The spy career of a surgeon

Chapter 334 Strict Order
Prime Minister's Office.

When the cabinet members heard the solution that Tojo Hideki seriously proposed, they fell silent.

It was so cruel! Who would have thought that the first move Tojo made after taking office would be to attack his own army.

If this rule only applies to the navy, or only to the public, he can be criticized for being extreme, but is he extreme now?
"I don't agree!" The Minister of Finance said sullenly, "How can we do our job if you come up with such an idea? What will the domestic sentiment be like? Have you considered the public's acceptance level? What if something goes wrong?"

There was no need for Tojo Hideki to ask Zhou Qinghe about this point, as he had been a military police commander and had plenty of experience in suppression.

He said: "It's not difficult. Aren't the local police department and gendarmerie idle? We can form a joint inspection team and arrest anyone who dares to resist the law. If anyone dares not to comply, the factory will be closed and the person arrested!
The empire is in danger, so what's wrong with letting these people contribute to the future of the empire? This is their honor!

When the United States falls and the flags of the Empire of Japan are planted all over the world, they will have plenty of opportunities to make money!
What's wrong with you? I asked you to think of a solution but you couldn't. I did, but you have so many opinions. Do you still want to open a battlefield in East Asia?

If you don’t open it, I will go to the Chinese battlefield first.”

Konoe felt a little regretful after hearing this.

The Minister of Finance could not come up with a solution and could only look unhappy.

And Tojo Hideki was like a madman, coming up with a method that would be extremely difficult for the cabinet to implement.

It seems that he disagrees and the East Asian battlefield will not be opened.

He really regretted that he shouldn't have appointed Tojo as the Minister of War. He was such a lunatic.

But if this method is not implemented and the East Asian battlefield is not opened, the result left for him in office will inevitably be a stigma.

Konoe is now in a dilemma. If Tojo insists on opening the Chinese battlefield without implementing the plan, all his plans will be ruined.

In his heart, he cursed Tojo and the useless Minister of Finance.

You will get hurt whether you stick your head out or not, so just give it a try!
Konoe took a deep breath and asked, "Besides Tojo's method, do you have any other solution?"

"I have something to add."

Everyone present looked at Fujita Kazukiyo who was sitting in the back.

Konoe breathed a sigh of relief. Fujita Kazukiyo would indeed not disappoint him.

Konoe: "You say."

Zhou Qinghe coughed and said, "What Prime Minister Lu said is a way to cut costs. Apart from that, we can also use some auxiliary means to increase revenue and increase our income level."

This is good. Everyone immediately became interested: "You tell me."

Zhou Qinghe said: "Foreign exchange is the lifeblood of a country. We have to rely on foreign exchange to buy precious materials, especially buying good things from Britain and the United States. It is really expensive and painful.

Next we will have a conflict with Britain and the United States, so I don’t think we need to be concerned about what we do in some cases.

For example, we print dollars directly.”

The Minister of Finance reacted instantly: "Are you talking about printing counterfeit money?"

Zhou Qinghe had to correct him and smiled, "Prime Minister, that is obviously real money. The paper and ink used to make the money are controlled items and are difficult for ordinary people to obtain, so they print fake money. But we are the official, we have real materials, plus the technology of the banknote printing factory, the banknotes we print are of course real money."

"You go on."

"After we print the money, we send 10,000 people to the UK, the US, and France. If each person spends 10,000, that's 100 million. If each person spends 100,000, that's 1 billion.

Our current annual foreign exchange quota is only 800 million, which means that if the operation is successful once, we can solve at least one-eighth of the annual quota.

Isn’t this a faster way to make money than anything else? "

Several people in the conference room looked at each other, their eyes showing a heart-pounding feeling.

The Minister of Finance immediately had a question: "Let's not talk about the technology of printing money. Just think about the use of counterfeit money on such a large scale. Even if we print real money, the United States will definitely find the problem. What should we do then?"

"Don't admit it." Zhou Qinghe said as a matter of course: "We will only use this method once, send out 10,000 people, spend them quickly, and come back quickly, and disperse them to various countries. Even if the Americans find out, what can they do? What does it have to do with us?
Purchase supplies in a unified manner, ship them back in a unified manner, it's a one-time transaction. By the time the Americans find out, how long will it take?

It's only 100 million, and they are scattered. It will take at least several months to investigate it. Maybe we have already started a war."

"Makes sense!"

"That makes sense."

Several people immediately began to discuss in a low voice and quickly came to a conclusion.

"Then let's do it! If we implement Army Minister Tojo's method and Katoda-kun's method together, it should be enough for the first batch of funds for our battles on both sides!"

