Chapter 356: The 3.15 Case

Although Xue Ziliang had no leads, he knew he had to eliminate the influence immediately. He instructed Kim Yong-ju to take a few men to clean the stone statues and then clear the trees and weeds from the surrounding mounds.

But the matter was not as easy as cleaning the environment. The rumors quickly began to ferment.

In the evening, the weather suddenly turned gloomy. Dark clouds covered the stars and moon, a strong wind blew across the island, and a fine rain began to fall. On this dark night, a sinister wind blew through the city and suburbs of Jeju, through the dwellings and shops of the labor service corps and the Korean commoners, and even through the dormitories of the labor service corps and the White Horse Battalion.

Rumors spread everywhere, saying that the stone men were bleeding because the “Wo-Kun” (Japanese pirates) were acting perversely, committing outrageous acts that had angered the gods. A great disaster was about to befall the island. The strange, inexplicable sounds were a precursor, and now the sky was dark and the stars and moon were gone. The stone statues were bleeding from their five senses out of pity for the people…

All sorts of rumors were spreading. The people of the Joseon Dynasty, the government slaves, had suffered enough oppression and confinement. Their mentality had not yet changed, and those who loved to spread rumors were spreading them everywhere. They whispered mysteriously, making baseless claims, and constantly adding their own embellishments. The more it spread, the more fantastic it became. They were terrified by the rumors, feeling that the island was facing a disaster, and a terrifying atmosphere enveloped the entire Jeju City and its surroundings.

The Yuanlao paid close attention to this matter. After hearing the rumors, Feng Zongze immediately convened a meeting of the Yuanlao to discuss how to respond. At the meeting, everyone agreed that the rumor was strange and seemed to have a strong political purpose. Judging from the content of the rumor, it was likely the work of the remnants of the Joseon Dynasty on the island.

Feng Zongze had been doing very well on Jeju Island, with impressive achievements. In particular, the “Jeju bow and arrow industry” he had single-handedly supported had made remarkable progress in recent months. A considerable amount of grain (though mostly coarse grains) and Korean ginseng had been traded back from the Korean peninsula. Although the Senate had little use for Korean ginseng, it could be used as a re-export commodity—both Japan and the Ming Dynasty had a high demand for Korean ginseng, and the price was high.

However, the demand for bows and arrows in Korea was limited. Although the court had been strengthening its armaments to prevent another invasion by the Eastern Barbarians, the overall equipment level of the Joseon army was not high, and its numbers were small. Therefore, Feng Zongze had been considering developing new markets, such as the Manchus.

Jeju Island, as a maritime node in Northeast Asia, could fully participate in the tripartite trade between China, Japan, and Korea by taking advantage of the convenient ocean currents and winds. Feng Zongze was not content with just being a horse-breeding base and a supply port on the trade route. He had written many long letters to Liu Xiang, having in-depth exchanges on the issue of developing “local industries.”

Now Jeju Island had people and land. Although the collaborators were not fluent in the language, they were very capable. The local security was also peaceful. As for the other Yuanlao—Nangong Wudi, Xue Ziliang, Li Haiping, and Nick—they basically only managed their own affairs and did not interfere in civil administration. Feng Zongze handled everything, big and small. He walked with a swagger, feeling that his protagonist halo was shining brightly. He was ambitiously looking for an opportunity to go to the Planning Commission to “run the departments” and get some industrial projects for Jeju Island. Now, the sudden appearance of a “hostile elements group” was like a blow to the head.

It wasn’t that he was afraid, but he was surprised. He had thought that “everything was under control,” but he hadn’t realized that hostile elements were already secretly laying their plans. He had been completely unaware until they started to make their move.

The thought of a “Jeju great uprising” made him cringe at the thought of how bad he would look when he returned to Lingao. The “opposition” in the Senate, who would kick up a fuss over anything and everything, would have to hold a “hearing” again…

Feng Zongze’s first reaction was to “solve the case” immediately. But on reflection, he had basically not paid any attention to his internal security work. He hadn’t even met with the political security bureau’s special commissioner once in the last two months… At this thought, Feng Zongze broke out in a cold sweat.

The Jeju Forward Committee decided at the meeting to take some preventive measures and to use this opportunity to severely crack down on the arrogance of the hostile elements. At Feng Zongze’s firm request, it was decided that he would be in charge of this work.

After the meeting, he immediately instructed a messenger to summon the political security bureau’s special commissioner, Liu Fuqing.

The Political Security Bureau had sent a working group to Jeju. Their main task was to screen the refugees transported from Shandong and conduct “reliability assessments.”

Zhao Manxiong had specifically pointed out in an internal circular that the biggest problem with the Engine Operation was the possibility of core members of folk religious sects being mixed in with the refugees. Therefore, the two major factions of Lingao Catholicism and New Daoism were conducting a “purge of heretics” on Qimu Island. The political security working group on Jeju Island was conducting a “re-examination.” Not only were they to find the fish that had slipped through the net among the refugees, but they also had to search for those among the former heretics who had changed their faith but were now feigning another change to go undercover.

