Chapter 505: The Chrysanthemum Dynasty

Capital City's lingering spring chill just passed, and the old locust tree in Fuqiang Hutong sprouted green tips.

Lu Qingshan sat in the study's grand chair, idly turning a hot‑stamped letter in his hand.

The paper was thick, feeling like silk, stamped with the British Royal Asset Management Committee's seal.

"Special Advisor." Lu Qingshan read the title, casually tossed the letter onto the desk and let out a light laugh, "They've taken their money, yet they still ask us to handle the remaining petty assets. Those British gentlemen really have thicker skin than a bent city wall."

"That's been subdued."

Ye Ning set a cup of hot tea on the table, then slipped off her heavy cashmere scarf. She had just flown back from New York, her eyes a bit dark‑blue, but she was in high spirits.

"Nowadays in London Financial City, just hearing the words 'Star River' makes those wig‑wearing judges shiver three times. The Reagan administration tacitly approved, since we hold so many U. S. bonds; they don't want to fall out with us at this critical moment. Semiconductors, shale oil, even a few California defense labs— the path is paved."

Lu Qingshan lifted his tea and took a sip, "The Americans are buying time; they're busy dissecting the Soviet Union. We can't let them recover."

"So we have to strike first."

Ye Ning pulled a stack of documents from her briefcase and thumped them heavily onto the desk.

"Boss, this came back from our South American intel network. The Japanese this time aren't playing a covert plot, but an open scheme."

Lu Qingshan picked up the file. The cover bore a few Japanese characters—"New Japan".

Inside it was categorized into sections such as "Off‑shore New Japan", "Financial New Japan", "Tech New Japan", and others, detailing the concrete implementation steps.

Turning to the first page revealed an aerial photograph.

The location was deep in Brazil Mato Grosso State. In a once‑dense tropical rainforest now almost completely logged, a massive modern town rose conspicuously.

High walls topped with electric fences, watchtowers mounting machine guns. Yet the architecture inside was not the vibrant South American style but typical Japanese gardens—orderly streets, huge factories, even a few shrine torii gates.

"This is a 'Japan Village' built jointly by the Mitsui and Sumitomo Group," Ye Ning said, pointing to details in the photo. "Just in Brazil and Argentina, they bought four million hectares of land. Publicly they claim agricultural development; in reality it's a closed‑off management. Inside there are their own schools, hospitals, even private armed forces."

Lu Qingshan squinted, watching a few laborers in the photo's corner hauling cargo. It wasn't ordinary hauling—it was labor under a foreman's whip.

"This is a nation building a nation," Lu Qingshan snorted coldly.

"There are many such places, and it's not just the land," Ye Ning turned to the next page, filled with dense offshore company structure charts. "In the past six months, capital outflow from mainland Japan has been frighteningly fast. Cutting‑edge semiconductor patents, precision machine‑tool blueprints, and core biopharma data are all being shifted to these South American shell companies. Some even went into a few Swiss underground vaults that haven't been touched for decades."

"They've caught the scent," Lu Qingshan closed the file, tapping his fingers lightly on the desk. "The Americans have fattened that Japanese sheep, now sharpening their knives to shear the wool. Those conglomerates aren't stupid; they know staying at home means waiting to be slaughtered."

"So they're planning a golden cicada shedding its shell," Ye Ning added. "Turn mainland Japan into a hollow shell for the Americans to use as a military base, leave ordinary citizens to bear the hardships of a bursting bubble, while the elite take their technology and wealth to South America to become local emperors."

"The calculations are indeed clever," Lu Qingshan pulled a cigarette from the pack, unlit, "but unfortunately they forgot there are people in this world who love to smash others' abacuses."

He stood up and walked to the window.

"If they want to shed the shell, I'll crush the cicada inside its shell and burn the shell as well."

Lu Qingshan turned and shouted toward the doorway, "Lin Yueqiang!"

In the courtyard, Lin Yueqiang was dangling a meat bone to Jin Hu. The hound, well‑fed and robust, was now circling anxiously for a bite.

Hearing the shout, Lin Yueqiang tossed the bone, wiped his hands, and ran inside.

