Chapter 989: , let Uesugi come up with something big, hurry up!

PS：Today my brother got beaten up badly, the Emperor is crying his heart out, feeling terrible, so I'll post one chapter first, and resume two chapters tomorrow!

This world is too crazy, rats giving cats bridal attendants!

Looking forward to Oowada's return!

Is Hanzawa trying to be Wang Anshi? Has he gone mad! This is Japan! Not some other country! Didn't you see how Emperor Renzong of Song, that weak waste, ruled for decades, causing the army to exceed 1.5 million, with the court gaining one or two top-rank officials each year, court spending skyrocketing, torture restored, seeking peace abroad while suffering humiliation, and domestically imposing harsh taxes and extortions, completely unrestrained against the civil servant group, but after he died and was replaced by Emperor Shenzong, everyone started missing the Renzong era and stopped messing around?

The Cabinet Secretary familiar with the History of Song couldn't help but grit his teeth while thinking.

Wang Anshi's historical evaluation is actually not good; he is a highly controversial figure, especially for a place like Japan with its innate conservatism, where Wang Jinggong's historical evaluation has mostly been poor, and only in modern times, due to the need for reform, did Wang Anshi's reform measures align with some modern standards, gradually improving his reputation, but in modern Japan, which is becoming conservative again, Wang Anshi's reputation has plummeted once more. There's no way—state affairs are only about war and sacrifice, and Wang Anshi failed at both, especially military capability.

If the military can't fight, there are no human rights; a typical example is Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi and Japan's Emperor Go-Daigo—both excelled in diplomacy and domestic affairs, but their military capabilities were abysmal…… Zhao Guangyi's "donkey cart meme" has lasted a thousand years without fading, and Emperor Go-Daigo earned the title "Great Tengu," forever serving as a negative example.

Also, everyone has their own thoughts.

Good, Hanzawa, you have yours, and I have mine!

After leaving the Prime Minister's office, Onoda Kimiaki did not return directly to his own Cabinet Secretariat office.

He turned twice down the corridor, swiped his card at a security door, and entered a windowless small meeting room, hidden deep in the east wing of the official residence, usually used to handle matters "unsuitable for formal discussion."

Ryotei politics and backroom politics are traditions of Japanese politics, which must be experienced.

He had the secretary stand guard at the door, then made two phone calls.

The first call was to Police Commissioner Watanabe Eiji.

The second call was to Vice Minister of Finance Okada Masahide.

Forty minutes later, the three people sat around a round table in a dark room.

Something happened, something big happened!

Onoda Kimiaki repeated word for word what Hanzawa Naoki had said in the Prime Minister's office, without adding or omitting anything. After finishing the last word, he picked up the cup of cold tea, took a sip, then put it down, crossed his hands on the desk surface, and looked at the two people opposite him. Watanabe Eiji leaned back in his chair, propping his chin with his hand; he is also fifty-five this year, his posture still upright, his short hair mixed with a few strands of gray-white, his gaze calm and sharp.

After hearing that, he remained silent for a long time, then slowly asked in a tone as if confirming he had misheard: "He wants to move the national debt? Is he serious?"

"National debt." Onoda Kanbocho nodded: "The kind that's 260% of GDP."

Japan's total national debt amounts to 1200 trillion yen.

Watanabe Eiji and Okada Masahide instantly leaned back in their chairs tactically, exchanged a glance, and were speechless.

"Does he know what that means?" Okada Masahide sat beside Watanabe, in his fifties, slender build, sharp cheekbones, wearing thin-framed silver glasses, his voice more solemn than Watanabe's, but the tremor in his tone no less: "The national debt replacement plan involves reassessing state assets, restructuring local debt, adjusting the asset side of the pension system—each of these requires at least seven legal amendments, involving jurisdictional reorganization of at least three ministries. Even if, as acting Prime Minister, he has the power to issue temporary orders, what about the Diet? The general election is at year-end—does he plan to settle all this within six months?"

"And wouldn't such a move offend voters terribly?" Watanabe Eiji added: "Everyone knows welfare can only increase, not decrease, and this isn't Russia—does he plan to act like Putin, playing at being a good tsar, a bad grand duke?"

"He doesn't intend to settle it." Onoda Kanbocho said helplessly: "He just wants to dig away the foundation. His exact words were 'Let the next person have no way to avoid it.' In other words, he wants to dig up all the pits before the year-end election—either the next person jumps in, or the next person backs down. Either way, the people will see who started it."

"Maximum pressure?" Watanabe Eiji instantly thought of the U. S. president: "Our national conditions are different! Party president..."

"Let me speak." Okada Masahide, Ministry of Finance official, interrupted Watanabe Eiji: "I understand this man Hanzawa. He's not the type to make big moves just to show off. He does this because he truly feels he has no choice. But the problem is, doing this means the entire Cabinet's attention will be sucked into economic policy, the national debt bill, and budget adjustments for the next few months, leaving no political resources to handle anything else."

