Chapter 2066
"Experts are just different!" Yu Yao couldn't help but sigh secretly after hearing this explanation. Obviously, this torture expert is not the kind of reckless man who only knows how to torture prisoners with brute force, but a professional executioner who has received professional training and has rich practical experience.
The torture expert opened a package he brought in. Inside were two thick-looking cowhide scrolls. He opened the two scrolls and spread them out in front of Lu Jiu, seemingly deliberately letting him see clearly what was inside.
The scroll on the left is filled with various exquisite small tools, such as needles, hooks, tweezers, finger tigers, knives, etc. Each tool has several different styles and sizes. There are more than ten knives alone. They are all made of fine steel. They are about four inches long including the handle. They are very delicate in appearance. The blades are either straight or curved. They obviously have different uses.
The scroll on the right is larger in size. After unfolding, the tools inserted on it are 80% similar in appearance to the small tool on the left, but the size is much enlarged. The difference is that there are tools such as pliers, saws, axes, and chisels on the right side. It seems that they should be used only for big movements.
Although Yu Yao was just a bystander, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart when he saw the torture expert slowly displaying these cold tools. As for how Lu Jiu would feel when he was about to be tortured, he must be much more nervous than him.
"General, if you want to watch here, please step back a few steps to avoid being splashed with blood later." The torture expert warned carefully.
Yu Yao came back to his senses, shook his head and said: "I'll leave the rest to you, and I'll go check out the progress in other places. You should be careful about your actions. This person should know a lot, and it's more useful to be alive than dead. ”
Professional matters were left to professionals. Yu Yao did not want to affect the performance of his subordinates just because he was here to watch, and he was not interested in watching this kind of execution method that was similar to vivisection, so he simply found an excuse to leave first. .
In addition to Lu Jiu, other people arrested from Zhengyuanji in this operation are also being tried separately. Although most of these people have less information than Lu Jiu, there may be innocent people among them who have no knowledge at all. But in this current situation, it is definitely better to kill by mistake than to let go. No matter what, we must first try the trial first.
In addition to the urgent interrogation of those who have been arrested, another part of the local investigation work is to conduct a thorough search of Zhengyuanji, trace all the evidence found to its source, and collect useful information. Since the arrest in Penghu was carried out without any warning, Zhengyuan Ji did not have time to destroy the account books and manifests in the store, and the information contained in these written records is often easily ignored.
In order to find out whether there was key information in these materials, Yu Yao ordered the transfer of several accountants from the local Ministry of Commerce, Port Management Center and Haihan Bank, and these professionals would carefully examine the relevant account books.
According to information obtained from the interrogation of prisoners in Zhangzhou, Japanese businessman Kenji Tagawa not only visited Penghu, but also visited Kaohsiung Port on Taiwan Island. According to its operating mode in Penghu, it is very likely that it also set up a local business organization called "Zheng X Ji" as a cover, and then secretly engaged in some conspiracy activities against Haihan.
Just in case, Yu Yao sent a telegram to Li Dou, the chief officer of Kaohsiung Port, as soon as possible, informing him of the general process of detecting the case in Penghu, and advised Li Dou to take corresponding actions as soon as possible. If the time is delayed for a few more days, the opponents lurking in Kaohsiung Port can be prepared in advance, whether it is destroying the information or absconding by boat, it will be an unnecessary mistake for Haihan.
Of course, since the opponent has even sent personnel to lurk in places like Penghu and Kaohsiung, it is conceivable that Haihan's other overseas trading ports should also be included in the opponent's calculations. Therefore, the area that needs to be investigated immediately is not the Daming coast, but the various trading ports controlled by Haihan.
This situation was completely different from the previous judgment of the Executive Committee, but after weighing the pros and cons, Yu Yao decisively chose to pursue the current clues first and quickly reported the situation through the radio.
