cicada

Chapter 1005 Hidden danger
Jinling.

Since the heinous crime committed by the Japanese, Jinling, the former capital of the Republic of China, has been reduced to a dead city. The corpses of civilians killed by the Japanese army and the ruins of bombed buildings can be seen everywhere.

The surviving people left the corpses to rot in the streets, emitting a sickening smell, because without Japanese permission, they could do nothing, including burying the remains.

In fact, in the months after the crime, Japanese trucks drove through the nearly one-meter-thick pile of corpses under the Yijiang Gate for several days in a row, crushing the corpses to show the people what the fate of the rebels would be.

In the first half of the 27th year of the Republic of China, except for a military store opened by the Japanese army and a rice store opened by the International Committee of the Safety Zone, no store was open for business in the city, and commercial activities came to a standstill.

There was no ship in Jinling Port, because all the moving ships were either taken away by the government or sunk by Japanese bombers. The crew also suffered heavy casualties.

In addition, the devils rounded up and executed hundreds of employees of Chinese nationality in power plants, telephone bureaus, and water plants, causing water and electricity cutoffs in most parts of the city, all telephone calls in the city were suspended, and order disappeared.

Due to the lack of running water, not only could the common people not wash and cook, but it was also difficult to take a bath, although many women would rather not take a bath, hoping to use their dirty bodies to dispel certain ideas of the Japanese.

It was not until the second half of the 27th year of the Republic of China that the city gradually regained its vitality. People who had lost their jobs and families searched carefully in unoccupied houses and stole anything useful.

They dismantled the wooden floors and windows in the ruins for firewood, carried away the bricks to repair their own houses, pried off metals and sold them to others on the street, and tried their best to use all available items.

On Hushang Road in the International Security Zone, hundreds of peddlers are selling any imaginable stolen goods, even building parts such as doors and windows, surrounded by bustling crowds.

This activity has promoted the economic recovery of Jinling. Adjacent to the small stalls selling stolen goods, many new teahouses and restaurants have sprung up on the side of the road, and the remaining Jinling people are tenaciously alive.

On January 1939, 1, the Japanese established a governing body in Jinling—the Jinling Self-Government Committee. Some Westerners who had nothing to do with themselves called it the "Self-government" .

The Self-Government Committee is composed of surrendered officials who did not move westward with the government. They control many aspects of Jinling's municipal management, finance, police station, commerce, and transportation affairs in order to reap huge profits.

In the spring, Jinling resumed daily operation like a normal city on the surface. Running water, electric lighting, and postal services in the Japanese-occupied area began to operate, but the telegraph had not yet resumed.

The Japanese city bus also began to operate, and rickshaws reappeared on the streets. The Beijing-Shanghai Line, which was damaged by heavy artillery and bombing during the war, was repaired, and passengers could once again take the train from Jinling to Shanghai.

Jinling soon became the busiest transshipment hub in the occupied area. Every day, a large number of trains, horses, artillery, trucks and other supplies were transported from all over the city to Pukou outside Jinling city and sent to the southwest.

However, this is only the prosperity on the surface. The cruel exploitation under the Japanese occupation is everywhere, and the merchants of the Republic of China bear heavy taxes and rent extortion to pay the salaries of the officials of the Self-Government Committee.

The military stores opened by the Japanese for the people of the Republic of China used worthless military tickets to squeeze out the gold, foreign currency and antiques of the people in the city, and plundered economically and culturally.

This was a mandatory order, and the Japanese army directly confiscated valuables and company inventories, which further exacerbated the poverty of the citizens. The despicable methods even some traitors could not see through.

Far more worrisome than heavy taxation and confiscation of property is that smoke and soil flooded Jinling again. Before the Japanese occupied Jinling, smoke and soil was obviously a contraband and was cracked down by the Secret Service many times.

Although many officials from the national government participated in it, these people at least want to save face and will not sell it publicly. The poor Japanese who are quick to make pants are different. They will do anything to raise military funds.

After the fall of Jinling, people could freely enter and exit the Yantu Museum and were guarded by the police station. The Yantu Museum blatantly used Chinese signboards with the words "Guantu" for customers, without any shyness.

Behind these Yantu museums, without exception, are the backgrounds of the Japanese military and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If it were not for the huge income of Yantu, Japan would not be able to fight the subsequent battles of Changcheng and Shacheng.

In order to encourage people to smoke tobacco and thus further enslave the people of the Republic of China, the shameless Japanese paid labor with tobacco and even provided "Haoxiong" cigarettes to children as young as 10 years old.

Even though it was destroyed several times by Zuo Zhong's men, after years of research by the Kwantung Army, they still developed "Haoxiong" with less side effects. The only disadvantage is that the preparation cost is high and the price is expensive.

Of course, the stingy Japanese high-level officials were reluctant to use it on cheap red deer, so they extended it to the occupied areas in order to continue to exploit the people of the Republic of China, especially the rich gentry in the countryside.

As time entered the second half of 1939, after more than two years of exploitation, the law and order in Jinling became more chaotic. There were traitors everywhere in the city, and the people lived in great hardship.

Under such circumstances, many people choose to paralyze themselves with their beliefs. The temples and Taoist temples around Jinling are becoming more and more lively. In order to stabilize the situation and people's hearts, the Japanese don't care much about monks and Taoist priests.

Therefore, these temples and Taoist temples have become small safe havens, giving the people of Jinling a rare place of comfort, so that they can express their grief or temporarily escape from the purgatory of Jinling.

