20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 419 Wang Zhengnan moves around

Hearing this, Hu Xiaoyan frowned, put down the newspaper on hand, and asked, "Did they transport the things back?"

"That's not true." Wang Zhengnan sat down across from the desk and said, "Our procedures are complete, and we have people there to keep an eye on it. There is also Chief Tang taking care of the warehouse. If the Japanese people want to seize the goods directly, they have to go there. There is a saying in name.”

"Do you still need to explain why the Japanese are robbing things?" Hu Xiaoyan snorted coldly, "It's just that they don't want to make things worse."

Wang Zhengnan nodded heavily: "That's for sure. This batch of goods has never been seen in the light. If it really makes a big fuss, it will definitely be intercepted by the military camp, and the Zongshe Party will not agree."

Having said that, if the stalemate continues like this, it will definitely be detrimental to the Jiang family.

Therefore, Wang Zhengnan proposed to simply give up the stolen arms and use other methods to compensate Li Zheng and his gang of bandits.

After hearing this, Hu Xiaoyan immediately vetoed: "Nanfeng, they are Huzi, not businessmen. When dealing with them, there is no such thing as bargaining. Moreover, your brother has already let his words go out. What he said does not count. It is the family that has been lost." face."

Wang Zhengnan was a little embarrassed: "Sister-in-law, I also know the truth. The problem is that I can't conjure so many guns out of thin air, right?"

"Can you make some news in the newspaper like Tutai Village did last time?" Hu Xiaoyan pondered for a long time and suddenly asked, "Don't you know a lot of foreign reporters?"

"Hey! Mr. Bergson, what's wrong with you? You can't commit a 'crime of anger'. God, he is still watching us from the sky!"

When Wang Zhengnan entered the room, the Frenchman Bergson was sitting at the desk next to the bed, clicking on the typewriter, but he always took out the typing paper before writing a few lines, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it on the desk dejectedly. On the bed, he sighed and scratched his head and head - it seemed that he had made himself bald over the years.

"Brother Dao!"

However, when the foreign car drove to "Heshengfang" and "Huifangli", Wang Zhengnan suddenly felt a sense of crisis when he looked at the seal on the door panel.

Of course, he is most unlikely to give birth to a big fat boy for Brother Dao like Sister Hua did.

After that, he turned around and left the study, and happened to meet Brother Dao and Dongfeng discussing something in a low voice at the stairs.

"Yes, but that's in the past."

"Isn't the Zongshe Party still news? Go find them and try." Hu Xiaoyan suddenly raised her eyelids and looked at Nanfeng, "It's better than you complaining where I am!"

There was a strong smell of tobacco in the room, and the whole living room seemed smoky.

"Are you talking about the year when the Qing Dynasty fell?" Wang Zhengnan asked.

"You guys fought very hard there? Just... many people died?"

"Oh, I'll go to the west of the city to talk to those foreign reporters." Wang Zhengnan asked, "Are you going there too?"

The two said goodbye. Wang Zhengnan left the house and hailed a foreign car on the street. After thinking about it, he felt that among the many foreign reporters in the provincial capital, the bald Frenchman Bergson was the kindest and the nicest. He was easy to deal with, so he asked the cart driver to "drag" him to the foreign apartment in the commercial port area in the west of the city.

……

He must quickly find his place and role in the family.

"Don't do it!" Wang Zhengnan trembled, "It took a lot of effort not to fight here, but I can't even fight at home, and I'm just messing around."

"We know each other, but those foreign reporters only care about big news such as military affairs and politics, and have no interest in trivial matters like ours."

Wang Zhengnan could clearly feel that after Brother Dao returned from Luda this time, he did not intend to do everything by himself as he did in the past.

"This is the Far East."

"Brother Dao asked me to come up!" Li Zhengxi pointed to the second floor and lowered his voice and said, "I guess they are going to take action against Na Min and those old braids."

……

Li Zhengxi smiled and patted Nan Feng on the shoulder: "Second brother, I can't do anything you can do. See you later!"

"No, even if you join the war, the war will not spread to the Far East, and it will be difficult for you to directly send troops to join the war. In short, the Germans will definitely lose. You know, France wars... Oh, yes... France has always fought Nothing beats it!”

Accompanied by bursts of ringing bells, foreign cars sped along Xiaoxiguan Street.

Wang Zhengnan was a little ashamed after being scolded, and felt that his face was shameful, so he nodded hastily: "Then I'll give it a try."

Wang Zhengnan simply informed him and then walked down the stairs. Near the living room, he met Xifeng again.

He can't be as hard-hearted as Dongfeng, and he doesn't have the charisma to win over friends and allies like West Wind. It's even less possible for him to drag his body fat around and serve in the military camp like Beifeng.

