My spy diary

Chapter 466 Meeting (asking for monthly ticket)

"Director Zhang, Director Mao is looking for you everywhere."

As soon as Zhang Yi returned to the bureau headquarters, Secretary Liu rushed over to report.

"Oh, you didn't tell him I was out?"

"said."

"Did you say that on your own initiative, or did he call you and ask you about it?"

"I" Secretary Liu said here, and suddenly found Zhang Yi staring at him with a smile. He was startled and hesitated for a while, but still said, "I took the initiative to call Director Mao to report. Director, according to regulations, department-level officials need to report to the bureau when they go out on official business."

"Well, you did a good job."

"You are too kind. This is my duty."

"Duty, the word is well used. Many people do not know their duty, so they make mistakes and go astray, and a single misstep leads to eternal regret." Zhang Yi said, looking at Secretary Liu, "I hope you will not disappoint my expectations of you."

"I understand!" Secretary Liu was very nervous. He knew that Zhang Yi was warning him, but he had already boarded Director Mao's boat. Did he have any choice?
No, since he didn't have that, he was actually happy to be a tool to curry favor with Director Mao. At least for now, this was his greatest value.

Not only that, he also wants to make himself more valuable.

Zhang Yi stopped there and sneered in his heart, "If you walk towards the edge of the cliff yourself, you can't blame me."

Knocking on Dai Chunfeng's office door, he was concentrating on watering his precious orchids. He didn't look at Zhang Yi. After a while, he put down the kettle, his eyes seemed full of amusement:
"came back?"

"Yes, Chief." Zhang Yi said calmly, "I just went to meet an informant."

"Informant? Is he related to the current case?"

"It's somewhat related, but we need to learn more about the details. I plan to hand it over to Director He once I have specific clues."

"Very good." Dai Chunfeng rarely showed a smile and continued, "There will be a meeting in the Military and Political Department later. You should also go and attend it."

After saying this, he added meaningfully: "Minister Chen personally asked you to attend this event."

"Chen Tumu, you are harming me!" Zhang Yi complained in his heart, but his face was puzzled:
"Minister Chen? Why would he mention my name?"

Dai Chunfeng glanced at him and saw that Zhang Yi did not look fake, so he asked suspiciously, "You really don't know?"

"I don't know Minister Chen." Zhang Yi shook his head, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and said, "Oh, I've only met him once."

Then Zhang Yi recounted the last time Chen Tumu passed by the Military Intelligence Bureau and saw the bright lights in the bureau, criticizing people for not knowing how to save money during the national crisis. He then said:
"I remember reporting this to you, Chief."

"Oh." Dai Chunfeng thought about it and vaguely remembered that this happened. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you know what to do at the meeting later?"

"I wonder what the meeting was about?"

"Case solved."

"I understand, but I haven't thought about this question. However, we can't let him solve our Military Control Commission's case. If he really asks, I'm sure I won't know anything."

"Haha, you're wrong." Dai Chunfeng laughed dumbly, "You've been to the explosion site and helped He Zhiyuan analyze the case. As long as he asks around, Chen will know that it can't be concealed. And we can't hide it, otherwise he won't be able to solve the case and will complain to the chairman, saying that we deliberately concealed clues. How will we explain it then?"

"What does Virgo mean?"

"I still say the same thing. If Chen Tumu asks, then tell him. If he doesn't ask, then there's no need to say more. Humph, there are naturally meeting minutes, written clearly in black and white. If he can't solve the case by then, he can only blame himself for being a coward."

Since the leader criticized him, Zhang Yi had to correct his wrong idea immediately and said:

"The Director is still standing high and seeing far. It seems that my original thinking was too narrow."

Dai Chunfeng smiled with satisfaction, looked at his watch, and said, "Go ahead and change into a military uniform. Our Minister Chen likes to imitate the chairman and pays great attention to the appearance of soldiers. Don't let him find fault with us and bring down the prestige of our Military Control Commission."

"Yes."

The large conference room of the Ministry of Military Affairs.

Chen Tumu sat in the middle of the top seat, the other leaders sat on both sides of the conference table, and Zhang Yi sat in a seat in the back row at the bottom.

In a meeting of this level, he was considered a newcomer and he knew his role, which was to be a bystander, so he didn't say anything and just watched others speak.

Chen Tumu is one year younger than Dai Chunfeng, but his administrative rank and qualifications within the party are several levels higher than Dai Chunfeng.

