My spy diary

Chapter 297: Brothers turn against each other (asking for monthly tickets)

Who is Chen Lu?
He was one of the earliest diplomats in China during the late Qing Dynasty. He had served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Beiyang Government, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, and later as Minister Plenipotentiary to France.

After the establishment of the Republic of China, this person was not given a high position and lived in seclusion in Shanghai.

After the fall of Shanghai, Liang Hongzhi, an old politician from the Beiyang warlord period, established the "Reform Government" in Hongkou, and later moved to Nanjing, echoing the puppet government in Beijing established by the traitor Wang Kemin.

To be too old to die is to be a thief.

Chen Lu couldn't stand the loneliness, so he seized the opportunity to make a comeback and became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nanjing puppet government. His son Chen Youtao became the Director of General Affairs of the puppet Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Therefore, sanctioning Chen will not only directly strike a blow to the puppet government in Nanjing, but will also serve as a deterrent to Wang, who has betrayed his country and surrendered to the enemy and is hiding in Hanoi.

But assassinating this man is not an easy task. Chen Lu is a traitor who is determined to be a traitor. His most important concern is his own safety.

He hired more than 20 bodyguards, and he was heavily protected when he went out and had strict barriers when he came in. He armed himself like the long thorns of a turtle heading north, hard and sharp, and difficult to approach.

This man lived at No. 25 Yuyuan Road in the French Concession. On one side of his house was the Italian barracks, on the other side was a secret Japanese agency, and diagonally opposite was the Jing'an Temple police station. It was like a tortoise shell making a drum - solid and rigid.

Even so, Chen Lu was still worried, so he set up a sentry box at the door of his house with guards inside. There were also guards at both ends of the alley, patrolling 24 hours a day.

In such an area, it would be difficult to even approach his residence, let alone break into his house to assassinate him.

But although Liu Geqing is a pale-faced scholar, he is both intelligent and brave, and he is not a reckless person. Since he cannot break through from the outside, he will find a way to disintegrate from the inside.

After several days of investigation, Liu Geqing learned that Chen Lu's daughter-in-law was Marshal Zhang's sister, so several of his bodyguards were Marshal Zhang's former guards.

So Liu Geqing wanted to find a breakthrough from these people.

Liu Geqing found his good friend, Liu Haishan, a man from the Northeast. Liu Haishan had been a bodyguard for the founding father of the country, Sun Yat-sen. He was generous, magnanimous and loyal. He was very influential among the Northeast Army living in Shanghai and was a respected elder brother.

As soon as Liu Geqing told the story, Liu Haishan found his younger brother, Zhang Guodong, who was a bodyguard for Chen Lu's family.

Although Zhang Guodong was worried that killing Chen Lu would cause his brothers to lose their jobs, no one was willing to protect a traitor, and after a little hesitation, he provided a topographic map of Chen Lu's home and its surroundings.

With the map, Liu Geqing quickly formed an assassination team, studied the map, assigned tasks, and determined the time for action.

It was at this time that Zhang Guodong provided key information. On New Year's Eve, Chen Lu returned home from Nanjing to worship his ancestors, so the assassination attempt was set on this day.

Everything was ready, but unexpectedly something unexpected happened when picking up the weapons.

Everyone in the ambush area was disguised as ordinary people. For safety reasons, they were not allowed to hide guns at home, let alone carry guns when going out. The weapons of the action team were kept by Lin Zhijiang, an old man in the Shanghai district.

But this person has secretly established a relationship with Li Shijun and is preparing to surrender to Li Shijun and become a traitor. How could he possibly provide weapons?

But he was afraid that his betrayal would be exposed and he would be punished, so in order not to offend anyone on either side, he simply hid away and avoided seeing them.

Without weapons, all plans would fail.

Liu Geqing was furious and brought people to the door directly.

Seeing the ferocious looks of the men, Lin Zhijiang's wife was afraid that they might do something unexpected in anger, so she had to say that there were bullets hidden under the bed.

After getting the bullets, team member Zhu Yuanshan took out three pistols that had been buried underground and were already rusted. The arrow was on the string and had to be shot. No matter whether it could be used or not, he had to give it a try.

That night, the weather was fine and heavy snow fell. Liu Haishan took advantage of the opportunity when the guards at the gate of Chen's house were hiding in the guardhouse to smoke and avoid the cold, and rushed forward with a rusty pistol and subdued the three guards.

Liu Geqing followed closely behind and confiscated the guns of the three men.

Then the people divided the work clearly, some kept watch, some monitored, some provided support, and they entered the Chen family directly through the back door.

Chen Lu is preparing to worship his ancestors with his whole family. I don’t know if he wants to tell his ancestors that I, a descendant, am too filial. Now I have become a traitor, and the offerings will not be less, but more. You must not jump out!

No matter what the Chen family ancestors thought, at that time, Liu Geqing took another team member, Xu Guoqi, through the kitchen into the living room.

When Xu Guoqi saw Chen Lu sitting on the sofa, he raised his hand and shot him.

But the shot missed, and Chen Lu reacted quickly and hid behind the sofa.

