through Macau. The same goes for Zhongshan County!"
"No, it's different. Don't forget that the Xijiangkou is guarded by the Japanese. Can they let us pass so easily?"
Hearing this, Pang Lun nodded with some shame, "Okay then, I'll do as you say."
With that said, Pang Lun was about to stand up, but was stopped by Li Qiang.
"Wait a moment."
"Do you have any other instructions from Director Ming?"
"I also heard that the man surnamed Chen has been neglecting business recently and has instead focused all his attention on celebrating his own birthday. Is this true?"
As soon as these words came out, Pang Lun was obviously taken aback, but he quickly recovered and nodded and admitted: "Director Ming's information is really well-informed. Yes, this is indeed the case."
"Okay, then you can help me with one more thing." After saying that, Li Qiang lowered his voice and whispered to him.
It was a good thing that Pang Lun didn't listen. After hearing Li Qiang's words, his pupils shrank suddenly, and then there was something more in his eyes when he looked at Li Qiang.
If before, his respect for Li Qiang was simply based on the subordinate's attitude towards his superior, now it has turned into sincere admiration.
The night passed quickly. The next day, Li Qiang was not in a hurry. Instead, he dragged his feet for a whole morning before setting off. He went all the way down the river in less than two hours.
We arrived at the Inner Harbor of Macau smoothly.
Since the outbreak of the all-out Anti-Japanese War, a large number of refugees have continued to flow into Macau to escape disaster, causing the population to increase from 170,000 to approximately 700,000 in the next few years.
Although the continuous influx of large numbers of people has put heavy pressure on the economy of this small Portuguese colony, it is undeniable that the basic needs of all walks of life in Macau have also increased because of the influx of people. .In addition, there are many wealthy businessmen among the refugees, who not only brought funds, but some also moved their companies to Macau and set up camp here to carry out trade.
There is a sales market, there is no shortage of capital investment, and more importantly, it has not been devastated by the war. Therefore, many industries closely related to the people have flourished, and Macao's overall economy has made several big steps forward. Before Japan invaded the entire Southeast Asia, Under the environment, it is like a prosperous scene of "paradise".
However, when Li Qiang and others landed through the inner harbor, what they saw was a scene completely different from what was rumored. The most impressive building in the entire port area was not the iconic port office with the Portuguese flag as rumored. , it is not the Red Street Market, which was rated as "the most architecturally artistic building" by later generations, but a tall building made of pure white marble with modern artistic beauty. Of course, the more eye-catching one is the one in front of the building. The Japanese plaster flag seems to be flaunting its wealth and authority to the world every time it swings in the wind, flying high in front of the building arrogantly.
What concerned Li Qiang even more was the family emblem hanging in a prominent position at the door. It turned out to be the emblem of the Ito family that he was all too familiar with!
Needless to say, this building must be the Macau branch of the Ito Chamber of Commerce.
"It's the Ito Chamber of Commerce again! I didn't expect that our fate with it is really deep!" Not only Li Qiang, but also Haitang beside him naturally recognized the family emblem, so he subconsciously said.
Li Qiang just glanced at her, motioned her to be calm, and then checked into the International Hotel as planned.
I have to say that although the name sounds very grand, in fact, compared with the Chinachem Hotel in Shanghai and the Central Hotel in Nanjing, it is not at the same level as the Xiling Hotel in Hangzhou and the Royal Hotel in Hong Kong. There is a big gap in comparison, but even so, it can be regarded as the hotel with the most exquisite decoration and the most complete supporting facilities in Macau.
The reason why I chose to stay here is not only that it is located in the center of Macau and is relatively convenient no matter where I go, but there is also a more important reason, that is, you can have a panoramic view of almost the entire urban area of Macau. You can even use a telescope to see clearly what's going on in the port area.
"Hello, sir, how can I help you?" As soon as I entered the door, a middle-aged man who looked like a manager came up to me quickly and asked respectfully.
However, before he finished speaking, Adjutant Liu immediately entered the role and asked the man in a cold voice: "Are you the manager here?"
"Yes, my surname is Xu, and I am the lobby manager here."
After hearing this, Adjutant Liu nodded first, and then said something shocking: "Let me ask you, how many rooms do you have on the top floor?"
