My spy diary

Chapter 278 New Section Chief (asking for monthly ticket)
Gold in troubled times, antiques in prosperous times.

In times of turmoil, currencies depreciate and the economy collapses, but the value of gold is relatively stable. It can maintain a certain purchasing power even in chaotic situations, helping people protect their wealth and cope with crises.

When society is prosperous and the economy is stable, people live a rich life, their pursuit of culture and art increases, and they have more leisure and money to collect, study and appreciate antiques. The prices of antiques often increase due to market demand.

This is the difference in people's choices regarding wealth investment and investment direction in different social environments.

But it's just a difference. In Zhang Yi's opinion, Linli's antique market did not become bleak because of the war, but instead became more prosperous.

At this moment, he, Stationmaster Wu, and Shen Xishan were in an antique shop, and everywhere they looked were treasures.

Exquisite porcelain, ancient calligraphy and painting scrolls, uniquely shaped incense burners, each one is filled with a strong historical and cultural atmosphere, but the corresponding prices are staggeringly expensive.

Zhang Yi didn't know much about antiques, but Stationmaster Wu was an expert at first glance. He played with a rusty copper iron stove for a while with a beaming face, bargained with the owner for a while, and immediately put it in his pocket.

"Although Linli is a small county, it has a long history. It belonged to Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It was assigned to Cigu County in the 36th year of Emperor Qin Shihuang. It was renamed Linli in the 3rd year of the Republic of China. There are many treasures in such a historical and cultural town. Don't you like any of them, Brother Yunyi?"

"I don't know anything about these things."

Zhang Yi smiled and shook his head. He had no idea what Old Wu and Shen Xishan were thinking by dragging him to the antique shop. He did not accept the invitation and just watched their performance.

One of these two men is the stationmaster of the Northwest Station, and the other is about to become the director of the Inspection Department of the Changde Garrison Command. They are both guests of honor at Dai Chunfeng's family dinner. They are the smartest of the smart, so he has to be alert to deal with them, so as not to accidentally fall into the ditch.

But nothing surprising happened next. We just wandered around until we returned to the special training class.

Not long after Zhang Yi returned to the office, Shen Xishan arrived.

He came in with a smile on his face, holding in his arms a few pieces of calligraphy and paintings that Zhang Yi had just seen in the antique shop.

"Brother Canghai, what's this?"

"Hey, a few little things. Old Wu and I bought them. Sharing joy is worse than enjoying it alone. Brother Yunyi, you should bring a few things back when you go out, right?"

"I can't afford something this expensive."

"Just because you can't afford it doesn't mean you can't get it." Shen Xishan said with a smile:

"You don't know yet, do you? We three thought we were smart, but we were almost cheated by the antique shop owner."

"Oh?"

"I just heard my brother-in-law say that what we just saw were all sold by the antique shop owner to foreigners. What I brought were all bought at cost price."

Shen Xishan said this calmly and then handed a shopping list to Zhang Yi.

When Zhang Yi saw that the six pieces of calligraphy and paintings were only 18 dollars, he almost laughed out loud.

As the saying goes, every policy has a countermeasure. Each village leader has his own tricks. No wonder they say they are all smart people. This operation is so smooth.

Although it is a small matter of gift-giving, it is full of great strategies.

You say you can't afford it? Well, as a deputy director, you can't be unable to come up with 18 dollars, right?
Zhang Yi knew that as long as he "paid the price", he could accept the antiques in front of him with peace of mind.

No matter how much money Shen Xishan spent on this thing, it has nothing to do with Zhang Yi.

Because he paid the money himself and did not openly accept bribes, he was also "impartial and impartial" in his work as a special envoy and did not overstep the line in any way.

“I admire you very much.”

Zhang Yixin said that in today's society, gift-giving is political and one cannot be an official without courtesy. People have put so much thought into the gift, and if you don't accept it, you would be really ungrateful.

"Is that so? This unscrupulous businessman knows how to do business this way, so I'm being disrespectful by refusing him?"

Zhang Yi didn't expose it. He took out his wallet from his pocket, counted out a few bills and handed them to Shen Xishan.

"I'll write a receipt to Brother Yunyi."

Shen Xishan smiled, took out a Parker gold pen from his arms, and immediately wrote a receipt.

"I received eighteen dollars from Zhang Yi today!"

Below is the signature.

What Zhang Yi gave was banknotes, and what he wrote was dollars. As for what he did with the dollars, it didn’t matter.

Zhang Yi took the receipt, looked at it, and solemnly put it in his arms, frowned and sighed:
"The Linli Special Training Class is a place for training special agents. It is the most confidential of the secrets of the Military Control Commission. It is unbelievable that such a place has been infiltrated by Japanese spies!
Fortunately, Deputy Director Yu had a keen insight and discovered clues about the Japanese spy Jin Minjie. This time, this long-hidden spy was dug out, and Deputy Director Yu made an indelible contribution.

By the way, I heard that this person has known Deputy Director Yu for a long time? What kind of behavior is this? It is not an exaggeration to say that he is sacrificing his relatives for the sake of justice. "

"Yes, this Jin Minjie is really deliberate and sinister."

