frightfiction Chapter 1089 Arrangements for Hong Kong
Chapter 1089 Arrangements for Hong Kong
When this topic came up, Wang Xiaoshou became serious.
"Master Lin, Hong Kong is very prosperous, but the situation in Hong Kong is also very serious. Starting five years ago, a large amount of capital, industry, machinery and equipment and technical personnel from Shanghai and other places poured into Hong Kong. At one point, the population of Hong Kong exceeded 1.6 million. This place originally had no industrial base, but after just a few years of development, the output of various industrial sectors has become quite astonishing."
Wang Xiaoshou organized his thoughts and continued.
"Take cotton textiles for example. Now, the major yarn mills in the port city, such as Yong'an, Nanfeng, Gangcheng Cotton Textile, and Kowloon Yarn Mill, produce more than 400,000 spindles per year, which has surpassed Shanghai in terms of output and far exceeds that of the island city. The knitting industry in the port city is also very developed. According to statistics, there are more than 400 knitting factories, and there are more than 10,000 hand-cranked sock knitting machines alone."
"In addition, there are match factories and enamelware factories, whose match exports account for about a quarter of the world's match exports."
"The most important thing, and the one I've been focusing on the most this year, is the rubber industry. At first, I didn't understand it, but later I realized that we can't live without rubber now! The shoes we wear need rubber, the wheels of our cars need rubber, and a large amount of weapons and equipment also need rubber. Now, more than 80 percent of the country's rubber production is in the port city. The Japanese have requisitioned a lot of rubber factories in the port city, but they are not managing them very well. We can completely use our connections to control the rubber industry in the port city!"
As Wang Xiaoshou said, Hong Kong is very prosperous now, but the problems are also very serious. In short, Hong Kong is now in the refugee economy stage.
Previously, due to the war, the port city, which was under British control, became a refuge for many people. The wealthy flocked there and moved their factories there. The relatively cheap land in the port city made it possible to rebuild these factories.
At the same time, the large influx of refugees into the port city provided these factories with a large amount of cheap labor. This cheap labor was truly cheap, requiring only extremely low wages, or even no wages at all, just food.
This led to a significant increase in the competitiveness of industrial products in the port city. For example, as mentioned earlier, Western match companies simply could not reduce costs to such a low level, and could only let Hong Kong-funded match factories seize the market.
This economic model will soon come to an end.
The Japanese have been in control of the port city for a year now. They have mainly done three things. The first is to requisition factories.
Everything useful to the military, such as rubber and enamelware, was confiscated. The remaining yarn factories, clothing factories, and knitting factories were also forced to supply military clothing.
Secondly, the issuance of military scrip led to rapid inflation. Now, a kilogram of rice costs more than 500 military scrips. People's money has become worthless due to inflation, and many people even have to catch rats to eat to survive.
Thirdly, after the Japanese occupied the port, they abolished the Municipal Council and other institutions, and the Military Police Headquarters was unable to govern effectively, leading to the port falling into a state of complete disorder.
Impoverished people built numerous wooden huts in Kowloon Walled City, Diamond Hill, and Tiu Keng Leng, leading to frequent fire tragedies. The lack of clean water and municipal management systems became minor issues.
Lin Ze asked, "How's Tanabe Ken doing?"
Wang Xiaoshou thought for a moment, "I've met him two or three times, and he's been very polite to me. When I came back this time, he even went to Victoria Harbour to see me off and asked me to give him my regards. It's just that he's only been in office for a short time, so it's hard to tell what's going on yet. But it seems that he's more focused on the power structure and is neither good at nor very interested in business matters."
Lin Ze nodded. "Xie Quan, why don't you tell us about the situation in Jidong as well?"
Their group has a very large operation, so since they finally met, they should introduce themselves so that everyone can understand the tasks they are responsible for and not be completely clueless.
Xie Quan had prepared to report this.
"Master Lin, as per your instructions, the Security Army Command has strengthened its control over eastern Hebei. Centered on Ji County, our people have been deployed to surrounding counties, important villages and towns, and key transportation points. Among them, the number of puppet troops that I can fully control has increased to two divisions. By 'fully control,' I mean that they can completely ignore the orders of the Japanese and carry out the orders of my General Staff. As for the rest, even if they have to consider the opinions of the Japanese, they are not too afraid to disobey my orders."
“We have deliberately left a lot of blank areas in the countryside, except for county towns and important villages. We have now maintained a good understanding with the people in the Red Area. They are developing well in the countryside, but whether they will turn eastern Hebei into their new base remains to be seen.”
Lin Ze nodded. "How did you solve the communication problem? It's mainly about communication. Full and smooth communication can reduce a lot of trouble. After all, Okamura is keeping an eye on things, so you can't be too blatant."
"Currently, communication at the higher levels mainly relies on Duan Wenxuan. Below, there should also be quite a few channels of communication within the Red Zone. I haven't controlled them very tightly. As far as I know, some junior officers in the Security Forces have a lot of contact with the Red Zone, mainly because they're afraid of being implicated in something. So everyone keeps it a secret. The Red Zone is also quite cautious in their actions, trying not to cause too much of a stir. If we need to launch a siege, they will cooperate and temporarily withdraw from some areas. Then I'll arrest some thugs and hooligans and hand them over."
After chatting for so long, Lin Ze laughed and said, "Look at me, I've turned a meal into a meeting again. Come on, let's have another drink. The New Year is almost here, so you should all take a good rest. You've all worked hard this year."
The three of them said in unison, "It's not hard work!"
Then they toasted each other and chatted about light topics.
Finally, Wang Xiaoshou, having drunk too much, sat with a cigarette between his fingers and reminisced with Zhu Zi about the past.
Zhu Zi's alcohol tolerance was unfathomable. He ate a sesame seed cake rolled with pig's head meat while clinking glasses with Wang Xiaoshou.
Finally, Wang Xiaoshou slid under the table, while Zhu Zi continued eating his sesame seed cake roll with pig's head meat as if nothing had happened.
After settling Wang Xiaoshou in, Xie Quan went back to the signing room of Lin's mansion with Lin Ze. Lin Ze had more plans regarding the security forces, but it wasn't convenient to discuss them too deeply in the restaurant. Now was the perfect time to go back and talk about it.
That evening, Lin Ze called Miyamoto over again and talked to him about things in the port city.
Miyamoto patted his chest and said, "Master Lin, as long as you give the word, I'll do whatever you say. Those factories in Hong Kong that are under military control are easy to deal with. I have a good relationship with the Director General of the Military Supply Station. These factories are under the Director General's responsibility. At worst, we'll just put up a token amount of money and buy them over."