War of Resistance: Glory of the Beasts

Chapter 139: Meiko's purchasing power!

"How much is this?"

Inside the barracks, dim lights were on. Under the light, Xu Chaoyang threw a stack of dollars from his pocket onto the table. It was the first time that Qu Yong had seen such colorful money, and he asked in confusion.

Xu Chaoyang, who has been to the Military Museum and is familiar with history, explained: "In Northeast China, about two and a half silver dollars are exchanged for one U.S. dollar."

"How many!"

Yang Jingyu was not happy at that moment, and asked with wide eyes, "Why?"

"Silver dollars are silver after all, but this is just a piece of paper, right?"

"One of our silver dollars can be exchanged for 1400 wen. Since Northeast China is an enemy-occupied area, the silver dollar is more valuable, so it can only be exchanged for about 1800 wen. But at this critical moment, rice is only about 30 wen per catty. Chaoyang, do you think this colorful piece of paper can buy out all the rice of the villagers?"

Even though Xu Chaoyang didn't want to admit it, this was the fact!
He remembered reading in the literature that gold during this period was only about 16-17 US dollars per ounce. That was gold!

"Yes." Xu Chaoyang said only one word, holding a cigarette in his mouth.

"Where did Wang Feng get so much money? And he just gave it to you as a gift to keep in touch with you?"

Xu Chaoyang took a look at the thickness of the folded dollar bill and said casually, "I estimate that this is about one thousand yuan."

"One thousand... that doesn't mean two thousand four hundred or five hundred silver dollars?"

Yu Minghao was stunned. In his impression, the brothers robbed Guan Dibao's house and took away all the income from the land, which was only a few hundred dollars.

"Brother, this money is enough to support the army. With only a hundred of us, one silver dollar per person per month, we can make them laugh!"

Yang Jingyu glared at Qu Yong and cursed, "Are you a pig? Why do you always think about giving gifts?"

Qu Yong muttered in grievance: "Then you say I joined the army and fought not for money, not for promotion or wealth, then for what?"

"For the country, for the ideal, for the nation not to be enslaved, for the public opinion to blossom!"

His words might make Xu Chaoyang feel exhausted, but that was Yang Jingyu. When Xiao Ke started to talk, he had a lot of tricks, just like a tight hoop covering Zhu Bajie's head. You couldn't understand what the person was saying, and all that was left was a headache.

"Brother, what did Lao Yang say?"

Xu Chaoyang ignored the quarreling Yang Jingyu and Qu Yong and ordered on the spot: "Don't worry about it. I have a use for this money."

"How to use it?" Tong Meng's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this.

"The lives of our entire company depend on this. If we're not careful, everyone will be left in Inner Mongolia."

After Xu Chaoyang finished speaking, he turned around and asked, "Tong Meng, how much gunpowder is left?"

Tong Meng shook his head: "No more. I got the gunpowder from the military supply department. I used it to make 24 explosive packs. There is nothing left. Even so, the weight of each explosive pack is not that enough. However, the quality of the gunpowder is much better than the black powder we made ourselves. The power should be good."

Xu Chaoyang took the money from everyone. The way they stared at him made him feel like he was trying to snatch food from a tiger's mouth.

Xu Chaoyang tore open the white paper that wrapped the money and counted out ten pieces: "Haozi, go to the market tomorrow or your fellow villagers' homes to buy meat. Remember, this one hundred dollars is at least two hundred and four dollars. That pig can be bought for a long time, so don't waste it."

"Pigs and sheep, take care of them. The most important thing is wine, bottled wine, jar wine, take as many as you can, and send them directly to the kitchen after you buy them. Give two tall bottles to the kitchen manager, if for no other reason, and ask them to keep the oil cans and earthenware jars for us..."

"Do you understand?"

Tong Meng hadn't figured out Xu Chaoyang's pulse when he heard this, but everyone was used to following his orders, so no one interrupted and continued to listen.

Then, Xu Chaoyang counted out ten more bills and handed them to Yang Jingyu: "Old Yang, you are better at interpersonal relationships than us. These one hundred pieces of silver are specially sent to the military supply personnel. There are two requirements. First, fight with them for gunpowder, as much as they can get. Second, go to the villagers' homes to get a carriage. Don't we have horses? When we come back, calculate how many jars, pots, bottles and other things can be placed according to the carriage's carrying capacity."

"Captain, you want to be a mine!"

Tong Meng understood it immediately. Jars, pottery jars, and clay pots have good compression properties and are easy to seal. When gunpowder is stuffed into them, the explosion will produce enough fragments to make a person drink a pot of wine, not to mention the wine!

Yang Jingyu frowned: "Chaoyang, do you mean that Wang Feng is going to rebel?"

"Whatever, my mission is to cover the retreat of the main force at the small street. So we can make some land mines ourselves. No matter who thinks it is wrong, it is not a problem."

After Xu Chaoyang finished speaking, he frowned and thought: "As for the reason... Qu Yong, you are used to being carefree, so it is most appropriate to invite people from the battalions, companies, and platoons to come over for dinner... Just say that our company has just arrived in your precious place and we are being taken care of. We will soon go to the battlefield, and whether we can survive is still uncertain. This can be regarded as repaying the favor in advance, so that when we go to the underworld in the future, people will scold us for eating and leaving without a care, and being ignorant."

Liu Gener said, "That's a good idea. We can't finish all the wine jars with this many. With the help of the 9th Brigade, we can immediately empty the jars and refill them with gunpowder. We can also build some friendships with other troops."

"I'll give him his grandson!"

Xu Chaoyang cursed angrily, "All of you should keep your thoughts to yourself. When we get to the battlefield, if anyone gets stuck because of a relationship with someone from the 9th Brigade, don't blame me for turning my back on you!"

"Company commander."

Hearing this, Wang Tianhao said in a deep voice: "You should find a time to talk to the higher-ups of the 9th Brigade about this matter."

"The whole city is buzzing about us asking the quartermaster for gunpowder and explosive packs. Normally, the Northeast Army in other barracks look at us like monsters. If we don't communicate with them, there will be misunderstandings before we even enter the battlefield."

It's true, Xu Chaoyang now feels that after Wang Tianhao is "convinced", he can always speak to the point...

"Captain, don't go there with a straight face. Just invite the entire 9th Brigade from top to bottom. If they come, you can force them to drink a few bowls of wine. After they drink the wine, their faces turn red and they will be easy to talk about. If they don't come, you can take the opportunity to mention the matter of laying mines. After all, we are the rear guard for the 9th Brigade. What else can they say?"

"As long as we've given the green light, it would be appropriate for Tong Meng to tinker with mines at the entrance of our barracks, let alone at the entrance of the brigade."

Yu Minghao kicked Tong Meng's shoe and said, "Did you hear me? Keep those things away from the barracks next time. They scare me when I see them!"

Tong Meng finally understood: "Oh, are you talking about me?"

Wang Tianhao immediately waved his hand: "I don't mean that. I just want to help our company. After all, I am also a member of the company."

(End of this chapter)