The spy career of a surgeon

Chapter 343 Cage
As expected, the imperial meeting ended in a long debate but to no avail.

Hirohito did not express his opinion, but in fact he had expressed his opinion.

The military had nothing to do but refocus on the Chinese battlefield.

The Foreign Minister began bargaining with the United States, offering three conditions for not attacking the Dutch East Indies.

First, the United States recognized internationally the legitimacy of Japan's occupation of China and acknowledged that the Manchurian royal family had absolute control over Manchuria.

Second, recognize that the Japanese army has the right to station troops in French India and that the troops can enter and exit at will.

Third, lift import and export sanctions.

The condition that the Foreign Minister gave to the United States was that as long as these three conditions were met, the Japanese army would withdraw from the Chinese hinterland, and except for some occupied coastal cities and Manchuria, all other cities would be returned to China.

Second, abandon the occupation of French Indochina, only station troops there and not interfere in local political affairs.

Third, cut one million troops.

Not surprisingly, the Americans would not agree to this condition. If they cannot reach an agreement, then they can continue talking.

The Americans can talk, the foreign minister can talk, but Tojo Hideki can't wait.

As time went by, Zhou Qinghe saw with his own eyes that Tojo Hideki's temper was becoming more and more violent.

As military expenses were burned day by day, Tojo's mood became worse and worse.

Even if oil inventories are actually increasing, that doesn't change this.

This was a small achievement of the negotiations. The Americans and the Foreign Minister reached a certain consensus that the Japanese troops would withdraw from French Indochina first, and the United States would increase its crude oil exports to Japan.

But the bulk of the crude oil belongs to the navy, which is the reward given by the United States to those businessmen who speak for it. It’s nothing to do with Kanto Jo’s grand strategy, and Tojo didn’t feel any better.

Therefore, the preference for being exiled to the front lines increased.

Five more people from the General Office were sent out this month, and even more were scolded. Even the cleaners who swept the floor were not spared by Tojo.

Zhou Qinghe is called for help every day. It's such a good job in the general office, where he comes into contact with key figures in the military and is a perfect place to develop interpersonal relationships. But now a lot of people are trying to transfer away. It's really bizarre.

Bang, the door of Zhou Qinghe's office was pushed open.

Tojo entered with a stern face and said, "You have to think of a solution. We can't wait any longer!"

"I don't dare to have any solution." Zhou Qinghe smiled helplessly.

"How could you not have one? Wait, you said you don't have any way? What do you mean you don't have any way?" Tojo stood straight.

Zhou Qinghe sighed and looked at him and said, "Prime Minister Lu, now the conflict is between you and Mitsui Mitsubishi. You asked me to think of a way, in fact, you asked me to think of a way to deal with Mitsui Mitsubishi, but how can I dare to do anything about the relationship between them and you? Do you think I dare to do anything?
I am afraid that if I come up with a solution today, you will exile me to North China tomorrow."

After Zhou Qinghe finished speaking, he continued to work with his head down.

Tojo's face darkened. "I've already thought about it. Just tell me. Military affairs are above all else!"

"Really?" Zhou Qinghe raised his head again.

"Hurry up and tell me!" Tojo urged.

Zhou Qinghe looked at him and said, "During the February 26th coup, the Control Faction and the Imperial Faction disagreed, and the Imperial Faction sent thousands of soldiers to assassinate the Control Faction members.

What I want to talk about is not the two factions, but that you have experienced this matter yourself. Some conflicts cannot be solved by talking.

If you want the military to obey your orders, there is only one way: a purge.

It is not enough to purge the Army Ministry, we must also purge Mitsui and Mitsubishi until they turn over a new leaf. "

The idea made Tojo's brain swell, "You have some little idea, right?"

Zhou Qinghe sneered: "The absolute power is in your hands. You are the Prime Minister, and I am not."

"Do you have any other ideas?" Tojo asked casually.

