Chapter 161: The Handover

As news of the great victory at Chengmai spread through Guangzhou, the atmosphere of fear that once surrounded any mention of the Kun thieves gradually changed. The “Aussie” stock, which had once been on the verge of being delisted, not only reopened but was quietly rising. As the news became more and more certain, the stock had returned to its original level. Various figures in the official and commercial circles who had dealings with the Aussies were no longer “silent as cicadas in winter” about the three characters “Aussie people.” They were now semi-publicly discussing the timing of the Aussies’ return to Guangzhou. The headquarters of Sun Kecheng’s Qiwei Escort Agency was suddenly bustling with visitors. Many people came to see him, wanting to know when the Aussies would return, whether there were still Aussie goods for sale, and whether their large-scale procurement would resume.

Although Sun Kecheng repeatedly stated that he didn’t know any Aussies and only had business dealings with Guo Dongzhu’s Zi-brand businesses, the stream of inquiries continued unabated. Most also brought considerable gifts. This made Sun Kecheng very proud. Privately, he always told his disciples and shopkeepers that he had not misjudged the situation.

Sun Kecheng’s pride was multifaceted. Firstly, he had received much favor from the Aussies in the past and had given little in return. This time, he had defied government pressure to hide personnel and materials for the Aussies, and had even helped to secretly transport and guard their personnel. Many of the post-incident matters in Guangzhou were also handled by them. Although he had spent a lot of money, Sun Kecheng felt it was worth it! Qiwei had finally repaid the Aussies in a solid way.

Secondly, the Aussies’ victory proved that he had not misjudged. It seemed that the Aussies would return to Guangzhou sooner or later. The days of Qiwei’s resurgence in Guangdong were fast approaching. Not to mention anything else, just the great victory at Chengmai had changed the attitude of the officials in the city considerably. Some officials had even sent their advisors with gifts—wasn’t this a clear sign that they wanted to build a relationship with the Aussies and leave themselves a way out?

Sun Kecheng was overjoyed and instructed his subordinates to accept all visitors, gifts, and invitations. But he himself never appeared, only sending a few of his disciples to greet the guests. He himself disguised himself and quietly left with a handcart buying rice from the main office—he was going to a safe house for a secret meeting with an envoy from Zhang Xin.

Sun Kecheng’s contact with the Aussies had never been broken. Shortly after Operation Hun ended, Zhang Xin had secretly returned to Guangzhou. This was a very risky move. Although he was not a very public figure in the Guangzhou Station, many people in the city knew him. Once recognized, the possibility of being reported was very high—the Governor-General’s office had offered a reward of five hundred taels for Guo Yi and three hundred for Pei Lixiu. The less well-known Zhang Xin and Yan Maoda were also worth two hundred taels.

But Zhang Xin had to take this risk. The Guangzhou Station had left behind many connections, informants, and moles in the city. If these people were abandoned, this intelligence network would quickly dissolve. This would be a great loss for the Guangzhou Station and for the Senate.

After the Guangzhou Station’s withdrawal, the informants they had bought in various government offices briefly lost contact for more than half a month. Many thought that since the Aussies had left, they no longer needed to serve them. Zhang Xin’s appearance timely stopped this trend—he dispatched personnel from the Guangzhou Station’s security department, secretly set up within the Qiwei Escort Agency, to appropriately warn some of the informants who were on a regular stipend. Thus, news from the various government offices began to flow out normally again.

As for the moles placed in various locations, he also sent people to contact them one by one, to stabilize their morale and let them know that the Aussies had not left and were still watching them at all times.

The safe house was located in the backyard of a shop. Sun Kecheng quietly knocked a secret signal on the back door. The door opened immediately, and he slipped inside. Two young men guarding the door led him to a side room inside.

Sun Kecheng was greatly surprised, for he saw Zhang Xin himself.

Although Zhang Xin had returned to Guangzhou, he rarely met with people in person. Sun Kecheng usually met with his secret envoys. His sudden appearance now clearly meant that there were important matters to arrange.

Beside Zhang Xin was a man in his thirties. Although he was indoors, he wore an eye patch and sat in the shadows, clearly not wanting others to see his face clearly.

Zhang Xin did not waste time on pleasantries and briefly introduced the man beside him.

“This is Shopkeeper Lin!” Zhang Xin introduced. “In the future, he will be in contact with you for many matters!”

“A pleasure to meet you!” the man in the shadows said, cupping his hands and showing a pair of seals.

Seeing the seals was like seeing the person. This was the token for contact. Zhang Xin and Sun Kecheng often communicated this way.

Sun Kecheng took the seals and also cupped his hands. “A pleasure to meet you!” He was used to the Aussies’ secretive way of doing things and did not ask any more questions about the newcomer. He only asked Zhang Xin:

“What? Are you going back to Lingao?”

“I won’t be going back now,” Zhang Xin said. “There are still many things to take care of. Besides, the Zi-brand hasn’t reopened yet. How can I leave?”

