Spy War 1929

Chapter 250 The Grand Master of the Concession
In an office of the French Consulate, the sunlight shines through the leaves from the window and falls on the wooden floor of the office. The leaves outside the window sway gently in the wind, causing the mottled leaf shadows on the floor to sway slightly. A touch of naivety adds a touch of lightness to the quiet atmosphere in the house.

It was already afternoon, and it was the most lazy time for people. Bernard sat on the leather office chair, leaning back slightly, with a leisurely expression.

After working all his life, he has finally reached the age of retirement. He has already begun to yearn for a better life after retirement.

On Bernard's desk, Cuban cigars were quietly burning on the ashtray, wisps of light smoke slipped out from the burning cigarette butts, like a child curious about the outside world Everyone scrambled to the sky, and no one wanted to lag behind.

The quiet house, the leisurely old man, the light cigar smoke, the dappled sunlight coming in from the window, and the red maple leaves swaying gently in the wind.

Everything is so beautiful.

If there is a highly skilled photographer, it may be able to leave a good photo for the future.

For example, "The Leisure Life of Foreign Little Old Man in the Concession".

Unfortunately, there are no photographers in the room at the moment, only Bernard's secretary.

"Sir, do you think you should decline or agree to Mr. Feng's invitation?" the secretary standing opposite Bernard asked softly.

Just now, Feng's mansion called the secretary. Feng Jingyao, Mr. Feng wanted to invite Consul Bernard to dinner, and the secretary came to ask Bernard's opinion.

"A phone call from Feng Lai?!" Bernard blinked his old eyes when he heard the words, and the corners of his mouth could not help but curl up slightly, revealing a satisfied arc.

He had been waiting for Feng Jingyao's invitation for a long time, and he really paid off, and now the invitation finally came.

Bernard nodded slightly, without losing the elegance of the French old man, "Promise to come down."

In order to live a happier retirement life in the future, Bernard has long been eager to meet Feng Jingyao.Although he can also go to meet other people, but those people are not as generous as Feng Jingyao.

"Okay sir." The secretary replied softly.

Knowing Bernard's thoughts, the secretary turned around and walked out of the office to return Feng's phone call.As soon as he opened the door to go out, a person walked outside the door.

Seeing the person coming, the secretary stopped, with a smile on his face, and greeted the person:
"Mr. Martin, are you here to see Mr. Consul?"

The person walking towards him was none other than Martin, the counselor of the consulate. He was holding a letter in his hand. When he heard the secretary's words, he couldn't help but slow down.

"Yes, is the Consul there?" Martin asked, smiling like a polite gentleman.

"Of course," the secretary replied with a smile. Then he turned and knocked on the door. "Mr. Consul, Mr. Martin is here."

"Ask him to come in." Bernard's faint voice came from inside the door.

"Mr. Martin, please." The secretary smiled and opened the door for Martin.

"Thank you."

"Martin, please sit down, what can I do for you?" Looking at Martin who walked in, Bernard put back the cigar he had just picked up.

Martin sat down on the chair in front of the desk, then handed the envelope in his hand to Bernard.

"Sir, this is a letter from Director Fabre to you. It is his recommendation for the Chief Inspector Fang Hua of the police department. He asked me to pass it on to you."

"Oh," Bernard raised his eyebrows, "About Chief Inspector Hua's letter of recommendation?"

Bernard's tone seemed a little weird. He took the envelope and asked at the same time, "What about Fabre, why didn't he hand the letter to me himself?"

"He said that the police department has too many affairs, and after meeting me, he asked me to forward the letter to you, and he needs to go back to deal with the affairs of the police department.

Without Chief Detective Hua to handle the patrol room, other people don't know how to deal with many things, so he can only handle it himself. He is a bit too busy now. "

When Bernard heard this, he couldn't help but stop opening the letter, with a strange look in his eyes.

Because of the lack of a chief inspector, Fabre, the police chief, is so busy?
Why am I so unbelievable.

Bernard pouted in his heart, and didn't answer Martin's words. He tore open the envelope, took out the letter of recommendation inside and read it.

There was a moment of silence in the office.

Martin quietly waited for Bernard to read the letter, neither disturbing nor planning to leave.

The faint aroma of cigars quietly permeated the room.

Fabre's recommendation letter was very long, and Bernard didn't read it for a long time. In the middle, he even put down the letter paper and rubbed his eyes before picking it up to continue reading.

The person recommended by Fabre in the letter was naturally Chen Ledao.

In the letter, Fabre stated the reasons for recommending Chen Ledao, and added Chen Ledao's performance in the patrol room, especially emphasizing Chen Ledao's role in the restoration of hydropower in the concession.