When Dai Chunfeng was still a drifter, he was already a captain and special officer in the Whampoa Military Academy, as well as an education adjutant. He became a confidant and favorite of Chang. He later experienced the Northern Expedition, the warlords' melee and the War of Resistance Against Japan, and made outstanding contributions. His direct line of troops, the "Tumu Department", was even more unique.

Originally, there was no conflict between the two. Dai Chunfeng was humble and respectful to Chen Tumu at the beginning. But how can one put it? Prejudice is an insurmountable mountain in people's hearts.

In Chen Tumu's eyes, what kind of person is Dai Chunfeng? A sycophant, a flattering sycophant. What kind of person is a spy? A thief.

As a soldier with a stronger sense of justice in the Guo Party group, Chen Tumu had a straight-forward character. Naturally, he looked down upon Dai Chunfeng's methods of seeking credit and favor through assassination, stalking, wiretapping, accusations and false accusations. Therefore, he never hesitated to respond to Dai Chunfeng's overtures to goodwill.

This was a dispute of ideas and the beginning of the conflict between the two.

Then came the power struggle. As Chang's confidant, Chen Tumu held military and political power and was regarded as Chang's successor. This naturally threatened the interests of Dai Chunfeng's good brother Hu Zongbei.

At the same time, Dai Chunfeng is equally ambitious. He wants to occupy a higher position beside Chang, and the existence of Chen Tumu is also a huge obstacle.

In addition, the spy system has been infiltrating the military system. Chen Tumu took strict precautions and not only expelled all the military personnel, but also established a spy system independent of the military system, which made Dai Chunfeng unbearable and hated him. At this moment, Dai Chunfeng sat upright, looking at Chen Tumu who was sitting in the first place and talking freely, and sneered in his heart. Then he looked at the "staff" around him who were brought in to solve the case. Dai Chunfeng had heard of some of them and knew that they had solved many cases within their respective jurisdictions, but they were just cases involving corruption, malfeasance and smuggling, and had nothing to do with espionage cases.

Seeing this, Dai Chunfeng became even more contemptuous. An outsider leading a few bureaucrats wanted to solve the case?
After Chen Tumu's speech, Intelligence Director Yang Rong and Operations Director He Zhiyuan respectively gave Chen Tumu and his team a detailed description of the case, and Dai Chunfeng supplemented some details.

Dai Chunfeng knew clearly that the clues and evidence currently available were not enough to solve the case.

Moreover, he was quite confident in his bureau's previous series of investigative procedures and methods. Even if Chen Tumu nitpicked, he could not find any flaws to blame himself for his poor performance.

In general, although Chen Tumu is currently the person in charge of the case and Dai Chunfeng has been demoted to deputy, at least half of the members of the case-solving team are from the Military Control Commission. After all, this was originally a case of the Military Control Commission, so Dai Chunfeng actually has more say than Chen Tumu.

But Dai Chunfeng had been in the underworld for many years, and he knew best how to read people's expressions and understand the pros and cons of advancing and retreating, so at this moment he was completely humble, saying a lot of flattering and praising words to Chen Tumu, and seemed to respect the other leader very much. After all, this was arranged by the old man, and it would only have a negative impact on him if he started to sabotage the work at the beginning.

On the contrary, he flattered Chen Tumu on the surface, but in the end, Chen Tumu failed to solve the case and ended up in embarrassment. There was no reason to say that Dai Yunong and the Military Control Commission did not cooperate.

At this time, after listening to the report from the Military Control Commission, Chen Tumu also felt that the case was a bit tricky and pursed his lips:
"In other words, the clues we have now cannot be investigated further?"

There were long sighs and the atmosphere became solemn.

After a moment of silence, Li Shizhen from the police system suddenly asked, "Is the investigation of the scene not thorough enough?"

"What do you mean?" Dai Chunfeng glanced at him, his voice suddenly cold, "We think we have done a very thorough job. Of course, if you don't agree with our conclusion, you can re-investigate. Oh, I forgot that Dean Li is known as the father of modern police, and he is also a top student who returned from studying in Japan. The investigation should be easy for you, right?"

Li Shizhen snorted coldly: "I am indeed more familiar with the investigation work than you are. We will naturally re-investigate the scene."

"That's enough." Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Chen Tumu waved his hand to stop them, sighed and said:
"The investigation work needs to be redone, but we cannot completely negate the Military Control Commission's previous achievements. Deputy Director Dai, Brother Menglong, the country is in crisis and the case is serious. I hope everyone will work hard, put aside past grudges, and work together for the party and the country."

