You were allowed to marry into No. 76 family, and you were promoted to director?

Chapter 420 Expansion
"I've already had dinner prepared. Ah Xuan, Hui Zi, why don't you stay and have dinner with us before you go back?"

In mid-June, the Battle of Yichang officially began.

On June 10, the Japanese army broke through the National Army's Jushui defense line and headed straight for Yichang.

The Special Higher Police, which was originally scheduled to negotiate with the Kuomintang on June 12, was already on its way to Yichang by car.

Before the negotiations began, the Japanese army decided to capture Yichang on the 12th to take control of the negotiations.

On the way from Jingmen to Dangyang, Zhao Xuan and Lan Zehuizi sat in the back of the middle vehicle in the convoy, driven by Yamayuki Kazuo.

The Imperial Council attached great importance to the outcome of this negotiation. Therefore, Zhao Xuan and his team deserve credit for achieving the expected goals in the negotiation, which is no less than destroying the Military Intelligence Station and the underground party's intelligence network in Shanghai.

"Zhao Sang, Section Chief, we didn't expect that Kyogoku Mi would come to this negotiation. Does Madam not trust that I can protect your safety?"

Aizawa Keiko smiled:
"Yamao-kun is overthinking it. Kyogoku's presence here to protect us is only ostensibly for show; Mother probably has other tasks for him."

Yamayu Kazuo nodded, but still asked:
"Fine, we can leave Kyogoku out of the question, but why did we bring the Kuomintang agents we captured earlier from Tilanqiao Prison along for the negotiations?!"

"Once the Imperial army captures Yichang, we will have the upper hand in the negotiations and will not need any additional bargaining chips."

When asked about this, Lan Zehuizi looked at Zhao Xuan.

That's right, it was Zhao Xuan who suggested bringing over the group of Kuomintang agents who had previously intercepted Mei's agency.

"Mr. Shanxiong, do you still remember what kind of life these people lived in Tilanqiao Prison?!"

Yamayu Kazuo was well aware that they had put pressure on Hasegawa back then, forcing him to treat those people well with good food and drink.

"I remember, didn't the Military Intelligence Bureau spend a lot of money to make them more comfortable in prison? Could it be that the Military Intelligence Bureau has spent even more money this time, planning to buy them back?"

"If that's the case, then we can do what we did with Mao Sanlin before and just cripple these people. Even if the Military Intelligence Bureau replaces them, they'll only get a few useless people."

Zhao Xuan smiled and shook his head:
"Yamao-kun, you're too shrewd; you don't understand people's hearts at all!!"

At this moment, Aizawa Keiko also smiled and said:

“Ah Xuan is right. Mao Sanlin has been crippled by us, but these few people don’t need to be crippled. If the Military Intelligence Bureau can offer us satisfactory terms, it’s not impossible to return them.”

"After these unharmed people return, Mr. Shanxiong, what do you think Mao Sanlin will think?"

Yamayu Kazuo's eyes widened. He put himself in Yamayu's shoes and thought about it for a moment, then said in surprise:

"They must be absolutely furious!!! Why can they go back unharmed, while I'm crippled?!"

"Alright, I understand. Zhao Sang and the section chief are planning to use this to sow discord within the Military Intelligence Bureau!"

Zhao Xuan and Lan Zehui exchanged a glance and responded with a smile, but did not offer any further explanation.

These people were released not simply because of the divisive tactics suggested by Yamayu Kazuo.

More importantly, it was Zhao Xuan's prior arrangement to treat them to good food and drink. Even if they returned, they would not be given important positions by the Military Intelligence Bureau. Instead, the Military Intelligence Bureau would have to pay a large sum of money to redeem them.

Sowing discord, suspicion, money, and winning hearts and minds—these are the reasons why Aizawa Keiko agreed to bring them to Yichang for negotiations.

Anyway, these people are of no value left in Tilanqiao Prison. If they wanted to betray us, they would have done so long ago.

Rather than keeping them in our hands, we might as well exchange them for money, and at the same time, sow discord among the members of the Military Intelligence Bureau, making them suspicious of each other.

Most importantly, even if these people go back, given Boss Dai's personality, he would never entrust them with important responsibilities again.

For these tools that pose no threat but still have many uses, recycling them is naturally the best option.

Of course, such a deal depends on who you're dealing with; if it were an underground party member, Aizawa Keiko wouldn't agree.

In the military truck carrying Li Zhenzhen, Sun Dong, and Wang Zhi.

The three men had changed into the clothes they wore when they were arrested.

During this period, the three of them lived in constant fear while in Tilanqiao Prison.