Yu Yao's discovery in Penghu is very crucial. Due to Haihan's advantages in communication technology, the investigation progress in various places can be reported to other places in a very short time, much faster than his opponents. In this way, his opponents It is no longer possible to rush ahead of Haihan to cut off clues like Zhengyuan Ji. Even though Lu Jiu, the shopkeeper of Zhengyuanji, has not yet asked for more information, the successive exposure of the two locations of Zhangzhou Zhengfuji and Penghu Zhengyuanji has already pulled out the carrots and brought out the mud, allowing Haihan to find it. Important patterns for tracking your opponent’s movements.
On the day after the Penghu Dongchuang Incident, Kaohsiung Port on Taiwan Island suddenly entered a city-wide state of martial law without warning. The port was completely taken over by naval forces and all ships were prohibited from leaving the port without authorization. Immediately afterwards, the garrison surrounded several places in the city with lightning speed, and then used force to attack without hesitation and arrested several people.
Announcements stamped with the seal of the Kaohsiung Administrative Committee were quickly issued in various places in Kaohsiung City. Chief Administrative Officer Li Dou announced that these arrests were aimed at a group of extremely dangerous gangsters lurking in the local area. After the case is found out, they will be arrested. Reopening of ports. During the lockdown period, any attempt to forcefully leave Kaohsiung will be regarded as absconding in fear of crime and will be treated as a suspect.
With the experience of Zhangzhou and Penghu, the Kaohsiung authorities appeared to be much more relaxed in handling this matter. Relevant departments used the same method as Penghu to verify the organization established by Japanese businessman Kenji Tagawa in Kaohsiung, and the other party successfully completed the arrest without any precautions.
The search of relevant locations did not disappoint Li Dou, and several well-preserved muskets wrapped in oilcloth were seized. The account books and other items found here also prove that its business method is exactly the same as that of Zhengyuan Ji in Penghu. It also purchased some local specialties, processed them briefly, and then sold them to the coast of Daming Dynasty. However, these businesses are probably just a cover on the outside, and the real money-making part is probably to purchase products from the Ming Dynasty and then transport them to the South China Sea to sell to the Spanish.
Of course, these products purchased from Daming now have a theoretical sales channel. Since the person behind the matter is a Japanese businessman, it is very likely that some of the products will also be shipped to Japan for sale.
In fact, this is not a strange thing. Trade exchanges between Japan and China have existed for ancient times, and it is not uncommon for Japanese businessmen to purchase various goods in Ming Dynasty every year. Although Japan's Tokugawa shogunate has been implementing a closed-door foreign policy since 1635, the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands are the only countries allowed to trade with Japan, and transactions are restricted to Nagasaki. Various commodities of the Ming Dynasty You can still enter the Japanese market because of this special treatment. However, in addition to the trading method prescribed by the Tokugawa shogunate, some local feudal lords who engage in maritime trade will still trade with other countries on their own, such as the So clan of Tsushima clan and Korea, and the Shimazu clan of Satsuma clan and Trade between the Ryukyu Kingdoms. Some goods produced in the Ming Dynasty will also flow into Japan through this indirect trade channel.
As the investigation work continues to make progress in the Fujian Strait area, more truth is revealed after the cover is peeled away bit by bit. The intelligence department is currently basically certain that the person in charge of various affairs organized and arranged by the opponent in the Fujian Strait area is Japanese businessman Kenji Tagawa. However, considering that the opponent has always acted cautiously, this identity used for public activities may not be true.
Judging from the commercial institutions currently found in Zhangzhou, Penghu, and Kaohsiung, it can be seen that the other party has put considerable effort into the layout. This not only requires abundant funds as support, but also a thorough understanding of the business conditions of various countries, and the ability to oversee the overall situation. This is by no means something ordinary businessmen can do.
Do Japanese businessmen have such strong operational capabilities? The intelligence community was skeptical. Due to the limitations of navigation technology, the scope of Japanese merchants' overseas activities was far less than that of Han maritime merchants and colonists from the West. Naturally, their vision and business awareness were still far behind the first-class level.
But the deployment made by Kenji Tagawa in the Fujian Strait area is excellent. If Haihan intelligence personnel had not found relevant clues in Cebu and focused their investigation on Fujian, then as long as these disguised commercial organizations did not take the initiative to expose , whose true identity will probably never be discovered. Such powerful methods are rare among the opponents that Haihan Intelligence Department has encountered in the past.
