Shadow Spy

Chapter 269 Promote Affordable Rice Again

When I got to work that day, I wonder if I was frightened by the actions of the Coal Management Office. Another newly established department, the Grain Management Office, sent a letter of inquiry to the Rice Industry Association, asking it to explain the current rice price. When the problem emerged that the price was too high, the Rice Industry Association immediately held an emergency meeting to discuss how to deal with it.

The rice industry guilds are all composed of Chinese businessmen, with more than [-] people. However, except for the dozen or so large merchants headed by them, the others are all retailers with only one or two stores. Therefore, as the director of the guild, There are only a dozen members; and Wan Molin is now the chairman, responsible for serving as the convener and final decision-maker, so his social status in Shanghai is not low.

For Wan Molin himself, this matter made him unhappy. He and his group were taking advantage of the pre-holiday trend to increase rice prices and make some money. Why did this grain management office take the blame?

During the meeting, the directors were discussing noisily and soon divided into two groups:
One group believes that the newly established Ethnic Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is very powerful. Looking at its methods of dealing with the Coal Industry Association, we know that they have the power and the soldiers. If businessmen like them are hard-core, they will definitely not be able to get a good deal!

The other group disagrees and believes that the Rice Industry Association is different from the Coal Industry Association controlled by the Japanese. It has more than [-] members and more than [-] large and small rice shops in the concession. It can be said that as long as the board of directors says a word, everything in the concession will be affected. The supply of rice will be cut off immediately!In this case, their guild has enough ability to compete with the Ethnic Affairs Committee.

Wan Molin felt that the latter group's view was correct, but then he thought that Pan Sen was in charge of the Ethnic Affairs Committee, and began to hesitate again.From several previous contacts, he knew that this person had an extremely strong personality, and his background could not intimidate him.It's the Coal Industry Association. So what if the Japanese are in charge and support it? They'll seal it up if they say it. Intercession and threats are all useless!
In order not to intensify the conflict, under Wan Molin's insistence, the Board of Directors took the initiative to contact the Grain Management Office and explained that the main reason for the sharp increase in rice prices was that the Japanese army had blocked the borders and docks, which affected the channels for international rice and rice imported from Southeast Asia to enter Shanghai. , it was not something the grain merchants did intentionally...

In this regard, the Grain Management Office expressed a certain degree of understanding and proposed a solution: the Spring Festival is approaching, and the Rice Industry Association will give each citizen of the concession a share of 10 kilograms of affordable rice, so that the people can have a good New Year!
After some "discussions", affordable rice was set at 45 yuan per load, and citizens could purchase it in rations based on their household registration.
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Li Junhao did not forget the food issue. After initially solving the coal issue, he immediately instructed the Grain Management Office to communicate with the Rice Industry Association about rice prices.

Originally, he had thought that if the other party didn't know what was going on, he would deal with them severely if he fell down!Unexpectedly, the Grain Management Office and the Rice Industry Association reached an agreement to limit the purchase of affordable rice. Although the price is still not low, it is still barely reasonable.

Okay, let’s do this before the Spring Festival. After the new year, the market in the concession will be completely reorganized.
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At noon that day, the Ethnic Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Bureau issued Bulletin No. 10: Starting from the afternoon until the third day of the Spring Festival, residents of the concession can go to rice grain shops with their household registration documents to buy affordable rice at the standard of 4.5 kilograms per person and [-] cents per kilogram... …

The citizens of the concession were very surprised when they heard the news. Unexpectedly, after solving the coal supply problem in the concession, the Ethnic Affairs Committee also won affordable rice for the people!
Although the quantity is not too much, buying 10 kilograms for the first person is enough for a good year. 4.5 jiao/jin is not too cheap, but compared with the previous market price which has risen to 70 yuan/ton, Not bad!

After the two incidents of low-priced briquettes and affordable rice, the names of the People's Livelihood Committee, the Coal Management Office, and the Grain Management Office have become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in the concession, allowing the citizens of the concession to remember that these are departments that work for the benefit of the citizens under the leadership of Chief Pan Sen. !

For people from all walks of life in the middle and upper classes of the concession, the American Chief Panson, who has risen rapidly in the past six months, currently controls the army, police, and civil affairs of the concession. It is no exaggeration to say that he is now the uncrowned king of the concession!

The Japanese hated this to the core, but people from other countries were more happy, because Chief Pan Sen was safeguarding the interests of the concession, that is, the interests of the expatriates in Europe and the United States, and they were only grateful.

Under the combined effect of various factors, Li Junhao's prestige among the residents of the concession rose to an extremely high level, laying an excellent foundation for his future actions.
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While the citizens of the concession happily went to the rice shop to buy cheap rice with their rice bags, the grain merchants gathered in twos and threes to discuss this matter. Most of them were a little dissatisfied, not that they were being beaten by the people this time. The Grain Management Office "forced" them to sell cheap rice and they lost money, but they made less money!
There are now 400 million citizens in the concession, and each person has 10 kilograms of rice, which is 40 dans. They sell 25 yuan less for each quintal, which is 1000 million yuan. Although this amount is equally divided among the heads of more than 2 rice shop owners, each A person only made [-] yuan less, but his heart is not enough!
However, some grain merchants did not complain like this. They were more sensible.Although they also made less money, they understood that this time they actually wanted to thank Chief Pan Sen for thinking of rectifying the coal industry first, and then rectifying rice prices as a second step, and the method was relatively mild.

Some people speculate that the Ethnic Affairs Committee may not have enough manpower at present, so it has adopted the attitude of notifying and discussing first; but other people are thinking that it should be because the Rice Industry Association is composed of all Chinese businessmen, while the Coal Industry Association is Controlled by the Japanese!There is a basis for thinking this way. According to past examples, Chief Pan Sen is very good to the Chinese, but extremely disgusted with the Japanese. When he can attack, he will show no mercy!

Some of them are conscientious grain merchants, but they actually do not approve of the association's previous behavior of asking them to raise prices together. The reason is very simple - it is immoral!
It is winter now, and the rice in stock at the hands of rice merchants is basically Siamese rice. This imported rice has gone through several machine processes and has good dryness. Although the taste is much worse than naturally dried international rice, it is easy to store for a long time; more The important thing is that although this kind of rice, which is harvested three times a year, is imported, the purchasing price is 15% cheaper than that of domestic rice. As long as it is retailed at more than 45 yuan per quintal, you are actually making money, let alone [-] yuan.

But after entering January, the Rice Industry Association manipulated the price and pushed the price of rice to 70 yuan per quintal, which greatly enriched the country and caused panic among the residents of the concession. What is it if it is not immoral?
These people are even thinking that after doing this, Chief Pan Sen would be right at all if he dealt with the rice merchants as he did to rectify the coal industry.

Different views and attitudes on this matter have caused divisions within the Rice Industry Association, and many members have other ideas!
(End of this chapter)