Kingsman Agent in Film and Television

When ordinary people are having a secret meeting, they would be panicked if the person they are plotting against showed up at their door. But none of the four people present were ordinary people. Faced with Zhang Anping, the person they were plotting against, none of them were alarmed.

Mao Renfeng, who was hosting, immediately retorted with a stern face: "Deputy Director Zhang, you have quite the airs of an official!"

"It's one thing to act all high and mighty in the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, but why do you, Deputy Director Zhang, have to interfere so much when Mao has a meal in private?!"

Although this is not an accusation, it is not much different from one, especially since Mao Renfeng said it as the director.

This is like exposing one's own shortcomings, or like showing one's backside to others.

Zhang Anping seemed surprised by Mao Renfeng's sharpness. He shrugged and said innocently:

"Isn't Director Mao being a bit too paranoid?"

Having said that, he ignored Mao Renfeng, unceremoniously pulled over a chair and sat down. He then scanned Zheng Yaoquan, Tang Zong, and Ye Xiufeng one by one, conveniently ignoring Mao Renfeng, before leisurely saying:
"Some people always like to dig pits and drag others down with them—Director Zheng, Director Tang, Director Ye, what do you think?"

Mao Renfeng, who wasn't named, turned pale and then flushed, while the other three smiled broadly, seemingly unaffected by Zhang Anping's words.

Zhang Anping seemed to be getting a little anxious. After wiping the playful look from his face, he said solemnly:

“The three of you are all pillars of the Party and the country, and you have a long-standing relationship with my Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. You should be able to see clearly how rotten the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics has become now—the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, the Second Department, and the Party Affairs Bureau, although we are bound to compete and there are often dirty tricks, we are ultimately all in the same boat.”

"If the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics completely disappoints the higher-ups, do you three think you can remain uninvolved? Special agents are all in this together!"

Zhang Anping's words implied that in the eyes of those above, the Second Bureau, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, and the Party Affairs Bureau were all the same—"Now I'm going to cut the rotten flesh off the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. If you three stand in front of Mao Renfeng and make my 'operation' fail, and the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics rots into a mess, completely disappointing those above, do you think you can remain unscathed? Can you dissect the corpse of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics?"
The intelligence system is a unified whole; if one part is corrupt, does that mean the other two are completely innocent?
These words caused a change in the expressions of the three men. Ye Xiufeng and Zheng Yaoquan's expressions flickered, revealing a hint of agreement, while Tang Zong maintained his previous smile, but his gaze darkened slightly.

Ignored by Zhang Anping, Mao Renfeng slammed her fist on the table in anger:
"Zhang Anping, what do you mean?!"

Faced with his "old buddy's" roar, Zhang Anping finally turned his gaze to Mao Renfeng. Seeing the smiling tiger's face now flushed red, Zhang Anping, equally angry, said:
"Director Mao, don't you understand what I mean?"

"You, Mao Renfeng, must take full responsibility for the current state of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics!"

After letting out an angry snort, Zhang Anping looked again at the three onlookers and solemnly said:
"Gentlemen, I have no intention of being your enemy. My goal is to protect my uncle's hard work and not let the Military Intelligence Bureau become a joke. That's all I have to say. Please forgive me!"

After saying that, Zhang Anping left without looking back.

As soon as Zhang Anping disappeared from the private room, the flush on Mao Renfeng's face vanished, showing no trace of her near-explosive anger. At the same time, the seriousness on Ye Xiufeng, Tang Zong, and Zheng Yaoquan's faces also disappeared, along with their smiles.

After adjusting his glasses, Tang Zong said something meaningful:
"interesting……"

Mao Renfeng immediately followed up, first offering flattery:

"Director Tang has sharp eyes!"

He then immediately analyzed:
"I once heard someone say something, it was Zhang Anping who said—'Sincerity is the ultimate weapon!' I never expected that he would actually use this trick on us today! If we hadn't guessed that he was hiding in the Suppression of Rebellion Brigade, we probably would have been moved by his hypocritical sincerity, right?"

Although he spoke with certainty, he was actually quite nervous. He was genuinely afraid that these three old foxes would be moved by Zhang Anping's "sincerity"—his trump card in persuading them was that Zhang Anping was behind the Suppression of Rebellion Brigade, and Zhang Anping's goal was to reshape the special operations system.

However, this trump card is weak, because there is no direct evidence to suggest that Zhang Anping is behind the Suppression of Rebellion Brigade.

From the perspective of the Second Department and the Party Affairs Bureau, the fiercer the infighting within the Bureau of Secrecy, the better. Zhang Anping is now sharpening his knives, ready to launch a purge of the Bureau of Secrecy's forces in the three locations and four stations, which is in their interest.

After Mao Renfeng finished speaking, she waited anxiously for Zheng Yaoquan and Ye Xiufeng's reply, but neither of them responded. This made Mao Renfeng uneasy. If there was no external help this time, Zhang Anping might force her to her death!
Zheng Yaoquan had actually been tempted for a long time. Ever since Mao Renfeng said that Zhang Anping was standing behind the Suppression Corps, he had been tempted. He was an angel investor in the Director Party, but now he was being deliberately distanced by the Director, and even the Suppression Corps was out of reach.

