My spy diary

Chapter 639 Confiscating Property (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"Commander, what did the Chairman say?"

"What else can I say? Upon hearing about the ten thousand taels of gold, the old man flew into a rage. He ordered Li Jue's arrest, and at the same time, he severely reprimanded him and ordered us to conduct a self-examination." Commander Gu snorted coldly. He was fine with just reprimanding and self-examination, but what he was worried about was that Dai Chunfeng would use this incident to make a big fuss, relentlessly pursue the matter, and expand the results of the attack.

"To defend or to attack?" This is the question he is currently pondering.

Upon closer examination, the conflict between him and Dai Chunfeng was entirely due to a power struggle and a clash of interests.

Although he was four years older than Dai Chunfeng, he rose to prominence much earlier. After graduating from the Beiyang Military Academy in Baoding, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, and he joined the revolutionary army. In the winter of 21, he went to Guilin to join Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

At that time, Chang was serving as the chief of staff of the Second Army of the Guangdong Army. The two met and mentioned that they had both graduated from the Baoding Military Academy. Meeting their senior in a foreign land, they immediately hit it off and became close friends.

A few days later, at Chang's strong recommendation, he was appointed as a captain adjutant and training team leader.

From then on, to repay Chang's kindness in recognizing his talent, he served him faithfully, through thick and thin, for over a decade, remaining loyal and brave. At this time, Dai Chunfeng was still playing in the mud in his village.

When Dai Chunfeng entered Huangpu Military Academy to serve as Hu Jing'an's henchman in "purging the red" (a term referring to corrupt officials and their associates), he had already served as the commander of the Ninth Army, the commander of the First Army, the commander-in-chief of the Sixteenth Route Army, and the commander of the National Government Guard Army.

Just as his subordinates said, Dai Chunfeng was nothing more than a spy chief who curried favor with the old man by means of surveillance, eavesdropping, slander, and assassination. Given his seniority, status, talent, and relationship with Chang, he certainly wouldn't take Dai Chunfeng seriously, much less fawn over him just because Dai Chunfeng had transformed from a lowly smuggler into the deputy director of the Military Commission's Investigation and Statistics Bureau by currying favor with the old man.

Not to mention the constant friction between the Loyal and Patriotic Army and the Third War Zone troops over territory, which damaged their own interests, just based on his close relationship with He Jingzhi, Hu Zongbei, Tang Enbo and others, the two were destined to be at odds.

But he underestimated Dai Chunfeng. He had his own brilliant plan, but others also had their own solutions.

He thought that by using the evidence of the Loyal and Patriotic Army's smuggling and trafficking, he could abolish the Loyal and Patriotic Army's designation and eliminate this major threat. But Dai Chunfeng was too cunning. With his silver tongue and the help of He Jingzhi to mediate, he actually changed the old man's mind.

As the saying goes, "If you don't kill the snake, you'll suffer the consequences," so targeting Li Jue was clearly Dai Chunfeng's way of retaliating.

At this moment, he has only two choices: defend or attack.

But Li Jue had already fallen into Dai Chunfeng's hands, and no one knew how much evidence he had. The old man had also ordered him to conduct a self-examination. At this moment, the best thing to do was to sacrifice a pawn to save the king, temporarily avoid the sharp edge, and let his own people clean up the mess first. After collecting more dirt on the Loyal Army, the National Army, or Dai Yunong, he could then launch a counterattack. If he gained any advantage, he could then pursue the matter relentlessly and expand the victory.

However, given that the man surnamed Dai is known for his ruthless and cunning ways, and his willingness to use any means to achieve his goals, would he give up so easily?
This is something we must consider.

Just then, the adjutant knocked on the door and came in to report: "Commander, we just received a telegram."

Just as several of his men were about to leave, Commander Gu said impatiently, "No need. We're all on the same side. We can discuss this together." Then he asked his adjutant:
"Where did the telegram come from?"

The adjutant said solemnly, "The first message was an urgent telegram from our intelligence agent who stayed in the mountain city. They had just received news that all the staff of the newspapers controlled by the Military Intelligence Bureau, such as the Xinhua Times and Xinmin Daily, had been notified to work overtime. Obviously, they were brewing some kind of conspiracy."

The so-called "Xinhua Times" was founded and published by a man surnamed Tan, the criminal investigation captain of the Shancheng Police Bureau. His wife, brother-in-law, mistress, and other spies served as president, deputy president, and editor-in-chief. The newspaper was established by the Military Intelligence Bureau to compete with the Communist Party's "Xinhua Daily." Its content was mostly slanderous against the Communist Party, and it was privately nicknamed "the rumor-mongering company."

After its publication, the newspaper failed to attract any subscribers and was unable to make ends meet. It had to resort to forcing businessmen and citizens to subscribe in an attempt to expand its influence, but this was met with widespread disapproval and had little effect.

