When Ning Zhiheng started using the identity of Fujiwara no Tomohito, it was only to assassinate the traitor Yu Li. He spent money to buy this identity from the Japanese immigration registration office and didn't care too much about whether the identity was real or fake.
However, he later met Uehara Junpei, the head of intelligence for the Japanese military, by a twist of fate, and from that moment on he began to realize the importance of this identity.
Indeed, that was the case. Relying on his status as a fallen nobleman's son and using the name of Uehara Junpei, he gradually rose to become a pivotal figure in the upper echelons of Japanese society in Shanghai over the years.
This identity was arguably his most important weapon and reliance. Given Ning Zhiheng's cautious nature, how could he allow a problem to arise in this detail?
Therefore, he had done very detailed preparations beforehand, and there were no problems in Shanghai. The household registration clerk had replaced his photo in the original household registration file, and all the information could withstand scrutiny. In the end, he even killed the household registration clerk.
If there is a problem, it can only be within Japan. Ning Zhiheng has sent people to Japan many times to investigate Fujiwara Tomohito's life and history.
In fact, Fujiwara no Tomohito has no history worth investigating. His life story is extremely simple: he was an ordinary family of four living in the countryside near Kyoto, relying on each other for survival.
The Fujiwara family was a prominent clan for a thousand years, thriving in the Kyoto area. Their collateral branches were like the branches at the very top of a towering tree, numbering in the countless. Who would care about the lives of those who weren't direct descendants?
Therefore, the family's life was not easy. When Fujiwara Tomohito was twelve years old, his parents died one after another in an epidemic, and his sister was forced to marry far away due to poverty. With the family's meager assets, Fujiwara Tomohito barely completed his studies. His frail body also prevented him from being admitted to a military academy, which at that time had very strict requirements.
Life became even more difficult afterward. The explosive growth of Japan's population made life increasingly difficult for disadvantaged groups with low competitiveness. Without industry, without jobs, and without relatives, Fujiwara Tomohito was desperate. At this time, the Japanese government encouraged these propertyless and jobless people to immigrate to China. This is how the reclamation groups in Northeast China and the immigrant areas in Shanghai came about.
In order to make a living, Fujiwara Tomohito, at the age of nineteen, took the immigration subsidy issued by the government and boarded a passenger ship bound for Shanghai, China. As a result, he, who was frail and sickly, fell seriously ill on the ship and died in the immigrant hospital not long after disembarking, ending his ordinary, lonely and short life.
It can be said that Fujiwara Tomohito's life was a tragic one. He held the title of a member of the Fujiwara family, but no one cared about him. The Fujiwara family could hardly care about a nobody from a distant rural village.
He never visited the main family residence in Kyoto in his entire life. If it weren't for the fact that his surname contained the character Fujiwara, he would never have realized that he had any connection with those high-ranking main families.
Therefore, in the direct line of the Fujiwara family, there is no record of Fujiwara Tomohito, a nobody. In a thousand-year-old lineage, if all the collateral descendants could be registered, how could they possibly be all recorded?
Fujiwara Tomohito's records are only found in the local government's household registration information. Ironically, these records were given to Fujiwara Tomohito when he applied for immigration and he took them to China. He needed these records to register and obtain a new overseas household registration certificate at the Shanghai Immigration and Household Registration Management Office.
Therefore, there are no detailed records of Fujiwara Tomohito in Japan to prove his identity, which is what puts Ning Zhiheng at ease.
The remaining possible omission is Fujiwara no Tomohito's sister, who married far away. However, this sister married into Nagano when Fujiwara no Tomohito was twelve years old. Japanese women had a low status, and after marrying into her husband's family, she never had the opportunity to return to Kyoto. At most, they exchanged a few letters. Later, when Fujiwara no Tomohito immigrated to Shanghai, the contact was broken.
Therefore, in this era without computers and big data, without original files and sufficient household registration certificates, it is extremely difficult to verify the authenticity of Fujiwara Tomohito's identity in both Japan and China.
Of course, just in case, Ning Zhiheng still tried his best to collect some information and data about Fujiwara Tomohito, such as which school he attended, information about some of his neighbors in his hometown, and some local conditions. He had prepared all of this. In addition, Ning Zhiheng had memorized some information about the Fujiwara family that He Siming had collected later, and he believed that he could conceal the truth from the past.
Therefore, he was mentally prepared for the arrival of the real Fujiwara family members, especially since these high-ranking direct descendants probably had never even heard of him!
"Uncle, may I ask which important figure from the Fujiwara family has come to Shanghai? Is there anything important on their mind?" Ning Zhiheng asked calmly.
Uehara Junpei smiled and said, "He is one of the representative figures of the Fujiwara family in this generation, and also a member of the Imperial House of Peers, Mr. Fujiwara Hirofumi. As for the reason for his visit to Shanghai, I cannot say for now, but you will find out soon!"
The Japanese House of Peers is similar in nature to the British House of Lords, with its members being non-elected members of the imperial family and nobility, and most members serving lifetime terms.
As one of Japan's top noble families, the Fujiwara family held regency for over 300 years in Japanese history, second only to the imperial family. Naturally, they wielded considerable influence in the House of Nobles, and several members of the family held important positions in the Japanese high-ranking government, including Fujiwara Hirofumi.
Ning Zhiheng was also familiar with the Fujiwara family's situation, and he was secretly surprised. Could such an important person have come to Shanghai for something important?
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