All three of them feared that one day they would be suddenly taken to be experimented on.

After all, while others might not know about the cruel human experiments conducted by the Japanese, the three of them had all heard of them.

If it weren't for the fact that they were being sent to be used for human experiments, Li Zhenzhen and the other two would never have understood why they received such special treatment in prison.

Until a few days ago, the Special Higher Police went to Tilanqiao Prison and took them out.

At the time, all three of them shared the same thought: they were finally going to be sent to be guinea pigs.

Unexpectedly, things took a complete 180-degree turn afterward.

Not only were they not sent to be guinea pigs, but they were also told that they would be taken to Yichang to negotiate with the Kuomintang, and they were just three insignificant bargaining chips.

"Li Zhenzhen, you must have heard about Mao Sanlin when you were in Nanjing, right?"

As soon as Sun Dong finished speaking, Wang Zhi's gaze fell on Li Zhenzhen.

“I’ve heard of it, but his situation is different from ours. I still don’t understand why we get such good treatment at Tilanqiao Prison. I’ve even gained weight during this time!”

Sun Dong's lips twitched. Li Zhenzhen was speaking the truth. He and Wang Zhi had also gained weight.

"Since we can't figure out what kind of schemes the Japanese are up to, let's not think about it too much. What I'm worried about now is whether our family really cares about us hostages?"

Upon hearing this, Li Zhenzhen smiled and looked at Wang Zhi, saying:

“As long as we appear at the negotiating table, regardless of whether the higher-ups are willing or not, they will try their best to get us back. This is a battle of hearts and minds. I suspect that the Japanese intend to use us to sow discord among the people within the Military Intelligence Bureau.”

“If the family doesn’t find a way to send us back, how can Boss Dai lead the team? There are clear opportunities, but he turns a blind eye. Over time, the team’s morale will drop.” “So relax, the probability of us going back is still very high. But we also need to be mentally prepared that even if we go back, Boss Dai probably won’t trust us anymore.”

Sun Dong and Wang Zhi sighed. Following Li Zhenzhen's line of thought, they could easily confirm with a little thought that what Li Zhenzhen said was absolutely true.

Fortunately, they are still unaware that they were arrested because Boss Dai used them to pave the way for Wang Bantian.

Otherwise, the three of them would probably have been tempted to rebel when they received special treatment at Tilanqiao Prison.

The director's office at No. 76 Jisifeier Road, Shanghai.

Ding Moqun looked at the results of the past few days and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Zhang Sanjin stood aside, feeling quite excited as well.

"Chief, we've taken over the police station now, and all the companies and businesses, big and small, on Baoshan Street are under our protection."

"At the Paramount Ballroom, Boss Sheng also promised to pay us the full protection fee every month."

"Even the Song family, whose headquarters are located in Zhabei, has been persuaded by Miss Dao Ya. The Song family's daughter, Song Yuanyuan, has agreed to cooperate with us. After that, our goods will have a stable channel to enter and exit Shanghai."

"Most importantly, because Miss Daoya made arrangements, the military police at various outposts in Shanghai have kept to themselves and not interfere with us. Starting today, we have people in most parts of Shanghai. However, because we have spread out so widely, we are a little short of manpower."

Ding Moqun chuckled, his sharp gaze fixed on the reports laid out on the table, and said in a deep voice:
"If we don't have enough people, we'll hire more. We're not short of money right now."

With Doya's help, Soldier 76 is really not short of money.

Although the money that Dao Ya lent to No. 76 needed to be repaid, Ding Moqun had no intention of embezzling it. After all, he controlled the protection fees of so many companies in Shanghai, and at most, Ding Moqun could pay off Dao Ya's debt in six months.

What Ding Moqun didn't expect was that his little niece had such a large amount of liquid funds. If it weren't for this cooperation, Ding Moqun really wouldn't have believed it.

However, Ding Moqun doted on Dao Ya, so he naturally wouldn't refuse to return Dao Ya's money.

"I never expected that Xiaoya would accumulate so much money in just a few months."

"As expected of my most promising niece, hahaha!"

Zhang Sanjin was also quite pleased to hear this. In fact, he had watched Dao Ya grow up and had a special affection for her. Now that he knew Dao Ya had achieved such success, Zhang Sanjin felt the satisfaction of a father who had hoped his daughter would become a phoenix.

"Director, if we need to recruit more people, how should we allocate them? As for the Action Section, Ma Shangcheng has been keeping a low profile lately. He does everything perfectly well, but he's also very conventional. I have a feeling that Ma Shangcheng is thinking of giving up."