White paper, a battlefield without gunpowder smoke; typeface, invisible bullets.

"Second brother! Are you busy?" Li Zhengxi asked.

"Mr. Bergson, you are busy!" Wang Zhengnan brought a bottle of foreign wine over and said with a smile, "Look at this, I came at the wrong time!"

"Many, many people." Bergson said without hesitation. "In fact, there are many politicians in my country who hope that your country can join the war, and many of your politicians also have this intention."

What his sister-in-law said just now was a warning to him - in the future, if he wants to gain a foothold in the Jiang family, he cannot rely solely on past favors.

On the table lay a half-bottle of brandy, a crumpled cigarette case, and scrap manuscripts scattered everywhere.

"King, you're here, please sit down!" Although the Frenchman spoke enthusiastically, he was still very anxious and even a little annoyed.

"Let God go to hell in Verdun!" The Frenchman shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "It's nothing about work, it's just that news from the Far East is worthless."

Wang Zhengnan scratched his head and said with some shame, "That's right. You are the most suitable person to handle this kind of errand. I am not the best one."

As Bergson spoke, he took out several newspapers from the coffee table. No matter what language the newspapers were in, they were paying close attention to the war situation in Europe. As a Frenchman, of course he is also very concerned about the progress of the situation, but as a reporter, he only feels that his current work is insignificant.

"A few years ago, news from the Far East was the most popular international news, but now the situation has changed. No one pays attention to the Far East and has no energy to pay attention." Bergson lamented.

"Where is the Far East?"

The bustling city remains the same, and the entire provincial capital looks no different from the past. In the final analysis, the so-called ups and downs of the Jiang family are nothing more than what people talk about after dinner. Without the Jiang family, there would be the Hai family, the He family or other families. To them, it is no different.

Bergson seemed irritated. He kicked his wife and daughter out, leaving him at home to work on his typewriter.

"This... I'm really not sure." Wang Zhengnan smiled awkwardly and then asked, "Well, since you are bound to win, why do you have to drag us into the war?"

Bergson knocked on the newspaper on the coffee table and said: "No one wants to be left with only a group of old people in their country after the war, right?"

Wang Zhengnan was noncommittal and thought to himself: Forget about the old people, it would be better if there was no one left!
"Then since you agree with me, why haven't I heard that we are going to join the war?"

"Because the Japanese don't agree." "What does it have to do with them?"

Bergson was a little disappointed. The young man in front of him knew very little about the world situation. He had no choice but to be patient and briefly explain the current situation.

In short, with the war in the West, the great powers had no time to look eastward, and Xiaodongyang planned to take this opportunity to dominate the Far East. Although the war situation in Europe is tense, as the stalemate gradually takes shape, discerning people have already seen the signs: the Germans are outnumbered, and defeat is only a matter of time.

If the Far East participates in the war, it is expected to receive the "treatment" of the winner at the minimum cost and take back the German concessions in various places. The problem is that Jiaodong has fallen into the hands of Xiao Dongyang, and the Dongyang people do not want to see the Far East standing on the winner's side anyway.

Although the great powers knew Xiao Dongyang's intentions, they were still unwilling to offend this "ally" at the most important stage of the war.

At this point, Bergson got a little annoyed, waved his hand and said: "These things are of no use to you, and you don't need to know too much."

"Don't bother!" Wang Zhengnan quickly held down the Frenchman's arm and flattered him, "Mr. Bergson, I don't know much. If you tell me more, I'll understand. In this way, I'll exchange gossip with you. Can’t do it?”

Bergson suddenly became interested: "You have big news on your hands?"

"Uh... Zongshe Party, have you heard of it?"

"I've heard of it! But didn't they fail four years ago! I even wrote relevant reports at that time!"

"Now they're back!"

Bergson frowned, thought for a moment, and then asked: "Relying on the Japanese?"

Wang Zhengnan immediately gave a thumbs up: "You are a knowledgeable person. If you don't rely on Japanese people, who else can you rely on?"

"Then you mean that the Japanese still want to continue to provoke civil war in the Far East?"

Wang Zhengnan thought for a while and said: "It's unlikely that there will be a civil war. Their power is too small, but they will definitely fight!"

Bergson beamed with joy and asked repeatedly: "This news is very valuable, is it accurate? Wang, you have to know that since the Japanese sent troops to Jiaodong and proposed the Twenty-One Articles, many people in the West have been dissatisfied with them, especially Americans. If they knew that the Japanese were not only seizing Jiaodong but also doing things outside the customs, even Mao Zi would not agree, let alone Americans."

Yankee?
Wang Zhengnan marked it silently in his mind, and then added: "The news must be accurate, but it is not certain when the attack will take place. It will probably be within a few months!"

