Chapter Twenty-Four: High-Level Special Agent of Zhongtian

  Just as everyone's eyes were on Xiaobai, she turned her head towards him and pointed at his cup.

  Everyone looked back and burst out laughing.

  It turned out that Qiao Weng was so absorbed in thought that he unconsciously used his teacup as an ashtray, and the ashes had fallen into the cup of water.

  The originally green tea water has become murky and unbearable.

  Still a girl, Wu Qin immediately stood up, took the minister's cup and walked out of the door to pour it away, then rinsed it with water and re-brewed a new cup of tea for him.

  Qiao Wen nodded in thanks and watched Wu Qin's series of actions with a thoughtful expression.

  Wu Qin was stared at by him, her face turned red, Qiao Xiangwen suddenly came to his senses and withdrew his gaze.

  Several people burst out laughing and joking around

  "It was the first time seeing Wu Qin's face turn red."

  "Wu Qin, you're so lucky, Director Qiao has been looking at you for so long."

  "Xiao Bailian, the minister has been looking at you for so long, why don't you look back at him!"

  Good-natured jokes livened up the atmosphere of the meeting.

  The Ministry of Social Affairs is like a big family, Wu Qin is like a little sister, loved by everyone.

  Qiao Dong tidied up his thoughts, picked up a cigarette and lit it again, taking a slow drag.

  This is an action of signing.

  Everyone knows that their Director Qiao has made his move.

  Everyone in the department knows that when holding a meeting, Old Cao usually passes out cigarettes twice. The first time is when the discussion starts, he passes out a pack of cigarettes, meaning "please speak freely, I'll trade you cigarettes for your ideas".

  The second time, just like this moment, the discussion ended and he already had a plan in mind. This round of cigarettes means to ask everyone to work seriously.

  Someone summarized it this way behind his back, and Qiao Xiangwen just smiled when he heard it.

  Looking back, I think I did indeed do and think in this way.

  Just now, he was inspired by a good cup of tea being stirred up with cigarette ash.

  A cup of clear tea, because of a pile of cigarette ash, can no longer be drunk and has lost its effect, so it's better to discard it. If Zhang Zhongxiao is compared to a teacup, what method can we use to infiltrate him, making him unable to complete his task and become a useless person? In this way, the tasks of the Social Department can also be smoothly completed.

  Isn't this teacup and human being the same principle?

  Qiao Wen clearly expressed his "cup theory".

  Several people listened and applauded continuously.

  This method is indeed much better than sending someone to tail him, and it allows us to take the initiative in our work. As long as we get rid of Zhang Zhongxiao and stir up this chessboard, there's no need to worry about not having a good show to watch.

  He is indeed a leader, and everyone sincerely admires him.

  Liu Sheng still didn't forget to crack a joke:

  "Director Qiao, you should thank Wu Qin today, she has become your inspiration."

  Wu Qin's face flushed with anger as she listened, and she hastily spat out a mouthful of words, cursing loudly:

  "A tiger's mouth can't produce ivory."

  Qiao Xiangwen closed his notebook and smiled, "Wu Qin is not only a source of inspiration, but also a catalyst!"

  "What's a medicine guide?" The crowd was puzzled.

  Qiao Wen invited everyone to sit closer and started talking one by one.

  That afternoon, the action plan was reported to the detachment, code-named "Bá Cì" operation.

  The gongs and drums started playing, the dragon boat began to dance.

  Colorful flags fluttering, firecrackers bursting in unison

  On July 20th, a grand welcoming ceremony was held in Linshui by people from all walks of life.

  Thousands of people lined the streets to welcome him, and the county magistrate of the National Government gave a solemn speech.

  Wherever the interview team went, they attracted widespread attention from all walks of life. Especially a few foreign journalists with blue eyes and high noses, speaking in a strange language, caused the villagers to gather around and watch.

  Apart from the collective interview, these foreign journalists were very dedicated and insisted on dragging the translator through streets and alleys to get in-depth information about the locals' impression of the Japanese devils. They also asked for comparisons between the Nationalist army and the Eighth Route Army, which put the local officials who accompanied them in a difficult position, so they had to ask the translator to roughly translate something.

