bastard

Zhu Nanjiang has always been a bit superstitious, as long as he wants to do anything, it can immediately become a good omen or a bad omen, although in fact it has never been fulfilled a few times.

But this time somehow, his premonition was extraordinarily accurate.

In the early morning of July 7, the Japanese garrison stationed in Fengtai suddenly launched an attack on Wanping City, and the war broke out.

One month later, artillery fire spread to Songhu, and the government forces fought fiercely with the Japanese Navy Special Marine Corps stationed in Shanghai for three months. They were finally forced to retreat due to the defeat of the battle, and Shanghai fell in mid-November.

Because Zhu Nanjiang lives in the French Concession, he is not very sensitive to the current situation in East China.Therefore, when the war broke out in Pingjin and people around him were in panic all day long, he was still sitting in the mansion in a daze, planning to invite a mage to come to his house in a few days to drive away evil spirits.The blind man is still sober, and as soon as he recovers from his illness, he goes out to buy food and hoard canned food.

A few days later, news came out from the Bureau of Industrial and Commercial Affairs that Shanghai might go to war, and Zhu Nanjiang became nervous.Start running around to inquire about information.Some Chinese people in the Chinese area sensed the crisis and rushed into the concession with their families, while the wealthy people in the concession tried every means to find a boat to go south for refuge.

That Xue Conghuai is clever and has a wide range of routes. He got the boat tickets early and sent his wife, children and husband's family to Guangzhou. All the assets were sold and exchanged for gold bars.

Zhu Nanjiang has made a lot of money by relying on Xue Conghuai over the years. Seeing that the cash cow is about to leave him, he feels very sincerely sad: "Leave if you say so? Are you going to throw those properties and stores here if you can't sell them?" ?”

"Unfortunately, if you are alone, you can gamble on luck. I have seniors and juniors, and I really can't afford the risk."

"Is it so serious? Even if the Japanese call over, they won't be able to enter the concession, and it won't be too late to leave depending on the situation."

"Who knows if Japan will go to war with Britain and France, it will be too late to leave after the fight."

"That's impossible!"

Saying it was impossible, Zhu Nanjiang actually had no idea in his heart, and was a little uneasy because of the increasingly tense atmosphere around him.

However, he is different from Xue Conghuai. First, he grew up in Shanghai and knew nothing about the outside world. He didn’t know where else to go after leaving this familiar place. Second, he was alone, so he didn’t have that many chances of escaping. concern.

Besides, Wen Changling hasn't left yet.

As early as five years ago, Japan's intention to destroy cultural institutions to attack China was very obvious.The Jiangnan Press has already suffered a devastating blow, and has only just recovered in the past few years.If Shanghai falls, the libraries and printing factories in China will inevitably be completely sealed up and destroyed.Therefore, when the gunshots rang out in North China, Wen Changling and the leaders of the management office rented a temporary warehouse in the adjacent French Concession, and transferred the printing factory's machines, raw materials, and library books to the concession.

The investigation team received intelligence that the Japanese secret agents had learned of the actions of the Press and were taking measures to obstruct it secretly.The Bureau of Labor and Management did not dare to confront the Japanese at this juncture, and ordered the investigation team to wait and see what happened and not to interfere in this matter.

Zhu Nanjiang wanted to prevent the spies from attacking Wen Changling, but at the same time concealed his whereabouts from the Board of Directors. .

This world is very different from ten years ago. Zhu Nanjiang vaguely felt that he could no longer guarantee Wen Changling's safety with his current ability. In addition, Xue Conghuai said that Japan might go to war with Britain and France. After some calculations, he felt uneasy. Worse.

In this way until mid-August, Shanghai failed to escape the artillery fire after all. After three months of fierce fighting, the government troops retreated, leaving a piece of desolate land.

The situation is better than Zhu Nanjiang imagined. After Japan occupied Shanghai, it did not launch an attack on Britain, France and other countries, and the places outside China are still relatively peaceful.

All checkpoints were sealed off, and anyone who had real estate or connections in the concession had already brought their families to seek refuge. The Chamber of Commerce organized volunteers to set up temporary relief points to provide food and subsidies to the homeless refugees.

Xue Conghuai was delayed in dealing with the stock futures at hand, and failed to escape in time. At this moment, he was blocked in the apartment in the new area of ​​the French Concession, and all activities were stopped when the door was closed.

In his words, the Chinese region has now become the world of the Japanese. An activist like him who is usually good at dancing, if he is targeted and not clean, he might be regarded as a traitor.

After a short period of chaos, the concession area gradually restored order. Zhu Nanjiang thought that the crisis had passed, and began to show up in China again.

As early as five years ago, after the first Japanese bombardment of Shanghai, the Jiangnan Press established a branch in Hong Kong. In July, when the war broke out in Pingjin, the director of the museum arranged for the transfer of major institutions such as the management office to the concession area, and at the same time sent valuable machinery and most of the staff to Hong Kong.Hong Kong actually became the operation center of the printing press.However, a small number of personnel centered on the compilation office still stayed in Shanghai to engage in the compilation of wartime textbooks.A temporary office was set up in the concession, and Wen Changling served as the deputy director, and was also responsible for the transportation between Hong Kong and Shanghai.

As long as my brother is still within my line of sight, I am safe.Zhu Nanjiang thought this was good, the distance between him and Wen Changling was even closer than before the war, so there was no reason to run away.

Two days later, he learned from his spies that the Japanese military had established a new government in China, called the "Shanghai Avenue Government". He asked who the main officials were, but he couldn't answer.

