My client Li Yunlong

"Yoshi!"

Tokyo.

Prime Minister's Office.

After hearing the news that the United States agreed to acquire the empire's 50 million silver dollars, but required all American goods to be purchased, Mitsumasa Yoneuchi almost jumped up on the spot.

Fifty million silver dollars,
Half of them were collected by the Imperial Military and Economics Department from North China, and some were collected from the southeastern coastal areas where the economy is the most developed.

At the current U.S. Treasury purchase price of sixty-five cents an ounce of silver, this is approximately equivalent to $25 million.

Approximately equivalent to 12.5 billion imperial coins.

This fund is also a large sum of money for the Empire of Japan, and can greatly alleviate the current pressure of tight military expenditures.

And more importantly,
According to the agreement, the United States will also purchase it at a price of 65 cents per ounce.

Today, in the North China region, the imperial military is still collecting silver coins in a steady stream, according to the expected report of the head of the North China Economic Section, Suzuki Fanji.

If the military cooperates, he can provide the empire with 50 million silver dollars in cash every three months.

Plus other proceeds collected from North China,
In North China, the empire could no longer make ends meet.

In this way, he can further suppress the southbound factions, completely resolve the strategic differences between the empire, and realize his strategic plan - in this world war, the empire will not take the initiative to form alliances first, but will wait until the world situation becomes clear. Decide on the camp.

During this period, the empire devoted all its efforts to solving the problems of the Republic of China.

"What is the current situation in North China?"

Mitsumasa Mineuchi suddenly asked.

Every three months, get fifty million silver dollars and twenty-five million U.S. dollars.

Still the lowest!
This is an interest that the empire must not give up.

But such benefits must be obtained with the cooperation of the military. The military needs to occupy a dominant position in North China and control the main transportation lines, important cities, and population centers in order to obtain and go further.

Recently, the situation in North China has been very bad.

The Eighth Route Army launched the so-called Hundred Regiment War, showing amazing strength and wiping out the results of Tada Shun's cage tactics for more than a year. The Eighth Route Army also captured a large number of cities.

Although they are all marginal counties,

The population is not large,

The economy is underdeveloped,
But the impact on the situation is very serious.

If the situation in North China cannot be stabilized and it is rare for North China to make ends meet, it will be short-lived.

The southbound faction may also make a comeback.

"According to the report of Chief of Staff Watanabe, the current security of the railway lines and important cities around the railways has gradually stabilized. We are accelerating the repair of the railways and striving to open them to traffic as soon as possible."

"But the road line is still very serious, and the locust army's strongholds and occupied counties are being lost one after another."

Hearing the secretary's report, Mitsumasa Minai frowned.

He knew that Tubal Road had recently received a large amount of foreign aid, and he also knew that the forces assisting the Eighth Route Army had provided very strong weapons and equipment.

We also know that this attack on Tubal Road was very sudden and beyond everyone's expectations.

But the 300,000 North China Front troops cannot hold a mere North China region?
Can't deal with it, just a few hundred thousand Tubal Road?
More than a month has passed and you still haven’t reacted?
Then he ordered:

"Tell Tada Shun and Watanabe to fully cooperate with Suzuki Fanji and implement the economic combat plan."

The current top priority is to ensure that the North China region can make ends meet.

Twenty-five million U.S. dollars every three months and over 100 million U.S. dollars a year are not necessary for the empire.

But it is necessary for him to suppress the southward faction.

Among the great powers, the empire is the last in terms of strength. It must concentrate all its strength to have a chance of victory.

Now that the United States is retreating, it is a good opportunity to resolve the strategic divisions within the empire.

The United States is not a good thing, but it is just a balance to see that the empire suffers.

For this reason, the military situation in North China needs to be appropriately retreated, and it is okay to even deliberately suffer losses. The concessions from the United States and the loosening of resources in return are worthwhile compared with the losses in North China.

There must be a battle between the Empire and the United States!
Even Mitsumasa Yoneuchi of the pro-British and American faction knew this.

Unless the Empire abandons the Pacific, conflict with the United States is inevitable.

"Hi!"

The secretary went to convey it immediately.

"in addition."

Before the secretary left, Mitsumasa Yoneuchi said again:

"Tell Neji Okamura that he doesn't have to worry."

The emergence of the Hundred Regiment War proved that Tada Shun's strategy was a complete failure, and the base camp immediately removed Tada Shun from his position as commander, allowing Okamura Neji to take over.

"Hi."

The secretary bowed as expected.

···
Ze County.

"This is the Republic of China?"

Ishihara Wanji, who was in disguise, looked at Sawa County in front of him.

After the Hundred Regiments War, North China was in chaos. Tada Shun was furious and furious. Ishihara Wanji no longer felt uncomfortable, but left Beiping, disguised himself, and went all the way to the Eighth Route Army base area for inspection.

He wanted to take a look, what was going on here?
At this time, Ishihara Wan'er's eyes widened.

As a well-known Republican,
Ishihara Wanji once traveled throughout the entire North China region of the Republic of China, and had a thorough understanding of the customs, people's livelihood, and customs of the Republic of China. Few people could match him, let alone within the empire, or even within the Republic of China.

Ze County,

He came a few years ago.

It is a backward county, not even as good as the 18th-tier small county in the mainland of the empire.

But the Ze County in front of him, or in other words, everything he saw after entering the southern Hebei region, was strange to him.

If we describe it specifically, it means that although it is still backward, it is full of vitality and vitality.

There are newly built houses everywhere, newly built roads everywhere, a large number of water conservancy facilities, and factories, although small, that have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

There are also food stalls and snack bars everywhere.