Shen Xisan didn't feel awkward at all. He took over the conversation and began to denounce with indignation:

"He sneaked into Shanghai in 36, disguised himself as a member of the Korean government-in-exile, and used the guise of studying to serve his country to gain sympathy from others. Who would have thought that he was actually a pawn of the Japanese?"

"Yes, the Japanese have ulterior motives!" Zhang Yi echoed, sighing with admiration:

"Deputy Director Yu is indeed a man of great righteousness. It is rare to find someone like him who puts justice above his own."

As he said this, he stood up and said, "This Jin Minjie is a diehard. If it weren't for the large-scale servants, he really wouldn't confess anything. Now he's hanging on by a thread. I don't think we should waste food on this kind of person.

I will report this to Boss Dai right now, and he won’t have to be escorted to Wuhan. He can be executed directly at the training class.”

Seeing Zhang Yi's gesture of seeing him off, Shen Xisan stood up and said:
"Then you are busy, Special Envoy. I will take my leave now!"

As soon as he left Zhang Yi's office, he immediately went into his brother-in-law Yu Lexing's deputy director's office.

"Is the matter settled?"

"Even with me here, is there anything I can't handle?"

Shen Xisan sat down nonchalantly, took the tea from his brother-in-law's desk and started drinking it.

"Great!"

Yu Lexing finally breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile:

"From now on he and we are in the same boat."

Shen Xishan shook his head and said, "That's not the point. This time, we are selectively sending gifts for public relations, intending to be flexible and launch a surprise attack.

But if you want to build good relationships, you have to run around during festivals and holidays, and burn incense frequently. Only then can it work at critical moments. There are many ways to give gifts, and this is a big deal."

Yu Lexing looked at him deeply and sighed:
"I don't know whether it's right or wrong to lead you down this path. I remember when you were 18 and just started working with me, you were trembling with fear when catching anyone. But now you talk about these tricks so well."

Shen Xishan smiled and said nothing.

Who doesn’t have ideals when they are young?

At the age of eighteen, he clamored for revolution, and then ran to Shanghai to join his brother-in-law. He first served as a liaison between his brother-in-law and Dai Chunfeng, but within three years he became a major intelligence team leader in the French Concession.

When the Red Party was arrested for the first time, out of curiosity, I asked the ragged and hungry young man, "What are you doing?"
Young people say we are in revolution.

Shen Xishan was surprised. We are also in revolution, but you are seeking promotion and wealth while you are almost starving to death. Is this also called revolution?

The young man gave him a disdainful look.

Shen Xishan still remembers that look. He joined the Secret Service, didn't smoke, drink, or gamble, and claimed that he didn't have any bad habits. But no matter how much he boasted about his personality, ability, and noble sentiments, no matter what ideals and ambitions he had, he was truly in the melting pot of the Secret Service and the Republic of China, and had unconsciously become a part of it.

Whether you like it or not, discipline, sentiment, and actions have already left a deep mark on you, and you can only continue to be pushed forward.

After all, no matter how lofty the ideals and careers are, they cannot withstand the seven emotions and six desires and the daily necessities of life.

After dealing with the Linli incident, Zhang Yi immediately returned to Wuhan with a hundred carefully selected operatives, who had already graduated early.

The first thing is to report the work to Dai Chunfeng.

Then, as soon as I arrived at the Military Intelligence Bureau, I met the Director of Intelligence Yang Rong.

"Is Deputy Director Zhang back?"

Yang Rong smiled and said, "Let's go report to the director. The boss has gone to the Military Police Headquarters. It will probably take a while. Why don't you come to my office and sit down first?"

"Alright."

Seeing how enthusiastic he was, Zhang Yi didn't know what he was up to, so he agreed casually.

After entering the office, the two sat down on the sofa and chatted while drinking tea.

After a few pleasantries, Yang Rong looked at him meaningfully and said:

"I heard that Deputy Director Zhang gained a lot this time?"

'It depends on what you are asking.'

Zhang Yi laughed in his heart and said calmly:
"It's just that we caught a spy group."

"Deputy Director Zhang is too modest. I read the case closing report you sent to the bureau chief. It was very well written."

"The case was handled beautifully, thanks to the assistance of my colleagues in the special training class, especially Deputy Director Yu, who helped me a lot."

"Yu Lexing, haha." Yang Rong smiled suspiciously, but did not continue the topic, and said:

"I read the intelligence sent by the special training class to the headquarters. I didn't expect that the Japanese had obtained a lot of information about Pagoda Mountain through letters. Now this information can be used by us."

After a pause, he continued, "By the way, you may not know yet, the new head of the Intelligence and Information Section has taken office. Boss Dai appointed him personally. I heard that he is Chief Hu's man."

"You will have many opportunities to interact with each other in the future, so it's a good opportunity to meet first."

Then he picked up the phone and dialed.

Soon, a man in his thirties with ordinary looks and wearing a gray suit walked in. When Zhang Yi and the other man saw him, neither of them showed any intention of standing up.

"Deputy, you called me?"

The man looked at Zhang Yi as he spoke.

