Chapter 362: Cracking the Case

“The enlarged meeting of the Senate’s Jeju Island Forward Committee is now in session,” Feng Zongze said wearily. “Five Yuanlao should be present on Jeju Island, four are present. Attendees: Feng Zongze, Nangong Wudi, Xue Ziliang, Zhu Mingxia. One person on leave: Nick.”

He then glanced at the people gathered around the table. They all had expressionless faces. Feng Zongze felt a great bitterness in his heart. He picked up the telegram he had just received and began to read:

To the Jeju Forward Committee: Feng, Nangong, Xue, Ni, and forward to the commander of the northern detachment, Zhu.

Telegram of March 25th, 12:00, received.

1. The Jeju riot incident should be taken seriously by you. When carrying out civil affairs work in newly developed areas, pay attention to the counter-attack of local forces. In particular, pay attention to protecting the safety of Yuanlao, naturalized citizens, and local collaborators to avoid shaking morale.

2. When carrying out civil administration work, you can freely employ local personnel. Regardless of the form of utilization, pay attention to their screening and control to prevent them from becoming enemy agents or getting involved in corrupt activities, which would seriously affect our reputation.

3. Regarding the administrative setup of Jeju Island, according to the decision of the Planning Commission and the People’s Committee for Civil Affairs, Jeju Island will be designated as a “New Administrative Demonstration Zone,” and the “standard village” system will be fully implemented.

4. The economic construction work on Jeju Island should maintain its current state, and the scale and variety should not be expanded for the time being.

5. Regarding the preferential treatment and publicity of the deeds of Kim O-sun and Yuk-sun, your opinions are generally agreed upon and have been forwarded to the Propaganda Department for handling. Regarding the posthumous recognition of Kim Yuk-sun as an honorary second lieutenant, according to the materials you submitted, he was a member of the labor service corps before his death and did not hold any form of military rank. This request is denied.

6. From now on, the work focus on Jeju Island will be on strengthening island-wide security. Therefore, from the date of receipt of this telegram, the ranking of the Jeju Island Forward Committee will be Xue Ziliang, Feng Zongze, Nangong Wudi, and Nick. Xue Ziliang will be responsible for the overall work.

After reading the telegram, Feng Zongze sat down with a desolate expression. Everyone present had circled the text.

The Yuanlao present all knew in their hearts that although the riot on Jeju Island was not a big deal in the strict sense, and it could not be said that the Senate had suffered any loss, if viewed according to the theory of “turning a bad thing into a good thing,” the emergence of model figures like the Kim siblings was more of a benefit than a harm.

However, from their private telegrams with friends, colleagues, and superiors in Lingao, as well as from the internal publications Qimingxing and Weekly Dynamics specifically for Yuanlao, they already knew that the Executive Committee was likely to use this opportunity to crack down on the recently emerging trend of “localism.”

This trend had emerged after the occupation of the entire Hainan Island, but Hainan was, after all, the main island. Jeju Island was far away from the emperor, the surrounding environment was complex, and the policy freedom granted to it was relatively large. If they wanted to do something, they could always find enough reasons to force the Planning Commission to agree, or at least agree in part.

In particular, several menacing theoretical articles published in Qimingxing: “Take a Clear-cut Stand Against Localism” and “Expatriate = Gravy, Who Will Supervise the Power Expansion of Expatriate Yuanlao?” The former was signed by Du Wen, the latter by “Independent Political Commentator.”

Seeing these two signatures, the Yuanlao on Jeju Island knew they were in for trouble.

The telegram from the Central Government Council and the Planning Commission this time proved their estimation was correct. Of course, the telegram itself was quite polite and did not negate the work of the Jeju Island Forward Committee.

Xue Ziliang stood up. He was really not used to this “Senate-style” command system. But after years of exposure, he had roughly figured out the operating rules and various subtexts of this copycat system.

Feng Zongze was no longer in charge of the work, and he had been replaced. This meant that the Executive Committee wanted them to shift their work focus to “strengthening security.”

He opened the folder in his hand a little awkwardly, hesitating whether to say something like his colleagues often said, “Thank you for the organization’s trust and the comrades’ support.” In the end, he decided it was better not to and went straight to the point, talking about the next steps of the pacification campaign and the specific implementation plan.

Feng Zongze listened absent-mindedly. His mind was on the progress of the 3.15 special case. More and more evidence showed that Park Deok-hwan, whom he had single-handedly promoted and entrusted with important responsibilities, not only had economic problems but was also strongly suspected of treason.

From the confessions of the prisoners, it had been confirmed that Jo Myeong-gwi was the mastermind behind the 3.15 activities, and his black backer was Kim Man-il. Although Jang Seong-seol was a gift from Hwang Wun-u, she was actually Jo Myeong-gwi’s slave.

The chain of evidence pointing to Park Deok-hwan’s treason was almost complete. They were just waiting for Liu Fuqing to round them all up and obtain direct physical evidence and confessions.

After Xue Ziliang had talked about the specific operational plan for the first phase of the pacification campaign, Nangong Wudi began to talk about the work of village consolidation and settlement and armed immigration. Feng Zongze didn’t hear any of it. He was in a daze until the meeting ended. He then hurried to the Jeju office of the Political Security General Bureau.