Meanwhile, Zhang Anping grew closer and closer to the section chief, and dealing with Zhang Anping was in his best interest.

But Ye Xiufeng thought differently—he helped Mao Renfeng before because he was worried that Mao Renfeng would be killed by Zhang Anping. Now that the two were about to fight each other openly, why should he get involved?
Isn't it better to just watch from the sidelines?
Just then, Emperor Taizong of Tang provided a crucial assist.

"We were thinking of eating more of this dish ourselves—it's just this dish, if we eat one more bite, it just means that others will eat one less bite, or vice versa."

"But some people prefer to start from scratch."

"He'll throw this dish away and make a new one. Director Zheng, Director Ye, what do you think?"

Tang Zong's words reminded Zheng Yaoquan and Ye Xiufeng of Zhang Anping's rise to power.

As Dai Chunfeng's nephew, it wasn't difficult for Zhang Anping to rise to prominence within the Military Intelligence Bureau. However, under normal circumstances, no matter how capable he was, he wouldn't be able to win people's hearts and minds.

But Zhang Anping actually won the complete respect of everyone in the Military Intelligence Bureau.

why?
Because Zhang Anping's rise to power was not simply due to Dai Chunfeng and the existing system of the Military Intelligence Bureau, but rather he started from scratch—the Special Intelligence Group at the beginning and the Shanghai District later were essentially things that Zhang Anping started from scratch.

There is no doubt that Dai Chunfeng admired Zhang Anping, but why did Dai Chunfeng frequently suppress Zhang Anping in the later stages of the War of Resistance?
That's because the Zhang faction has become a behemoth!
A behemoth that broke away from the original system of the Military Intelligence Bureau!
Therefore, Emperor Tang's statement was undoubtedly an endorsement of Mao Renfeng's true intentions.

Faced with Emperor Tang's endorsement of Mao Renfeng, Zheng Yaoquan quickly weighed his options and chose to take sides:
"Old Tang is right—Zhang Anping always likes to play dumb to fool the enemy. Back in Shanghai, he caused the Japanese a lot of trouble, but for a period of time, the Shanghai district could no longer achieve anything. After realizing that the Japanese were extremely wary of him, he abandoned everything and chose to fake his death. I'm afraid we can't do that kind of decisiveness!"

Mao Renfeng immediately said:

"Director Zheng is right! How many people can truly regard fame and fortune as fleeting clouds? He... he really did!"

While seemingly exaggerating Anping's abilities, it actually serves to corroborate his "trump card":
Is it surprising that Zhang Anping was able to easily give up the fame and fortune brought by his identity as Zhang Shihao back then, and now he intends to overturn the current inefficient intelligence system and help the director rebuild a new intelligence system?
Although Tang Zong and Zheng Yaoquan had essentially made their stance clear at this point, Ye Xiufeng remained hesitant.

Zhang Anping's "sincerity" just now naturally did not move him, but one sentence did touch him - some people always like to dig pits and drag others down with them!

Ye Xiufeng had long heard about the "iron triangle" of Tang, Zheng, and Mao. No, to be precise, he had even witnessed this "iron triangle" betraying each other. Could cooperating with an "iron triangle" where betrayal had become a habit really be profitable?

Don't let the Party Affairs Bureau turn around and throw them onto the chopping block!
Tang Zong, a cunning old fox, realized Ye Xiufeng's wavering mindset and thus provided assistance:

“Zhang Anping likes to cultivate his own loyal followers so that he can use them as his own hands—Director Ye, don’t you think the Suppression Corps is a perfect match for Zhang Anping’s loyal followers?”

Direct lineage? Ye Xiufeng's pupils constricted sharply.

Ye Xiufeng had previously scoffed at Mao Renfeng's "trump card".

Why did Zhang Anping want to overturn the whole "cake"? Given his current situation, overturning the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' slice of the cake was enough!

Tang Zong's assistance and Zheng Yaoquan's account of faking his death both shook him, but not to the point that he completely believed them.

But once the words "direct descendant element" were uttered, Ye Xiufeng finally believed it completely.

The members of the Suppression Corps were selected by the section chief, as evidenced by the thorough investigation of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' three locations and four stations.

He previously thought that the people in the Suppression Corps were the director's confidants. Wasn't Zhang Anping afraid of being used as a stepping stone for others?
But the four words "direct descendant element" made Ye Xiufeng "realize":
Zhang Anping is different from them. Their confidants can only be their own confidants, but Zhang Anping is too public-spirited. Why can't his confidants be the section chief's confidants?

In other words, why can't the section chief's confidant become a capable person that Zhang Anping can rely on?

