Chapter 989
Something's wrong, something's very wrong!
As usual, let's move the timeline forward.
As the saying goes, "two flowers bloom on different branches," Zhang Anping and Mao Renfeng left Nanjing at the same time—this fully demonstrates how much the two, who "pleaded guilty" to each other at the bureau meeting, distrusted each other in private.
Even their departure times from Beijing had to be coordinated to prevent the person leaving later from causing trouble at headquarters while the other person was leaving first.
However, Mao Renfeng went to Xuzhou with a small entourage, only bringing about ten people. He believed that Xuzhou was the territory of his own people and there was no need to bring too many people. He was going to learn from the chief attendant to "supervise the battle", not to risk his life.
But Zhang Anping was different. He selected more than a hundred elite personnel from the bureau headquarters, including a small elite squad of more than thirty people from the special operations team.
Judging from the personnel preparations, Zhang Anping clearly has a strong feeling that he is going to do something big.
……
Even before the situation in Northeast China was settled, or even before the Liaoshen Campaign began, a large number of spies fled the Northeast in panic. After the Liaoshen Campaign ended, although most of the spies in the Northeast's Bureau of Investigation and Statistics system were captured, many still escaped. In addition, there were spies from the Party's Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, the Second Bureau, the Northeast Suppression Headquarters, and various other miscellaneous organizations. In short, the total number of spies in Beiping was now frighteningly high compared to Beiping's population of two million.
However, these people were a disorganized mess. Despite such a high density of spies, they sabotaged each other when they were working, and sometimes there were seven or eight different versions of the same intelligence they provided.
This is the background to Zhang Anping's special trip to Beiping.
Beiping Airport.
Gu Shenyan chatted animatedly with the airport manager with a smile, and in just a few words, the two finalized another business deal.
After finalizing the agreement, the airport manager left cheerfully, but as soon as he left, Gu Shenyan's expression turned serious.
It wasn't just solemn, but also carried a hint of barely perceptible panic.
why?
Because... Zhang Anping is coming!
He came to pick up Zhang Anping.
fear!
Gu Shenyan was filled with unspeakable fear at the arrival of Zhang Anping.
Relying on the influence of Beiping Station, Gu Shenyan had an astonishingly wide network of connections in Beiping. Coupled with the economic collapse at that time, the shrewd and resourceful Gu Shenyan used this extensive network to build a network of interests that was truly "exhilarating".
This earned him the nickname "Little God of Wealth."
Actually, we should call him Gu Caishen (God of Wealth), but considering that Gu Shenyan's boss is the real God of Wealth, we specially added "Xiao" (Little).
Gu Shenyan was even humble about this at one point:
The title of "Lord Qu the God of Wealth" is for the greater good of the Party and the country. I, Gu, only care about petty interests. How dare I compare myself to Lord Qu?
Undoubtedly, in his words, he subtly linked himself to Zhang Anping, implying that he was acting under the instructions of the district commander.
In fact, Zhang Anping had not given him any instructions in this regard at all.
But why did no one doubt Gu Shenyan's words?
Because at that time, many institutions of the Nationalist government were living on their own – the state of the legal tender showed that the Nationalist government's finances had long since collapsed, and the reform of the gold yuan had become a plunder of private wealth. Relying on the standards set by the government, the entire Nationalist government would have to sacrifice itself.
He died of starvation.
As the saying goes, rats have their ways and shrimp have theirs. The Nationalist government, from top to bottom, was using other methods to ensure that its people were fed and made a living. The elite troops in the army had the "care" of the GFB and the General Headquarters for Suppression, and received a gold yuan plus silver dollars plus rice or flour plus vegetable money (silver dollars) as a formality. The miscellaneous troops that could only get gold yuan relied on "requisitioning" grain locally and reselling weapons to make a living.
The government stabilized the morale of its employees by issuing exorbitant taxes and levies, along with specially approved funds, and by distributing goods, silver dollars, and gold in units of "money."
