My spy diary

Chapter 626 Killing Two Birds with One Stone (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Seeing that Dai Chunfeng's expression turned gloomy after reading a telegram, and that he sat there without saying a word, Deputy Officer Jia and Director Gong stood there dumbfounded, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Director Gong was honest and straightforward, and asked cautiously:

"Mr. Dai, what happened?"

"You two should take a look too," Dai Chunfeng said, glancing at the two of them and pointing to the telegram on the table.

After saying that, he stood up and paced around the office.

"Director Mao's telegram. Investigate Zhang Yi?" Director Gong skimmed through the telegram, frowning, and whispered, "I really don't understand why Director Mao has such a deep prejudice against Director Zhang. They haven't found anything wrong with him!"

If it weren't for Director Zhang's keen insight in uncovering the Japanese spies' plot and his selfless act of saving us from danger, I, an old man, would probably be long gone. Humans aren't plants or trees; how can we be without feelings? We will forever remember Director Zhang's life-saving grace. What do you say, Lieutenant Jia?"

“Director Gong is right,” Lieutenant Jia chimed in, taking the telegram and reading it carefully as he said, “Yes, if it weren’t for Director Zhang that night, I probably would have died there too.”

Dai Chunfeng was speechless. Both of them were telling the truth. The friendship they had built with Zhang Yi over the years was genuine, their past suspicions and deductions about him were true, and the life-or-death debt they owed him that night was also real.

A few days ago, Dai Chunfeng came to Jiangshan and brought Zhang Yi with him, precisely because he took the advice of Mao Qiwu, the acting chief secretary.

In Mao Qiwu's words, "I will not be able to eat or sleep peacefully until the mole hidden in the headquarters is eliminated."

Seeing that Dai Chunfeng was still hesitant, Mao Qiwu continued earnestly:

"Director, this Red Party spy has been brazenly lurking among us for so many years, and we haven't even been able to catch a glimpse of him. It's chilling to think about. If this continues, and he develops accomplices within the headquarters, it will inevitably become another Zhang Weilin case. When the old man is furious, you and I will be held accountable. As long as you transfer Zhang Yi away, I guarantee I will investigate him thoroughly. Director Dai! This move is risky, but there is still a 50% chance of success. If we don't take this step, things will get out of control."

Dai Chunfeng was persuaded by this. In order to turn the mountain city into a base for anti-red and anti-red activities, he used almost every idea and every means at his disposal.

Despite this, a major case occurred where the Red Party infiltrated the core of the Military Intelligence Bureau—the Chongqing Telecommunications Headquarters. It was a case of multiple individuals working together; Zhang Weilin alone recruited and developed five people, including the chief telegraph operator and other telegraph staff, into the Red Party, forming party groups. Given time, he might have even wiped out the entire Military Intelligence Bureau's telecommunications headquarters.

The discovery of this case, along with the "Three Heroes of Longtan" case that occurred in the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) 31 years ago, was regarded by the Chairman as a disgrace to the two major secret service organizations of the Kuomintang (KMT).

As a result, Dai Chunfeng was severely scolded by Chang, making him unable to hold his head up in front of Chang for a long time.

A few days ago, Mao Qiwu proposed a brilliant plan, intending to solve the problem of the traitor in one fell swoop by combining the methods of "luring the tiger away from the mountain" and "stealing the beams and replacing the pillars." So, after luring away Zhang Yi, the tiger, what would be "stolen" and "replaced" were naturally the monkey and Qian Xiaosan, Zhang Yi's capable henchmen and right-hand men.

After several days of surveillance and monitoring with little success, Mao Qiwu could no longer contain himself. There was no turning back once the arrow was released. He directly ordered the supervisory office to secretly arrest Monkey and Qian Xiaosan and begin interrogation.

The monkey remained silent during interrogation. Despite repeated questioning and various forms of torture, it still wouldn't utter a word.

Qian Xiaosan was the same. At first, even when torture was used, he instinctively tried to resist. But when the people from the supervisory office brought his mistress and child into the interrogation room, he completely gave up resisting.

Even so, what Qian Xiaosan confessed was completely different from what Mao Qiwu had hoped for, because Qian Xiaosan had no idea whether Zhang Yi was a member of the Red Party or not, and there was no evidence or inclination to suggest that Zhang Yi was. Although some of Zhang Yi's actions and behaviors were sometimes puzzling, they could not be used as direct evidence.

Mao Qiwu was both astonished and helpless in the face of this.

"Mao Qiwu, Mao Shanyu, what good-for-nothings, what useless idiots!" Dai Chunfeng became angrier the more he thought about it. He put his hands on his hips and cursed loudly. He had spoken so confidently and emphatically, and whether it was suspicion or speculation, he spoke with great detail and evidence. It seemed that as long as he investigated seriously, he would soon have enough facts and conclusive evidence.