Everyone else is driven by selfish motives, but having observed Zhang Anping for over ten years, Ye Xiufeng couldn't possibly lie and say that Zhang Anping was too selfish—this man's public-spiritedness far outweighed his selfishness, and it was perfectly reasonable for some things that seemed unreasonable to him to happen to Zhang Anping!

Ye Xiufeng became fully alert. Facing the three pairs of eyes focused on him, he didn't answer. Instead, he picked up his chopsticks, gently took a bite from the dish Tang Zong had been using to make a point, examined it for a moment, and then said leisurely:

"This dish is fine; there's no need to change it."

Mao Renfeng breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, Tang Zong also revealed a smile, and Zheng Yaoquan laughed loudly:
"Director Ye is right, it's a pretty good dish."

He was in too much of a hurry!

Mao Renfeng said to himself:

If Zhang Anping hadn't been so anxious and revealed his weakness, I think persuading Ye Xiufeng would have been an impossible task!

[That old fox Tang Zong has an incredibly sharp sense of smell. I was only able to detect his plot because I was in the thick of it and knew Zhang Anping too well. But Tang Zong, that old fox, probably sensed Zhang Anping's conspiracy the moment the headquarters was sealed off.]

Just as he was feeling sentimental, Emperor Tang turned to him and said:
"Director Mao, could you take some time to secretly investigate—you might be being wiretapped by Zhang Anping!"

Mao Renfeng's eyes widened in surprise: "He dares?!"

Emperor Tang asked in return, "What is there that he wouldn't dare to do?"

"Have you all forgotten that his name used to be Zhang Shih-hao?"

Mao Renfeng suddenly realized, "Yes, Zhang Anping is already planning to overturn everything, why would he care about this?"
Although Zheng Yaoquan's stance was resolute, seemingly believing unwaveringly that Zhang Anping truly stood behind the Suppression of Rebellion Brigade, in reality, he didn't think Zhang Anping would do such a thing. Yet now, he couldn't help but murmur softly:

"Does it mean to remain silent for three years, then suddenly make a stunning debut?"

Upon hearing this, Mao Renfeng couldn't help but agree:
"That really suits his personality..."

Seeing that Ye Xiufeng and Tang Zong both showed surprise, Tang Zong said leisurely:

"Unfortunately, the chirping... hasn't even started yet, we're going to have to muffle it."

Faced with Tang Zong's leisurely attitude, Mao Renfeng and the other two couldn't help but laugh. Yes, this chirping was destined to be suppressed before it could even be heard!

……

With Tang Zong, Mao Renfeng, Zheng Yaoquan, and Ye Xiufeng joining forces, it wouldn't be difficult for them to suppress that amazing bird that hadn't sung for three years and was about to make a name for itself.

In fact, the balance began to tip violently after they reached an agreement to join forces.

The first problem arose with the censorship—Zhang Anping's censorship team, stationed in three locations and four stations, mainly consisted of skilled personnel from the Shanghai station.

However, compared to the huge number of cases to be reviewed, manpower is severely insufficient, which requires the assistance of the garrison and police.

After Tang Zong joined the anti-Zhang alliance, the police force completely sided with the secret service agents who were under investigation.
The Second Bureau was under the jurisdiction of the GFB. Although it was a spy system like the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, its reputation within the National Army was significantly higher than that of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. The addition of Zheng Yaoquan naturally made the troops stationed in the three locations and Zhang Anping's investigation team "opponents".

The investigation team is relying on police and military forces that are only superficially aligned with them, so how can they possibly make any progress?

To be precise, not only was there no progress, but the agents under investigation easily completed the entire coordination process.

The review process has begun to regress.

And this is just the beginning!
Once the review process was stalled, the offensive against the Suppression Brigade began.

The appeals went directly to the GFB, and the content of each appeal was all about the "achievements" of the Suppression Corps in the past, such as cracking down on underground party members and arresting undercover agents.

In these appeals, the so-called underground party members who were supposedly uncovered were portrayed as members of the democratic faction and innocent people, and all their confessions were allegedly obtained through torture.
Several undercover agents with solid evidence were whitewashed and portrayed as models of dedication to the Party and the State. Their arrest was solely due to the Suppression of Rebellion Brigade's counter-accusation after their bribery attempt failed.

These letters of appeal not only erased the achievements of the Suppression of Rebellion Brigade over the past few months, but also turned the Suppression of Rebellion Brigade against itself.

Ironically, after these appeals appeared at the GFB, countless forces were secretly fanning the flames—it was as if someone had simply tossed a stone into the ground, but what landed was a massive mudslide.

A mere appeal letter wouldn't be enough to cause a huge uproar; after all, it's just a mudslide.

Just when the GFB seemed to be suppressing the matter, someone "stood up".

The person who stepped forward was a member of the Suppression of Rebellion Brigade. He had given an exclusive interview to a newspaper, in which he revealed the brigade's "operations":
Ostensibly anti-communist, it was actually a means of internal power struggle, deliberately accusing the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics and the Party's intelligence stations in the three locations of being communist collusion...

The report caused an uproar. (End of Chapter)