Chapter 54.

“Cheng, get on, follow me.”

Early in the morning, Cheng Mo had just arrived at the old gate arrest house, and had just parked his bicycle and was about to enter the gate when he ran into Detective Inspector Pryde, who was going out from the inside, and with a wave of his hand, he let Cheng Mo get into his automobile.

“Mr. Pryde, what’s the matter?” Cheng Mo hurried over, bent down into the automobile, and sat down next to Pryde.

Pryde did not answer him, but greeted his driver with, “Go to the Licha Hotel.”

Licha Hotel, wasn’t that the Hongkou Day War Zone?

Cheng Mo subconsciously closed his mouth.

“The Ministry of Public Works Bureau is going to negotiate with the Japanese over the issue of police powers in the Hongkou Japanese settlement area of the Public Concession, we need a large number of interpreters who know Japanese, and I think you’re a suitable candidate.” Pryde explained.

“Why me, what about interpreter Luo Zhiming, he is experienced and should be more qualified for the job than me?” Cheng Mo asked in surprise.

“He’s sick, he’s recuperating at home.”

Sick, sick at this time, afraid that he knows that this job is not good, find an excuse to avoid it on purpose, right? But it is just an interpreter, and do not need to sign yourself, do the Lord, what is there to be afraid of, and this is still a good opportunity to understand the Bureau of Public Works and the Japanese negotiations.

This is a pie in the sky.

The automobile drove all the way to Waibaidu Bridge, and from there was the Licha Hotel.

The cars of the Ministry of Public Works Bureau had special passes, and the Japanese soldiers on the north side of the bridge just looked at the people inside the cars and let them through.

The Hotel Reicha was built in 1846 by a British merchant, Astor Hoff Reicha, and was moved to its present location in 1856 and later rebuilt, and the one we see now is the third generation of the Hotel Reicha.

The large curved arched windows and Ionic columns, the corridor atrium and the stained inlaid glass at the turn of the staircase present a brilliant and colorful scene.

With the outbreak of the Battle of Songhu, the Western expatriates living in Hongkou moved into the public concession across the Waibaidu Bridge.

As Hongkou was a war zone, the business of the Regina Hotel was in the doldrums, and it was difficult for the British to continue to operate the hotel, plus the Japanese also coveted the hotel.

So the operation of the Lai Cha Hotel fell into the hands of the Japanese, and the general manager of the hotel is now called Morimura Takashi.

With Cheng Mo’s Japanese name is just one word difference, it is also a kind of fate.

Only, he didn’t know Morimura Takashi, and Morimura Takashi didn’t know him.

The representatives of both sides of today’s negotiation were the representatives of the Japanese Military Police Command in Shanghai and the Consulate General, and the representatives of the Board of Directors of the Bureau of Public Works and the Police Department.

Today’s negotiations were not considered secret, but not open to the public.

On the side of the Bureau of Public Works, Vice President Kai Ziwei is the chief, Japanese director Okamoto, then the head of the Political Unit Laubertson and Inspector Pryde, then there are several attendants, interpreters, plus Cheng Mo, a total of three.

All were male, not a single female in sight.

Pryde introduced Cheng Mo, who was a newcomer and was participating in such a high-level negotiation for the first time, and the others had never seen Cheng Mo except for Mr. Laubertson.

In such a scene, Cheng Mo, apart from speaking in a somewhat raw English, but not at all timid, this made Kai Ziwei have a good impression of him, and even nodded at him.

Because of the need for simultaneous translation, the other three people, except for the Japanese director Okamoto, had to be accompanied by an interpreter, positioned behind them during the negotiations.

Cheng Mo was brought here by Pryde and rightfully followed Pryde.

Although he still couldn’t figure out why he was chosen, but since he had come, he did his best to do his job.

The Japanese representatives arrived later than the Bureau of Public Works, dragging their feet, somewhat unlike the Japanese who boasted of punctuality and trustworthiness.