Ding Moqun snorted coldly. He used to trust Ma Shangcheng completely, but now, Ma Shangcheng was directly under Wang Ningyu's command, and Ding Moqun always felt that Ma Shangcheng had secretly sided with Zhao Xuan. Sometimes, even his orders were not as effective as a single word from Dao Yan.

This shows that, at some point, Ma Shangcheng had become completely subservient to Zhao Xuan and his wife.

Seeing Ding Moqun's gloomy expression, Zhang Sanjin continued:

"In addition, although Xie Biran is there to check and balance Section Chief Miao, Xie Biran is still far inferior to Section Chief Miao."

"In terms of ability, I estimate that Xie is no match for Section Chief Miao."

Ding Moqun raised his hand and rubbed his temples. Sometimes he just couldn't understand why all the talented people under him had ambiguous relationships with Zhao Xuan, whether openly or secretly.
Miao Xue is now openly supporting Zhao Xuan. Although she is in the 76th Division, Ding Moqun has found that compared to Zhao Xuan, Miao Xue doesn't take his orders seriously at all.

The only good news is that Miao Xue and Dao Yan are at odds.

If Miao Xue and Dao Yan have a good relationship, and with Dao Yan taking the lead, plus the support of Ma Shangcheng and Miao Xue, it's really hard to say who will be in charge of this No. 76 unit.

Of course, Dao Yan is Ding Moqun's niece, a fact that Ding Moqun has to admit. In fact, the person he trusts most in the entire 76th Division is not Zhang Sanjin, but Dao Yan.

Unfortunately, one wrong step he took led to Zhao Xuan leaving No. 76.

However, now that Dao Yan has joined his plan, Ding Moqun is quite gratified.

However, Ding Moqun did not want Miao Xue and Dao Yan to reconcile; the situation he most desired was one of continued tension.

After considering this, Ding Moqun took a deep breath and said:
"Let's also replenish Miao Xue's manpower. Miao Xue may not be trustworthy outside, but if the people under Miao Xue's control are kept at No. 76, we won't have any worries."

"As for Xie Biran's subordinates, just like Miao Xue's, recruit the same number of people to continue to allow Xie Biran to check and balance Miao Xue."

"As for the Action Section, let's arrange a meeting with Fan Dingfang tonight. Since Ma Shangcheng's attitude is ambiguous, we can only start with Fan Dingfang. He is now the deputy head of the Action Section. With my support, Fan Dingfang is the unofficial head of the Action Section. I believe he will make a wise choice."

"As for the Telecommunications Division, we have enough manpower now, so let's leave it at that for now. If we expand too fast, not only the Mei Agency, but even the former agency that cooperates with us will become restless."

Ding Moqun did not mention the Special Higher Police. Although he had some reservations about Zhao Xuan, Ding Moqun also knew that as long as Zhao Xuan was still in the Special Higher Police, No. 76 would not be an enemy of the Special Higher Police, and the Special Higher Police would not target No. 76.

Of course, the premise is that No. 76 doesn't go too far and doesn't provoke the Special Higher Police.

As for the intelligence department of the Military Police Command, Ding Moqun had a headache, but with the Special Higher Police as an ally, he didn't need to worry about the Military Police Command being detrimental to him for the time being.

To gain more power, one must take on greater risks, and Ding Moqun was prepared from the moment he took that step.

"Understood, Director. I'll get on it right away."

"Wait a moment!"

Zhang Sanjin, who was about to turn and leave, stopped and looked at Ding Moqun with a puzzled expression:
"Director, what else?"

Ding Moqun pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said:
“Sanjin, I remember we have six warehouses at the Shiyipu Wharf storing opium, worth more than 600,000 silver dollars. Now that our channels are stable, you go and find a way to transport the goods out of Shanghai to sell them and get the money back.”

After hearing this, Zhang Sanjin looked at Ding Moqun with a troubled expression:
"Director, didn't we promise Miss Daoya we wouldn't touch opium anymore? What about you..."

Ding Moqun sighed and said:
"Sigh, I don't want to either, but although we have enough funds now, it's all borrowed from Xiaoya. It's not easy for Xiaoya to save money. Besides, I'm not selling in Shanghai. You can sell it further away. Even if the other party offers less money, it's fine. I can't just watch 600,000 silver dollars worth of opium pile up in the warehouse!"

Zhang Sanjin looked at Ding Moqun with a troubled expression:
"Director, if Miss Daoya finds out about this, I'll be in a difficult position to explain. Most importantly, this matter shouldn't affect the relationship between you and Miss Daoya!"

Ding Moqun waved his hand:
“You said it’s family ties, how could something like this affect it?”

(End of this chapter)