Chapter eight hundred and eighty seventh joint against
The Japanese invaders' plunder of China's raw salt was simply appalling. Last year, the 31st year of the Republic of China, more than 633,000 tons were robbed from the Changlu Salt Field alone. This year's target has dropped, and the minimum requirement is 5
One hundred thousand tons, that's because the output of the Lianghuai Salt Farm and the Shandong Province Salt Farm are slowly increasing, and the demand pressure for raw salt has decreased.
In terms of output, the annual output of Changlu Salt Field has remained at more than one million tons despite the crazy expansion of salt fields by Japanese businessmen. It is not difficult to achieve this goal.
But Chen Mingxiang stepped in. His two salt fields would take away one-sixth of the sales in a year, which would inevitably affect the interests of North China Salt Industry Co., Ltd.
"Ever since the empire launched this war to invade China, there have been sharp conflicts between the chaebols, the military and even the government. As businessmen, we pay taxes to the empire and provide supplies needed for the war, but the ultimate goal is to make money!"
"The imperial government and the military want us to serve the war effort, but at the same time they want to implement a policy of relaxation in the occupied areas to reduce the hostility of the local people and stabilize the rule of the puppet regime. How can such a good thing be possible? Does this still give us a way to survive?
?" Mitsui's representative said.
The North China Salt Industry Co., Ltd., which is responsible for salt production and sales and other monopoly businesses, is affiliated to the national policy company established by Japan in North China, namely the North China Development Company. Half of the shareholders of the North China Development Company are the Japanese government and the other half are Manchurian Railway from outside the customs.
There are also big chaebols such as Sumitomo, Mitsui and Mitsubishi.
The Japanese government only has management agencies in the occupied areas, such as the former North China Liaison Department of Xingya Institute and the current Consulate General in Peiping, and is not involved in actual operations.
In other words, the salt industry in North China is completely in the hands of the chaebols. Now that Chen Mingxiang has taken the salt field from them, it will naturally affect their interests.
"What the Consulate General in Peiping said is nice. This is a temporary strategy. When the salt shortage in central China is alleviated, Haiyuan Salt Company will return the salt fields. Who are you kidding?"
"What is table salt? It is a daily necessity with huge profits. Can Haiyuan Salt Company spit out the meat that is eaten in the mouth? In the other party's mouth, can the salt shortage in Central China be alleviated?" Sumitomo's representative also felt this matter
Too useless.
Everyone is doing business, and who doesn’t know what is going on, what is temporary, and what is the salt shortage? They are all liars! The final result must be that the "salt shortage" will always exist, and the salt fields will always be "temporarily" borrowed.
, they would do the same thing in their place.
The Jiangsu Salt Farm in Central China is also called the Lianghuai Salt Farm. It’s not that there is no raw salt. You salt merchants from Central China come to our North China region to grab meat. What’s the deal?
“On the surface, North China has the best Changlu Salt Farm, but the salt control and rationing work in North China has led to a large area of salt shortage, salt prices remain high, and salt smuggling and salt robbery occur from time to time.
, causing turmoil to the social order."
"The cabinet and the military did not want to see this phenomenon and wanted stability in North China, so they pushed these problems onto us. Why was Chen Mingxiang able to get two salt fields from the Changlu Salt Field? It was because the Consulate General in Peiping implemented the empire's
The new policy is also a warning to us!" said a Mitsubishi representative.
These things must have existed in the past, but the Japanese cabinet and the military did not care. They regarded Changlu Saltworks as a production site of industrial raw materials and civilian supplies. As long as it can meet domestic needs, the people of North China
They don't care whether they live or die!
What's more, state-owned companies such as the North China Development Corporation are jointly run by the government and chaebols. They do not use material control methods to plunder resources. How can the company make profits and distribute dividends? If the chaebols cannot get benefits, how can they pay taxes to the government and how can they support this?
A war?
But things are different now. The Japanese government feels threatened by itself and hopes to use North China as a long-term material supply base. It needs a relatively stable social environment so as not to hinder the long-term plunder of resources. Salt is an endless renewable resource.
.
The chaebols definitely don't accept this. If they want to meet the government's requirements, they have to reduce their profits. Why do they invest money in this company? Those who don't make money and contribute are philanthropists!
"This is a typical scapegoat for us. I admit that in the salt control and salt rationing, the North China Salt Industry Co., Ltd. has gained certain benefits, but domestically, hundreds of thousands of tons of raw salt are drawn from the Changlu Saltworks every year, and the North China Front Army draws 100,000 tons of raw salt every year.
Tens of thousands of tons of salt, that’s the problem.”
"Businessmen like us can't be allowed to transport raw salt to the country for free. We also need production costs. If we can't make profits locally, we have to get it from the occupied areas. If the price of salt is not high, where will the money come from?"
A Mitsui representative said.
There are two large salt fields in North China, one is the Changlu Salt Field, which is the largest salt field in the country, and the other is the Shandong Province Salt Field. North China accounts for two-thirds of the country's salt production.
Despite such generous conditions, various cities and counties in North China are lacking in salt. There are many reasons why this phenomenon exists.
First of all, although the total amount of salt in the saltworks has increased, the supply to North China has decreased. More than half of the salt production was purchased by Japanese businessmen at low prices and shipped to Japan for industrial and daily needs. The remaining part was used by the military
In addition to their own daily practical use, they also need to smuggle part of it to the Kuomintang-controlled areas in secret exchange for various combat supplies.
Secondly, the salt merchants that originally existed in North China went bankrupt and closed down one after another under the pressure of the Japanese and puppets' various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. However, those traitorous salt merchants not only implemented the Japanese and puppet salt rationing regulations, but also secretly raised prices to make huge profits.
The common people cannot afford salt.
Furthermore, the gendarmerie and police in various places, as well as large and small material control agencies and traitor organizations, also make profits from salt. The so-called salt rationing is very arbitrary.
One pound of coarse salt per person per month is less than that.
"He's just talking useless nonsense. We can't sit idly by and take the salt farm back. How could the best part of the Tanggu Salt Farm fall into his hands?" said a Mitsubishi representative.
"Forcing it will definitely not work. He is now carrying out the instructions of the Consulate General in Peiping. He is obviously trying to cause trouble, but we also have our own advantages. The domestic and military raw salt needs are in our hands, and we are qualified to bargain.
.”
"In addition, I heard a news that the newly established Huazhong Salt Company is also very dissatisfied with what Chen Mingxiang did in the Lianghuai Salt Fields. I have invited the person in charge, Li Hongfei, to come to Jincheng for talks. This time the two parties jointly must give
He learned a painful lesson!" said the person in charge of North China Salt Industry Co., Ltd.