“Since you won the battle at Chengmai, the wind in Guangzhou has changed!” Sun Kecheng said with a smile. “Just you watch, in a month or two, the Zi-brand will definitely reopen!”

“I’m afraid things won’t be that smooth,” Zhang Xin said with a sigh. “The officials’ minds are like those of prostitutes in a brothel. They want you to have them, but they also want to appear dignified and not frivolous. It’s a difficult business!”

“Give them a few hard slaps, or just shower them with silver,” Sun Kecheng said with a grin. “That’s all there is to it.”

“Haha, well said,” Zhang Xin laughed. The man sitting in the shadows also seemed to smile.

Sun Kecheng then recounted the news his escort guards had heard from the officials’ residences. The news was varied, but it contained many useful details. So Zhang Xin listened very carefully, taking notes on the main points in his notebook.

From the news, it seemed that Li Fengjie did have the intention of negotiating peace, and he was putting it into practice. It was just that he hadn’t found a suitable channel yet.

“His sources of information are very wide,” Lin Baiguang said after seeing Sun Kecheng off.

“The escort guards know a lot. You don’t have to ask, just watching and listening is a good source of information,” Zhang Xin said. “He is a very important intelligence channel for us.”

Today’s meeting was actually a step in Zhang Xin’s handover of Guangzhou’s intelligence system to Lin Baiguang. According to the Executive Committee’s arrangement, the personnel of the Guangzhou Station would undergo a major adjustment.

In a work discussion with Jiang Shan, Lin Baiguang had already learned that the Guangzhou Station would be rebuilt around the end of the year. Although the specific personnel adjustment plan had not yet been released, Lin Baiguang did not think Guo Yi would lose his position here. Guo Yi’s connections and reputation in Guangzhou were irreplaceable, and he himself had great symbolic significance. The Senate would not easily replace him. In addition, as a commercial and trade window, the attitude of the Colonial and Trade Department was also very important, and Si Kaide was clearly a strong supporter of Guo Yi.

Furthermore, the fact that the Guangzhou Station had no serious flaws in the CHEKA’s financial audit also added to his credit.

Pei Lixiu and Zheng Shangjie would also continue to stay in Guangzhou—the former, like Guo Yi, was a public figure and could not be easily replaced; the latter had played a huge role in the operation of the Zhiminglou, and as the most profitable enterprise, the reconstruction and development of the Zhiminglou could not do without her. But whether Zhang Xin, Yan Maoda, and others would remain in Guangzhou was questionable.

The “Guangzhou Gang” would be broken up. Lin Baiguang had no doubt about this. Zhang Xin would most likely be transferred, and his intelligence connections and various specific tasks were now being transferred to Lin Baiguang. As for the radio operator Zhang Yuchen, he would not continue to stay in Guangdong either—it was a waste of talent. Native radio operators would replace him.

“There are still some other intelligence connections, but none are as important as Sun Kecheng,” Zhang Xin already knew that he would be leaving his post soon, probably to be transferred to a newly developed area—according to the plan, it would likely be Jiangnan. So he was not opposed to leaving Guangzhou. Compared to Guangzhou, Jiangnan was more attractive to him.

However, he still had an important task at hand—to deal with some of the commercial follow-up issues, and at the same time, to conduct an assessment and analysis for the future reconstruction of the Guangzhou Station.

In addition, he also had to estimate the material and commercial losses caused by the war—many people in the Senate were still preparing to demand compensation based on this.

Although most of the commercial relationships had been dealt with during Operation Hun, there were still many unresolved issues. Many account books and documents had not been processed in time. In particular, there was a large amount of accounts receivable that had not been collected—the Gao family owed the most. Zhang Xin did not think Gao Ju would default on the debt—after the Guangzhou Station’s withdrawal, Gao Ju had still maintained a certain secret contact with him. And Gao Ju was also one of the most enthusiastic people working for the Aussies’ return to Guangzhou.

As for the other merchants who owed money, they were also unable to pay at the moment. Zhang Xin had no doubt that as soon as the Zi-brand was restored, they would come to pay off their debts.

Their cooperation with the Liang family would also continue. Especially the investment in the charity hall, which could not be thrown away for nothing. Zhang Xin secretly sent people to contact Liang Cunhou and provided a sum of money. The Liang family guaranteed that they would maintain the Cihui Hall and at the same time protect the vast properties under its name—including the large-scale purification camp.

This war had destroyed their commercial sales and raw material network in Guangdong, which had to be rebuilt after the war. The closure and production halt of a large number of smelting workshops would make the future supply of pig iron and non-ferrous metals very tight. Even if trade resumed immediately, the workshop owners would probably not be able to raise the funds to restart production and recruit enough craftsmen right away. Should they consider buying these industries or providing them with recovery loans?

On this issue, Wu De wanted to hear the opinions of the Guangzhou Station personnel. Of course, this opinion had to be supported by solid figures and theoretical basis.