Chapter 363: Feng Zongze
Feng Zongze took off his blood-stained surgical gloves and threw them into a porcelain dish. Wisps of blood immediately floated on the clear water. A nurse carefully carried it out. Medical latex gloves were to be repeatedly washed and sterilized for reuse until they were no longer usable. This was one of the rules established under the scarce medical resources of Lingao.
Today was the second time for debridement and application of medicine. Feng Zongze lit a cigar, feeling somewhat irritable. As a former pharmacy owner, he had never smoked—the smoke would cling to his fingers and clothes, giving customers a very uncomfortable feeling.
Ever since the 3.15 case, he had been restless and inexplicably irritable, and had started smoking the Nanhai cigars specially supplied to the Yuanlao, which Nangong Wudi had brought.
Looking at the nurses cleaning the medical waste and instruments on the table, he couldn’t help but feel a pang in his teeth. The wounds on Kim O-sun’s body—not to mention the knife wounds, just the large area of second-degree burns on her hands—made it easy to imagine what a powerful will this small woman must have had to endure it. It was known that in terms of medical pain levels, the pain from large-area deep burns was second only to the pain of childbirth.
None of Kim O-sun’s wounds were defensive. Feng Zongze didn’t understand why this naturalized citizen would be so willing to sacrifice her life, but that didn’t stop him from respecting this woman.
After basic treatment to prevent infection, Feng Zongze applied the fentanyl transdermal patch he had brought privately to Kim O-sun. This was originally his last resort, but now it could greatly alleviate Kim O-sun’s physical pain and make her a little more comfortable on the boat to Lingao. This was also the only thing he could do now. Feng Zongze was well aware that he was just a not-so-reliable licensed pharmacist, not a professional doctor, let alone a burn specialist. Even in Lingao, with the current medical environment, the success rate of skin grafting would not be too high. The safest treatment was amputation, but he still held out a glimmer of hope that Kim O-sun could keep her hands.
“If it really comes to amputation, I’ll just take her in and take care of her for the rest of her life.”
This cruel dark joke that Feng Zongze told himself in his mind did not make him feel much better. Because he then thought of Park Deok-hwan and the mastermind behind him. His previous hesitation was not indecisiveness, because he really didn’t want to start a massacre in a place he had managed for a not-so-short time. Once a massacre started, it was equivalent to a weaker version of an “extermination order” on his own territory, which would bring a brief “period of pain” to Jeju. And a major purge of the collaborators he had promoted would greatly damage his prestige in the Senate.
A massacre in his own territory would undoubtedly lead the Executive Committee to question his administrative ability—this was much more serious than being criticized in the Senate. After all, the Executive Committee held the administrative power.
As soon as the Jeju incident happened, Feng Zongze could already imagine how the “soy sauce party” Yuanlao would kick him when he was down. As long as a so-called hearing was held, the best evaluation he could expect would probably be: negligence, lack of discernment, carelessness, allowing the collaborators, who had cost a lot of training, to be corrupted, and sitting by while hostile elements were active… The worst would probably be incompetence and dereliction of duty.
It hadn’t been long since the Leizhou sugar industry and Guangzhou station incidents. Although the nature of this incident was different, the “soy sauce party” Yuanlao who stayed behind wouldn’t care if you were working your fingers to the bone for the Senate abroad. In their eyes, being sent abroad was a perk, a local fiefdom!
Once you messed up on such an issue, it would be difficult to make a comeback, especially for a “soy sauce party” Yuanlao like him who had no factional backing but held “great power.” In particular, the incident where the Danzhou work team was wiped out had once made the several Yuanlao involved lose a lot of face.
The thought of himself sitting in that lonely chair in the middle of the horseshoe-shaped table, being “wheeled” by others, made Feng Zongze shudder.
“These idiots!” he cursed silently. “All you know is how to kill, kill my ass! Don’t you know that people are a precious resource?”
However, a major purge was not a bad way to re-establish his image and shut people up…
“Jeju Island is going to have a bloody calamity? All because someone is going against heaven? Humph! Exactly!” At this thought, Feng Zongze’s eyes lit up, and the戾气 in his heart could no longer be suppressed.
Although paying blood for blood was not the best way to solve the current “crisis,” it was the least bad. He understood that the situation on the whole island was far from deteriorating to the point where a full-scale purge by the army was needed, but considering the Senate far away in Lingao, he still decided to act more decisively and on a larger scale.
The story of the Kim siblings must be written about in great detail! he thought. This was the biggest bright spot in the 3.20 riot! The so-called turning a bad thing into a good thing…
So far, under the rule of the Senate, there had not been such a model of “new morality” that could be used for propaganda. Although many naturalized citizens who had died in the line of duty were already buried in the Cuigang Cemetery in Lingao and the “Martyrs’ Cemetery” in Sanya, none had the strong, heart-shaking effect of Kim Yuk-sun.