"Yes." Zhou Qinghe nodded.

There really is one. Tojo was surprised: "Tell me quickly."

"Go to the palace to meet His Majesty, cry in front of him, and explain the difficulties our country is facing. If he disagrees, you can ask him for a reward and a chance to commit suicide."

Tojo stared at Zhou Qinghe with wide eyes without saying anything.

Zhou Qinghe sighed and laughed: "You won't die. You have such a good relationship with His Majesty the Emperor. How could His Majesty let you commit suicide? You haven't done anything wrong."

"I can't cry. Can't you come up with a more normal plan? I don't have to commit suicide, and I don't have to purge Mitsui Mitsubishi?"

"Also."

"Huh?" Tojo was surprised. Fujita actually had so many methods?

Zhou Qinghe said: "You find a way to get the navy's code book, use it to command the navy's ships, and launch an artillery attack on the Dutch East Indies to create a fait accompli."

Tojo's eyes lit up. This idea seemed much more normal and good. It was the navy who did it and had nothing to do with him.

Tojo smiled: "Anything else? The navy's code book has to be from the ship, which is not easy to get."

Zhou Qinghe continued, "Yes, if you can't get the navy's code book, you can pass through French Indochina and march into Burma. That's British territory. If we fight, it will be considered as going to war with Britain. Britain is now a waste, so we don't need to care about it. As long as the Americans don't object, we can get a piece of land for free. If the Americans object, it's a fait accompli, and Mitsui Mitsubishi will have to follow anyway."

Yeah? This seems to work. Tojo's interest increased greatly. It seemed that Fujita Kazukiyo's ideas were endless. He had to keep going.

He sat down and asked happily, "Anything else?"

He was happy, so Zhou Qinghe stopped talking and said with a smile: "Isn't it enough? In fact, there are two directions. Either solve the domestic problems and everyone works together, or ignite the foreign problems and force everyone to work together.

If you want to listen, I can tell you a lot. For example, the attack on Hong Kong is also done by the British, and the effect is the same.

Like assassinating the American ambassador, or you being assassinated by the American ambassador."

"Okay." Tojo's smile faded slightly and he coughed: "So what do you think is the best solution here?"

"Of course the one I told you about at the beginning, cleaning up Mitsui Mitsubishi."

"Why?" Tojo frowned. "Could it be that the naval code and the strategy for attacking Burma are not as good as this one?"

"Of course not. Whether you stole the navy code book or attacked Burma, there would be hidden dangers. You, the Minister of War, Tojo, were the instigator. Theoretically, as long as the country reaches a consensus and allows you to commit suicide, this matter can still calm the anger of the United States.

Can you guarantee that Mitsui Mitsubishi will stand on your side in this matter?

But it will be different if you take action against them first. To resist foreign aggression, we must stabilize the country. This is a truth that even the Jiang people in Chongqing understand. Only when the country is united can we focus on dealing with the United States.

Otherwise, how can you guarantee that if they agree to attack the United States today, the United States will give them some benefits tomorrow and they will sell you out again?
Businessmen only care about profits, and capital has no nationality."

Tojo looked at Zhou Qinghe silently, and suddenly felt touched. "I originally thought you wanted to use me to eliminate dissidents, but I didn't expect you were really thinking about me."

Zhou Qinghe sighed and chuckled, "Just tell me, when did I come up with ideas that weren't for your benefit? I'm just a doctor, I can live well wherever I work. When I think about you, it's for the sake of the Empire of Japan. The country is in trouble, and businessmen are obsessed with profit. If this unhealthy trend doesn't change, how can our country rise?"

Tojo nodded: "It's time to make a choice. Regarding the matter of Mitsui Mitsubishi, you write a plan."

Damn, you want me to write a plan for something like this?
Zhou Qinghe widened his eyes and said, Tojo, you are really awesome.

