Chapter 860 - A Diversion?
Chapter 860: A Diversion?
Upon hearing what Yagawa Masaru said, the old man said in surprise, “If everything is really as you say, what should we do?”
Yagawa Masaru placed his hand on the teacup and pondered carefully. After a while, he said, “We can’t just sit and watch as his plan is completed step by step. Therefore, we must think of a way to destroy his plan in advance.”
The old man asked, “For example?”
Yagawa Masaru said, “Like… stealing his classified technology.”
The old man’s eyes narrowed.
Yagawa Masaru said, “Only by obtaining his technology can we attack and defend.”
The old man tapped the phone thoughtfully.
Just as the two of them were chatting about Su Yang, a young lady in a beautiful kimono walked in.
She came to the two of them, bowed, and said softly, “Masaru-sama, the president of Honda, the president of Toyota, and the director of Mitsubishi said that they have an appointment with you and would like to have a chat. They are already outside.”
Yagawa Masaru nodded, then stood up and said to the old man, “Let’s go.”
Although Yagawa Masaru was the richest man in Japan, the scale of his business could not be compared to the three visiting companies.
Be it Honda, Toyota, or Mitsubishi, they were all top ten companies in Japan. The Swift Marketing Group was only in the top 40.
This was especially true for Toyota, who was the number one vehicle in Japan for many years. It involved cars, steel, machine tools, pesticides, electronics, textile machines, fiber fabrics, household necessities, chemicals, chemistry, construction machinery, and construction industries. It was a real super financial group. The car industry was just an important part of them.
Therefore, when faced with the executives of these three companies, even though Yagawa Masaru’s seniority was high, he did not dare to be careless and personally came out to welcome them.
Following the girl in the kimono, Yagawa Masaru and the old man soon arrived at the door. They saw the three executives who were already chatting and drinking tea in the guest room.
When they saw Yagawa Masaru, the three executives also stood up to greet him.
Japan’s hierarchy was still important. After all, Yagawa Masaru was everyone’s senior, and his status was high as well. Thus, the executives of the three enterprises showed him respect.
Thus, the meeting began in harmony.
After welcoming the three of them, Yagawa Masaru led them to a special guest room. Then, he got the girl in the kimono to close the door. The five of them started chatting openly…
…
While Su Yang was scheming in Japan, he was not idle either.
After Su Yang returned from Tokyo, he dismissed the rest of the people in the hotel and told the Clown Sea Serpent about his next plan.
Su Yang said, “You’ve done well this time. I’m referring to what you’ve done in Kanto.”
The Clown Sea Serpent grinned and said, “It’s all thanks to your guidance, Master.”
Su Yang asked, “Are there any problems with the leader of the gang that you’re controlling?”
“No, don’t worry.”
Su Yang nodded.
The Clown Sea Serpent looked around, then whispered, “So, Master, should I carry on with the plan?”
Su Yang nodded again. “Nothing has changed, go ahead and carry on as we’ve planned.”
When he finished, he paused. “For the time being, you stay with me and come out occasionally so that others can see you and recognize you. Then, you are to head back to Central Asia secretly and have it under control, I don’t want there to be any problems during this period.”
Hydra licked his lips and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, Master. Nothing will go wrong. I now control Yemen and have infiltrated Saudi Arabia. As long as my people hold them back and prevent the Petrol Alliance in Central Asia from discussing our graphene batteries, I believe they won’t do anything for a while.
“When our plan is completed, we will release the restrictions and even add fuel to the fire, causing a wave of opposition from Central Asia.
“Everything shall be done with the utmost discretion.”
Su Yang nodded. “Also, you have to pay attention to the governor of Hawaii as well. Keep an eye on him. After all, he is not one of us, so he might not do his job well. We have to ensure that he sticks to our plan.”
The Clown Sea Serpent made an “okay” gesture again. “Don’t worry, Master. Even if I have to die in the process, I will complete these missions.”
