lerbook Chapter 125 The End of the Japanese Merchant Guild
Chapter 125 The End of the Japanese Merchant Guild
May 30, 1925, Shanghai, Chen Mansion.
Chen Zijun sat in his study, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.
On the table lay a telegram sent by Shen Li, containing only four words: "The person has been received."
He smiled slightly, folded the telegram, and put it in the drawer.
The matter in Beiping is settled. Next, it's time to settle the accounts in Shanghai.
At the same time.
The second floor of the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai in the International Settlement.
The entire floor was filled with a suffocating and oppressive atmosphere.
A dozen or so Japanese businessmen in suits were crammed into an office, their faces all bearing an indescribable ashen pallor. Some were smoking incessantly, their ashtrays overflowing with cigarette butts. Others sat motionless in a corner, their heads in their hands. Still others stared at the telephone on the table as if it were a bomb ready to explode at any moment.
Fujiba Shotaro stood by the window, clutching a crumpled telegram in his hand.
That was sent from headquarters in Tokyo early this morning.
The telegram was very short, consisting of only one line:
"Mitsui headquarters is aware of this matter. The Imperial Ministry of Commerce requires your department to bear all losses independently. You are not permitted to seek assistance from any party in the name of the Empire. Under no circumstances should you request assistance from any other party. Remember this."
Bear the costs yourself.
The four words, like four knives, pierced Fujiba Shotaro's heart.
The 30 million yen short position was completely wiped out by the massive amount of British pounds mobilized by Mo Huixin. Not only was the margin completely lost, but the company also owed the exchange an astronomical sum in default penalties.
According to the contract terms, today is the final settlement day. If the equivalent amount of raw silk cannot be delivered, the difference must be made up in cash at the current market price.
The current price of raw silk has been driven to an all-time high by Mo Huixin.
In other words, they will not only have to lose their principal of 30 million yen, but also have to pay an additional penalty several times the principal.
The total loss, calculated in monetary terms, exceeds 120 million yen.
This figure is enough to bankrupt the entire Mitsui branch in China and could even drag down the balance sheet of the Tokyo headquarters.
After all, the total assets of Mitsui are only a few hundred million yen. This is a serious blow!
Shotaro Fujiba slowly turned around.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his cheeks were deeply sunken, as if he had aged twenty years overnight.
"Consul Inoue..." His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, "I...I have failed the Empire's trust."
In the corner, Hideo Inoue, who had been silent all along, suddenly stood up.
Snapped!
A resounding slap landed hard on Fujiba Shotaro's face.
Snapped!
Then came another blow.
Fujiba Shotaro didn't dodge. He didn't even sway his body. He just stood there, letting a trickle of blood seep from the corner of his mouth.
"Fool!" Inoue Hideo roared through gritted teeth. "The commercial network the Empire spent ten years building in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has been destroyed by you alone! Ten years! Do you know what that means?!"
Shotaro Fujiba did not answer.
He simply lowered his head slowly and then bowed deeply to Hideo Inoue.
"Your Excellency, please allow me... to apologize to the Empire in the manner of a samurai."
……
Half an hour later.
In a Japanese-style room on the third floor of the consulate.
Fujiba Shotaro changed into a pure white kimono and knelt on a tatami mat covered with a white cloth. In front of him lay a short sword and a written suicide note.
He closed his eyes.
Many images flashed through my mind.
He recalled his confident and triumphant departure from Tokyo. He remembered the exhilarating feeling of mastering the short-selling plan. He remembered the words he uttered with Hideo Inoue at the consulate when they clinked glasses—"Within three months, Chinese silk will be as cheap as toilet paper."
But he never expected that behind the Chen family army was an inexhaustible gold mine.
That woman named Mo Huixin, in a way he couldn't understand at all, spent pounds far exceeding thirty million yen.
He lost.
They lost completely.
Fujiba Shotaro opened his eyes, picked up the short sword, and drew it from its sheath.
A flash of white light.
……
at the same time.
The Shanghai International Settlement, the International Exchange Building.
