Chapter 977
What does this mean! Zheng Yi's horror!
Just as the war in Northeast China was coming to a close, a passenger ship from the United States docked in Shanghai, and a low-profile delegation returned to China after several months.
At the dock, Zheng Yi carried Zeng Moyi's luggage. It was the kind of thing a maid would do, but she didn't show the caution and deference of a maid, even though she was slightly respectful.
After disembarking from the passenger ship, the two separated from the delegation—because Xu Tian from the Shanghai station had come to pick them up on Zhang Anping's orders.
Following Xu Tian through a guarded passage, Zeng Moyi glanced back at the bustling dock after leaving, and suddenly said to Zheng Yi:
"We've finally returned to the motherland we've been longing for, but some people can't wait to leave. Humans..."
Zheng Yi, upon hearing this, deeply agreed and said:
"Some people always think that life abroad is better, but they have no idea how difficult it is for us Chinese to live in foreign lands!"
Zeng Moyi nodded and said, "People are less valuable when they leave their hometown."
But what she was thinking about was her husband—her husband had gone to America alone when he was a teenager and quietly built such a huge business empire. Ordinary people are considered inferior when they leave their hometown, but with a lot of assets in his hands, how could her husband be considered inferior when he left his hometown in money-driven America?
But he resolutely returned to his motherland and even joined the organization that was then in turmoil without hesitation...
At this moment, Xu Tian had already led the two to the car. Seeing that the two were still talking, he said, "Madam, Secretary Zheng—let's get in the car first. Shanghai has been a bit... chaotic lately."
乱？
Zeng Moyi and Zheng Yi stared at Xu Tian in astonishment. What had happened in Shanghai that could prompt the head of the Shanghai station of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics to comment with the word "chaos"?
After the two got into the car, Zeng Moyi asked Xu Tian, who was acting as the driver, with a puzzled look: "Shanghai is our financial center, how could it be in chaos?"
Xu Tian simply said, "It's about price controls."
"If you would like to know the details, Madam, I will bring you the newspaper later."
Zeng Moyi seemed to be deep in thought, while Zheng Yi's face showed a strange expression.
Although they have been in the United States for some time, they have been able to learn about what is happening in China through various channels—the price control policy is now being referred to by the public as the "tiger hunt."
Price controls were actually linked to the Gold Yuan reform – on August 19, the Nationalist government began issuing Gold Yuan notes.
There was only one reason for issuing the gold yuan:
The fiat currency collapsed.
During the War of Resistance against Japan, the legal tender depreciated significantly. In 37, 100 legal tender could buy two cows, but by the time of the victory, 100 legal tender could only buy two eggs. This corresponds to the fact that the issuance of legal tender increased from 14 billion to 5569 billion.
Eight years, coupled with the unforgettable War of Resistance against Japan, meant that the Chinese people could actually accept such devaluation.
However, in just three years since the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan, the amount of legal tender issued has increased from 5569 trillion to 604 trillion. Three years ago, 100 legal tender could at least buy two eggs, but three years later, 100 legal tender can't even buy a single grain of rice!
Fiat currency has completely collapsed!
Therefore, the Nationalist government began issuing gold yuan notes, hoping to achieve a nominal status through currency reform.
The issuance of the gold yuan was mandatory—people were required to exchange all their legal tender within three months. In addition, they were required to exchange all their silver, gold and foreign currency into gold yuan by September 30!
In order to ensure the purchasing power of the gold yuan, the Nationalist government fixed prices at August 19th—meaning that prices thereafter could only be the prices on August 19th.
This is the background of price controls.
However, if we use the prices from August 19th, given the current shortage of supplies and runaway inflation, this price would only result in huge losses.
Faced with this situation, merchants had no choice but to close their shops and leave the market empty, because they would lose money on every item they sold.
When the main market empties out, the black market becomes active—black market prices are unaffected by price controls.
If this situation continues, the price control order will become worthless.
So, after arriving in Shanghai, the director began to resort to violence—arresting merchants, confiscating warehouses, and killing exemplary individuals, using force to compel merchants to ship goods according to the price limit.
It is important to clarify here that the section chief's purpose was not to fight corruption.
However, in order to enforce the price limit, he had to use an iron fist to solve the problem.
Faced with the section chief's iron-fisted methods, small business owners had no choice but to open their shops and sell goods at a loss in order to avoid losing their lives.
The problem is that the goods in the hands of small merchants are just a drop in the ocean compared to the overall market. To make the market have goods, it is necessary to force medium and large merchants to submit and accept their fate like small merchants.
Therefore, the section chief had no choice but to begin pushing his iron fist to higher levels.
Then... something interesting happened.
