20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 621 Exploring the Bottom
Fan Sibai was still thin, wearing a black suit on his small body, with shiny hair. He was holding a long, thin goblet in his hand, shaking it as he slowly walked towards Jiang Lianheng.

In recent years, the two have collaborated several times, but most of them were small-scale intelligence exchanges that did not amount to anything significant.

All communication between them is done by "Bed-under-the-Pier" and "Wu-ming-cuckoo".

After parting in Harbin, the two never met again. When they met today, Jiang Lianheng couldn't help being a little surprised.

Although many celebrities have gathered in Fengtian recently, the United Parliament is, after all, an internal affair of the Chinese people.

It is really puzzling that Fan Sibai can appear at a banquet of this level even though he is neither a diplomat nor a banker.

Jiang Lianheng came forward and asked as soon as he saw him, "Mr. Fan, I didn't expect you to come too. You must have used a fake name. I didn't see you on the banquet list."

Fan Sibai nodded and said with a smile: "It's a fake name, but it's not to hide it from Mr. Jiang."

"What a joke! Although this club is my business, I am just a minor figure tonight. Do you have to hide it from me?" Jiang Lianheng didn't care.

The banquet list is drawn up by the Provincial Government Office.

The Jiang family is not a group of people who just sit there and do nothing. If someone was impersonating someone else, they would have found out long ago.

What's more, Marshal Zhang's personal guards will be checking the entrance of the club tonight, so there will be no omissions.

Since a fake name can appear on the list, it is enough to prove that Fan Sibai was invited by the provincial government.

"I just don't know, in what capacity Mr. Fan comes this time?"

"reporter."

"What's the reality?" Jiang Lianheng asked.

Fan Sibai turned around and took a quick look, then gently pushed Jiang Lianheng and took him to the window corner of the banquet hall.

One is a secret agent consultant in the provincial capital, and the other is an international multi-faceted spy.

Both parties confirmed that there was no one around and then placed the wine glasses in their hands on the windowsill.

Fan Sibai lowered his voice and said with a vigilant look: "Mr. Jiang, to be honest, we are colleagues now."

Jiang Lianheng raised his eyebrows and asked softly, "Did Lao Zhang invite you to be a consultant?"

"He gave me an offer I couldn't refuse." Fan Sibai's mouth curled up slightly. "Usually, I can communicate with Marshal Wu one-on-one."

"Is it because of the rebels on the border between Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces?"

According to what Jiang Lianheng knows now, the rebels in Guandong are more than just bandits.

The main force of the rebels was actually the officers and soldiers who were previously dismissed from the command of Governor Meng of Jilin Province.

Afterwards, this group of people successively recruited the Suifenhe mountain guerrillas and several gangs, totaling thousands of soldiers and horses, and proclaimed themselves the "Anti-Feng Army", actively responding to Wu Xiucai's call to overthrow Zhang.

Recently, I heard that the rebels have captured nine stations along the Middle East Railway and are heading straight for Harbin.

Although Lao Zhang appeared to be taking his time, he would not tolerate the rebels continuing to be so arrogant.

Unexpectedly, Fan Sibai said: "That's only one aspect. Marshal Zhang hired me mainly to obtain international intelligence."

Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but smirk when he heard this, and asked shamelessly, "Can you tell me?"

"This is no longer a secret." Fan Sibai shrugged. "The Marshal is mainly trying to gather intelligence from the north. This fall, the Reds should attack Vladivostok."

"They haven't finished the battle yet?"

It’s not Jiang Lianheng’s fault that he is ignorant and uninformed, but compared to a few years ago, since the Red Hairs came to power, related war reports have rarely been seen in the newspapers.

Fan Sibai took a sip of wine, looked around vigilantly again, and then continued:
"It doesn't matter when the Northern Civil War ends. What's important is the ownership of the Middle East road. The Far East wants to take back the road rights, but the white-haired people won't agree. The red-haired people will agree, but they won't do it for free. Moreover, the Japanese also want to take advantage of the opportunity to bribe them. These are the most important intelligence."

There is no doubt that the value of the North Manchuria Railway as a land route connecting Europe is immeasurable.

Whoever can grab the right of way can count money while lying down.

Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but ask after hearing this: "What's the situation now?"

"It's hard to say. The current situation is quite complicated."

Fan Sibai's answer was extremely cautious, and it was unclear whether he was deliberately concealing the truth or if it was really the case.

However, it is certain that Kanto is not as stable as imagined.

There are Russians in the north and Japanese in the south, wolves in front and tigers behind, and there are many potential heretics in between, such as the royal family of the Qing Dynasty.

A few years ago, Marshal Zhang launched a large-scale hunt for the Zongli Party.