He had to personally prepare the materials on the Kim siblings, making them as detailed as possible.
The tip of the cigar glowed and dimmed in the smoke. Feng Zongze’s gaze fell on his desk: Qimingxing and Weekly Dynamics.
Last night, he had carefully studied every article in them. Qimingxing was the Senate’s theoretical journal, and Weekly Dynamics was a compilation of various news from the Senate over the past week. Reading them together was very helpful for grasping the latest dynamics of the Senate.
He once again reviewed the recent events. From the perspective of the Executive Committee, the 3.20 riot was actually not a big deal.
First, the command group had been aware of it and prepared before the incident occurred. Second, the riot was quickly suppressed, and the losses were basically negligible. Third, this incident could be used as an opportunity to purge the largest local forces and obtain a large number of cattle and horses, enough to shut up the Planning Commission and the Executive Committee.
Although the cattle and horses on Jeju Island were already in their pocket, they might have had to pay some redemption price and use economic means to obtain them. Now they had become spoils of war that didn’t cost a penny, and it fully embodied the spirit of “ruling according to law.”
Judging from the telegrams from the Executive Committee and various information, the Executive Committee was both satisfied and dissatisfied with what he had done on Jeju Island. But overall, they were satisfied. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have just lowered his ranking in the forward committee by one place. And they had given a very glorious reason: “From now on, the work focus on Jeju Island will be on strengthening island-wide security.”
According to the spirit of this instruction, they could have lowered his ranking below Nangong Wudi’s. But they only lowered it below Xue Ziliang’s. What did that mean? The Executive Committee was generally satisfied with his civil affairs work on Jeju Island.
Where was the Executive Committee’s dissatisfaction? Obviously, it was “localism.” The instructions in the telegram on the economic development of Jeju Island also proved this point. Feng Zongze thought to himself that the two articles in Qimingxing were actually a warning to the expatriate Yuanlao.
At this thought, he was suddenly enlightened. He would have to write a thick report tonight. He picked up the bell on his desk and rang it. His life secretary came in.
“Tell the guards I’m going out.”
“May I ask where the Chief is going?” the life secretary asked.
“To the Political Security Office.”
Liu Fuqing stood before Feng Zongze with his back hunched. Although he tried hard to learn the “Australian-style” posture of his young colleagues, with their heads held high and chests out, years as a minor official in the Ming Dynasty had bent his back into this shape.
“Has Park Deok-hwan confessed?” he asked.
“He’s confessed everything,” Liu Fuqing said. As soon as Park Deok-hwan was brought into the Political Security Office, he broke down, crying and confessing everything. He knelt on the floor, weeping and wailing, insisting that he “did not betray the Chief,” and that “heaven and earth can bear witness.”
“Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
“I think he’s telling the truth.” Liu Fuqing knew that the Chief did not like to play with words. One was one, and two was two. The old tricks of the official scribes were useless in front of them.
He then took out the confession materials and handed them to Feng Zongze. Feng Zongze waved his hand. “Just give me a summary.”
Liu Fuqing gave a brief account of the economic problems Park Deok-hwan had confessed to, including the results of the search of his residence—the total value of the illicit money and goods was quite considerable by local standards. Feng Zongze listened with a blank, expressionless face.
As soon as he finished speaking, Feng Zongze asked, “Are there any clues linking him to the 3.15 and 3.20 special cases?”
“Reporting, so far, we have not found any evidence linking him to these two cases. However, his maid, Jang Seong-seol, is a major suspect. On the surface, she was a gift from Hwang Wun-u to Park Deok-hwan, but we found that she is actually Jo Myeong-gwi’s slave. So we are interrogating her now. We should be able to get evidence from her about whether Park Deok-hwan participated in these two conspiracies.”
“You’ve done your work well,” Feng Zongze nodded. The fact that Park Deok-hwan was not involved in the conspiracy was a great relief to him. If there was even a shred of evidence linking him, it would be very unfavorable for him. The Political Security General Bureau was under vertical leadership, and he could not influence the relevant materials.
This was good too, he thought. With the Political Security General Bureau vouching for Park Deok-hwan, it would be more convincing than if he had simply come to a “conclusion” himself. It was better for Park Deok-hwan to be a corrupt official than a “counter-revolutionary.”
“What about Park Deok-maeng?” he remembered Park Deok-hwan’s brother.
“The investigation on him has been concluded. The conclusion is that he was not involved. He is currently under 24-hour surveillance.”
Feng Zongze said no more and stood up to leave. Liu Fuqing remembered something and reported:
“Park Deok-hwan said he wants to see the Chief—”
For a moment, Feng Zongze even felt a pang of heartache. He hesitated for a moment and said, “No.”