My spy diary

Chapter 572 Tea (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"They annihilated one major general, the head of the Japanese intelligence agency, two Japanese colonels, three majors, seven or eight Japanese and puppet officers, and many Japanese and puppet soldiers. They were truly heroic and courageous, with both wisdom and bravery."

"You flatter me, Director. I only succeeded because of a fortunate coincidence and the people I met."

The atmosphere in Boss Dai's office was harmonious. Dai Chunfeng wasn't sitting at his desk, but chatting with Zhang Yi on the sofa. He had his legs crossed and was leaning back on the sofa, while Zhang Yi sat upright.

"Relax, there are no outsiders here." Dai Chunfeng smiled and asked Deputy Officer Jia to bring tea.

Zhang Yicheng stood up with trepidation, thanked him, and then heard Dai Chunfeng say:

"Try it. This is a new batch of top-quality Longjing tea from the Attendant's Office. I only managed to get two cans thanks to the Chairman. You like good tea, right? Why don't you take one with you later?"

Zhang Yi smiled and said, "A gentleman does not take what others cherish. You should keep it for yourself, Director. Besides, a wild boar cannot eat fine chaff, and I know nothing about tea."

Dai Chunfeng laughed and said, "Tea is just for drinking. Once you've drunk enough, you'll naturally know whether it's good or bad."

"No, thank you. This is specially made for the Chairman, so it must be expensive. Don't make yourself too picky, or you'll find regular drinks tasteless in the future."

"What's so unaffordable about this? A pound of tea only costs a few thousand yuan." Dai Chunfeng smiled noncommittally, sent his adjutant to fetch the tea leaves, paused, looked at him meaningfully, and changed the subject: "I heard you had a very fruitful trip to Yuzhou this time, it's not like you can't afford it, hmm?"

Zhang Yi slowly put down his teacup, remaining silent.

Tea can also be used to refer to something. Inviting you to have tea and then talking about "harvest" implies a subtle hint or warning.

As I was pondering, Dai Chunfeng's voice rang out again: "Do you know that prices are soaring, public discontent is boiling, and the Chairman is deeply worried about this, determined to rectify official corruption? To prevent others from finding fault with us, I was just preparing to clean up the atmosphere within the Military Intelligence Bureau, and you, on the contrary, dare to defy the wind!"

Towards the end, his tone became stern.

Zhang Yicheng stood up, looking at him with trepidation.

Dai Chunfeng stared intently at him, not missing a single expression on his face: "Aren't you going to explain? Think it over before you speak."

"My colleagues in Yuzhou are too enthusiastic, and I couldn't refuse them, so I had no choice but to accept their hospitality." Zhang Yi looked at Dai Chunfeng with a frank expression.

"To refuse would be impolite? You've got quite the thick skin."

Zhang Yi stared straight into his eyes, looking aggrieved: "Director, but I didn't keep a single penny of this money for myself."

"Didn't you keep it for yourself? Did you divide it up or donate it? Stop beating around the bush with me, this doesn't change the fact that you embezzled and accepted bribes." Dai Chunfeng snorted heavily.

"I didn't contribute or donate. I'm not that noble, but I did buy a gift."

Dai Chunfeng was slightly taken aback: "A gift?"

"Yes, I heard that it's Ms. Hu Die's birthday soon. I didn't know what she liked, so I asked Lu Genquan to use his connections to buy her a watch. I handed it to Ms. Hu Die in person when I passed by your house just now."

Dai Chunfeng stared at him, stunned.

Zhang Yi looked at him, filled with grievances, and the two stood there facing each other.

After a long silence, Dai Chunfeng sighed, "You are indeed thoughtful."

While gesturing for Zhang Yi to sit down, she picked up her teacup, took a sip of tea to cover her embarrassment, and casually asked, "What watch did you buy?"

Zhang Yi took a breath, seemingly trying to calm himself down. After a while, he took out a Patek Philippe advertisement from his pocket and handed it to him: "Look, this is their advertising slogan."

Dai Chunfeng took the flyer and read it aloud: "No one can truly own a Patek Philippe; they merely safeguard it for the next generation. Patek Philippe watches are original masterpieces, elegant and extraordinary, not only accompanying you for a long time but also serving as heirlooms." He chuckled twice, unimpressed.
“Since the time of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, power has not been able to be passed down, let alone a watch.”

Zhang Yi lowered his voice mysteriously: "This watch is very popular among the wives of high society these days. It is said that Mrs. Song has one. But it has always been in short supply. Now it is being sold for more than three thousand US dollars on the black market."

"So expensive?" Dai Chunfeng smacked his lips twice, gripped the armrests of the sofa with both hands, stood up, and looked very seriously into Zhang Yi's eyes:
"It's so kind of you to be so thoughtful. I thank you on behalf of your wife."

"This is what I should do. To be loyal to the party and the country, one should first and foremost respect one's superiors."

After listening to Zhang Yi's explanation, Dai Chunfeng nodded slightly, patted Zhang Yi's shoulder, and leaned back on the sofa.

