Newborn 1927

Nakamura Yoshio observed the group of men up close. Each one was strong and robust, exuding a powerful aura; a stark contrast to the sallow-faced, timid-looking civilians he had seen in Yantai. Nakamura and Jiang Tingxuan couldn't help but secretly admire them. Nakamura even took down their rifles, uncocked them to inspect them, and found the guns impeccably clean and well-maintained, prompting him to nod in approval. After the three men had surveyed the area, Nakamura looked up at the sky and said, "It's too late today. I want to see how their training goes tomorrow." Yang Jiefang laughed, "Then you'd better get up early." Nakamura replied, "After graduating from university, I served in the Osaka Division for a while, so I can adapt to military life." Yang Jiefang said in surprise, "I see."

The three returned to the platform, and Yang Jiefang immediately announced the disbandment. The heroes then left the training ground in an orderly fashion. Yang Jiefang walked up to Black Widow and the others, saying, "I know you all have doubts, and I will explain later. These two are crucial to the future development of our stronghold, so please cooperate." Black Widow replied, "Since we have chosen to trust you, then go for it!" The others nodded in agreement, which reassured Yang Jiefang.

Afterwards, Yang Jiefang invited the two men to have dinner in the kitchen. He didn't prepare a separate meal for them, but planned to eat with everyone else. When the three arrived at the kitchen, dinner was already being served. The heroes were all carrying their utensils, lining up to get their food, and then choosing an empty seat to eat. The kitchen was very orderly. Tonight's staple food was white flour steamed buns, and the main dish was stir-fried eggs with garlic sprouts. Now that the weather was warm, it was the season for hens to lay eggs. The chicken farm could harvest more than two thousand eggs every day. After selection, the eggs were kept for hatching chicks; the rest were almost all sent up the mountain to improve everyone's lives. Yang Jiefang had said that they ate meat once every three days, and eggs were considered meat. Under Wu Laokou's arrangement, eggs and salted fish were almost eaten in rotation. Yoshio Nakamura glanced around and praised, "Yoshi, Yang-san, the food here is pretty good." Yang Jiefang shook his head and said, "Right now, we can only guarantee meat once every three days, which is still not enough. Fortunately, the livestock farm is doing well, and it will be producing meat in six months, at which point the meat supply will be more plentiful." Jiang Tingxuan exclaimed, "Meat once every three days! Even well-off families wouldn't dare to dream of that. Little Yang, now I understand why everyone is willing to follow you."

After the meal, Yang Jiefang led the two men to his courtyard. Hou Fei, Bao Ziqiang, and the others had left Qinglong Village, leaving the courtyard rather empty, which was suitable for the two. There was no electricity on the mountain, so Yang Jiefang lit an oil lamp and had a long talk with the two men. Yang Jiefang did most of the talking, while Nakamura Yoshio and Jiang Tingxuan listened; he gave a fairly detailed account of the current situation in Qinglong Village. Of course, Yang Jiefang wouldn't reveal any confidential information; he only told them what was necessary for them to know.

The next morning, Yang Jiefang woke up Jiang Tingxuan and Nakamura Yoshio. Nakamura Yoshio jumped out of bed immediately; Jiang Tingxuan had some difficulty getting out, but still got dressed. On the training ground, all the heroes had already assembled and begun their morning run. Yang Jiefang pointed to the running group and said, "Running ten li every morning, this is the start of training." Nakamura Yoshio was surprised; even a standing division like the Osaka Division wouldn't train like this.

When the joggers saw Yang Jiefang arrive with his group, they naturally wanted to show off. Someone started a running song, and everyone joined in: "Ten miles, I love you! A day gives you good health. Ten miles, I miss you! Running every day makes you grow strong. Ten miles, cures all diseases, a day without running feels unhealthy. Brothers in front, run faster! Brothers behind, push harder! After you finish, we'll get extra chicken legs, extra chicken legs..." With over a thousand people singing at the same time, the atmosphere was naturally quite impressive. Nakamura Yoshio, upon hearing this, asked, "Yang-san, what does 'extra chicken legs' mean?" Yang Jiefang smiled and said, "It means exactly what it says." He turned around and shouted loudly, "Brothers, give it your all today, and I'll give you all extra food at noon. There aren't that many chicken legs, but there's plenty of chicken meat!" The heroes cheered in unison and ran even harder.

In the morning training session, aside from the special forces training, Yoshio Nakamura and Ting-hsuan Kang participated fully. In the afternoon, during academic classes, they only glanced at the material before leaving.

