As soon as I got to work that day, I don't know if I was frightened by the actions of the Coal Management Institute, when another newly established department, the Grain Management Institute, sent a letter of inquiry to the Rice Industry Association, asking it to explain the current problem of high rice prices, the Rice Industry Association immediately convened an emergency board of directors to discuss how to deal with it.

The Rice Industry Association is composed of Chinese businessmen, with more than 500 people, but except for a dozen or so big businessmen led by them, the others are retailers with only one or two stores, so there are only a dozen members of the council who are public speakers; And that Wan Molin is now the chairman of the board, responsible for serving as the convener and the final decision-maker, so his social status in Huhai is not low.

For Wan Molin himself, this incident made him unhappy, how could his group take advantage of the pre-holiday trend to raise the price of rice and make some money, how did this grain management center be remembered?

At the meeting, the directors were talking in a mess, and they were soon divided into two factions:

One faction believes that the newly established Ethnic Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Bureau is very strong, and judging by its means of dealing with the Coal Association, it is clear that people have the right to have soldiers, and if these businessmen are hard to top, they will never be able to please them!

The other faction disagreed, believing that the Rice Industry Association was different from the Coal Industry Association controlled by the Japanese, with more than 500 members under its command, and more than 700 large millet shops in the concession were theirs. In this case, their guild has enough ability to wrestle with the Folk Affairs Committee.

Wan Molin felt that the latter faction's view was right, but he thought that it was Pan Sen who was in charge of the Democracy Committee, and he began to hesitate again. In the previous few contacts, he knew that this person had an extremely strong personality, and his background could not scare the other party. It's the Coal Association, what about the Japanese in charge and support, if they say that they will be seized, it will be seized, and it is useless to intercede and threaten!

In order not to intensify the conflict, under the strong leadership of Wan Molin, the council took the initiative to contact the grain management institute, explaining that the main reason for the sharp rise in rice prices was that the Japanese army blocked the border and wharf, which affected the passage of rice imported from Inter and Southeast Asia into Shanghai, and it was not intentional by the grain merchants......

In this regard, the grain management institute expressed a certain degree of understanding and proposed a solution: the Spring Festival is approaching, and the Rice Industry Association will give the citizens of the concession a share of 10 catties of affordable rice per person, so that the people can have a good New Year!

After some "discussion", the parity rice was set at 45 yuan/quintal, and the citizens bought it in a quantitative amount with their household registration.

——

Li Junhao did not forget about the grain problem, and immediately instructed the grain management office to communicate with the Rice Industry Association on the price of rice after the initial settlement of the coal matter.

Originally, he still thought that if the other party didn't know something, he would clean them up with his hands! Unexpectedly, the grain management institute and the rice industry association reached an agreement on the purchase of affordable rice, although the price is still not low, but it is barely reasonable.

Well, before the Spring Festival, it is good to do this, and after the New Year, the market in the concession will be completely rectified.

——

At noon on this day, the Ethnic Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Industry issued the No. 3 communiqué: from the afternoon to the third day of the Spring Festival, the residents of the concession can go to each rice grain shop to buy cheap rice according to the standard of 10 catties per person and 4.5 jiao per catty with their household registration certificates......

The citizens of the concession who learned the news were very surprised, but they did not expect that after solving the problem of coal supply in the concession, the Ethnic Affairs Committee also won the cheap rice for the people!

Although the number is not too much, the first person is 10 pounds, and it is enough to buy a home and have a good year; 4.5 jiao/jin is not too cheap, but compared to the market price that has risen to 70 yuan/quintal before, it is already good!

After the two events of low-cost briquettes and low-cost rice, the three names of the People's Livelihood Committee, the Coal Management Office, and the Grain Management Institute have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, making the citizens of the concession remember that this is a department under the leadership of Chief Pan Sen and working for the interests of the citizens!

For people from all walks of life in the middle and upper echelons of the concession, Chief Panson, an American who has risen rapidly in the past six months, is currently arresting the army, police, and civil affairs in the concession, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is now the uncrowned king of the concession!

The Japanese hated it to the core, but the people of other countries were more happy, because Chief Pan Sen was defending the interests of the concession, that is, the interests of the expatriates in Europe and the United States, and they could only be grateful.

Under the combined effect of various factors, Li Junhao's prestige in the hearts of the citizens of the concession rose to a very high level, laying an excellent foundation for his future measures.

——

When the citizens of the concession happily went to the rice shop to buy cheap rice with rice bags, the grain merchants gathered together in twos and threes to discuss this matter, and most of them were a little dissatisfied, not that they were "forced" to sell cheap rice by the grain management office of the Ethnic Affairs Commission this time, but that they made less money!

There are now 4 million citizens in the concession, 10 catties of rice per person, that is, 400,000 quintals, and they sell 25 yuan less per quintal, which is 10 million yuan, although this amount is evenly distributed to the heads of more than 500 rice shop owners, each person only earns 20,000 yuan less, but the people's hearts are insufficient!

However, some grain merchants did not complain in this way, and they were more sensible. Although they also made a little less money, they understood that this time they were actually grateful to the chief Pan Sen for thinking about rectifying the coal industry first, and the second step was to rectify the price of rice, and the means were relatively modest.

Some people speculate that it may be that the Ethnic Affairs Committee does not have enough manpower at present, so it has adopted an attitude of first notice and consultation; But some people are thinking that it should be because the Rice Industry Association is composed of all Chinese businessmen, and the Coal Industry Association is controlled by the Japanese! According to past examples, this Chief Panson is very good to the Chinese, but extremely disgusted with the Japanese, and when he can strike, he will not show mercy!

Some of them still have a conscience of grain merchants, in fact, they don't approve of the guild's previous behavior of letting them raise prices together, the reason is very simple - lack of morality!

At present, it is winter, the rice in the hands of rice merchants is basically Siamese rice, this imported rice has been processed by several machines, the dryness is good, although the taste is much worse than the natural drying of international rice, but it is convenient for long-term preservation; What's more, although this kind of rice that crops three times a year is imported, the purchase price is 30% cheaper than that of international rice, and as long as it is higher than 15 yuan per quintal at the time of retail, it has actually made money, not to mention 45 yuan.

After entering January, the Rice Industry Association manipulated the price and pushed the price of rice to 70 yuan/quintal, making a fortune and causing panic among the citizens of the concession.

These people even thought that if they had done such a thing, that Chief Pansen would not be wrong at all if he had dealt with the rice merchants as he had done with the coal industry.

Different views and attitudes on this matter have caused divisions within the Rice Industry Association, and many members have other ideas!

(End of chapter)