What happened to the Liu family was not complicated. Before the Anti-Japanese War broke out, Li Yunsheng sent a telegram to remind Liu Zhongyi that the war was about to break out and asked him to transfer his property.
Liu Zhongyi also felt that the situation at that time was very tense, so after receiving the news, he immediately sold his outside properties. However, he did not move his family to the southwest as Li Yunsheng had told him. Instead, he purchased a large amount of cotton cloth and other materials and stocked them in
Inside the factory in the concession.
In Liu Zhongyi's mind, he believed that the war would not last long, so he had some speculation and planned to make a fortune when the war broke out. On the contrary, his family was living in the concession, so there was no problem with safety.
But what surprised Liu Zhongyi was that the Japanese quickly occupied most of North China, and the scale of the war was getting bigger and bigger, with no intention of stopping.
Because Liu Zhongyi was speculative, he naturally borrowed a lot of foreign debt. However, he did make some money in the early days of the war, so these foreign debts were naturally not a problem.
But he forgot what the ancients said about being arrogant. Because Liu Zhongyi was well prepared, he became the largest cloth merchant in Tianjin and his assets increased a lot, but he was targeted by the Japanese.
The Japanese military came directly to Liu Zhongyi's door and wanted to buy the cloth and other materials from Liu Zhongyi's hands. Moreover, the Japanese were always extremely greedy, so the price they offered was naturally very low.
Naturally, Liu Zhongyi would not agree. He himself had some patriotic feelings. Moreover, the price offered by the Japanese was extremely low and would cost him a lot of money, so he declined politely.
Since the war had just broken out at that time, the Japanese military made another suggestion in order to win people's hearts, that is, they could buy it at market price, but asked Liu Zhongyi to process the cloth into military uniforms and other items.
If he did this, Liu Zhongyi would become a traitor, so he refused again.
After being rejected twice, the Japanese naturally knew Liu Zhongyi's hostile attitude towards Japan, so they became angry and directly announced that no one was allowed to buy anything from the Liu family. Once anything from the Liu family appeared in the city, it would be confiscated by the Japanese army.
As a result, Liu Zhongyi immediately fell into trouble. After all, he still owed a large amount of foreign debt. If these things could not be sold, he would naturally go bankrupt. Moreover, the people who lent him money also changed after learning about this situation.
With such a face, they came to collect debts one after another, so for a while, the people of the Liu family were very worried.
Early the next morning, Liu Qing took the deed of her home and the factory's land and went to Citibank with her father Liu Zhongyi.
The president of Citibank personally received the two of them, and since they had already discussed it before, the process was quickly entered into.
After completing the formalities, the two women left Citibank, and then Liu Qing said: "Dad, my daughter has some other matters that need to be dealt with now. You can go home by yourself."
Liu Zhongyi didn't ask any more questions. His mind was now full of troubles at home. In addition, his daughter had grown up, so he naturally wouldn't restrict himself too much. He simply said: "Go home early," and then he was alone.
One person leaves.
As soon as Liu Zhongyi left, Liu Qing called a rickshaw and then came to a department store. She walked around casually and felt that no one was following her, so she left the department store and got on a public tram.
After getting off the bus on Xiafei Road, Liu Qing came to a simple yard and knocked on the door.
In less than a minute, the courtyard door was opened. The person who opened the door was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a very ordinary appearance, nothing special at all.
After this person saw Liu Qing, he was not surprised at all and immediately let Liu Qing into the yard. It was an agreement at first sight.
After the two people entered the room, the middle-aged man immediately said, "How are you? Did you succeed in convincing your father?"
Liu Qing nodded and said softly: "I have convinced my father, and he said he would never defect to the Japanese."
The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief and said with some excitement: "That's great. If Mr. Liu doesn't take refuge with the Japanese, then this batch of supplies will not fall into the hands of the Japanese. You have contributed a lot."
Liu Qing said with a smile: "My father didn't want to cooperate with the Japanese in the first place, so I could easily convince him," and then changed the topic and said: "But our family's current situation is very bad. Not only does it owe a lot of foreign debt, but it also
The house and factory have also been mortgaged. If these things cannot be sold, the family will really live on the streets."
The middle-aged man immediately said: "Don't worry, the organization will definitely find ways to help patriotic people like Mr. Liu."
Xu Bing sighed and said: "Comrade Chengde, I am also aware of the organizational situation. It is not easy in the first place. For this small matter in my family, please don't bother the organization. Let my father figure it out by himself."
The middle-aged man said seriously: "Comrade Liu Qing, how can you bring trouble to the organization by helping patriotic people? The organization will do its best to help every patriotic person. Besides, Mr. Liu is still your father, so this matter
We will not ignore it.”