Behind a medium-sized businessman stands a minor official who is insignificant in the eyes of a section chief, but behind a major businessman stands a bureaucratic group that even section chiefs need to be wary of, and behind the even bigger behemoths stands…
His relatives!
However, in order to control prices and prolong the life of the Nationalist government, the section chief, confident in the unwavering support of his chief aide, decided:
Anyone who hoards will be investigated, regardless of size!
Only in this way can price controls that violate economic principles be enforced.
Therefore, the current result is as follows:
Although the intention was clearly to control prices, the constant arrests and repeated emphasis in newspapers of zero tolerance have led the public to label this action as:
Tiger Hunt!
The reason why Zeng Moyi seemed thoughtful and Zheng Yi looked strange was precisely because the words "fighting tigers" had stirred up a storm last year.
Unfortunately, as one of the participants, Zhang Anping could never bear to see the word "tiger" again.
No wonder Xu Tian only mentioned the price limit and didn't say anything else.
Zeng Moyi and Zheng Yi couldn't dwell on this topic, so seeing this, Zeng Moyi changed the subject:
"Station Chief Xu, how's the fighting going lately? Before we boarded the ship, the fighting broke out again in Northeast China. I wonder what's happening now..."
Xu Tian paused noticeably, then tried to remain calm as he spoke:
"The situation is not developing ideally, and it's hard to say the specifics."
This answer caused Zeng Moyi and Zheng Yi to exchange glances, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
Xu Tian didn't want to say much about the price limit, but he did mention that he would bring the newspaper over later.
When asked about the war, he didn't even mention the newspapers—clearly because the news in the newspapers was full of lies!
That's why the two of them looked surprised.
The only difference was that Zeng Moyi was faking it, while Zheng Yi was genuinely surprised.
Both men worked for the Nationalist government and were very familiar with its methods of controlling public opinion. Even when the war was at a stalemate, they could get a general idea from the newspapers.
Only when the war situation is deteriorating rapidly will the Nationalist government fully intervene and completely block news of major defeats—and only in this situation will Xu Tian say that the war situation is not developing ideally and that the specifics are hard to say.
Otherwise, Xu Tian would definitely have let them find out through the newspaper.
But how badly had the war situation deteriorated?
After Xu Tian took the two to the reserved hotel, Zeng Moyi and Zheng Yi looked up information about the price control measures in Shanghai through the newspaper.
This sight gives one the illusion of time travel.
It was exactly the same rhythm as Zhang Anping's cooperation with the section chief in the anti-corruption campaign last year—initially loud and dramatic, then facing numerous obstacles, and finally ending without any action.
"Failed again..."
After reading the newspaper reports about the price controls, Zeng Moyi sighed softly, "It's always the same."
Although there are no reports in the newspapers yet suggesting that the price control measures have failed, the general impression can be gleaned from the news coverage.
Take Yangzi Company as an example. Before mid-October, the reports praised the director's determination to fight corruption and frequently brought up Yangzi Company to criticize its failures, all to extol the director's resolve.
However, starting from the middle of the month, the word "Yangtze" disappeared from the news!
The Yangzi Company case simply vanished, and subsequent news reports ceased on cracking down on hoarding and thoroughly investigating corruption.
Zeng Moyi knew all too well what this shift in public opinion meant—it was a complete replay of last year's events.
Compared to Zeng Moyi's sigh, Zheng Yi seemed extremely calm about the matter, as if he didn't care at all.
Instead, she searched the newspapers for news about the war.
But like Zeng Moyi, the more she looked, the more her brows furrowed.
From Xu Tian's words, she guessed that the situation in the Northeast was dire and even deteriorating. However, in recent newspapers, news about the Northeast had disappeared without a trace, and even the only previous Central News Agency press releases were gone.
Has the entire Northeast fallen?
That's an army of hundreds of thousands, including elite American-equipped troops. How could the entire territory have fallen?
Thinking of this, Zheng Yi suddenly put the newspaper down:
"Madam, I'm going out for a bit."
"Is something wrong?"
Zheng Yi didn't hide anything: "I'm going to find some useful information—you can't find anything in the newspapers."
"Bring a few people with you. Didn't Station Chief Xu say that Shanghai is in a bit of chaos right now?"
“It’s inconvenient to bring them along—I will be careful to ensure their safety.”
"Okay, then be careful."
After hearing Zheng Yi close the door as he left, Zeng Moyi's feigned seriousness vanished, replaced by intense curiosity and anticipation in her eyes.
Before Zhang Anping left the United States, he had secretly told her that the situation in the Northeast war was very likely to be decided in a short period of time. Zeng Moyi had been looking forward to this, but she could not show that she was deliberately concerned. When she returned with the delegation, she mainly listened to all kinds of gossip about the war. The truth was covered up by countless gossips, and her eyes could not see through the thick fog at all.
