1928: The rise of giant merchants

On February 8, after the news that the Japanese army suffered heavy losses in Wusong reached Tokyo, in accordance with the edict approved by the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Chief of Staff Zai Ren urgently ordered the Army's 9th Division (division commander Ueda Kenkichi) to quickly provide reinforcements.

In the afternoon of February 13, the main force of the Ninth Division arrived at Shanghai Port and landed at Wusong. As a result, Lieutenant General Ueda, commander of the 9th Division, took over Nomura's command.

At this time, the Japanese aggressor army had more than 30,000 land, sea and air troops, six to seventy field guns, more than 60 aircraft, and dozens of ships concentrated at Wusongkou.

Ueda first issued a statement late at night on the 13th, declaring: "If anyone hinders the performance of our mission, we will take decisive measures without hesitation."

Ueda then presented an ultimatum to Cai Tingkai, saying: "Your army should immediately stop fighting and complete its retreat from the Zhabei war zone before 5 p.m. on February 20. At the same time, the forts and other forts in the war zone should be removed. Military facilities are not allowed to be re-established. If the above provisions are not implemented, the Japanese army will be forced to take free action against your army, and your army will be responsible for all consequences."

After receiving Ueda's ultimatum, Cai and Chiang ordered the frontline troops to fire violently at the Japanese positions as an answer and warning to Ueda's ultimatum.

At this point, the Battle of Songhu has reached a situation of "either you die or I die".

The principal knew that continuing to talk about a peaceful settlement with the Japanese aggressors would be self-inflicted, so he decisively ordered Chen Mingshu and other four generals to guard the area to the death, vowing to drive the Japanese aggressors out of Zhabei.

To show his determination, the principal called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government in Jinling, asking them to say to the outside world: "The troops stationed in Shanghai are forced to defend the land and have no choice but to engage in self-defense and fight to the end."

Then he personally called other warlords in the country one by one, asking them to put aside their disputes and conflicts, and first unite to fight against Japan and ensure unity.

Due to successive years of war and last year's 1931 Jianghuai flood, the Jinling National Government was in financial distress.

In late January 1932, the generals of the national army called each other one after another, saying that "there is a shortage of food and ammunition, and we have reached the point of no food."

At this stage, the principal discovered that the finances of the Jinling National Government had already been completely depleted by the morons within the Kuomintang, as well as Wang, who later took over.

The war reached a fever pitch, and then the logistics department told him, "Supplies are scarce and we may not be able to support him until the end of February."

Now the principal really couldn't wait any longer and immediately came to Song Ziwen to ask for military expenses.

Because Song Ziwen failed to make a lot of money from the textile industry, and the shortfall from his previous trip to the United States had not yet been filled, he was not happy to be asked to pay for military expenses out of his own pocket.

The ball was immediately kicked to Kong Xiangxi.

The Kong family is known as the first aristocratic family in the Republic of China, and Kong Xiangxi also wears an official certification mark on his head as the richest man in the Republic of China.

But when he heard that military funds would be provided to support the front line, Kong Xiangxi immediately acted like a turtle and said that he had a hidden disease and wanted to go to the United States for treatment. He took his wife and flew to New York overnight, but was nowhere to be seen in an instant.

Both the Gods of Wealth ran away, and he had conflicts with his former supporters, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Consortium.

The principal, who was isolated and helpless, had to call Ye Luo, the biggest tycoon in Shanghai, as his last hope, pleading for military funds: "Since Japan refuses to withdraw its troops in Shanghai, we have no choice but to resist to the end. And food in Gansu and Henan provinces will be tighter every day." On that day, aid will be completely cut off. Please support the frontline military with 10 million yuan and deposit 20 million yuan in central banknotes in Jinling. Then the government can still be active and the army can be maintained, and it may be possible to overcome this difficulty without collapse. This is Zhong (Zheng)’s last plea, and I hope I can help you make it happen.”

With this telegram and a personal phone call, the principal finally let go of his arrogance and directly begged Ye Luo for help, promising to provide subsidies with a large amount of business resources and benefits after the war.

Ye Luo was also confused.

He knew that the chaos in the past few years had caused the Jinling National Government's finances to be very tight, but he didn't expect it to be this bad.

Can the four major families who made 20 billion US dollars in the Republic of China not even be able to raise 30 million US dollars now?

The principal was really anxious this time, and he repeatedly begged Ye Luo to support military expenditures using the official account of the Executive Yuan of the Jinling National Government. It can be seen that in a few days, if the military expenditures are not paid, the frontline soldiers will have to drink the northwest wind!

"Since the beginning of the war, there has been basically no support for logistics. Is it all supported by the supplies transported before Ye's investment?"

Ye Luo was shocked, and then thought of Wen Yingxing's call not long ago, saying that many sergeants sneaked into the tax police corps every day. After a month of fighting, the tax police corps had inexplicably increased from more than 30,000 people to 50,000 people.

This is the first time he has seen the number of troops increasing during a war!

It turns out that the crux lies here.

The 19th Route Army and the supporting gendarmerie regiment were almost out of food and had run out of ammunition and food.

The Tax Police Corps was very prosperous because it relied on Ye's investment, so the soldiers had no choice but to sneak over to their place to eat and drink.

No wonder the tax police headquarters' expenses are increasing day by day, from 120,000 yuan a day to 200,000 yuan a day!

"Don't worry, party members. I will quickly raise 30 million yuan to support the front line, and call on all sectors of society to donate for relief. I will not let the soldiers who shed their lives and blood shed their hearts."

Ye Luo asked Bai Xiuzhu to draft a telegram and quickly sent it to Qilu. Then he found the person in charge of Ye's United Bank and asked him to immediately provide 30 million oceans of working capital to assist the Ministry of Finance of the Jinling National Government.

A mere 30 million yuan is now a drop in the bucket to Ye Luo, not worth mentioning.

But he also wanted to let the principal know that this money was not taken for nothing. He was a businessman. Although he would not make money from the national crisis and war like Yu Qiaqing and others, he would definitely get what belonged to him.

After distributing the money, Ye Luo immediately set off for the headquarters building of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce.

Because Yu Qiaqing and others split from the principal's faction, the reorganization committee that originally nominally led the Shanghai business community was dead in name only.

The president Yu Qiaqing was in name only, and the committee members had no intention of continuing to maintain this organization.

Today, Ye Luo suddenly convened an emergency meeting in the name of the vice president of the reorganization committee, and a group of business tycoons immediately became excited.

They all knew that Ye Luo was highly valued by the principal. After the principal stepped down last month, the officialdom in Shanghai was severely cleaned up. Although Ye's investment, which relied on the officialdom, was not harmed, it was not as glorious as before.

Mr. Wang was determined to support Yu Qiaqing to take office, but the Battle of Songhu disrupted all his plans.

After the principal came back, Ye's Investment had been silent, and now they suddenly had to hold a meeting. Was something big going to happen?

A group of business tycoons rushed to the venue, but were shocked to find that it was written "Everyone has the responsibility to fight against Japan and save the country; for business donations, I will be the first!" (End of this chapter)