boyutpedia Chapter 1247 Officialdom Tradition
Chapter 1247 Officialdom Tradition
To be honest, in the past, if you wanted to do this, basically no one would say anything. After all, it was a tradition in officialdom. If you didn't take some bribes, what would the officials above and below you think of you? If you were stuck in the middle and didn't line your own pockets, it would be equivalent to cutting off the source of income for officials above and below you, which would be detrimental to unity.
But the situation is different now. We are in a time of national crisis, and every penny is the result of the savings of Chinese people at home and abroad, a manifestation of their patriotism. If you still want to embezzle this money at this time, then you are really going too far.
The Nationalist government officials discussed the matter extensively, partly due to pressure from overseas Chinese communities. They expected to receive second and third batches of donations. If this first batch failed to materialize, subsequent donations would likely not continue to arrive. Even if those people were incredibly patriotic, they wouldn't allow you to embezzle their donations, would they?
After a series of consultations with Li Shaoyi, the Nationalist government decided to allocate 3000 million silver dollars in donations for the purchase of arms. This batch of arms was precisely the Japanese weaponry that Li Shaoyi had acquired in Shanghai. This amount of weaponry was enough to arm a division; for the Nationalist government, it would be enough for three infantry divisions.
Besides these items, Li Shaoyi added quite a few other things. In short, everyone would say that buying these weapons for 3000 million silver dollars during wartime was truly a very profitable deal.
All the details were published in the newspapers. The overseas Chinese community is a significant force, but you can't treat them like fools. If you treat them like fools, don't expect them to donate to you next time. Although the Nationalist government thought Li Shaoyi's actions were somewhat excessive—after all, using newspapers to monitor officials at all levels is tantamount to eliminating most of the benefits—…
But Li Shaoyi insisted on doing it this way. If the Nationalist government didn't do it this way, then our arms deal could have come to an end. You have to do this because you're receiving donations, don't give me any excuses about state secrecy. Even if we don't publish it in the newspapers, do you think the Japanese won't get the news? As far as the various departments in Chongqing are concerned, the word "secrecy" is practically meaningless.
After Li Shaoyi arrived in the mountain city, the Japanese spies on the streets and alleys did not become much less discreet. Therefore, under Li Shaoyi's crackdown, nearly 70 Japanese spies were apprehended within two days. These men all had legitimate identities, and without careful investigation, it was impossible to know how long they would remain hidden.
It was precisely because of this that the Nationalist government's intelligence agencies faced widespread condemnation. "After arriving in Chongqing, you kept saying you'd eliminate all these Japanese spies. But what exactly have you been doing? Why are these people still able to operate so freely throughout the city? Are we supposed to wait for the 72nd Army to do everything? You might as well just give them your operating expenses!"
In response to the condemnation from various sectors in the newspapers, the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics held meetings for several days, devising one suppression plan after another. Li Shaoyi wasn't saying that he necessarily wanted to offend these people, but the situation had reached a point where offending them was unavoidable. "You all came to this mountain city to escape for your lives, and you shouldn't be neglecting to clean it up properly. Instead, you're busy thinking about all sorts of dances and other unimportant meetings. How can that be acceptable?"
If Li Shaoyi had been in charge of Shancheng, probably more than 60% of the officials would have been dismissed by now. These guys were quite tense on the battlefield, but after fleeing to Shancheng, they were suddenly affected by the atmosphere here.
The initial tension had completely dissipated. Continuing like this would only lead to their slow decline. Furthermore, Li Shaoyi had discovered all sorts of luxury goods in the mountain city. While it's normal for these things to appear in Huangpu, it was a bit excessive for them to travel across the vast Yangtze River to reach the mountain city.
Of course, the lives of the powerful and wealthy can never be simple, no matter the circumstances. Li Shaoyi had heard before that even in the most difficult times, strategic aircraft were used to transport luxury goods for them. Of course, he hadn't been caught doing that. If he had, he would have certainly made those people live a much more comfortable life.
The airline business has also begun to shrink significantly because we failed to secure foreign investment, so we are now unable to control the Japanese. According to Li Shaoyi's previous plan, we should have sought foreign investment so that we could use it to counter the Japanese in the coming period.
However, the other partner, focused on their own profits, had no interest in the matter. So, the project was stalled. Currently, aside from small-scale transport, all the remaining pilots have been recalled by Li Shaoyi. There was no other way; could they just stay here staring at each other all day?
While the airline generated profits for Li Shaoyi, it also trained a considerable number of transport plane pilots. This was arguably the area where Li Shaoyi didn't lose money. As for the remaining small airline, it could only be handed over to that person.
Mountain City West Warehouse
After the transfer of funds was completed, weapons and equipment worth tens of millions of silver dollars were to be handed over here. Everyone involved was dumbfounded. They thought they had almost completely controlled the mountain city, but such a large batch of equipment had been transported in ahead of schedule. How did they manage to get it in?
Of course, these people didn't have time to think about that now, mainly because the equipment in front of them was intended to arm the newly formed army, and there was also a batch of equipment to supplement the original elite troops, so everyone focused their attention on this batch of equipment.
"Old Hu, come take a look. These are Japanese Type 38 rifles, absolutely top-of-the-line. But the question is, where did Commander Li get them? They even have gun oil still on them, they're brand new. How could the Japanese produce such a large batch of Type 38 rifles for Commander Li?"
"I don't know," said Director Liao, who was in charge of equipment procurement at the Ministry of Military Affairs, somewhat surprised. The "Old Hu" he was referring to was the deputy director of his department. Two people representing the Ministry of Military Affairs came to receive the equipment. Not far away were people from the 72nd Group Army, who stood by without saying a word, their attitude being that they would only answer questions if asked, otherwise they would leave it at that.