Now that Zheng Yi said he was going to find some useful information, he most likely wanted to learn about the progress of the war through the Shanghai station—Zeng Moyi was looking forward to the news Zheng Yi would bring later. But Zeng Moyi was wrong; Zheng Yi didn't go to the Shanghai station to ask for any information related to the war at all.
She went straight through the streets and alleys, specifically looking for college students.
She did this because she knew the underground Communist Party was unusually active among students. Previously, some members of the Security Bureau had even proposed radical measures:
Those underground party members who spread rumors and mislead the public among students should be severely punished. Even if they are students, as long as there is evidence that they are involved with the Communist Party, they should be dealt with seriously or even executed directly as a warning to others.
Faced with this proposal, Zhang Anping pondered for a long time before ultimately rejecting it—the matter was even discussed at a bureau meeting. In the end, the Bureau of Secrecy chose to cooperate with the Bureau of Communications in this regard, opting for negotiation and competition rather than resorting to physical elimination.
At the time, some pointed out that doing so would easily allow the underground party to grow stronger among students, but Zhang Anping still insisted on his policy—prohibiting the torture and arrest of students without solid evidence.
Zheng Yi knew that Zhang Anping was doing this for the reputation of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. The nature of the student group was too special, and it was easy to attract public attention. However, under such a policy, it was an undeniable fact that the underground party had grown in power among students.
Just like what she's going through now.
She had only casually encountered a few groups of students when her handbag was filled with more than a dozen leaflets of all kinds—some about the inside story of the anti-corruption campaign in Shanghai, some about the Nationalist government's plunder of the people's wealth through the reform of the gold yuan, and some about popular science about the wars in Northeast China and Jinan.
As the secretary to the deputy director of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, Zheng Yi was in a "suspended" position, but he was still very familiar with the propaganda of the underground party. He knew that the propaganda of the underground party was not as far-fetched as that of the Nationalist army, and it was basically based on facts—although it contained a lot of personal agendas.
Well, the so-called "personal opinion" is naturally based on Zheng Yi's position.
After collecting about ten flyers, Zheng Yi found a park bench and sat down, beginning to read the contents of each flyer one by one.
The inside story of the anti-corruption campaign—although she wasn't particularly interested, she still chose to read this first.
The reason is simple: last year's failed anti-corruption campaign left Zhang Anping feeling aggrieved on his behalf. Now she wants to see what kind of resistance the section chief has encountered after breaking away from the district head and going it alone.
The so-called inside story was actually the Nationalist government's bureaucratic system's backlash against the section chief. After the section chief demonstrated his iron fist in order to limit prices, including arresting Rong Mouyuan and Du Mouping, Yangzi Company was "pushed" out. The subsequent collective praise from the public was also a deliberate act by the Nationalist government's bureaucratic system.
Thus, when Young Master Kong was successfully exonerated, the price control measure failed.
Zheng Yi shook his head. The anti-corruption campaign failed, just like last year's pattern. As long as those people were involved, failure was inevitable—which is why the Nationalist government's bureaucratic system deliberately praised the Yangzi Company after it was investigated.
The higher they were praised before, the harder they will fall after Kong is exonerated!
"Accumulated problems..."
Zheng Yi swallowed the rest of his words, put the flyer away, and started looking at the other content.
The plunder of private wealth behind the Gold Yuan reform—Zheng Yi put it away without changing his expression after reading it.
The inside story of the anti-corruption campaign: Young Master Kong's acquittal—After seeing the leaflet explicitly mentioning that the chief attendant had called Mayor Wu, she couldn't help but frown slightly.
Even this... can be found?
Zheng Yi couldn't help but sigh. No matter how hard the district commander tried, the underground party was always so omnipresent...
She then picked up the leaflet about the Battle of Jinan, and after reading it, Zheng Yi felt a chill run through her body.
In the past, the People's Liberation Army could at most capture large cities with sparse troop strength, or large cities with only tens of thousands of soldiers.
But Jinan is a large city with 100,000 troops stationed there, and it is also under the personal command of the famous general Wang.
As a result, the city was lost, and even the famous general was captured!
Suppressing his discomfort, Zheng Yi took a deep breath and took out a leaflet about the war in Northeast China. After arranging the leaflet according to the time, he flipped through it with extreme trepidation.
Jinzhou besieged?
Zheng Yi gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Qu Zuo is always full of talented people in the GFB—but how could so many talented people just stand by and watch the People's Liberation Army surround Jinzhou?
