Chapter Twenty-Three Will Grow to Hand

  Han Yong scolded as soon as he opened his mouth, Zhang Peijue was also furious at this time, but didn't know how to respond. He still had some dignity and the man in front of him was someone who had experienced the First Sino-Japanese War, it was unlikely that he would surrender to the Japanese in front of them. However, these few Japanese people absolutely could not afford any losses, so he gritted his teeth and said to Qiao Yu: "Mr. Qiao, I know you're different from this ruffian, hurry up and let him go, otherwise things will get out of hand and it won't be good for anyone, or even the imperial court won't forgive you!"

  Qiao Yu rushed towards Zhang Pei Jue, with a faint cold smile, lowering his voice: "Mr. Zhang, your Tongmenghui has not yet succeeded in the revolution, but you are already so filial to Japan's father, if you were to take control of China, would you prepare to offer all of China's territory to the Japanese? Ah! I remember that you have a theory about establishing eighteen provinces as an independent nation, is it your intention to give away this beautiful land? Ask yourself, with a pat on your chest, are you still considered Chinese?"

  Zhang Peijue was shocked by these words, he didn't expect Qiao Yu to raise this question at this time, his pale face suddenly turned bright red, gritting his teeth and cursing: "You Manchu running dog, you have no right to discuss our revolutionary martyrs!"

  "If I were a running dog of the Qing dynasty, you would be a running dog of Japan. Put away your deceitful tricks in front of me. Now, I am the police advisor of Chongqing, and you are a rebellious party member. It is justified for me to arrest you now, so you'd better come to your senses."

  Qiao Yu said after turning his head to Han Yong: "Brother Han, let that Japanese go, I have a few words to say to him!"

  Han Yong lifted his big foot, and the Japanese man struggled to get up, with a pair of beady eyes staring viciously at Qiao Yu, but in his eyes, there seemed to be some fluttering cowardice.

  "This Japanese friend, I think you may have been instigated by some scoundrels to come here and stir up trouble. However, I want to tell you that the Yangtze River basin is within the British sphere of influence. Your reckless disruption of Chongqing's commercial order is very dangerous and easily leads to misunderstandings among the great powers, which would be unfortunate. I have spent a pleasant period in Japan before, and personally, I am willing to do business with Japan. There is an old Chinese saying that goes 'no fight, no acquaintance'. I think we can have even greater commercial cooperation between us. In the near future, I plan to meet with Japanese business representatives. Don't let minor issues lead to major losses!"

  After being beaten, the Japanese man suddenly became much more honest. When he heard Qiao Yu mention business cooperation, his face lit up with excitement. After listening to Qiao Yu finish speaking, he turned around and whispered a few words to the other four rascals. The Japanese man then returned to Qiao Yu's side, with an even bigger smile on his face.

  "Mr. Qiao, I think you are an open-minded person and we are willing to cooperate with you! Let's become good friends, Japanese people treat their friends with sincerity."

  Qiao Yu also nodded in agreement with a smile, but in his heart, he felt a wave of disgust. However, the foundation was too weak at present, and they had to pretend to get along with the Japanese. Moreover, Qiao Yu hoped to introduce some Japanese forces to balance out the British and French. Many things couldn't be decided on a whim.

  This Japanese man came before Han Rong again, very respectfully and sincerely bowed: "I am Ogawa, sir you are a hero of the Sino-Japanese War, I admire you very much, you are a true hero, but your country is too corrupt! I hope that some misunderstandings will not affect our friendship!"

  After finishing, Ogawa and the four Japanese quickly left Li's house. Zhang Peijue also never thought that these Japanese who were usually arrogant would become honest after being beaten, he had no interest in staying here anymore, and hurriedly followed Ogawa and others to leave.

  "Master, that Zhang fellow is a member of the revolutionary party, should we arrest him?"

  "This guy's not worth capturing, let him go! Take all these thugs and tie them up with ropes, send them to the government!" Wang Tianhe led the order and left, Han Yong also had a play at this time.

