Lost and Spy

When two people with evil intentions sit face to face, every word they say may contain a deep meaning.

Meng Shaoyuan doesn't like dealing with politicians, not at all.

But he has to do it now.

Marcos showered "Colonel Charles" with compliments.

Nothing more than his outstanding performance in the war.

Meng Shaoyuan had heard too many words like this.

Of course, there are also fresh ones.

Marcos told Meng Shaoyuan that "Colonel Charles" played a crucial role in the rapid reconstruction of Manila.

If he and the US military under his command had not stabilized the situation in Manila, otherwise, the capital of the Philippines would never have been rebuilt so quickly.

Meng Shaoyuan accepted the compliment calmly.

However, during this process, Meng Shaoyuan would occasionally praise this rising star in Philippine politics.

Everyone is acting anyway.

"Colonel, I am just a little person." Marcos said humbly: "My visit will not cause any disturbance to Manila. Although I met President Osmina, it is the same for me and the Filipino people. I cannot express my gratitude enough to the American personnel who are deeply grateful.”

That's what I said.

It was there that Mingli declared his loyalty to the Americans.

But in fact, he used the most euphemistic way to express his dissatisfaction with the fact that no Americans showed up at Malacañang Palace.

Meng Shaoyuan smiled slightly: "I personally extend my warmest welcome to Mr. Marcos's visit. I also hope that the friendship between the United States and the Philippines can be maintained forever. After careful discussions with Mr. Levi, the U.S. Plenipotentiary in Manila, I believe that President Osmina's interview with you is a matter that belongs to the Philippines and Americans should not interfere.

The United States' energy is mainly focused on continuing to attack the Japanese army in the Philippines and rebuilding the Philippines. Mr. Marcos, you probably have no idea of ​​the complexity and importance of the work in Manila.

You are the administrator of the eight provinces of Northern Luzon personally appointed by General MacArthur. You have a heavy responsibility, but I can tell you clearly that even the eight provinces of Northern Luzon cannot compare with Manila's political and economic status. "

He said this without any accusation.

As the political and economic center of the Philippines, Manila has a unique status in the entire Philippines.

The Port of Manila, in particular, carries an extremely important task.

A large amount of military and civilian supplies are continuously transported to this port.

The Port of Manila has become the lifeline of the Philippines.

Meng Shaoyuan told Marcos in a subtle way, yes, you have the trust of General MacArthur, and all eight provinces of Northern Luzon are under your management, but so what?

Not to mention that there are still a large number of Japanese troops fighting in the eight provinces of Northern Luzon, and it is impossible to truly control them. Even if you have complete control, so what?

No matter from which perspective, only Manila is the only one in the Philippines.

Maybe you can be majestic in other places, but here, you are actually just a little person.

The same is true.

When Roxas became President of the Philippines, Marcos was appointed as his secretary.

The position of presidential secretary is still very important and respected, but it does not have much real power.

A dignified administrator of the eight provinces of Northern Luzon became the presidential secretary. From a general political perspective, Marcos had to do this.

But this disappointed Marcos, who had greater aspirations and ambitions.

In his view, he is the administrator of the eight provinces of Northern Luzon and helped Roxas during his most difficult time. After Roxas successfully ran for president, he should be given a more important position.

For example, the head of a certain department.

Or by virtue of his military exploits and his status as a "Philippine Hero", a recipient of 32 medals, he entered the Ministry of National Defense and held important positions.

But Roxas only gave him the position of presidential secretary.

In this position, I can spend more time with the president and maintain a close relationship.

But in reality, Marcos would rather be a senator.

If Roxas had not died of a heart attack two years later during a visit to Iraq, Marcos would have continued to serve as his secretary, thereby losing several years of direct political front office.

Politics is so wonderful, no one knows when an opportunity will arise.

As soon as Roxas died, Marcos made the decisive decision to run for Congress, thus starting a smooth sailing road ahead in politics.

At this time, the words of "Colonel Charles" made Marcos, who had always been arrogant, feel frustrated.

He, the administrator of the eight provinces of Northern Luzon, whom he attaches great importance to, is worthless in the eyes of Americans.

Perhaps, his status is not as good as the mayor of Manila.

The bruises on him were about the same.

Meng Shaoyuan changed the subject: "Mr. Marcos, in the eight provinces of Northern Luzon you manage, in addition to the Japanese army, they are still resisting. The factors of the war have left them scarred. The most fatal factors are the shortage of cash and the skyrocketing prices of finished products. , however, the prices of rice and tobacco, which are the local pillar industries, miraculously did not rise."

This was the most embarrassing thing for Marcos, who was the top administrator of the place.

The Cagayan Valley has the most extensive farmland in the entire Northern Luzon region.

In fact, it has long been known as the rice granary of Northern Luzon.

It produces enough rice to make up for the food shortage in Ilocos and mountain provinces.

Tobacco has also been produced in Manila's cigar and cigarette factories since the 18th century.

Despite rice surpluses and tobacco production, the locals have not risen from the mire of poverty.

Neither the Spaniards, nor the Americans before them, nor the Japanese later, saw fit to establish any significant manufacturing industry in the area.

Moreover, there is no local road network.

After the U.S. military landed on Luzon Island, the Japanese army collected a large amount of food in the Cagayan River.

But it didn't take long for the Japanese army to suffer from serious food shortages, which eventually led to cannibalism.

why?

Because although the Japanese army worked hard to collect food, they were embarrassed to find that they did not have roads to smoothly transport the food to a safe area.

Moreover, the land in Northern Luzon was crazily expropriated by local big families.

The Narendasan family, the arch-enemy of the Marcos family, directly embezzled more than 10,000 hectares of land.

