The plane landed at the Jinling Japanese military airfield, and Kinoshita Eichi and Gangmura Shizo Shaozo with their entourage, Chen Mingxiang and Wang Zhen with their bodyguards, stepped off the plane and boarded the cars that came to greet them. But Wang Zhen and her bodyguards were in a car sent by the police department, and she wanted to go back to her home in the mansion area of Yihe Road.

Originally, Chen Mingxiang was going to report the food situation in Suzhou Province to Kinoshita Rong City after returning to Shanghai, but he didn't expect that Kinoshita Rong City took a plane to Suzhou, and then picked him up and Wang Zhen and flew directly to Jinling.

The General Headquarters of the Japanese Huaxia Dispatch Army, located on Zhongshan North Road, Gulou District, Jinling, was the residence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the former Shancheng Government.

Facing the drum tower, the building is a reinforced concrete structure with heavy eaves resting on the top of the hill and a glazed tile roof, with a four-storey middle and three floors in the wings, and a semi-basement with one floor.

In the office of the General Headquarters, Chen Mingxiang met with the high-ranking generals of the Dispatch Army, such as General Shunroku Hata, commander-in-chief, Senior General Okamura Ninji, commander of the North China Front, Lieutenant General Matsui Taikuro, chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, commander of the 11th Army, Lieutenant General Shimomura Ding, commander of the 13th Army, and Lieutenant General Kuichi Tanaka, commander of the 23rd Army.

It can be seen from this that the unfavorable matter of collecting military rations in the Soviet Province this time has aroused great attention from the General Headquarters of the Dispatch Army, and such an important meeting has actually been convened.

After Chen Mingxiang entered the conference room, he was arranged to sit directly opposite the conference table with the six generals of the six generals of Hata Jun, which was a special reporting position.

On the plane, Kinoshita Eichi didn't even ask him about the content of the report, which also showed that he had full trust in him, but fortunately, Chen Mingxiang didn't deal with it, and the report materials he wrote were substantial.

No one was more familiar with the grain smuggling situation in the entire Soviet Province than him, especially the grain speculators, and he also knew in his heart which one had engaged in how much grain.

"Chen Jun, the matter of military rations is very urgent, if the grain collection work is in a predicament, it will inevitably affect the military morale and combat effectiveness of the entire dispatch army.

"Although the intelligence department of the Imperial Army and the garrison agency of the Soviet Province have also reported on this matter, their investigation is not satisfactory, please start!" Shunroku Hata said.

"Your Excellency Generals, I received a notice from General Kinoshita on 26 July to start statistics and analysis of the grain collection in Soviet Province, and according to my investigation, the entire military grain collection work began to operate on 10 July and was carried out on 15 July."

"The documents of the provincial government show that the imperial army and the Jinling government have levied a total of 280,000 tons of indica rice and 350,000 tons of japonica rice, and so far, only 74,000 tons of japonica rice and 10,000 tons of indica rice have been levied, with a completion rate of 13 percent."

"Now is the stage of new grain on the market, and it is also the most important stage of collection, according to the current trend, I can make a judgment that by next year, before the new grain is put on the market, the imperial army's grain collection work can only be completed by about 20 percent. The total strength of the dispatched army in Central China and North China is 728,000 men, and the minimum daily consumption of grain is 364 tons, and the total consumption is 132,860 tons, which is about 200,000 tons according to normal supply. ”

"Considering that there is a proportion of cooperation between the imperial army and the Jinling government, although the collected grain can basically meet the demand, if even one-third of the Jinling government is given, the imperial army will be short of one-third of the food, and the daily food quota will be reduced by one-third."

"The reason for this kind of thing lies in the following aspects: The output of rice in Suzhou Province is far lower than last year, and this year's yield per mu is only equivalent to 20 to 30 percent of the high-yield period, and the total number has decreased, and the people still have to eat and keep seeds, and there is not much grain left after handing over the field endowment."

"In addition, there was a large outflow of rice from Su Province, and grain merchants from all over the country frantically poured into Su Province, taking the opportunity to collect grain at a high price, and in a short period of time, it was raised from 780 yuan per stone of rice to 1,200 yuan per stone of rice, while the purchase price given by the imperial merchants was only 600 yuan, which was really not competitive."

"According to the information I have received, in half a month, nearly 150,000 tons of rice have been lost in Suzhou Province, and as for Anhui Province and Zhejiang Province, there is no data for the time being. As far as this number is concerned, there is no greater room for expansion, and there is no major breakthrough in this year's grain requisition task. ”

"Please pay attention to the two most important points, the Jinling government is also competing for the rice market, Shanghai needs 230,000 tons of hukou rice, Jinling needs 50,000 tons of hukou rice, this alone occupies a lot of resources, the Jinling government's subordinate army and police, etc., also need 40,000 to 50,000 tons of military rations."

"It is precisely because of their indulgence and even covert help, under the banner of collecting land taxes for the Jinling government, that the rice paid by the people is sold privately to grain speculators, which has led to the continuous loss of rice, and at least 100,000 tons of rice has entered ......the pockets of grain merchants through the government."

Chen Mingxiang's report mentioned four points: first, the total amount was insufficient due to the decrease in output; second, grain speculators wantonly collected rice at high prices in Suzhou Province; third, the Jinling government competed for rice sources; and fourth, officials at all levels in Suzhou Province were corrupt.

In fact, what he said was mainly the latter two points, and the most crucial two points, that there was a great conflict of interest between the Japanese army and the Jinling government in terms of resources, and that the Japanese army needed rice, and the Jinling government also needed rice, which was an irreconcilable contradiction.

But the problem is that the Japanese army can't go from house to house and snatch away all the food of the common people, which is not in the interests of the Japanese army. Although they are more bandits than bandits, they can plan long-term plunder, and they can't do things like killing chickens and eggs.

As for the provincial government and officials at all levels below participating in smuggling, in essence, it is Li Shiqun, and everyone here can hear it, but Chen Mingxiang's identity cannot be pointed out too clearly.

"Chen Jun's report only took a week, and it is indeed more comprehensive and more pertinent than that provided by our intelligence agencies. Shunroku Hata said.

"Chen Jun, your task has been completed, go home first and wait for news, I'll send you down!" Kinoshita Eichi stood up with a smile and said.

Obedient to listen to the sound, Hata Junroku said this, the next thing is to discuss the new plan for grain requisition, Chen Mingxiang is not suitable to stay here, he is not Japanese after all.

But Chen Mingxiang was able to let the gloomy and arrogant Kinoshita Eichi personally send him downstairs, and the people present were also surprised, it seemed that the commander of the gendarmerie was very important to this subordinate.