The first thousand and twenty-five chapters can only be alleviated but not cured
The concept of grain reserves is not new, but when there was a grain shortage in Shanghai, the city government actually wanted to withhold household registration rice as its own grain reserves. If this news spread, not only the people would scold Chen Gongbo's eighteenth generation ancestors, but also
The Japanese will not sit back and watch.
The reason why Mo Guokang proposed such a stupid idea was the result of official-oriented thinking. Her first consideration was not the life and death of the common people, but to use this resource to please the major yamen in the Shanghai stock market and to please those bureaucrats and speculators.
, as well as the military police in Shanghai.
"That's nonsense. What kind of bad idea are you coming up with? If you do this, wouldn't it be like digging a big hole for me? This batch of food was seized by the Japanese Military Police. It was agreed to be transferred specifically to alleviate the food crisis in Shanghai.
I gave the city government as household registration rice, but I still have to pay 6,000 tons, and even 6,000 kilograms can’t be withheld!”
"What time of day it is now, you are still thinking about giving favors to get benefits, it is simply stupid! If the famine in Shanghai leads to serious social unrest and destroys the Japanese military production tasks, I, as the mayor, will be finished!"
Chen Gongbo said sternly.
Even if Mo Guokang made a mistake, he would rarely scold her with such words and tone, let alone when there were outsiders. But when his own safety was involved, he would not care about tenderness and sweetness.
This attitude was also shown to Chen Mingxiang.
He even suspected that this woman's intelligence had been blinded by the glamorous life in Shanghai. Such behavior was fine before, but couldn't she distinguish between priorities?
Mo Guokang immediately blushed and was reprimanded in front of Chen Mingxiang. This damaged her image outside. But to Chen Mingxiang's surprise, her face calmed down immediately and she stood aside with a smile and stopped talking.
This made Chen Gongbo feel embarrassed to continue talking.
"In her position to pursue her political goals, Secretary Mo is the mayor's secretary, which is equivalent to the housekeeper of the municipal government. She has a good intention and wants to maintain the stability of the government offices at all levels. She is thinking about you. There is no need for her at the moment.
It’s normal to think about the special nature of this matter.”
"You are not only the mayor of Shanghai's four million people, but also the leader of officials at all levels. Now it seems that the food shortage problem in Shanghai cannot be solved in a short time. Everyone is counting on you.
Being able to come up with ways to alleviate the food shortage, I guess Secretary Mo also feels some pressure." Chen Mingxiang said.
Mo Guokang felt very comfortable when she heard Chen Mingxiang say good things to her, but she was still a bit shy and didn't hear the trap hidden in Chen Mingxiang's words.
But Chen Gongbo felt that Mo Guokang had overstepped his authority or crossed the line. He made decisions for himself in private and ignored the overall situation, which might get him into trouble. He couldn't help but frown.
"You are right. To solve this problem, we need to get at least 20,000 tons of rice every month, but our city government has not even achieved half of it. The report from the Food Administration Bureau said that the average per capita daily is only one pound.
Every day I hear the cries of hungry citizens, and I know that something big will happen sooner or later."
"Mingxiang, you were promoted by me, and you have good relations with grain merchants from all over the country. I hope you can assist the municipal government to alleviate this situation. Don't worry, money is definitely not a problem. As long as there is food to buy, I will
The Ministry of Finance will prepare enough funds, and your contribution will not be forgotten," Chen Gongbo said.
For the current Jinling government, money is really not a problem. Japan's money printing machine, which specializes in printing China Reserve Bank Notes, runs 24 hours a day. At least tens of millions are printed every day, and then packed and shipped.
Shipped to the Shanghai Branch of China Reserve Bank in Shanghai.
As for the large-scale printing of banknotes that caused the financial market to collapse and the currency value of banknotes to plummet, the Jinling government has nothing to do. Even the right to issue banknotes is controlled by the Japanese. What else can be said?
But Chen Gongbo knew in his heart that unless the Japanese troops evacuated, this phenomenon would never be cured. It would be great if it could be alleviated a little bit.
"The Japanese don't even have to think about it. Their own army doesn't have enough food to eat. It's basically impossible to completely alleviate this situation. Both the Jiami District and the Emi District are being closely watched. Whoever intervenes
, it would have to bear the wrath of both the Jinling government and the Japanese army, so it could only be operated secretly."
"As the saying goes, a little adds up. I will use the name of Southeast Trading Company to purchase grain from grain merchants in the northern area of Anhui Province, the northern area of Jiangsu Province, the southern area of Zhejiang Province and the southern area of Gan Province.
It may only be a few tons or a dozen tons each time, but this is a long-term transaction, and you will see the benefits sooner or later," Chen Mingxiang said.
Due to their respective interests, the conflict over food between the Japanese and the Wang Puppet Government is becoming more and more serious. He wants to take advantage of this situation and purchase food from various places as much as possible. The formation of the special operations team is a trump card to influence grain merchants in various places.
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The relief station in Zhabei area was established by Chen Mingxiang at the suggestion of the city government, but he didn't go there very often. Wang Zhen stepped in to take care of it. A large number of refugees relied on it to survive, mostly orphans and homeless families, as well as some elderly people.
, with the sharp deterioration of the grain market, more and more people are coming to relief stations for help.
In addition, the foreign nationals in the concentration camps are also waiting for rescue. This is an important resource that Chen Mingxiang uses to enhance his value and power. The embassies of the three countries provide US dollars every month, and he must not cut off the supply.
Regarding the price of grain, Chen Gongbo had no objection. Li Shiqun purchased this batch of grain from the Southeast Trading Company through half-buying and half-grabbing. Even at the market price, it was only 900 yuan per stone in Central Reserve Certificates.
But the price Chen Mingxiang gave to the city government was 2,000 yuan per stone of China Reserve Certificates, which was completely sold according to the black market price. The reason why Chen Gongbo accepted it was because the money would naturally have rebates, and he would never suffer a loss when doing business with Chen Mingxiang.
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That evening, Chen Mingxiang arrived in Luzhou on a Japanese transport plane. Lieutenant Colonel Sakamoto, the captain of the Luzhou Military Police, and the manager of the acquisition station drove a car and took him and his bodyguard to the hotel and had dinner together.
"Chen Jun, you are welcome to come to Luzhou to inspect the work. Section Chief Gangcun has sent me a message. In the past few years, the local gendarmerie and I have been taking care of you and have not had the opportunity to say thank you. If there is anything I need help with, please
Just ask, come, let’s have a drink first.” Lieutenant Colonel Sakamoto raised his glass and said.
The Luzhou Gendarmerie is a subordinate organization of the gendarmerie headquarters in Shanghai, commanding the gendarmerie throughout Anhui Province, and is also a direct beneficiary of Chen Mingxiang's various industries.
Huatong Trading Company's large transactions must be handled through the headquarters. Do other military police units have such great authority? When the transaction is completed, the headquarters will take out Chen Mingxiang's dividends in the name of various expenses.
Part of it is distributed to the military police in various places.
But the Luzhou Purchasing Station and Qiaocheng Tobacco Factory were both on the territory of Anhui Province, so Chen Mingxiang asked the person in charge to secretly pay Lieutenant Colonel Sakamoto a dividend. After all, the county magistrate was not as good as the current manager, so it was necessary to build a good relationship.
