Chapter 51: Greedy "Moses"

  Hawker was rather interested in building a large aircraft factory in China, as the British Royal Air Force is now focusing on metal planes and his wooden planes are not valued. So he also wants to come up with an excellent wooden plane to prove the correctness of his point of view. After repeated consideration, especially after being stimulated by Supermarine's decision, he decided to have a good talk with Tang Xiang about the preparation of the aircraft factory - He made up his mind!

  However, he was unexpectedly blocked by Tang's laughing guards, and General Tang had more important things to discuss with the guests.

  In this gathering of guests, Victor Sassoon was undoubtedly the most important one - he had money.

  "As for the construction of Qinzhou Bay, I personally think that many troops are indeed needed." Tan Xiao said: "Because it will be the best port in the entire South China Sea region. Once completed, there will be many people eyeing it, so I must equip sufficient armed forces to defend it!" Tan Xiao felt very annoyed by Sha Xun's questioning, who thought that according to Tan Xiao's plan, the proportion of military ports in the whole port was too large.

  This is indeed an ambitious guy, Shason thought. In fact, he didn't care much about how the port should be planned or how many troops to maintain; he was just probing, wanting to see Tan Xiao's degree of obsession with the military. Soon he came to the conclusion that Tan Xiao was indeed as "M" had said: ambitious, and wouldn't even reduce the military scale by a bit; this guy would definitely part ways with the Nanjing government in the future.

  "Actually, how many troops the general needs to guarantee the stability of this port is not something I should be concerned about." If there's a breakdown with Tan Xiao on this issue, it will have a big impact, including the Shanghai sniper plan; so Sha Xun shifted after probing: "I'm more concerned about that tax-free issue... But because of the general's relationship with the Germans, of course, this is just a rumor, I heard the Germans treat the general like a brother..." Sha Xun continued his another probe.

  It's really annoying to deal with British people, Tan Xiao thought, and Saunders' question was not easy to answer.

  "Excuse me, Mr. Sassoon, I know you've always been selling arms. If the Japanese, Germans and French all asked you to be their agent for arms sales now, what would you do? Would you tell them you only represent British goods?" Tan Xiao retorted: "If it were me, I'd take them all on! Even if it meant letting those arms I don't sell rot in the warehouse, I wouldn't let others go and sell them!"

  "So that's to say, as long as it's beneficial for the general, he'll do it?" Shazhou asked. If Tan Xiao was really this kind of person, then he still had business to discuss with Tan Xiao.

  "Of course! I'm a pragmatist!" Tan Xiao suddenly remembered Wen Xiangting's words about the advantages of being a young woman.

  "For a project as big as Qinzhou Bay, the planned funding is huge. After reading this plan, I have a feeling that it's a scam! Shasong stared into Tan Xiao's eyes: "You don't really want to build a good port, you just want to use this plan to achieve some other purpose..."

  "I'm going to use this plan to achieve certain goals!... But I also want to really build it, Mr. Saunders, you guessed wrong!"

  "But in this plan, I don't see any arrangements for the people's livelihood..." Shahson said: "Are you going to build a deserted port? In the entire harbor area, I didn't see any construction of living areas, except for your troops, General."

  "The Chinese are diligent, as long as they know that a place can make a living, they will come by themselves..." Tan Xiaodan couldn't help but say that Sha Xun was not a good opponent to deal with, he seized his own oversight.

  "Alright, although you didn't convince me, I can still sign this investment assessment...” Shahson had already seen the answer he wanted to know. Now, he had a bargaining chip: “I can assist General in really building up this port… To be exact, I can find people to help General, but General has to cooperate with me!”

  Tan Xiao didn't know what Sha Xun wanted, so he simply shrugged and made no comment.

  "Jews! General, if you could induce your government to grant citizenship certificates... I mean the thing you call here registration of residence... to a group of European Jews, I can persuade them to come and invest and work, of course not for nothing!"

  Tan Xiao finally understood what this opium smuggler was up to! He didn't have anything against Jews, but he really admired Sassoon, this cunning guy who actually wanted to make a profit while helping German Jews at the same time! He wasn't going to let Sassoon get away with it, this opium smuggler!

  "Wait, Mr. Sassoon said that the Jews? I don't know much about them, all I've heard is from Germans saying they're going to cancel their citizenship, soon they'll just be residents and then everything will be taken away from them..."

  "What! The news is reliable!!" Shahson was startled and jumped up!