People have lots of new clothes.

Everything here is renewed at an extremely fast speed.

Ishihara Wanji once saw a similar scene. Those were the years during the First European War and the following years when the empire was developing at its fastest pace. It was also the period before the economic crisis when the empire's economy was most dynamic and its economy was developing fastest.

Unfortunately, everything came to an abrupt end during the economic crisis in 29, and then the empire had to speed up the militarization process and expand the market through force.

Although it emerged from the economic crisis, the empire has since been kidnapped by the military.

And this kind of rapid economic development actually appeared in the Eighth Route Army base area that was blocked by the locust army.

Although in theory, there is a lack of infrastructure, a lack of technology and equipment, and a lack of talent, making it almost impossible to develop the industrial capabilities to support a force.

But Tubal Road has external assistance.

It is not difficult to think about the forces that provide advanced weapons and equipment, provide some machinery and equipment, and provide some talent support.

Of course, this is not the most important.

Rather, the rapid economic development here can not only enrich the Eighth Route Army's finances and improve its strength, but more troublesomely, it can also greatly improve the morale of the local people.

Support the determination of the Eighth Route Army.

Determination to fight the Imperial Locust Army.

The latter two are the most troublesome for the empire.

A force full of resistance and strong and abundant external support, even if the empire tried its best to destroy it, it would still be bruised and bloody.

"Where do these machines and equipment come from?"

I came to an official wood processing factory, chatted with the workers for a while, and successfully entered the vicinity of the factory. I looked at the factory in front of me, which could not be called small even in the empire.

Looking inside, it was obvious that coal generators, wood cutting equipment and other machines were imported from abroad.

Ishihara Wanji felt something was wrong.

This is the southern Hebei region.

Although it is a plain, it is still under layer upon layer of blockade by the locust army.

Although it is difficult to completely blockade the area due to the huge area and complex transportation lines, scattered materials that can be carried by a single mule or horse, or can be transported by manpower, can enter the southern Hebei region.

But these machines and equipment?
Coal generators and wood cutting equipment require at least two-horse carts to transport them.

And the place of origin is the United States.

The quality is brand new.

In other words, these machines and equipment were recently imported from the United States.

How did these get in?
Ishihara smiled and was puzzled.

This kind of equipment is strictly prohibited from entering enemy-occupied areas. In theory, it is impossible to pass through the imperial blockade.

But where did these machines and equipment come from?

Ishihara Kanji tried to inquire about the source of the machinery and equipment, but failed in the end, which even aroused vigilance and investigation by the guards. However, the old fox finally escaped smoothly.

···
at the same time.

Shimen.

"It's to support the enemy."

Colonel Matsuzaki Naoto, the former head of the Northern Review Organization Section, looked at Suzuki Fanji with an angry look, his tone was hysterical:

"You allowed these machine-banned equipment to enter the Tubal Road base area."

"You are treasonous."

He's always been weird.

Why do a large number of machines and equipment, and the machines and equipment expressly prohibited by the military, enter the Tubal Road and Jinan area and resell them to Tubal Road?

It turned out to be Suzuki Fanji's order.

"Being an enemy?"

Suzuki Fanji sneered in a disdainful tone:

"I am doing this for the benefit of the empire."

"Besides, this is an order from the Dispatch Army Headquarters. If you think I am siding with the enemy, you can apply to General Hata Shunroku for my arrest."

Who doesn’t know that selling machinery and equipment to Tuba Road Transportation in southern Hebei is subsidizing the enemy?
However, machinery and equipment are still being transported to the Eighth Route Army base areas in a steady stream, and most of them are even businessmen from the empire. Even the large consortiums in the empire have ended up.

Even the military was directly involved.

why?
It’s not because the profits are really too big.

A coal-fired generator produced in the United States, including tariffs, freight, costs, etc., with a total cost of 5,000 US dollars, can be sold for 50,000 silver dollars in the southern Hebei region.

Even if calculated based on the price of 25 cents per silver dollar on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and other silver transactions, the actual selling price in U.S. dollars is 12,500 U.S. dollars.

Net profit of $7,500!
If calculated based on U.S. silver prices, the profit directly doubles.

He had a complete set of equipment for a wood processing plant imported from the United States for a price of US$150,000.

In the southern Hebei region, silver coins equivalent to 600,000 US dollars were obtained, making a net profit of three times.

This is the military, and even the navy and army have reached a rare tacit agreement at the base camp. The navy is responsible for sending transport ships to import equipment from the United States, and the army is responsible for selling it, and even uses military expenses as capital.

The profit is too great!
Because of this merit, he is about to be promoted to major general, and Matsuzaki Naoto is just jealous.

"As for the equipment obtained by Tubal Road?"

Suzuki Toji knew what Matsuzaki Naoto was worried about.

But they are worried that Tubalu will become stronger through this.

but··
"It's not easy to move these devices. Once the imperial army arrives, they can all be destroyed. It's a piece of cake."

Suzuki Toji sounded confident.

"idiot!"

Matsuzaki Naoto couldn't help but curse again:
"A bunch of short-sighted idiots."

He has been investigating for more than half a year, but he still has not found out how the forces behind Tubal Road transported materials to the Taiyue Mountains.

But only one thing is certain.

These materials are all newly manufactured and newly transported.

On the surface, the empire gained more from this secret deal.

But is Balu an idiot?

Since he dared to let the empire gain a lot of benefits, he must have bad intentions and must have some agenda, but he had no evidence. (End of chapter)