The method of printing money was left to the Ministry of Finance, and domestic tax regulations were also issued by them. As for the jurisdiction of the gendarmerie, it was naturally the cooperation of the military's gendarmerie and the National Police Agency.

This is the strength of Tojo and Fujita.

Together, the two of them control the entire gendarmerie force.

The Fujita family has more, and the National Police Agency also belongs to them.

There will never be any strange voices in management.

After the money issue is resolved, the meeting can proceed smoothly and start discussing the war issue.

As the Prime Minister of the Army, Tojo would not give up easily on the Chinese battlefield and had to continue advancing.

"In fact, advancing the battlefield is also beneficial to our war against the United States. Germany is fighting with Britain and France in Europe, and the United States is also paying attention there. If we suddenly withdraw our troops from China and stop fighting, the Americans will suspect that we have other purposes.

And as long as we continue to push forward against China, this will have the effect of paralyzing the Americans.”

I have to say that this statement makes a lot of sense. All is fair in war.

As for the naval battle part, it finally reached the strong point of the Navy Minister.

"There are many islands and landing battles in East Asia. We can send soldiers to Taiwan and conduct island landing drills around Taiwan. When the time is right, we will go out immediately."

The only person with a problem is the Foreign Minister.

"You all said it so well, but have you ever thought about it? If we attack the United States and China is deeply involved in the battlefield, what will happen if the Soviet Union attacks us at this time? I mean, he directly attacks our homeland."

This is indeed a problem.

But this is not a problem in the eyes of soldiers.

The Navy Minister replied: "This is simple. We will wait for an opportunity for Germany to sweep across Europe. As long as the United States does not leave Europe, Germany's ultimate target will definitely be the Soviet Union. If they take action against the Soviet Union, we will take action against East Asia. I believe that judging from the current situation, it will not take much time for Germany to reach this point soon.

We are training on Taiwan Island. The first purpose is to train, and the second is to wait for this opportunity. Once the opportunity comes, we will move out immediately.

Moreover, by forming an alliance with Germany and Italy, we can also obtain their exact time of sending troops from within them."

Everyone nodded, this way it was indeed safe.

Now that all the major plans have been finalized, the third question is how to ease the domestic economy.

Now that we have Tojo Hideki's solution, don't even think about easing the situation. Just bear with it for the sake of the Empire of Japan.

After returning to the Army Ministry, Tojo Hideki was overwhelmed with emotion as he knew that the combat plans of both sides had been implemented.

After contacting the Commissioner of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, they began to plan how to control the chaos that might occur throughout Japan.

The conditions were so harsh that the police chief was sweating.

Each household has a monthly purchase limit for oil, sugar, and matches, and can only buy very small quantities with coupons to prevent waste.

There are limits on the amount of food that can be purchased. Refined rice must be mixed with brown rice when purchased. Not only must they be purchased together, they must also be eaten together. The gendarmerie and police can check residents' rice bowls at any time. If anyone secretly eats pure refined rice, or even eats too much, they can be arrested on the spot or fined according to wartime management regulations.

Only two new pieces of clothing are allowed to be made each year, and a luxury tax is added to each piece of clothing to encourage wearing old clothes and to encourage old clothes to be made into new ones and continued to be worn.

It is not allowed to make new kimonos as it wastes too much fabric. They should fit the body well and to save fabric, coarse linen is also fine.

If you ask what it is useful for, of course it is useful.

“Their income will be reduced, so I ask them to eat less so that they can survive longer. If they finish a month’s worth of food in half a month, how will they survive for the remaining half a month?
There is no problem if they eat less now. Their work does not require much physical strength. The country is in a difficult situation. What's wrong with eating less? We must have a fearless spirit of sacrifice!

It's just eating less, what's there to complain about? This is a great opportunity for them to be loyal to the emperor!"

"Limit alcohol? Of course alcohol should be restricted!
Wine is made from grain. If they all drink, what will happen to the grain? Of course we have to save grain! No one will die if they don’t drink!"

"Cloth? Of course it matters!
If fewer people buy cloth, won't the price go down? If the price goes down, won't it be cheaper for the army to buy? If the army buys more, won't the soldiers have cotton-padded clothes to wear? Is it more important for them to wear clothes, or for the soldiers to wear clothes? "

What you said is well-reasoned and makes sense at first glance.

Therefore, the helpless chief of police department went back to handle the second version of the restraining order which took him half an hour to prepare.

The previous few presidents had issued restriction orders. If the first version of the restriction order was described as a restriction on the purchase of certain important commodities due to the bad economy, then Tojo's version was a complete martial law. All aspects of ordinary people's lives, as long as they involved material expenses, were brought under control.

