German Red Prince

Page 112

Even if he screams himself hoarse, can he fight against the whole society on his own? How many people will support him when he speaks out for all the poor?

After his defeat, will these people stand up to fight for their rights, or will they kick their own corpse aside, prostrate themselves on the ground and beg their superiors, complaining about how they were "represented" by them?

Over time, one's enthusiasm will almost completely disappear. There's no need to help those who are not related to you; you just need to take care of yourself and the people around you.

"Kobayashi-kun, you're back?"

Masao Takahashi, who was considering how to subtly remind Kobayashi to come back, almost cheered.

"Yes, I'm back." Kobayashi nodded and closed the door.

"What's wrong with Suzuki-kun?" Kobayashi asked, catching his breath as he sat down.

"Suzuki-kun is drunk and hasn't woken up yet."

"He didn't go out, did he?"

"No, I've been here the whole time. What happened?" Masao Takahashi noticed that Kobayashi's expression seemed a bit off.

"It's nothing, let's help Suzuki-kun back to his room to rest."

Kobayashi patted Takahashi, stood up, and lifted Suzuki Nakayuki by one arm. The two of them worked together to carry Suzuki Nakayuki back to the house. After settling Suzuki in, they also returned to their room.

"Kobayashi-kun, what's wrong?"

Masao Takahashi could clearly see that Kobayashi's expression was a bit off; something must have happened.

"Takahashi-kun, do you know who I just ran into?"

"Who?"

"I ran into Suzuki-kun's fiancée," Kobayashi said quietly to Takahashi after glancing around.

"You slept with Suzuki-kun's fiancée?" Takahashi was very surprised after hearing Kobayashi's words; this was too terrifying.

"Keep your voice down, don't wake Suzuki-kun," Kobayashi said in a low voice.

Takahashi realized he had spoken a bit too loudly, so he covered his mouth and whispered again to confirm, "You slept with Suzuki-kun's fiancée?"

"How could that be? Do I look like that kind of person?" Kobayashi cursed.

"I gave her some money, and I'm sending her back to Japan with Suzuki-kun tomorrow. You'd better cooperate well and don't give anything away!"

"Of course, of course." Takahashi nodded quickly. "But why is Suzuki-kun's fiancée here?"

"Of course, it's because of our country." Kobayashi smiled helplessly. "Don't you know that tens of thousands of women leave our country every year to earn foreign exchange overseas?"

“In the countryside of the empire, countless farmers go bankrupt every day, and these women have no choice but to leave for overseas to make a living.” Kobayashi sighed. “Fortunately, Miss Sachiko came to Manchuria and met me. If she had gone to other places, I don’t know if Suzuki-kun would have been able to handle the shock when he returned.”

"Takahashi-kun, what do you think of our country?" Kobayashi turned around and asked a very crucial question.

"The empire's economy is the strongest in all of Asia, which is something to be very proud of. I think our country is very good."

"Our economy is the strongest in Asia, Takahashi-kun. Before you joined the army, was your family wealthy? Was your family much wealthier than farmers in other parts of Asia?"

"This..." Takahashi couldn't answer for a moment. "Kobayashi-kun, I don't know about this."

"Takahashi-kun, can someone who has been kneeling for so long remember that they can stand up again? Does the Emperor even know the suffering of the Japanese people, or is he the mastermind behind it all?"

"Kobayashi-kun, you've had too much to drink!"

Masao Takahashi quickly interrupted Kobayashi, otherwise who knows what outrageous things he might say next.

"Indeed, I drank too much."

Kobayashi lay down on the mat, supporting his head. "Go to sleep, we have things to do tomorrow."

Kobayashi fell asleep quickly, but Takahashi couldn't sleep either. During the time he had been with Kobayashi, he felt that something might be wrong with him, and he was also increasingly worried about the situation at home.

Chapter 195 Was it all worth it?

Kobayashi, who looked groggy at the last minute, got up early and shook Takahashi Masao awake, who was still sleeping.

"Takahashi-kun, wake up! We still have to take Suzuki-kun home today."

Because he drank too much last night, Suzuki Nakayuki was still asleep in his room. It took Kobayashi quite a while to wake him up.

"Kobayashi-kun, thank you for coming to see me off." When they reached the intersection, Suzuki Nakayuki thanked him. "You don't need to see me off for the rest of the way, I can walk by myself."

"Alright, have a safe journey and reunite with Ms. Sachiko soon." Kobayashi patted Suzuki on the shoulder. "You're leaving anyway, so don't be so stingy. My friend here hasn't met your wife yet, so let us see her too."

