Chapter Fourteen: Jiang Yun Wants a Reward

  "Is Nan Zao a cloud?"

  "Yes."

  "Ying Sizu has some meaning, I just let out a little wind to add trouble for him, and he immediately returned me a hand..."

  Only a few days had passed since Dai Li returned to Chongqing from Wuhan, and he received news from the Military Bureau's Shanghai station. This special agent with a big bun on his head and an upright face couldn't help but frown slightly. He had to admit that Ying Zhaosheng's move made him somewhat perplexed and hesitant.

  "What does Ying Zuo want to do? Sending Nan Zao Yunzi to Chongqing, is he tired of playing with those women?"

  He used to be the secretary of Dai Li in Fuxing She, and now he is also the sixth group commander of Chiang Kai-shek's guard room, in charge of Chiang Kai-shek's intelligence work. Tang Zong was also on one side, who was equally surprised by the news from Shanghai station. It is worth noting that Nan Caiyunzi is not an ordinary spy, this woman has "crime after crime" in China, and with Chinese intelligence agencies, especially Military Intelligence, it can be said that they are deeply at odds.

  About ten years ago, in 1929, Nan Zao Yunzi was transferred to Nanjing by the Japanese intelligence department, under the alias "Liao Yaqun", as a cover for her identity as an unemployed youth. She infiltrated the National Government's Ministry of National Defense's Tangshan Hot Spring Resort as a receptionist. Nan Zao Yunzi was skilled in singing and dancing, charming and alluring, using her charm to entice a group of high-ranking Nationalist Party military officers, stealing many important military intelligence reports. For example, she had stolen the Shanghai Wusong Command's report on the expansion of artillery fortifications to the Ministry of National Defense, which led to the Japanese army quickly utilizing this intelligence to destroy the fortress during their attack on Shanghai.

  Not only that, but Nanzao Yunzi also had an affair with Dai Jitao, a veteran of the Kuomintang and a close friend of Chiang Kai-shek's, when she was working as a hostess. On one occasion, Dai Jitao, who was then the head of the Examination Yuan, stayed at the Wenshui Guest House, where he "accidentally" met Liao Yaqian on a tree-lined path. Her tall stature and elegant demeanor left a deep impression on old Dai, and from then on, Dai became a frequent guest at the guest house, and his relationship with Nanzao Yunzi grew increasingly close. As a result, Nanzao Yunzi was able to obtain the information she needed from Dai's mouth, intentionally or unintentionally. This situation continued until June 1934, when Nanzao Yunzi entered the Examination Yuan's office and was followed by agents of the Military Bureau, who finally put an end to it. Even though they had discovered this situation, the agents of the Military Bureau, which was also known as the Fuxing She Te Wu Chu, did not dare to interrogate her, for a very simple reason: as mentioned earlier, old Dai was not only a veteran of the Kuomintang but also a close friend of Chiang Kai-shek's. There were even rumors that Chiang Wei-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's second son, was actually Dai Jitao's illegitimate child, whom he had helped to raise. Given this relationship, how could the agents of the Fuxing She Te Wu Chu dare to provoke her? They could only report back to Dai Li and wait for instructions. As for Dai Li, he did not dare to take direct action either, and it was only after a period of careful consideration that he decided to report the situation to Chiang Kai-shek... Fortunately, old Chiang was quite understanding, and upon receiving the report, he instructed that from then on, Dai Jitao would not be notified of high-level meetings involving military secrets, nor would he be allowed to read related documents. This finally cut off one of Nanzao Yunzi's main channels for obtaining information. However, in order to save face for Dai Jitao and due to the lack of concrete evidence, the Fuxing She Te Wu Chu was unable to arrest Nanzao Yunzi at that time.

  Afterwards, Nan Zao Yunzi became even more arrogant and extended his hand to Chiang Kai-shek's side, also colluding with the Chief Secretary of the Executive Yuan, Huang Ju, who was a trusted aide of Old Chiang. On July 28, 1937, Chiang Kai-shek presided over the Supreme National Defense Conference at the Xiaolou in Nanjing's Zhongshan Mausoleum, which was a top-secret meeting attended by Secretary Chen Bulei and Chief Secretary Huang Ju. After listening to Chiang's military deployment, Huang immediately informed Nan Zao Yunzi of this highly classified intelligence after the meeting. Cunning Nan Zao Yunzi quickly passed on the intelligence to the Japanese Embassy's Military Attaché, Lieutenant General Nakamura, who directly reported it to Tokyo via encrypted telegram. As a result, the Japanese Navy's landing troops took the lead and marched east overnight, causing the National Army's military plan to blockade Jiangyin Fortress to fail. Moreover, Nan Zao Yunzi also obtained several top-secret intelligence reports from Huang Ju, resulting in significant losses for the National Army and forcing them to repeatedly change their military deployments.