Wearing a neatly tailored navy blue cheongsam and black high-heeled leather shoes, Mo Huixin, accompanied by two lawyers and four plainclothes guards from the Chen family army, entered the Mitsui & Co. office in Shanghai.
The office was in a mess.
Documents were scattered all over the floor, the safe was wide open, and several Japanese employees were frantically burning the documents.
"Stop." Mo Huixin's voice wasn't loud, but it was as cold as a scalpel. "Not a single piece of paper is allowed to be burned."
Plainclothes guards quickly stepped forward, stopped the burning, and brought everyone to a stop.
Mo Huixin took out a thick stack of contract documents from her briefcase and laid them out on the table.
"This is proof of Mitsui & Co.'s default on all futures contracts in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. According to the settlement rules of the international exchange, you should make up all the default penalties and delivery differences by 5:00 PM today. If you fail to perform by the deadline, we have the right to apply for the seizure of all your enforceable assets in China in accordance with the contract terms."
The Japanese employees opposite looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.
Mo Huixin waited for five seconds.
"Very good," she said calmly. "Since there are no objections, please sign the confirmation letter."
No one moved.
Mo Huixin didn't urge them. She simply turned her head slightly and nodded to the lawyer behind her.
The lawyer stepped forward and cleared his throat: "According to Commercial Arbitration Order No. 217 of the Shanghai Municipal Council of the International Settlement, if your party fails to perform its obligations under this order, we have the right to immediately apply to the Municipal Council for enforcement. At that time, all of your real estate, warehouses, docks, inventory goods, and all funds in your bank accounts in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions will be seized and frozen in accordance with the law."
This time, an older Japanese employee finally picked up the pen, his hands trembling.
Mo Huixin stood aside, watching them sign the confirmation letter one by one.
Her eyes remained completely expressionless.
……
evening.
The sky over Shanghai was burned blood red by the sunset.
Starting at 3 p.m., people began jumping from the high-rise buildings in the International Settlement.
First, a senior accountant at the Mitsui & Co. office in Shanghai jumped from the fourth floor and died instantly.
Then there were two small and medium-sized Japanese businessmen who followed the trend and shorted the market. One of them cut the artery in his wrist with a razor blade in a trading company in the Japanese concession, and the other swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills.
Then came the compradors and collaborators who had been recruited by the Japanese. They not only lost everything but also incurred huge debts. Some knelt at the door of their creditors, begging for mercy; some packed their belongings and prepared to flee overnight; and some... chose the most decisive way.
On the rooftop of an apartment building on Nanjing Road, people lined up to jump off.
The passing police officers didn't even have time to collect the body.
When the news reached the Chen residence, Mo Huixin was sitting in the living room organizing documents.
She held a list in her hand—a detailed list of all of Mitsui & Co.'s assets that had been seized in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions.
Seventeen warehouses, three docks, two silk factories, one tea processing factory, and shops and land scattered in Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Huzhou, with a total value exceeding eighteen million yen.
From today onwards, all of these things will bear the surname Chen.
Mo Huixin closed the list, stood up, walked to the study door, and gently knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Chen Zijun was standing by the window, a cigar between his fingers, watching the sky gradually darken outside.
"Young Marshal," Mo Huixin walked up behind him and handed him the asset list, "We've acquired all the Japanese businesses in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The breach of contract penalties plus the seized assets are conservatively estimated to be worth over 42 million yen. Also, Fujiba Shotaro of Mitsui & Co..."
She paused.
"He has already committed seppuku inside the consulate."
Chen Zijun took the list, flipped through a few pages casually, and then placed it on the table.
"So what if he's dead?" He exhaled a puff of smoke, his tone as indifferent as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him. "It's just interest."
He turned around and looked at Mo Huixin.
"Tonight, there's another big show at the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce. Those silk merchants who were almost ruined by the Japanese should now know who saved them, right?"
Mo Huixin nodded slightly: "Zhang Jialiang has formally extended an invitation to you for the dinner on behalf of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Silk Merchants Association."
"Alright." Chen Zijun stubbed out his cigar, a meaningful smile playing on his lips. "Not a single debt will be left uncollected..."