As a result, the stove wasn't hot enough to cook the rice properly, so it was undercooked.

As he walked towards the window, he said quietly:
"What should I say? I should say, Yunyi, please don't be angry. Director Mao arrested your people while you were away."

Director Gong recognized the irony in his words and understood. He exchanged a brief glance with Deputy Jia and said:
“Mr. Dai, I think this is a good thing, after all, it proves Director Zhang’s innocence. In fact, we should be gratified, happy, and even more grateful to him—after all, we are all comrades of the Party and the State who have gone through thick and thin together, brothers, and we see each other all the time. How embarrassing would it be if we really turned against each other and had a showdown! As for the aftermath, it was Mao Qiwu who made the mess, so you can just pretend you don’t know anything about it.”

This result is both gratifying and disappointing. It's gratifying because Zhang Yi wasn't involved, but how can one not be disappointed when, despite racking one's brains and exhausting all efforts, the mole lurking within the bureau headquarters cannot be uncovered?

At this moment, all was quiet outside the window. The midday sun shone through the window frame, its white light dazzling and making one feel dizzy.

Suddenly, several crows landed on a cedar tree outside the window, making a few piercing caws, which made Dai Chunfeng feel even more irritated.

“That’s true, and some things are unspoken but there has to be a reasonable explanation, at least something that makes sense!” Dai Chunfeng turned back to his chair and sat down, looking preoccupied. “If this continues, I’ll lose all my face.”

Director Gong and Deputy Jia are both seasoned and astute individuals; how could they not understand the seriousness of this matter? If it is not handled properly, and Director Zhang harbors resentment and becomes disloyal and out of control, it will leave Boss Dai with not only discomfort but also a very serious sense of crisis.

Of course, to prevent future troubles, Boss Dai could easily find a reason, even a fabricated one, to send Zhang Yi to some remote outpost or corner. But the problem is that Zhang Yi has just made a great contribution, and instead of being promoted, he has been demoted. How can this win over the hearts of the people? In this light, Dai Chunfeng's worries can be explained.

Previously, since Dai Chunfeng himself hadn't spoken, Director Gong and Deputy Officer Jia hadn't felt comfortable interfering. Now, seeing that Boss Dai seemed inclined to inquire, they finally had a chance to speak their minds. Director Gong cleared his throat and began:

"Mao Qiwu has really stirred up a huge mess, which is quite troublesome. Mr. Dai, if you want to calm things down as soon as possible, you must appease Director Zhang properly."

Dai Chunfeng lowered her eyelids and pondered for a moment, then looked up and asked, "How do we appease them?"

"It's all about money and power." Director Gong glanced at him, then changed the subject. "Mao Qiwu is a capable and ambitious man with excellent skills. More importantly, he has good political integrity and personal character. He never engages in backroom deals or flattery. He's dedicated to his work, diligent and conscientious. However, his shortcomings are also obvious. He doesn't understand military intelligence affairs, especially fieldwork. If the boss could find someone familiar with fieldwork to assist him, I believe it would greatly benefit the bureau's work." Director Gong was usually a man of few words, but today he was unexpectedly speaking so eloquently, even using a strategy of praising first and then criticizing. Seeing that he was about to ramble on about other things, Dai Chunfeng rudely interrupted him, saying impatiently:
"Isn't what you just wanted to say is to make Zhang Yi the deputy director's secretary?"

Despite being rebuffed, Director Gong wasn't annoyed. He had observed Boss Dai's expression and knew how to handle it. He simply said in a low voice:

"I think Director Zhang is very suitable."

As the saying goes, even a rabbit will bite when cornered. The various section chiefs at headquarters each manage their own affairs, and they usually keep to themselves, seemingly without any conflict, but in reality, undercurrents are surging.

Originally, Zheng Mingyuan was the second-in-command and chief secretary of the Military Intelligence Bureau. However, he knew that Dai Chunfeng would not tolerate him in order to control the Bureau. He also did not want to do the errand-running work of chief secretary. So, while he was making a show of his unwillingness to do petty theft, he hid in the Second Department of the Military Command as his deputy director and ignored the Military Intelligence Bureau.

But he wouldn't do it; plenty of others would, and they'd enjoy it.

Mao Qiwu, the acting chief secretary, was eager to seize power and his first reform was the reporting system.

He turned the previously established practice of each department head reporting directly to Boss Dai into a written rule, stipulating that no matter how high-level the document or how high-ranking the intelligence agent, all reports had to go through him first.

The various department heads and a group of veteran agents were naturally very dissatisfied with his power grab. They were all used to acting independently and often boasted about their ability to make decisive decisions. Now that they had to ask for instructions and report on everything and their actions were restricted, they were naturally full of complaints.

