The Tyrant Billionaire

"We need to find a solution to this."

After Hardy finished speaking, he looked at the representatives of the other conglomerates present.

The vice president of Morgan Stanley frowned and said, "$570 million, and just the interest is $100,000 a day. It's been 60 days now—we've already lost $6 million."

"What exactly is MacArthur trying to do? We have the sale documents from Congress. What right does he have to block us?"

"I think we should mobilize our influence and have Washington or Congress warn MacArthur," someone suggested.

This was exactly the outcome Hardy had been waiting for.

In fact, he could have gone to MacArthur himself, but he deliberately didn't. When MacArthur had initially blocked them from taking control of the factories, Hardy had been secretly pleased and purposely dragged his feet in addressing the issue.

Now that the acquisitions of banks and companies were complete and many Japanese enterprises had resumed production, Hardy's plan for turning Japan into a manufacturing hub for the U.S., with its heavy industries and military industries dismantled, was well underway.

With Japan's economic structure largely in place, Hardy now had time to deal with MacArthur.

MacArthur was arrogant and proud.

Hardy wondered if he would be afraid of angering the seven major conglomerates.

The group decided to file complaints with the conglomerates, urging their leaders to contact influential congressmen or the White House directly.

Anyone who stood in the way of capitalists making money was their enemy.

Losing $6 million?

That was no small sum. At this point, MacArthur had made himself the enemy of the seven major conglomerates.
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Several calls were made to President Johnson.

And not just from one person.

In fact, Johnson had never been fond of MacArthur. And as for General Marshall, now the Secretary of Defense, he outright disliked MacArthur.

The two men had personal grievances.

When MacArthur had served as Chief of Staff of the Army, he had treated Marshall unfairly, hindering his career progression. Later, Marshall's mentor, General Pershing, had sent MacArthur off to the Philippines, allowing Marshall to rise in rank.

As for why Pershing had sent MacArthur away, that was another interesting story: MacArthur had married Pershing's mistress, infuriating him.

Regarding MacArthur's obstruction of the seven conglomerates from taking over the factories, President Johnson and General Marshall shared the same opinion: MacArthur, feeling that he controlled Japan, was upset that decisions were being made without consulting him, leading him to make such foolish moves.

"Boastful, attention-seeking, defiant, and insufferable—that's the impression everyone who's dealt with him has," Marshall said.

"I'll send him a telegram under the name of the Department of Defense, instructing him that economic matters in Japan are now under Hardy's control, and telling him not to interfere," Marshall said.

Johnson thought for a moment.

Then he said gravely, "I'll also have the White House send him a telegram. The sale of Japan's military-industrial companies is a congressional decision, and no one can obstruct it."

"During this time, Hardy has been reorganizing Japan's economy, and hundreds of companies have already resumed operations. Japan is now on track to become a manufacturing base for the U.S. Their economy is recovering, and they're starting to produce enough to trade for the food they need, reducing reliance on American aid. I'm very pleased with Hardy's work."

"MacArthur, however, is standing in his way. I think MacArthur has misunderstood his role. While he may be the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Japan, he represents the United States and executes U.S. orders. Japan is not his personal colony."

At the Osaka military base,

MacArthur was smoking his pipe while reading a report about the division of Germany into East and West.

At that moment, An aide came in with a telegram. "General, we've received a telegram from the U.S., from Senator Harriman."

"Harriman? Why would he send me a telegram?"

Harriman was no ordinary senator. His father was the famous American railroad tycoon, and Harriman himself was a business elite who later entered politics, serving as a governor. Now, he was a Republican senator with great influence within the party.

Although MacArthur held a high position in the military, he wasn't satisfied. He had twice tried to run for president. The first time, he competed against Roosevelt, but he ended up eating dust behind Roosevelt and obediently returned to the military.

The second time was during the last election, when Hardy backed Johnson for the presidency. MacArthur had competed against Dewey for the Republican nomination, only to be overwhelmingly defeated by Dewey, forcing him to stay in the military once again.

But he wasn't giving up and was already preparing for the next race. MacArthur had aligned himself with the Republican Party, and Harriman, a senior senator in the party, was someone he sought to win over as an ally.

In the telegram, Harriman used relatively gentle language. He expressed concern about MacArthur's decision to block the seven conglomerates from taking control of the Japanese factories, pointing out that this was an unwise move.

Word had spread within Congress about MacArthur's actions, and if he offended the seven major conglomerates, it would be difficult for him to gain support for his future presidential ambitions.

MacArthur's eye twitched.

He had only wanted to give Hardy a hard time, but Hardy hadn't even reached out to him once during these two months of delay.

Now the conglomerates believed that MacArthur was intentionally causing trouble, which left MacArthur feeling frustrated. He hadn't intended it that way—he just wanted to humble Hardy a little.

What to do now?

Should he go to Hardy and tell him he could now take back the factories?

Hardy would probably laugh at him.

As MacArthur was still pondering, his aide entered with another telegram. "General, we've received a message from the Department of Defense."

MacArthur quickly took the telegram.

After reading its contents, he was stunned. The Department of Defense had also sent a message about the factories, using very formal language to instruct MacArthur that Congress had decided to sell these factories to the conglomerates and that he was to comply immediately.

Damn it! The Department of Defense had now weighed in.

It seemed the heads of those conglomerates had reached out to the Pentagon.