"The second letter just arrived from Jiangshan County. Li Jue has been arrested by Dai Chunfeng, and his guards have been disarmed and imprisoned. In addition, the Garrison Command seized two thousand taels of gold from the warehouse of Li Jue's brother-in-law, Gu Mingyuan, in the suburbs. It is understood that the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Investigation Department, together with the Police Bureau, are conducting a large-scale search for the whereabouts of the remaining gold. It has also been confirmed that other Military Intelligence Bureau personnel have begun searching the homes of Li Jue and Gu Mingyuan."

The previous telegram regarding Li Jue only stated that Li Jue was to be arrested, but whether he was actually caught, and whether there was any fierce conflict or retaliation, remained unknown. Now, with confirmed news arriving, Li Jue, a man of some standing, has suddenly become Dai Chunfeng's prisoner.

After hearing the report, Commander Gu felt a chill run down his spine.

"That treacherous Dai Chunfeng, all he knows are these underhanded tricks!" several henchmen whispered among themselves. One of them, unable to contain his anger, gritted his teeth and cursed.

Commander Gu wasn't as agitated as him, but his tone was full of disdain:
“I knew he wouldn’t let this go easily. He’s the kind of person who’s insidious and ruthless, and he’s a master at stirring up trouble.”

With ten thousand taels of gold and the man caught red-handed, Li Jue will be severely punished, if not killed. Furthermore, Chiang Kai-shek has consistently employed tactics of weakening, controlling, dividing, annexing, and even using others to eliminate non-direct-line troops. This time, Li Jue has "walked into the trap," running right into the line of fire; he will likely face certain death.

Feeling a sense of shared sorrow, he didn't want to continue the conversation and waved his hand to give his adjutant an order:

"Immediately send a telegram to the 25th Army Group in the name of the theater command, ordering the deputy commander of the army group to temporarily assume the duties of commander, suppress the riots, and stabilize morale. Tell him that if anything goes wrong again, I will send him directly to a military court! In addition, get our intelligence personnel on the move, focusing on finding out what the Military Intelligence Bureau's newspapers published and what Li Jue confessed. Report immediately if you have any information!"

"Yes, sir!" The adjutant immediately accepted the order and left.

Commander Gu walked to the window again, gazed out, and remained silent for a long time.

What are Dai Chunfeng's plans next?

"If I were Dai Yunong," Commander Gu put himself in Dai Chunfeng's shoes, trying to understand his intentions. "What exactly does he want to do? First, create public opinion; second, use his silver tongue to slander me and the Third War Zone in front of the old man; perhaps, he will also mobilize his allies to form a united front, giving me no chance to breathe or retaliate."

Commander Gu pondered for a moment, then returned to his previous line of thought: "So how should I deal with this? Defend or attack? But right now I don't have any leverage over Dai Chunfeng."

After much thought, I decided to stick to my original plan: "Avoid his sharp edge, clean up my mess, and wait for him to make his move before counterattacking."

"Self-examination and self-correction." Commander Gu stroked his chin, seemingly still gazing into the distance, but in reality, his eyes were vacant, his mind completely absorbed in the deduction of the upcoming confrontation with Dai Chunfeng. The hot wind blew on his face, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but he was completely unaware. "I can't possibly bow down and submit to that Dai guy, can I? That would be too spineless and shameful."

Seeing his solemn and even worried expression, his trusted subordinates exchanged glances, unsure of what to say.

The atmosphere in the office grew increasingly tense.

It took Commander Gu a long time to come to his senses.

"Fine, Dai Chunfeng, you win, you're ruthless, you're clever!" he cursed inwardly, but he had no choice but to put on a stern face and say:

“The man surnamed Dai is sharpening his knife. If you all don’t wake up and clean up your messes, he will find something to use against you sooner or later. At best, you will lose your job; at worst, you will lose your head. Then you will have nowhere to regret it.”

One of his men exclaimed excitedly, "He wouldn't dare even if he had a hundred lives! Does he really think we're pushovers? Commander!" "Alright, the old man wants us to conduct a self-examination and submit a written report. Go and prepare it."

Commander Gu had lost interest in taking this futile apology seriously. Whether it was smuggling or extortion, part of the money went to military pay, and the rest went into the pockets of officers of all ranks. He couldn't expect them to return it; that would only make the situation more awkward and alienate the troops. Now, he could only go through the motions.

As for Dai Chunfeng's side, they can only deal with things as they come.

at the same time.

Li Jue's family was in complete chaos, and the once magnificent living room was piled high with packages of all sizes.

Mrs. Li Jue was frantically directing the servants to pack up their belongings, preparing to flee.

Although Li Jue's arrest was kept secret, how could it be truly kept secret these days? It had already caused a huge uproar in the military.

