A Republic-era tycoon started as a secretary at Tianjin Railway Station

Hong Zhong breathed a sigh of relief as he left the stationmaster's office.

The hardest part of helping Wu Jingzhong make money was convincing the station manager to entrust this task to him.

You have to understand that Wu Jingzhong has Yu Zecheng, the benevolent young man, around. As the saying goes, use what you know, not what you don't. It won't be easy for me to persuade Wu Jingzhong.

Fortunately, his experience selling insurance in his previous life came in handy at this moment.

Those who frequently sell insurance should know what the key points are in buying insurance.

It's not about how good your product is, or how eloquent you are, but about gaining the customer's trust!

Imagine if you were best friends with your client, you could sell them even if you had a pile of shit!

However, Hong Zhong has no shortage of Wu Jingzhong's trust. After all, if Wu Jingzhong doesn't even trust his secretary, who else can he trust?

The key is that he needs to convince Wu Jingzhong of his abilities!

Therefore, he simply treated himself as a commodity and sold himself to Wu Jingzhong.

He had everything he wanted and everything he was worried about, so Wu Jingzhong had no choice but to let him do it!

Now that he has finally received Wu Jingzhong's order, he can use this as a pretext to begin his own actions!

His first task was to recruit soldiers and horses!

After leaving the stationmaster's office, Hong Zhong went straight into the action team's office.

"Where is Captain Li?"

"Secretary Hong, Captain Li has gone out!"

In addition to the captain's office, the action team also has a large office comprised of four group leaders.

After knocking on Li Ya's office door and finding no one there, he went to this office.

Only Song Fei, the leader of the 4th team, was in the office. When he saw Secretary Hong come in, Song Fei immediately got up from behind his desk to greet her.

"Team Leader Song, the station chief has assigned me a task; I need to borrow a few people from the action team!"

Seeing that Li Ya was not there, Hong Zhong simply spoke to Song Fei, who was standing in front of him.

As a Class A station, Jin Hai Station has four action groups under its action team, each responsible for: arrest, interrogation, field operations, and liaison. Song Fei is the leader of the liaison group of the fourth group.

However, this kind of staffing is unlikely to last long.

Historically, with the appointment of Director Mao, the various outposts of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics were further downsized. The entire Tianjin-Haikou Station not only lost its intelligence department, but also its action team.

During routine operations, the work is carried out by four intelligence groups.

This is why Jin Hai Station did not have a new intelligence captain after Lu Qiaoshan left, because both intelligence and operational work fell on Li Ya's shoulders.

"Okay, then let's choose from my group. The other groups have all gone out on missions with Captain Li!"

This Li Ya truly deserves to be called the number one volume king of Jinhai Station. Not only does he write volumes himself, but he also gets his subordinates to write volumes together.

"Okay, but why didn't Team Leader Song's team go?"

Hearing Hong Zhong's hurtful words, Song Fei smiled bitterly and said, "Secretary Hong, don't you understand the situation in our group?"

Hong Zhong understood what Song Fei meant, for a simple reason: their group had been closest to Ma Kui.

As a result, after Ma Kuitong confessed, they were all investigated.

Although no problems were found with them afterwards, their future prospects were basically hopeless.

Just then, the Security Bureau was disbanded and a new captain took office, which resulted in some people in their group being laid off, and the rest being assigned to the liaison group, the group where it was impossible to gain any credit, and were completely marginalized.

When Song Fei heard that Hong Zhong was looking for someone to replace the stationmaster, he naturally became enthusiastic.

If I can help the station manager get this done and regain his trust, wouldn't my future be bright again?

"Haha, okay, take me there!"

Hong Zhong saw through Song Fei's intentions but didn't expose them; he simply asked Song Fei to lead the way.

In fact, when he arrived at the action team and saw Song Fei, he planned to pick people from Song Fei's group.

After all, the rest of the action team are now clinging to Li Ya's coattails, how could a little secretary like me possibly win them over?

On the contrary, it is people like Song Fei, who are frustrated and unsuccessful, who are easier to control.