Liu Qing wanted to say something else, but the middle-aged man spoke again: "Okay, I will discuss this matter with the superiors and do what I can. You don't have to worry about it. You can come see me again at this time tomorrow."
Liu Qing nodded, then turned and left without saying anything more.
The Japanese wanted to get the cloth in Liu Zhongyi's hands. The underground party got the news immediately, so the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee immediately made a decision to destroy the Japanese plan and sent Liu Qing to convince his father. This was also the easiest way.
Method.
Now Liu Qing is also an underground party member. After she returned to Tianjin, she was arranged by Liu Zhongyi to study at Nankai University. There are many underground party members in Nankai University, and the middle-aged man is one of them.
This person is Liu Qing's teacher. Ever since he saw the positive Liu Qing, he has admired her very much. Later, he encountered several troubles, which were all solved by Liu Qing, so he gradually developed Liu Qing into a party member. Naturally, he also
Become Liu Qing’s upline.
Coincidentally, Liu Qing's upline was also Li Yunsheng's old acquaintance, Zhao Chengde, the main person in charge of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee.
Not long after Deng Liuqing left, Zhao Chengde simply cleaned himself up and then went out. An hour later, he appeared at a grocery store in downtown Shanghai.
There were two people in the grocery store, one was well-dressed and must be the boss, and the other was dressed like Stoudemire and was obviously a clerk.
When the two people saw Zhao Chengde coming, they looked at each other and immediately knew what the other person meant.
Since there was no one else in the grocery store, Boss Sui dragged Zhao Cheng into the room, while the clerk kept wandering around the door, carefully observing the situation outside.
This grocery store is a stronghold of the Tianjin underground party, and the shopkeeper is the first person in charge of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, Zhao Wentian.
After pulling Zhao Chengde into the room, Zhao Wentian immediately asked: "Why did you come here suddenly? Did Liu Qing have any results?"
Zhao Chengde immediately said: "Liu Qing has convinced his father, and according to what she said, Liu Zhongyi had no intention of cooperating with the Japanese, let alone taking refuge with the Japanese."
Zhao Wentian immediately said: "This is really great. Now that supplies are so tight, it will definitely be very troublesome for little Japan if it cannot get this batch of things."
Zhao Chengde nodded, and then said: "However, because of this batch of supplies, the Japanese have begun to cause trouble for Liu Zhongyi. Now that the Liu family is close to bankruptcy, I think the organization should help."
Zhao Wentian said with great agreement: "Yes, for such patriots, the organization should provide help." Then he thought for a while and said in embarrassment: "But now that the Japanese have occupied Tianjin and implemented material control, such a large number of
The things are still being watched by the Japanese, so no one dares to take them over."
Zhao Chengde immediately said: "I was thinking that our army is seriously short of supplies. Is it possible to contact the army and ask them to buy some."
Zhao Wentian frowned and said: "The troops are indeed short of everything, but they are even more short of money. They can't afford to buy them at all, and even if they buy some things, they can't transport them out of Tianjin."
Zhao Chengde thought about it. After thinking for a while, he said: "Is there any comrade in the organization who can talk to foreigners? If you can help Liu Zhongyi find a foreign buyer, the problem can be solved."
Zhao Wentian shook his head and said calmly: "I know the organizational situation very well. It is impossible to talk to foreigners. Moreover, if you want to transport cloth out of Tianjin, ordinary foreigners cannot do it."
Zhao Chengde sighed and said: "Don't we have any solution at all? We can't even find anyone who can help."
Zhao Chengde is Liu Qing's teacher and her superior. After more than two years of contact, they naturally have a deep relationship, so they really want to help the Liu family.
As soon as Zhao Chengde finished speaking, Zhao Wentian rolled his eyes and immediately said with a smile: "We can't help the Liu family, but it doesn't mean that others can't do anything."
After hearing what Zhao Wentian said, Zhao Chengde was a little confused and asked: "What does Secretary Wentian mean? Do you have any ideas?"
Zhao Wentian said calmly: "Did you know that the newly established Military Command Bureau has sent people to North China and established a North China District?"
Zhao Chengde shook his head and said softly: "I don't know about this situation, but what does this have to do with the Liu family? Could it be that the people from the military command would help the Liu family?"
Zhao Wentian showed a strange expression, and then said with a smile: "Don't you know that our Comrade Liu Qing also has a fiancé, who is considered a big shot in the Military Command Bureau?"
Since Liu Qing joined the underground party, she naturally wanted to disclose her family situation to the party organization. Therefore, as the top leader of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, Zhao Wentian naturally knew about this situation.
As soon as Zhao Wentian finished speaking, Zhao Chengde asked puzzledly: "Even so, so what? The forces of the Military Command Bureau are all in the Kuomintang-controlled area and have no control over Tianjin's affairs. Could it be that his fiancé can still come over to help?"