"Perhaps that's exactly what he wants." Onoda Kanbocho nodded.

The three fell silent.

Then it began again: temporary institutions becoming permanent, permanent institutions becoming sinecures, the secretary department gaining real power, the inspection department becoming localized.

Put simply, if Hanzawa, as Finance Minister, pushes this through, he will definitely establish some special agency, and this department will then hollow out the existing Cabinet Secretariat and...

"So I called you here." Onoda Kanbocho said.

Watanabe Eiji glanced at him, said nothing.

His gaze carried a kind of "go on, continue" scrutiny, along with some confusion.

"You looking for Okada the official I understand—he's a vice minister—but you looking for me?"

"I'm the Police Commissioner, buddy!"

Police organizations should not have political stances, or should minimize them; compared to Onoda's police-state ambitions, Watanabe Eiji personally dislikes police states, and the terror of the Special Higher Police is deeply rooted in Japanese memory.

Onoda Kanbocho leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice: "Watanabe, do you have any cases on your hands?"

"Huh?!" Watanabe Eiji stared, dumbfounded like a dog.

"A big case. Big enough to force the Cabinet to respond, to temporarily shift focus from economic policy—no matter what, whether it's an attempted assassination of the U. S. Secretary of State, a serial murder case, Cabinet ministers spiraling upward, as long as it makes the media explode for three to five days, the Cabinet's agenda will be disrupted. Hanzawa's 'national debt replacement plan' would be pushed to the third page of the newspaper. We need to buy time."

Watanabe Eiji's chin tightened hard, he looked at Onoda's expression as if looking at a stranger: "Does the Cabinet Secretary mean we should have the Police Agency proactively look for a case? Proactively create a 'major event requiring Cabinet response'?"

"I didn't tell you to create it, don't spout nonsense, Watanabe-kun—I just told you to seek out and expose..." Onoda Kanbocho immediately corrected his wording, though his urgency made him overlook it: "It's 'discover.' Quickly discover an existing, sufficiently large case, then report it loudly."

"Do you know how the Korean Prosecution Office works? They're good at, before a major uproar, 'coincidentally' digging up major corruption cases or explosive entertainment scandals—what was it, the Lee Seungri case, the TOP drug case, Goo Hara and that Choi whoever... anyway, using media explosions to shift public focus." Onoda Kanbocho sneered: "Koreans are just like that—when something big happens, they start shouting 'Dokdo' or 'Takeshima'?" Watanabe Eiji fell silent for a long time.

He turned his head to glance at Okada Masahide beside him; Okada Masayoshi's father pushed up his glasses, expressed no opinion, but also didn't shake his head—this in itself was a silent approval.

Sure enough, Nagatacho actually doesn't care about the people's lives or deaths at all, unless they die right on top of them.

Watanabe Eiji felt somewhat uneasy in his heart.

Power gradually corrupts a person.

Initially, Park Kakaka's Minister of National Defense, Ryu Jae-hyeon, was a tough guy in the military, but after a few years in politics, he became a cowardly bureaucrat; Kim Gye-won, head of the secretary office, was also a military tough guy, but after a few years in politics, he too became a cowardly bureaucrat.

Watanabe Eiji's reliance on not becoming a cowardly bureaucrat is that he has a good son.

But such things—if you don't do it, plenty of people want to!

If you don't want to be Police Commissioner, plenty of people want to be!

The Police Commissioner finally took a deep breath, exhaling with a barely perceptible sigh: "Cabinet Secretary,"

He chose his words carefully: "You're asking a Police Commissioner to 'proactively look for a case'—do you know what I'll become if this gets out?"

This is calling in a favor.

"It won't leak, don't worry." Onoda Kanbocho's voice was steady and firm: "Only three people are in this room. And we three don't want to see Hanzawa's Cabinet drive this car into a ditch before the year-end election, right?"

Okada Masahide nodded.

Even a foolish consensus is still a consensus, let alone one shared by these three.

Watanabe Eiji fell silent for a few more seconds, then said: "Alright, I'll try."

His voice carried a hint of helplessness: "But I can't guarantee I'll find anything. The Special Mission Division—my son-in-law is on vacation lately, and he just came back from Fukuoka, probably exhausted enough to snap."

"Isn't he quite capable of investigating?" Onoda Kanbocho said with a neither-yin-nor-yang tone: "Let him investigate! Let heroes investigate heroes, let good men investigate good men! Let heroes investigate heroes, let good men investigate good men! We in Nagatacho and Minato Ward are all heroes and good men!"

"You know better than I do, your son-in-law is the person in all of Japan most skilled at 'finding big cases.' Isn't he a legendary forensic doctor? A forensic doctor's office never lacks corpses, isn't he the police's final weapon? Then open fire!"