  The Germans, of course, had never mentioned the Jews to Tan Xiao. When Hitler started dealing with the Jews, Tan Xiao was not clear. However, as a traverser, he had seen several movies called something list or something concentration camp, so he knew that Hitler would definitely deal with the Jews; moreover, he happened to remember that Hitler had ordered the cancellation of Jewish citizenship.

  "Of course, it was my German friends who said that, they planned to strip the Jews naked and throw them into the Mediterranean to feed the fish!" Tan Xiao continued to boast: "They even asked me if I wanted free labor! Their Führer didn't want to waste his food on Jews! ... But why should China waste its food? You know, China's food is not abundant, there are often famines and whatnot, so I refused. The Germans said that was okay..."

  The massacre of the Jews has not yet begun, and Germany has not even revoked their citizenship, of course, Tan Xiao said that Hitler is indeed going to do so, a few months later.

  "Wait, why do you want to refuse? You know, China lacks skilled workers!" Shahson was somewhat anxious: "You want to build an airplane factory, an arms factory, you want to repair railways... all of these require high cultural quality workers and technicians!"

  "Mr. Shaas, can you tell me, are you Jewish?" Tan Xiao pretended to be confused: "I think you're too concerned about those people far away in the sky, he has nothing to do with us..."

  "Yes! I am a Jew!" Sasha was enraged, he had thought that Tan Xiao knew this already!

  Both sides fell into silence. Tan Xiao seemed somewhat regretful of his attitude towards the Jews, and he asked weakly: "Aren't you English?"

  Good heavens! Sasuke is banging his head in agony!

  At this time, Rong Hui walked in: "Mr. Harvey Lan has been waiting outside for a long time, he hopes to discuss the aircraft factory with the general as soon as possible... Ah, what are you talking about? I heard someone shouting Jewish..."

  "Mr. Sha thinks I should accept those Jews in Germany; but, Huihui, you know, it's difficult, which country would be willing to take in a group of refugees large enough to form a minority?" Tan laughed and said: "I heard the Germans say that there are now several million Jews in Germany..."

  "Jews? Mr. Sassoon is a Jew, they are not scary at all, maybe the Germans have vilified them." Rong Hui said: "If possible, why not help them? ... The lawyer of my branch company in Hungary is also a Jew, he is very capable..."

  The Rong Hui who appeared before Sha Xun seemed to be the incarnation of the Virgin Mary!

  "Jews... about Jews, Germans told me this story." Tan Xiao began to tell the story he had heard: "There was a bank in Frankfurt that one day received a Jewish man who wanted to use his car as collateral for a loan of 1 mark. A month later, the Jewish man came back to repay the loan with interest; actually, he just had something to attend to and was worried about thieves but didn't want to pay the high storage fees! Jews are too cunning, they will come and starve many Chinese people..."

  "Be tolerant, General, it's just a joke... and it was said by a German." Rong Hui didn't know why Tan Xiao wanted to provoke Sasha, weren't they going to cooperate in Shanghai? So she tried her best to maintain the Jewish man's dignity, doing what Tan Xiao thought she would do. In the end, Tan Xiao reluctantly agreed to help the Jewish man, but on one condition.

  Under Shason's persuasion, Tan Xiao finally agreed to the ally's request. The conditions for the exchange were three: first, Shason would use his full strength to promote the Qinzhou Bay plan and maximize the loans that could be obtained; second, the living area of Qinzhou Bay would be invested and built by Shason, but Tan Xiao would hold half of the shares; third, in the financial war about to break out in Shanghai, Tan Xiao would no longer provide capital, but would occupy 70% of the profits! What Tan Xiao paid for was helping Jewish people from Germany obtain household registration in China; moreover, it was not free, and a handling fee of 30 yuan would be charged for each household registration! Tan Xiao was also willing to play Moses to save the Jews, but he would never do so for humanitarian reasons or any reason other than profit.

  Tan Xiao may not be a shrewd businessman, but he's definitely an extortionist! Sasha gained new insight into this young general. Of course, if he said these things in Shanghai, there would certainly be resonance.

  When Shason left Tan Xiao's study, he saw Harvey. Heaven knows what this guy is going to be extorted by that scoundrel again! Shason thought.

  "To be frank, among all the aircraft masters in the world, you are the one I admire most!" Tan Xiao didn't do what Sasha thought he would. He wasn't always a blackmailer: "When everyone is obsessed with using more expensive, harder and heavier metals to make planes, only you, Mr. Hawker, want to use the cheapest wood to make planes! Who can afford those expensive toys except for war needs? But, Mr. Hawker, your idea is great, those cheap planes actually opened up a new living space for all humanity!"

