I used the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) to fight the Japanese.

"That's good! But the price..." Zhao Mancang asked.

“Young master, if you buy so much at once, the price will definitely be discounted. How about we calculate it as 95% of the market price?” Wu Changde tentatively suggested.

"A 5% discount? What if we settle in silver dollars?" Zhao Mancang asked, pulling a silver dollar from his pocket.

“Silver dollars? Hehe, good! Silver dollars are becoming increasingly rare these days! How about this, if the young master settles everything in silver dollars, the price will be reduced by half a percent!” Wu Changde said with a bright look in his eyes.

In those days, one silver dollar could be exchanged for twenty yuan of legal tender, but that was only the official exchange rate. Behind the scenes, many wealthy people had already inflated the price to more than double, meaning that one silver dollar could easily be exchanged for fifty yuan of legal tender in the city. This person was going to use the silver dollars to buy grain; they were making a fortune!

"Haha, my family has a lot of people and consumes a lot of food every month. If we settle accounts with silver dollars every time, Manager Wu, we'll make a lot more money! Besides, silver dollars are becoming increasingly rare and are worth much more than legal tender! Isn't a 90% price a bit too high?"

Bargaining is essential when buying things, and it's no surprise that this grain store, taking advantage of its exclusive business in the market, is raising prices; otherwise, people wouldn't have been complaining when they came in.

"Hehe, what would be suitable according to your opinion, young master?" Seeing that the young master wouldn't budge, Manager Wu simply let him name a price, looking every bit the cunning old fox.

"Seventy percent, you won't lose money at this price. If you go to the county town, I believe those bosses will be very happy to supply you with sixty percent!" After saying that, he picked up his teacup and slowly drank it, as if he was about to leave if you didn't agree.

"Hmm... 70% or 70%! Please continue to support us with grain in the future!" Manager Wu said, feigning difficulty. Inwardly, however, he was secretly delighted. At this time, with war raging everywhere, the local currency was becoming increasingly worthless; only gold and silver were the true hard currency.

After agreeing on the price, the goods were weighed and loaded onto the trucks. Fifteen silver dollars filled both trucks to the brim. He watched them drive away, not even knowing their names. But Manager Wu didn't care; as long as he made money, who cared who they were!

Having successfully purchased grain, the group also bought some salt, pork, and vegetables, leaving the market with their bags full. They encountered a few puppet soldiers who merely glanced at them without asking any further questions, which reassured them considerably.

"Dadi, Gou Mao, did you see that bathhouse we just visited? You two stay here and investigate. I suspect it's probably an opium den!" Zhao Mancang said to the two men as they left the market.

"An opium den? Good! Is Master Cang going to make an example of him?" Li Dadi suddenly became excited. Anyone who could run an opium den in Japanese-occupied territory was either a puppet soldier or a traitor; he wouldn't even blink an eye if he took him down!

Moreover, opium is deadly! Countless people have been persecuted by opium since the late Qing Dynasty!

“Didn’t you all shout that you wanted to fight the Japanese? Let’s start by eliminating the opium!” Zhao Mancang said softly.

"Alright! We'll get to the bottom of this!" Li Dadi exclaimed excitedly. After training for so long, he finally had a chance to put his skills to real combat!

The harms of opium need no further explanation. Countless people have been torn apart by opium, their families destroyed, and even the Nationalist government banned the sale of opium, but the effectiveness of its implementation was, to put it mildly, laughable.

Another reason for targeting opium was that the real owners behind the opium trade were the Japanese. Opium was the main way for the Japanese to sustain their war effort. Every month, opium was transported into the mainland by sea using cargo ships! With so much money flowing into the Japanese pockets to fund their attacks on us, it was better to intercept it ourselves and strengthen our forces.

Maintaining an army is very expensive!

The three of them drove two large carts back to Tianma Village without incident. After unloading the grain into the warehouse and changing their clothes, they leisurely went to the hunting dog training ground to watch everyone train the hunting dogs.

"Fujita Kuro, go!" Tiger commanded a black dog to scale a three-meter-high wooden wall.

"Fujimoto Yellow, follow me!" Manxiang commanded a yellow dog to follow behind.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of dogs, including Inoue Gray, Abe White, and Watanabe Black, scaled over the high wall in front of them.

"Hahaha, you guys came up with some great names for these hunting dogs! If those Japanese devils knew, they'd be furious!" Zhao Mancang laughed heartily when he heard the names everyone had given their hunting dogs. These people were simply too talented!

"Haha, how can the Japanese devils be as cute as these hunting dogs? At least dogs don't bite their owners and know how to be grateful. What about the Japanese devils? How many benefits have they gained from our country since ancient times? And yet they still turn around and attack their masters! They are truly heartless!" Manxiang had attended a private school and knew some history.

“That’s right! We hand over so much grain to them every year, and they still make us do hard labor. They’re worse than dogs!” Man Gui chimed in.

"Haha, the Japanese are just like dogs. The more you obey them, the louder they bark. But if you beat them until they're scared, they'll wag their tails obediently. How about it? This hunting dog team is pretty good, isn't it?" Tiger said as he walked over.

Dozens of dogs were scaling high walls and tearing apart scarecrows dressed as Japanese soldiers in the training field, each one as fierce as a wolf. To prevent the hunting dogs from being afraid of gunfire, Tiger even took out a pistol and fired it to scare them, leaving a pile of spent cartridges on the ground.

"Not bad, not bad! These hunting dogs are quite intelligent. I look forward to their performance on the battlefield!" Zhao Mancang was very satisfied with these hunting dogs, which were comparable to the military dogs of later generations!

"Don't worry! You won't be disappointed! Two dogs working together can easily take on a Japanese soldier, and they can even kill him with a single bite if they launch a sneak attack!" Tiger said proudly.

"That's good! This is one of our trump cards; if used properly, it can be a huge fighting force! Train them well, and take them out hunting to gain more practical experience. Let's try to make sure the hunting dogs can get their own meat!"

"Oh? That's a good idea! We brothers can go hunting together! It's a win-win situation – training both people and dogs!" Manxiang said, his eyes lighting up.

"Great! I'll call everyone to go into the mountains tomorrow. Even without the Japanese to fight, hunting some wild game would be nice!" Tiger said expectantly.

"Hehe, no rush. When Dadi Gou Mao and the others come back, if it's feasible, we can practice at the opium den first. After that, everyone who wants to go home should go back. The Japanese have already removed the checkpoints, so everyone can bring their families over so we can fight the Japanese with peace of mind."

"Hmm? They're getting serious now? Good, good, good! When are they going to make their move?"

"Great! The brothers' hands have been itching to get started, training all day is just too boring!"

"It's good to shut down opium dens! Opium is really harmful and should have been eradicated long ago!"

……

Upon hearing that there was an operation, everyone became excited and eager to take action.

"When they get back, everyone should get a good night's sleep so they're all alert tonight. We don't need too many hunting dogs, just pick two smart ones to go with them. Don't let them mess up on their first appearance!" Mancang said.

"Alright! They definitely won't go blind!" Everyone agreed and went back to their rooms to rest.