Spy Wars: Return of the Red Luan

Chapter 37 An unexpected discovery

October 1928, 17 (the 10th year of the Republic of China), Lushun, Northeast China.

Zhou Yongsu was not too shocked after receiving the telegram, because since Chen Jiehua left, he had felt the surveillance from the dark!

Agents who have undergone systematic training are more sensitive.

Now, for Zhou Yongsu, there are three pieces of information obtained from the telegram:
(1) Confirming that they were being monitored and tapped, it was assumed that everyone was potentially being monitored, which meant that one had to be careful when meeting someone. This was not a big problem, as Chen Jiehua had been giving me this advice almost every day during my time there.

(2) There is no medicine coming from the Northeast! Because we are under surveillance, the medicine can only be sent directly to the organization! There is no medicine to replenish in the Northeast, and I am under close surveillance. I definitely can’t go to the two safe houses anymore. All pharmacies can only rely on inventory to support themselves. So we have to quietly notify all pharmacies to control sales and start removing important medicines from the shelves and storing them secretly!
As for the Japanese dissatisfaction caused by the shortage of goods, there's nothing we can do about it; the goods from the boss haven't arrived! If Chen Jiehua wants to cut off the supply, then cut off the supply completely! He must have an important purpose, and we must fully cooperate!
(3) This ship was originally going to the Northeast, and he had to give it to the organization to receive the medicine! Including penicillin! Another meaning is that it cannot go to the Northeast! This ship has a lot of medicine, and in order to avoid being exposed, it cannot be unloaded in areas where the Japanese are active! That means Shanghai is not allowed! Tianjin Port is not allowed! This can only be discussed urgently with Zhao Shiyu!
Zhou Yongsu informed Zhao Shiyu and Liu Junze via radio, "Some medicines are out of stock at the Lushun main store. We need to get them from the nearest store. Please check the inventory as soon as possible!"

Then Zhou Yongsu went to Fengtian City under the pretext of personally transferring the goods, secretly contacted Zhao Shiyu, and informed him of the relevant content.

"Tianjin Port is not an option, and neither is Shanghai. We can only go to the vicinity of Ningbo Port. Instead of entering the port, notify the organization to arrange for small fishing boats to pick up the cargo at night, break it up into smaller pieces, and disperse it to the base!"

"Don't jump to conclusions. Contact the organization and listen to their opinions!"

"The organization doesn't have a radio station yet, so we can't contact them for the time being!"

"How is that possible! Where's the radio that Aoki gave you? You didn't give it away?"

"The contact person hasn't arrived yet!"

"This contact is too slow! How about you go there yourself? We can't let Aoki miss out!"

"it is good!"

"You take the radio with you. As previously agreed, we will contact you at three designated times. The radio will remain there after the mission is completed."

"Remember Qingmu's request. You can only reveal Qingxuan's identity to those two! No one else!"

On October 1928, 17 (the 10th year of the Republic of China), at Lushun Port in Northeast China, Zhao Shiyu boarded a passenger ship bound for Shanghai under the arrangement of Zhou Yongsu.

After a lengthy and complex process of safely escorting Zhao Shiyu away, Zhou Yongsu and Liu Junze discussed the decision to shrink their pharmacy network, closing stores in batches. They began by closing the third of stores with the lowest sales and least desirable locations in the four provinces, gradually dismissing the fastest-running bandits and slickers. Both men publicly stated that due to an unidentified incident, Lieutenant Colonel Aoki's drug supply had suffered a devastating blow. Although Aoki Qiao had already dispatched emergency services in America, he was unable to restore the supply, forcing the pharmacy business to close.

The main purpose of Zhou Yongsu's action was to send a signal to the Kwantung Army Headquarters that the medicine was gone, the store would be closed slowly, and of course your share would be gone too!