Once the regulations were released, they caused an uproar in the country.

Why can't I buy clothes or eat? This is too cruel!
How can people live if they are controlled like this? Are they still human?
The media strongly criticized in newspapers, angrily accusing the current cabinet of handling the matter poorly.

Citizens took to the streets to protest against the current economic strategy.

Tojo Hideki read the newspaper and acted vigorously. That afternoon, the military police were dispatched to seal up and rectify all newspapers and media that incited public sentiment.

All journalists who dared to speak out were arrested and imprisoned.

With the gendarmerie and the police department in their hands, it is impossible to give these people a second chance to speak. If they don't want to eat rice, then they will have to eat jail food.

But going to jail was just the police's merciful idea. After knowing this, Tojo Hideki called the Chief of the National Police Agency and gave the order directly.

"Why are they locked up? Prison food is also food. How can they eat if they don't work? If there is no place to put them, send them to the front line."

"Ah? But they are not soldiers? We are not qualified to send them to the front line, right?"

"Then why don't you help them sign up for the army? Once they sign up, they will be soldiers. Send them to the front line as soon as possible. Don't let me know that you are wasting food, or I will send you to the troop transport ship too!"

How could this be allowed? Under the strong measures taken by the military and police, the clamor was suppressed after only one day.

Without the spread of newspaper media, the resistance of ordinary people would be extinguished before it even started.

People didn't have the energy to care whether these things could be overturned. The most important thing was to go to major businesses and small shops and buy up all the restricted supplies before the regulations were fully implemented.

Capitalists want to make money at this time. As one of the initiators of this plan, Zhou Qinghe certainly cannot miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make money.

They are not interested in the business selling rice.

The regulations strictly set the prices of all types of goods and no price increases were allowed, so all businesses operating in the open had fixed prices and only looked at ration cards and limited purchases, which did not allow much profit margin at all.

But the black market is not like that.

Restrictions on purchases have led to a booming black market.

At this time, the importance of control over the National Police Agency and the Military Police becomes apparent.

Where are the black markets in various regions of Japan that can be hidden from the local police?
All black markets must either surrender or be completely wiped out!
The Yasuda family will not come forward themselves, as that would damage their reputation, so they will just find a spokesperson to provide all the supplies to the black market.

Food, meat, sugar, whatever you want is available, but the supply is still limited. US dollars, British pounds, gold and silver jewelry, as long as you have these things, you can buy anything on the black market.

Of course Japanese yen is also acceptable, but it will be a bit more expensive.

This wave, as long as it lasts for a long time, all the gold and silver jewelry in the private sector will fall into the hands of those behind the scenes as the implementation of the regulations gets longer and longer.

Of course, this was just a small matter, and Zhou Qinghe just cut it down as a convenience.

What is important is the Chinese battlefield.

The next day, Tojo Hideki came to Zhou Qinghe's office.

As soon as he entered the room, he asked, "Has the report from the General Staff been submitted?"

There is one good thing about Tojo Hideki, that is, he never summons Zhou Qinghe. If he wants to go out, he will run to the door to call him personally. Even if he wants to ask something else, he will go to the door personally to ask before leaving.

The main focus is on being close to the people.

Of course, according to Zhou Qinghe's observation, he was the only one in the office who had this treatment.

If other people made mistakes or even slightly disagreed with Tojo Hideki's ideas, scolding was the lightest punishment, he would just beat them directly.

Another assistant was already on a troop ship being sent to the front line, along with the reporters, because he had talked about his nickname behind his back.

Maybe he is still useful and can give advice, so his attitude is okay.

"What report?" There were so many reports on Zhou Qinghe's desk that they were piled up like a mountain. There were reports from the Army Department, the General Staff, large and small battle reports, military mobilizations and other documents. There were piles of them every day.

"I told Prince Zairen yesterday about the attack on China. Their General Staff Headquarters must come up with a plan."

"That's only one day. Is it enough for the General Staff to consider this issue and submit a plan?" Zhou Qinghe flipped through the documents and said as he searched, "Let me see if there is any."

Tojo Hideki snorted coldly: "One day is not enough? Then the meal of the day will be wasted! Do you know how expensive rice is?"

Zhou Qinghe laughed. It seemed that Tojo was deeply resentful of rice now.

After a quick search, I actually found a document.

It says that this is a plan submitted by the chief of the War Guidance Section of the General Staff Headquarters, and it is aimed at the Chinese battlefield.

"Is this the one?" Zhou Qinghe handed it over.

Tojo Hideki took it and read it. He frowned and cursed in dissatisfaction: "What a bunch of idiots! Why are they still using the same strategy of cutting off food supplies? Can't they come up with an effective attack plan to take down the Chongqing government in one charge? Take a look."