After a moment, seeing Zhang Yi still standing in front of him, he seemed to snap out of his daze, and shook his head with a wry smile:

"Yunyi, well, you've done such a great service this time, I don't even know how to reward you!"

He spoke very sincerely, and before Zhang Yi could reply, he gestured for Zhang Yi to sit down, then changed the subject:
"This collaboration with Li Mulin went quite well, didn't it?"

"The people introduced by Director Mao are definitely easy to work with."

"Well, you probably don't know yet, but the Jia Room just received a telegram that our Station Chief Cui Fangping was attacked by armed forces while being escorted back to Shancheng. A firefight ensued, and Station Chief Cui was killed. Chen Tumu was furious about this and complained to the old man. I also got a scolding."

"Is that so?" Zhang Yi feigned ignorance. "So what if he's dead? He wasn't one of our Military Intelligence Bureau anyway."

"It's not that simple. You have to consider the owner before you beat the dog." Dai Chunfeng shook his head helplessly. "Director Mao recommended Li Mulin to take over as station chief. What do you think about that?"

"This matter can be decided by the Director alone; it is not appropriate for your subordinates to offer any opinions."

Dai Chunfeng glanced at him, shook his head and said, "We usually don't show off, but now that the Yuzhou station is vacant, everyone in the bureau is using their own methods, which is putting me in a difficult position."

"A lot of people are eyeing this spot?"

“Yue Zhuyuan, Liu Ji, and even Zhao Libiao, none of them are easy to deal with.”

The position of stationmaster at Yuzhou Station has seen a revolving door of personnel, with frequent changes.

In August of last year, Dai Chunfeng transferred Yue Zhuyuan, the former station chief, to Luoyang to serve as the director of the provincial government's investigation office, and appointed Liu Ji as the station chief.

As a result, when Liu Ji led his troops to inspect Zhengzhou, they were bombarded by the Japanese army. This fellow was afraid of death and fled to Yu County with his secretary and adjutant.

This move undoubtedly damaged the reputation of the Military Intelligence Bureau. Dai Chunfeng was furious and arrested him, then escorted him to Shancheng for imprisonment. Yue Zhuyuan also took on the role of station chief.

However, just a few months later, Yue Zhuyuan was dismissed from his post for "having made contributions to the War of Resistance but failing to resist the Reds" and was also escorted to the mountain city.

At this time, Cui Fangping, recommended by Chen Tumu, was able to become the successor. Now that he is dead, the position of station chief is vacant again. Zhang Yi pretended to suddenly realize: "Does the section chief have a preferred candidate?"

“Yesterday I had dinner with Wu and Jingzhong, and he recommended someone.”

"May I ask which gentleman this is?"

"Qiao Jiacai, what do you think of him?"

Qiao was from Shanxi and graduated from the fifth class of the Whampoa Military Academy.

During the Central Plains War, in order to prevent Yan Xishan from causing trouble, Dai Chunfeng personally went to Shanxi to do intelligence work. However, Yan Xishan was the local tyrant of Shanxi and had very tight control over the internal affairs. Even though Dai Chunfeng used his best five-word mantra of "using connections, knowledge, finance, and power" and did everything he could, he ultimately returned empty-handed and had to sigh: "The most difficult person to deal with in China is Yan Xishan, the nine-tailed fox of Shanxi."

After his defeat, Dai Chunfeng was not discouraged. He sent Qiao Jiacai, a man from Shanxi, to serve as the station chief in southeastern Shanxi, specializing in intelligence gathering on Yan Xishan.

Station Chief Qiao lived up to expectations and soon learned that Yan Laoxi and his younger sister Yan Huiqing had an ambiguous relationship, and that Yan Huiqing often interfered in "political affairs" by taking advantage of her special position.

So, Station Chief Qiao devised a plan to break through this woman's defenses. After finding out her preferences, he catered to them, sending her expensive items such as jewelry and imported cosmetics every few days, doing so discreetly for a while without ever making any demands.

This piqued Yan Huiqing's curiosity, prompting her to approach him. After some maneuvering, Yan Huiqing became extremely accommodating to Station Chief Qiao, and from then on, the entire internal affairs of Yan Huiqing were under the control of the Military Intelligence Bureau.

Furthermore, through Dai Chunfeng's lavish efforts to win over and bribe key figures around Yan Xishan, many of them were recruited into the Military Intelligence Bureau.

Based on this great achievement, Station Chief Qiao was quickly promoted to positions such as Director of the Supervision Office of the Bureau Headquarters and Inspector of the North China Region.

"Although I have never dealt with Station Chief Qiao, I have long heard of his talent. Since the Director thinks he is suitable, he must be right."

Dai Chunfeng glanced at him, then wearily rubbed his temples: "A great battle is imminent, it's not that simple. We'll discuss the reasons later. Take a look at this first."

As he spoke, he got up, took out a file folder marked "Top Secret" from the drawer, and handed it to Zhang Yi.

"When you were in Yuzhou, you reported that Yoshikawa Teisuke was appointed head of the North China Agency and tasked with finding iron ore to manufacture some kind of uranium bomb weapon. I don't understand these things. I asked the people in the technical department, but they knew nothing about it either. Later, I consulted a physics professor at Southwest University. They said it was a powerful weapon, but they still couldn't explain what it was." Dai Chunfeng shook his head. "Therefore, I could only give instructions to the intelligence agents lurking in Tokyo to find out. This is the reply."