He was wearing a neat colonel's uniform and shiny leather shoes. He was leaning casually on the sofa with his legs crossed and a cigarette in his hand. It was obvious that he was of the same status as Yang Rong.

Yang Rong put down his teacup and said, "Let me introduce you two. Deputy Director Zhang Yi of the Operations Department and the new Chief Du Chengyou of the Intelligence Section."

Zhang Yi just glanced at Du Chengyou and continued smoking and drinking tea.

"Hello, sir!"

Du Chengyou quickly touched his legs together and saluted. He had been working in the Northwest. After arriving at the headquarters, although he had seen Zhang Yi's photo, he did not recognize that the major in front of him was him at first, because Zhang Yi's expression and temperament were completely different from those in the photo in the file.

"Deputy Director Zhang, I've long heard of your name." Du Chengyou hurriedly stepped forward and extended his hand.

Zhang Yi had no intention of standing up. He shook hands perfunctorily and said politely:
"Chief Du, a new official has three things to do when he takes office. From now on, our two departments need to work closely together. You can't be like your predecessor and fool us with false information."

Du Chengyou's expression froze. This was undoubtedly a warning to him. He knew very well what happened to his predecessor Cao Shuyi.

"How could that be? I'm a newcomer, so I must learn a lot from Deputy Director Zhang."

Du Chengyou smiled humbly, but he felt very uncomfortable in his heart. He thought that none of the people in the headquarters were simple. He had to pay attention to his future work. Fortunately, he had been prepared.

Yang Rong asked him to sit down and asked:
"Now that we've met, let's talk about work, Chief Du?"

Du Chengyou watched Zhang Yi adding tea to Yang Rong's cup, and Yang Rong offering cigarettes to Zhang Yi, but no one showed any intention of adding another cup or offering cigarettes to him, as if they didn't care about his existence at all. He felt more and more uncomfortable, thinking that if he didn't show some real skills, he would really be looked down upon.

Thinking of this, Du Chengyou coughed, cleared his throat, straightened his back, and said with a hint of pride:
"I am grateful for the trust of Commander Hu and Mr. Dai. I only hope that I can make a difference in my position in the Intelligence Department and not let them down."

As he spoke, he took out a document from his pocket and said solemnly:
"This is an operation I planned. Please review it, sirs."

Yang Rong looked surprised and took it with half belief and after looking at it for a while, he became serious.

After a long time, he reluctantly handed the document to Zhang Yi:

"Deputy Director Zhang, take a look too."

Zhang Yi took it nonchalantly and just glanced at it. Although his face showed no emotion, he was already alert in his heart.

This was indeed a well-planned action, and it should be said that it was carefully prepared.

This is an infiltration and lurking plan.

The central idea is "win over the masses from the Red Party and win over the traitors from the Japanese."

It would be more accurate to call this latent plan a training plan.

It says that anyone who infiltrates the vicinity of the Red Party must be a traitor to the Red Party. Because in order to lurk around Pagoda Mountain, these spies must be familiar with the Red Party and must know some of the Red Party's terms, such as organizational life, party and league life, etc.

Then, it must be young students, because the Red Party has no shortage of hard-working laborers, but what it lacks most is young students and intellectuals with progressive ideas.

Third, we must recruit people from the northwest, especially those around Pagoda Mountain.

Because if you want to sneak into Pagoda Mountain, if you are too far away, no matter how secretive your operation is, there is a possibility that the news will leak out. Without a northwestern accent, people will easily suspect your purpose of coming to Pagoda Mountain. If you speak northwestern dialect, the scrutiny you face will be much easier.

The more Zhang Yi read on, the more frightened he became. Was this clearly a plan to set up a special training class for infiltration and lurking?
He wrote down the training content at a glance, put the document aside, and said calmly:

"Good plan."

Du Chengyou straightened his back, waiting for praise, but when he saw that Zhang Yi only gave him a good evaluation, he couldn't help but curl his lips and thought, aren't you too self-righteous?
He couldn't help but look at Director Yang Rong.

But before Yang Rong could speak, Zhang Yi said indifferently:

“Good plan, but”

"But this doesn't seem to be something your Intelligence Department should worry about, right?

The Second Party and Political Intelligence Department has a Red Party Section, which is fully committed to dealing with the Red Party. What would they think if they knew about your plan? Isn't this destroying other people's jobs?"

"The duty of the Intelligence Department is to eliminate Japanese spies and traitors. I hope Du Chengyou can fulfill his duties conscientiously. Of course."

Having said that, Zhang Yi looked at Yang Rong:
"After all, this is your intelligence department's business, so I won't get involved."

Yang Rong originally thought that the plan was good, but after listening to Zhang Yi's words and considering the attitude of the Second Division, he couldn't help but lose his temper and said calmly:
"This matter has been put on hold for the time being. The plan is indeed good and can be submitted to the Director. However, your current mission is to investigate Japanese spies and traitors. You cannot put the cart before the horse."

Du Chengyou looked even more embarrassed. He didn't want to make three big moves when he took office, but the first one was extinguished before it even started.

(I went to see Decryption yesterday. The visual effects were really first-rate, and the characterization of a code-breaking genius was very good, but the spy plot was hard to describe...)
(End of this chapter)