The gunshot immediately alarmed the other guards in the room. In the extremely urgent situation, Liu Geqing was not afraid of danger and rushed forward and shot Chen Zei twice in the head.

After confirming that the other party was dead, he calmly took out the pre-prepared slogans "The War of Resistance will be victorious, the founding of the country will be successful", "Eliminate the traitors and protect China forever" and threw them on Chen the thief, then fired back to deal with the bodyguards while quickly evacuating.

Killing people and leaving slogans is not allowed by the Military Control Commission's discipline, but this is a common tactic of the "Iron-Blooded Youth League". Liu Geqing did this to confuse the Chen family and make it difficult for them to figure out the assassin's background.

The news of Chen Lu's murder quickly made the front page of the next day. Boss Dai was extremely happy when he received the telegram. He immediately arranged for Liu Geqing and other people involved in the action to evacuate Shanghai quickly and go to Hong Kong to receive awards. He also encouraged Wang Tianlin, who had just finished his work report, to return to Shanghai immediately to take charge of the work.

But as soon as Wang Tianlin left, Deputy District Mayor Zhao Libiao arrived.

The assassination of Chen Lu had nothing to do with him, so he was naturally not here to show off his achievements. Instead, he was worried that Wang Tianlin would take the opportunity of the performance review to say bad things about him in front of Boss Dai, so he came here specifically to report the situation.

"Mr. Dai, you have to make the decision for me."

As soon as they met, Zhao Libiao started to complain.

Dai Chunfeng felt guilty towards Zhao Libiao for giving the position of district chief to Wang Tianlin, so he patiently asked:
"What happened?"

"It's still Wang Tianlin." Zhao Libiao said the same thing, but his next words surprised Boss Dai.

"As soon as Wang Tianlin arrived in Shanghai, he colluded with Chen Mingchu and formed a clique in the district. That's fine. I understand his urgency to get his work done, but who is Chen Mingchu? He can't even be an assistant secretary, so how can he be qualified to be the district secretary?"

Seeing Dai Chunfeng's face darken, Zhao Libiao continued to add fuel to the fire.

"Mr. Dai, the secretary of the Shanghai District is Zheng Xiuyuan, who works diligently and does a good job. But Wang Tianlin demoted him to a field official as soon as he arrived, without even discussing this with me. Isn't this outrageous?
In addition, he also made a big fuss about the personnel in the district. I just want to know if you know something, Mr. Dai? Isn't this a clear violation of the family rules and ignoring Mr. Dai? "

"Do you take this as a serious matter?" Dai Chunfeng stared at Zhao Libiao with cold eyes.

Zhao Libiao did not shy away from the look and said confidently:
"How can I have the guts to lie about something like this? If Mr. Dai doesn't believe me, just send a telegram and ask, or you can ask Wang Tianlin to come and confront me."

Personnel affairs are politics, and nothing is ever simple.

According to the discipline and regulations of the Military Intelligence Bureau, the district chief, secretary and other main leaders are directly appointed by the bureau headquarters, and the district chief has no right to interfere.

Wang Tianlin's unauthorized replacement of the district secretary was tantamount to disrespecting his superiors. But Wang Tianlin did not even mention it when reporting on his work. This is intolerable.

Dai Chunfeng has always been very concerned about his reputation and would never allow any subordinates to challenge his authority in the Military Control Commission. He could not have imagined that after the incident with Weng Guanghui, someone would dare to do so behind his back.

Weng Guanghui was the first mayor of Shanghai District appointed during the Secret Service period. He got hold of an important intelligence about the Red Party and tried to report it to a certain Chang without going through Boss Dai, in order to seek credit and reward.

This person had once served as a naval captain, and he used his old connections to board a naval ship from Shanghai to Jiujiang, preparing to go to Mount Lushan to meet Chang.

But he underestimated Dai Chunfeng. As soon as he got the news, Boss Dai flew directly from Jinling to Jiujiang, stopped Weng Guanghui at the port, detained him, confiscated his intelligence, removed him from his position as district chief, and replaced him with Yu Lexing, an instructor from the Jinling training class.

Weng Guanghui was secretly executed afterwards.

We should learn from the past and be prepared for the future. It has only been a few years since Weng Guanghui died.

Dai Chunfeng really couldn't understand where Wang Tianlin got such courage to openly defy the family rules and do somersaults on the tiger's head. Isn't this just courting death?

He also thought of Chen Gongshu, whom he had sent to Hanoi to monitor Wang Tianhai. He felt disappointed as he had been unable to make any progress and kept complaining instead.

These veteran members of the Military Control Commission, whom he had placed high hopes on, not only considered themselves heroes and had insatiable greed, but they also had one thing in common: they had no regard for the group, did not abide by the "house rules", and were free and undisciplined and daring.

"I understand, you go back first!"

Dai Chun was furious, but he didn't want to show it in front of Zhao Libiao, so he just put on a sullen face and told him to go back.

"Yes." The purpose of the complaint had been achieved, and Zhao Libiao saluted respectfully and walked out.