Su Yang patted his shoulder to show that he trusted him.
After chatting with the Clown Sea Serpent, Su Yang gave Janet a call and asked about his progress in developing the gold mine in the Pacific Ocean.
Su Yang’s plan to destroy Japan’s economy required gold after all.
Janet said that he had sent out all his personal guards to plant the gold coconut trees. He believed that there would be an endless supply of gold soon.
However, there was not a large amount of gold at that moment, so it would not be of great use.
Su Yang did not say much. In fact, he did not even push Janet since he had always been the little monster that made Su Yang worry the least.
…
At that moment, Yagawa Masaru was still having a small meeting.
Yagawa Masaru sat in the main seat and said to the three executives and the old man, “I’ve said all that I need to say. This is my analysis. Su-kun must have set his eyes on your company.”
The three executives were not like the old man who had received Yagawa Masaru’s personal guidance and explanation. When they heard this shocking news, they could not help but look at each other.
Honda’s president couldn’t help but ask, “This should be just speculation, right?”
Yagawa Masaru nodded. “It’s just speculation, but I’m 90% sure it’s true.”
Honda’s president asked, “Does Su-kun have such great ambitions? Does he want to take down all three of our enterprises? Any one of our three enterprises is worth much more than the Jiadian Group, right?”
Yagawa Masaru took a sip of tea, then took out a document from under his seat and handed it to him. “This is Su-kun’s information that I asked someone to investigate. In the history of his company’s development, there were several times when he attacked other companies, then destroyed them, annexed them, and integrated them into his own company. Furthermore, at least three of them who were defeated by him were stronger than him initially.
“This is his modus operandi. It’s also why he’s developing so fast.
“I believe everyone here understands how important the modus operandi of a capitalist are, right?”
When they heard what Yagawa Masaru said, a few executives quickly looked at Su Yang’s information. It was just as Yagawa Masaru had said. Most of Su Yang’s businesses were annexed after he defeated them while they were still strong.
As for modus operandi, this was one of the key factors in business wars: everyone had a certain skill that they were best at and what they liked to use the most. Business was no exception.
Therefore, modus operandi was the most common tactic that a person has been using in the past. Through this, one could predict what this person would do next.
Hence, this document could be considered as evidence of Su Yang’s ambition.
The executives of the three companies could not help but look solemn.
In the end, it was Mitsubishi’s director who spoke first. “Actually, we don’t have to be so pessimistic. After all, looking at the previous cases, most of them were Su-kun deliberately pretending to be weak and launching an attack when his enemies weren’t prepared.
“But now, we would have already been prepared, so Su-kun will not be able to ambush us anymore.”
Yagawa Masaru nodded. “That’s true, which is why I’m telling you all this today. I hope that when you work with him, you must stay alert and not be used by him.”
The president of Honda thought for a while and said, “It’s understandable that he has his eyes on us. The automobile industry itself is the pillar of our nation. Furthermore, because the selling period of cars is longer and the cost is higher, and he has the most advanced technology, it’s very easy to launch an attack.
“For example, he can work with us in a series of cars and have us produce tens of thousands of cars in a year. If we’re not cautious, we might agree and start preparing the mold and parts.
“At that time, he would pull the rug from under us and terminate our cooperation. All of these debts incurred would fall into our hands, and it would be a huge blow to us.
“Even though these losses mean nothing compared to the entire company, and it wouldn’t be a matter of life and death. However, don’t forget that we would have to spend cash to produce these molds and parts. So, without cash in hand, we might have a hard time later on.
“Furthermore, he does not need to defeat us directly since he has technology on his side. As long as he creates trouble and holds us back, we will quickly decline.
“When the time comes, he will be able to buy us out. He will have our production and sales line in the world.”
After the president of Honda added that, other than Yagawa Masaru, everyone gasped because they felt that this plan might work.
‘Perhaps this is really Su Yang’s plan!’
