My History Teacher Just Can't Let The Past Go

September 1942

Brooklyn, New York

In the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt's executive order forcibly removed Americans of Japanese ancestry from their homes and imprisoned them against their will without due process. They were confined in isolated, fenced, and guarded relocation centers, known as internment camps.

The federal government rounded up and relocated 120,000 innocent people in the name of national security, including 17,000 children under age 10, as well as several thousand elderly and disabled residents.

This, on the other hand, became a vehicle of opportunity for the other Asian Americans.

China became an ally in the war against Japan, and the public sentiment in favor of America's Chinese allies surged. For the first time, Chinese aliens entered the mainstream of American society.

Chinese, Korean, and Filipino Americans across the mainland and Hawaii worked hard to prove their undivided loyalty to the American war effort. They wore the same uniform as American soldiers and fought side by side with them under the American flag. Labor shortages on the homefront opened jobs previously closed to them.

But the anti-Japanese backlash also placed them in an awkward position, as citizens and aliens alike suffered harassment and even physical violence at the hands of vigilantes unable to distinguish one Asian American group from another.

There were countless stories about how a Korean, or Filipino family were arbitrarily stopped on the highway by authorities, dragged out of their cars, and beaten.

Articles like Life magazine's, "How to Tell Japs from the Chinese," reflected the severity of the issue, as American readers were advised on how to distinguish between Chinese "friends" and Japanese "enemies."

Partly for protection and partly out of indignation, these Asian Americans took steps to differentiate and distance themselves from their Japanese neighbors. The different consulates in the country began issuing identification cards to new immigrants and existing citizens, while Chinese and Korean Americans alike began wearing buttons and badges with slogans including "I am Chinese" and "Korean American" emblazoned on them.

Amidst these tumultuous times of disharmony, hate, anger, racism, and war, a new martial arts dojo was built almost overnight in a prime location of Brooklyn, NY.

The same owner of the dojo had also bought the entire neighborhood, encompassing several blocks.

The former Japanese-owned properties that had been vandalized, several run-down buildings, abandoned warehouses that had been attracting criminal activities had been torn down and new structures were being built.

In fact, after several days of construction, the entire neighborhood looked like a different world taken straight out of an Asian fusion fantasy.

While the rest of the country was engulfed in discrimination and hate, this little piece of haven welcomed everyone with open arms, regardless of their race. The businesses and other establishments in this neighborhood hired anyone with qualifications and provided training for those who didn't. They also welcomed all customers and provided quality service.

The dojo itself provided training for anyone who wanted to defend themselves against the growing hate crimes.

This new martial arts dojo was called The Ryōzanpaku.

This unconventional and fairly brave move by the owner to give it a Japanese name became a very controversial topic.

For many Asian Americans, the need to prove their loyalty to America meant turning a blind eye to the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans, lest they throw their own allegiance into doubt.

While some individuals within each community raised doubts about the morality of incarceration, when pressed, the vast majority of Asian Americans prioritized their own interests.

Chinese Americans arguably benefited most from this incarceration as the removal of the Japanese paved the way for them to expand their social and economic influence in cities.

This man, however, not only helped everyone selflessly, he even went as far as to give the Dojo a Japanese name.

The people theorized that this, in a way, is his method to denounce discrimination and the racialization of the Japanese enemy.

An expression of solidarity against one of the most atrocious violations of American civil rights, the inhumane incarceration of innocent people.

Although there was limited freedom of speech during wartime, since this small act of peaceful protest didn't do any harm or endanger national security, it instead attracted countless people of all backgrounds to join his 'cause'.

Unbeknownst to them, however, Shen had only named the dojo "Ryōzanpaku" on a whim after the 'History's Strongest Disciple' anime he enjoyed watching.

But since this played well to his own goals, he decided to take full advantage of it. He needed to have a good "character" since that was Dr. Escrine's primary criteria for a supersoldier candidate. And what better way to show a great character than a person who does not discriminate and hate the innocent for the crimes of others.

Before leaving Norway, Shen had ordered the HYDRA agents to fabricate a new identity for him. Since HYDRA had many operatives that infiltrated influential positions all over the world, it wasn't a difficult task.

His identity was that of a young man who inherited the entire fortune of an extremely wealthy, and ancient family of traders in China. The family was one of the first group of merchants who had been authorized by the Qing Dynasty to sell silk and porcelain to foreigners. They were well known for their eccentric behavior to only accept silver for payment and not buy any foreign goods.

Further down the line, one of his ancestors had lent a huge amount of money to foreign merchants in return for a share of the shipments. As a result, at one point, the family-owned millions of silver dollars, which was several times of the richest man in the United States. Although their wealth had diminished over the years, it was still significantly abundant.

With his newfound wealth, Shen was looking for refuge in the US to escape from the ongoing war in China. He used his connections with the HYDRA agents within the government to authorize the asylum and spent a large amount of money to show the government his support to 'end the war.'

