The most difficult part is this: the timing of the contact between the shadow and the farmer is never certain, unless there is important intelligence to be transmitted, which Xia Deyan cannot control in advance.
Lin Hanwen said, "I've heard your description of your rendezvous. After each transmission of intelligence, Shadow would confirm whether you received it. During this time, you had the opportunity to communicate. As long as you responded, you could pass the message on to him."
Xia Deyan thought about it carefully. Every time he received intelligence, he did have a step to confirm the identity, which was to linger under the light for a moment. At that time, the shadow was definitely observing him in the dark. During this time, it was feasible for him to send out intelligence.
Thinking of this, he became excited. It had been almost four years since he first contacted Shadow one-way. How could he not want to have real interaction and contact with Shadow?
He immediately agreed, "Okay, I think this is a good idea! Next time Shadow comes to make contact, I'll try to get in touch with him."
In the morgue of the Shanghai International Settlement Police Headquarters, Luo Xingchao, the head of the First Division of the Special Agent Headquarters, looked at the three corpses in front of him, shook his head helplessly, and turned to Cha Yutang, the chief detective of the police station, and asked, "Chief Detective Cha, isn't it a bit too brazen for Kuomintang agents to assassinate targets in broad daylight in the International Settlement? Have you made any valuable discoveries?"
Today, Luo Xingchao came to the police station in the International Settlement to handle an assassination case. In the period since Li Zhiqun left, the Shanghai station of the Military Intelligence Bureau was quite frightened because the whereabouts of the liaison point were exposed. It temporarily suspended its activities and its troops hid in the International Settlement. Therefore, the public security in the city was relatively good.
However, although Chen Hongchi did not operate in the city, he was not idle in the concession. Recently, seeing that the situation had calmed down, he began to look for targets again. Just this morning, he organized another assassination operation. Sheng Zhiyuan, chairman of the Shanghai West District Business Association, was shot and killed on the street in the International Settlement by Shanghai Station agents. Two bodyguards also died on the spot.
Cha Yutang, the detective chief of the Public Concession Police Station, only needed to inspect the scene to know that it was related to the Military Intelligence Bureau. He then notified the Special Agent Headquarters. Upon hearing the news, Luo Xingchao had no choice but to lead a team to investigate. After inspecting the scene, the handover took place at the police station.
Cha Yutang shook his head and said, "The assassination was carried out swiftly and efficiently, and was completed in the blink of an eye. We finally found two eyewitnesses, who only said that seven or eight strong men attacked at the same time. As soon as the gunshots rang out, they all scattered and fled. We haven't found anyone yet."
Luo Xingchao knew that unless pressure came from the high-ranking officials of the consulate and the Municipal Council, given the efficiency of the police station, this case would probably just be dropped.
Luo Xingchao sighed, complaining, "This Sheng Zhiyuan, instead of staying in the city, insists on coming to the International Settlement. This settlement is a mixed bag, full of all sorts of people, a stronghold of anti-Japanese elements. Is he here to be a sitting duck?"
Sheng Zhiyuan was a prominent figure in the city. He was originally a large merchant, but later he joined the Nanjing puppet government and was given the position of chairman of the Shanghai West District Business Association. He enjoyed his position for less than a year before being assassinated by the Military Intelligence Bureau. It was just bad luck.
Cha Yutang had done some work beforehand and collected a lot of information. Hearing Luo Xingchao say this, he explained from the side: "We have inquired and found that in the past six months, Sheng Zhiyuan has frequently entered the International Settlement and has been lingering on the financial street of Second Road."
"Does he also speculate in stocks?" Luo Xingchao immediately realized that wealthy businessmen in Shanghai are very keen on this now, and it seems that Sheng Zhiyuan is the same.
Stock trading in Shanghai has a long history. The earliest stock exchange was the Shanghai Stock Exchange, organized by foreign merchants. It was named "Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce" and was established in 1905. Its main business scope was stocks and bonds of foreign companies from various parts of the Far East, as well as stocks from Southeast Asia and rubber stocks.
Subsequently, in 1914, Shanghai Chinese merchants established their own Shanghai Chinese Merchants Stock Exchange, which mainly dealt in government bonds. Its business scale even exceeded that of the Shanghai Business Guild, which was run by foreign merchants.
Following this, the Shanghai business community followed suit, resulting in the so-called "trading exchange boom." At its peak, there were more than 110 exchanges of various kinds in Shanghai, about half of which were engaged in securities trading.
However, this trend only lasted for one winter. By 1922, the speculative frenzy had reached its peak, the market bubble began to burst, and exchanges went bankrupt and closed down one after another. The credibility of various securities also began to depreciate. The once booming securities trading fell into difficulties and slumped almost overnight. Nevertheless, Shanghai's status as the national and even Far East securities trading center had been established.
Later, the Battle of Shanghai triggered a full-scale war. The war caused market disorder and stagnation in various industries. After Shanghai fell, the Chinese Stock Exchange ceased operations, and there was no stock exchange in Shanghai's urban area.
Only the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, located in the International Settlement, was less affected because it mainly dealt with foreign companies. In addition, with the support of various countries, it was able to remain in operation.
Later, the concessions became Shanghai's only refuge, and a large number of citizens and wealthy people from all over the country fled to the Shanghai concessions with their funds. This actually promoted the rapid development of various industries in the concessions and made all industries prosperous. Nearly two thousand new factories were established, which was more than twenty times the number before the war.
After transportation routes were restored, Shanghai regained its status as the national trade center, thus forming the period known by historians as the "isolated island prosperity" in the Shanghai concessions.
The rapid development of commerce led to a quick recovery in the securities market. In particular, with the outbreak of the European war last year, speculative funds rushed to buy foreign stocks, resulting in very active trading. Six months later, stocks continued to rise steadily, attracting many businesses to flock to the market.
However, since only the Shanghai Stock Exchange remains, located on Second Road in the International Settlement, which is known as "China's Wall Street," a place where foreign banks and trading companies from various countries gather.
Therefore, many wealthy businessmen and speculators in the city had to enter the International Settlement if they wanted to conduct securities and stock transactions, which gave the Shanghai Station agents an excellent opportunity.
Chen Hongchi seized the opportunity and targeted some people known as traitors, and Sheng Zhiyuan became the first unlucky victim!
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