Of course, at the end of the letter, Fabre especially explained Chen Ledao's nationality.

Chen Ledao's nationality is both an advantage and a disadvantage in the matter of Inspector Hua. The key depends on how the consul, Bernard, views this matter.

Inspector Hua, of course it should be a Chinese.

Although the French Concession has French characters, the majority of people living in it are Chinese. Inspector Hua exists to better manage the Chinese in the concession.

If you get a foreigner to go up there, it's a bit erotic to control the wolves, which is wrong.

Chen Ledao, as a mixed blood of the two countries, looks neither Chinese nor Western, or more inclined to Chinese, just with a bit of exotic flavor.

The appearance is not important, what is really important is that although Chen Ledao's nationality is French, if you ignore this point, and then ignore the exotic style on Chen Ledao's appearance, then Chen Ledao is an authentic Chinese.

He was born in France, but his understanding of China and Chinese people is exactly the same as other Chinese people.Even if you don't know Chen Ledao's nationality, you will really treat Chen Ledao as a Chinese!
Now the problem is coming. Let the Chinese be the Chief Inspector of China in order to better manage the Chinese in the concession.But now there is a Frenchman who can handle the affairs of the Chinese in the concession just like other Chinese.

Then should this person be Chief Inspector Hua?

Fabre sees no embarrassment in this matter

As long as the consul is not an undercover agent sent by the Chinese, or he is too confused, he will choose Chen Ledao as the chief inspector.

This can not only maintain the French's management power over the concession, but at the same time it will not attract opposition from the Chinese in the concession.

why not.

Chen Ledao now has a high prestige among the Chinese in the concession.

If Feng Jingyao was the most feared person by the Chinese in the concession, then Chen Ledao was the most admired by the Chinese in the concession.

Let Chen Ledao be the chief inspector of the police station, even if those Chinese know that he is French, they will not object.

After all, even if a real Chinese were appointed as the Chief Inspector, they would not be as good to them as Chen Ledao.

After Chen Ledao knew from Fabre that he might become the chief inspector, he has been intentionally or unintentionally letting Ye Weiyang's people spread his good reputation in the concession.

For example, Inspector Chen is kind and generous, for example, Inspector Chen is not afraid of power, for example, Inspector Chen did not hesitate to offend the Japanese in order to stand out for female students, and even not long ago, Inspector Chen directly shot and killed a Japanese in order to stand out for a lady .

All these things show that Inspector Chen is a good person.

Of course, Inspector Chen must vigorously publicize the matter of asking for wages for workers and helping them raise their wages.

On the one hand, many people are saying that Chen Ledao is good, on the other hand, after Chen Ledao became the inspector of Xiafei Road, the changes in Xiafei District are real. Anyone who is not blind can see the changes.

Law and order has improved, hooligans no longer dare to collect protection fees indiscriminately, and police officers no longer dare to bully people overtly or covertly. Even the streets have become cleaner and tidier.

All these changes are the public service of Inspector Chen. These changes all show that Inspector Chen is the master of the French Concession.

If even these are not enough to convince people of Chen Ledao, then there is one last thing that makes people have to believe that Chen Ledao must be a good person.

When those local hooligans in the concession are quietly scolding Chen Ledao behind his back, doesn't this mean that Inspector Chen is doing well? !

The inspectors of the police stations in other districts are all brothers and sisters of those hooligan leaders.

Only Inspector Chen would be scolded by those people.

The eyes of the masses are discerning, and there is one and only one truth behind all kinds of things—Inspector Chen is a good man, and he is our Lord Qingtian!

Such Chen Ledao and Inspector Chen, what Chinese resident in the concession would not love it!

Of course, those local hooligans dared to scold Chen Ledao, Feng Jingyao's efforts were indispensable behind them.

Feng Jingyao has been scolded for so many years, and he has long been scolded out of experience. He knows what kind of person can play a role when scolding someone.

Bernard looked at the pros and cons of making Chen Ledao the chief inspector listed by Fabre in the letter, and couldn't help frowning slightly.

Although there are a lot of dense words on it, Bernard looked around and saw only a few words——Chen Ledao=Chief Inspector!
After reading the contents of the recommendation letter, Fabre frowned slightly and put down the letter paper, reaching for the cigar on the ashtray.

On the burning end of the cigar, there was already a column of burned ash, which was connected with the unburned cigar, which was very obvious.

Bernard watched for half an hour unknowingly.

Picking up the cigar, Bernard tapped his fingers, knocked the column of ash into the ashtray, put it in his mouth and took a sip, and after slowly exhaling the smoke, he said:
"Do you know who the chief inspector recommended by Fabre is?"