So who exactly is this Tagawa Kenji has become the main issue that the intelligence department is currently investigating. At present, apart from his name and appearance, the intelligence agency has not obtained any other valuable clues, and the whereabouts of this person are not clear. Although several of the captured suspects had had contact with Kenji Tagawa, the ringleaders who had more information still refused to let go and revealed more about this person.
But as long as the direction is right, with Haihan's execution capabilities and operational efficiency, it will not be too difficult to remove the various commercial institutions that the other party has installed in Haihan's control area. After receiving reports from Penghu and Kaohsiung, the Executive Committee immediately revised its previous plan and changed the large-scale investigation of the southeastern coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty to a comprehensive self-inspection of various trading ports under Haihan's control to eliminate There are hidden dangers like Zhengfu Ji and Zhengyuan Ji.
This arrangement successfully solved the problem that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had previously worried about. If the arrests of the Haihan Army in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty triggered misunderstandings and resistance from local officials, it would easily lead to armed conflicts. After the investigation was changed to self-inspection, , all action plans for the army to be dispatched to the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty were cancelled, and any possible conflicts were naturally eliminated in advance.
However, this adjustment will not allow the overseas garrison to relax. Martial law and arrest work in various places still require the deployment of elite garrison troops. However, compared with carrying out tasks in the unfamiliar environment of the Ming Dynasty, doing it on one's own land is not only It saves you the trouble of traveling and traveling, and because the environment is familiar, the operation will be much smoother.
Following the Fujian area, several trading houses of similar nature were also seized in Quanzhou, Fujian, Hong Kong at the Pearl River Estuary, and Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, Ningbo, Zhejiang. Although the names and business contents of these commercial organizations are different, their business models are almost exactly the same as those in Fujian. As long as they are screened according to several conditions of the seizure of Zhengfu Ji in Zhangzhou, these businesses that were originally well concealed can be The organization was quickly exposed.
With the previous experience, the search and arrest process went more smoothly. There were no fierce confrontations in several places seized subsequently. The weapons and account books seized from their business premises showed that these commercial institutions had the same intention. A boss behind the scenes.
“Through our current verification results, we can judge that the operators of these commercial institutions have received the same training, so not only are their business contents and methods similar, but also the places where guns are hidden and the habit of recording current and current accounts are all the same. It's the same." After the latest intelligence from various places was gathered in Sanya, He Xi reported the investigation progress to the Executive Committee on behalf of the Ministry of Security.
"You mean, somewhere we don't know, someone has organized a shopkeeper training class to train operators of such small commercial institutions in batches?" Schneider kept talking about his profession. After listening, he followed his own instructions He Xi's explanation was translated with understanding.
"There is nothing wrong with Mr. Shi's understanding, but the training candidates in this institution have been specially selected and are a little different from ordinary people." He Xi responded with a smile.
"Oh? What's the difference?" Schneider asked curiously.
He Xi responded: "These operators take their own life and death very lightly. Some people seem to have already made up their mind to die when they accepted this job, and regard this job as the last job in their lives. I'm really curious, where did the mastermind behind the scenes recruit so many desperadoes who know how to run businesses and can also act as spies and assassins? And these operators are all Han people. Where did they come from?"
"Listening to what you say, this matter seems to be getting more and more interesting." Tao Donglai responded: "The mastermind behind the scenes we have found so far is a Japanese, but the leaders working for him are all Han Chinese. This kind of How was the relationship established? Since these leaders don't even care about life and death, they probably aren't working for money. What drives them to do these things? In my opinion, it's either repayment or revenge. "< br>
"It's possible that it's both." Ning Qi took over and said, "There is no conflict between repaying a favor and taking revenge. For example, if they have a common enemy with their benefactor, then revenge is repaying the favor at the same time."
"You make sense." Tao Donglai nodded in agreement, and then changed the topic: "Then do we have such enemies?"
(End of chapter)