The president of Toyota said, “Actually, Su-kun is using an open scheme. He has the new energy technology and is not afraid that we won’t take the bait since we can’t avoid him.”
Everyone fell silent again.
Mitsubishi’s director said, “So in the end, we still have to rely on his new technology.
“We have to get this new technology,” he said. “Only by getting this new technology can we prevent the automotive industry from being impacted.
“I don’t want to be the sinner of the whole country.”
They had this thought before coming, but after Yagawa Masaru’s reminder, they realized how important this was.
At that thought, they turned to look at Yagawa Masaru. “Yagawa-kun, you’re the one who has the best relationship with Su-kun among us. I hope you can test his new technology on account of the entire island nation.
“When necessary, we are willing to use special methods to obtain this technology.”
Yagawa Masaru did not hesitate and lowered his head. “For the sake of the Japanese people.”
The few of them also lowered their heads. “For the sake of the Japanese people!”
…
After sending them away, the old man and Yagawa Masaru walked into the courtyard.
Along the way, the old man said in a low voice, “Based on your current deduction, the financial industry which we thought should be Su-kun’s main focus, is actually just an illusion.
“He’s purposely created this illusion so that we would not pay attention to the automobile industry.”
Yagawa Masaru’s gaze was deep as he thought for a while. “Perhaps. From our current intel, finance is indeed Su-kun’s smokescreen, and the automobile industry is indeed his main target. But… I have a bad feeling. I feel like I’ve lured a ferocious beast into my own country.
“Mitsui-san, I really regret it now. Perhaps I shouldn’t have let Su-kun into our country.”
At that, Yagawa Masaru paused, his eyes hesitant as he muttered, “But finance…”
“Is finance really not his main focus?
“Could it be that he’s still bluffing?”
The old man said, “I don’t think so. He doesn’t have much money. In fact, he might not even be able to succeed in one industry, let alone two.”
After hearing this, Yagawa Masaru thought for a while and then slowly nodded. “Yes, so he must be focusing his attack in one particular direction, which should be the automobile industry…”
At this point, he added, “Get someone to keep an eye on Su-kun’s financial situation. We must not let him divert our attention.”
The old man nodded. “Understood.”
Then, Yagawa Masaru seemed to have thought of something and reminded again, “Oh right, get someone to inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to pay attention to our foreign exchange for anyone trying to sneak in.”
…
At the same time, a few financial companies suddenly appeared in the three major financial markets in Kanto, London, and New York. They started to buy in batches into Japanese yen.
This kind of financial derivative was a futuristic item that was linked to the yen. As long as the yen depreciated, this kind of index would be profitable. To put it bluntly, they were gambling with yen’s exchange rate.
As a large number of yen were being bought, several other companies started to borrow yen from various financial markets. Other than US dollar, they were putting up one of the strongest global currencies as collateral: gold!
All the major markets were involved in this kind of business, so they did not hesitate to make collateral.
However, the problem was that this was not a single deal, but an endless stream of them. More and more yen were being borrowed and sold, causing yen’s exchange rate to drop.
The fluctuations in the foreign exchange were immediately noticed by the people assigned by Yagawa Masaru, so the news quickly reached his ears.
Yagawa Masaru read the information and fell into deep thought.
‘Someone is devaluing our yen…?
‘Foreign exchange?
‘Is Su Yang targeting foreign exchange?
‘He doesn’t seem like such an unwise person though.’
Yagawa Masaru’s frown deepened as he could not understand what was happening.
Japan was the third-largest economy in the world, and its foreign-exchange reserves were second only to China’s. The yen was also the third-largest currency in the world, and the volume of transactions was huge. Hence, it was too difficult to manipulate the yen’s exchange rate.
Moreover, Japan’s near-zero interest rate is one of the world’s most important safe-haven currencies.
From 2008 to 2015 alone, the yen appreciated by nearly 30%.
Countless Japanese traders in the world ended up with huge losses as they tried to make a living from yen.
So, what made Su Yang think that he could take down yen by himself?