The three returned to the courtyard where Yang Jiefang lived. Nakamura Yoshio spoke first, saying, "Yang-san, it's clear you're training these thousand men as officers. Your ambitions are quite high!" Yang Jiefang didn't mince words, replying, "My demands aren't high. As long as I train these men to be squad leaders, I can raise an army of ten thousand; then the entire Jiaodong Peninsula will be my territory. If I can expand to one hundred thousand, I can control the entire Shandong province." Nakamura Yoshio laughed, "Alright, now we can formally discuss cooperation. Yang-san, I can provide the weapons, equipment, and other supplies you need. What do you intend to exchange for them?" Yang Jiefang replied, "I can buy what I need with money. Mr. Nakamura, what do you want in return?" A financial investor with a military background like this must have political motives for coming to China; Yang Jiefang, as a time traveler, could guess his purpose to some extent.

Nakamura Yoshio changed the subject, saying, "Mr. Yang, do you know that in China, if you want to achieve great things, you definitely need external support? Otherwise, even if you have the money, you can't buy the resources you need. We can support you in achieving your goals; but you must also give us corresponding preferential policies to ensure our investment is worthwhile." He was indeed looking for a proxy to support a local warlord. Yang Jiefang countered, "What kind of preferential treatment does Mr. Nakamura want?" Nakamura Yoshio replied, "It's actually quite simple. We need some preferential treatment and priority in finance, mining, road construction, procurement, and sales."

Yang Jiefang shook his head and said, "Mr. Nakamura, since you and Mr. Ogasawara are good friends, I think your political views should be consistent. I also agree with Mr. Ogasawara's view: China and Japan should become allies to jointly resist the invasion of our Asia by European and American colonialists. Asia is our Asia, and it should not become a colony of white people. The relationship between China and Japan should be a brotherly relationship, not a superior-subordinate relationship."

Yoshio Nakamura quickly shook his head and said, "Mr. Yang, you may have misunderstood. I didn't have such thoughts. We Japanese have the most advanced technology, but we are short of resources; you Chinese are vast and rich in resources, but you lack technology. We Japanese need China's resources, and China also needs Japan's technology. Only in this way can we resist the invasion of European and American colonialists. Don't you think so?"

Yang Jiefang nodded in agreement, saying, "That's what I mean too. I can only guarantee this: in any economic field, under the same conditions, you will have priority over those white people. If you set up a factory on my territory, I will also give you tax breaks." This answer obviously did not satisfy Nakamura Yoshio, but they had plenty of ways to control their agents, so there was no rush.

Yang Jiefang then changed the subject, saying, "Mr. Nakamura, what's your opinion on the plan I mentioned in Yantai? Let's start our joint resistance against the white invasion with this cooperation!" Nakamura Yoshio replied, "The success of this plan depends on whether you can control the flow of goods in the Jiaodong region. Do you have any plans for this?" Yang Jiefang replied, "Of course I have plans, but I need money and weapons." Nakamura Yoshio answered, "As the basis for our cooperation, I have an obligation to help you solve some problems. How about this? I can provide a three million yen interest-free loan, which you can use to purchase the supplies you need." Yang Jiefang thought for a moment and said, "I need at least one million yen in cash, and the other two million yen can be converted into supplies." Although Nakamura Yoshio hoped to convert all the supplies into goods, he still agreed to Yang Jiefang's request; if the conditions were too harsh, cooperation would be difficult to achieve.

Next, Yang Jiefang took out paper and pen and, while speaking, wrote down a long list of supplies to be procured. Five thousand brand-new Type 38 rifles, six thousand bayonets, and ten thousand boxes of ammunition; sixty Type 11 mortars; twelve 75mm mountain guns and twelve field guns. Japanese machine guns were too rubbish; the Type 92 heavy machine gun and Type 97 light machine gun, which were still usable, hadn't even been designed yet. Yang Jiefang didn't approve of the current light and heavy machine guns. He had to find other ways to procure them. One thousand military horses were also needed, requiring uncastrated, healthy adult horses. He said he wanted a long-term cooperation with Nakamura Yoshio, but he knew it wasn't realistic. He naturally wanted to stockpile enough weapons and ammunition at once. Weapons weren't a problem, but regarding horses, Nakamura Yoshio only agreed to provide one hundred stallions as part of the procurement, not all of them uncastrated. Yang Jiefang could only reluctantly agree.

Yang Jiefang also requested the purchase of four armed merchant ships. Jiaodong is surrounded by water on three sides; he needed to control not only land transportation but also maritime transport. Nakamura Yoshio readily agreed.

