Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 249 Revenge
"Director Li." Gu Yansheng knocked on Li Shiqun's door.

"You're back?" Li Shiqun smiled as he walked out from behind his desk. "I heard you went to Hong Kong to negotiate with Chongqing? How did it go?"

"Your information network is quite extensive." Apart from the group sent out, very few people in Shanghai know about this. Gu Yansheng joked, "Could it be that your 76th Division has already planted spies in Chiang Kai-shek's bed?"

"Hahaha, I'd like to, but Chiang Kai-shek won't allow it. Sit down." Li Shiqun sat down on the sofa. "The Japanese contacted me not long ago, asking if there was any way to get in touch with the upper echelons of Chongqing through the captured Chongqing elements. I can't help with that."

Contacting Chongqing was not a problem; at least the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) and the Military Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (MMIS) had radios that could receive the original coded messages from their Shanghai station. However, the CBIS and MMIS were still far from Chiang Kai-shek's level.

Once the news broke, many people within those organizations would surely know. The Japanese, fearing the news would spread and Chiang Kai-shek would refuse to discuss it for the sake of his reputation, didn't use this tactic.

"I see." Gu Yansheng nodded and pondered, "You've thought it through. This telegram cannot be sent."

"How are you?"

"Not really." Gu Yansheng then recounted his encounter with the second-generation scion of the Song family.

“Song Ziliang.” Li Shiqun shook his head. “I’m not familiar with this man. I’ve heard some stories about his romantic affairs. He was in Shanghai when I was there, but we were on completely different levels and never had any contact. From what you’ve said, it seems that Chongqing doesn’t want to negotiate anymore?”

"Do you hope for peace talks or not?" Gu Yansheng asked with a playful smile.

Li Shiqun laughed, slapped his thigh, and leaned back on the sofa: "I have a blood feud with Chongqing. How could this peace talk possibly benefit me?"

"The condition the Japanese are now proposing is that Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek form a coalition government. As long as this premise remains, our future is not so bleak."

Li Shiqun nodded slightly, his eyes flashing, and said, "Let them be. Let's not talk about this anymore. Wu Sibao is so happy that you're here. He's asked me several times when you're coming back."

"Why did he contact me?"

“Invest money, didn’t you plan to make a big profit? He’s been busy all this time and has made a sum of money.”

Gu Yansheng chuckled, "Alright, I'll go find him later. By the way, when I came here just now, I heard that someone was going to bomb No. 76, and they were digging it out from the house behind me?"

Li Shiqun hummed in agreement, his smile fading. "Speaking of which, this matter is somewhat related to you. Are you acquainted with Vice Consul Iwai Eiji from the consulate?"

Gu Yansheng raised an eyebrow and said ambiguously, "It's alright. We've met a few times. What's wrong?"

Li Shiqun sneered and mocked, "You know that Iwai Eiichi's Iwai Mansion is in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' intelligence in Shanghai."

"Ah."

“I destroyed Wang Tianmu’s Shanghai district, and the Military Intelligence Bureau wanted to retaliate by bombing No. 76. Logically and motive-wise, there was nothing wrong with it. But after I arrested this person, he said he was one of Iwai Eiichi’s men. When I contacted him, Iwai Eiichi actually came to my door in person and took him away, admitting that he was indeed one of his men.”

"Huh?" Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and said in surprise, "You don't suspect that Iwai Eiichi wants to kill you, do you? That's impossible, there's no motive."

Li Shiqun looked at Gu Yansheng and said, “I checked this person’s registration information. He came to Shanghai at the beginning of the year. According to him, he was an informant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who was infiltrated into the Military Intelligence Bureau. So why did I arrest so many people in the Shanghai area of ​​the Military Intelligence Bureau at this time and get a complete list of personnel, but his name was not on it?”
There's only one explanation: he was directly assigned from Chongqing and has no connection to the Shanghai region.

However, based on the testimonies of so many people in the Shanghai area, the Military Intelligence Bureau must have had other informants in Shanghai. Informants who had no horizontal connections with the Shanghai area, but were responsible for bombings and assassinations, should only be one group of the Iron-Blooded Assassination Corps.

I asked him if he was from the Iron-Blooded Assassination Squad, and he said no, he was just an intelligence agent who gathered information.

Then tell me, why would an intelligence agent like him carry out this kind of bombing and assassination?

Even if Chongqing asked him to do it, Eiichi Iwai is in Shanghai, right? Why didn't he contact them?

If he had contacted them, and Eiichi Iwai knew that he had accepted a mission from the Military Intelligence Bureau to carry out a bombing at No. 76, why didn't he notify us?

The tunnel has been under construction for over a month. It's only a few steps from here to your place; you've had plenty of opportunities to talk about it, but you haven't. Do you think that's reasonable?

“There are some issues with his behavior,” Gu Yansheng frowned, thought for a moment, and said, “Either he didn’t report it, or Iwai…”

To be honest, if you think about it from this perspective, Gu Yansheng, standing in Li Shiqun's position, really does think that Iwai wanted the explosion to succeed.

