Chapter 718 717 [Kill It]

Japanese Concession, Inoue Hospital.

Liao Yaquan waited uneasily for the news. She had informed her contact person half a month ago that Zhou Hexuan was moving out of Tianjin. This is what must be done, otherwise Liao Yaquan will be directly regarded as a traitor when the Sanletang people are gone.

"Click!"

The door handle was turned open, and Jiro Mitsui pushed the door open, followed by a middle-aged man in his 40s.

Mitsui Jiro closed the door and introduced: "This is the envoy sent by His Excellency Doihara, Mr. Li Jingcheng."

"Li Jingcheng" is naturally the pseudonym of a special agent, just like Liao Yaquan's name.

Liao Yaquan quickly stood up and shook hands: "Hello, Mr. Li."

"Hello, Ms. Liao," Li Jingcheng said with a smile, "Can you tell me more specifically? Why did Zhou Hexuan want to leave Tianjin with his family?"

"Zhou Hexuan believes that North China is a dangerous place, and the army of the Japanese Empire may come to the city at any time." Liao Yaquan said the answer he had thought of for a long time.

In fact, even the Japanese themselves do not know when they will fully invade China.

Just like the foreign policy of the Nanjing National Government, Japan's foreign policy also has no long-term plan, and even their foreign expansion plans are based on opportunities.

However, it is the consensus of all sectors of Japanese society that a comprehensive invasion of China is necessary. In recent years, Japan's military investment has been growing at a rate of 1.5 times per year. Last year's military expenditure accounted for 30% of the total national budget, and the army's standing force has also increased to 400,000, and a reserve of 3 million people can be drawn up at any time. force.

With such unscrupulous military expansion and preparation for war, even fools know that war is inevitable.

If Japan's military expansion plan reaches its limit, then they will have to fight even if they don't because the economy simply cannot sustain it. The "peace advocates" represented by Wang Zhaoming and Hu Shi completely ignored Japan's specific situation. Any Japanese cabinet official who dared to block the war would directly end up being torn to pieces by the soldiers.

"Mr. Zhou is an outstanding person. He has a long-term vision and has seen through everything." Li Jingcheng sincerely praised him, and then asked, "Is there no possibility of persuasion at all?"

Liao Yaquan said: "I can't convince him. He is an extreme patriot."

"Then kill him," Li Jingcheng took out a bottle of medicine and introduced, "This is the latest product of the Empire. Long-term use can cause heart rhythm imbalance. When the user encounters severe mood swings, it can induce acute heart disease. It would be difficult to salvage and would not arouse anyone’s suspicion.”

This is how international academics are treated. Ordinary people can be killed without any worries at all. But when it comes to Zhou Hexuan's level, the Japanese have to consider the consequences if they want to assassinate him, and they have to clear away the suspicion.

"Kill?" Liao Yaquan was shocked and asked, "Didn't the military let me lurk for a long time? If Zhou Hexuan dies, what will happen to my mission? The secret of Freemasonry has not been found yet."

"We can't wait any longer. Zhou Hexuan's negative influence on the empire is getting bigger and bigger. Such people must be eliminated," Li Jingcheng said. "As for you, after Zhou Hexuan's death, you can continue to lurk. The identity of Zhou Hexuan's widow is rare."

"Where is the Freemasonry?" Liao Yaquan asked.

Li Jingcheng said: "The empire's expansion plan is already on the string and must be launched. We will investigate the Freemasonry and other things slowly in the future, and there is no rush."

Liao Yaquan was so frightened that she felt cold all over. She forced herself to calmly change the subject: "How long does it take for this medicine to take effect?"

"One pill a day. The bottle of medicine I gave you is enough for Zhou Hexuan to take for three months. The specific time for it to take effect depends on the physical condition of the user," Li Jingcheng said and took out a note, "If Zhou Hexuan takes one If the bottle is not dead, then go to Wuhan to find this person, he will be your single-line connector after leaving North China."

"Okay... okay," Liao Yaquan quickly put the note away and asked, "Do you have any other instructions, Mr. Doihara?"