  Because fellow villagers always habitually call the Nationalist Party the "Plunder-the-People's-Party", extorting money from the people, oppressing rural citizens.

  If translated in this way, it's still alright, but Chairman Chiang would have been furious.

  Zhang Zhongxiao is about 1.75 meters tall, with a sturdy build, his hair slicked back shiny, wearing a short-sleeved Chinese tunic, looking elegant and refined.

  A camera and a bag, always by my side.

  As soon as he arrived at the river, he immediately became lively.

  Attended a group interview in the morning and started solo activities in the county town in the afternoon.

  He declined local escort and walked alone on the street, wearing sunglasses and carrying a bag, looking like a tourist.

  Strolling through this small town in southern Lu, occasionally asking locals a few questions, as if asking for directions.

  Intentionally or unintentionally, he would quietly observe whether there were followers or suspicious people lurking around.

  The sun was setting, casting a fiery glow over everything. The air was hot and dry, like a burning fire that scorched the skin. Even the ground seemed to be on fire. Cicadas in the tall trees were so hot they didn't know what to do, constantly crying out "Tzu-leh, tzu-leh!" Dogs lay on the ground with their tongues hanging out of their mouths, while horses and mules rushed back and forth with their nostrils flaring wide. Peddlers and vendors all hid under the shade of trees, the willow tree above them drooping like a wilted vegetable, its branches hanging down limply without any vitality.

  After wandering around for a while, the scorching sun made his shirt wet with sweat on his back.

  He walked in after making sure no one was following him at a large photography studio.

  This was his first contact on his trip along the river.

  Zhu Zhengxing, the owner of the photo studio, was tall and thin, with a slightly hunched back, combed his hair to one side, had yellowish teeth, small eyes that became even smaller when he smiled.

  On the surface, he is a cultured person who loves photography and makes a living from it. He is skilled in chess, piano, calligraphy, and painting. He has some reputation in Linshui and his photographs have been published in the provincial newspaper, which was a series of photos reflecting the customs of the Linshui Festival.

  Since then, more people have known about Old Zhu, the boss of the photography studio.

  Little did they know, his true identity was the leader of the Zhongtong Shandong Station Linshui group.

  A clear moon and a gentle breeze with a cup of wine.

  The horizon is where the soul disappears.

  As soon as the password was verified, Zhu Zhengxing immediately invited Zhang Zhongxiao upstairs and instructed his partner to guard the door and not let strangers come up.

  "Special commissioner arrives in our small town, we are thrilled! We have been waiting for your guidance on our work."

  Poured a glass of boiled water, immediately respectfully handed over cigarettes, lit them for him, fawned and flattered.

  Zhang Zhongxiao took off his sunglasses, rubbed his eyes, and there was still sweat on his face.

  Zhu Zhengxing came over, quickly filled a basin with cold water, put in a towel, wrung it out and handed it over.

  Zhang Zhongxiao took it over, comfortably wiping away the sweat on his face, and then lifted up his legs.

  An old-fashioned electric fan blew directly at him.

  Zhu Zhengxing was tall and thin, with a slightly hunched back. When he saw his superior, he became even more nervous and respectfully bowed his head, like a giant.

  "Director Zhang, please give your instructions."

  "You've all worked hard, this place is so hot, you're still holding the fort for the party and country. This time I came, mainly to listen to the development of your grassroots organizations. Lünan is a place where **activity is rampant**, other places have been occupied by rì himself, that's still easy to account for. Rì himself has come, not only wanting our territory but also our lives. Last year's report said this place was 532, with rì controlling 50%, us 30% and **20%. What's the situation now?"

  A deputy's airs.

  Zhang Zhongxiao, of course, his real name is not Zhang Zhongxiao.

  This is a temporary alias borrowed for this special task.

  His real name is Zhang Xin. He is the deputy leader of the second group of the Central Action Department, and since joining the Central Committee, he has been using his heart and soul to make contributions repeatedly.

  Of course, what made him famous overnight was last year's "Jiangxi Bandit Case".