  The conversation with Haviland begins with flattery.

  Everyone likes flattery from others, especially an outstanding designer when his work is not valued. Halverson forgot about the unpleasantness that awaited him.

  "General, I think that to build an airplane factory, of course if we are producing Harland Company's products, the investment is very small... The 10 million you mentioned last night scared me, you know, if we don't produce engines, as for other workshops' investments, as long as it's less than 300,000, I'm talking about your silver coins, I can already start producing airplanes." Harland said, he was actually worried that Tan Xiao would switch to the metal airplane project and cancel their original cooperation plan.

  "Is that so, that's great......" Tan Xiao knew this and was of course very happy: "But I still decide to invest 10 million! What I want is within the investment range of 10 million, in the shortest time, produce the most products! ... You may not know, Mr. Hawley, our country needs a lot of planes! Military use, civilian use... Mine, uh, should be our factory's product, and later will occupy more than half of the national market!"

  Harvilland was stimulated by this news to jump up! A country with a population of 450 million will have half of its planes produced by Harvilland Company!

  "I hope Hawker Siddeley can build a better transport plane, with a larger payload and more fuel-efficient!" Tan Xiao didn't throw out what he hoped to see in the DH98 from the start. In fact, he wasn't even clear about the performance of the DH98, having only seen the original aircraft.

  Howard thought he was seeing a warlord, but it turned out to be a pacifist. But why not? He had always been designing civilian aircraft anyway. Still, this was somewhat of a disappointment; if only he could prove his genius with a super wooden fighter plane, that would have been what he wanted most.

  "General, I've always thought that the laminated wood construction I invented could withstand even greater stresses of flight and yet be so light; so with powerful engines, theoretically I can build a plane much faster than any metal fighter. My planes won't need escorts or defensive armament - no plane will be able to intercept them!" Hawker told one of his unfulfilled ideas to Camm.

  "This must be the key to this machine's success! Tan Xiao now understands why the DH98 will become a classic. He pretended to think for a moment: "If this design concept is proven, Mr. Hawker, you will be a giant in the history of fighter aircraft! I support your idea! ... Or come to China, I'll support all development costs for this plane! By the way, our new company should still be called Hawker!"

  D. Haviland left with extreme excitement, in China he found people who truly appreciated him. Why not come to work in China? The new company is still Haviland... perhaps the British company should become a branch!

  After seeing off Harland, Tan Xiao began to think about sorting out his daily work.

  Since crossing over, Tang Xiao has been very busy because he is the only one who truly knows that the Sino-Japanese War is about to break out. Of course, Ye Yijun now has more people who can help him. The task of persuading those British old pilots to stay and become instructors was assigned to Zhao Junmai, the new deputy chief of staff of Ye Yijun's army. This Deputy Chief of Staff Zhao was originally a veteran of the Tax Police Corps who participated in the January 28th War of Resistance, graduated from the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Wisconsin in the United States, and had served as the commander of the Tax Police Corps. He was originally sitting firmly in the position of Director of the Hunan Provincial Salt Administration Bureau, but under the persuasion of Wen Yingxing and Sun Liren, he returned to the army and is now the deputy chief of staff and general coordinator of air force affairs. Wen Yingxing, the chief of staff, also has a lot of work to do: Wen Yingxing is actually the overall training officer of Ye Yijun's army. Because he had just taken over as the director of the National Wounded Soldiers Management Committee, Tang Xiao asked him to recall a large number of wounded soldiers who had combat capabilities and culture, and had fought bravely in the past, to receive new tactical theory training directly from Ye Yijun's army, and all of them would become new recruit instructors in the future. Tang Xiao believes that with such a group of instructors with glorious combat wounds, the growth of new recruits will be faster; moreover, this is also one of the things he can do to help those battle heroes on various fronts.

  Regarding the future Sino-Japanese War, Tan Xiao thought about many things: in addition to the training, equipment, financial reserves, and material reserves of each echelon of the army... He was also very worried about two things: one was the war refugees. In addition to laying a solid foundation for large-scale construction in the rear, which could accommodate and utilize more labor force in the future; Tan Xiao had already made high demands on the first batch of troops to be trained, requiring all troops to plant a large number of multi-year tubers such as cassava along the highways and mountain roads within their jurisdiction. Although he believed that the current anti-Japanese war would not follow the old path, it was good to make more preparations for the people.

