"Have you heard? Recently, you can buy private salt, and the price is half that of official salt." In the noisy teahouse, there will always be someone who spreads gossip.
"I heard about it, so my mistress went to buy it. Not only is it cheap, but it's also the finest fine salt. I don't know what kind of deity it is that has such great ability."
"Who else could it be? It must be a thief. The price of this salt is so high, and most of the profits have been taken away. The people below must be unwilling. No, they steal some and sell it themselves. Haha, this is a snake.
It’s a nest of rats.”
——Peking Japanese Army Headquarters
"Pah!" the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the North China Front, Prince Higashino Minuhiko, threw a bunch of documents on the table and shouted, "Look, don't you feel a little ashamed? This month, our salt sales have decreased.
Half, this is not just Peiping, but the whole of North China! Except for Shandong, it is like this in other places! Especially in the rural areas of Hebei, people basically no longer buy salt, and all they buy is private salt. Where does so much salt come from?
Where did it come from? Don’t you know anything about it?”
Prince Higashikanomiya Nohihiko is Hirohito's uncle, and the younger brother of Prince Asaka Miyakohiko who started the Nanjing Massacre. He is the youngest son of Prince Kuganomiya Asahiko. He has been naughty since he was a child. He dared to refuse to attend when he was still a university student in mainland China.
I even had a quarrel with the young Taisho about the invitation to the Meiji banquet. When I was in my thirties, I went to France to "study abroad" with his brother Asaka Palace, and got a diploma from a French university. I chased beautiful women everywhere in France.
He really became romantically involved and stubbornly refused to return to the country. No matter whether he was a member of the royal family or a minister, he ignored his repeated invitations. ******** no longer wanted to be a member of the royal family or a soldier. In the end, the cabinet was impatient and demanded that his status be lowered.
Because of his identity, he had no choice but to return to China.
Unlike other royals who are often adjutants in the army, he has always been the chief officer, and he is extremely disdainful of Western forces such as the League of Nations. Before September 18th, he made the statement that the League of Nations was not terrible.
During the two years of war, Hirohito couldn't help but feel that the army was not easy to control. Because of the failure of the Shanxi battle, Hirohito took the opportunity to remove Juichi Terauchi and replace him with his own relative, King Higashikaru Palace Minuhiko.
It is hoped that the power of the royal family can be strengthened, and secondly, it is also hoped that the army can act according to its own ideas and no longer launch attacks without authorization.
Standing in front of King Minyan of Dongjiure Palace were Li Jichun, Pan Yugui, and Qi Xieyuan. The three of them were sweating profusely and didn't know how to answer.
Finally, Qi Xieyuan said, "Your Excellency, Commander, we have indeed received the news that these illegal salts are all from Shanxi. We have also arrested many people, but this is really unstoppable. No one knows what happened to Shanxi."
There will be so much salt, but don’t worry, Commander, I don’t think there will be too much salt in Shanxi. This is just their little plan to disrupt us. It will be fine in a month or two."
Prince Higashikata Miyazaki glared at him and said, "What about the economic losses in the past few months?
Li Jichun thought for a moment and said, "Your Excellency, Commander, in addition to our strict control, how to attack the guerrillas is the key. Now these guerrillas have salt as their source of income, are not short of money and food, and are getting stronger and stronger. If this continues, I am afraid there will be
What a disaster for Shanxi."
King Higashikata Minuhiko nodded and expressed his approval. Tokyo asked him not to attack Shanxi, but he would always have to deal with the guerrillas in North China. He had been in office for a few months, and it was time to carry out a big sweep.
, If you don’t clean up North China properly, you will have to worry about someone dropping a bomb even in the headquarters.
"Mopping up is necessary, Commander Qi. Your colleagues have made great contributions to the imperial army in the south. I wonder if you are ready?" King Higashikata Minuhiko said with a smile.
Qi Xieyuan stood at attention and said, "Our North China Security Army currently has eleven divisions and five mixed brigades, totaling 230,000 people, who are ready to fight for the imperial army at any time, but...most of them are new recruits. This combat effectiveness may be somewhat insufficient, and the ordnance is
There are also some deficiencies in aspects.”
King Higashikata Minuhiko was not prepared to let these imperial troops assume the main force. Instead, he said, "The main force will naturally be the imperial army. Your main task is to blockade and assist the imperial army in fighting. Since this private salt comes from the Taihang Mountains, we must
Completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang Mountains!"