"Third Master, I heard that Tian Dongbao is going to be the director of the intelligence department."

"Who?"

"Tian Dongbao, the one who worked under Yu Shankun a few years ago."

Zhu Nanjiang took a long time to realize who the other party was talking about.

About four or five years ago, there was an earth-shattering internal strife in the Yu family. Mr. Yu was almost killed in the car by someone close to him.Although a major cleanup was carried out afterwards, the vitality of the Yu family was seriously injured, and the company lost nearly half of it.Tian Dongbao, who originally ran the casino for Yu Shankun, took advantage of the situation and left the Yu family to establish himself on the hilltop. It is said that he went to the Southern District and the Japanese Concession to develop.

Zhu Nanjiang didn't like Tian Dongbao very much, except for the inevitable meeting at banquets and other occasions, his personal relationship is almost zero on weekdays.

Speaking of which, this person can be regarded as a careerist with a keen sense of smell. He has several properties in the concession area for refuge, so why did he become a traitor?What is the future of being a traitor?

The headquarters has already been withdrawn, and it will be the Daoist government that will deal with the Board of Directors in the future. Zhu Nanjiang is eager to know who is in each of the newly established departments, so he sent his men to continue to inquire and set off to find Xue Conghuai.

——The other party has been among various businessmen all year round, and sometimes the news is better than himself.

Arriving at Xue Conghuai's newly rented apartment, Zhu Nanjiang was horrified to find that the other party's eyes were dull and unkempt, the room was full of cans and changed clothes, and there was an impure stench around him.

"Old Xue, you... you live like this without a woman to serve you?"

"I wish you the best of luck, Inspector."

"What's wrong with me?"

"You still dare to show your face at this time?"

Zhu Nanjiang originally thought that Xue Conghuai could not take care of himself without his wife, but after talking with him, he realized that the other party was frightened by the Japanese and dared not step out of the room day and night.

"At the beginning of the month, a Japanese friend told me that the higher-ups intended to ask me to be the finance minister of the new government. I thought he was joking. I am a businessman. How can I be the finance minister? Who knows? Someone really came to the door in a few days!"

"I can't find anyone, why do I have to find you?"

"It's my fault that I usually get too close to the Japanese, otherwise..." Xue Conghuai picked up the towel hanging on the sofa and wiped his face, "If you want to talk about qualifications and connections, Boss Zhao can speak better than me. Chairman of the Annual Chamber of Commerce."

"Zhao Wenyin? Wasn't he killed by a car the day before yesterday?"

"That's what I want to talk about! I heard that the Minister of Finance was going to ask him to be the minister, and I don't know what happened...Boss Zhao happened the day before yesterday. The newspaper said it was a car accident, but anyone with a discerning eye could see it. It was the Japanese who came out."

"Is there no agreement or Zhao Wenyin refuses to cooperate?" Hearing what he said, Zhu Nanjiang probably guessed what happened.

"I don't know that! Anyway, it's definitely not a good thing to be targeted by the new government. As soon as Boss Zhao died on the front foot, they found me on the back foot. This, this..."

"Did you agree?"

"Not yet, I said to think about it." Xue Conghuai began to tremble as he spoke, "This is just a tactic to delay the attack. They will come to the door again soon. If I don't give an answer, I'm afraid I will end up with Boss Zhao."

Zhu Nanjiang comforted him and said, "Don't worry, just such a small matter won't kill you, Zhao Wenyin may have done something else to provoke the Japanese."

"That's what I said, but it's not a way for me to procrastinate like this."

"Aren't you going to Guangzhou? Why don't you go?"

"I missed a boat, and it's not easy to get a boat ticket now, and I have to wait until next month at the earliest."

"Don't worry, I'll find a way for you."

"Inspector Zhu, I don't expect anyone to help me at this point. My friends run away and hide. It's good if they don't die. You are the only one who can be relied on!" Xue Conghuai trembled. He went into the bedroom and came out again, holding a yellow leather envelope in his hand, "This is the last sum of money I sorted out. It is stored in Citibank, and I use a fake name. If anything happens to me, please find a way to get it back." Give it to my wife."

"Old Xue, don't be like this. Zhao Wenyin died in the Chinese area. This is a concession. No matter how rampant the Japanese are, they can't commit crimes in broad daylight."

"By the way... I haven't told you where they live..."

"Xue Conghuai! Don't act like you're telling the funeral, don't you live a good life?!"

Zhu Nanjiang interrupted him unbearably, and decided to find someone to get the nearest ferry ticket to send him away tonight.If this goes on like this, he doesn't need the Japanese to come to his door, he can drive himself into a daze.

"Keep this money and give it to your wife yourself! Pack up your things and follow me. You will stay with me for the next two days, and get out of here as soon as you get the boat ticket!"

"No, no... I'm afraid of death, but I can't cause trouble for you."

"What trouble can you cause me? Can the Japanese come to me and kill people or something?"

"It doesn't matter where you go, they will find you sooner or later."

"Why are you looking for me?" Zhu Nanjiang wondered.

Xue Conghuai grabbed his wrist nervously: "Sakano-kun told me that he saw your name on the draft list. Inspector Zhu, they want you to be the police chief. Neither of us can escape! "

"Ah?" Zhu Nanjiang withdrew his hand inexplicably: "Me? I did a good job in the patrol room, why do I want to be the police chief?"

"I don't know about this, but I heard that Vice Consul Iwaizumi called you by name."

"Vice-Consul Iwaizumi? What a fucking fuck... I've never seen him before!"

The author says:

Today is also a fat chapter, so...? (hint)