Tojo seemed to know what Zhou Qinghe was thinking, and said with a straight face: "We need your proposal. You should know how to prevent Mitsui Mitsubishi from getting in our way again."

What Tojo said makes a lot of sense.

What Zhou Qinghe had to do was very simple: two words: kill.

To put it bluntly, all the military, police and police in Japan are now controlled by him and Tojo, so there is no need to play any tricks with them to deal with anyone.

In a word, they were not worthy of Tojo's rebellion.

The only thing we need to be careful about in the whole thing is not to arouse too much resentment. It is true that this operation will kill many people and involve many people with connections.

However, with Tojo taking the blame, Zhou Qinghe didn't care how many Japanese died.

The matter of the list was handed over to Kenichi Yasuda, and Konoe was called in.

Konoe is going to be implicated in this matter, after all he is the Prime Minister.

When it comes time to clean up the mess in the future, he, the noble leader, will be needed to step in and appease them.

When Konoe heard about this, he had no objection to the assassination of the top executives of Mitsui Mitsubishi, but there were only two questions: who was to blame for this? And how to explain it to His Majesty?

"After the incident, His Majesty will certainly ask me about it. How should I answer?"

Yasuda Kenichi prepared an answer for him: "No one will be held responsible for this matter. If you must find a reason, it was done by the passionate young people in the country.

They were fed up with the loud clamor of these pro-Americans and believed that they were wasting the empire's opportunity to rise, so they attacked the top management of Mitsui Mitsubishi.

This isn't the first time this has happened, just find an excuse to fool people.

If you really can't fool him, when His Majesty asks you, you can say that you heard some rumors that Tojo was responsible."

"Does Tojo have any objections?"

"What objection could he have?" Yasuda Kenichi smiled faintly, "It was originally to implement his will and let him smoothly control the military. What's wrong with him bearing a bad reputation for his ideals? If he can't bear it, he can just quit. No one forced him to do it."

Now that he had someone to take the blame for him, the guard was very satisfied: "Who will explain to His Majesty?"

"Fujita will go." Yasuda Jianyi smiled and said, "Don't worry. When His Majesty asks you what to do next, you can find a reason to push Fujita over, and he will explain the rest to His Majesty."

That was no problem. The two sides reached an agreement and the list of people to be killed was quickly finalized. Yasuda Kenichi was too familiar with his two old opponents and had been looking forward to their deaths.

That night, the assassination began!
In fact, these high-ranking officials are surrounded by bodyguards, and it is impossible for ordinary people to assassinate them.

Moreover, Japan is actually very safe now. Tojo and Fujita's military police and police control the entire social order. Military and police patrols may appear every few hundred meters to check identities and search purchased materials. It is very strict.

But today, these military and police officers have become deaf and blind, and they were told to shut up just before the action began, to avoid being notified in advance and someone tipping off these dignitaries.

The military power is about to take action. How can capital fight against the military power?
Da da da, da da da, the machine gun fired at the Mitsubishi executives who had just got out of the vehicle. The surging bullets rushed over like a tide, and in the blink of an eye, the target person and the bodyguard beside him were instantly torn into pieces.

Just like that, the gunman in the car got out and fired several more shots at the target person's heart before getting back in the car and driving away.

The same battle took place in more than twenty places, with veteran soldiers killing people with submachine guns, whether in dance halls, pubs, teahouses or their own homes, killing them all.

A night passed and dawn came.

Such a big thing happened last night. People who were sensitive to news had already received the news and rushed to buy this morning's newspapers. Their psychological guess was finally confirmed.

Important figures from the four major chaebols, the military, the political circles, and the parliament were attacked and killed last night!

The most tragic thing was that the presidents of Mitsui Mitsubishi all died tragically.

This news was like a huge storm, sweeping across Japan's morning and after-dinner news.

The Imperial Council, the Nobles' Meeting, and the Cabinet News all expressed their views that the matter would be investigated thoroughly and pointed out that the United States played an ignominious role in this matter.