"But what grudge do you have against Iwai?"

"With so many people in Unit 76, it's not impossible that they offended him somewhere," Li Shiqun said with a mocking laugh.

“I calculated the time he dug the tunnel. That period coincided with Ding Mocun’s large-scale attack on the concession, and I was also cracking down on the Military Intelligence Bureau’s Shanghai branch in the concession. Could it be that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs felt that our actions in the concession were causing them too much trouble, so they wanted to find an opportunity to get rid of me?”

"No way?" Gu Yansheng exclaimed, then immediately declared seriously, "This has nothing to do with me. I didn't arrange for him to dig a tunnel to target the house behind me. Don't overthink it."

"I know it has nothing to do with you."

Li Shiqun knew exactly what Gu Yansheng was like; all he cared about was money, and he was single-mindedly focused on making money. Given Gu Yansheng's status, he had no need to get involved in this kind of thing.

"They'll use us and then discard us, like a rabbit being killed and a dog being cooked. It's not impossible that the Japanese will use us and then throw us away. Now that the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai branch is finished, if I die now, Sassoon will be happy, the concessions will be happy, and maybe the Japanese can even win over a group of merchants in the concessions to vigorously develop the economy and increase tax revenue. Don't you think so?"

Li Shiqun even gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"So this person has arrived at the consulate? I'll ask about it for you when I have the chance." Gu Yansheng knew that Li Shiqun brought this up because he wanted an answer.

"What's this person's name?"

"Yuan Xueyi".

"Okay, I'll ask for you later."

After chatting for a few minutes, Gu Yansheng got up to go find Wu Sibao. Just as he stepped out the door, the phone in Li Shiqun's office rang.

Immediately following was Li Shiqun's furious roar: "Who? Who's dead?"

Judging from the tone of his voice, the dead man was one of Li Shiqun's men, so Gu Yansheng didn't bother listening and went to find Wu Sibao.

"Sibao." Gu Yansheng had just reached the door to knock when he saw Wu Sibao on the phone.

Wu Sibao's face showed shock and anger, exactly the same as Li Shiqun's. "Who died? I'm coming right away."

With a snap, Wu Sibao slammed down the phone and hurried out, not even bothering with Gu Yansheng.

"Wait for me, I'm going to see the director first, something happened at home."

"Wait, what happened?" Gu Yansheng tugged at him, very curious.

Wu Sibao frowned. "My father-in-law was killed by the Military Intelligence Bureau."

"Ah? Then hurry up and go." Gu Yansheng watched Wu Sibao leave with a worried expression as he went to find Ding Mocun to chat about this fun.

"Director Ding."

"Oh, you're finally back." Ding Mocun was in a great mood when he saw Gu Yansheng. He couldn't wait to close the door and whisper to him, "News just came from Hankou. The ship has arrived. We're sure to make money off the entire shipment of medicine this time."

"Okay, so we'll make a profit of $30,000, right?" Gu Yansheng was in a good mood after hearing that.

Ding Mocun scoffed disdainfully, "What 30,000? It's 45,000. Add to that the goods they brought to Shanghai to sell, and we'll make at least 50,000 US dollars from this deal."

"You're so happy over 50,000? Look at you, so naive." Gu Yansheng smiled and nodded, then said seriously, "I just came from Wu Sibao's place. He said his father-in-law was killed."

"Ji Yunqing was killed?" Ding Mocun was surprised to hear this. "When did this happen?"

"Just now, I don't know the specifics."

As they were talking, a commotion broke out outside.

Ding Mocun and Gu Yansheng exchanged a glance, opened the door and went out to see that the action team was assembling in the courtyard downstairs. Li Shiqun was giving orders with a serious expression, Wu Sibao was shouting that he wanted revenge, and the team members hurriedly got into the car and drove off in a hurry.

"He's really dead." Ding Mocun murmured, then instructed Tang Huimin, one of his subordinates who was watching the commotion, "Old Tang, Ji Yunqing is dead. Find out what happened."

"Okay, I'll check now."

"Come on, let's go inside and talk." Ding Mocun turned and went back into the house, frowning slightly as he pondered: "It's probably because Li Shiqun has been making too many moves lately, and it's the Military Intelligence Bureau's retaliation against them. It could also be because the new district chief of Shanghai has arrived and wants to make a name for himself."

"I remember Ji Yunqing was Wu Sibao's master in the Green Gang, right?" Gu Yansheng recalled that Wen Yan, who was researching information, had mentioned it before when they were looking up a lost car.

“Yes.” Ding Mocun nodded. “Ji Yunqing is Wu Sibao’s master and father-in-law. Wu Sibao’s wife, She Aizhen, is Ji Yunqing’s adopted daughter.”

"What is the relationship between Ji Yunqing and Li Shiqun?" Gu Yansheng thought that Li Shiqun was also heartbroken. He was Wu Sibao's father-in-law. What was he heartbroken about? It was very strange.

"Li Shiqun also acquainted with Ji Yunqing in the Green Gang."