Organizations like the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (BIS) have special funding from the GFB, usually in the form of silver dollars, gold, and goods. However, the funding is based on the fixed staffing levels in 46. Now, the BIS has grown several times over and also needs to maintain some special armed forces. How can this amount of money be enough?
Zhang Anping was indeed a money-making machine, acquiring a vast amount of wealth through various means, but he could only ensure the livelihood of everyone in the entire organization. Moreover, being a spy was a dangerous profession. Under these circumstances, in order to maintain morale, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics had no choice but to allow each station and group to raise its own funds.
Naturally, no one questioned Gu Shenyan's actions.
In fact, as Zhang Anping's direct subordinates, the funding for the Pingjin and Shanghai stations was exceptionally abundant, so abundant that Gu Shenyan did not need to "raise funds on his own".
But Gu Shenyan did it anyway.
Not only did they do it, they did it exceptionally well—in just one year, the current members of the Beiping station are earning twice as much in actual salary as those at the bureau headquarters.
If it were just about raising funds on his own, Gu Shenyan would naturally not be afraid of Zhang Anping.
What he feared was... that he had gone too far!
This brings us to the cost of his "self-financing"!
The Beiping Station was a model anti-communist station of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics—in just the past 11 months of this year, it captured 1123 underground party members, of whom as many as 98 were secretly executed.
But these are just numbers on paper, because the underground party members in the prison system are so numerous that even if you sift through every nook and cranny, you can't find a single person.
As for those who were executed...
Once the photo is taken and the money is in hand, the "corpse" comes back to life on the spot.
Faced with the "corpse" that had been resurrected and swaggered away under the watchful eyes of the secret service agents, some people questioned this behavior, but once the ledger was taken out, the doubts fell silent.
The Beiping Station had a nominal staff of 160, but excluding informants and spies, the number exceeded 1200—including the investigation department affiliated with the garrison command, the special operations control group affiliated with the police station, the telecommunications branch, and various undercover groups…
In addition, there is a security police brigade with more than 3,000 personnel that needs to be supported, as well as various informants and spies, all of which cost money.
Faced with such a ledger, who can criticize Gu Shenyan for his painstaking efforts to maintain "respectability"?
Only you know what's going on in your own home.
The special infiltration group of hundreds of students and workers were all underground party members paid by the Nationalist government. The special operations control group affiliated with the police station was the headquarters of the underground party...
The underground party members arrested on one side were released on bail using the money "hard-earned" by the Beiping Station on the other, a scheme to inflate performance and revenue through back-and-forth transactions...
In a word:
Using self-raised funds as a cover, he managed to perfectly hide the underground Communist Party in Beiping under the protection of Beiping Station!
It is no exaggeration to say that many core organizations of the underground Communist Party in Beiping were openly affiliated with the Beiping Station of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, and were even receiving high salaries from the Bureau.
But now, Zhang Anping has arrived!
From Gu Shenyan's perspective, what kind of person is Zhang Anping?
Okamoto Heiji, a prominent figure among the Japanese invaders and a huge threat in Gu Shenyan's eyes, turned out to be one of his own—of course, after he was shocked to find out that Zhang Anping was truly one of his own, his awe of Zhang Anping diminished considerably.
Zhang Anping's strategic planning ability can be seen from the case of Okamoto Heiji alone.
Faced with such a notorious spy, Gu Shenyan couldn't guarantee that his tricks would fool him.
The only hope now is that Zhang Anping's inspection is just a routine pre-battle visit.
Several planes appeared in the sky. As the fleet landed, Gu Shenyan carefully distinguished the models. After recognizing that two fighter jets were escorting two C-46s and one C-54, he assumed that it was another military official coming to Beiping. However, when the fleet landed and the personnel on the three transport planes disembarked one by one, Gu Shenyan's expression changed.
It's... Zhang Anping!
Zhang Anping not only arrived in a C-54, but he also brought over a hundred people with him—among those who disembarked from the C-54 was a fully armed elite squad. Was it the infamous Military Intelligence Bureau's special operations unit?
