"This time, the Japanese Navy is really generous, and actually sold us three 10,000-ton cargo ships at a price of 100,000 US dollars, and also leased two 9,000-ton ones, four 7,000-ton ones and four 5,000-ton ones, and the rent is only 10,000 yuan per ship per month, without indicating the expiration date, which is similar to picking up for nothing!" Wang Zhen looked at the ship purchase agreement and the lease agreement, and said happily.

"You can see that it's almost the same as picking it up for nothing, doesn't the Japanese Navy know it in your own heart? Tell you, this is 200 tons of tungsten ore, 10,000 quintals of tung oil and 1,000 quintals of pig bristles in exchange for support! ”

"Tungsten ore can help the navy make weapons and equipment, tung oil can help warships and ships to prevent rust and corrosion, and pig bristles can make gun breech brushes, all three of which are strategic materials embargoed by the Shancheng government!" Chen Mingxiang pursed his lips and said.

"In fact, this also shows that there is a big gap in Japan's domestic war resources, otherwise the navy would not exchange such preferential conditions for strategic materials, which is a good thing for us." Wang Zhen said.

"Your thinking has entered a misunderstanding, on the contrary, I think that the situation is not as bad as you say, otherwise, the navy would rather give me an increase in the purchase price of strategic materials than promise to give me so many ships."

"Japan's steel resources are extremely scarce, and it takes time to build ships, and every ship is a valuable asset of the navy, which just shows that the Japanese navy can still hold on, although it was broken in the Battle of Midway, and it has not yet reached the situation where the building will collapse."

"I just heard a joke that the Navy has been hiding the results of the Battle of Midway for a long time, and when the news spreads, do you know what the Army did?" Chen Mingxiang said with a smile.

"According to the fierce contradictions between the army and the navy, the army must have gloated when it learned of the loss of four capital aircraft carriers in the naval battle of Midway, and then made a lot of sarcasm about the navy." Wang Zhen thought for a while and said.

"You are also underestimating the contradiction between the Japanese Navy and the Japanese Army, let me tell you, the news has just been spread, and the bigwigs of the Army Staff Headquarters are actually sitting together with wine to celebrate!" Chen Mingxiang remembered the scene of the admirals scolding, and he felt very comfortable.

After the Marine Corps Headquarters signed the agreement, Kodama and Shifu invited the people present to have dinner at the secret reception place of the Kodama Agency, and they also enjoyed a high-level geisha performance.

It may be that he drank a little too much, and the admirals present scolded the bigwigs in the army base camp and were very emotional, and Chen Mingxiang knew that there was still such a thing.

Of course, he didn't think it was unusual, and he didn't laugh at the contradictions between the Japanese Navy and the Japanese Army, the Yamashiro government has a pair of twin brothers, the military commander and the central commander, and their behavior is not much worse.

Chen Mingxiang was deeply influenced by Pan Qiwu, a teacher, and hated the Central Bureau of Unification when he mentioned it, and Boss Dai and the Central Unification Bureau had a deep hatred like the sea, and the two sides were like fighting cocks, so they had to peck each other's eyeballs blind.

"How to solve the plane thing?" Wang Zhen asked.

"I will coordinate this matter with the military police command, the number of airfields in the navy is limited, it is best for me to take the army's transport plane, no matter how tight the transportation is, there is no problem with a few more people." Chen Mingxiang said.

"Jingle bell!"

At this moment, the telephone at home rang, Chen Mingxiang picked it up and listened to it, it was Chen Gongbo calling, asking him to go to the mayor's office immediately.

"The price of briquettes in the whole Shanghai market has generally risen, which has seriously affected the lives of citizens, and now public opinion is very unfavorable to our municipal government, and they have accused me, the mayor, of being incompetent, and unable to provide even the most basic living guarantees."

"At present, the price of each load of briquettes has reached an astonishing 30 yuan in the middle of the bank, and even then it is priceless. Japanese coal merchants and coal merchants among the Chinese businessmen in Shanghai, seeing that the market is rising, hold a large number of briquettes but refuse to put them on the market, and are determined to continue to raise prices to make huge profits. ”

"I just went to the Central China Liaison Department of the Xingya Institute to negotiate and wanted to transfer the distribution of briquettes to the city government, but I was refused, and the other party still insisted on the distribution by the Coal Federation, but the Japanese side did not come up with an effective plan for the rise in coal prices."

"Our Jinling government has always attached great importance to people's livelihood affairs, which is related to the foundation of governance, and even such a thing as briquettes cannot be solved, isn't it a joke?" Chen Gongbo was very annoyed.

Briquettes may seem inconspicuous, but they are the epitome of the administrative work of the municipal government, because the daily life of ordinary people must rely on this fuel, which is an irreplaceable and important resource.

The briquettes of the whole Shanghai market are also a huge industrial chain, the most upstream is the Dahu Gas Society, which is the main institution of the Japanese army to control the coal in Shanghai, responsible for transporting coal to the Shanghai market, followed by the Coal Federation, turning the coal into briquettes, and then distributing it to the next link, which is the coal number.

The so-called Lianmei is actually a wholesale organization composed of Japanese businessmen and Chinese businessmen, which holds the actual distribution of briquettes, and finally directly faces the common people, called the Small Sellers Association, which is composed of retail organizations such as briquette shops.

The problem now is that the wholesalers of the Lianmei have their own briquette retail stores and are unwilling to release the goods to other retail institutions, and these black-hearted Japanese businessmen and Chinese businessmen who have made a fortune in the country, in order to obtain greater profits, ignore the requirements of the Central China Liaison Department of the Xingya Academy and the Bureau of the Ministry of Industry of the Public Concession, and hoard a large number of briquettes, resulting in a serious shortage of briquettes on the market.

Chen Gongbo is the mayor of the puppet Shanghai special city government, and in order to maintain his image of "loving the people like a son," he strongly demanded that the distribution of briquettes be transferred to the Shanghai Municipal Material Control Committee, and this was also a confrontation between Wang's puppet government and the Japanese side for the power of material domination.

Coal was a material strictly controlled by the Japanese invaders, and the Central China Liaison Department of the Xingya Academy would certainly not delegate this power to the city government, and serious differences arose between the two sides.

"Your Excellency Mayor, please don't be anxious about this matter, as the commissioner of the Foreign Affairs Office of the municipal government, I have discovered the seriousness of this problem, and discussed it with the headquarters of the gendarmerie stationed in Shanghai, and also solicited the opinions of the Central China Liaison Department of the Xingya Academy and the Ministry of Public Concession Bureau."

"The Japanese side has the same view as our city government, and does not want a crisis in the daily necessities related to the vital interests of the people, which will also affect the image of the Japanese army, and I will try my best to meddle in the briquette business and try to pull down the price." Chen Mingxiang said.

Chen Gongbo, the No. 2 person in Wang's puppet government, is his backer in Wang's puppet government, and even more so in Shanghai, and the relationship between the two must be maintained.

As long as it is beneficial to the people, it is also his responsibility and obligation to make suggestions and practical actions for the municipal government.