Therefore, the political security team on Jeju Island was extremely busy. The special commissioner in charge of the work was Liu Fuqing, a naturalized citizen cadre. He had formerly been a clerk in the Ministry of Punishments in Nanjing. He had been exiled to the Leizhou garrison for malpractice on a case file. After the second anti-encirclement campaign victory, he had crossed the sea from Xuwen to Lingao to “join the Kun.”

He had been developed as an informer in the purification camp. Due to his outstanding work, he had served as a full-time informer in the purification camp for over a year. After training in a training class, he was sent to Danzhou to set up a political security bureau intelligence network. Because of his outstanding performance, he was sent to Jeju Island as a special commissioner this time.

“Political Security General Bureau Sergeant, Jeju Special Commissioner Liu Fuqing, reporting for duty!”

A sleazy-looking old man appeared at the door. The words that should have been very imposing came out of his mouth weak and powerless.

Feng Zongze briefly introduced the case and asked him to solve it as soon as possible.

“You know, I attach great importance to internal security work. It’s good that this case has come up. We need to make our work more solid and meticulous. How is the work on setting up the intelligence network that I instructed you to do some time ago?”

Liu Fuqing was a little surprised, because he hadn’t seen Chief Feng for more than two months—he had only been received once when he first arrived. As for any specific instructions, there had been none in the past two months. Fortunately, his work was mainly under the direct leadership of the Political Security Bureau. Whether Feng Zongze paid attention to this area or not, he could work step by step according to the orders and work manuals sent to him.

He was, after all, an old official, a cunning old fox who had been tempered by experience. A few thoughts flashed through his mind and he understood. A “counter-revolutionary group” had appeared on the island and had already taken action. Chief Feng had given no instructions on political security work in the past few months. Wouldn’t it look bad if things were to be investigated? He immediately understood and said loudly:

“Reporting: We have already carried out all of Chief Feng’s verbal instructions. Please rest assured, Chief!” He then reported on the deployment and development of the intelligence network. Because the natives of Jeju Island were Koreans, he was currently mainly recruiting informers from the local collaborators and refugee camps to organize an informer network.

“About this case—” Feng Zongze felt that the other party was very tactful and nodded. “Let’s name it the 3.15 special case. Do you have any leads, any suspects?”

“Reporting to the Chief, yes,” Liu Fuqing said. He then reported that there was a big problem with the brothels in Jeju City.

“…Merchants often gather there to drink. The confidants of some of the island’s big landlords and pasture owners are also frequently active there. They hold banquets and feasts every other day, and some local cadres also frequent the place…”

He paused slightly here. The “improper behavior” of the local “collaborators” had been mentioned in the weekly internal security reports. But this Chief Feng had never given them any specific instructions. He had specially reported the materials to the Political Security General Bureau, but he had not received any orders from Wu Mu on this matter.

When Feng Zongze heard that there was a problem, and a big one at that, he asked anxiously, “Why didn’t you report this to me in time?”

Liu Fuqing quickly said, “I reported it in my weekly report to the Chief. The Chief even gave verbal instructions once. The Chief is too busy with work, perhaps he doesn’t remember clearly?”

Feng Zongze thought to himself, what’s this all about? Then he immediately understood that the first half of Liu Fuqing’s sentence was definitely not false—it was just that he had been busy with “economic construction” recently, and with so many affairs, he hadn’t read the weekly internal security reports carefully for a long time.

As for the second half, that was a hundred percent lie, Feng Zongze thought. This guy was really an old hand at officialdom. He was silent for a moment and said, “You just go and handle this case with care. Start with the brothels. I will instruct all departments to fully cooperate with you.”

“Understood, Chief!”

Liu Fuqing returned to his office—his office was in the mansion of a fugitive merchant outside the refugee camp. He instructed someone to summon Kim O-sun and carefully questioned her about the incident, the people she recognized who were present, and the appearance and characteristics of the speaker. Then, based on the list of people present that she provided, he summoned them one by one for questioning. He learned about the situation at that time from various angles and at the same time further expanded the list of people present. By constantly summoning those who were present, he quickly found out that the speaker was a shop assistant at a bow material shop in Jeju City named Choi Chang-min.

Liu Fuqing immediately summoned the household registration clerk of Jeju and asked who the owner of this bow material shop was.

He could have asked Park Deok-hwan directly about this matter. But the materials Liu Fuqing had indicated that Park Deok-hwan had a big problem—he frequented the brothels and was very close to some of the big merchants and landlords on the island. For the sake of caution, it was better not to alert him. If he was involved, it would be like beating the grass and startling the snake. If he was innocent, it would inevitably cause Chief Feng’s displeasure: Park Deok-hwan was now a favorite collaborator of the Chief.