Although on the surface, he looked like a wealthy owner of the dojo and the neighborhood, he had invested in many industries to help the war efforts while gaining the support of the government officials.

After looking at the reports provided by his agents in the government, he was able to clearly see America's entire war efforts, where they had the advantage, and where they were lagging behind.

First and foremost, they were severely lagging behind in the production of aircraft. Although the US was producing fighter planes even before Pearl Harbor to help the allies, the production was slow and inadequate.

According to the report, so far, Walter Reuther, a high-ranking officer in the United Auto Workers Union (UAW), had brought forward this issue and proposed to convert Auto Industries into Aircraft production. Although this effectively called the public's attention to America's lagging preparation for the war, it was immediately rejected by car-company executives and many federal officials.

The Automobile Manufacturers Association hated him for organizing labors union and the constant strikes. Especially General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler all opposed the 'Reuther Plan'. They also disliked that he had the audacity to stick their nose into production, which was their exclusive domain.

It was only after the attack on Pearl Harbor that some of Reuther's proposals were implemented.

By this time, General Motors had already started to convert most of their factories to roll out tanks, artillery rounds, and other ammunitions. Chrysler had also focused on building tanks while Ford was building lightweight military vehicles that could be mass-produced.

The other auto companies begrudgingly accepted this proposal out of 'patriotism', but were still delaying. With the 'major competitions' focusing on military productions, they were resistant to the idea of converting to military production because they didn't want to lose this opportunity in the consumer market.

Shen immediately took advantage of their inaction and bought the majority of the formerly Japanese-owned automobile factories that had been banned from production under the name of "Shenron Industries".

He then took the initiative to convert these auto factories to manufacture not only aircraft but also their parts, and engines making him the foremost contributor to America's aircraft production.

All of his aircraft and parts were emblazoned with his logo, which was that of the Shenron dragon in an infinity loop.

Stark Industries, on the other hand, had just been established 3 years prior. Due to Howard flaunting his 'discovery' of Vibranium which led to an assassination attempt, he had accepted to join the newly created Scientific Strategic Reserve.

Although this helped him get personally involved in government projects, the company hadn't made any significant moves yet. They had also only just begun producing planes for the American war effort albeit at a smaller scale.

[A/N Roosevelt declared that the US would build 50,000 planes to fight the armies of Hirohito and Adolf Hitler. Stark had eventually delivered 100,000 planes.]

Shen was now being firmly established in the country and being a major contributor to the war efforts led to the opening of new doors for him.

He grasped the opportunity to cooperate with the U.S. Maritime Commission (USMC) to heavily invest in the docks all over the country under the "Emergency Shipbuilding program" announced by Roosevelt.

His major investment was the "Shenron Shipyard" on Staten Island which had the potential to be the largest and most productive shipyard in the world.

He may, or may not have discreetly used the full power of HYDRA to have acquired it from the Bethlehem Steel Company. But it didn't matter, since he was commended in his efforts to ensure that American shipyards would be capable of meeting wartime demands.

Unfortunately, he knew that most of these military production facilities would only last for a short term. After the war, a lot of them would be decommissioned or converted to civilian production.

Therefore, he focused his attention on pharmaceuticals which he knew would rise to become economic giants in the future. American pharmaceutical industry at this time was only composed of several hundred small companies, each limited to a particular geographic region and, the largest of which accounted for less than 3% of the total market. Few of these companies were even profitable.

With the creation of the Scientific Strategic Reserve, the US military had also received permission to mobilize its scientific resources to headstart experimenting and producing advanced drugs for the war effort.

This year, just a few months prior, in fact, they were also given the authority to involve private corporations in the research and development processes, sharing with these selected firms all the previously classified information about the advanced drugs and their production.

Shen didn't hesitate and immediately took action. Shenron Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of the now giant Shenron Industries, officially joined the international collaboration of enlisted "smaller" firms namely, Merck, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Squibb on the experimentation and mass production of these 'miracle drugs.' [A/N These future giant companies are now pretty small.]

While he was at it, he also had his HYDRA agents forward all confidential information and any advancements from the pharma companies in Germany.

Many companies like Bayer which strongly supported the Third Reich took advantage of the absence of legal and ethical constraints on medical experimentation to test its drugs on unwilling human subjects. These included paying a retainer to SS officers and physicians, to test experimental drugs on deliberately infected patients at the Dachau, Auschwitz, and Gusen concentration camps.

Shen then had the rest of the resources directed towards the production of food and ration, to provide logistical support.

Following nearly three years of intense combat since the onset of the war, America's allies in Europe were facing starvation. Farms had been transformed into battlefields, agricultural workers were forced into warfare, and disruptions in transportation made the distribution of imported food extremely challenging.

In order to provide U.S. troops and allies with the sustenance required to maintain their strength and vitality, posters urging citizens to reduce their personal consumption of meat, wheat, fats, and sugar were plastered throughout communities. Slogans such as "Food will win the war" compelled people to avoid wasting precious groceries.

