Spy Wars: I can get rewards by being a bully!

The current head of the Economic Affairs Department is Ichiro Hase, whose military rank is Major.

This shows how crazy the expansion of military ranks has become within the Military Police Command. Back when the Economic Division was established, Xiao Jiang Da Gui served as the division chief, and at that time Xiao Jiang was only a lieutenant.

Nowadays, these section chiefs are not only majors, but one of them is a lieutenant colonel. This is the result after Lin Ze arranged for some people to be sent to the Shimen Military Police Headquarters.

Hasegawa Ichiro was in his thirties, the prime of his life, and he never hesitated to take drastic measures to protect Tianjin's business environment.

Any Japanese business that wants to operate in Tianjin must obtain a permit issued by the Tianjin Military Police Command. If anyone dares to operate privately, it is undoubtedly disrupting the market order in Tianjin, and the Economic Department will take swift and decisive action against them!

Large markets have their advantages, and so do barriers. At least for now, Tianjin has limited trade connections with North China and even the whole of Northeast Asia, and its internal environment has been adjusted more effectively. This effect has even spilled over to other areas, resulting in a significantly higher standard of living for the people in the Tianjin-Beijing area compared to other places.

This model is very similar to some large economic villages in later generations, where a village may have assets worth tens of billions of yuan and the people live in villas.

Initially, these villages gradually made their first fortune by consolidating land, obtaining franchise rights, or gaining a first-mover advantage in a certain industry. Then, they snowballed into an industrial group and extended to upstream and downstream sectors.

For example, you can first use collective land to build a textile factory, then turn the villagers into workers. The cost is very low, and you can sweep the market. With capital, you find that there is not enough electricity, so you build a power plant. Laying power grids requires wires, so you build a wire factory. After you have your own electricity, the price of electricity is low, so you build an electrolytic aluminum plant. Power generation requires coal, so you acquire several coal mines in the surrounding coal-producing areas. As the number of workers increases, you develop real estate.

This model involves limited external integration but unlimited self-regulation.

The more closed the ecosystem, the more effective this model becomes, because there is no competition within the region. However, the more unified the market and the more standardized the industry, the more this model will fail.

This is why so many once-prosperous villages have gradually become indebted villages, losing their former glory and struggling to move forward.

Hasegawa Ichiro was so respectful to Hayashi that he was trembling with fear. Standing in the office, he leaned forward, took two steps, handed over a document, and then backed away, maintaining the same posture.

"Commander-in-Chief, this is a summary of the supervision of industrial and commercial enterprises over the past week. There is one thing I need to report to you in particular. Several Japanese companies previously applied to establish trading companies at Zizhulin Wharf and to purchase a piece of land located at Zizhulin Wharf. After we rejected them, they complained to the Ministry of Finance. Tokyo sent a telegram this morning to inquire about the matter."

"Send it directly to us?"

"Yes, in principle, their document should have gone through the Governing Committee, since we are not the nominal economic management department, but they sent the telegram directly to us..."

From any perspective, the Tianjin Military Police Command could not and should not be the economic authority of Tianjin. If the Ministry of Finance wants to inquire about the economic situation of a certain place, it should first send a document to the higher-level administrative authority of that place. The higher-level administrative authority of Tianjin is the Governing Committee, which then sends a document to the Tianjin Special Municipality. The Special Municipality naturally has a special agency to manage the economy.

It's quite interesting that the Ministry of Finance sent the telegram directly to the Tianjin Military Police Headquarters.

Who is this person referring to?

"What are the backgrounds of those Japanese companies?"

Hasegawa Ichiro said in a low voice, "Commander-in-Chief, it's quite a coincidence. These Japanese companies were previously just small, unknown trading companies in the country. This time, they came to Tianjin wanting to buy land and constantly inquiring about ways to trade controlled materials such as coal and steel. They've made quite a splash. In their license applications, they stated that Yasuda Bank provided them with financial guarantees."

"Yasuda Bank... they've certainly played their cards right."

Among the major conglomerates in Japan, the Yasuda family is quite unique. Unlike the others, which started with industrial and military orders, the Yasuda family has cultivated deep roots in the financial industry and is also closely tied to industrial capital. Their operational methods are highly sophisticated.

More notably, the Yasuda family was highly involved in the war financing of the Japanese. Through the coordination of the military, the Japanese Ministry of Finance provided sufficient margin to Yasuda Bank. After a series of financial operations, Yasuda Bank raised funds through insurance and bonds, and then transferred them to military industrial enterprises at low interest rates. These military industrial enterprises were mainly controlled by zaibatsu such as Mitsubishi and Mitsui.

In this way, several conglomerates formed a deep alliance, spanning both industry and finance, creating an almost unshakeable coalition.

This time, instead of directly jumping out, Mitsubishi and other zaibatsu did not allow financial capital like Yasuda Bank to cautiously probe and try to open a gap in Tianjin's business community. It seems that they want to take the path of financial mergers and acquisitions.

After Hasegawa Ichiro finished his report, the phone in Lin Ze's office suddenly rang.

Lin Ze waved his hand, and Hasegawa Ichiro tactfully left the room.

"Hello, this is Lin Ze."

"Mr. Lin, it's me. There's something I need to discuss with you."

The call was from Okamura.

"General, what are your orders?"

"The military has just issued an order to audit all military assets. This matter has been assigned to the Planning Institute. They will be sending people to North China soon. You will be responsible for receiving them then, and make sure they don't find any faults. I'm at a critical juncture..."

"General, please rest assured, everything is geared towards your smooth promotion and assumption of the position of Commander-in-Chief. However, if anyone deliberately tries to provoke trouble..."

Okamura mumbled, "Lin-kun, you can never earn enough money. As long as you can get to that position, you can earn back any amount of money you want, right?"

"You're right, I'll arrange it right away."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Ze fell into deep thought.

Okamura must have felt some pressure too. He really wants to be the Commander-in-Chief, and now he's planning to give up some benefits so that everyone can have a good outcome!

The scale of industries held or indirectly supported by the North China Area Army was enormous, and the most coveted prize among them was this port!

Lin Ze lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair.

The timing of their move was very clever. They were certain that Okamura wouldn't hold out on the distribution of these benefits. Once Okamura gave in, who could stop them?

It's quite interesting to fight against established chaebols.

Several claps of thunder came from outside the window.

It's going to rain again.