"If it really won't work, your Absolute Dual Pride, that Beri-something, can also be let out to bite people~"

Watanabe Eiji gave a bitter smile, did not deny it, and stood up: "Alright, I'll do my best."

The meeting dispersed.

When he walked out of that small meeting room, Okada Masahide came up and patted Watanabe Eiji on the shoulder: "You've worked hard."

"Not hard, just, I don't know how to tell Uesugi Muneyuki about this, you know Uesugi Muneyuki's temperament, that person..." Watanabe Eiji took out his phone, scrolled to Uesugi Muneyuki's number, stared at that string of digits for a good while, and ultimately did not dial out. He put his phone back in his pocket and walked toward the elevator with Okada Masahide.

He understood Okada Masahide's meaning—Minami was pregnant, Masayoshi was acting section chief, and if they didn't aggressively boost performance now, when would they? Truly, everyone's interests differ!

Watanabe Eiji saw Okada Masahide off, gave a bitter laugh.

I have walked through life as if on thin ice; you say I can reach the opposite shore?

Uesugi Muneyuki returned to Tokyo the next day.

The heavy-flavor ramen of Fukuoka and the scent of North Kyushu sunshine still lingered on his shirt, but he had already changed into that signature dark gray three-piece suit.

Today he came to Fuji TV because the variety show version of *Hand of God* was to record a special episode—one, a pre-release warm-up interview for the theatrical version—although the lines were few but the popularity high, the director said: "Uesugi-san must come, otherwise this episode cannot be recorded."

Having come, we came.

Due to Tei Reiji's pregnancy, the female anchor was replaced by Hisaka Akiko; Uesugi Muneyuki naturally did not refuse anyone, and went all out with this one of Fuji TV's Four Little Flowers in the green room, and upon feeling refreshed and invigorated, he also entered the sage time.

Well, what should we do next?

And as he walked into the backstage hallway of Fuji TV, he heard movement nearby.

The doors of the makeup rooms and break rooms were arranged in a row on both sides, some half-open, revealing people inside: talents touching up their makeup in front of mirrors, agents making calls, assistants organizing clothes on hangers.

The air was mixed with the scent of setting spray and coffee, blending into a unique atmosphere only found backstage at a television station.

When he passed the third break room, he heard a female voice coming from inside.

That voice was fierce and carried undisguised dissatisfaction, the volume kept low, but the anger in the tone was audible to all: "Not selected again? Fourth time! What exactly are they picking? Acting skills? Topic popularity? Or 'not obedient enough'?"

"Erika, calm down..." another voice urged, that of an agent, somewhat uneasy: "The directing team said this casting leans toward a 'fresh and natural' style, your drama from two years ago might have a somewhat..."

"Somewhat what? When I played villains they said I was 'too sharp,' when I played gentle roles they said I was 'not natural enough,' when I played action scenes they said I was 'not flexible enough.' They just don't want to pick me, then find a hundred excuses." That female voice gave a cold laugh: "*Hand of God* theatrical version? This drama hasn't even started filming and is already the industry's focus—who wouldn't want to ride this heat? What am I? I've been in the entertainment industry for so many years, I can't even get a cameo role."

"Damn, in the drama everyone's a wooden structure with legs spread wide, squirting water at Uesugi! All day just oh purchase oh purchase wooden beads!" Erika Sawajiri said angrily: "Look at those women in the drama—Shirakawa Mai, Miyawaki Sakura, Eto Miyabi, Tei Reiji, and that cameo Yamada Nanase! All TMD are Uesugi's women!"

Really!

Well, Yamada Nanase really isn't!!

This Uesugi has a conscience! Doesn't touch widows!

Uesugi Muneyuki slowed his steps a little.

He tilted his head and, through the gap of the half-open door, saw the woman speaking.

Indeed, it was Erika Sawajiri.

She was wearing an ivory white bandeau dress today, the neckline revealing a slender section of collarbone, the waistline drawn in extremely tight, the hem sitting three inches above the knee, without stockings.

Her hair was cut to a clean shoulder-length, the ends slightly curled inward, forming a soft arc above the shoulders.

She sat before the makeup mirror, holding a lipstick in her hand but not applying it, another hand propping her chin, the lines at the corners of her eyes carrying anger. She had clearly tried out for roles multiple times on her own initiative, but was simply not given a chance!

Insulting to people is, she actively threw herself into his embrace, yet Uesugi actually looked down on her!

More insulting to people is, that Zhou Xiao also looked down on her!

Most insulting of all is, she recently hooked up with that Maeda Toshihide from the Special Mission Division, and the result was Maeda Toshihide firmly insisted on wearing a condom, otherwise he feared getting sick!

Ah Ah Ah! I'm dying of anger!!!!

And after Uesugi Muneyuki heard this content, he suddenly opened the true vision of the Horse Head Wisdom King.

Ay ya, I've recently just wanted to stir up some big news in the entertainment circle!

This not have it then!!!!!