"An intelligence agent lurking in Tokyo?" Zhang Yi opened the file thoughtfully.

Dai Chunfeng looked at him: "Aren't you curious?"

Zhang Yi frankly said, "Curiosity is a given, but I dare not forget my limits. The Director's silence is for a reason."

Dai Chunfeng was very satisfied with his attitude and smiled smugly: "It's just arranging a few undercover agents. There's nothing surprising about it. The Ming Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard could do it hundreds of years ago, so why can't our Military Intelligence Bureau?"

"Are you referring to Shi Shiyong?"

Shi Shiyong lived during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty. During the Imjin War (also known as the Imjin War), he was dispatched to Japan to gather intelligence. Disguised as a merchant, he successfully crossed the sea to Japan after six months of learning Japanese, swordsmanship, and other languages. While in Japan, he frequented taverns, befriended Japanese officers and soldiers, and collected a vast amount of intelligence, ranging from information about Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself to information about Japan's military equipment and logistics. He also contacted Xu Yi, a court physician who had been kidnapped by Japanese pirates and was serving as a court physician due to her exceptional medical skills, and Guo Guoan, a Chinese-Japanese officer holding a mid-level position in the Japanese army. The three worked closely together to gather a great deal of top-secret intelligence.

“Yes, the Embroidered Uniform Guard can do it, and so can we, and we might even be better.” Dai Chunfeng raised his chin slightly, slammed his hand down, his posture arrogant and composed, as if he were in complete control.

Zhang Yi could sense his smugness, so he smiled in agreement and looked down at the intelligence report.

The intelligence report stated that Takeo Yasuda, the director of the Japan Army Air Force Research Institute, learned from Germany's allies that Germany was secretly developing an atomic bomb and suspected that the United States was also secretly developing one. He immediately submitted a report to the Minister of the Army on the development of a "uranium bomb".

The plan is said to have been approved, and physicist Yoshio Nishina has been assigned to lead more than 100 scholars to implement it. The plan has been named the "Nishina Project".

Due to its limited resources, Japan not only searched for uranium ore on its own soil but also secretly sent agents to infiltrate the Korean Peninsula and China to search for it.

The intelligence briefing ended abruptly there. Zhang Yi pondered for a moment and said:
"Unfortunately, Yoshikawa Teisuke is dead, and the trail has completely gone cold. We have no idea where their people have gone."

“No,” Dai Chunfeng said confidently. “No one in this world can do things without leaving a trace. We must do our best to find out the gaps and, through effective intelligence analysis, find the clues they have left behind, until we find them and finally wipe them out in one fell swoop.”

"Yes. I'll think about where to start," Zhang Yi said with a serious expression.

As Zhang Yi left Boss Dai's office, he encountered Mao Qiwu, who was all smiles, in the hallway.

"Director Mao, what are you busy with?"

Mao Qiwu saw the tea box in his hand and said with a smile, "Have you met the Director? Brother, you've made a great contribution again this time."

Zhang Yi understood the implied meaning and laughed, "It was just luck."

"Isn't that too modest? The newspapers are all talking about it. Qi Wu still admires your heroic feat of venturing deep into the lion's den and annihilating Yoshikawa Teisuke."

"You flatter me. Speaking of this, Director Mao, you are equally meritorious. Li Mulin helped me a great deal." Zhang Yi smiled humbly, then paused, as if remembering something, and deliberately spoke loudly:
"By the way, Deputy Station Chief Li asked me to give you some small yellow croaker. When is it convenient for you? I'll bring it over to you."

Mao Qiwu was a little confused. He looked around nervously and pretended not to understand: "What small yellow croaker?"

Zhang Yi glared at him and said irritably, "Alright, Director Mao, stop pretending. It's just a small token of respect, what's there to be embarrassed about?"

Seeing Zhang Yi's voice getting louder and louder, Mao Qiwu could only give him an awkward smile, pretending to have just realized what was happening, and lowered his voice to say:

"Hey bro, keep your voice down."

Zhang Yi rolled his eyes at him and continued in an annoyed tone, "What's the rush? We're such good friends, I'm not going to report you to the Military Commission. I know you, Director Mao, are incorruptible, but Deputy Station Chief Li meant well, so we can't just turn it back, can we? Here's what we'll do: if it's inconvenient for you, I'll have someone deliver it to your residence later."

"Who's on good terms with you? We're already being very accommodating by not interfering with each other," Mao Qiwu thought to himself, seething with resentment. He grabbed Zhang Yi and said:

"Then, I'll have to trouble you, Brother Yunyi."

"Still being polite with me, brother? Then it's settled. Goodbye!"

"Take care, don't bother seeing me off." Mao Qiwu stared coldly at Zhang Yi's back for a moment before turning and leaving.

Zhang Yi returned to his office, unimpressed.

I had just arrived at the office when two uninvited guests showed up at the door.

(End of this chapter)