Martin nodded lightly, sitting upright for half an hour didn't seem to cause him any discomfort.

"Fabre said that he recommended Chen Ledao, the inspector of the Xiafei Road arrest house. He also said that Chen Ledao was his right-hand man in the police department, and he thought he was the best candidate for the chief inspector."

Bernard nodded, took another puff of the cigar, put it on the ashtray again, then pulled out the drawer on the right hand side, and took out another envelope from it.

"This is also a letter of recommendation. It was written by Mena. It also recommended the candidate for Chief Inspector. Coincidentally, he also recommended Chen Ledao." Bernard said.

"I heard that the water and electricity in the concession can be restored so quickly this time, thanks to Chen Ledao's role in it. The workers' strike, the water and electricity in the concession are the responsibility of the public board of directors.

Mena recommended Chen Ledao, presumably to thank Chen Ledao for helping them solve this trouble. said Martin.

Bernard smiled and looked up at Martin.

"I don't care why Fabre and Mena recommended Chen Ledao as Chief Inspector. I will be retiring soon, and my last wish is to help the residents of the concession.

I hope that I can help them choose the best chief inspector. This can be regarded as a perfect end to my work. When I recall my current work in the future, I will not have any regrets in my heart. "Bernard's tone is emotional and sincere.

After hearing this, Martin nodded with a smile, "Mr. is so dedicated to the residents of the concession, even if you are no longer a consul in the future, they will still remember you."

Bernard waved his hand, saying that he didn't care about it.

"Martin, you also recommended Chen Ledao to me before, and hoped that he could be the Chief Inspector.

I'm curious, what kind of magical power does this Chen Ledao have that can make you all recommend him to me. "

There was a little curiosity in Bernard's eyes. He was really curious about this matter, but such a thing had never happened before.

Police Chief, Director of the Public Directorate, and Consulate Counselor, all three of them recommended the same person to be Chief Inspector Hua. It couldn't be a coincidence!
"Sir, I don't know why they are doing it. As for me, it's mainly because Chen Ledao is really capable.

I have heard people talking about Chen Ledao on the street more than once, and those people like Chen Ledao very much.I think a person who can make the residents of the concession like him so much must be a good person.

At the same time, I also visited the Xiafei District. After Chen Ledao took office, the Xiafei District has changed a lot compared to the previous Xiafei District.I think he is very capable. If he can become the chief inspector, it may make the security of the concession better.

On the other hand, I also have selfish intentions. I am good friends with Sal Li, and Chen Ledao and Sal Li are also good friends.Salley told me when he returned to China, let me take care of Chen Ledao when the situation is right.

After a brief inspection of Chen Ledao, I feel that Chen Ledao has the ability to become the Chief Inspector, so I recommend him to you. Martin said truthfully, not hiding anything.

There was no conflict between Bernard and Salley, and he didn't have to worry about Bernard's bad influence after knowing the truth.

Bernard nodded in satisfaction after hearing this. Martin can say this truthfully, instead of just saying nice things in the letter like Fabre and Mena, which makes him feel respected.

"If you can say that, then it seems that Chen Ledao is really capable. He may really be a good candidate for the Chief Inspector." Bernard said with a smile, but it was limited to this, and did not say that Chen Ledao would be the Chief Inspector. Inspector's words.

"Look at the letters of recommendation from both of them." Bernard pushed the two letters on the table to Martin.

Martin was not polite, and picked up the letter directly to read it.But he saw it much faster, and didn't ponder it as carefully as Bernard did.

Soon, Martin put down the letter of recommendation.

"What do you think?" Bernard asked.

"After reading the letter, I think Chen Ledao is more suitable for the post of chief inspector.

He is French, and at the same time endears him to the Chinese, and I don't think there is anyone better suited to the post of Inspector-General. said Martin.

Bernard nodded slightly when he heard the words, "Maybe."

He still hasn't made a decision.

"Is there any hesitation, sir?" Martin asked.

Logically speaking, the three of them recommended it that way, and Bernard is about to resign, so he shouldn't care much about who should be the chief inspector. He shouldn't be so hesitant whether it's public or private.

Bernard just smiled at Martin's question and didn't give a positive answer. He smiled and said:
"As I said, I'm about to resign. I hope to choose the most suitable chief inspector for the residents of the concession, so this matter cannot be decided hastily."

Martin nodded in understanding.

"Well, Martin, I see what you mean.

I will seriously consider the matter of Chen Ledao becoming the Chief Inspector, so go and do your own business first. said Bernard with a smile.

"Okay, sir, then I'll go down first."

"Ah."

ps: The Chinese in the French Concession here do not refer to the overseas Chinese.

(End of this chapter)