It was now noon, and most people were at work. The streets were a bit deserted. The heads of the “righteous army,” treated with lime, were stuck on sharpened wooden poles and neatly arranged along the street near the supervisory camp. Feng Zongze felt very uncomfortable every time he walked past.

In March on Jeju Island, the weather was still a bit cold, but Liu Fuqing was only wearing a plain cotton single-layer shirt—the Chiefs called it a “shirt.” His sleeves were rolled up high, his collar was open, and steam was rising from his half-bald head. He was smoking a cigarette while looking at the interrogation materials that had just been brought out.

Starting with the fifteen captured prisoners, more clues were dug up from the interrogations. Although these fifteen people were all minor characters, their hiding places from the time they infiltrated the city until they came out at night to commit arson were irrefutably linked to the “enemy.” Through the torture of the prisoners, they quickly dug up a batch of shops and homes in the city related to Kim Man-il that had provided hiding places for the “righteous army.” Among them were also some members of the labor service corps and collaborator cadres.

The search and arrest work began immediately. Liu Fuqing commanded the White Horse Battalion to conduct a city-wide search, arresting over a hundred people. Regardless of whether they were family members or slaves, they were all arrested indiscriminately for interrogation. He himself also personally took part, taking turns “keeping them awake.”

After a night of surprise interrogations, the suspects were roughly identified. Most were innocent or not deeply involved. Out of caution, he temporarily detained this group in the refugee camp, waiting for instructions from the Chiefs before dealing with them.

Liu Fuqing was familiar with the ways of the Ming officialdom. In the Ming, such a case would be “treason.” Those involved, whether master or servant, could be severely punished. How big the case ultimately became and how many people were involved depended on the ideas of the officials in charge and the emperor.

He was not yet clear on the “Australians’” specific approach to such cases. Whether to take the opportunity to launch a major purge, or to let it blow over gently.

Because the entire context of the 3.15 case and the subsequent 3.20 riot had been clarified, Liu Fuqing decided to sort it out and then go to report to Feng Zongze and ask for instructions on the next step. Wu Mu had already given him instructions: “Follow Chief Feng’s instructions” in the investigation and handling of the case.

Feng Zongze’s arrival did not surprise him. From the telegrams with Chief Wu Mu and the events of the past few days, this cunning old official had roughly understood the crux of the matter.

Chief Feng was now eager to absolve himself of the crime of being careless in his internal security work.

He buttoned up his collar and then began to report the progress of the work one by one.

Jo Myeong-gwi was the first to be arrested. The investigators of the Political Security General Bureau had identified him as the main backer of the hostile forces in Jeju City. The facts proved this judgment was correct.

A large number of documents, letters, weapons, and poison were found in Jo Myeong-gwi’s shop and residence, and even many different kinds of civilian clothing.

The most crucial find was the “account book,” which recorded in detail his various expenses for “public relations activities” in the local area. Park Deok-hwan stood out prominently at the top of the list of expenses.

Besides Park Deok-hwan, the account book also involved several other “collaborator” personnel, including people he had socialized with in the Chaotianpu Port Authority, the Horse Farm Management Office, the Jeju Labor Service Corps, and the White Horse Battalion. Most of the amounts involved were very small and were not handled by him personally, so even the Political Security General Bureau had not noticed.

Because Jo Myeong-gwi had been engaged in commercial activities for many years, he had long established a commercial network that spread throughout Jeju City and its surroundings. Through this network, he could operate many things from behind the scenes.

“Truly premeditated!” Feng Zongze almost slammed the table. It seemed he had underestimated this merchant Jo Myeong-gwi!

“What about Jo Myeong-gwi’s confession? Any new discoveries?”

“He refused to talk at first, but he finally confessed this morning,” Liu Fuqing said. “But we interrogated him for several days and nights. He’s a bit confused now, and his confession is also incoherent…”

“How is it? Did he confess his backer?”

“Yes, he clearly confessed that all of this was instructed by Kim Man-il,” Liu Fuqing said. “Another key person involved is Hwang Wun-u, but he has already run away…”

Feng Zongze knew this name. This person was the contractor for the Jeju Island bow and arrow industry and had contributed a lot to his bow and arrow export business. The thought that he had even shown him considerable courtesy and even planned to absorb him as a naturalized citizen cadre made him blush with shame and anger. He asked, “Run away?”

“Yes, he left Jeju after the 3.15 case. We checked the entry and exit records of Chaotianpu. He went to the peninsula to do business.”

“Lucky for him!” he said bitterly.

Liu Fuqing glanced at him and secretly noted “Hwang Wun-u = over.”

“We have already arrested his family and assistants. His chief assistant, Choi Hyeon-taek, confessed that they have already contacted local officials of the Joseon Dynasty on the peninsula and have a plan to counter-attack Jeju.”

Feng Zongze nodded and asked, “Has Park Deok-hwan been arrested?”

“Not yet. He is an important local cadre. I hope to get your approval…”

“I approve. Arrest him immediately.”