It soon became apparent that voluntary conservation on the home front was not going to suffice so the government decided to ration certain essential items. On January 30, 1942, the Emergency Price Control Act granted authorities to set price limits and ration food and other commodities.

By the spring, Americans were unable to purchase sugar without government-issued food coupons. Vouchers for coffee were soon introduced and in just a few months, meat, cheese, fats, canned fish, canned milk, and other processed foods were added to the list of rationed provisions.

Shen could clearly see the opportunity there but he also knew he wouldn't be able to provide food in enormous quantities like the more established companies in the agricultural sectors or even the government itself.

After conducting deep research and looking through the state of rations being provided to the soldiers and citizens, he decided to take a different approach.

The soldiers all over the world were receiving much-derided canned rations that were almost universally unpopular. It basically consisted of a packet of sugared drinks, hardtack biscuits, dried jerky, and a package of sugar tablets.

The soldiers especially hated these rations as they found the bulky cylindrical cans heavy and cumbersome, and the menu monotonous after a short period of time.

Shen capitalized on that and invented a new patented method for packaging food and ration. He implemented this food packaging method in his factories and named his rations Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE).

The MREs were considered state-of-the-art innovations which entirely changed the scope of logistical support.

They were more compact and portable than anything available so far. The packaging was designed to withstand rough conditions and exposure to the elements. It boasted a shelf-life of at least 1 month - 5 years compared to the 21 days of the existing rations.

The MREs also quickly addressed and mitigated the chief complaint of the soldiers regarding the monotonous and generally bland food items being provided.

Its menu contained an entree (Bean chili, beef stew, Cheese Tortellini), a side (rice, corn, mashed potatoes), crackers, peanut butter & jelly spread, hard candy, lemonade mix, and accessories (spoon, matches, creamer, sugar, salt, chewing gum, toilet paper, etc.)

It also included the Shenron patented "Flameless Ration Heater" to heat their food which was previously unheard of.

To top it all off, it even contained pills that the troops could take daily, including a malaria tablet, salt pills that could be sucked on, tablets to control diarrhea, and tablets for portable water purification, all provided by Shenron Pharmaceuticals.

Shen had now firmly placed himself in a strategic position from the beginning to the end, making him an invaluable asset to not just the US but the Allied forces as a whole.

With the entire logistical process from food production, to transportation in his grasp, the livelihood of the soldiers and the citizens of the Allied countries to an extent were now reliant on him.

With its strategic importance, more ships were needed to transport American goods to Great Britain and France, among other American allies.

Many of the ships built in his shipyards carried American goods to the European allies as part of the "Lend-Lease" program, which was instituted in 1941.

It was projected that within the next few years, the US would export about $32.5 billion worth of goods through this Lend-Lease program of which, he intended to take an enormous slice like a delicious Tiramisu on his birthday.

At the same time, within HYDRA, Shen also arranged a new identity for himself as an operative assigned directly under Red Skull. The only known information about him was that he was tasked by Red Skull to infiltrate the US and complete a series of "missions." Of course, the contents of this "mission" was strictly confidential, so the other agents were instructed not to interfere and only assist when directed, with Shen's orders taking the highest priority.

Regardless, with his public actions in full diplay, it was clear to see his meteoric rise in status within the Allied countries and the evident influence on the economy. So, his own position in HYDRA was held in high regards even without the interference from 'Red Skull'.

Red Skull on the other hand, had temporarily disappeared from the public eye. The affairs of the HYDRA were taken over by him in the Allied front, while the various bases were under the responsibility of Dr. Zola and the new commander, General Günter.

The other highest ranking member, General Daniel Whitehall, and his team had been sent by the former Red Skull on an expedition to recover mysterious artifacts.

Upon listening to their continuous progress report on 'discovering the corpse of a blue-skinned humanoid organism' and leads to an 'obelisk with the power to turn the living into stone,' he let them continue with their expedition.

Shen knew that Whitehall was extremely loyal to Red Skull. In the original storyline, he had eventually discovered the mysterious obelisk and presented it to him. Despite his capture by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, Reinhardt continued to have influence in HYDRA until he was finally freed by the undercover members within S.H.I.E.L.D.

With this, the worship and awe of Shen's persona had long been buried deep into the bones of HYDRA, and with no objections to his orders.

Their mission was to follow the will of the leader and complete the instructions given to them. After Shen's house cleaning, no one questioned his will. The short-term disappearance of Red Skull did not cause any confusion within the organization. The construction of the base and various research were carried out systematically. Dr. Zola's research on the Tesseract had also progressed at a safe, but rapid pace.

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[AUTHOR'S NOTE]

Alright Alright Alright!

A bit of history extensive chapter, but an important one.

It also served to highlight why the small act of him naming the dojo on a whim had such a huge impact on how the people perceived him. This has already caused a lot of followers to join his 'cause'.

As for the rest... in hindsight, he didn't really do much. He only used his money to participate in programs that were already being funded by the government. He also used the different policies that were already being implemented to his advantage. Nothing much, really.

Anyway, have some idea about the story? Comment it and let me know.

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