This is the supply cut that Chen Jiehua requested!
In fact, both Chen Jiehua and Zhou Yongsu underestimated the Kwantung Army Command's attention and reliance on the Aoki Qiao Pharmacy system!
This is human nature. It is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but it is difficult to go back to frugality from extravagance.

First, the officers and their families of the Kwantung Army used to rely on runners to deliver their belongings home or to the headquarters. Although there are still runners now, they are much fewer. How many families can afford to install telephones? They all rely on running fast outside!

We need medicine now, but we've been waiting for ages and haven't seen anyone run by. It's winter in the Northeast, and it's freezing! Everyone at the headquarters is complaining!

Secondly, the senior officers in the headquarters were used to receiving generous monthly bonuses, but now they're suddenly told they're gone! Especially the new Chief of Staff, Mitsuharu Miyake, who's only been receiving them for two months! He hasn't even received his October bonus yet!
We must investigate! What’s the reason?
In early November, Zhou Yongsu was summoned to Itagaki Seishirō's office for personal questioning!
"Teacher, Aoki asked for leave from you when he left. At that time, the American side called and said that there was a problem at the pharmaceutical factory."

"But a few days ago, Aoki called and said that it seemed that some unknown forces in China were investigating the pharmaceutical factory he and his American friends were cooperating on. They also reported it to the local boss in the United States, prompting the American pharmaceutical company to swallow up their pharmaceutical factory!"

"So, Qingmu currently has no source of drugs. He's still trying to find a suitable pharmaceutical company to partner with in America, but the instructions he gave me were to temporarily close the store."

Itagaki Seishirō summoned Zhou Yongsu for questioning only for show. Commander Muraoka Chotaro had already informed Itagaki of the content of the monitored conversation and asked Itagaki to find out as soon as possible what force was destroying the source of extra income for the Kwantung Army Headquarters!
Wait until Qing Mu Qiao comes back to investigate? That would take forever! It would cost a lot of money!

On the other hand, on October 10, Doiyuan also overheard the conversation between Aoki Qiao and Zhou Yongsu!

Did Aoki discover someone was investigating him? Was Muto Yoshio exposed? Or was there another force investigating him?
Chen Jiehua judged that Tu Feiyuan was his cheap senior brother, but in fact Tu Feiyuan himself did not have such a judgment.

Doi-maru came to China from Japan in 1912. The first place he entered was Aoki Mansion, where he worked as an assistant to Rihachiro Sakanishi. Later, Rihachiro Sakanishi quietly opened his own Sakanishi Mansion, and Doi-maru remained Sakanishi's assistant.

In terms of age, Doihara Kenji was one year older than Okamura Neiji. The only difference was that Okamura followed Aoki Nobujun as his assistant, while Doihara followed Sakanishi Rihachiro as his assistant. However, Sakanishi Rihachiro was in fact Aoki Nobujun's senior disciple.

The original intention of Doi-hwan to investigate Aoki Takashi came from what Doi-hwan saw with his own eyes in May 1928: the Fengtian military police queuing up to collect money at the Aoki Pharmacy!
What kind of pharmacy is this? Paying the entire city's military police? Believing that effort and reward should be proportional, the fat man decided there must be something fishy going on!

Check! Check it for me! It turned out that the big pharmacy was actually opened by one of their own! Qingmu Qiao had never concealed the fact that he was the owner of the big pharmacy. Doiyuan quickly found out Qingmu Qiao's identity. His original name was Qingmu Qingxuan, and he was the third grandson of Qingmu Nobujun!
Wow! There's actually this connection!
The more he investigated, the more interested he became. He came to China right after graduating from the Army University and joined the Kwantung Army. On his second day, he killed Colonel Takeshi Sakurada with a single blow! Then he opened a pharmacy! American medicine!
Continuing to investigate, he never attended Army University, yet he managed to graduate? It turns out he had connections with Gangcun! A shipload of aspirin was shipped from America and distributed to the Army and Navy in the Emperor's name? Is the Aoki family really that wealthy?

(End of this chapter)