Gu Shenyan's heart sank. This didn't seem like they were here for an inspection.
It's more like... someone who's in charge.
To oversee things?
The thought of this possibility made Gu Shenyan feel suffocated—if Zhang Anping personally took command in Beiping, he wouldn't be able to influence the final battle outcome, but the organization in Beiping would likely suffer severe losses, especially if this person was involved in espionage...
His thoughts raced at lightning speed. As he quickly approached Zhang Anping and his group aboard the lower cabin, Gu Shenyan made an extremely careful decision:
Assassinate Zhang Anping!
Assassination is a risky move, and the underground party is not good at it—he had never thought of using assassination to solve problems before, but this time Zhang Anping's demeanor was clearly not that of an inspector, and Gu Shenyan had done far too much in Beiping.
Even with his eyes closed, he could see that these things couldn't be hidden from Zhang Anping. For the safety of the organization and his comrades, assassination was undoubtedly the only way.
Gu Shenyan was naturally aware that if Zhang Anping got into trouble in Beiping, he would definitely be implicated—but compared to the safety of his comrades who were hiding under the guise of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, what did his own safety matter?
As Gu Shenyan made this decision, he happened to walk up to Zhang Anping, who was disembarking from the plane. Zhang Anping was slightly out of breath. After respectfully greeting him, Zhang Anping asked for punishment:
"The staff failed to pick up the passengers on time. We request that the district head hold them accountable."
Zhang Anping shook his head coldly: "Stop with the pleasantries—"
"Arrange a vehicle to take me to Gongxian Hutong. Hmm, don't bother arranging anything for the others; they have their own tasks."
Upon hearing this, Gu Shenyan hurriedly said:
"Chief Qu, you've had a long journey, so perhaps I could..."
The rest of his words were forced back down by Zhang Anping's icy gaze.
Helpless, Gu Shenyan had to contact the airport to prepare a vehicle, but Zhang Anping emphasized that he should not announce his arrival.
These words of advice further solidified Gu Shenyan's resolve.
"You all settle in first. I will send people from Beiping Station to assist you later. In the next few days, you should thoroughly investigate the entire Beiping intelligence system. Be sure to be meticulous, understand?"
"Yes!"
It's obvious that Gu Shenyan has misunderstood!
He assumed that Zhang Anping's mission, excluding the guards, was to prevent him from assigning tasks to the others in his group, specifically to investigate the Beiping station. However, their actual task was to first understand the general situation of the entire intelligence system.
Generally speaking, within a government system, these matters can be resolved simply by Zhang Anping communicating with the relevant people.
But what can you do when this is the Nationalist government?
If he were to go to Ye Xiufeng, Ye Xiufeng would definitely laugh it off and use Tai Chi to send Zhang Anping away.
If he were to go to Zheng Yaoquan, Zheng Yaoquan would certainly serve him tea and see him out after hearing his request;
As for the Second Division of the Suppression Headquarters and Yan Xishan's faction, they would only give Zhang Anping the cold shoulder.
Therefore, Zhang Anping's strategy was to investigate on his own. In fact, Zhang Anping estimated that Gu Shenyan should have detailed information, but Gu Shenyan would never let him take unified command of these agents. If he asked, the data he received would definitely be inflated.
It still has the same water content as when it's soaked in water.
Gu Shenyan coordinated with the airport and arranged for several trucks to be brought in. Three of them, carrying Zhang Anping's guards, were added to the convoy that had borrowed the opportunity, while the remaining vehicles took the rest of the people to the city separately.
His convoy then took Zhang Anping directly to Gongxian Hutong in the eastern part of the city.
Throughout the journey, Gu Shenyan remained respectful while subtly probing Zhang Anping's purpose. Seeing Gu Shenyan's behavior, Zhang Anping found it amusing and revealed his objective: to integrate all the spies within the Beijing-Tianjin and North China intelligence systems to support the defense of North China.
