Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 137 Comprador

(This is an extra chapter as compensation for yesterday~)

It was already 4 p.m. when I left the embassy.

A black Nissan Presidential Sedan was driving up the slope in Akasaka.

Shuichi leaned back in the back seat, took off his hat, and rubbed his temples wearily.

Satsuki sat beside him, holding the book "Out of Control" that she hadn't finished reading yet.

"Father, you've worked hard."

"Yeah." Shuichi sighed. "That feeling of being scrutinized is really unpleasant."

He turned his head and looked out the window at the bustling streets of Tokyo. In the window of an electronics store, a news program about "Japan becoming number one" was playing. The host excitedly declared that Japan was about to buy the entire United States.

"Satsuki".

Shuichi's voice was somewhat low.

"Is it really okay for us to do this? Tying ourselves so closely to the Americans... If the right-wingers or zaibatsu in the country find out, they'll probably accuse the Saionji family of 'selling out the government'."

"Does this count as acting as a comprador?"

"comprador?"

Satsuki closed the book and chuckled softly.

She stretched out her hand and pointed to the buildings under construction outside the window.

"Father, what do you think the Americans want? They want the market, they want control, they want to turn Japan into their ATM."

"What did we give them? We gave them orders, we gave them access to Japan."

"On the surface, we are indeed doing things for the Americans."

Satsuki's eyes gradually deepened, like an ancient well whose bottom could not be seen.

"But, Father."

"Cisco sold us equipment, inanimate metal boxes. But the 'Saionji Intelligence System' that we built with that equipment was alive."

"The wider our network, the deeper our roots."

"One day, all of Japan's data will be running on our network, all bank transfers will pass through our nodes, and all logistics will follow our instructions..."

Satsuki turned her head and looked at her father.

"Back then, who was in control of whom?"

As Shuichi listened to his daughter's words, a chill ran down his spine, followed by a profound sense of relief. He looked at his daughter's youthful yet ambitious face.

"Borrowing a boat to go to sea, then discarding the bridge after crossing the river... Is that what you're planning to do?"

"This is just a tactic."

Satsuki shook her head, her gaze passing over her father's shoulder to the sky outside the car window, fragmented by skyscrapers.

"Father, do you know why, no matter how strong Japan's economy is, we still have to bow our heads before Ambassador Mansfield?"

Shuichi fell silent.

This is a sore point in the hearts of all Japanese elites.

"Because we are 'disabled'."

Satsuki's voice was soft, yet every word was like a knife.

"We have no command of the military, no diplomatic autonomy. On this island nation, even if we buy up all the buildings in the world, we still have an invisible chain around our necks. The other end of that chain is in Washington's hands."

"As long as that chain remains, Japan will forever remain America's 'cash cow' and 'breakwater'."

"Money alone is not enough to break free from that chain."

Satsuki extended her right hand, loosely clenched it into a fist, and placed it on her knee.

"To truly sit at the poker table on equal footing with Americans, we need chips. Chips big enough that Americans have to be wary of us and have to court us."

"Bargaining chips?" Xiu frowned. "Is there anything with a bigger bargaining chip than the Japanese yen?"

"have."

Satsuki raised her hand and pointed west.

That's the direction the sun sets, and also the direction of that vast continent.

"The other side of the sea."

Shuichi followed her finger, his eyes filled with confusion.

"You mean... that poor neighbor who still rides a bicycle?"

"poverty?"

Satsuki smiled.

"Father, in our factory in Shanghai, the workers work tirelessly day and night for a few thousand yen a month. The officials there are willing to lower themselves to the dust in order to attract investment."

"All you see is poverty."

"But what I see is desire. A huge desire from a billion people to change their fate, a desire that could set the world ablaze."

Satsuki turned around and looked directly into Shuichi's eyes.

"Father, let's make a bet."

"What kind of bet?"

"Gambling on the fate of the nation."

Satsuki raised one finger.

"I bet that country will wake up within the next twenty years. It will become the world's factory, the largest market, and... the only behemoth that can rival the United States."

"And if Japan doesn't want to slowly wither away after the bubble bursts, its only way to survive is to become a bridge connecting that behemoth to the world."

"Now, we are using American technology to arm ourselves."

"In the future, we will use the resources we have accumulated on that continent to negotiate with the Americans."

"This is the highest level of 'borrowing the tiger's power'."

"We must use the power of the Americans to suppress our domestic bureaucrats, and we must also use the power of that awakened dragon to cut the leash in the hands of the Americans."

The carriage was deathly silent.

Only the low hum of the engine could be heard.

Shuichi stared blankly at his daughter. He felt his throat go dry and his heart pounding.

This is beyond the scope of a businessman's thinking.

This is a chess player standing on the long river of history, setting up a game that spans centuries.

In this game, the United States is a pawn, Japan is a pawn, and even that huge, still-dormant neighboring country is part of her plan.

Use the world as a chessboard.

"Satsuki..."

Shuichi's voice trembled slightly.

"What if... what if you lose the bet? What if that country remains asleep forever?"

"Then we only lost a few factories."

Satsuki shrugged and said casually.

"But what if I win the bet?"

A golden glint flashed in her eyes.

"The Saionji family will become the 'gatekeepers' of the new Asia."

"Back then, even the President of the United States would have to bow to you first."

The car drove through an intersection.

The red light is on.

At the crossroads in Akasaka, NTT's slogan flashes brightly on a huge GG sign.

Deep underground, within that unseen fiber optic network, the data flow of the Saionji intelligence system spread silently, like a lurking virus.

Shuichi looked at his daughter's profile and let out a long breath.

He put his top hat back on, concealing the glint in his eyes.

"it is good."

"Then let's gamble."

"If you're going to be a comprador, then be the biggest comprador in the world. Manipulate the giants on both sides of the Pacific Ocean with ease."

The green light comes on.

The car accelerated, merged into the heavy traffic, and headed towards Bunkyo Ward.

The real war has only just begun.