However, the Qing Dynasty lasted for more than 200 years, and there were countless royal family members. How could they all be eliminated?
Lao Zhang killed the Zongshe Party, not the royal family of the Qing Dynasty.

In other words, as long as those bannermen would not threaten his position, he was willing to do his best to win them over.

Not to mention, among the Jewish people in front of him, there are many people who are obsessed with establishing a country in Kanto.

There are too many wolves and too little meat; it is only a matter of time before conflicts arise among the parties.

Jiang Lianheng took a sip of wine and said nothing.

As he was pondering, there was a sudden commotion in the banquet hall.

The guests turned around almost at the same time and faced the open space in front of the hall.

The music stopped, and the glass chandelier on the ceiling was particularly dazzling.

Under the bright lights, Marshal Zhang was seen wearing military uniform, followed by a group of senior executives from outside the Great Wall, and walked up to the podium with a big smile on his face.

In an instant, reporters from various countries in the banquet hall rushed to the front of the rostrum, holding cameras, and flashing their spotlights like gun flames.

Immediately, they hurriedly took out their palm-sized notebooks and began to take notes, ready to be on high alert.

Marshal Zhang raised his arm slightly and waved to the banquet guests.

Although he was short and looked like a weak old man, his words and actions showed the spirit of a hero.

"Everyone——"

The translator beside the Marshal relayed the message in real time. In addition to the commonly used English, there was also a separate Japanese translator listed.

"Yuting is not talented, but I was recommended by the elders of Guandong to serve as the commander-in-chief of the security of the three northeastern provinces. Today, I am hosting a banquet for the ambassadors of friendly countries to make a public announcement..."

The speech did not last long.

It is nothing more than claiming that "federal autonomy" is mandated by the people. In the future, for diplomatic affairs in Kanto, please ask the ambassadors of friendly countries to go to the Northeast Security Command for negotiations.

Marshal Zhang was not good at all these diplomatic rhetoric, and it was obvious that they were words he had memorized in advance.

The only thing was that at the last moment, in front of many Chinese and foreign reporters, he took the opportunity to curse Mr. Wu for his military meddling in politics, which could be considered as speaking from the heart.

He blurted out a dirty word out of nowhere, and even he felt a little ashamed.

"all in all--"

Marshal Zhang turned around and took the wine handed over by his adjutant, and congratulated loudly: "To the long-term stability of the three northeastern provinces - everyone cheers!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was thunderous applause in the banquet hall.

The Western envoys, along with their families, applauded and celebrated, not to mention the senior officials within the Feng Zhang Group.

However, the most excited people in the banquet hall were undoubtedly the Japanese delegation.

Some of them even spoke Japanese in public, saying with a stiff smile: "To Marshal Zhang's ambitions - cheers!"

Soon, everyone raised their glasses and drank the wine.

Jiang Lianheng stood in a corner of the venue and also raised his glass to toast from afar.

He drank the bright red wine, and looked through the wall of the goblet at the Japanese ambassadors from afar.

The curvature of the glass made Xiao Dongyang's figure distorted, exaggerated, and almost inhuman. Even his joyful smile seemed to become a little morbid.

Jiang Lianheng suddenly realized that those little devils looked familiar. They were the secret envoys that he had seen in the Marshal's Mansion not long ago. However, there were fewer people, and Takeda Nobuyuki was not seen among them.

"Marshal Zhang is getting closer to the Japanese now, isn't he?"

Fan Sibai's voice rang in his ears.

Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but nodded when he heard this.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see this subtle change.

Back then, when Marshal Zhang first came to prominence, he relied on the remaining power of the Qing Dynasty.

Although he had dealt with Xiao Dongyang and fought guerrilla warfare for him as early as when he was a bandit.

But at that time, uniting with the Japanese and expelling the Russians was the mainstream strategy unanimously recognized by the court and the outside world.

Later, he tried to get close to President Fang.

Xiao Dongyang simply looked down on him, and he was not qualified to exchange interests with Xiao Dongyang.

It was not until the sudden death of the President, the fall of Old Duan, and the collapse of the Zongli Socialist Party that Marshal Zhang was officially regarded as a figure by the Japanese.

Even so, Lao Zhang never tried to please Xiao Dongyang like this.

But now it is different. The battle on the front line has been lost, and the strength of his subordinates cannot satisfy his growing ambitions. He has gradually become more proactive, and even thrown himself into the arms of others.

"Yeah, what can I do? It's not my turn to worry about this anyway."

Jiang Lianheng said he didn't care, but secretly he was a little worried.

Of course, this is just a feeling.

He couldn't explain the specific reasons, but what was certain was that it was not just because the Jiang family had killed two little Japanese.

