Chapter 11: Rising Through the Ranks and Getting Rich (Part 1)

  Jing Cheng calmed down and began to carefully flip through the pages of this thing wrapped in a leather cover, similar to the price lists he often saw in the 21st century.

  This quotation is not ordinary. It's really all-inclusive, with everything you need to know about purchasing Japanese military weapons and equipment, as well as the prices of captured soldiers, listed in detail on several pages. For example, the prices for Japanese military equipment range from a single Type 38 rifle to a Type 92 infantry cannon, each with its own price level. As for the captured soldiers, they are even more sought after, with prices listed for privates all the way up to captains, and for majors and above, the price is marked as "market price", which reminds Cheng Jiaji of the high-end seafood restaurants in the 21st century that often had prices marked as "market price" or "price negotiable".

  He carefully looked at the prices again, and found that a brand new 38 big cover could be sold for 80 yuan, while a crooked handle light machine gun could be sold for 300 yuan. The stronger the firepower, the higher the price. What's more interesting is that the Japanese captives were still very rare at this time, and the price of Japanese captives was comparable to that of lobsters and abalone. A Japanese soldier's price was 350 yuan, which was equivalent to a crooked handle machine gun with some leftover. The highest military rank among the Japanese soldiers captured by Cheng Jiaji's team was a lieutenant colonel named Yamada Kai, who spoke fluent Chinese. He led dozens of Japanese soldiers to surrender collectively at the last moment, which was extremely rare in the Japanese army. This made Cheng Jiaji overjoyed. At this time, the price of this guy was even more exciting for Cheng Jiaji, and a single Yamada Kai was worth 1,200 yuan. This was enough to buy an 80mm caliber medium-sized mortar, and even solve the problem of ammunition at once. Seeing this, Cheng Jiaji decided to let the chef improve the food standard for Yamada Kai, who was a high-end goods after all, and couldn't afford to be malnourished, which might affect the price of this valuable commodity.

  The content below this quotation is even more astonishing, beyond expectation. Not only are various military supplies of the Japanese army such as swords and steel helmets clearly priced, but what's most outrageous is that even Japanese corpses can be bought and sold to other troops for merit.

  Cheng Jiaji handed the quotation to Gao Shiying beside him after reading it, instead of returning it directly to Xie Dagao. He still fully trusted Gao Shiying's ability in this aspect. This old soldier not only had practical experience but also had a deep understanding of the military system, and he had worked in the military supplies department for some time. Let him handle the price negotiation work from now on.

  Xie Gao saw the situation with his city and said that he was naturally aware of Cheng Jiaji's intentions, knowing that after Cheng Jiaji had seen his price list, he had already been moved. This is why he let his subordinates discuss specific matters. With their positions, it was enough to establish a principle, and it was more stable to let subordinates handle the specifics. This was also to ensure that once things were exposed, everyone would have enough room to maneuver. This point of etiquette between the two men was tacitly understood.

  Of course, Xie Gaocan would not do everything personally, he also had assistants. Before long, he summoned a lieutenant female military officer who was not beautiful but had a good face. This female officer had a clever and capable face, obviously a good negotiator. She stood behind Xie Gaocan as soon as she entered the flower hall, ignoring others in the hall, only staring at Gao Shiyin who was carefully examining the document in his hand beside Cheng Jiaji. Gao Shiyin also looked up and glanced at this female officer several times, with a hint of hostility in their eyes, it goes without saying that both sides were clear that each other was their negotiating opponent.

  After reading the unusual bill, Gao Shiying went to the side hall with the female officer to discuss it in detail. Even Yu Juncai couldn't help but go to assist Gao Shiying. As for Cheng Jiaji and Xie Gaocan, they were able to remain calm and composed, chatting idly in the flower hall about everything under the sun, even discussing the military deployment of the war zone headquarters, but not mentioning the heated transaction being discussed in the side hall.

  More than two hours later, Xie Gaocan left with his entourage, looking very satisfied. Although the time spent on this business trip far exceeded his estimate, he still walked away with a smile, clearly having made a significant profit from this deal. Meanwhile, Cheng Jiaji's pocket had gained a check worth 5,000 yuan, which was just the down payment made by Xie Gaocan. Cheng Jiaji also asked Yu Juncai to personally escort Xie Gaocan out with a team of guards, as the occasional sound of gunfire could still be heard around Dawang Village at this time, and if anything unexpected happened to Xie Gaocan on the way, it would not be good.

  After seeing off the guests, Cheng Jiaji wanted to take a rest. He had been fighting all night and was covered in bruises and blood. To be honest, he was very tired at this moment. Just as Cheng Jiaji was about to leave the flower hall, Lieutenant Colonel Qiu Shaoyan of the brigade radio station rushed into the flower hall with several telegrams, running a few steps to reach Cheng Jiaji's side.

  Cheng Jiaji saw the young man, who was less than 20 years old and had been hired from a British firm in Shanghai by Wu Shouren, the director of the radio station, running towards him with a smile on his face like a flower. Unlike his usual mature demeanor, he looked like a boy again. Cheng Jiaji naturally knew what the contents of the telegrams in the young man's hand were. The telegram announcing his promotion and reward should have arrived by now, as the battle report had been sent out several hours ago. Moreover, Xu Shiming, the chief of staff, must have also sent a telegram to the war zone headquarters requesting recognition for Cheng Jiaji's brigade. Even if those officials didn't take Cheng Jiaji seriously, they would still have to give face to Xu Shiming.

  "Zi Shi, slow down, what's the urgent military matter that requires such haste?" Gao Shiying chimed in from the side, he couldn't see any signs of bad news on Qiu Shao Yan's face at this moment.

  "Reports from the detachment commander, chief of staff, war zone commanders and military command department have arrived, and the army headquarters also sent a telegram."

  After hearing this news, Gao Shiying couldn't pretend to be calm anymore. He snatched the telegrams from Qiu Shaoyan's hands and read them out loud in front of Cheng Jiaji.