Now that they've finally found Mao Qiwu's weakness, Director Gong doesn't mind giving him another blow to vent his long-suppressed resentment.

Dai Chunfeng saw through his ulterior motives at a glance, but this was exactly in line with his personnel management principles: let his subordinates fight amongst themselves while he acted as an arbitrator. He frowned and said:
"If Zhang Yi is promoted to deputy director's secretary, what will happen to Zhang Yanfo?"

The bureau headquarters has a deputy director and secretary, who is Zhang Yanfo.

Speaking of this person, we must mention another person – Deng Wenyi.

This person was a graduate of the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy. In 25, he was recommended by someone named Chang to study at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, Soviet Union. After returning to China in 27, he was appointed as the director of the Political Department of the Whampoa Military Academy.

Soon after, this person colluded with the school's accountant and embezzled more than 10,000 yuan of textbook printing fees by abusing his power. When the matter was exposed, Chang was furious and dismissed him from his post.

But in 31, Chang rehired him and made him his personal secretary.

Soon after, he helped Chang establish the Fuxing Society and served as the head of the intelligence section of the Nanchang Headquarters, while his public identity was the head of the investigation section.

But at this very moment, Dai Chunfeng, who was running errands for another intelligence agency—the Secret Investigation Team—stood out and, after being favored by Chang, won the position of head of the investigation section.

At that time, Zhang Yanfo was an important backbone member of Deng Wenyi's intelligence system, serving as deputy section chief.

In an effort to win over the hearts of the people, Dai Chunfeng retained all of Deng Wenyi's former subordinates, with Zhang Yanfo remaining as deputy section chief. After the establishment of the Special Service Department, he was promoted to secretary-general.

This person graduated from the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy. He is honest, steady, and conscientious in his work. He has done an outstanding job in this position.

But as the saying goes, "a new emperor brings a new court," and where there are people, there is struggle. The veterans of the Special Service Department didn't treat Zhang Yanfo as one of their own and ostracized him at every turn. When the news reached Dai Chunfeng's ears, he simply watched coldly, since Zhang Yanfo had already lost his usefulness.

As a result, Zhang Yanfo faced great difficulties and numerous obstacles in carrying out his work, so he proposed to change jobs.

Seeing that he was sensible, Dai Chunfeng appointed him as the head of the Chuankang District. A few months later, he was reassigned as the head of the Northwest District.

After Mao Qiwu became the acting chief secretary, Dai Chunfeng transferred Zhang Yanfo to serve as deputy chief secretary to assist him because he was unfamiliar with the affairs of the Military Intelligence Bureau. Zhang Yanfo continued to work diligently and wholeheartedly to help Mao Qiwu without complaint.

Having worked with him for a long time, Dai Chunfeng found him to be loyal, reliable, capable, and hardworking, and gradually came to regard him as a trusted confidant. Hearing that Director Gong was going to reassign him again, he couldn't help but frown. "You can't fleece someone like this," he thought, "and honest people shouldn't be bullied like this."

Director Gong thought to himself, "It's precisely because he's an honest man that he's easy to bully. Everyone else is like a sacred deity, valuing their position more than their own life; you can't persuade them to come down." However, on the surface, he maintained a serious demeanor.
“He took office as the head of the Chuankang District in May 1937, and was transferred to the Northwest District in August. Although he has field experience, it was only a brief one. Shouldn’t he be sent out for further training?”

When it came to his job duties, Director Gong spoke fluently. Seeing Dai Chunfeng's sour face, hands stroking her cheeks, appearing frustrated and hesitant, Director Gong continued:
"Director, there's a specific role for everyone. The most important departments in the bureau are Intelligence Division One and Party and Government Intelligence Division Two. Division Two just got a new director."

Director Gong was speaking enthusiastically when Dai Chunfeng suddenly waved his hand to interrupt him:
"Then let's do it this way. Let's make do with Brother Yan for now and immediately appoint Zhang Yi as the acting deputy director's secretary and director of the judicial department."

In that brief moment, he had already figured it out. Personnel matters are politics, and the position of the Second Division Chief had just been adjusted; it was indeed not advisable to make any major changes. Appointing Zhang Yi as acting Deputy Director's Secretary was both a reward and a way to appease him, and a punishment and warning to Mao Qiwu for being more trouble than he was worth.

Another objective is to use those you suspect, and to suspect those you use. The lack of evidence this time doesn't mean he's innocent. By transferring Zhang Yi to the secretary's office, as long as we keep a close eye on him, if he really has a problem, we can't possibly miss him.

It can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Director Gong, of course, had no idea what Dai Chunfeng was thinking. He assumed that his suggestion had worked and replied sternly, "Yes."

In the ward just a few steps away, Zhang Yi was changing his dressing, completely unaware of what was happening.

(End of this chapter)