The British Forces in Hong Kong would periodically hand over ships, machinery, rubber, kerosene, and other items that could not be disposed of at will to the Hong Kong Colonial Government for auction to raise money. However, apart from those sought-after items, various daily necessities such as cigarettes, towels, liquor, sugar, and salt were still piled up like mountains in more than a dozen barracks and over thirty warehouses throughout Hong Kong.
Britain quartermasters were at a loss when it came to supplies, most of which were produced seven or even ten years ago. Towels, sugar, and salt could be partially consumed by the more than 10,000 British Forces in Hong Kong in Hong Kong, but most of the cigarettes were Japan, and due to their long storage time, they had lost their flavor. Even if they were distributed as free welfare, none of the soldiers who were used to Britain cigarettes would want to take them. As for spirits, asking Britain soldiers who were used to smoky whiskey, fruity brandy, or even light beer to drink pungent Eastern spirits was practically the same as forcing them to drink poison.
Not only were these supplies unwanted by any soldiers, but food and vegetables were also running low in various military camps. As Britain expeditionary forces stationed in Hong Kong in the Far East, these Britain soldiers enjoyed the privilege of having their families accompany them after the war. With tens of thousands of military dependents and children moving to Hong Kong, in addition to expanding the camp area, increasing the number of family housing units, and building supporting facilities such as kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, hospitals, canteens, and shops within the military camps, various military camps fell into a food and vegetable crisis. It was not because the families were accompanying them that the salaries of these Nationalist Army were insufficient to buy vegetables and food; on the contrary, considering the families accompanying them, this expeditionary force increased salaries to ensure that the salary of each Nationalist Army was sufficient to meet the expenses of a family within the military camp.
The soldiers did receive more pay, but the barracks lacked sufficient food and vegetables. All the necessities for the British Forces in Hong Kong, including meat, alcohol, and even flour, were imported from the Britain or Australia. The Nationalist Army only guaranteed that the more than 10,000 soldiers had enough supplies, without taking into account the needs of their large families. The reason given was that the soldiers' salaries had already been increased, and those increases were made to take into account the families accompanying them. The families could buy whatever they needed in Hong Kong.
However, Hong Kong doesn't have much land. Even the rice that China person eat used to be imported from the mainland and Thailand. After the Embargo Order was imposed, rice prices have risen significantly, causing widespread discontent among Hong Kong residents. As for the Hong Kong flour market, it is monopolized by Australia and United States companies. It is common for poor families to eat rice, but very few can afford flour.
Previously, the quartermasters of the British Forces in Hong Kong would purchase vegetables from the market for each barracks. Now, the military dependents have learned to bring their own money to the nearby market to buy vegetables and food to cook at home. Often, by the time the quartermasters go to buy vegetables, the dependents have already bought them all, and the Hong Kong vendors are already preparing to close up shop, with only a few vegetable leaves left.
The British Forces in Hong Kong numbered only 12,000, but the number of military dependents, including children, exceeded 10,000. The enormous consumption of local vegetables by these dependents has led to a shortage of vegetables in military canteens, making it difficult to even prepare a simple vegetable salad for the soldiers.
Left with no other choice, several quartermasters in the military camps near the New Territories, after consulting with their superiors, began to consider exchanging supplies for Japanese troops. They opened their supply depots and started bartering with the local people, exchanging vegetables and grains for tobacco, alcohol, tea, and sugar. Originally, Hong Kong's local vegetables and grains were produced in the New Territories, and in their spare time, rural people would go to the city to sell their produce. Now, seeing the Foreign Devil exchanging tobacco and alcohol for vegetables, these New Territories residents pushed wheelbarrows or carried loads of vegetables and grains they had grown themselves, no longer going to the city, but directly delivering them to the military camps. Two baskets of vegetables for two baskets of cigarettes was a huge profit for the people. For the quartermasters, the tobacco and alcohol had lost their flavor and were taking up warehouse space, practically worthless. Being able to exchange them for two baskets of vegetables was a great bargain.
This win-win barter system quickly spread from the New Territories to Kowloon, and then to Hong Kong Island. Quartermasters in various military camps said that they also had expired supplies that no one wanted even if they were left to rot in warehouses. So they simply started bartering, exchanging vegetables and grains for supplies.
However, the military camps on Hong Kong Island had no advantage, because the locals would choose to barter vegetables produced in the New Territories or Kowloon military camps nearby. Since they could get the same things in return, they certainly wouldn't travel all the way to Hong Kong Island to pay for a ferry ride to deliver two baskets of vegetables to the Foreign Devil soldiers on Hong Kong Island who couldn't afford vegetables.
The quartermaster of the Sai Ying Pun garrison, who had supplies but no one willing to trade with him, had to lower the price, exchanging a basket of vegetables for a basket and a half of cigarettes and alcohol. Only after the profit was slightly higher did some people agree to pool their resources and cross the sea at once to deliver vegetables.
Song Tianyao had his Scribe Hui, do barter business with the three military camps on Hong Kong Island. His plan was for Scribe Hui to buy vegetables from farmers in the New Territories countryside at a better price than the barter prices at the New Territories military camps, and then transport them by small truck to the Sai Ying Pun military camp on Hong Kong Island in exchange for tobacco and alcohol supplies.
In fact, Song Tianyao knew that with the current barter trend, the expired cigarettes and alcohol exchanged in the military camps were worthless outside, and their prices were about to drop to less than those of vegetables. The reason was that the vegetable farmers blindly lowered their prices to sell the cigarettes and alcohol without understanding the market. One vegetable farmer might sell a carton of cigarettes for five Hong Kong dollars, but the next vegetable farmer, in order to sell them off more quickly, could sell all the cigarettes he had for four Hong Kong dollars. Then it was three dollars, two dollars, one dollar. After the initial huge profits, all that was left was a vicious cycle of price-cutting and dumping.
Song Tianyao wasn't trying to hoard cigarettes and alcohol for profit. He had a far-sighted perspective than ordinary people. He knew the British Army warehouses would eventually be emptied, and this kind of business wouldn't last long. Instead, he should use this time when ordinary people treated Nationalist Army soldiers like idiots to cultivate good relations with the Britain garrison. The profit or loss would only amount to thirty or fifty dollars a day, which he could afford. More than the money he lost, he hoped to maintain good relationships with the quartermasters in various military camps through sound business ethics. The real business could be conducted through the British Army's unilateral procurement after the supplies were emptied.