When she received the phone call that secretly tipped her off, she didn't believe it at first. After confirming it again, she was terrified and almost fell to the ground.

Even now, her eyes were still somewhat vacant, clearly indicating that her thoughts were in disarray. She couldn't believe that Dai Chunfeng had the audacity to arrest Li Jue so brazenly, and she couldn't believe that Li Jue's army, which he had built up like an ironclad fortress, had crumbled in just a few minutes. She still couldn't accept this fact.

She never imagined that, overnight, those officers who used to fawn over her would stop answering her phone.

We have a radio at home that can contact the mountain town, but now we can't find anyone who knows how to use it.

Therefore, she had to hurry and escape back to the mountain city at all costs. She believed that as long as her father intervened and made arrangements, things would definitely take a turn for the better.

"Madam, should we bring this calligraphy and painting?"

The maid's questioning voice came, and she panicked instantly. She glared at her fiercely, then suddenly felt a surge of anger, rushed over, and slapped her across the face, yelling:
"Are you deaf? How many times have I told you, bring nothing but gold, silver, and valuables!"

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden screech of brakes sounded outside the gate, and several cars screeched to a halt outside the ornate iron gate.

Captain Chen, no, he's now the deputy captain of the action team.

Deputy Captain Chen, along with the Military Intelligence Bureau's action team and plainclothes officers from the Inspection Department, jumped out of the car, smashed open the iron gate, and ran inside.

Lu Shu'er was among them.

The men and women servants in the living room looked at the plainclothes officers who rushed in like wolves and tigers, and they all fell silent, trembling with fear.

Deputy Captain Chen ignored them and walked directly to Mrs. Li:
"I'm sorry, Madam. We are acting on Director Dai's orders to ask you to return for questioning. Chen Er, take men to search all rooms and seize all property. Lu Shu'er, take men to seal off the scene. Everyone must be thoroughly searched before leaving. From now on, not a single item here can be taken away."

Mrs. Li stood there, looking utterly dejected, her expression as if struck by lightning. Accustomed to being bossy and authoritarian, she had never experienced anything like this. She stood there stunned for a moment before regaining her composure, taking a deep breath, and clinging to the last shred of her dignity:
"Who are you? You have no right to arrest me! Where is Dai Yunong? Why isn't he here?"

“Madam Li, I am just a nobody, but it is my duty. Please cooperate. If we get into a fight, things will get ugly.” Deputy Captain Chen was humble, but his tone was unquestionable. His every move made him seem more and more like a powerful figure.

Anyone with half a brain could see that Li Jue had lost utterly in this contest with Boss Dai. However, since Mrs. Li wanted to save face one last time, why not grant her that wish?

He believed that she was a sensible person as well.

Deputy Captain Chen watched as Madam Li's complexion gradually returned to normal, and thought to himself. Frankly speaking, Madam Li truly lived up to her reputation as a daughter of an official family, pampered and raised. A gold ring on her finger complemented a jade bracelet on her wrist, the jewels shimmering yet understated. Her well-maintained face showed no wrinkles, and the dignified and noble air between her brows remained; her every smile and frown still exuded charm.

"Where is the commander now?" Just as Deputy Captain Chen had expected, Mrs. Li, who had regained her composure, was no longer furious. Her expression was normal, and she was full of energy.

"Don't worry, Commander Li is fine. You'll see him soon."

Madam Li gave him a few cold glances, then stretched out her hands towards him:
"Do we need to use handcuffs?"

"No need for handcuffs. You two escort Madam out, be polite." Deputy Captain Chen waved for two agents.

At this moment, all the servants had gathered in the living room. The doors to the rooms on the first floor that had already been searched were sealed with tape.

Deputy Captain Chen went up to the second floor, checked each of the open rooms one by one, closed the doors, and sealed them.

There was only one room on the second floor, with the door tightly closed and two plainclothes officers from the Military Intelligence Bureau guarding the outside.

"what happened?"

Before the words were even finished, and before the plainclothes officer could reply, the door opened, and his younger brother, Chen Lao Er, peeked out furtively. His expression was ambiguous, a mix of seriousness, worry, and a hint of secret delight. This left Deputy Captain Chen somewhat confused.

"what happened?"

"Brother, we've struck it rich!"

Deputy Captain Chen was initially surprised, then annoyed:

"A leopard can't change its spots. What kind of scheme are you up to now?"

The gold, silver, valuables, gold, and US dollars confiscated downstairs have already piled up into a small mountain. Could there be more here?
Chen Lao Er was very dissatisfied with his attitude and said with a sneer, "Deputy Captain Chen, you should see for yourself!"

Deputy Captain Chen snorted coldly, shoved him aside, and pushed the door open to go inside.

Upon looking around, they were immediately dumbfounded—the room was filled with a dazzling array of calligraphy, paintings, and antiques.

(End of this chapter)