Chapter 2370: Financing (Part 5)

"These... these are documents meant for General Manager Zhou." Secretary Zhou's voice faltered, her earlier arrogance evaporating in an instant. She scrambled for words. "He... General Manager Zhou hasn't been in Guangzhou recently! I couldn't send them! I had no choice but to hold them all until he returns!"

Chu He ignored her. He tossed his own memorandum to Little Pu and rifled through the rest. The basket held over a dozen memoranda and letters of various kinds. Judging by the signatures, they came from Senators with names both familiar and obscure. Conspicuously among them lay the document from Senator Ren Youzi, who had just left in dejection.

Chu He straightened up and drew a long breath. Fire burned behind his eyes. In that moment, he could have killed someone. Though he had willingly embraced his role as a "slacker" these past years—covetous of comfort, absent from affairs of state—he had cultivated what he called the "self-discipline of disengagement."

But now he stood utterly shocked. Was this how naturalized citizens regarded Senators? From D-Day until now, what naturalized citizen hadn't treated Senators as gods? Even those highest-ranking naturalized cadres—the life secretaries of the most powerful figures—showed them courtesy at the very least. No one dared such blatant disrespect!

And here lay the plan he had poured countless hours into drafting, thrown carelessly into a basket. Though not quite a trash bin, he could easily imagine the fate of memoranda stuffed together regardless of date. They would end up like job resumes in an HR filing cabinet—discarded as garbage.

Blood surged to Chu He's face. Pu Zhixian's hand moved to his gun, ready to take down this secretary who didn't know her place the moment Senator Chu gave the word—or simply slap her across the face and force her to kneel in apology.

"Little Pu!" Chu He barely controlled himself. A thousand thoughts churned through his mind. Impulse demanded he kill Secretary Zhou on the spot—but it wouldn't satisfy his rage anyway. And killing a naturalized cadre in an office, unless they were a traitor or spy, would taint him regardless of justification.

Seeing Pu Zhixian eager to act, he waved him off.

"Good! Very good!" Chu He spat the words through clenched teeth, grabbed several documents, and turned to leave. Secretary Zhou wanted to stop him but withered under his murderous gaze, stammering helplessly. Pu Zhixian shot her a fierce glare before following his chief out.

"Chief! You... we're just letting this go?" Pu Zhixian asked, catching up.

"This isn't over. We're going to find someone to reason with!" Chu He stormed out of the building, his guard hurrying to keep pace.

"Find Manager Gao. Tell him to prepare transportation!"

"Yes!" Pu Zhixian ran off. Shortly, Manager Gao arrived with a sedan chair.

"Chief! They're digging up roads all over the city. Carriages can't get through. Only sedan chairs work..."

Chu He ignored him, climbed into the sedan, and shouted: "Go!"

"Chief! Where are we going?"

"To the Municipal Government!" Then, muttering under his breath: "If Liu Xiang pulls this same bullshit, I'll have to go back to Lingao and raise hell there!"

The sedan had barely started when Chu He suddenly bellowed: "Stop!"

The bearers halted, confused. Chu He sat motionless for less than a minute, his mind racing. What was he going to Liu Xiang for? What would he say? Was he going to cry to Liu Xiang? Ultimately, Liu Xiang was just Guangzhou's mayor—not Zhou Wei's superior. Even if he were, what could he do? At most, summon Zhou Wei to apologize and drink penalty wine. Besides, was this Secretary Zhou acting on her own petty ambition, or following Zhou Wei's instructions? Either way, Zhou Wei would never admit to the latter...

And what about finding Wen Desi? Same situation as Liu Xiang. It wouldn't directly solve anything. What he wanted wasn't to vent—if venting were the goal, he would have done it right there in the office. Why bother begging others for justice?

Pu Zhixian watched his chief's expression shifting in the sedan, jaw clenched tight, and asked: "Chief! Where are we going now?"

"To the Municipal Government!"

Chu He had decided: this matter had to be made public. Without escalation, he would look like he had backed down. Only by making it big would Zhou Wei be willing to pay a sufficient price. If you don't even dare make a scene, why would anyone pay attention to you? With that thought, he had already mapped out his next moves.

"Yes!" Just as the sedan was about to depart, Chu He stopped Pu Zhixian again. "Go find Senator Ren Youzi who just left—he must also be staying here. Tell him to come to the Municipal Government immediately. I'll be at Mayor Liu's office. Say it's urgent!"

Liu Xiang was at the Municipal Government, and he wasn't alone. Several prominent Senators of Guangzhou had gathered there, united by a common purpose: making money.

