Chapter 184: Spokesperson

"Mr. Jingshang?" Tufeiyuan Er stared for a moment, then suddenly realized and said, "Are you referring to Jingshang Zhaori?"

"That's right, it's him." Banxi Balang laughed and said, "This guy, after graduating from the Army Academy, resigned his military post."

"He gathered a group of Japanese masterless samurai, established a trading firm in Shanghai; although there were only over sixty of them, their effect was equivalent to that of a regular army division."

"The Locust Army was able to take Songhu so smoothly precisely because they provided comprehensive data of the Songhu waters."

Tufeiyuan Er nodded slightly.

He had also heard of the Jingshang Residence; because they had contributed greatly during the battle, they thus established relations with the consulate and could withdraw funds from their account without limit.

Besides the consulate's support, behind it loomed the shadow of the Black Dragon Society, a clandestine civilian organization with intricate connections.

Since the information has already been leaked, there is no point in continuing to keep it secret.

The Jingshang Residence has been deeply entrenched in Songhu for many years; with their assistance in the investigation, there might be some unexpected surprises.

"That weasel fellow, since he can directly contact the Military Intelligence Bureau, shows his rank is also high." Banxi Balang took a deep breath and continued.

"There are too many doubts in this case; we must quickly apprehend him and investigate how he learned of the Dandelion Plan and obtained the detailed personnel roster!"

Tufeiyuan Er nodded in approval.

Even information as highly classified as the Dandelion Plan could be known to the enemy; if we don't ferret him out soon, we don't know how much loss we will suffer later.

But this case is currently a headless case.

Even if Heitian You dou had divulged the Dandelion Plan, he at most knew only the plan's name—how could he have obtained the personnel roster of the Dandelion Plan?

Qichuan Gong Xiuzai is even less likely; according to testimony from someone inside the consulate, he has not met any strangers.

On the day of the incident, he remained in the consulate the whole time; no one had contacted him, and the scene showed no trace of a second person.

How the information was leaked cannot be determined; we can only deal with whatever comes to mind.

"Mr. Tufei, I am merely an advisor; the concrete plan of action, please work hard to formulate it." Banxi Balang said.

Tufeiyuan Er said, "It's you, Teacher, who should be taking it easy; clearly you could rest at home, yet you still have to fight on the front lines of espionage, finding this guy for us."

After graduating from the Army Academy, Tufeiyuan Er became Banxi Balang's assistant, and under his guidance gradually got into the intelligence business.

"For the empire, this is all natural; moreover, I am needed here—how could I just sit idly by?" Banxi Balang said, putting on a serious air.

Thinking of the recent major events in Songhu, Tufeiyuan Er again said, "Teacher, have you heard about the recent underworld affairs in Songhu?"

"You mean that Feng Ye and Zhang Xiaolin were both assassinated at the same time, causing the Songhu gangs to descend into chaos?" Banxi Balang asked.

Tufeiyuan Er nodded.

"Indeed I've heard something." Banxi Balang pondered and said, "It is said that because the leaders of two halls within the Green Gang were assassinated."

"Afterwards, for some reason, their subordinates just started fighting."

"Originally it was just a conflict between those two halls, but it gradually escalated into a conflict involving the entire Songhu underworld."

When they heard about this, they were analyzing the information leak and didn't pay attention to the Songhu gang's infighting.

"Teacher is teacher; even without stepping out, you can understand all the major and minor affairs of Songhu." Tufeiyuan Er said, flattering.

"All right, Tufei, now is not the time to talk about this." Banxi Balang crossed his arms, put on a serious expression, and said, "You suddenly brought this up—what are you trying to say?"

Tufeiyuan Er said, "Teacher, I think this might be a good opportunity for us."

"The Songhu gangs are in utter chaos, big and small gangs proliferating; after their disturbance, all gangs are severely weakened, and now is the time to bring them under unified management."

"We can elect a spokesperson to help us procure supplies, manage Songhu's underground order, assist the Locust Army in selling contraband, and earn more military funds."

"Most importantly, it can also have those gangs handle matters we cannot openly undertake."

"Your Excellency, you know that in the concession there are Red Party members hiding; they print newspapers there, spreading propaganda, causing considerable trouble for the Locust Army."

"The Locust Army also finds it inconvenient to make arrests in the concession, but if we let that group of Chinese people do the killing, even that bunch of stupid white pigs won't be able to say anything."

"If they dare come to our turf to make arrests, then we also have justification to take over the public concession."

"Heyo, Mr. Tufei, you've made a good point." Tufeiyuan Er nodded in satisfaction and mused, "But this matter cannot be tied to the military, at least not openly."

"So I am also considering whether we can have Mr. Jingshang assist in fostering a force that would help us with tasks and oversee Songhu's various departments."

"If anyone dares harbor anti-Japanese sentiment, we will immediately arrest them to serve as a warning!"

"Excellent, Mr. Tufei; the Jingshang Residence is a civilian organization—letting them handle this would be even better." Banxi Balang smiled with satisfaction.

"That group of Chinese civilians should be managed by Chinese people!"

"Teacher, your insight is profound; I will go make the arrangements." Tufeiyuan Er added.

……

Chen Yongren, during his time stirring things up in Songhu, took the opportunity to raid many gang warehouses.

The batch of opium sent by the Military Intelligence Bureau was also lost by Chen Yongren under this pretext; because the incident happened suddenly, the Songhu gangs indeed fell into chaos.

Chen Yongren also got away with it, at least for now.

No one suspected him of losing the opium; they just thought it was bad luck.

After all.

Who would have thought that Chen Yongren alone could cause such a commotion?

As for how to respond if we encounter this again, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

……

Tengyuan Jinta's office.

Because of Tufeiyuan Er's arrival, he also moved out of the largest office in the agency.

Now.

He was talking with Chen Yongren.

Chen Yongren had already saved him twice; moreover, Chen Yongren's brave performance in suppressing the gang chaos made Fujiwara Jinta like him even more.

After inquiring about the life of Unit Nine, Fujiwara Jinta shifted the topic to Yugong He ren.

Seeing how honest Yugong Herren was, Tengyuan Jintai naturally had some doubts about his motives.

Secretly ordered Chen Yongren to monitor Yu Gonghe Ren and investigate who he has been in contact with recently.

After all.

After finally watching him fall to the valley bottom, how could I bear to see this guy rise to power again?

Yu Gonghe Ren staying in Songhu is unsafe; the only option is to find a way to completely discharge him from his military post, let him leave Songhu, leave China — that is the best choice.

"Reporting to Major His Excellency, that idiot Yu Gonghe Ren is still the same as before—only outwardly obedient, but privately still scheming how to harm you." Chen Yongren said without changing his expression.