kingnovel Chapter 1245 Office Building
Chapter 1245 Office Building
"I've heard you complaining all the way here, but I didn't expect our office to be so good. When all the departments flocked to this mountain city, they were probably all looking for their own office buildings. How did you manage to find a four-story office building like this?"
As the convoy entered the office building, Li Shaoyi remarked with some surprise, "You know, this office building might not be particularly eye-catching in Nanjing or Shanghai, since there are plenty of buildings like this. But in Chongqing, it's definitely one of the best. We're just a group army's office in Chongqing; we probably can't afford a building like this."
"I don't have that ability. Didn't you order the intelligence department to buy it in Shancheng first? I've seen the land deed; it seems to have been bought a very long time ago, when it wasn't worth much. Now that various departments have retreated to Shancheng, there have been plenty of cases of plundering and extortion, but no one dares to take it from our army group. The land deed clearly has your name on it. If anyone dares to try and take it from me, the gun on my waist is no joke."
Liu Xiaoshan said with a puzzled look, "When I first arrived in Chongqing, I was also worried about where to set up this office. People from all over the country had flocked to Chongqing. Unfortunately, while Chongqing isn't small for the southwest region, it's still too small for the whole country and simply not big enough to accommodate all the government departments."
Unexpectedly, the intelligence officers produced a land deed. This place was originally the headquarters of a foreign company in the mountain city. After a period of expansion, it became a four-story office building with its own courtyard, containing more than 70 offices. The 72nd Army's office in the mountain city was located here, which could be considered the best location.
Li Shaoyi then remembered that he had previously given a sum of money to his intelligence agents to buy properties in various places. Of course, they bought them at the best possible price. For example, properties in the concessions before the fall of Huangpu, or properties in Shancheng before everyone evacuated. Basically, they bought them when they were cheapest and sold them when they were most expensive. This property in Shancheng was later left behind for some unknown reason.
When Li Shaoyi bought this building, he only spent 110,000 silver dollars. Now, if this building were to be sold on the market through a legitimate channels, it would be worth at least 700,000 silver dollars, more than six times its original value. Of course, Li Shaoyi knew that this wasn't the current market price; in the next few years, there was a possibility of more than doubling the profit. However, after selling it, they wouldn't have anywhere to live; such detached buildings with their own courtyards were quite rare.
"Are there many other departments engaging in forced buying and selling in this mountain city?"
Li Shaoyi wasn't very familiar with the matter. Now, judging from Liu Xiaoshan's statement, many people were no longer concerned about saving face and were doing whatever they wanted. They were supposed to be law enforcement, but now they were actually robbing people.
"You know that the Nationalist government is in financial difficulty. After arriving in Chongqing, the resettlement allowances allocated to each department were extremely meager. This amount was simply not enough to purchase an office building, even with the sum you gave us before. But the number of people in each department is what it is, and most of them can't even find a desk, so we can only give you IOUs. Although we know you are unwilling, forcing you with the state apparatus is tantamount to extortion."
Liu Xiaoshan said helplessly, "There are no fewer than 2000 people in the entire mountain city holding IOUs. Of course, these people brought this trouble upon themselves. They came to the city earlier to buy up properties at rock-bottom prices, hoping to make a fortune. But the question is, will the government let you make that money?"
Li Shaoyi nodded in agreement. Such things happen in any era. If you have enough power, for example, if this building belongs to the 72nd Army Group, even if the various departments of the Nationalist government drank three catties of strong liquor at noon, they probably wouldn't dare to come and force the 72nd Army Group to buy and sell.
So, those who bought houses in advance are now able to keep them and even make a fortune. But if you don't have that kind of power, those houses you own are your crime. They might honestly negotiate with you, give you an IOU, and requisition your houses, and that's the end of it. But if you refuse, someone will fabricate charges against you. At that point, not only will the houses not be yours, but you'll likely lose everything, including your other assets, and you might even end up in jail.
The group walked inside, talking as they went. Most of the layout remained unchanged. The original foreign company had invested a considerable amount of money in the building. After Li Shaoyi and his team entered, they only needed to make minor adjustments. The first three floors were all offices, while the top floor was dedicated to residential use.
In addition, a small building was built around the perimeter of the courtyard, which was enough for everyone to live in, so they didn't need to look for a place outside. Now the streets outside are full of refugees. After hearing that Chongqing was the wartime capital, everyone started to flock here, thinking that since it was the capital, it would be much easier to get food than in other places.
Li Shaoyi's accommodations were naturally taken care of. Although it was wartime, the entire building belonged to the 72nd Group Army, so naturally the best rooms would be reserved for Li Shaoyi. His office and living quarters were basically connected, with a 20-square-meter bedroom next door, and the office itself was about 40 square meters.
For Li Shaoyi, the situation here was already quite good. However, things weren't so good for Miss Baiyun. After arriving in the mountain city, she was practically turned into a rat, stuffed into an underground air-raid shelter by the Kuomintang's secret police. Since there was a daily possibility of Japanese air raids, such important personnel had to stay in their underground offices. Although the shelter was built in a style modeled after foreign designs, the large blowers couldn't operate due to insufficient power, making it feel rather cramped inside.
Why wasn't the 72nd Army's office afraid of Japanese air raids? It was because four quadruple anti-aircraft guns were specifically installed at the four corners of the office building. These were things that only appeared towards the end of World War II, specifically designed to counter aircraft in the European and American theaters, let alone now.
To put it simply, there were six quadruple anti-aircraft guns on the roof of the building. If they were all disassembled, that would be 24 40mm anti-aircraft guns. This thing was practically an anti-aircraft battalion. Would the Japanese dare to come over?