Li Shiqun was able to come to Shanghai and have so many Green Gang disciples because of Ji Yunqing's help. Ji Yunqing's seniority in the Green Gang was no lower than that of the three big bosses, but his power was not as great as theirs.

Huang Jinrong had the French Concession as his backer, Zhang Xiaolin had the Japanese as his backer, and Du Yuesheng fled to Chongqing, leaving behind subordinates who could also be considered to have the Kuomintang's backer.

So what does Ji Yunqing rely on?
When Li Shiqun arrived, relying on the 76th Division, and also needing his Green Gang influence to establish a foothold in Shanghai, wasn't this a perfect match? Otherwise, why do you think Wu Sibao and he were in cahoots? They were from the same school.

Then Gu Yansheng understood, "Li Shiqun was too ruthless towards the Military Intelligence Bureau, and the Military Intelligence Bureau wanted to retaliate against him, but Li Shiqun himself was very careful, and the Military Intelligence Bureau could not find an opportunity. So, in a fit of anger, the Military Intelligence Bureau set its sights on Ji Yunqing?"

“Very likely.” Ding Mocun nodded in agreement, “I think a master must have come from the Shanghai region.”

"Why do you say that?" Gu Yansheng sat down.

Ding Mocun analyzed, "Look, the benefits of killing Ji Yunqing are huge. Ji Yunqing is the pillar of Li Shiqun and Wu Sibao in the Green Gang. With Ji Yunqing, the Green Gang disciples will be able to be mobilized by him."

The Military Intelligence Bureau operates in the shadows and is not usually afraid of the 76th Division. They can just hide when trouble comes, right?
But with Green Gang members all over Shanghai, how could they hide?
There was no way to hide; even the rickshaw pullers could be informants for the Green Gang. There was simply no way to avoid them.

Now that Ji Yunqing is dead, will his former subordinates start fighting amongst themselves for power? If they do, Li Shiqun will lose his grip on the Green Gang.

"Brilliant move! The Military Intelligence Bureau made the right decision to kill Ji Yunqing."

Ding Mocun couldn't help but sigh.

"Hearing you say that, it really is true." Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and asked, "Did anyone from the Shanghai district come? Didn't they say they arrested someone named Hai Lilang? Do they know what the new district head's name is? What kind of weird name is that? How can someone have that name?"

“Wan Lilang,” Ding Mocun chuckled. “A deputy captain of a military intelligence action team. Actually, the person we set the trap to capture was the captain of the action team, but who knew that Wan Lilang would jump in.”

However, these people were all from the old Shanghai district and had not yet been apprehended. They also did not know whether the new district head of Shanghai had arrived.

Whatever, we'll just be doing these kinds of things anyway, so who cares if he comes or not.

“What do you mean by ‘I don’t care if he comes or not’?” Gu Yansheng listened with particular seriousness. “If he does come, then we’ll have to guard against their assassination attempts. People in Ji Yunqing’s position definitely have a lot of bodyguards. Now that he’s dead, if it was really the new district head who did it, then I’ll have to stay away from you guys.”

"Is it really necessary?" Ding Mocun chuckled. Gu Yansheng was indeed a coward.

"I value my life, so I'm leaving. I'm not staying here with you guys anymore. I need to find a way to make money."

Gu Yansheng got up, dusted himself off, and left.

"What money? Count me in!" Ding Mocun immediately perked up.

Gu Yansheng sneered disdainfully, "It's not that I don't want to take you, but with your paltry numbers, you're still floating on the river, not enough to make a difference."

Ding Mocun was deeply hurt. He earned tens of thousands of dollars in a single business deal, yet he was still looked down upon. He couldn't help but scoff, "Is Li Shiqun the only one with money?"

“Yes.” Gu Yansheng admitted frankly, leaned closer and poked Ding Mochun’s lungs in a low voice, and said, “His wife manages the finances. Once the funds from your No. 76 are taken out and passed through his hands, the money he earns becomes his own money.”

"Using public funds for private purposes, aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?" Ding Mochun was even more displeased upon hearing this. He was the director, and this money should have been his.

"As long as investments are sound, what could possibly go wrong? Why not make money if you can't?"

Having completed his routine of sowing discord, Gu Yansheng left.

Having learned about the recent activities of No. 76, Gu Yansheng returned to the teahouse first and invited Lu Bowen to dinner to learn about the cotton yarn matter.

"Are the preparations going smoothly?"

"Smoothly, Fu Xiao'an released the news of a bumper cotton yarn harvest, and the price of cotton yarn futures fell smoothly. We have bought almost everything we needed, and we even leveraged $20. The average price is about 70."

In Shanghai, as well as Suzhou, Nanjing and other places, there have been rumors that some people have been communicating with merchants to raise prices together.

So after a brief dip, prices have risen quite quickly in the last two weeks. A bale of cotton yarn has now gone from 70 to 120 dollars, and our $20 has already doubled. An even bigger rally could happen at any time.

Fu Xiao'an was in charge of the specifics.

My status is quite different from his, so I can only find out through your secretary. He won't tell me on his own initiative; you'll have to ask him for details.

(End of this chapter)