Did they only realize it when Jinzhou was about to be completely surrounded?
Is this a great talent?
What an idiot!
A coordinated attack from the east and west? A relief effort for Jinzhou?
Zheng Yi read it word by word, hoping to see good news, but when he saw that they had been unable to break through the mountainless Tashan after six days and six nights, and that Jinzhou had been captured right under the noses of the reinforcements, he felt dizzy.
With Jinzhou lost, the situation in Northeast China is probably... hopeless, right?
Taking another deep breath at the flyer he hadn't even looked at yet, Zheng Yi thought:
Jinzhou is gone, but the troops in Changchun and Shenyang should... should be able to withdraw, right?
then……
She saw what left her in a blank:
Changchun was peacefully liberated!
Then, she witnessed the liberation of Shenyang—and that happened just yesterday.
More than 500,000 troops, all gone?
Zheng Yi couldn't believe the contents of the document. His mind was filled with images of more than 500,000 troops—even during the eight years of the War of Resistance against Japan, when the Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi armies suffered a crushing defeat, there hadn't been anything like this!
She stared blankly at the empty blue sky, and suddenly thought of the equipment Zhang Anping had bought for the Nationalist government's arms industry when he went to the United States.
"The Northeast Security Bureau was established by the district commander's direct subordinates. Even though Minglou tried his best to suppress them after taking over, they are still the backbone of the Northeast Security Bureau. They will definitely destroy all these facilities!"
"Definitely!"
She said this to herself, her fingers unconsciously rubbing together, and realized that there was still one chapter of the brochure she hadn't finished reading.
So... there's more bad news?!
After taking several deep breaths, Zheng Yi finally mustered the courage to pull out the last page of the flyer.
But the words she saw made her curse without thinking:
"fart!"
Because the title of this promotional flyer is:
The truth behind the death of Mr. Mingjing, the red capitalist.
subtitle:
The murderer! The brutal executioner Zhang Shih-hao!
Before going to the United States, Zheng Yi knew about Mingjing's death—but that was all.
What she knew wasn't the truth, but that Mingjing had died in a car accident.
Because Mingjing is Mingtai's older sister, and Mingtai is highly valued by Zhang Anping, she happened to have come into contact with Mingjing's photograph.
During her trip to the United States, she caught a fleeting glimpse of a figure.
The other person appeared near the hotel where the delegation was staying, wrapped up very tightly, but after a fleeting glance, Zheng Yi matched the person with a yellowed photo in his mind.
She didn't see Zhang Anping interact with this person, but she did see the person standing by the window, staring intently at the hotel where the delegation was staying.
During the time after Zhang Anping left, Zheng Yi caught a glimpse of this person in a gossip tabloid—the report appeared in a gossip article titled "The Mysterious Consortium Leader".
But the tabloid did not follow up with any further reports.
Zheng Yi quietly inquired and learned that the tabloid had been threatened and bribed by unidentified individuals, which was why the report about the "mysterious conglomerate leader" had no follow-up.
Zheng Yi's idea at the time was:
This is most likely a backup plan from the Ming family.
She planned to tell Zhang Anping about this quietly after she returned and met him, and let Zhang Anping make the decision.
That's why she was furious when she saw the leaflet that smeared Zhang Anping.
However, as she patiently continued reading, the anger on her face visibly disappeared, replaced by...
An indescribable sense of fear and dread.
The leaflet mentioned the uprising at the Shenyang station of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, and also mentioned Ming Lou, the director of the Northeast Supervision Office. The death of Ming Jing was told from Ming Lou's perspective.
But Zheng Yi had seen Ming Jing!
She was certain that it was Mingjing—the other party's presence near the hotel where the delegation was staying was most likely because there were acquaintances in the delegation.
However, Minglou, who had already "betrayed" and "surrendered," publicly announced that Zhang Anping had orchestrated his sister's death.
Just because of her sister, she sympathized with the underground Communist Party!
Regardless of the fact that Mingjing was not dead—she believed that Zhang Anping was responsible for this.
But the truth is that Mingjing did not die!
This is... the most terrifying thing.
An unexpected event, personally planned, orchestrated, and executed by Zhang Anping, has succeeded—is it possible for the target to escape unscathed right under Zhang Anping's nose?
Mingjing, why did you come to the hotel where the delegation is staying? Who did you want to see?
Previously, Zheng Yi thought it was to meet with someone in the delegation—it was normal for a delegation of dozens of people to include a communist sympathizer.
But a person who should have died under Zhang Anping's scheme, and whose younger brother even said was assassinated by Zhang Anping, not only survived, but also happened to appear at the hotel where the delegation led by Zhang Anping was staying!
What... does this mean?! (End of Chapter)