Fan Sibai nodded and smiled, "That's true. The more complicated the situation is, the better it is for people like us."

"Who am I?" Jiang Lianheng suddenly asked.

Fan Sibai was slightly confused and frowned and said, "Businessman, intelligence business!"

"Then you are wrong. I am not in the intelligence business. This is at best just a side job."

"But everything you have now was obtained through intelligence trading, isn't it?"

Jiang Lianheng hesitated, thought for a while, and then said, "Even if it is, that is not my original intention. Who knows why I would end up on this path inexplicably."

"What is original intention?" Fan Sibai was puzzled.

"Well... that was the initial idea."

"So your initial thought was..."

"Alive."

"Haha, Mr. Jiang really knows how to joke!"

"Do I look like I'm making fun of you?" Jiang Lianheng turned around and suddenly said seriously, "Do you know what it means to be forced to do something?"

Fan Sibai pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "I think I can understand it."

Jiang Lianheng waved his hand, seemingly unwilling to continue the conversation.

At this time, ballroom dancing was taking place in the banquet hall.

Military officers, ambassadors, wealthy businessmen, politicians... everyone stepped onto the dance floor with smiles on their faces.

Some people danced with their wives, while others chatted and laughed with other people's wives.

Suddenly, Wang Zhengnan was seen in the crowd.

I don't know when this kid learned some skills secretly, but he danced very well with his wife Cheng Fang on his arm, and he enjoyed it very much, like a fish in water.

Farther away, Zhuang Shuning was mixing with a group of officers' wives, commenting on several young couples on the dance floor and occasionally bursting into laughter.

Jiang Lianheng suddenly felt lonely, or perhaps an inexplicable sense of guilt.

Fan Sibai smiled and asked, "Mr. Jiang, aren't you going to find someone to dance with?"

"No."

"Then I'll excuse myself first."

Fan Sibai nodded in greeting, but he had just taken a few steps when Jiang Lianheng called him again.

"By the way, how long do you plan to stay in Fengtian, Mr. Fan?"

"I won't stay long. I will go back to Harbin tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

"That's it..."

Jiang Lianheng hesitated for a moment, as if he wanted to say something.

Seeing this, Fan Sibai immediately turned around and asked directly, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

After much thought, Jiang Lianheng finally spoke frankly: "I want you to help me check someone."

"Is this person in Harbin?"

"No, he's in Fengtian."

Fan Sibai was half surprised and half confused, and said in disbelief: "Since he is in Fengtian, with Mr. Jiang's strength, do you still need my help?"

"The problem is that I don't want to alert the enemy." Jiang Lianheng said, "Or rather, I don't want that person to suspect that I have hostility, so I want to entrust someone else to do it."

"Interesting, Mr. Jiang wants to conduct a secret investigation?"

"Yes, didn't you say you are trustworthy?"

"Of course!" Fan Sibai said confidently, "As long as the price is considerable, I will never disclose the information of the employer once the deal is finalized."

"You better not lie."

"Haha, Mr. Jiang also has a base in Harbin. I don't want someone to find my body on the roadside one morning."

Fan Sibai is a professional spy and works for many forces.

If one makes money in this business without principles or bottom line, he would have died countless times already, and it would not be Jiang Lianheng's turn to take action.

"Go ahead and give me a name."

After the price was agreed upon, Fan Sibai said directly: "The person Mr. Jiang wants to investigate must not be an unknown person. Even if I go back to Harbin, I can get relevant information."

This time, it was Jiang Lianheng's turn to be alert.

He looked around and confirmed that no one else was present before he said, "This man is a Japanese man named Takeda Nobuyuki. He has been frequenting Fengtian recently. I want all his information."

Fan Sibai nodded and asked again: "Why, is this person bad for you?"

"No, he was quite polite to me." Jiang Lianheng said, "But it was because he was too polite that I felt a little uncomfortable."

"Maybe... he just wants to cooperate with you?"

"Are you asking too many questions?" Jiang Lianheng was a little dissatisfied. "You are a professional. You pay with one hand and deliver with the other."

Fan Sibai bowed slightly, smiled and apologized, "I asked too many questions, don't mind, Mr. Jiang, I will give you an answer as soon as possible. If there is nothing else, I will excuse myself first."

After saying that, he turned around and started looking for beautiful single girls in the banquet hall.

The music was soft and gentle, the atmosphere of the banquet was approaching a climax, and laughter was everywhere.

Jiang Lianheng drank the remaining wine, leaned against the window sill, and gently turned the goblet while watching the grand gathering of Chinese and foreigners in front of him with cold eyes...

(End of this chapter)