  "Master, how is it that after I beat them up, these Japanese people have become polite and friendly with me? Isn't this ridiculous? Are Japanese people not like dogs or something? They behave themselves after a beating, but if you don't hit them, they'll yell right in front of you!"

  "They are not dogs, but vicious wolves, utterly shameless. Don't think that we've gained the upper hand, we still have to give them some business benefits, or else they won't be willing to back down! Brother Han, hurry up and restore order at the meeting hall, today's chaos at the Li manor is our fault!"

  At this time, Li Yaoting, the old master of the Li family's rear house, was listening to his family members reporting on the progress of things. In fact, Li Yaoting didn't have anything going on, and everything was just an act put on by the old man. The Li family had arranged a marriage with the Yang family, and they also supported the Tongmenghui, but this was just a two-way investment for the Li family. This kind of skill in playing both sides was something that Chinese people were extremely familiar with. However, the old master's support for the revolutionary party was still limited, so now the revolutionary party was short on money and wanted to cooperate with Huang Baiwan; otherwise, the Li family would have had the power to do so.

  Li Yaoting has also done some real business in recent years, such as silk factories and electric light factories. However, the scale is very limited and the profit is not much. The Li family's money house also had problems with its operation. In fact, the Li family was already on a downward slope, so the old man would be willing to cooperate with the Tongmenghui. Once these people really succeeded in revolution, the Li family's predicament would be solved immediately.

  However, deep down, the old man had another idea, which was to cooperate with Qiao Yu's Sichuan investment company. In just half a year, many factories suddenly emerged in Chongqing, and the development of the industry was very good. It would be hypocritical to say that Li Yaoting wasn't envious, but he couldn't bring himself to directly join forces like Wang Dongcheng did, due to his own pride.

  It was this contradictory mentality that caused Old Master Li to clash with Zhang Peijue and Qiao Yu as soon as he saw them. He pretended to have a physical problem, but the last few words were meant for Qiao Yu's ears, telling him that I, Li Yaoting, support industry. However, once the old man left, this became an empty promise, but you still had to be grateful for his kindness, which was typical of the old fox's nature.

  "Is this revolutionary party so incompetent? Can't even handle a young punk like Qiao Yu? How are we going to overthrow the Qing dynasty then? He Yang, did we bet on the wrong horse?"

  Li Heyang still has a good impression of the Alliance, but today he's indeed somewhat disappointed: "Dad, I think Qiao Yu is relying on surprise attacks, and his subordinates are really formidable. However, the Alliance has been operating for a long time and its influence is not small, so it's inevitable that they'll make occasional mistakes!"

  "If it were just an occasional mistake, it would be fine, but I'm afraid it's a case of 'trying to prop up a collapsing wall'!"

  Li family father and son were discussing in secret, but Qiao Yu had already arrested Gu Jintao and the members of the gang. He bowed to all the merchants: "Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the disturbance today. I will now take these scoundrels to the yamen for punishment. The auction will continue, and I will take my leave! Another day, I'll treat you all to wine as an apology!"

  Qiao Yu finished speaking and rushed to the government office with his guards. The people present couldn't help but sigh, it seemed that this young man was not only good at business, but also ruthless enough. Gu Jinlong had been rampant in Chongqing for many years, no one dared to move him, but he was taken down by this elegant and refined young man in a conversation, and several members of the gang were killed. Everyone thoroughly admired Qiao Yu's strength, and the position of president of the Chamber of Commerce undoubtedly fell into Bai Kuan's hands.

  Huang Baiwan was also like a dream at this time, and he did not expect that his hundredfold arrangement, promising countless benefits, would be useless for both the Elder Brother Society and the Alliance Society, and even the Oriental people. Although Qiao Yu didn't take him away, from now on, would there still be a place for Huang Mouren to live in this Chongqing?

  On one side, everyone congratulated Bai Kuan on his election, while on the other side, Huang Baiman and his family slipped away from the scene in a dejected manner. In just a few days, they sold off their property and left Chongqing!

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