Seeing that Li Jichun's idea was adopted, Pan Yugui couldn't help but become a little anxious. Since the establishment of the Nanjing government, many important figures from the original North China government, such as Wang Kemin, have been transferred to Nanjing. It has not yet been decided who will become the leader of the government in North China.
Well, why did Pan Yugui become a traitor? Isn't this the position? Moreover, he and Li Jichun also have a common goddaughter Yamaguchi Shuko, so naturally they hope to outdo each other.
Pan Yugui immediately said, "Your Excellency, Commander, the sweep is necessary, but the most urgent problem is still the issue of salt. I think it can be done like this. Every household must eat salt, and one person can only eat so much. If a family eats salt within a period of time,
If they don’t come to buy it, it means they must have private salt to eat. We can give them a certificate when buying salt, which will indicate that they came to buy salt and how much salt they bought. Then we will go to their homes for random inspections.
If anyone is found to be wrong, they will all be arrested, fined and imprisoned."
King Higashikata Minuhiko nodded after hearing this and said, "Yo Xi, very good, this idea is very creative. I think it is not only salt, but also other necessities of life. In the future, it will not only be necessary to check good citizen certificates, but also these
The documents must also be checked so that those rats who buy illegal salt have nowhere to escape!”
——Taihang Mountain
"This little devil is really vicious! Some of the people here are rich and some are poor. The poor have less salt. He has set the standard so high. Isn't he trying to force the people to death?" Deng Xianxian shook his head and took the telegram.
on the table.
Liu Bocheng wiped his glasses and said, "This is a response to us, but they can issue certificates, and we can make certificates. In the future, let people buy our salt and hold their certificates. Isn't that okay? This is
I asked you to have a good plan, but I have a wall ladder."
Deng Xianxian chuckled and said, "I see, if this continues, the Japanese will sell salt door to door. During this period, the Japanese salt merchants will suffer a lot of losses."
Liu Bocheng glared and said, "Are you afraid of starving them to death? They are all extremely rich. Okay, let's first think about how to deal with the Japanese raids. This time they are very generous. Suiyuan, Hebei, and Peking
, Tianjin is about to start a campaign, and if our salt hadn’t been shipped to Shandong, I’m afraid Shandong would also have launched a major sweep.”
Deng Xianxian hummed and said, "You are the military commander. You make the decision. I will cooperate. We have Shanxi's rear area at our back. I don't think we can lose this battle no matter how bad it is."
Liu Bocheng shook his head and said, "It's okay if you can't lose. You have to win, and win beautifully. My initial idea is to severely damage the Suiyuan Army, encircle and annihilate the Hebei Army, evade the Peiping Army, and let the Japanese think that our next target is Hebei, so that
Let’s lay a solid foundation for Mr. He’s future.”
Deng Xianxian nodded and said, "I think it's okay. Is this realistic? Hebei is rich and the Japanese take it seriously. If it hurts after being beaten, they are naturally afraid of losing it."
The two discussed the war late into the night, and in Shanghai, the financial war between the White Party and the Japanese army also reached its climax.
In the dark cell, a man covered in blood drooped his head. His limbs were tied to a cross. A basin of cold water was suddenly poured on his head. He shook his head and looked around to make sure.
He was still alive, so he smiled and said, "Li Shiqun, is this all you have? It's not enough. Grandpa, I don't feel anything at all."
Li Shiqun squinted at this man, shook his head and said, "Jason, we don't need to say more. As long as you tell me your superiors, I will let you live. If you are afraid of notoriety, I can arrange for you to go abroad."
America! Wouldn't it be better to find a place where no one knows you, bring a lot of money, and live happily? Why do you want to die like this? Look, now Mao Sen, isn't Wanli Lang all fine? If you
If you are willing to surrender but don't want to deal with Chongqing, you can also learn from Mao Sen and just arrest the Red Party."
Jason shook his head, closed his eyes, and hummed, "The mountains and rivers are magnificent, the products are plentiful, the Yan and Huang worlds are prosperous, and East Asia is the lord."
"That's enough!" Li Shiqun trembled when he heard the familiar lyrics, waved his hand and said, "Pull it down! Give Mrs. Ji an explanation!"
A few strong men pulled Jason all the way into the jungle like a chicken. One of them kicked him to the ground, and the other pulled out a gun and beat him, causing blood to flow all over the floor. The two nodded and greeted him.
A pit was dug and he was buried.
"Thank you so much, Director Li. Mr. Ji's love for you was not in vain." Li Shiqun sent Ji Yunqing's wife away who was crying, and sat aside to think.