Hearing Kobayashi say this, Takahashi Masao nodded in agreement. "Suzuki-kun, we're practically from the same hometown. I haven't even met your fiancée yet, so how can I offer my blessings?"

“Of course.” Suzuki scratched his head and took out the photo.

"Hmm, she's a very beautiful girl," Takahashi remarked, looking at the photo. "However..."

"Is that all?"

"But why does the person in this photo look so much like that guy over there?"

Takahashi pointed to a spot not far away, where there was indeed a person who looked very much like Sachiko in the photo.

"Could it be Sachiko coming to see you?" Kobayashi chimed in from the side. "Suzuki-kun, try shouting it out."

Suzuki Nakayuki looked at the woman in the distance, and she did look remarkably like his fiancée, so he tentatively called out to her.

Sachiko Nishikawa was very nervous at the moment. She hadn't figured out how to face Nakayuki Suzuki yet, and she didn't know what to say to him inside.

"Sachiko!"

Just then, Sachiko Nishikawa suddenly heard someone calling her. She instinctively looked up and saw Nakayuki Suzuki not far away.

“It really is, Suzuki-kun.” Kobayashi seemed somewhat surprised. “What are you waiting for? Suzuki-kun, hurry up and go over there.”

Kobayashi gave Suzuki Nakayuki a push, which made him realize what was happening and rush forward.

"Sachiko? It really is you! What are you doing in Manchuria? What happened?"

At this moment, Sachiko could no longer hold back and hugged Suzuki, crying. It was like a dream; how could she have encountered something like this?

"Suzuki-kun, our home is gone, and our mother has passed away."

Hearing Sachiko say this, Suzuki felt a mix of emotions. Although this was a common occurrence in rural Japan, it was still unpleasant to experience it firsthand, and he didn't know how to comfort her.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm back."

"Sachiko, how did you get to Manchuria? Did you encounter any trouble on the way?"

"I heard you were serving in Manchuria, so I sold what little I had at home, buried my mother, and came to find you. Nothing happened on the way."

"That's good, that's good." Suzuki kept repeating, "Sachiko, let me introduce you, these are my two friends, Kobayashi-kun and Takahashi-kun."

Suzuki Nakayuki suddenly realized that there were two people left out, so he quickly pulled Sachiko aside and introduced them.

"Hello, Ms. Sachiko." Kobayashi greeted Sachiko. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard Suzuki-kun say that Ms. Sachiko is a very beautiful woman, and it's true."

Kobayashi patted Takahashi, who was still in a daze, and said, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and say hello."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Masao Takahashi."

"Nice to meet you," Sachiko greeted the two of them.

"Now that you're all reunited, we won't disturb you any longer. You can continue your conversation." Kobayashi said goodbye to Suzuki and pulled Takahashi away.

Suzuki wanted to say something more, but Kobayashi had already led Takahashi away. "Kobayashi-kun is a very nice person," Suzuki said to Sachiko, watching their retreating figures.

“Yes, it’s clear that Kobayashi-kun is a very nice person.” Sachiko nodded as she watched Kobayashi leave.

After seeing Suzuki and Sachiko off, Kobayashi accompanied Takahashi to the telegraph room to wait.

After hearing what Kobayashi said last night, Takahashi felt uneasy for some reason. He had indeed witnessed many tragedies in recent days, and wondered if such a tragedy would happen to him.

Telegraphs were indeed much faster than communications. When Takahashi arrived at the telegraph office, he received a letter from his hometown. Because telegraphs were quite expensive, costing about one yen for thirty characters, the letter he received was very short. But when he looked at the letter, Takahashi felt dizzy and almost collapsed to the ground.

"Takahashi-kun!"

Kobayashi caught Takahashi Masao from behind as he was about to fall. "Takahashi-kun, what's wrong? Did something happen at home?"

Masao Takahashi felt that his legs were not obeying his commands and he could only rely on Kobayashi for support.

He sat down in the chair, leaning on the table. Even though Kobayashi kept calling out to him, Takahashi seemed unable to hear anything, and everything was pitch black in front of him.

"Kobayashi-kun, something's happened."

He shakily took out the telegram, and Kobayashi grabbed it and started reading. The reply was only a short paragraph, but those few words were incredibly powerful.

"Famine, death from disease—Nomura Okura"

"This, this can't be, could it have been sent to the wrong address? Look, is the address correct?" Kobayashi was still comforting and persuading Takahashi Masao, who was sitting in a chair.

“Noda is our neighbor, so the information can’t be wrong.”