That's right, Hong Zhong's recruitment this time wasn't just for this one thing.

In this day and age, if you want to accomplish something, you can't do without subordinates!

"Secretary Hong, don't worry, my men are all fine. They were all elites from the operations department, and they're extremely efficient!"

Song Fei led Secretary Hong toward the dormitory at the station, praising his team members along the way.

The station has dormitories, and these grassroots agents usually live in the dormitories. Those who can live outside are either on field missions or leaders of the station.

"Of course, I've been a veteran at this station for a while now, and I've seen firsthand how well you all work!"

As they spoke, the two arrived outside the dormitory.

"A pair of Kings!"

"A pair of Aces!"

"I can't afford it!"

"A 5, I won! Pay up!"

When Song Fei pushed open the dormitory door, he saw a cloud of smoke inside. The nicotine mixed with the smell of feet almost knocked Hong Zhong off his feet.

Through the smoke, you could see seven or eight burly men crammed into the cramped dormitory room, playing cards around a table.

"What are you all doing?"

Seeing this, Song Fei felt a burning pain on his face and wished he could kill these guys.

I just praised these guys a lot, and they made such a fool of themselves!

These guys were actually gambling in their dorm room! You know, strictly speaking, it's working hours right now, and they're breaking the rules!

"Team leader, you're back... Secretary Hong?"

When one of them saw Hong Zhong behind Song Fei, he immediately raised his voice.

Thanks to his tip-off, the others finally realized what was happening. Some quickly gathered up the playing cards on the table, while others stubbed out their cigarettes and opened the dormitory windows.

"What kind of behavior is it to hide in your dorm room and smoke during work hours?"

At this moment, Song Fei was filled with hatred!

If I had known my kids were so useless, I should have told them in advance!

"Ahem!"

Hong Zhong stood outside the dormitory for a while, waiting until the smell of smoke inside had dissipated somewhat before coming in.

He first picked up a 50-yuan note that hadn't been put away yet from the table, then his gaze swept over the faces surrounding him.

Hong Zhong didn't have much contact with the action team members on a regular basis, so even though he had been at Jinhai Station for a year, he was still only vaguely familiar with these people.

Finally, his gaze fell on a young face, and he asked:

"You must be Chen Beifa?"

"Yes, Secretary Hong!"

The young Chen Beifa immediately tensed up.

"Don't be nervous, how old are you?"

"Twenty-one!"

"You're quite young. What are your plans for the future?"

"I swear to serve my country to the death!"

"Come on, the April 1st Party Congress just ended, save your slogans for next year!"

Hong Zhong waved his hand, appearing completely unconcerned, and said:

"You're so young, and you spend all your time playing cards. You only care about yourself. Do you even have enough money to get married?"

"Forehead……"

Chen Beifa was taken aback at first, then looked troubled.

The salaries of personnel within the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics are paid according to their military rank. Ordinary new recruits are warrant officers and receive 32 yuan in legal tender per month, while regular recruits are second lieutenants and receive 40 yuan in legal tender per month.

However, by 1946, inflation had already taken hold, so what could this little bit of money possibly do?

Therefore, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics implemented a system of base salary + price increase + living allowance, but even so, Chen Beifa only received 5 yuan a month.

If it weren't for the canteen at the station, this salary probably wouldn't be enough to support them.

Even so, their monthly salary still couldn't afford them a new piece of clothing.

"If even Chen Beifa was in such a state, you people with families must be having an even harder time, right?"

Then, Hong Zhong asked the others, and sure enough, they all lowered their heads.

"I have something I need right now, and I need a few people. It's a bit risky, but the profits are very high. Anyone want to join?"

"Whoosh!"

Almost as soon as Hong Zhong finished speaking, everyone present raised their hands.

Hong Zhong deliberately said it was his own business, without mentioning the station chief, and instead used the promise of benefits to lure them, turning official business into personal business, all to give them a clear understanding:

This time, I'm doing it for myself! Not for the station chief or the secret service!

If this happens once or twice over a long period of time, they will naturally get used to it, taking their own money and obeying their own orders, and then they will be no different from their own subordinates!