Just as Ning Zhiheng was preparing to re-enter Jiangbei, Shanghai's urban area to conduct reconnaissance, find the next target for demolition, and make contact with He Siming, he was tripped up by something.
Looking at the wiretapped recordings in his hand, Ning Zhiheng asked in a deep voice, "Have you tracked the targets? Can you confirm their identities?"
Huo Yueze nodded and said, "We sent people to follow him. His identity has been confirmed. One of them is Fu Yaozu, a cotton tycoon in Shanghai and a business tycoon in the French Concession. The other is a Japanese. Our people followed him all the way to the Waibaidu Bridge and into the Japanese-occupied area. Because our vehicle was delayed by a Japanese sentry's inspection, we lost track of him and eventually lost him."
It turns out that when the intelligence station first went undercover, Ning Zhiheng used his substantial funds to open several trading companies, restaurants, and dance halls. Among them, the Qingdong Restaurant, due to its luxurious decoration and skillful management, quickly became one of the top restaurants in the area, and its business was always booming.
However, the purpose of setting up these businesses was not only to make money, but more importantly, to plant intelligence agents to infiltrate and secretly collect various military and political intelligence.
Because both Chinese and Japanese people like to discuss matters during meals or banquets, a lot of information is revealed in their conversations.
Therefore, during the renovation of the private rooms and VIP rooms of the Qingdong Grand Hotel, highly sophisticated eavesdropping equipment was installed. The intelligence station spent a large sum of money on these expensive eavesdropping devices alone.
They also deployed dedicated eavesdroppers who would record and transcribe any conversations containing unusual content.
In fact, these devices were installed in the dance halls and cinema private rooms. Among the agents in the intelligence station, there was an agent named Kang Xuezhi who was very skilled in this kind of eavesdropping technology. All of these tasks were arranged by Kang Xuezhi himself. The eavesdropping equipment was set up very discreetly, and the eavesdropping effect was excellent.
Just last night, a conversation in a high-end Japanese-style private room at a restaurant caught the attention of the eavesdropping personnel. They immediately recorded the conversation, and the team leader in charge of the eavesdropping quickly arranged for someone to follow the two guests after they left the restaurant.
Finally, it was discovered that one of the men's cars went directly back to downtown Shanghai in Jiangbei, resulting in them losing track of the other man. The other man's car entered a villa in the French Concession. After inquiring, it was learned that this was the home of Fu Yaozu, a famous cotton tycoon in the French Concession.
Ning Zhiheng looked at the wiretapped record in front of him. The contents were very clear: the Japanese military ordered Fu Yaozu to purchase cotton and various commercial materials in the International Settlement and the French Concession, and to spend a lot of money to help Fu Yaozu become the president of the French Concession Chamber of Commerce, so as to integrate the business community in the concession to serve the Japanese.
In return for the success of the deal, the Japanese guaranteed that Fu Yaozu's properties would not be confiscated by the Japanese in the areas under Japanese control, and would appoint Fu Yaozu as the vice mayor of Shanghai.
It turns out that one of the most important methods used by the Japanese in invading and occupying China was to sustain the war through war.
Simply put, the supplies from the Japanese-occupied territories were used to replenish the massive consumption of the Japanese army. As China's largest distribution center for supplies, Shanghai was naturally turned into a major base for Japan's invasion of China.
However, people from all walks of life in China were against the Japanese in various ways because of their aggression and atrocities against the Chinese people. Merchants in the concessions were even unwilling to sell their goods to the Japanese. Anyone who dared to do so would be despised by everyone.
The Japanese would find it difficult to gather the necessary supplies simply by looting, and this would also damage Shanghai's business environment, which was not what they wanted.
The International Settlement and the French Concession, in particular, were the most prosperous areas in Shanghai, home to many wealthy merchants, numerous industries, and abundant resources, which the Japanese had long coveted.
However, this area was under the jurisdiction of various world powers, and the Japanese could not reach in. So they came up with another important tactic: using Chinese to control Chinese. They supported their own proxies and secretly acquired various materials needed by the Japanese in the concession. At the same time, they gradually controlled the chambers of commerce in the concession, intending to use them for the Japanese. In the end, they chose the cotton tycoon Fu Yaozu.
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