  In addition to these, Nanjing Yunzi also planned two assassination cases against Chiang Kai-shek.

  These events made Nan Zao Yunzi famous as the "Imperial Flower" within the Japanese military intelligence system, and also put her on the Juntong's list of people to be killed, with a very high priority. Previously, because Huang Ju had leaked secrets multiple times, Juntong had caught him red-handed and also captured Nan Zao Yunzi who hadn't escaped in time. However, because Dai Li wanted to extract more information from Nan Zao Yunzi, he didn't rush to kill the woman but instead interrogated her... Unexpectedly, during a gap in the interrogation, this woman successfully bribed the guards with money and beauty, and smoothly escaped from the Nanjing Laohu Bridge Central Prison... Juntong was left extremely embarrassed. Dai Li was also severely scolded by Chiang Kai-shek for this and almost lost his position as head of Juntong.

  Now, Ying Zuo Zhao unexpectedly released that woman again and spread the word that she would be sent to Chongqing...

  "If we hadn't been prepared, Nan Zao Yunzi might have still caused some trouble, but now the Japanese are spreading rumors... what do they want to do? It can't be a false message, right?" Zheng Jiemin frowned.

  "I don't think so, Zheng Jieming can't be that boring." Tang Zong's appearance was somewhat similar to Lin Guobin, a Hong Kong kung fu actor from the later era, who played the role of Duan Shui Liu in Stephen Chow's movie "King of Destruction". However, in terms of aura, he was much stronger. As one of the "Ten-Man Team" created by Dai Li when he established the Special Operations Office, if he hadn't been called away by Old Chiang to serve as a group leader in the Imperial Guard, Zheng Jieming's position would likely have been his. Therefore, when speaking in front of Dai Li, he didn't speak with the same caution as others. While others were afraid to be too direct, he dared to express his own judgments directly.

  According to the news from Shanghai, Nan Zao Yunzi has indeed left Shanghai, but it's unclear where he went. It is said that he boarded a ship bound for Hong Kong, but it's probably just a ruse." Dai Li continued.

  "Could it be for Qin Wei's sake?" Xu Yuan, who had been reduced to a younger brother in front of several big shots and didn't dare speak, suddenly asked.

  "What a joke?" Tang Zong glared over, "A little furry thing, casually said two sentences, worth Yin Sazuka's great effort, and even sent Nan Tsukumo? Do you really think he's some kind of big shot?"

  "But... Mei's agency released this news after Ju Zhuo released those messages about Qin Wei, shouldn't there be some connection between the two?" Xu Yuanju didn't dare to argue with Tang Zong directly, and instead continued to insist on his own point of view.

  "Qin Wei is still a personal thing," Dai Li said with a glance at Zheng Jieming and Xu Yuanju, his voice echoing eerily: "I handed over your report to the Chairman, and after he read it, he was reportedly depressed for an entire day... It wasn't until later that I found out the Chairman had also farmed in his youth and knew quite a bit about agriculture. He considered more and thought more comprehensively. Qin Wei's words made him realize that even if we drive out the Japanese one day, the Chinese people's lives may not necessarily get better."

  "That may not necessarily be Qin's own view." Tang, as the head of the intelligence department of the Imperial Guard, naturally also knew about that report and knew how much it would affect Old Chiang's mood. To be honest, that impact was not small at all. Moreover, it wasn't just Old Chiang; almost no one who had contact with that report could finish reading it smoothly, and there wasn't a single person who could speak within ten minutes after finishing... After all, among the high-ranking officials of the National Government, not only did Chiang Kai-shek farm when he was young, but many others also worked as farmers. Even if they hadn't farmed before, many were from landlord families and had some understanding of grain growth... Just thinking about the possibility that one-third of China's population might go hungry in the future made people's scalps numb and their hearts tremble. Don't say it was an exaggeration. The words recorded on that report by Qin Wei were actually quite mild, without even taking into account politics, corruption, and other factors; they only roughly calculated based on grain production and population numbers. But these officials could think of many things. Without mentioning whether the chaos and corruption of the past few decades could be changed, how many people could this land of China support in its stable years? Tens of millions, even if it was just half of that number, would still be crushing.