Gu Shenyan naturally praised him highly, but he felt extremely bitter inside.
If Zhang Anping were to personally take charge of the integration, after a few months, the entire North China intelligence system would probably be a monolithic entity.
His efforts over the past two years will likely be in vain.
We must get rid of him!
Even at the greatest cost!
Clearly, in the eyes of comrades like Gu Shenyan, the upcoming Pingjin Campaign would probably take several months to unfold—not only did the Kuomintang believe that the Northeast Field Army, which had swept across the Northeast, needed months or even half a year to recuperate, but their own comrades thought the same way.
If Zhang Anping were replaced by someone else, Gu Shenyan was confident that he could hold him off. But the person in front of him was Zhang Anping, and Gu Shenyan believed that a few months would be enough for Zhang Anping to build an impenetrable intelligence network throughout North China.
Because his name is Zhang Anping, anyone who has worked with him or witnessed how he tormented Japanese spies would believe it without a doubt!
After revealing the purpose of his trip, Zhang Anping naturally praised Gu Shenyan's anti-communist efforts—after all, on paper, the underground Communist Party in Beiping had suffered heavy losses.
Faced with the praise, Gu Shenyan quickly said, "It's all thanks to the district head's excellent leadership; the department dares not take credit."
"Alright, stop trying to fool me—you've been with me for over ten years, haven't you? Don't you know what kind of person I am?"
Zhang Anping waved his hand, still ignoring Gu Shenyan's sweet talk, but then criticized him, saying:
"While there were merits, there were also faults—the Li-Wang case last year was handled very hastily by the Beiping station. Two such important Communist Party members were poisoned by an insider right under your noses. Fortunately, these two shouldn't have implicated many big fish, otherwise..."
Faced with Zhang Anping's cold expression, Gu Shenyan, covered in sweat, admitted his mistake and accepted the lesson.
In fact, he was still shaken when he thought about this incident—if it weren't for the fact that he had infiltrated the Beiping station so thoroughly, last year's "Li-Wang case" would probably have been an unprecedented major setback in the history of our party's intelligence.
Fortunately, the undercover comrade was very helpful. After Wang was arrested and defected, he not only eliminated the other party but also secretly replaced the information dictated by the other party, thus getting away with a piece of information that was half true and half false.
Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable!
When the convoy arrived at the headquarters of Beiping Station in Gongxian Hutong, Zhang Anping received a warm welcome—Beiping Station made an absurdly large show of support, with more than a hundred people from the headquarters lining up to welcome him, many of whom were even wearing military uniforms.
This scene enraged Zhang Anping on the spot.
He entered the interconnected courtyards of numbers 14 and 15 with a dark expression, and immediately began to rage in the courtyard:
"You're agents of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics! This is the headquarters of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' Beiping Station—a welcoming line, and you're even wearing military uniforms? Are you afraid the underground party won't know where your hideout is?"
"Beiping Station, when did it become like this? Hmm? Gu Shenyan!"
Gu Shenyan broke out in a cold sweat on the spot.
Judging from his behavior, it seemed as if he would kneel down on the spot if Zhang Anping got angry again.
In fact, this was indeed Gu Shenyan's deliberate act—he had prepared several contingency plans to welcome Zhang Anping, but the current situation was not in his plans at all. Instead, he arranged it specifically after meeting Zhang Anping at the airport while coordinating the transportation.
He wanted to anger Zhang Anping, force him to reorganize the Beiping station, and then make him consider replacing him. In that case, he could then kill Zhang Anping in a desperate situation.
"Get inside, all of you! Do what you're supposed to do!"
Unable to quell his anger, Zhang Anping unleashed a torrent of curses before storming into Gu Shenyan's office.
But once he entered the office, his expression turned serious.
Something's not right. Old Gu's actions are very strange!
(Um, I'll keep you in suspense for now; the Huaihai storyline will pick up where we left off later...) (End of Chapter)