Even more so for the Marcos family. Marcos’s father, Marcos Sr., alone occupied 20,000 hectares of land in one go.

Therefore, the assets of Northern Luzon are actually in the hands of big bureaucratic capital.

They don't care at all if rice and tobacco cannot be transported.

What they value is local logging, extorting local logging merchants, constantly taxing merchants, smuggling logs, and stealing cattle!

That’s right, cattle stealing!

The bureaucracy directed the police and their personal thugs to seize land and property from poor settlers.

Even the cattle were spared.

Cattle rustling has even become an important source of income for them.

How is it possible to run a place like this?

As the top local administrator, Marcos was also the direct recipient of the benefits.

He will not, dare not, and is unwilling to stop these dirty transactions.

He must do his best to protect the interests of his family.

The Marcos family and the Narendasan family are sworn enemies, but they have one thing in common:

The interests of the big family are unshakable!

This point is "sacred and unchangeable" whether the Marcos family or the Narendasan family is in power in Northern Luzon!

"Yes, Colonel, you know the situation in Northern Luzon well." Marcos had to admit: "But what can we do? It is very difficult to transport the rice and tobacco produced, and the entry of finished products "

"It's very regrettable." Meng Shaoyuan sighed: "I have some friends, some powerful friends in the United States, who are very willing to help the Administrator resolve his current predicament."

Marcos's eyes lit up.

If this happens, he will become a real star.

You will gain a lot of political prestige as a result.

"Colonel, I am willing to listen," Marcos said hastily.

Meng Shaoyuan took out a cigarette and lit it: "My friends will set up a company, inject a large amount of capital, and actively solve the difficult situation encountered in Northern Luzon, especially the Cagayan River.

Of course, they need at least 3,000 hectares of land, and this is free of charge, because their initial investment is huge. As Northern Luzon, I think the return given to them is also necessary. "

Marcos had no objection to this.

Although it is 3,000 hectares of land, as long as it does not touch the interests of local families, farmers have plenty of land.

"The Northern Luzon government will fully cooperate." Marcos said after thinking about it: "There are many unclaimed lands in the Cagayan River, especially during the period when the Japanese invaded the Philippines, a large amount of land was occupied If it is abandoned, we will post public notices, and if no one comes to claim it within the specified period, the land will be taken back to the state."

It sounds very beautiful, but in fact it is just the plundering of Chi Guoguo.

"Thank you, Administrator, for your support." Meng Shaoyuan smiled lightly and said, "We need to have the exclusive rights to operate rice and tobacco in Northern Luzon for thirty years. And, we will set the price."

Marcos frowned slightly.

Although I don’t know how the other party can transport rice and tobacco smoothly, but since the other party said so, he must be sure.

Once this happens, the pricing power is still in their hands, and the profit returns will be staggering.

"Mr. Administrator, we will not forget your cooperation and understanding." Meng Shaoyuan said slowly: "We will let the Marcos family, ah, no, the local government occupy a certain share in the company."

Marcos's eyes lit up.

What local government.

To put it bluntly, the Americans agreed to let the Marcos family participate in dividing the spoils.

This is different.

Huge returns and huge economic benefits will completely consolidate the position of the Marcos family in the Philippines.

And there are greater benefits.

Colonel Charles has just said that these American companies have great power in the United States. Once the Marcos family fully cooperates with them, it will mean that they have the full support of the American powerful groups behind them.

At this time, Meng Shaoyuan knew very well that after the war was over, the United States would frantically plunder the Philippines' resources.

Rice, tobacco, logs, minerals, land, labor and so on.

The economic lifeline of the Philippines will be completely controlled by the American consortium.

The so-called transportation will be solved quickly once a large consortium joins.

He himself is nothing more than one of the predators.

Moreover, Marcos is the future president of the Philippines and will rule the Philippines for twenty years.

As long as he is drawn into his own group, he will be fully protected in the Philippines, and most of the steady stream of benefits will enter his own group.

The American consortium behind Couston will also trust them more and even be unable to leave them.

"Colonel, I am willing to consider it carefully." Marcos still said with some caution: "Of course, personally, I am inclined to your suggestion. This is good for the Cagayan River and the entire Northern Luzon. It’s the most meaningful thing to say.”

"Look, I can feel the sincerity of Mr. Administrator." Meng Shaoyuan was obviously not satisfied with these: "There is another request. We know that Northern Luzon was a very turbulent area even before the Japanese invasion, and riots often occurred. A large number of cases are emerging.

So, to protect American corporate interests, my friends would form private security companies. This is also good for the Northern Luzon government. This will save you manpower and material resources, and you will no longer have to allocate police to protect these American companies. "

This means that a large group of foreign private armed forces will appear on the soil of a sovereign country.

However, what does this compare to the 23 military bases the United States will build in the Philippines in the future?

Meng Shaoyuan continued: "I also know very well that the local police are very hard-working. Their wages are low and they need some extra income to maintain a normal life. Therefore, my American friends are willing to allocate a special fund every month to deal with Police are subsidized.”

Marcos smiled too.

Crimes against locals are rampant in Cagayan Valley.

The police engaged in widespread robbery, rape, cattle rustling and extortion in the slums.

This is also one of the main sources of income for the police.

But now, the colonel has even considered this.

"Colonel, I am very grateful that you have considered everything." Marcos said seriously at this time: "During my term, I will use the easiest way to achieve cooperation with the Americans as quickly as possible. All the things you proposed The request, I'm sure will be passed. But I also have my concerns.

In Northern Luzon, I am not the one who has the final say. There are many forces, even forces that are hostile to me and hope that I die in front of them. "

"Mr. Administrator, you are talking about the Narendasan family." Meng Shaoyuan said unhurriedly: "Of course I will not see any danger to the lives of my collaborators!"