"That's great! I need this kind of news very much now. You didn't tell anyone else, right?"

Wang Zhengnan was going to split the information obtained by Brother Dao in exchange for more information, so he asked: "I can tell you something about their recruitment of bandits, but you have to write an article for me. My family has a batch of The goods have been detained by Southern Railway, and the procedures are complete. Can you help me build momentum? "

"What kind of goods?"

"Hard goods!"

Bergson pondered for a moment and said helplessly: "King, I am very willing to help you, but the current newspapers will not care about these commercial disputes at all. Your country has become such a mess, and the European battlefield is the focus, so I will write it out , foreign language newspapers will not be interested in publishing it.”

"Tsk!" Wang Zhengnan sighed, "Can't there be some other way?"

"If you can get to know people in the consulates of various countries, you can bring more attention to this matter."

"You're kidding! Who am I?" Wang Zhengnan looked around and lowered his voice in embarrassment, "I'm just a street kid. Where do I know people from the consulate?"

"King, you don't have to go directly to the consulate!" Bergson reminded, "Any Westerner in Fengtian can ask the consulate for help. This is the responsibility of the consulate! Doctors, scholars, journalists, teachers, Preachers... especially missionaries, they have a lot of... uh, energy... you know what I mean?"

Wang Zhengnan woke up from a dream - the affairs of foreigners are not trivial; the affairs of Chinese people are nothing.

"Ah--ah! Mr. Bergson, it must be God that this old man is so arrogant!" He held the Frenchman's hand and shook it desperately, "Thank you for your advice, thank you for your advice!"

Bergson was confused and was shaken by the south wind for a long time before he asked: "So... what solution have you come up with?"

"Thought of it, thought of it!" Wang Zhengnan quickly raised a hand, "Well, Mr. Bergson, as for you, you are ordering five boxes of 'farm tools and supplies' from Zongheng Freight Insurance Company in Fengtian. You don't have to pay the cost, but I'll give it to you and I'll draft a contract for you, what do you think?"

"W-Why should I order 'Farm Supplies'?"

"You don't care what he does! Just treat it as business! If the Japanese dare to question me, will they dare to question you?" Wang Zhengnan said with a smile, "In return, I can provide you with the Congshe Party's method of recruiting bandits." If Zhang Lao Da goes to war, I can provide you with other information. Of course, I can also give you some hard work, for God's sake, okay?"

"Uh...that's no problem, but can you make sure those things are not prohibited goods?"

"Don't worry! That batch of goods will never see the light of day!"

Wang Zhengnan has been dealing with foreign reporters for a long time, and gradually discovered that these foreign devils are also a mixed bag. Some people are indeed building hospitals and schools, but there are also many losers who can't make a living in their own countries and come here to pretend to be uncles, whether they are journalists or journalists. Be it businessmen or even many missionaries, there are still countless people who are greedy for money and lust.

All you have to do is follow suit and use inducements to distribute the "farm tools and supplies" in the warehouse to foreign companies or individuals, and then use the name of foreigners, or even have foreigners directly come forward to negotiate with Southern Railway, and take advantage of the current situation where "the West is dissatisfied with the East" , maybe we can take some initiative.

After all, if Miyata Ryuji dares to disclose this batch of arms, it will not only anger the civil servant group in Japan, but also increase Europe's wariness against Japan.

A hundred or so boxes of arms are just a drop in the bucket for Dongyang. Of course, they will not hinder their ambitions because of small losses.

After discussing the plan, Wang Zhengnan did not leave directly, but instead asked about the war situation in Europe.

"Mr. Bergson, you are fighting so hard over there. Have the prices of pig bristles skyrocketed?"

"Of course, high-quality bristles are even more valuable than guns." Bergson asked curiously, "I seem to remember that you have done this business?"

"No, no, no!" Wang Zhengnan said with a smile, "Actually, I'm not very good at doing business. I can't even recognize the characters. I just talk about business and take advantage of loopholes."

“This is called being able to discover business opportunities!”

"Oh, this is called a business opportunity!" Wang Zhengnan asked again, "I just heard you say that if we join the war, we may not send troops. How can we join the war without sending troops?"

"It may be material support, or it may be manpower. To be honest, the combat effectiveness of your country's soldiers is really poor. Maybe Maozi will need you."

"Manpower?" Wang Zhengnan recalled his experience in Yingkou, "That is to trick people into working for you, is that what you mean?"

"How can you call it a lie?" Bergson quickly shook his head, "If your country joins the war, then we will be allies in the same trench."

Wang Zhengnan was doubtful and murmured: "After fighting so many wars, can we still be allies in the end?"

"C'est la vie!"

"what?"

"King, this is life!"

(End of this chapter)