  Another thing he was particularly worried about was the resettlement of disabled soldiers. In his exchange with Wen Yingxing, he found that many local officials were now corrupt or cheating on compensation for dead and injured soldiers; this made him furious. After deciding to find a way to investigate and severely punish some officials, he kept thinking of ways to arrange a future for the disabled soldiers as much as possible. However, there were still many disabled soldiers living in dire straits, unable to support themselves.

  Rong Hui did many things before returning to participate in his Jewish deal with Sha Xun, mainly recruiting workers for seven ordnance factories in India, including the "Oriental Cobra". As Hunan is currently undergoing large-scale construction, there are many job opportunities, and it's not easy to recruit people who want to go abroad. Coincidentally, Rong Hui will be going to Shanghai soon, although she won't be appearing directly, but her behind-the-scenes manipulation in Shanghai is absolutely indispensable.

  "I was thinking... can we let Wen Canmou take care of this recruitment matter?" Rong Hui said: "Actually, many tasks can be done by those disabled soldiers..."

  Today Rong Hui was mistaken for the Virgin Mary for the second time, and Tan Xiao felt that Rong Hui was sent by heaven to help him solve his troubles! Whatever was giving him a headache, Rong Hui could help with it!

  Tan Xiao still misses the taste of being in love, so when they're alone together, they always end up being very intimate. Now, Rong Hui is sitting on Tan Xiao's lap, and of course, they're discussing work.

  "At first, I thought He Shaotang was after that new combat advisor!" Tan Xiao said with a smile: "I didn't expect him to be so sure that Ye Xiangyun is a Japanese spy... He said it's... Heaven knows how he figured it out, but he's absolutely certain!" Tan Xiao said while looking at the plan He Shaotang had submitted for setting up an ambush to capture Ye Xiangyun.

  "If there really are spies, they should be eliminated as soon as possible......" Rong Hui is also worried about the spy problem: "The Wild One Army now has too many plans and actions that concern the fate of the whole country. If the Japanese find out, I'm afraid something will change."

  "But now, it's not easy to prove that Ye Qing or someone else is a spy. After the crazy attack by the Fuxing Society, the Japanese secret service agencies around Lingling have been basically cleared out; and under my investment policy, it's also difficult for the Japanese to make big moves in Hunan. After Rain Nong's rectification, the internal discipline of the military departments is very strict, and information is not easily transmitted. It's possible that without taking the initiative, it's hard to expose that spy." Tan Xiao said: "What a coincidence! He Shaotang's plan was to pretend to send someone to North China, which is exactly what I wanted to do!"

  He Shao Tang had already arranged a place, and now he was driving with Ye Qing to a very remote mountain valley in the training base. That would be where the elite troops to be sent to North China would gather for training. The location used to be a military camp built by the army for training purposes, but it was kept because its geographical location might be suitable for secret training. It was very remote, and even though it was within the military restricted area of the Wild One Army, it took half an hour just to drive there; if someone here needed to transmit urgent information, it would also be difficult to do so in a timely manner; of course, He Shao Tang would create such opportunities.

  "Your mission cannot be mentioned to anyone, not even a little bit! This is very important, it involves the safety of more than 30 special agents, do you understand? Including Zhou Xing, no one can be told!" He Shao Tang said seriously to Ye Qian Yu. He let Ye Qian Yu take charge of the external liaison work for this secret training base.

  "Yes!" Ye Qingshuo replied succinctly. She thought He Shaotang was really incompetent, a yellow horse cloak consultant, actually in charge of such an important task! Did those words he reminded her need to be said? She was a regular military school graduate, did she even need to be reminded about confidentiality? But how could such an incompetent person hand over such an important task to the woman he pursued just to show off his status in the Wild One Army? Probably, this incompetent person just wanted to create more opportunities for them to interact with each other.

  It seems that getting this list is not difficult! But how to send it out? Ye Qianfan was very headache about this problem; the original contact person estimated that they had all withdrawn or been captured by the Revival Society, and her contact person only had two: Tanaka Hisashirō and Kimura Kōji. As for Yamashita Keigo, he knew himself, but didn't know that he had already infiltrated the No. 1 Army. Now Mitsui & Co. has been driven out of Hunan, even this unreliable contact person can't be used.

  Now, what to do with the intelligence?

  (Author: Sunday, early transmission......)

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