Guangzhou's greatest test was behind them, but a mountain of aftermath remained. Refugees needed relief for daily survival. Merchants needed loans to reopen their businesses. For days on end, medical staff, soldiers, police, cadres at every level, and the neighborhood Jia Heads and Group Heads had worked around the clock. Many had sacrificed their lives. The dead needed pensions, the living needed rewards—all of which required money.

But where would it come from? Economic activity in Guangzhou had ground to a halt. Merchants teetered on the edge of bankruptcy—even major traders like Gao Ju had lost more than half a year's income, though smaller merchants fared far worse. In terms of taxation, the once-promising industrial and commercial revenues had become hopeless. Worse still, nurturing recovery meant extending loans to struggling merchants rather than collecting from them.

Expecting funding from higher authorities was fantasy. Over-reliance on Delong's policy loans was equally unfeasible. Cheng Dong sent weekly instructions: banks must monitor currency exchange risks and the specter of hyperinflation.

Locally, the "spoils of war" had been nearly exhausted, and Ai Zhixin's ambitious blueprint for "tax reform" lay in ruins. Fortunately, the two deputy directors he had been anxiously awaiting had finally arrived.

Both Wang and Zhang were veterans of the tax system. Though their academic credentials couldn't match Ai Zhixin's, their practical experience was second to none in the Senate. Whether Ai Zhixin or Liu Xiang, everyone waited for them to work their magic on Guangzhou—to extract the silver hoarded by the old money families.

"What? Senator Chu He requests an audience?" Liu Xiang was bewildered by the secretary's report—the name meant nothing to him.

"A few days ago, the General Office sent a Senator itinerary telegram. Senator Chu He came to Guangzhou on business..."

Liu Xiang vaguely recalled something of the sort.

"Did the telegram specify his purpose? What does he want with me?"

"It wasn't specified, but it seems related to the Nanyang Company."

"For Nanyang Company matters, he should see Zhou Wei. Why come to me?" Liu Xiang had little patience for these "slacker" Senators who neglected their duties. No doubt this Senator Chu was one of the recent arrivals hoping to ride Zhou Wei's coattails. Just days ago, Ai Zhixin had joked that if you threw a brick at the First Guesthouse, nine times out of ten you'd hit a member of the Southbound Faction.

"He claims the matter is extremely urgent and concerns the unity of the Senate." The secretary lowered his voice. "I could see he was quite angry; something may have happened..."

Liu Xiang nodded. Whatever this was about, the man had come to his door—there must be something pressing.

"Show him to the reception room. I'll see him shortly."

Ai Zhixin asked: "Mayor Liu! What's going on with this Chu He?"

"I'm not sure. But my secretary says he seemed quite agitated." Liu Xiang stood. "I should go see him, just in case. Wait here; this shouldn't take long."

"...Just a mere secretary, isolating inside from outside, blocking sight and hearing, deceiving superiors and hiding from subordinates, destroying unity! If this continues, what will become of us? What will become of us!" Chu He was impassioned—half sincere, half theatrical—waving the stack of proposals in his hand. "Look! Look at these proposals we Senators labored to write—all of them thrown into a basket. The oldest has been sitting there for half a month! Were they preparing to sell them as scrap paper? Throw them in the garbage? What happened to the Senate's mail delivery system? Who gave her such authority? Is this still a Senator's secretary? She acts like some palace eunuch or secret police chief!"

"Outrageous! This is completely unacceptable!" Liu Xiang now understood the details. Honestly, he wasn't surprised. Such incidents weren't rare. Though he couldn't be certain whether Zhou Wei had ordered this or the secretary had acted on her own initiative—the longest document held for fifteen days made any claim of innocence laughable—he had to present a stance of solidarity on this matter.

"I'll immediately send someone to find Zhou Wei and have him explain himself!" Liu Xiang picked up the phone and cranked it. "Quick, find Zhou Wei right away! Have him come to the Municipal Government! What?" He frowned. "Gone to Foshan?! Won't be back until tomorrow. Fine, I understand. Notify him: I'm inviting him to the Guangzhou Municipal Government tomorrow evening. Yes, that's correct." He cranked the phone again: "Connect me to Wu Mu! What? He's not there either?" After a pause: "Then fetch Mu Min, and ask her to come to my meeting room immediately!"

He set down the phone. "When he comes tomorrow, we'll talk. Though I have no authority over Nanyang Company matters, this happened on Guangzhou's territory, so I have jurisdiction." His tone softened. "Sit down first, drink some water, calm yourself."

"I'm heartbroken! Absolutely heartbroken!" Chu He had fully embraced the role, just short of weeping openly. "The Senate may not be called a big family, but at the very least, we share the same boat. And now look at what's happening! It's practically impossible just to meet someone! I fear this Senate is finished!"

(End of Chapter)