"Damn, damn the military commander! Damn the central commander, director, today we lost another accountant Zhang. Now the banks outside are afraid to open their doors, and now it has affected foreign banks, and the Japanese uncle is talking more and more.
You're welcome, what should we do?" Wu Sibao walked in hurriedly and said.
Li Shiqun said impatiently, "What's the fuss about? I just sent Mrs. Ji away, and her head is hurting. I'll go to Zhou Fohai and tell her about this matter. If we continue like this, when will it end?"
--Nanjing
After listening to Li Shiqun's report, Zhou Fohai seemed to remember something and asked, "Is the accountant named Zhang the same one who was hospitalized last time? I remember such a person."
While Li Shiqun was surprised at Zhou Fohai's memory, he nodded and said, "It was indeed him. He was followed and shot to death after he was discharged from the hospital."
When Zhou Fohai heard this, he suddenly became a little angry and said, "Okay, this is to tell us that as long as he is the person Dai Li wants to kill, he will definitely kill him. You go and capture three of them. I will give you three lives for one life."
, and I want these three people to all have the surname Zhang, and at least they must be directors."
Li Shiqun nodded and said there was no problem. After all, Zhang has a common surname, and it would be easy to find three of them. He continued, "But it's not an option to keep doing this. Their bank can't open, and our bank can't open either. Do you want to
Think of ways to?"
Zhou Fohai shook his head and said, "Now is the time to compete for endurance. We are in difficulty, but Chongqing is even more difficult. In the past two years, Chongqing's prices have tripled, and they are still increasing. Without Shanghai's blood transfusion for Chongqing, I am afraid that Chongqing's economy would have
It collapsed. The price of refined salt in Sichuan has increased from one corner to four corners. Sichuan is a major salt-producing province, haha, so we must hold on! Only when Chongqing comes to beg us will we solve this problem."
——Chongqing
"The four forces in Shanghai barely supported each other and continued business as usual. No sacrifices were spared. The atrocities committed by the enemy and puppets were a matter of course. However, I heard that if the enemy and puppets were to kill one person, three people must be killed. This cycle of vendettas has no end.
.It is true that the members of the Fourth Army, who are not armed soldiers, are in danger and unable to work without any protection. The situation is extremely urgent, so it seems appropriate to weigh the priorities and let the government come up with stabilization measures..."
Agent Jiang listened to Kong Xiangxi finish reading, nodded and said, "Everyone on the island deserves to be commended, but if this continues, it will have a huge impact on us, and we must find a way."
Kong Xiangxi nodded and said, "Chairman, I wonder if we can talk to them about this business? What we pay attention to is harmony and wealth. After all, it is a concession and a neutral area. I think we can use both legal currency and central bank currency."
Are they all saved?"
Agent Jiang closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "This is also a helpless move. Let's do it this way. In addition, our military expenses are getting higher and higher. What do you two think about it?"
Kong Xiangxi shook his head and said, "Now that the war situation is urgent, the Ministry of Military Affairs often uses temporary expenditures as a reason to ask the Ministry of Finance to raise additional funds in addition to the amount listed in the budget and approved war expenses. Provinces also often use the excuse that military expenditures are too huge and revenue is not enough."
We are requesting the Ministry of Finance to increase subsidies. It is difficult to respond to this insatiable request, and the Ministry of Finance has no way to check whether the defense fortifications and other military facilities are actually handled by the local government, and whether there is any ostracism or pretext for asking for money.
This is the reason why our military expenditure is so high."
Song Ziwen next to him nodded and said, "Yes, our army's establishment now includes the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, totaling 5.76 million, but the actual maximum number will not exceed 3 million. Based on this, half of our military expenditures are
This is untrue, and this is also the reason why military expenditures are so high. If this problem can be solved, our military expenditures will drop significantly."
Agent Jiang nodded and said, "That's true. The warlords below can fight faster than anyone else and demand money harder than anyone else. Huh! Niang Xipi's things are all a bunch of bastards! My catalog is also
That's why, after all, this is wartime, and the Japanese's efforts to persuade them to surrender have not stopped for a day. We have taken too many actions, and there is no guarantee that a few scum like Wu Sangui will not appear! Think of other ways, it is best to open source, and
It’s not about throttling!”
Upon hearing Jiang's request, Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi looked at each other and had no choice but to shake their heads silently.
Agent Jiang sighed and said, "Let's put this matter aside for now. You can handle the matters in Shanghai first."
The two nodded and left. Soon, the bloody financial battle between Nanjing and Chongqing in Shanghai came to an end, and the situation emerged where legal currency and central reserve currency coexisted in the world.