The Wuliang Temple located in Qixia Mountain is one of them. Taoist Xuancheng, the master of the temple, came here in the 24th year of the Republic of China to build a Taoist temple. There are 4 apprentices and a few handymen in the temple. The neighborhood is quite famous.

The reason is that Xuancheng Taoist learned from Longhu Mountain's true cultivation, and is good at divination and divination. He can often figure out the occupation and what he is looking for without waiting for the layman who comes to do the divination.

Moreover, the other party never cared about money. The rich didn't like to give more money, and the poor didn't care if they gave less money or not. Everyone was treated equally, and many Japanese military officers also came here admiringly.

Faced with these beasts, the Taoist of Xuancheng was not afraid, but he did not refuse them, just like facing ordinary laymen, the common people knew in their hearts that if the temple master didn't want to protect them, he would definitely not give divination to the devils of.

For a while, the reputation of Wuliang Temple became more and more famous. Every day, countless lay believers came, and a dirt road was forcibly stepped on from the foot of the mountain to the Taoist Temple.

Ordinarily, it is a good thing that the incense is so prosperous in the time of war and chaos, at least the Taoist priests can have enough food, but the Xuancheng Taoist is not surprised, but a little uneasy.

That night, Wuliang Temple's handymen stood around the hall with brooms in their hands sweeping the ground, while Taoist Xuancheng and his four apprentices sat face to face on the futon in the Sanqing Hall and talked quietly.

"From tomorrow, the door will only be open for half a day. If anyone asks, they will say that I want to retreat and ignore ordinary things. If this continues, the Japanese will soon notice us." Taoist Xuancheng said lightly.

"Yes, District Chief, but we have made a lot of money in the past two years. It seems that several hundred yen have been credited today. What should we do with the money? Should we hand it over to the Yamashiro Bureau Headquarters.

Xuancheng's "Big Disciple" said with some concern: "Back when the government was still in Jinling, the money was managed by the general affairs side, we just need to lurk, but the situation is different now.

If someone gossips in the mountain city, it will be troublesome. You are an old man in the bureau. You should know the temper of the deputy. Anyone who dares to abolish the public for private reasons will be dealt with by military law. "

Who would have thought that the well-known Wuliang Temple in Jinling turned out to be the garrison of the military-controlled Jinling District, and the famous Xuancheng Taoist was the head of Jinling District, in charge of intelligence stations in several cities near Jinling.

It is no wonder that the common people trust each other so much. The so-called divination is nothing more than a trick of observing words and deeds. It is really overkill for a professional intelligence officer who is proficient in psychology, observation and reasoning to tell fortunes.

The other three "apprentices" also nodded when they heard the words of the "senior brother". They are military special agents who left their homes and jobs and risked their heads to lurk in Jinling for loyalty, not for money.

What's more, when the Japanese are driven away, they will be the heroes of the country┴ and the Guo party. If they don't have anything at that time, it would be too uneconomical if they were punished for being wronged because of a little money.

Taoist Xuancheng shook his whisk and shook his head slightly: "You don't have to worry, the left deputy director told me before retreating that all the income of Wuliang Temple will go to our Jinling District for funding.

If the amount is too large, you can give some to the headquarters in an appropriate amount, and the general affairs will help distribute it to your relatives. The deputy has always been kind and will not let the brothers shed blood and tears. "

As soon as this remark came out, the four apprentices immediately showed joy. They were really not afraid of sacrifice. They were afraid that their families would be hungry. They had also heard about the prices in the mountain city. With that little settling fee, I can basically survive, so I can rest assured now.

Looking at the joyful subordinates, Taoist Xuancheng nodded secretly. An unstable military spirit is a big taboo in the army, especially in enemy-occupied areas. Military spirit represents combat effectiveness, so we must pay attention to it.

At the same time, he also admired Deputy Director Zuo's arrangement. Back then, they were ordered to lurk in Qixia Mountain several years in advance. Some people thought it was unfounded worrying. Looking at it now, it was really brilliant.

The Japanese are not fools┴. Although they will not target temples and Taoist temples at will, they still have to check the details of monks and Taoist priests, especially those suspicious people who settled in Jinling before and after the Sino-Japanese war.

As long as there is a problem, they will be arrested first and then interrogated. If they hadn't hidden their identities a few years ago and "practiced" in Wuliang Temple, they might have to go to the Japanese Gendarmerie.

After sighing again in his heart, Taoist Xuancheng turned his head and asked the second apprentice who was in charge of reporting and maintenance about something.

"By the way, there is no problem with the radio station, right?"

"It must be kept well, and it must not be exposed to moisture. All industries in Jinling are withered, and electrical materials are not easy to buy. The Japanese are strict on the road, and the headquarters cannot deliver goods to Jinling."

As a result, the second apprentice smiled in embarrassment, and his tone was very helpless: "District Chief, the surrounding environment of Wuliangguan is too humid, and two electronic tubes broke yesterday, and they need to be replaced."

Taoist Xuancheng was dumb, but he didn't say much. The radio must be used all the time. Once the internal components come into contact with water, it is easy to break down the electronic tube. This is due to the weather, and there is no way.

He waved his hand, got up and walked out of the Sanqing Hall to the firewood room, removed the firewood piled up by the wall, groped around the wall to open the secret compartment, took out two spare pipes from it, and restored the secret compartment to its original state walk away.

But he didn't notice that a cold, damp air was blowing into the dark compartment through a small crack in the wall, and the inner walls of the remaining electronic tubes in the dark compartment gradually condensed tiny water droplets invisible to the naked eye, slowly eroding the cathode connector.

(End of this chapter)