The representatives of the Japanese side are Major Nishimura of the Military Police Command in Shanghai, a man Cheng Mo knows, later adviser to the pseudo-dao government, then Tatsuo Kawagata, head of the Intelligence Department of the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai, and then Vice-Consul Eiichi Iwai, as well as a number of staff members of the Japanese Consulate.

In the many Japanese representatives, Cheng Mo concerned about a person, the same as him is also a translator, called Yu Dawei, this person is a well-known Shanghai Bund hearsay, ran a newspaper, like to ask for articles, but a stingy to the extreme guy, who did not expect that he actually appeared here, but also to the Japanese as an interpreter.

Of course, to the Japanese as an interpreter is not necessarily a traitor, so now can not be generalized, if the definition is according to this, a stick to death can be a lot of people.

The negotiations took place in a closed restaurant.

In order to ensure that the contents of the negotiation would not be leaked, Japanese gendarmes as well as inspectors were arranged at the entrance, and the security measures were quite tight.

The atmosphere was not so friendly at the beginning.

The Japanese side demanded that the jurisdiction of the area north of Suzhou Creek be handed over to the Japanese side, which simply means that it would be handed over to the Japanese police, including taxation, education, infrastructure projects, and so on, especially the right to administer justice.

This is obviously a lion’s share of the money. If the Ministry of Public Works agrees to this, how can they explain to the country behind them?

Not to mention the fact that there are multiple countries’ interests at stake, including Britain, the United States, Belgium, as well as Germany and Italy.

These countries either had large trade dealings with Japan, and Japan was still the largest importer, or were basically allied with them.

This was tantamount to ceding part of the public concession to Japan, which became a concession within a concession, and this was absolutely unacceptable.

Both sides argued very intensely, just one hour of negotiation, the number of times no less than seven or eight times to slap the table, obviously in the public concessions around the ownership of the right, the two sides simply can not reach a unanimous view.

The Ministry of Public Works Bureau side, at most, can promise to hand over the Hongkou area to the Japanese jurisdiction, you can use the Japanese inspectors, but nominally still belong to the Ministry of Public Works Bureau under the rule.

All other areas were to be returned to the Bureau, especially Yangshupu, where the Bureau’s largest prison, Tilanqiao Prison, was located.

This round of negotiation is actually touching the bottom line of both sides, didn’t see that the big brother of both sides who can decide didn’t appear in person.

So, to come here today is to quarrel.

The purpose of bringing an interpreter is to make the other side clearly understand their attitude. No wonder Luo Zhiming was reluctant to come, this is not a good job to talk against the Japanese.

Lunch is eaten in the Reicha Hotel, the Japanese in the etiquette is not bad, this is not let people pick out the fault.

Even just now also in the negotiation table quarrel red in the face, to the time of eating, actually can still talk and laugh together in a toast.

To be honest, as a Chinese, on the one hand, the European and American powers, on the other hand, the Japanese invaders, both parties are on the Chinese soil, the Chinese land and sovereignty, this heart is really not a taste.

One day, he wanted to throw all these people into the sea and feed them to the sharks.

“Sir, just now at the negotiation table, I heard you speak Japanese very well, are you Japanese?” A Japanese man in a suit with a bow tie carried a wine glass and came to Cheng Mo, greeting him with great poise.

“Your Excellency is?” Cheng Mo didn’t answer and asked a counter question, this is social skill, turning passive into active.

“My humble self, Mr. Nakamura Gong, a small employee of the Manchurian Railway office in Shanghai.”

“So it’s Mr. Nakamura, disrespect.” Cheng Mo’s heart jumped, Nakamura Gong, Japanese Communist Party member, belonging to the same “Ramza” group, is it possible that this is the connector he was waiting for in Shanghai?

Thinking about it, it was really possible.

“Can I have a drink?” Nakamura Gong took a glass of champagne from the waiter and handed it to Cheng Mo.

“Of course.” Cheng Mo gave a slight nod and reached out to take it, although he had never met Nakamura Kung, the name was too familiar.

If it was really that person, then he himself had found a home.

Please collect, please follow!

55.Chapter 55 I’ve seen your picture before