Hearing Takahashi say that, Kobayashi sighed helplessly, not knowing how to comfort him. He sat down next to Takahashi and patted him on the shoulder.

"Takahashi-kun, I felt the same way you did back then. Please accept my condolences."

"No, I want to go back to Japan, I want to go back, I need to know what happened!" Takahashi suddenly stood up and walked outside.

"Takahashi-kun, don't be foolish! Fleeing without permission is a serious crime, and no one can save you then!"

"I don't care, I want to go back to Japan!" Takahashi pushed Kobayashi away. His purpose in joining the army was to improve his family's life. Now that his family is gone, what's the point of him joining the army?

"ばか野郎!"

Seeing that Takahashi was getting more and more agitated, Kobayashi Kazuo slapped him across the face.

"You idiot! Takahashi-kun, what's the point of what you're doing now?! Do you think going back will save your family?!"

Kobayashi's slap seemed to wake Takahashi up. He was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head dejectedly. "Kobayashi-kun, you're right. Let's go back."

"Are you alright? Do you want to rest for a while?" Kobayashi was still a little worried about Takahashi's condition, afraid that he couldn't handle the shock.

"I'm fine, Kobayashi-kun, let's go back."

Takahashi shook his head, but the words Kobayashi had once said kept flashing through his mind.

He didn't agree with what Kobayashi said before because he hadn't experienced it firsthand, and he only expressed sympathy for what happened to someone like Sachiko Nishikawa.

But now this tragedy has happened to him. Every month he joined the army, he sent money home, but what happened? His family members died from famine and disease.

Takahashi began to understand Kobayashi's behavior. Was such a country really worth risking his life for?

Chapter 196 Korean Guerrilla Force

After this period of development, Zhang Shouguo had informants and "trading partners" in several Japanese army camps.

His convoys also brought various guns and ammunition from other Japanese army camps.

These military supplies will soon be transferred to a location specially provided by the Fengtian government.

People like Zhang Shouguo were professional "middlemen" in Northeast China at that time, making profits by exploiting price differences.

However, for those small-time smugglers dealing in everyday goods, only those at Zhang Shouguo's level can be considered true "smugglers".

Those smugglers only dare to make small profits; who would dare to do what he did and directly deal in Japanese weapons?

One reason Zhang Shouguo was able to connect with the Japanese and do business with them was that he was bold enough, and the other was that he had strong connections.

Before entering the profession, Zhang Shouguo worked as a bodyguard in Northeast China for decades. He had seen all kinds of big scenes and was naturally not afraid of the Japanese. They were all the same, and one knife would kill them.

As for how strong Zhang Shouguo's connections were? Back when he first started out as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), he fought against bandits several times with the insurance team.

At that time, he also became sworn brothers with that captain, and later this brother from the insurance team became the de facto ruler of Northeast China.

Thanks to this connection, Zhang Shouguo's position in the smuggling circle became unshakeable; he had a powerful background and a powerful warlord backing him up.

Zhang Shouguo's motorcade can be considered a "regular army," with secure jobs and the ability to earn a living from two different sources.

Although Fengtian cracked down on smugglers, Zhang Shouguo was able to move freely in the political circles of Northeast China. He was a brother of the warlord. Even if the connection was not deep, who would dare to touch him because of this relationship?

Previously, Zhang Shouguo wasn't involved in arms dealing; he mainly smuggled pharmaceuticals, and on a larger scale, industrial goods.

Although he had some contact with Zhang Zuolin, it was not very close, and the two had relatively little interaction.

But not long ago, Zhang Zuolin seemed to suddenly remember his brother, Zhang Shouguo, and invited him over to talk about the arms dealing business.

Zhang Shouguo, a man who had long been involved in politics, naturally understood the relationship between the Kwantung Army and the Fengtian government. Although the Kwantung Army posed a considerable threat in Northeast China, apart from the upper echelons, many officers in the middle and lower ranks had dealings with Fengtian. Every year, Fengtian would spend a large sum of money specifically to bribe these officers.

Zhang Zuolin knew of Zhang Shouguo's reputation and hoped he could go and do some legwork for the Japanese. He had already spoken to Zhang Zuolin, but the smuggling of arms couldn't be done directly by Zhang Zuolin; a middleman was needed.

Zhang Shouguo had a good reputation and was a person Zhang Zuolin knew well, so he was the most suitable person to handle matters.

Zhang Zuolin promised Zhang Shouguo a generous reward for each completed transaction, all he had to do was transport the smuggled weapons to the designated location.