  At that time, he disguised himself as a scattered southern guerrilla, ventured to contact the Nanchang party organization, deceived their trust, and finally grasped a large number of secrets from the party organization. In the end, he collaborated with others inside and outside, causing serious damage to the Jiangxi party organization, forcing it to go underground.

  Before the outbreak of the war of resistance, a provincial organization suffered heavy losses, and there were indeed very few. Everyone can look up history to know.

  The Jiangxi party organization was indeed severely damaged.

  Zhang Xin achieved success mainly because he seized a time difference.

  The declaration of the Nationalist-Communist cooperation against Japan was issued, but due to the backwardness of communication tools and the delay in internal documents of the Central Committee, the Jiangxi party organization did not receive this news in time, let alone know about the Central Committee's views on some major principles within the united front, such as the issue of leadership power, or the issue of armed forces.

  Sly Zhang Xin took advantage of this opportunity, holding a copy of the Zhongyang Ribao newspaper with Chiang Kai-shek's declaration of resistance and **the leader's speech on cooperation between the KMT and the Communist Party.

  Zhang Xin used a newspaper to win the trust of the party organization, and also stated that the KMT and CPC had already cooperated and merged with each other. The Jiangxi party organization, without verifying the truth and unable to contact Yan'an in time, naively trusted him.

  What comes next is a disaster of unprecedented proportions.

  Zhong unified specially awarded him for this and broke his military rank to promote him to senior colonel.

  As a key figure in the Zhongxian, Zhang Xin gained the high trust of his superiors from then on, and both Chen brothers had met with him one after another.

  This time coming to the border of Russia and China for a friction, the risk is very high, because **the intelligence department will not sit idly by, and will definitely take various means to interfere and obstruct.

  Zhang Xin took the initiative to ask for the position of Director, and volunteered himself, bringing no soldiers with him, which shows his high level of self-confidence.

  His superiors' appreciation of him can also be seen from this.

  "Report to the delegate, those data of yours are still from last year, and the ratio is still 53-2, only the three refers to **, not us."

  "Is that so? How can this be?" Zhang Xin's legs stopped shaking and his eyes stared at Zhu Zhengxing.

  Zhu Zhengxing was stared at by him until he felt a bit hairy.

  Inside Zhongtong, who doesn't know that Director Zhang has made outstanding contributions and is currently in high demand. It's highly likely that he will take on the role of Deputy Director of the Action Department. According to rumors, the Chen brothers have already spoken with the current head of Zhongtong Bureau, Zhu Jiahao, about reusing talented individuals who dare to promote them, in order to absorb more talent and increase their own political weight in the competition against Jun Tong.

  "Report to the special envoy, it's like this: due to insufficient troops, we are mainly occupying large cities. Although we also frequently carry out big sweeps, we still have no time to take care of some remote counties and towns. However, the Eighth Route Army is extremely cunning, with minimal casualties in their confrontations with us, yet they continue to recruit new members endlessly. Those poor devils don't even know what kind of trickery the Eighth Route has used on them, and they desperately flock to join the Eighth Route's ranks. Although our numbers currently still have an advantage, I estimate that at this rate, the combined forces of the Eighth Route, guerrillas, and militia will soon surpass our regular army."

  Seeing Zhang Xinji listening very seriously, Zhu Zhengxing relaxed a bit and continued his report:

  "So we have been waiting for the special envoy to arrive, the party and country cannot sit idly by, if this continues, southern Shandong will completely become **'s territory. Taking advantage of the current situation where I am personally leading a large-scale sweep of the base area, attracting their attention,"

  At this point, Zhu Zhengxing raised his palm into a knife shape and chopped down fiercely.

  Thank you, friends, for your votes and collections. I wrote this book not to show off or to distort history, but to turn my knowledge, feelings, and research into a tangible story, to restore some historical truth as much as possible, so that everyone can understand that the victory of the War of Resistance was not due to someone's boasting, nor was it due to individual bravery, nor was it due to such naive "undercover" efforts. The victory of the Liberation War also wasn't solely due to Chiang Kai-shek's weakness and incompetence. Behind the transfer of power and the rise of the Republic, there are many deep-seated reasons - ideological, livelihood-related, human-hearted, strategic, tactical, and more. Welcome everyone to offer your opinions and let's discuss together.