Tojo Hideki handed it back: "The General Staff is a bunch of idiots! They eat all this rice for nothing."

Zhou Qinghe looked through the content and found that it was indeed the old food cut-off plan, which was to first cut off the supply chain of materials shipped from abroad to China, and then send troops to encircle and suppress the Chinese. When the Chinese had no food and no guns, they would naturally win.

No wonder the proposal was submitted in one day. It seems like they just submitted the last one again.

But you're also right. The food cut-off plan didn't take long from the time it was proposed to the time it was implemented and strictly enforced. The plan was implemented well, but the Prime Minister Lu is gone.

Zhou Qinghe said with a smile: "They have been studying the Chinese battlefield for so many years, and the current situation has not been around for just one or two days. If they had a better idea, they would have implemented it long ago, so this is probably the only thing they can hand over."

"Is there no better way? This is too slow." Tojo Hideki was very dissatisfied: "Time is running out, how long will it take to see results?"

This week Qinghe was helpless.

"Don't be silent, tell me what you think."

"Mr. Tojo, I have never led troops to fight in a war, so I cannot answer questions about the battlefield."

"You're also an idiot. You've been a soldier and promoted to colonel, but you've never even led a soldier!"

I am a civil servant, you idiot!

Zhou Qinghe finally understood why Tojo Hideji was so annoying.

It would be fine if it happened to others, but Zhou Qinghe has helped him a lot these days. If he doesn't give him any advice this time, he will start scolding him, right?
He is really a dog-faced person. He turned against me just because I didn't prepare bones for him.

In the past few days, Zhou Qinghe has begun to understand Tojo Hideki's character.

Impatience, irritability, and a sense of face may be due to the long-term elite family education and the fact that he was raised in a family of generals, which produced such a fool as himself. He feels ashamed, but refuses to face himself.

Then, as I grew up, I was always ostracized by my classmates and attacked by my colleagues. Being in this kind of environment all the time led to various personality problems.

All the superficial strength is just a cover-up for one's inner inferiority.

If you have always been a small person, you will always feel inferior to others. At most, you can bully your wife and children to show the unique patriarchal social education of the Japanese.

But this person just got up.

And reach the top step by step.

He felt extremely happy after stepping under his feet all those who had once looked down on him.

If you have power, you will want to use it and taste the pleasure that power brings you, that is, to use your power to oppress others in order to cover up the inferiority complex that you can never get rid of in your heart.

But it was not due to his own ability and forbearance, but simply due to chance and fate, which resulted in his moral character not keeping up at all.

The story of a normal small person's rise to wealth is about encountering difficulties and solving them. Through the people and things he comes into contact with, he also corrects his own character and morality little by little. As his position rises, his state of mind becomes stronger and stronger.

Like the Japanese senior executives, when dealing with their subordinates, they will pretend to be polite and courteous on the surface even if they are unhappy in their hearts. This is elite education, and it is also the so-called high-level self-cultivation.

It's okay to kill someone afterwards, but there's really no need to make a fuss about it.

But whenever Tojo Hideki was about to fall on hard times, a magical person or thing would appear and help him solve the problem.

In fact, Zhou Qinghe helped him solve a key problem by chance.

However, these external solutions have caused Tojo Hideki's state of mind to remain stagnant.

The mismatch between strength and ability will cause inner fear, fear that others will discover that he is still the poor student he was before.

When inferiority complex emerges, the best way to deal with it is to use power to suppress others, and the way to implement it is to get angry, yell and scold, and make others submit.

In the Army Ministry, Tojo's power was indeed enough to make everyone submit.

But Zhou Qinghe doesn't eat this kind of food.

Without talking about his background, just say that he was sent by Hirohito and was not afraid of Tojo Hideki at all.

Who told you to curse?
Zhou Qinghe stood up and said coldly: "Mr. Tojo, everyone's growth process is different. I am not a general who leads troops. I don't need to lead troops to the battlefield. The Military Medical Bureau has matters to deal with. I'm sorry I can't accompany you."

Zhou Qinghe walked right past Tojo Yingji.

How could Tojo Hideki stand this? He shouted, "Stop!"

"Anything else?" Zhou Qinghe turned around and looked at him and asked lightly.

Tojo Hideki's eyes were dangerous: "Who told you to leave? Is this your attitude towards your superiors?! Since you have never led troops, you must be humble, otherwise how can you be my assistant? Go! I will send you to the Chinese battlefield, to the front line, to learn how to lead troops in battle, and then come to serve me!"

(End of this chapter)