Coincidentally, not long after Zhao Libiao left, Dai Chunfeng was feeling angry and had no place to vent, and Wang Tianlin came to him again.

"Didn't you leave Hong Kong?"

"I have already arranged my work in Shanghai before I left. What does it matter if I stay in Hong Kong for a few days?"

Wang Tianlin came here to "seek credit" and did not notice Dai Chunfeng's expression at all. He said proudly:
"Brother Yunong, how is it? Liu Geqing's shot was clean and sharp. It not only shocked the traitors Liang Hongzhi and Wang Kemin, but also gave a warning to Wang."

"I asked you why you are still in Hong Kong?"

"Brother Yunong, please don't blame me. There is finally some movement in the Shanghai District. For the sake of future work, I have only one request, and that is to transfer Zhao Libiao away."

These words were like adding fuel to the fire for Boss Dai, who was already furious.

Under normal circumstances, when the Shanghai District had just made a contribution, District Chief Wang Tianlin would have taken the opportunity to make a request and Boss Dai would have agreed, but this was a different situation.

He suppressed the anger in his heart and said coldly:
"Zhao Libiao is an old man in the Shanghai District. He is familiar with the situation in Shanghai and the Shanghai District. Now is a critical period for punishing traitors. It is not appropriate to transfer him away."

Wang Tianlin was stunned for a moment. Although he didn't understand what was going on, he still said confidently:
"He opposes me in every way. If you don't transfer him away, how can I carry out my work?"

Dai Chunfeng was so angry that he laughed and said sarcastically, "You demoted District Secretary Zheng Xiuyuan to the field, is that also for the sake of carrying out the work?"

These words stunned Wang Tianlin.

He thought that it was either someone from the Shanghai branch of the Military Control Commission who reported him, or Zhao Libiao who was complaining behind his back. His lie was exposed, and Wang Tianlin was furious. He said angrily:

"So what? If you don't transfer him, I'll leave."

This was originally a desperate remark, meant to trick Boss Dai, but Dai Chunfeng was also angry at the moment, and immediately retorted:
"That's good. Compared to the others, Zhao Libiao is more familiar with Shanghai and will be more conducive to carrying out the work."

Wang Tianlin originally wanted to trick Boss Dai and then take advantage of the situation, but he didn't expect to be put on the spot. His face turned red and he asked angrily:

"Dai Yunong, what do you mean?"

Boss Dai didn't even look at him, and said in a neutral tone:

"You've been in the north for a long time, so you should go back to Beijing and Tianjin."

Wang Tianlin looked at Dai Chunfeng in disbelief, thinking to himself, I am a top student who returned from studying abroad. I have been loyal to you since I came to you. You said to kill anyone and I killed him. Now, look what happens? I just made some requests, but you don't even remember our friendship and treat me like this?
People have self-knowledge.

At that time, Xiao He's subordinates suggested that he send his son to the front line to reassure Liu Bang. Xiao He didn't understand and said, "I have always been loyal to the king and have never changed over the years. Is it necessary?"
The subordinate said, you haven’t changed, but what about the king?
Xiao He became alert and immediately sent his son to serve under Liu Bang along with the people who were escorting grain and fodder. Liu Bang was overjoyed and felt at ease.

This reflects Xiao He's political wisdom and keen insight into the situation.

It is true that Dai Chunfeng valued loyalty and friendship in his early years, but as the Military Control Commission continued to expand, he valued power and prestige, as well as the loyalty of his subordinates more.

His prestige cannot be challenged by anyone, not even his good brother from his early years, Wang Tianlin.

But Wang Tianlin has no self-awareness and has never reflected on himself. He is still the same as before. Although he holds a high position, he is still free and easy and values ​​brotherhood.

What was even more puzzling to him was that in his eyes, Zhao Libiao, who was in his early 30s, was just a young man with a foolish look on his face, and he was totally different from his maturity and foresight. Now that the two of them were competing, he was the one who was eliminated.

"You, Dai Yunong, are too partial, aren't you? You love it like a treasure and discard it like a worn-out shoe, right?"

Thinking bitterly in his heart, Wang Tianlin stiffened his neck and sneered:
"Well, tell me, where do you want me to be exiled to?"

Dai Chunfeng was a soft-hearted person. Looking at Wang Tianlin, who was over 60 years old and had mottled hair in front of him, he couldn't bear it and just wanted to drive him back to Pingjin. But now that Wang Tianlin didn't realize his mistake and was going against him, he made up his mind and said directly:

"You and Chen Gongshu left Pingjin one after another, and the personnel there have been adjusted. It is inconvenient to change them in a hurry.

I think you should bear with it for now and return to Tianjin to be my direct intelligence officer. Contact me directly and all telecommunications will be forwarded by the Tianjin District."

A direct intelligence officer is naturally a soldier without any official position, which directly demotes Wang Tianlin to the bottom.

"Okay, I accept." Wang Tianlin looked at Dai Chunfeng with gritted teeth, then slammed the door and left.

But he did not go to Tianjin Station to take up the post, but went to Shanghai, which indirectly triggered a major earthquake in the Shanghai area.

This was something no one expected.

……

(End of this chapter)