During this period, it was rumored that Chongqing had sent agents to wantonly kill high-level Japanese officials in an attempt to disrupt Japan's industrial deployment. The Special High Police had been dispatched and had arrested two of the perpetrators and found out where they had smuggled ashore. The others are still being pursued.

There are all kinds of small news, two of which can pop up in an hour, and the main one can make any impossible guess.

It doesn't matter what people say outside.

In the Imperial Palace, after the imperial meeting ended, Zhou Qinghe was called over by Hirohito who was deeply worried.

"Your Majesty, you don't look well. Let me check on you." Zhou Qinghe started his job as soon as he entered the room.

Hirohito did not refuse this.

He went back to his room and lay down, saying, "I have too many worries recently. Many people are restless and have messed up the country. I am very annoyed."

"Take a deep breath, exhale, then inhale. Hold it. Ok."

Zhou Qinghe took off the receiver and said with a smile, "There is no noise in the lungs, and the body is healthy."

Who was unhappy to hear that he was in good health? Hirohito smiled and said, "I wish the country could be as healthy as me."

They really look alike, both are quite deformed, and he has to fix them.
"Don't be angry all the time, Your Majesty. I have a patient who is quite old. She has cancer. You know that cancer is difficult to treat. I think her cancer is in the late stage. She will die in two or three months.

Her son and daughter-in-law told me not to tell her mother that she had cancer, but just say that she had a little bloating, so they wanted her to pass away happily. So I didn't tell her.

About a year later, the daughter-in-law came to see the doctor. I remember asking her how her mother-in-law was doing. She said her mother-in-law had passed away.

I asked three months? She said ten months.

I was shocked. How could that be possible? I thought she would only live for three months. But she told me that her mother-in-law could have lived longer. She always thought she was just suffering from bloating and was living a happy life. She was even able to go to the fields to farm.

As a result, one day a neighbor lady told her that she had a tumor instead of flatulence. Her mother-in-law turned pale and went back home. That night, she died.

"What happened next?" Hirohito listened fascinatedly.

"No more." Zhou Qinghe shook his head: "This is a human matter, not a ghost story."

“That’s amazing too.”

"It is amazing. I told your Majesty this because I want to tell you to relax. The human body is a mysterious instrument, more sophisticated than the most sophisticated instrument. Machines cannot sense emotions, but the human body can. A person's spirit will directly affect a person's life span and physical health. It is very important to keep a happy mood."

Hirohito took a deep breath, relaxed and smiled: "But there are so many things going on now, it's hard for me to relax."

Zhou Qinghe smiled and continued to do the abdominal examination: "I know that it must be what happened yesterday that made His Majesty worried. I have thought about this matter. Ninety percent of it was done by the cabinet. If it was done by the cabinet, then it was ten percent done by Tojo. Mitsui Mitsubishi prevented him from dealing with the United States, so he had a reason to do it."

"I asked him this morning, but he denied it."

"Of course I won't admit it, but I don't think it matters whether I admit it or not."

"why?"

"What's the point of admitting it? It's already a thing of the past."

"But this is too reckless. How will others think of him if he kills people in this way?"

"Your Majesty, you are the Emperor, Japan is yours, don't worry about what others think, but what you think about this matter, we will just regard it as Tojo who killed someone.

What was his reason for killing people? Was it for money? No, it was to start a war with the United States and implement the East Asia Plan.

Then I have to ask your Majesty a question, do you think the East Asia plan should continue?"

Hirohito hesitated again, and then threw the question back: "Do you think you should continue?"

Zhou Qinghe nodded affirmatively: "Of course we must continue, and there is no time to lose."

"What's the reason?"

“The reason is that we in Japan want to rise, and the United States is the only obstacle standing in our way.

Your Majesty, we fought against the Chinese and defeated them step by step. However, the Americans never stopped providing aid and tried every way to help the Chinese and win their favor.

