Chapter 45: The Japanese's Misunderstanding

  The Japanese army's scientific research strength has never been strong, which was already evident during the Russo-Japanese War more than a decade ago. At that time, the Port Arthur was taken by Japan at the cost of tens of times more casualties, overcoming the Russian machine gun positions with brute force. During the invasion of China, on the one hand due to their contempt for the Chinese, and on the other hand due to the Navy's exclusion, they were still using old rifles from decades ago to fight against the Chinese. If it weren't for the fact that the Chinese troops at that time were even more poorly equipped, trained, and fed, and their ideological work was not in place, there wouldn't have been the "one punch three" situation. However, when facing the American army, which had similar training but was equipped with top-notch weapons, almost all of them carrying Garand carbines and Thompson submachine guns, they were utterly defeated. On the other hand, their giant warships and cannons dominated for a while. In terms of absorbing technology and developing new ones, they were second to none. If it weren't for the fact that their industrial foundation and comprehensive national strength were far inferior to those of the United States, in terms of military quality alone, only Germany could be compared to them.

  However, Japan's investment in the navy and intelligence agencies was quite large. The so-called "Plum Agency" and "Chrysanthemum Agency", which were famous all over China and the world, could not be developed without sufficient funding and technical support. The most representative military map of Japan, which was detailed and accurate until the end of the war, was measured by countless intelligence personnel on foot. This shows how much effort and time they put into this aspect. In this regard, there is still a lot for China to learn from, and the distance to catch up is still far away.

  This time it seems to be an action led by the Ministry of Navy, and what level the people sent out are in their organization is still unknown. It seems that only opening the mouth of that military officer can reveal the truth. By the way, Chen Xiaoqi's so-called American words were actually plagiarized from a few FBI agents' dialogue in a US TV series from a later era.

  In many movies of later generations, all-powerful spies have a large number of wonderful and unparalleled auxiliary tools. The classic 007 series is enough to be seen, although this is somewhat exaggerated, it's not impossible to achieve. These things represent the comprehensive national strength and industrial capabilities of a country or group, which Chen Xiaoqi didn't dare to think about at that time.

  After a moment of contemplation, Chen Xiaoqi turned his head and looked at the two men: "I heard that these guys' kung fu is very powerful?"

  Huang Zhen's face turned solemn, and he nodded seriously: "Yes! In terms of fighting ability, there are almost no one among us who can beat them! In terms of killing skills, they have indeed received extremely strict and effective training. With their well-made knives, they are extremely sharp when cutting people down! If it weren't for the boss's special mention to train in knife techniques, we would have lost if all of us hadn't joined the battle."

  Chen Xiaoqi sighed, "This is temporarily unavoidable, after all, neither of us are professional martial artists, and Da Cheng and Bao Wen's skills are still lacking. We need real masters and killers to train and cultivate our men! Unfortunately, we can't invite a few now. Let's try to make up for it as much as possible! We're limited by the current environment and conditions, and can't just open fire on these people, so we can only think of ways to improve our hand-to-hand combat skills."

  Huang Zhen Shan replied, "Boss, what about these two fools? And I've tried out the three knives, each one is a top-notch item! Hehe!"

  "Japanese-made knives have been renowned for their quality since the Song Dynasty, are you eyeing them greedily and thinking of secretly keeping one for yourself? Forget it for now, these spoils of war will all be handed over to the relevant departments for research, and I still have a big use for them afterwards. These two fools also need to be kept, the more foolish they are, the better, less trouble! You'd best keep an eye on them, don't let them die, or it'll ruin my plans."

  Huang Zhen Shan let out a disappointed sigh upon hearing that the good knives were not for sale, but Chen Xiao Qi chuckled and added, "When we return to our country, I'll find the best craftsmen to make you all some top-notch swords! Hehe! When it comes to cold weapons, Chinese people are the ancestors of the Japanese! If it weren't for the fact that each one is expensive to make, who would be willing to spend money on such impractical weapons? The cost of making one knife could cover the cost of making a dozen guns!"

  It's fine if you have it! Huang Zhen Shan finally felt at ease and happily agreed. As Chen Xiao Qi turned around to leave, he suddenly thought of something and asked again: "How come there are only three people? Didn't they enter from two places?"

  Huang Zhen Shan seemed to be afraid of Chen Xiao Qi bringing up this question, and was somewhat embarrassed, pausing for a moment before saying: "It's like this, based on our speculation and interrogation, it should be four people, two assisting two in sneaking in. One of the assistants didn't escape and was caught by the patrol team outside, and the other wasn't found. Those incompetent kids let me give them a good scolding, and they're still being punished on the training grounds!"

  Chen Xiaoqi neither confirmed nor denied it, nodded and left.

  Dai Chunfeng and Huang Zhen Shan exchanged a glance, neither of them speaking. Dai Chunfeng sat back down silently, picking up his pen to quickly write something on a blank sheet of paper. Huang Zhen Shan stood still for half the day, finally waving his hand to signal the other two to take care of the idiotic Japanese spy on the iron chair.

  Shortly after Zhang Yaolin left, at the end of 1921, Japan suddenly announced to the world that it had successfully developed the production process of "Black Powder" and "Ammonium Nitrate Explosive" through its own research, and would officially start producing these two new high-powered explosives within three months.

