Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 234 Pick-up
Teahouse.

Gu Yansheng learned that Li Shiqun had returned.

His return was not surprising. It is true that Li Shiqun had contact with the Military Intelligence Bureau. However, Li Shiqun also arrested members of the Military Intelligence Bureau in subsequent operations, which is something he can easily distance himself from.

Yu Xiangqin has not been arrested yet, so it is impossible to kill Li Shiqun based on a single report.

But the fact that he was able to return so quickly proves that Li Shiqun really took good care of Qing Qiqing.

However, since the Military Police Command was mobilized and Li Shiqun was indeed interrogated for a day, Gu Yansheng deduced that Li Shiqun's contact with the Military Intelligence Bureau had not been reported in advance.

It is a major taboo for an agent not to report and to contact other organizations, especially since Li Shiqun himself is a rebel.

This time, the loyalty of those Japanese at the Military Police Headquarters to Li Sang is probably questionable.

Putting aside the matter of the Special Agent Headquarters for the time being, having done what needed to be done, having helped the Military Intelligence Bureau, and having already stirred up trouble between Ding Mocun and Li Shiqun, Gu Yansheng didn't plan to do anything more; he would just watch the show first.

For three consecutive days, Li Shiqun rearranged personnel and took control of the Military Intelligence Bureau's arrest operations, clearly intending to suppress Ding Mocun's resurgence of influence.

Ding Mocun was not to be outdone. He hadn't reported the incident, but he couldn't explain it now, and he couldn't explain it to Li Shiqun either. Explaining it would be a cover-up, and it would be a sign of his guilty conscience.

Why should the head of the Special Agents Headquarters have to explain himself to a deputy head?

Ding Mocun is in charge of both the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Municipal Council of the Concession. He wants to rapidly expand his gains and regain his former glory at the Special Agent Headquarters.

Ding Mocun took some time to tell Gu Yansheng about the progress of pressuring the Municipal Council.

“Now I’ve suppressed those people in the Public Works Bureau so much that they don’t dare to leave the house. Don’t worry, they will definitely have to leave, but as long as they want to leave, they have to give in to me. Then, you can put your propaganda slogans wherever you want.”

What else could Gu Yansheng say but thank you and tell Ding Mocun not to be too ruthless?

In order to completely subdue the British directors, Ding Mocun even killed the British police officers.

It wasn't that they were planning to kill him; they had already killed him.

The British members of the Municipal Council, seeking armed protection under the threat of No. 76, certainly trusted their own army and police more.

British police used to rely on Chinese police officers, and of course, Indian police officers as well.

But the Chinese police officers aren't stupid. They're just trying to make a living by getting paid. Even when they're asked to maintain order and catch thieves, they still have to consider the Green Gang's influence before deciding whether to make an arrest.

To ask them to deal with 76 agents would be giving them too much credit.

Chinese police officers are paid less than Indian officers, so why should they risk their lives?
So the British police had to go themselves, and ended up running into Ding Mocun during a time of great upheaval, where they were killed in the street.

Ding-ling-ling. Ding-ling-ling.

Gu Yansheng answered the phone, "Hello."

Hasegawa: "Mr. Gu, Mr. Wang's private jet has taken off from Japan. Could you please help with the pick-up arrangements?"

"Okay, I'll arrange it."

Gu Yansheng put down the phone and calculated the time. Judging from the time, the two sides had been talking for half a month, which was not a short time.

When I had dinner with Wang Ni last time, he said that the discussions were almost complete and that going to Japan would just involve signing a contract. However, judging from the length of the negotiations, it was clearly not as smooth as he claimed.

Notify Wang Jingwei's associates in Shanghai and reporters from the China Daily to go to the airport to pick him up.

The plane landed, the cabin door opened, and Wang Ni stepped out. Reporters snapped photos, and officials rushed to greet him. "Mr. Wang, Mr. Zhou," a group of officials, intuitively believing the negotiations would go well, greeted him with smiles.

They kept saying they welcomed Mr. Wang back to Shanghai.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Wang."

"Mr. Wang has worked so hard, traveling thousands of miles for the great cause of building a peaceful nation."

"Mr. Wang, how did the negotiations go?"

A bunch of sycophants crowded around Wang Ni.

But Gu Yansheng was different. He came to Minister Zhou's side with a smile, and his main target was Minister Zhou.

"Minister, I've already arranged the dinner at the Chinachem Hotel. We can head there now. Would you like to arrange for everyone to go home, take a shower, and rest first?"

"Now that everything is arranged, let's go eat."

Minister Zhou smiled and said, "I didn't sleep well or eat well outside either. Let's go back to sleep after we finish eating. I'll go and tell Mr. Wang."

Minister Zhou whispered something to Wang Ni, and seeing Wang Ni nod, everyone set off for the restaurant.

"Yansheng, sit with me."

Gu Yansheng got into Minister Zhou's car, as Minister Zhou was eager to learn about the situation in Shanghai.

However, Gu Yansheng asked first, "Minister, how did the negotiations go?"

Answering the truth completely was not going smoothly, and Japan did not make many concessions in the subsequent negotiations.

As a result, signing a contract according to the Japanese would make Mr. Wang lose face, and might discourage those who came to seek refuge from coming, or even prevent them from coming at all. Even those who had already come, like the Shanghai locals such as Gu Yansheng and Fu Xiao'an, might not offer any help.

Therefore, those who went to Japan have now reached a private agreement that, apart from the normal terms already announced to their subordinates, the harsh terms that the Japanese added later need not be known to others.

But Gu Yansheng was different; after considering it, Minister Zhou decided to speak up.

First, Gu Yansheng will know about the Japanese sending advisors in the future, as long as he becomes the minister; it can't be hidden. Second, it's also a test of sincerity; if he changes his mind sooner or later, it's better to change his mind sooner rather than later.

Minister Zhou paused for a moment and then said, "There were smooth sailings and unsmooth sailings. The smooth sailing is that the Japanese cabinet has no objection to our establishment of a single government, and all departments support it. The unsmooth sailing is that the military has temporarily added a new system."

Minister Zhou explained the advisory system that the Japanese had temporarily added.

"Mr. Wang's relaxed attitude at the airport was mostly for comfort. During this trip to Japan, we have been under tremendous pressure in every negotiation."

Even though Gu Yansheng was somewhat prepared, he was still shocked by Wang Ni's weakness. Did such conditions still need to be negotiated?

If the Japanese had offered such conditions, we should have returned. Why have we stayed for so long? Isn't this a deliberate show of weakness?
Even if Gu Yansheng disregarded his own identity and stance, and considered it from the perspective of a traitor wholeheartedly devoted to Wang Wang, he still felt that this condition was too harsh.

"Aren't these conditions too harsh? Mr. Wang signed them?"

"Not yet. We also need to strive for the greatest benefit, let the Japanese wait and see, and not rush to sign a contract. Anyway, let's just do our own thing first."

Gu Yansheng shook his head with a sigh upon hearing this, "It's still too harsh. Logically speaking, the Japanese want to use Chinese to control Chinese. Mr. Wang is of great importance to them. It's normal for the Japanese to propose an advisory system. But surely they could have negotiated some of the terms?"
Why wouldn't the Japanese concede? Have they been staying too long?

(End of this chapter)