People in the Republic of China era began to rise from industry.

Yu Xingmin is a nobody, not worth Lin Yi's attention.

Having scorned the other party's delusional thinking, he instructed Liu Jing, "Make me a list of those who oppose this, and I'll visit them one by one later."

Although Fenghua Textile Equipment Factory was his business, Lin Yi rarely interfered with its specific operations.

Jing Zhizhong and Liu Jing were handling it all.

So, to be honest, he didn't really know many people in the Shanghai textile industry.

Since we don't know each other, there's naturally no grudge between us.

The reason these people oppose helping their competitors is simply because they worry that supporting those competitors will dilute their own market share.

So as long as they are told that the future market is large enough, these concerns will disappear...

Liu Jing got off the bus halfway, and Lin Yi went straight back to the Lin Mansion, which he hadn't visited for more than two months.

Upon hearing the horn, the maid who rushed to open the door exclaimed joyfully, "Young Master is back!" and saw Uncle Nan hurrying out to greet him.

Just like six months ago, Lin Yi came to Ferguson Road for the first time.

"Young Master, was the journey smooth?"

Uncle Nan looked somewhat agitated.

Then, she said somewhat angrily, "Why didn't anyone tell me you were coming back today? Otherwise, I would have gone to the dock to pick you up."

Lin Yi was gone for more than two months. Although he sent two telegrams to let us know he was safe and sound, he also sent a telegram to inform us when he returned.

But even though they were thousands of miles apart, Uncle Nan couldn't help but worry.

If he had known Lin Yi was coming back today, he would have definitely gone to the harbor to wait for him.

“I specifically instructed them to keep this from you.”

Lin Yi smiled and explained, "It's just a business trip, there's no need to make a big fuss."

Of course, this is just an excuse.

He made quite a few preparations at the dock today.

Besides picking up his own racing team and his company's underlings, Ruan Jianyu also led a group of people to operate in the shadows.

Preventing assassination was one aspect, but another was guarding against someone inviting him for tea at the harbor.

He doesn't plan to go into that kind of thing; he won't argue, he'll just take action if necessary.

The scene might be a bit big.

He worried that the mature and steady Uncle Nan would stop him.

After all, they were underground party members, and they were always used to avoiding trouble.

As he was speaking, he noticed Uncle Nan glancing behind him and immediately began to introduce him.

"This is Theo Smith, a famous lawyer I specially brought back from Wall Street. From now on, all legal matters related to our company's business can be handled by Theo."

Lin Yi introduced the situation with a smile on his face.

Theo was indeed a notorious lawyer on Wall Street, whom he poached at great expense.

Theo's next task was to deal with the Feng Hua Metallurgical Plant.

In total, nearly 10,000 tons of iron ore were seized; this debt cannot be settled lightly.

Fenghua Investment, the US company that is the major shareholder, has to settle accounts with the government for every single loss the metallurgical plant suffered during the shutdown.

Besides Theo, two other somewhat well-known American boxers were hired by him as bodyguards.

It's not for showing off, but mainly to use them as human shields in crucial moments.

This operation, in truth, is both laughable and pathetic.

But since they are already irreconcilable enemies, he will not hesitate to cause trouble for the other party.

Listening to Lin Yi's introduction, Uncle Nan was filled with emotion.

With foreigners already working for them, the Lin family is truly becoming more and more impressive...

After exchanging pleasantries, Lin Yi didn't inquire about Uncle Nan's recent situation.

He had already made the necessary openings after dealing with Huang Jinyong.

The supply of medicine was plentiful. As for how Uncle Nan would obtain large quantities of medicine, Lin Yi didn't know and had no interest in investigating.

Uncle Nan, however, inquired about the Fenghua Metallurgical Factory.

He was somewhat worried.

After all, this is no longer a matter of personal grudges.

Given his status as an underground party member, it would be good enough if he didn't hold anyone back, let alone help them.

When he heard Lin Yi say that Theo, the foreign lawyer, would handle the matter, Uncle Nan felt much more at ease.

There's a saying that everything has its counter, and it's common knowledge that people in Nanjing fear foreigners.

To put Uncle Nan at ease, Lin Yi took Theo to the study, gave him a general overview of what he needed to do next, and then had him sent away.

They lived in a villa next to the Lin Mansion.

That was arranged for Liu Jing to buy it beforehand.

The two boxers who acted as human shields, as well as the people brought by Ruan Jianyu, also lived there.

Lin Yi lit a cigarette for himself and then instructed Ah Sheng, "Go to Jinling tomorrow and give Shen An 300,000."

"Tell him that no matter who he gives gifts to, he must find a way to get the position of deputy director of the Secret Service."

One layer of protection is still too weak, especially after the attack has begun.

Promoting Shen An to a higher position will certainly make intelligence gathering much easier.

After a period of calm, and once Dai Yunong is removed, Shen An has a high chance of taking over as head of the Special Service Department.

If all else fails, we'll just throw in another sum of money.

With this mole in place, we can figure out a way to infiltrate the investigation department later, and his safety will be basically guaranteed...

I'll rest at home for a day.

The next day, lawyer Theo and Liu Jing signed a series of documents at the company headquarters at Pier 3.

Fenghua Metallurgical Plant thus became a foreign-invested enterprise.

That afternoon, Theo began his investigation and evidence collection with great enthusiasm.

He is extremely skilled at suing the government.

He will show his employer what true value for money really means...

Lin Yi wasn't idle either. He took the list given to him by Liu Jing, selected a few of the most important people, and began his visitation itinerary.

Import taxes on finished products were reduced, while import taxes on raw materials were increased.

Regardless of whether Nanjing made these decisions out of desperation or for some other reason.

For a full six months, the domestic textile industry was in dire straits.

The losses were particularly severe for large textile factories.

Therefore, the entire industry shares a consistent attitude towards the Nationalist government: they are full of resentment.

This is especially true of Wu Rongsheng, who holds the top position in Shanghai's textile industry.

His Dahua Textile Factory has a history of more than 20 years.

Ten years ago, during the European competition, Wu Rongsheng seized the opportunity.

By leveraging this, they launched an export business and quickly expanded Dahua Cotton Mill, which originally had only two hundred workers, to a scale of more than six thousand.

Although the European textile industry began to recover rapidly after the end of the European war, Dahua's export business never stopped thanks to its low labor costs.

Even its market share hasn't shrunk much.

However, with the new tariffs taking effect, Dahua Textile Mill's production costs have risen sharply.

Compared to its domestic counterparts like Ando Textile Factory, which specialize in the domestic market, Dahua faces an additional constraint—the export tax on finished products has doubled.

With several factors combined, and the need to maintain his market share in Europe from being eroded, he was really losing a lot of money.

If it weren't for the emergence of Feng Hua's new production line, Wu Rongsheng, who had been waiting for a turnaround, would have already been hesitating between shutting down the business or forming a joint venture with foreign companies.

So when Liu Jing, representing Fenghua Textile Equipment, visited him and said he planned to establish a new industry association to negotiate relevant tax rates with the government, he wholeheartedly supported it.

However, he doesn't really approve of supporting his peers.

The possibility that raising tigers could become a problem is a concern.

Another concern he had was that expanding production capacity too quickly could lead to internal power struggles...