Hearing this, Dai Chunfeng smiled and said, "Commander Chen is reminding us that the Military Intelligence Bureau, including me, will fully cooperate with the investigation of the case, but if we have an errand, do we dare not risk our lives?"

"Yes." Li Shizhen nodded to Chen Tumu and said seriously.

Zhang Yi sat in the corner, listening silently, but he felt a little disapproving. If everyone's thoughts could be unified, many things would be easier to handle, without having to spend all his energy and time on internal conflicts.

But is it so easy to change people’s minds?
The world is big, and human nature is the biggest. Everyone here is serious and has solemn eyes, but who knows what the other person is thinking.

Chen Tumu seemed a little tired after talking for a long time. He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of tea before saying:

"I am not an expert in solving crimes, but I know that the clues to many things are those unnoticed clues. The case has just been reported. If you have any ideas, you can speak freely."

No one responded and the conference room fell into silence.

Before I knew it, several minutes had passed in silence.

Everyone present here knows the whole story through the case briefing, but now there are no clues. The case has undoubtedly reached a dead end and no one dares to speak rashly.

Seeing this, Chen Tumu had no choice but to call the roll. He looked around at everyone present and suddenly asked:

"Is Zhang Yi here?"

"Here." Zhang Yi immediately stood up and saluted respectfully, looking cautious and respectful as if he was waiting for instructions.

"Sit down." Chen Tumu looked at him. "As far as I know, you have played an important role in many espionage cases uncovered by the Military Control Commission. What do you think of this case of stealing secrets?"

Zhang Yi seemed stunned when he was suddenly called. He glanced at Dai Chunfeng first, then said:
"Master Chen, you are too kind. That is all the achievement under the wise leadership of Director Dai. As for the case, it is hard to say. Moreover, I am currently working in the Judicial Department and I do not have a full understanding of the case. So I will not express my opinion, right? Don't make a fool of yourself in front of all my colleagues."

Chen Tumu looked at him in surprise and said with a smile, "Why not? You don't have to guess your superiors' intentions. Haha, to be honest, I'm the only layman here. I heard that those of you who work as spies are good at studying people's psychology. If you want to talk about fear, I should be the one to be fearful."

Upon hearing this, there was a burst of laughter in the conference room, and everyone said that Chief Chen was too humble.

"You are too modest." Zhang Yi complimented him. Seeing that he had no choice but to say something, he thought for a moment and said:
"According to preliminary investigations and the usual practice of Japanese spies, I believe this is a long-planned crime involving collusion between insiders and outsiders. From planning to execution, it was clean and efficient. It would not have been possible without the cooperation of the local spy network. This can be seen from their organization and reaction speed. The insider was silenced as soon as he completed his mission. He then disappeared without a trace. We don't have any clues now. Generally speaking, solving a case involves searching for clues based on the case, but the difficulty now is that we don't have any clues about these people. So, I suggest that we start with the insider being silenced to see if there are any clues that have been missed at the scene."

Chen Tumu nodded in agreement and motioned for him to continue.

Zhang Yi shook his head: "No more."

As soon as he finished speaking, except for Chen Tumu and Dai Chunfeng, the other participants began to whisper to each other.

Amid the discussion, Li Shizhen, the big boss of the police system, spoke again, with disdain: "What kind of clue is this?"

In response, Zhang Yi just shrugged with difficulty, indicating that he was powerless.

"Please sit down." Chen Tumu was slightly disappointed and waved his hand to let him sit down. Then his expression became serious and he continued:
"Everyone, I've already said that I don't know much about solving cases. I won't interfere with things I don't understand, nor will I interfere with your investigation process. But I want a result, a result that I can explain to the chairman and the party and the country. Everyone, do you have any questions?"

After the meeting, Zhang Yi said goodbye to his colleagues and drove home alone.

After changing into plain clothes, he drove away again. He stopped his car halfway and changed to a tram. He got on and off the tram several times and changed rickshaws several times. After making sure that no one was following him, he came to a brothel.

"Boss Zhang."

Qian Xiaosan, who had changed his clothes and was guarding the door of the fireworks room, greeted Zhang Yi immediately when he saw him, and whispered, "He just smoked a lot of opium and fell asleep."

Zhang Yi nodded and pushed the door open.

In the dimly-lit private room of the fireworks house, tea bowls, medicine bottles, ashtrays, half a bowl of wonton, and a large pipe were scattered on the table, along with a pile of miscellaneous items.

Not only that, other places were not much better. There were shoes scattered all over the floor, bloody gauze, women's bellybands, sweat-stained clothes, it was a mess.

(End of this chapter)