Like Takeshi Ishikawa, a member of a collateral branch of the family, the only way for him to get ahead was to join the army and make a living.
Ning Zhiheng's cover identity, Fujiwara Tomohito, had an even more tragic past. His family had fallen into poverty, and his living conditions were no better than those of ordinary people. After his parents died, his sister married far away, and he could not support himself in China. That's why he boarded a ship to immigrate to China. However, he contracted an illness as soon as he disembarked and died in the hospital. He was extremely destitute.
Therefore, after leaving the country, these people harbored considerable resentment towards their direct descendants. Their obsession was to achieve success abroad and bring glory to their homeland.
Takeshi Ishikawa was in this situation, and he was indeed short of money. He was overjoyed to hear that Ning Zhiheng was willing to do business with him.
Ning Zhiheng asked again, "Ishikawa-kun, do you know that General Uehara is still in Shanghai? I just got back and was planning to visit him, since the general has been very kind to me!"
When Ishikawa Takeshi heard this, he already knew what was going on. He knew that when the war was about to break out, Fujiwara Tomohito was in Shanghai, but he left soon after. The young men and men who were temporarily recruited in the early stages of the war suffered heavy losses.
It's likely that Fujiwara-kun's ability to leave Shanghai and seek refuge in Hong Kong before the war situation became clear was due to a warning from General Uehara.
“General Uehara is currently on the front lines in Nanjing. The situation is progressing smoothly, and it is estimated that the battle line will continue to advance after Nanjing. As the person in charge of military intelligence, he is unlikely to return in the short term,” Ishikawa Takeshi replied.
"However, there should be an opportunity. After all, Shanghai is the headquarters of the East China intelligence agency, and General Uehara will return to take charge of the work sooner or later."
Ning Zhiheng nodded and continued, "Today I found a middleman to help me find and purchase a property. I plan to stay in Shanghai for a long time. I hope Mr. Ishikawa will take good care of me in the future!"
Ishikawa Takeshi was even more pleased to hear Ning Zhiheng's words. Ning Zhiheng's intention to stay in Shanghai for an extended period showed that he really valued his proposal, which made the business of the trading company even more secure.
He inquired about Ning Zhiheng's specific situation in detail and immediately nodded, saying, "I understand. These brokers are unreliable; they're just trying to find connections by spending money. To be on the safe side, I'll go to the city hall and ask. These properties where Chinese people are staying should be under their jurisdiction. I can reserve one for myself; it shouldn't be a problem."
Ning Zhiheng said with a smile, "With Ishikawa-kun stepping in, there's no problem. Thank you!"
Takeshi Ishikawa shook his head at Ning Zhiheng, pointed at him with his finger, and said nonchalantly, "Fujiwara-kun, you're still too much of a scholar. Do we need to be polite to those merchants? If you just bring out the name of your Fujiwara family, how dare they compete with us?"
His meaning was clear: those who wanted to buy good properties were nothing more than ordinary businessmen. However, Japanese society is clearly divided into classes, and if aristocrats were involved in the buying, ordinary businessmen generally would not compete with them.
Ning Zhiheng understood this, of course. However, his noble status meant he wasn't afraid of being investigated in China. But if he acted too ostentatiously, it might attract the attention of those with ulterior motives, and if they really investigated further, it would be hard to say that there wouldn't be any problems.
So he had originally planned to solve the problem with money, and now that Ishikawa Takeshi was willing to step in, he was naturally more than happy to do so.
The two discussed and agreed on the matter, and talked for a long time before stopping drinking and driving back to the Spring Hotel, where they parted ways.
That very evening, in a villa in the French Concession, Huo Yueze and Ji Hongyi were sitting opposite Phillips, the military attaché of the American consulate.
Phillips was in his early forties, tall, with blond curly hair typical of Westerners, and deep-set eyes that gleamed with a sharp light.
“Mr. Chen, it was indeed a very wise choice for you to come to me. I wonder how I can help you?” Phillips asked with a smile in fluent Chinese.
“Mr. Phillips, let’s get straight to the point. I want to purchase a batch of TNT and some weapons as quickly as possible. Here is the list,” Huo Yueze said, handing a list to Phillips.
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