Adding to the mix were individual combat backpacks, canteens, entrenching tools, binoculars, radios, and other military supplies. The final bill far exceeded the two million yen budget. Yang Jiefang relentlessly haggled until the total was below two million yen; however, the tonnage of the armed merchant ship was also reduced to a standard displacement of only 500 tons, fortunately enough to navigate inland waterways. With so many supplies, it was impossible to openly deliver them in Yantai. Although his father-in-law could help with the accounting, the supplies couldn't be kept secret. Yang Jiefang planned to find a suitable location in Jiahe, Fushan, or Wulonghe, Laiyang, to build a temporary dock. He only had one month to prepare, a tight schedule. Delivery would begin after one month, with the goal of completing the transaction within three months.

Having finalized the procurement agreement, Yang Jiefang continued, "Mr. Nakamura, now you can share your thoughts on this futures transaction!" Nakamura Yoshio replied, "I will represent the 21st Bank to sign the futures purchase agreement. If we make a profit, I will give you 30% of the profits." Yang Jiefang immediately shook his head, saying, "Mr. Nakamura, I have always emphasized that our relationship is like brothers. When two brothers partner in business, profits are naturally split 50/50. Our cooperation is long-term, and I hope for a good start." Nakamura Yoshio was somewhat helpless but had to agree, since the plan was proposed by Yang Jiefang, and he needed Yang Jiefang to create the profit-making conditions. Yang Jiefang then added, "The amount of this transaction cannot be too small. I don't plan to repay your three million loan; it will be deducted from the profits. If there is any surplus, I will use it to purchase supplies from your country." Nakamura Yoshio expressed his appreciation, his face beaming with joy.

Jiang Tingxuan had been the one to broker the cooperation between Yang Jiefang and Nakamura Yoshio, but now he was relegated to the role of a mere spectator, which he found hard to accept. However, he knew that if he wanted a share of the profits, he had to demonstrate his value. So, after their discussion, Jiang Tingxuan said, "Young Yang, you brought me in, but I'm not really involved in the whole plan." Yang Jiefang turned around and smiled, "How could you not be involved? There's a very important task for you: to drastically raise the purchase price of agricultural products in Yantai, the higher the better." Jiang Tingxuan was a smart man; he understood immediately. This meant he had to artificially inflate prices while actually acquiring very few goods. Nakamura Yoshio nodded, "Mr. Jiang, please rest assured! After it's done, we will fully consider your interests. The purchase orders we agreed on this time will also be sold through you, which will avoid some unnecessary trouble." Jiang Tingxuan immediately felt relieved.

The three men agreed on their respective profit-sharing ratios and were quite satisfied. After chatting casually for a while, Jiang Tingxuan suddenly asked, "Xiao Yang, what's the current scale of the industrial base you've built here? Could you take us to see it?" Yang Jiefang immediately replied, "Of course, you deserve some credit for this. However, the industrial park is in Xujiadian at the foot of the mountain. I passed by there yesterday on my way back up the mountain but didn't go in. If you want to see it, you can go now; there's just enough time." He then instructed Wang Dali and Chen Ergou to prepare their horses, and they went down the mountain to Xujiadian together.

The industrial park is located on the banks of the Fulong River, separated from Xujiadian Main Street by a body of water. The vermicelli factory was the first processing plant to be completed, but it is currently shut down, with the crusher used to process pig feed. Other processing plants, such as a feed mill, flour mill, and oil press, are under construction. The clothing factory, although already in operation, is still expanding; additional supporting facilities, such as a spinning mill and a weaving mill, are in the planning stages.

Two miles downstream from this industrial park, there are two other large-scale farms: a pig farm and a chicken farm. The pig farm originally had over two hundred breeding pigs, and now it has imported dozens of white breeding pigs from Southeast Asia, bringing the total number of breeding pigs to three hundred. Nearly one hundred local black sows have successfully bred with white boars and are currently in their farrowing period. The gestation period for pigs is about four months, and with proper feeding, they can reach marketable age in about six months. It is expected that we can eat pork from this new breed during the Chinese New Year this year.

The chicken farm had already hatched a batch of chicks, more than 20,000 in total. Without temperature control equipment, Yang Jiefang had to use the most primitive incubation method. He selected over 800 hens to incubate the eggs together, with each hen responsible for incubating 30 eggs. Approximately 26 eggs were successfully hatched. After the chicks hatched, they were forcibly separated from their mothers, who were quickly used to incubate the second batch.

He Huan, the technical director, accompanied the delegation throughout the process, ready to provide consultation. Yang Jiefang focused on inspecting the sanitation conditions and specifically instructed that disease prevention and control measures must be strengthened. It's worth mentioning that Bai He was also assigned to work at Xujiadian, serving as the accountant there.