Li Jingcheng said in a cold tone: "You shouldn't ask, so don't ask more."

"Yes!" Liao Yaquan quickly lowered his head.

Kenji Doihara became the head of the Peiping Secret Service last year, equivalent to Japan's spy chief in North China. This guy stirred up trouble and tried to create autonomy for the five provinces of North China. As a result, he created a monster called the "Ji-Cha Administrative Committee."

The Japanese obviously failed to achieve their set goals. As a result, the Nanjing government completely lost control of North China. Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army was further weakened. The real beneficiary was the "anti-Japanese hero" Song Zheyuan.

Nowadays, the "Hebei-Cha Government Affairs Committee" has become the highest governing body in North China, nominally under the jurisdiction of the Nanjing National Government, but all military and political power is in the hands of Song Zheyuan.

While Song Zheyuan was wooing the Northeast Army and gaining the support of Zhang Xueliang, he was also wooing the old warlords of the Anhui clique and the Zhili clique. At the same time, he squeezed out the power of the central government and kept aloof from the Japanese, eventually making North China resemble the state of the Beiyang period.

Use one word to describe it: chaos!

This nationally praised "anti-Japanese hero" has deteriorated. Perhaps forced by the current situation, or perhaps due to his inflated personal ambitions, Song Zheyuan is now a local warlord leader who can cooperate with Japan for his own interests.

Fortunately, Song Zheyuan still had a basic bottom line. He would never do such a thing as surrendering to the enemy and becoming a traitor. In other words, even if Song Zheyuan wanted to be a traitor, his generals would not agree, because Song Zheyuan's expansion of power was entirely due to his reputation as a "patriotic war of resistance".

If Song Zheyuan surrenders to the enemy, his character will collapse and his military morale will be dispersed. This will lead to a joint encirclement and suppression campaign by the Central Army and the Northeast Army, and there will also be countless patriotic soldiers within the army who will fight back.

From Chiang Kai-shek's point of view, he probably wished that Song Zheyuan would immediately be regarded as a traitor, so that the Central Army would be able to recruit a famous leader and directly attack him.

Why can’t peace advocates like Hu Shi see the hope of China’s victory?

Because the situation is so bad.

The civil war in the northwest has become a mess, and Song Zheyuan is in charge in North China. The warlords in the southwest are not listening to the propaganda. The warlords of Guangdong and Guangxi sent troops in the name of "resistance" and pushed directly into the Hunan and Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. The main force of the Central Army was making every effort to quell the "rebellion" at this time.

What to fight with? What a fart!

Therefore, Zhang Xueliang deserves the most credit. Just one "Xi'an Incident" can erase all his previous mistakes. Without the established fact and public opinion that Zhang Xueliang forced Chiang to resist Japan and created a national united front, after Japan fully invaded China, the Chinese would probably still be busy fighting a civil war, and Chiang Kai-shek's Central Army would not dare to mobilize to fight against Japan.

As for Doihara Kenji, this person has returned to China for promotion and is not currently in China.

Therefore, Japan's actions in North China were temporarily suspended, and the Nanjing government and Zhang Xueliang had no time to visit the north. Song Zheyuan became the local overlord in North China, but he was unable to fully control the situation, making North China temporarily a neglected area and a fertile ground for smuggling trade.

Liao Yaquan returned to Sanletang and quietly took out the medicine and explained the situation.

Zhou Hexuan broke out in a cold sweat. If Liao Yaquan had played this trick a few years ago, the grass on his grave would have been three feet tall, and he would have died in an unknown manner.

"Brother Xuan, let's go abroad, whether it's the United Kingdom or the United States." Liao Yaquan looked a little flustered. "Even if we escape to the south, there will still be Japanese spies watching. After a few months, they will find out that you are fine, and they will definitely doubt me. They have already rebelled, and others will probably be sent to take action by then."

"There's no rush," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "I can pretend to be sick and just take my time."

Liao Yaquan hesitated to speak, and finally sighed helplessly. It was too uncomfortable for her to be caught in the middle.