Zuo Youyou grabbed the letter of introduction in his hand and repeated weakly and embarrassedly: "Huh? ”

Haichuanjun said crampedly: "My uncle and grandfather transported a batch of red ginseng worth 40,000 silver dollars and followed the cargo ship of the Wantaihe to China, and since then he has disappeared and his whereabouts are unknown. The elders of the family have been reciting the Wantaihe number, thinking that the ancestors of the Bai family were murdered for money. ”

Zuo Youyou was a little sluggish.

What is this?

The main theme has become a suspense drama?

Zuo Youyou asked embarrassedly, "What year did you go missing?" ”

Haichuan-kun said: "The departure time of the freighter is 1939. ”

Red ginseng in 1939 was a luxury, and 40,000 silver won was equivalent to a bank in North Korea, which was indeed a sky-high figure. But 1939 was also a sensitive time.

"In 1939, China and Japan were at war." Zuo Youyou tried not to use the word "anti-Japanese" as much as possible, "Your uncle and grandfather are missing, and they may have joined the Japanese army." ”

"Impossible!" Haichuan-kun said excitedly, "My uncle and grandfather were students studying in the United States, he hated militarism, advocated freedom and peace, and was a pacifist through and through. ”

Zuo Youyou didn't believe it.

"Really." Hai Chuanjun thought for a long time, and said solemnly, "In my family, there are many correspondence between my uncle and grandfather and Bai Jiesheng, they are excellent friends, and they help each other. ”

"Letter?" Zuo Youyou's eyes lit up, "These communications, can you show me the scanned copies?" ”

Haichuan-kun replied, "Yes." ”

Zuo Youyou found that Haichuan-kun was really a simple and a little stupid person.

He agreed to Zuo Youyou's request like this, and he didn't make his own exchange request, such as exchanging the letter of introduction in Zuo Youyou's hand?

Seeing Zuo Youyou thinking about him, Haichuan-kun whispered, "My family has always wanted to know...... What happened back then. ”

Zuo Youyou said embarrassedly: "Actually, this matter does not necessarily have anything to do with Bai Jiesheng, as far as I know, Bai Jiesheng died in 1939. A person who has come to the end of his life should not have the intention of killing people in order to grab a batch of goods...... Moreover, after Bai Jiesheng's death, Bai Dayin, who inherited the Bai family, was essentially a gentleman who loved shopping, and he had no ability to run a business at all. It's unlikely to rob your uncle or grandfather. ”

Haichuan thought for a moment and said, "I know. But even if we can't restore the truth of the facts, it would be good if we could find the tomb of my uncle and grandfather Ryo Umikawa, take him back to Japan, and let him go home and rest in the spirit of heaven. ”

In this way, Zuo Youyou, Jiang Shiqin, Hai Chuanjun and Dr. Caleb formed a strange Chinese, Korean, Japanese and American detective group, and jointly killed the Shandong Customs Archives.

Zuo Youyou couldn't help but ask Haichuanjun: "Why do you want to come to see the Shandong archives?" In 1939, the ship was supposed to go to the port of Shanghai, and you should have gone to Shanghai for records. ”

Haichuanjun said: "My research direction is cotton. ”

"Cotton?"

"How Japan Countered the China-Centered Tributary Trade System in East Asia: The Theory of Divergence in the 19th Century and the Theory of Sinocentrism." Jiang Shiqin said in Chinese, "His research topic." ”

Zuo Youyou understood: "Using commercial cotton as an entry point, similar to Jiang Shiqin's sugar? ”

At the mention of the word "sugar", Jiang Shiqin's face darkened.

"Because for Japan, cotton cloth is not only used as clothing and crops, but also as a twist for guns, and is an important strategic material, but Japan's cotton is all imported from North Korea and China. Therefore, being able to achieve self-sufficiency in cotton cloth is of epoch-making significance for Japan. ”

"My family, in the early years of Incheon, was in the cotton business with North Korea and China." He said, "Judging from the time of the letters at home, it is in Incheon Port that the relationship between Haecheon Liang and Pak Jason began. ”

“…… It won't be when the Shandong Gang grabbed the Incheon-Seoul Silk Road, right? ”

"That's when it was. The Shandong Gang seized the transportation channel from Incheon to Seoul, so Haecheon Liang's goods could not go through the port of Incheon. At that time, Wan Tai He opened up a direct route from Hong Kong to Tianjin, and he paid Wan Tai He to transport the goods from this route. ”

It's similar to sending SF Express now. Zuo Youyou thought to himself.

Several people buried their heads in the sea of Wenshan and books, and finally Dr. Caleb turned over the record of the Shanghai Wantai.

As the saying goes, the person who knows you best must be your enemy.

In this letter from the Shandong Gang, in a gloating tone, he recorded in detail the experience of the Shanghai Wantai being placed together under the intervention of the Shandong Gang:

In 1902, the Mantai wanted to supply Shanghai gold sand to the Mint Bureau of the Korean government on the condition of contracting the export of 3,500 red ginsengs, and it was Patrick Pakjiesheng who was the matchmaker.

As a result, the Shandong Gang got the news and unusually purchased a large amount of gold sand in North Korea and dumped it in Shanghai, causing the gold sand in Shanghai to be saturated, and the price began to fall, by as much as 7 or 8 hangs, and the North Korean government immediately lowered the price on the grounds that the market price of gold sand fell.

At that time, the export tax on red ginseng was as high as 30%, and the price difference caused Shanghai Wantai to be embarrassed.

"Wantai has lost a lot of money like this." Zuo Youyou sighed, "Pak Jason obviously has an unshirkable responsibility in this failed deal. Moreover, in 1902, the collapse of gold sand in Shanghai also led to the loss of Wantaihe's return ship, coupled with the backlog of silk, it can be said that the house leakage coincided with overnight rain, and Shanghai Wantaihe and Wantaihe both lost money. ”

Her eyes fell on the collection of documents in her hand, and the word "rice" was impressively on it.

"Today, because there is an edict from the Yamen, Chinese merchants are not allowed to transport rice to other ports, and the price of rice has plummeted, and I don't know how Shutai will set up a prayer to show that he will come to know."

Zuo Youyou looked at it carefully.

The letter said that the Qing government suddenly issued an order banning the export of rice, and the price of rice in the country plummeted, and the domestic merchants wrote to the Shandong Gang in North Korea to discuss the strategy.

The next document is the commercial move to sell rice. Not long after, the Shandong Gang received another letter reporting the dynamics of the Shanghai Wantai:

Shanghai Wantai lost money because of several blows, and only had a backlog of cheap rice in its hands, and could not afford the silk return of the semicolon Wantai and the number. Patrick replaced the low price of the backlog of silk with cheap rice, and took the loss himself, in exchange for the dominance of the Wantaihe.

"After all, it's a business war." Jiang Shiqin said, "The purpose of the Shandong Gang is to put Wantaihe to death. Their purpose was also achieved. ”

"But who would have thought that in the end, Wantaihe would make a fortune on these cheap rice?" "If the Qing government had banned the export of rice at that time, how did Pakjieson get this rice to North Korea?" ”

The four men looked at each other.