flstandardbreds Chapter 1023 Disaster (1)
Chapter 1023 Disaster (1)
The cold came earlier this year, and by October, we couldn’t wear any thin clothes anymore.
The current hunger is more unbearable than the coming cold.
Yang Congxuan is a scholar who farms the land.
When he was young, his family was well-off and he attended a private school for a few years. However, he stopped studying after the imperial examination was abolished.
Unlike other children, he did not go to the new-style primary school in the county or even the province to study. Instead, he picked up a hoe and helped his parents with farm work, only occasionally picking up the thread-bound books he used to read when he was in school.
During the Central Plains War, Yang Congxuan's parents were killed by a cannonball while fleeing from the war.
Three years later, Yang Congxuan married a woman who had fled famine from elsewhere. Yang Congxuan often laughed at her and said, "You're fleeing famine in our area? We don't even know where to flee to!"
Then it was still a normal day.
The Zhili clique came and plundered for a while, the Anhui clique came and plundered for a while, the Zhensong Army came and plundered severely for a while.
The family's thin land was sold one acre at a time. In the end, there were only two acres of irrigated land left, but Yang Congxuan refused to sell it no matter what.
The villagers all laughed and said, "Mr. Yang, you have to rely on these two acres of irrigated land to revive your family business!"
Yang Congxuan always responded gently, "I can't make a fortune from this land, but I still have a hope!"
Then he began to talk about things like those who have constant property have constant perseverance, and farming and studying are the legacy of the family, which caused bursts of laughter.
Two years after being laughed at, Yang Congxuan's son was born.
After being laughed at for another two years, Yang Congxuan converted the irrigated land into a vegetable garden, tended a batch of fruits and vegetables, and took the trouble to carry them to the city with his wife to sell them. He even rebuilt the gatehouse of his house!
The villagers stopped laughing.
After Yang Congxuan finished building the gatehouse, he built the auxiliary rooms. After finishing the auxiliary rooms, he gradually bought back the small plots of land that he had sold before.
As his son grew up and reached school age, Yang Congxuan started to educate his son at home and named him Yang Zhenye.
He now firmly believed that the Yang family's chance to revive its reputation had come. After the harvest next year, he would tear down the main house and rebuild it!
Then the Japanese came.
First there was a flood, then there was a sweep, grain collection, and conscription.
Another escape.
My daughter-in-law fell ill in the rain and left this world in fear.
When Yang Congxuan returned home with his son, he found that only two or three out of ten people were left in the village, with only broken walls and tiles left, which was a shocking sight.
Yang Congxuan still did not give up. He picked out usable items from the burned house and built a shack on the edge of the field.
No longer having the time to read books, Yang Congxuan devoted himself to the fields, planting melons, vegetables, sweet potatoes and wheat.
After three or four years, Yang Congxuan finally built three more earthen houses.
He picked up the book again and said, "Zhenye, you are almost ten years old. These past two years have delayed your entry into school. You must work twice as hard in the future. I can't find a suitable teacher right now, and the new school in the city is closed. Come, let Dad teach you first."
"Heaven versus Earth."
"Heaven versus Earth."
"Rain versus wind."
"Rain versus wind."
"The mainland versus the sky."
"The mainland versus the sky."
................
旱！
Severe drought!
Yang Congxuan looked at the barren crops, his lips cracked.
But he is no longer as confused and painful as he once was.
Fate has hit him too many times, and although he did not surrender, he no longer has the strong will he once had.
But no matter what, Zhenye must survive!
As long as you live, there is hope!
He led Zhenye and headed west first, then to the Pinghan Line, where they boarded a train heading north.
I don’t know where my destination is, and I don’t know where I can survive.
But if you stay you will only starve to death, there is hope if you go out!
..............
Tianjin, Lin Mansion.
"Master Lin, a considerable number of disaster victims have already gathered in northern Henan and Shandong Province. This is just the beginning. In a month or two..."
Lin Ze said decisively: "How are the food reserves?"
"Master Lin, over a year ago, we secretly purchased grain from the Americans and the British, using the two million dollars we got from Chen Junyan. We purchased over 800,000 bushels of staple food, about 19,000 tons, and over 40,000 tons of various grains. But the problem now is that even though we still have hundreds of thousands of dollars left to spend on grain purchases, the large-scale grain transportation routes have been cut off. Although the American grain transportation route was previously cut off, we could still purchase grain from Bangladesh through Gangcheng. But not long ago, the Japanese cut off the route from Dongxiang and Bangladesh to Gangcheng..."
I have to say that the supplies in the United States are shockingly cheap, even food, which is extremely precious during wartime.
Before the Japanese and the Americans completely fell out, Lin Ze arranged for Niu Saner to secretly purchase grain through major companies.
A bushel of wheat, about 25 kilograms, was sold at a landed price of only $1.20.
Note that this is the landed price with high shipping costs added.
How much does a kilogram of wheat cost in Henan Province now?
Twenty-two dollars!
The price of Yang Congxuan's irrigated land is only eleven or twelve yuan per mu, which means that Yang Congxuan can only get one kilogram of wheat in exchange for selling two mu of land!
Big businessmen and military leaders jointly controlled the grain in Henan Province and launched a gluttonous feast by raising grain prices wildly.
They used a small amount of grain to obtain a large amount of land from the common people, and even signed indentures with the common people to obtain free labor.
"Niu Saner, I will make the following arrangements!"
"Yes!"
"First, notify the Peking and Tianjin Coordination Bureaus. Starting today, strict grain inspections will be implemented. Whether it's in licensed grain stores or on the black market, grain prices must be under our control. Anyone hoarding grain and creating chaos is undoubtedly a rebel who is undermining the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. They may even be spies sent by the Military Control Commission. They must be severely punished without mercy!"
"Second, we need to thoroughly review commercial entities and their subsidiaries, including the North China Development Corporation, the North China Transportation Corporation, and the Northern Federal Reserve, to determine if there are any potential channels for purchasing grain. We also need to determine the remaining investment capacity of each commercial entity, the number of new infrastructure projects they can open, and the number of workers and support staff they can accommodate."
"Third, inform Zhou Xuejin and Dominic that construction at the port site is moving too fast. Even the water-related work is almost halfway done. This isn't acceptable. The previously designed land-based work was too small and limited in scope. Next, we need to build a number of port-dependent factories around the land-based works. Whether it's steel or even refining, whatever can be started should be done as soon as possible. Don't worry about the money."
There is no end to the money. There is no telling how much assets Mitsuokamura's grandson entrusted to Lin Ze to manage. Lin Ze helped him find an investment channel, and the investment was in major infrastructure and core factories that can generate dividends for decades. He still has to thank Lin Ze!