  Just a few days after the news came out, DuPont issued a statement saying that two Japanese men were recently caught, suspected of being spies sent by Japan to the United States. The news was later confirmed by the US National Security Department, and the relevant personnel have been formally arrested and interrogated. In the past few months, the two men and several accomplices had repeatedly entered DuPont's factory and research center under the guise of trade negotiations, stealing production technology for important products, including the newly introduced "sulfonamide" drug.

  As soon as the news came out, public opinion was in an uproar, and almost the entire world was ridiculing Japan's pretentious cleverness and shameless thievery. They had stolen technical data and passed it off as their own invention, and still had the nerve to promote it everywhere. The direct consequence of this behavior was that almost all powerful countries, regardless of whether they were true or not, viewed Japanese people working in their companies or visiting for business negotiations as thieves and robbers. Overnight, Japan's reputation plummeted. This trend, fueled by continuous propaganda from major Western powers such as the US, UK, France, and Germany, caused a huge stir that lasted for several months, with similar news emerging multiple times in between, causing significant damage to many of Japan's external affairs.

  The Japanese indeed sent a large number of spies to the United States, which everyone knows but pretends not to know. However, they should not have sent people to infiltrate Chen Xiaoxi's "Meihua Laboratory" at this critical moment, only to be caught by Dài Chūnfēng and Huáng Zhènsān's subordinates who were on high alert and conducting anti-infiltration and counter-espionage drills.

  After Zhang Xiaolin made a scene, Chen Xiaoqi was thinking about how to turn the situation around and give the Japanese a little color without putting Chen Shouting and others in danger. The Japanese were too suspicious, and even though Zhang Xiaolin had already taken the thing, they still didn't trust him and sent someone to verify it for double insurance, which happened to fall into Chen Xiaoqi's trap.

  After waiting for a while, the Japanese indeed did not change their bad habit of being complacent with small achievements. You'd think that after cheating to obtain technology, they would just quietly make a fortune at home and be done with it. After all, no matter how many products Chen Xiaoqi produced, he couldn't do anything to them. But instead, they insisted on making fools of themselves and showing off their ignorance. For years, their stubbornness has not changed, which gave Chen Xiaoqi an opportunity.

  Chen Xiaoqi gave Zhang Xiaolin a complete set of production technical materials, but did not leave any evidence on paper. This time he directly handed over the two surviving Japanese spies to DuPont Company, saying that his family's gate was not strict enough and the US government's security department was too incompetent, allowing the little Japanese to sneak in without saying anything, and even stealing some of the company's secrets, which greatly damaged the interests of DuPont Company.

  DuPont would not take this lying down, when have they ever looked up to the Japanese? They also wouldn't let Chen Xiaoqi off the hook for causing this loss. They claimed that Chen's mistake made DuPont's patent licensing fees worthless and demanded an explanation and compensation from him.

  Chen Xiaoqi was also prepared to deal with these vampires, he would not waive any licensing fees, but would sell a new ammonium nitrate synthesis technology to DuPont at a very low symbolic price, through which the chemical plant's steam could be used for pressurization and neutralization, thereby producing qualified ammonium nitrate at an extremely low cost.

  DuPont almost got the technology that could save itself countless time and money for research and development without spending a penny, and also reduced production costs, making its basic chemical products and explosive products all reduce production costs. In the long run, it's unknown how much money was saved, so the pursuit of Chen Xiaoqi was over, and he even played a good guy, angrily exposing the Japanese theft of technology.

  Because Chen Xiaoqi and his laboratory were never mentioned from start to finish, the Japanese could not find him no matter what. The two Japanese spies who had been tortured and disabled were "expelled", and after that, DuPont's factories and research institutions listed Japanese as "unwelcome people" and refused any reception. Business talks were possible only in a third-party venue, such as a hotel, and they were not even allowed to enter the office.

  Although the Japanese are furious, they don't know who to vent their anger on. It's an open secret that everyone sends a large number of spies abroad to steal technology. In the past, there have been incidents, but they were all quietly settled. Who knows why this time DuPont is like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, making a big fuss for so long? As a result, Japan's reputation overseas has plummeted again, and many spy personnel who had already infiltrated key departments were purged without distinction. Even Japanese students studying abroad in schools suffered from cold stares.

  They know that Chen Xiaoqi spent a lot of money to tarnish the reputation of Japanese people, otherwise why would those newspapers and radio stations keep grasping at this matter? They're not like they have nothing better to do. With Chen Xiaoqi's behind-the-scenes machinations, Japanese people can only stay home and produce those so-called innovative products with their doors closed. If they want to make a fortune from this, they can only sell it to those unambitious Chinese warlords and "revolutionaries". But looking at China's current state, even TNT is too expensive for them to buy, how could they possibly afford "Black Gold"? And the production of ammonium nitrate is restricted by technology, so the output is slow to increase. It's not Chen Xiaoqi's fault, after all. They wouldn't dare use the same trick twice on one person, otherwise it would really force Chen Xiaoqi to make a desperate move and scatter everything, with no one gaining an advantage.