"Brother‑in‑law, what's up?"

"Pack up, we're heading out on a business trip." Lu Qingshan handed over the documents.

Lin Yueqiang glanced at it, "Tokyo? Brother‑in‑law, you just got back from London and now you're off for sashimi again?"

"This time it's not for a meal; it's for demolition."

Lu Qingshan pointed to the first name on the list—Pan Liu Xinyu.

"Mitsubishi UFJ's big boss. Met him in New York before; the kid's timid but greedy." He now oversees the entire conglomerate's overseas capital allocation.

"How do we handle it?" Lin Yueqiang folded the list and slipped it into his pocket.

"Tell him I want to catch up," Lu Qingshan lit the cigarette, the flame flickering across his face, "and ask whether the laborers on those South American farms have all signed contracts of selling themselves. If he refuses to cooperate, we'll send those photos to The New York Times and the Brazilian government. I think the Americans would be very interested to learn that their little brother is running a backyard colony."

"Got it. Just make him wet his pants," Lin Yueqiang grinned, "I'm seasoned at this job."

"And also." Lu Qingshan exhaled a smoke ring, his tone chilling a bit, "We should stir things up in Korea too. Samsung, Daewoo, POSCO. In that London showdown, these firms repeatedly stabbed us in the back alongside the British and Americans. Since we're playing the dog, we must be prepared to have our legs broken."

"Understood." Lin Yueqiang turned to leave, then recalled, "Brother‑in‑law, that Li Zexun—Li Jiasheng's kid—was in Tokyo a couple of days ago. Heard he's mixing with the Mitsui people."

Lu Qingshan's fingers paused for a moment.

Ye Ning interjected, "Intelligence shows Li Zexun is laundering funds for the Japanese conglomerates. Through Hong Kong Island's underground money houses, he swaps yen for bearer bonds and moves them to South America. The Li Family is trying to hitch a ride on the Japanese's thigh."

"Dogs can't stop eating shit." Lu Qingshan crushed the cigarette butt in the ashtray with force, the tip shattering, "I originally wanted the Li Family to bounce a few more days, but since they're so eager to die, we'll let them."

"Lin Yueqiang, when you get to Tokyo, deliver a welcome gift to Young Master Li."

"What gift?"

"Make him understand that some money is too hot to hold, and some ships once boarded can't come down." Lu Qingshan's gaze was calm yet tinged with blood‑lust, "Copy all his accounts in Tokyo and send them to his father in Hong Kong Island. Let his dad see how this prized son is pushing the family into a furnace."

Lin Yueqiang chuckled, the grin laced with ferocity, "Don't worry, brother‑in‑law; I'll make sure he never forgets it for the rest of his life."

After seeing Lin Yueqiang and Ye Ning off, the sky had already turned black.

Lu Qingshan stood alone in the courtyard.

The western sun sank, leaving only a smear of dark‑red afterglow like an unhealed wound. In the east, the Moon rose, its cold light spilling over the old locust tree.

The Europe and America front is basically over; the battlefield's been cleared, now it's just carving up the meat.

But the ground at our doorstep still has plenty of filth.

The Japanese conglomerates think they can run off with a century's plundered loot? Dream on.

That's all blood sucked from Asian peoples; if they want to leave, they must first spit it all out.

A gust of wind swept by, stirring a few fallen leaves.

Lu Qingshan tightened his collar, turned, and went back inside.

"Dad!" Lu Xiao Xue brandished a freshly drawn picture as she ran over, "Look, I've drawn a big tiger!"

On the paper, an orange‑yellow tiger opened its huge mouth; though the strokes were childish, it exuded a charmingly bold aura.

"Nice, truly majestic." Lu Qingshan lifted his daughter, planting a kiss on her chubby little face, "This tiger is meant to catch the bad guys, right?"

"Yeah! To catch the big thief mouse!"

Lu Qingshan smiled.

"Yes, we'll go catch the big rat now."

On the sea surface of Eastern Capital Bay, a storm is brewing.

Those big rats who thought they could escape like a cicada shedding its shell didn't know that the mousetrap had already been placed at their doorstep.