But do you think the United States is trying to help the Chinese? No?

If the Americans want to help the Chinese, why not just cut off all our imports? Without oil, what can we use to fight China? "

"It's not true." Hirohito certainly knew this. "The United States wants China to drag us into the Chinese battlefield so that we have no time to take action elsewhere and can concentrate on cleaning up the European battlefield."

"Yes, the United States provides China with various materials while selling crude oil and scrap steel to us. Isn't it just wanting us and China to constantly consume each other, and then make huge profits from it?

We took out high-interest loans from Wall Street, and China mortgaged all of its railways, customs and other rights to the United States. The United States did not send a single soldier, and made money on both ends.

He certainly doesn't want us to jump out of the cage he has drawn for us.

No matter how we fight in China, the United States can continue to sell us oil and steel. The only difference is that if we fight faster, the United States will sell less, and if we fight slower, it will sell us more. The United States can even find a reason to sell us cheaper.

And I believe that he did the same to Chongqing. If Chongqing counterattacked fiercely, he would give less aid. If Chongqing counterattacked weakly, he would give more aid.

If they are really on the verge of being destroyed by us, I believe Roosevelt can transfer the US troops to the Chinese battlefield and pretend to be the Chinese army to fight us.

Planes can fly to our mainland and bomb all our industrial infrastructure, including the US military airports in the Philippines. Who are the Americans guarding against? Who do they want to control?

From the beginning to the end, we are fighting with China, but our lifeline, oil, is in the hands of others. Can we really win?

When we win the war, will we still have a ton of oil in our treasury?

China does not produce oil!
Why did the United States order us to withdraw our troops as soon as we attacked a French territory, and why did it require us not to attack Dutch territory?
That place really produces oil!

If we capture us, we will really jump out of this cage carefully designed by others!"

Hirohito listened carefully, sat up straight, and heard some deep-seated problems that he had never thought of.

It does not refer to oil production, but what Fujita Kazukiyo mentioned, the game between Japan and Chongqing.

"China hopes to drive out us, the so-called invaders, and we hope to conquer the whole of China. But from the beginning to the end, this situation was set for us by others. Neither we nor Chongqing can win. There will be no winner." Hirohito murmured, feeling that this truth was a bit chilling.

After fighting on the Chinese battlefield for so many years, wasting so many years, costing so many soldiers and so much money, and it was all for nothing?

!

"Too vicious!" Hirohito gritted his teeth and then looked at Zhou Qinghe: "Fujita, when did you understand this problem? Why didn't you say it earlier?"

Zhou Qinghe shook his head: "It was just speculation before, and only when the United States really orders a stop will all the truth be revealed.

The Americans may want to drag us until the moment when the outcome of the European battlefield is decided, and then tell us this truth with ridicule.

He didn't expect that we would dare to suddenly take action against East Asia. He could only use oil and the interests of pro-Americans to warn us.

Let me ask you, even if someone proposed this idea in the past, Your Majesty, who would believe it?"

"Yes." Hirohito thought deeply and it was indeed true. Before that, the military unanimously believed that they could quickly take over China, and even had the ambition to annex it in three months.

How could you possibly feel like you can’t get it?

Anyone who says this will probably be treated as trash by the army.

Some things can only be understood when you think about them in retrospect.

Not everyone can think of it, and not everyone dares to say it.

Zhou Qinghe looked at Hirohito who was frowning and continued, "Our Japan is rising in Asia. For the United States, it is a potential competitor. If we want to rise, we must make a great effort and jump out of this cage.

I asked Your Majesty, why not care whether it was Tojo Hideki who killed the person?

Because as long as our goal is to jump out of this cage, Tojo Hideki is the most determined executor of this goal. He has proved with facts that he will keep moving towards this goal! "

Hirohito sighed with regret, "Fujita, if you were born a few years earlier, you would have come to the military earlier and let you take charge of the military. How great it would be."

(End of this chapter)