Spy game? Stop guessing, I really am an undercover agent!

Chapter 8 Seeing Through the Truth
After consuming so many supplies in one go, Chen Yang gave Lin Xueli a meaningful look.

This older brother is usually quiet and doesn't make a sound, unlike Lin Xueyi who is impulsive in his actions.

But he was by no means an easy person to deal with. Chen Yang was certain that his uncle, Lin Zonghan, was definitely not among the partners he mentioned.

In other words, he was also secretly developing his own strength.

In a daze, he recalled the various Hong Kong and Taiwan dramas he had watched in his later life, which were full of family feuds and conflicts.

But the struggles in reality are far more brutal than those in TV dramas.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Yang suddenly laughed and said, "Brother, did you get some information that made you think about stockpiling a large amount of supplies at this time?"

“You said you’ve studied the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s sales of goods over the past six months, so you could just go and talk to Tanaka Ichiro in person.”

"You have to go through me secretly, which means that stockpiling supplies must be done in secret and cannot be known by others."

"It seems that the person my brother has gotten involved with has considerable power and status."

Lin Xueli was stunned for a moment.

He never expected that Chen Yang could glean useful information from just a few words he had spoken without revealing anything.

No wonder Dad likes this kid so much; he's frighteningly smart.

After a moment of silence, Lin Xueli said slowly, "There are some things I won't admit even if you guess them."

"Chen Yang, I just want to know the answer now. Can you give me all these supplies?"

Chen Yang looked Lin Xueli up and down and suddenly smiled: "Big brother, if you want it, of course I can help you."

"However, this price..."

Lin Xueli hurriedly replied, "Price is no problem at all. Just name your price, and as long as it's reasonable, we absolutely won't haggle."

Chen Yang said slowly, "I don't want cash or legal tender, I only want gold."

"By the way, if your intelligence network is no longer useful, you should disband it. Four or five hundred tons of supplies, ha, I can give you an exact figure. Right now, the Osaka Chamber of Commerce warehouse doesn't have a few hundred tons of supplies, but about 1,740 tons."

"With my authority, I can only offer you a 10% discount on all kinds of supplies. If you want to buy everything, you need a ton of gold. Moreover, I want the kind of gold from the Shanghai Financial Regulatory Bureau that has an international trading mark, not the kind of gold you find on the market."

"A ton of gold?" After hearing Chen Yang's offer, Lin Xueli silently began to calculate whether the deal was worthwhile.
Currently, a large yellow croaker costs 300 silver dollars in Shanghai. A large yellow croaker weighs 10 taels. During the Republic of China era, the standard weight was 16 taels. According to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the weight would be 312 grams. Three large yellow croakers would weigh 936 grams.

One ton of gold is equivalent to one thousand kilograms of gold, which translates to nearly one million silver dollars.

Of course, it's possible that there's more, because the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's gold price fluctuates with the market, and with the large-scale war breaking out in China, the gold price has been soaring.

Based on the current floating interest rate, this nearly one million silver dollars would cost approximately over one million silver dollars.

1,740 tons of supplies, more than one million silver dollars. That would have been expensive last year. However, now that war is raging everywhere and the price of supplies is soaring, Lin Xueli pondered for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, no problem. I need two days to raise the money. The transaction will be completed before the 28th of the twelfth lunar month."

Chen Yang chuckled and said, "Brother, the French are so rich, they can raise a million dollars in just two days."

Lin Xueli's expression changed drastically instantly, and he exclaimed, "How did you know?"

Chen Yang said gently, "That's easy. You already said that Huaxia Trading Company is boycotting Japanese goods."

"You make a living in the French Concession and you can leave your uncle behind, which means that the other party's strength should be a level higher than your uncle's."

"As far as I know, my uncle is already a top businessman in Shanghai. There aren't many who are more powerful than him. There are even fewer businessmen in the French Concession. I initially thought he was a big boss of the Shanghai Green Gang."

“But I immediately realized something was wrong. Your attitude towards Second Brother just now shows that you look down on these Green Gang members.” “If the Green Gang isn’t the one who can wield such influence in the French Concession, then the answer is obvious. Brother, you must have hooked up with a director of the French Concession Municipal Council. Besides the two Chinese directors, the French Concession Municipal Council has a total of nine seats. Let me guess who you’ve hooked up with.”

"No, no, I'll admit you're right, stop guessing." With just a few words, he almost revealed everything, leaving Lin Xueli completely flustered.

Although Lin Xueli knew Chen Yang had always been exceptionally talented, he never expected him to be this wicked. Lin Xueli hadn't said a single word off-topic, yet Chen Yang was able to easily uncover his secrets.

Luckily, this is his own younger brother; if it were someone else, he wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

"Chen Yang, you must be tired. Take a rest for a while. Your father has arranged a banquet for you tonight."

"I'm leaving now. I'll get back to you about the funding within two days. Oh, and you absolutely mustn't tell anyone else."

"Alright, you don't need to teach me the principle of success through secrecy."

A garden villa at No. 1066 Jinxian Road, French Concession.

This is the private residence of Pi Shaon, one of the directors of the French Concession Municipal Council.

The directors of the French Concession were among the most powerful people in the French Concession.

In the earliest days, the French Concession had only five directors, one of whom was the chief director, usually concurrently held by the consul of the French Concession consulate.

There is also one vice director and three directors below.

The primary responsibility of the vice director is to assist the chief director in managing the affairs of the Public Works Board.

These three directors are responsible for finance, public welfare, and police affairs, respectively.

The French Concession was established in 1849, and it has a history of nearly a century.

Originally, the French Concession was the territory where the French operated. In 1853, the Taiping Rebellion broke out. At that time, Liu Lichuan, the leader of the famous Shanghai gang, the Small Swords Society, also led his subordinates in an uprising in response to the call.

The Shanghai market was in chaos due to the conflict between various forces. A large number of Chinese people entered the concessions seeking refuge. After deliberation, the French Municipal Council decided to open the concessions and allow Chinese people to enter.

It was the arrival of these people that made the French Concession the most prosperous area in Shanghai.

With the surge in population, the number of directors on the Municipal Council has increased from three to six.

Now, in addition to the French, the Municipal Council has also specially appointed two Chinese directors to jointly manage the organization.

These two Chinese directors were none other than the renowned Mr. Du and Mr. Zhang from the French Concession.

In the study on the second floor, Pi Shaona held the documents sent by the Municipal Council, his face terribly gloomy.

This is a joint letter signed by these foreign merchants in the French Concession.

After the outbreak of the Battle of Shanghai, the Japanese quickly took control of most of the city.

Although the French Concession was not under Japanese jurisdiction, their Marine Corps Command condoned the fleet's interception of merchant ships from various countries bound for Shanghai in the open sea.
Not only the navy, but the Japanese military police headquarters also dispatched patrol boats to detain patrol vessels under various pretexts.

The wharves of the French Concession, including the Sixteen Factories, Yangjingbang, and Xinkaihe, were all inspected without cause by the other side.

According to the report, the Japanese have seized at least several hundred tons of goods since last October.

Among them are important materials such as rubber, ore, and medicine.

(End of this chapter)