  "Whether or not it was Qin Wei's own view, at least Ye Yuanlong and Ma Yincho acknowledged him, otherwise they wouldn't have invited him to teach at the university... Just from this point alone, this guy is no ordinary small fry." Dai Li said in a low voice.

  "Even if it's not ordinary, is it worth having Nan Zao Yunzi come and deal with it?" Zheng Jieyun pondered.

  "This kid's background is still unclear, who knows if he's worth the Japanese putting in so much effort? I spread the news out to test the Japanese intentions. We don't know, maybe they know something. But unexpectedly, Ying Zhenzhao actually made such a move, it's really puzzling." said Dai Li.

  "Look at us now..."

  "Ding dong ding..."

  Xu Yuanju hadn't finished speaking when the phone on the desk suddenly rang. After glancing at the three big shots in the room, he had no choice but to pick up the receiver.

  ……

  "Whose phone?"

  Tang Zong asked as he saw Xu Yuanjie finish his phone call.

  "Qin Wei!" Xu Yuan's hand paused for a moment, and he sighed with a bitter smile.

  "Is it that little guy again?" Tang Zong furrowed his brow, "He's quite punctual."

  "What did he say?" Dai Li also asked. He was quite curious about this guy who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, with no apparent origin or purpose. At least, he couldn't possibly make Chiang Kai-shek so gloomy with just one report.

  "He said... 'Fei Lei Cannon' has been developed and we are asked to go for inspection." Xu Yuanjie replied.

  "'Flying Thunderbolt'? Is it that 'heartless' gasoline can of his?" Zheng Jiemin asked.

  "That's probably it." Xu Yuan said.

  "He's quite fast," Zheng Jiemin smiled and turned to Dai Li: "Director, you see..."

  "I also want to see how powerful this gasoline barrel-made cannon is, which gives him so much confidence," Dai Li slightly curled the corner of his mouth. Zheng Jieming and Xu Yuanju did not mention the matter of "heartless cannon" in their report, he only knew about it after returning to Chongqing. For this matter, he almost scolded Zheng Jieming and Xu Yuanju until they were speechless... Is there anyone in the world who uses a gasoline barrel to modify a large-caliber gun? That thin iron sheet can be modified into what kind of thing? Still a cannon? It's barely enough for fireworks. If this gets out, won't Military Intelligence become a laughing stock? But since things have already been done, can he still go back on his word? Then Military Intelligence would really become a joke. Moreover, the research funding was not expensive, Zheng Jieming only allocated 300 silver dollars and several hundred kilograms of gunpowder, plus ten gasoline barrels... He didn't even send extra people, just sent a car to take Qin Wei to a military camp in the suburbs... It's just unexpected that it succeeded in just a few days. This is obviously good news. Although he doesn't have much confidence in that "heartless cannon", as long as it has the power of a hand grenade, even if it's slightly weaker, it can still be used to explain things to the outside world.

  "I'll go prepare the car!" Seeing Dai Li also had a personal trip, Zheng Jieming's heart skipped a beat. Not long ago, he still remembered that scolding clearly. What if the experiment didn't reach its expected goal? Then he... But Master Dai's orders were not to be disobeyed, and he could only grit his teeth and face reality.

  "Director Xu..." Xu Yuan raised his head, apparently having anticipated the possible tragic outcome. Zheng Jieming was fine, he had seniority and was still sent by Old Chiang to divide power, at most he would just be scolded by Dai Li again. But as a small station chief, if Dai Li really got angry, it was also possible that he would be demoted to an ordinary intelligence officer in the occupied area. So, he decided to try and stop Dai Li.

  "Anything else?"

  "Uh...Qin Wei wants us to bring the bonus together."

  "A bonus?" Tang Zong laughed on one side, "He's just that confident."

  "It seems like... " Xu Yuan raised his hand and showed five fingers: "He wants 50,000 yuan!"

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