Chapter 198: Comrade Group Leader

“You know very well that the General Political Security Bureau does not collect intelligence on individual Elders.” Zhao Manxiong used this sentence to refuse all such attempts. “It is highly inappropriate for you, as an Elder, to make such a request to us.”

“Can you say that with a clear conscience?”

“Do you believe in ghosts and gods?”

“What?!”

“If you do, I can make a vow,” Zhao Manxiong said slowly and deliberately.

After once again reviewing the detailed record of this conversation, Zhao Manxiong signed his name and the date, and closed the cover of the memorandum. He opened the smaller of the two safes in his office and placed the memorandum inside.

“The secret police are a dangerous thing. Comrades, you don’t understand,” Zhao Manxiong muttered, locking the heavy steel door.

A rhythmic knock sounded on the office door. His secretary brought him the latest issues of the “two publications and one newspaper.” Seeing the latest issue of “Enlightenment,” he realized it was Saturday.

He opened “Enlightenment” and quickly scanned the table of contents. By his estimation, this issue would be filled with articles denouncing “Emperor Zhao” and the Hangzhou station, and naturally, there would be no shortage of articles defending them. This was an old trick of the propaganda department. Before the Executive Committee made a specific statement and the Senate’s direction was set, the propaganda department always remained “neutral.”

The first article was aggressive, titled: “Jeju’s Satellite Soars, Hangzhou’s Red Flag Falls.” The author was credited to: “Spartacus Legion Iron Fist Creation Group.”

Comrades, in the pioneering history of the Senate, Jeju Island is undoubtedly a model of success: fast, low-cost, high-yield, with few future troubles, it has already embarked on the broad road of positive circulation. The Hangzhou station, on the other hand, has become a model of a negative example: Elder Zhao So-and-so has spent a tremendous amount of time, manpower, and resources, yet not a single basic task has been completed. If not for some accidental factors, the Hangzhou station would have already met with disaster.

Why is there such a huge contrast? The key is the difference in ideological line. The ideological line is the foundation of everything. If the line is wrong, the greater the investment, the more the results will deviate from the goal. The reason for Jeju Island’s success lies in its adherence to a mass line: eliminating the government, slaughtering the great households, liberating the slaves, and organizing the laborers into communes. This line, coming from the masses and going to the masses, destroys the government and the great households, so no one will stand up to oppose us; it liberates and organizes the working people, so the people are grateful and give rise to heroines like Jin Wushun and model units like the White Horse Team.

It is very regrettable that some among us have forgotten the masses, detached themselves from the common people, and placed their hopes on the bureaucratic gentry ruling class. This is simply the height of folly. They spend their days exchanging pleasantries and flirting with the great households and gentry, feeling pleased and complacent, as if they themselves have become elegant and noble Ming gentlemen. This is called forgetting one’s roots, this is called betrayal!

Do we not have lessons from the past? How prosperous was the Zhiming Tower back then? It was like a beacon of fashion for the great households of Southern China, but with the slightest trouble, it revealed its true colors as a colossus with feet of clay. It wasn’t until Elder Guo returned to Guangzhou with the support of gunboats and bayonets that the Zhiming Tower finally stood firm.

The common people are a blank sheet of paper; they can be reformed, they can be molded into citizens of a new society. The practice in Taiwan, Hainan, and Jeju Island has proven this point.

However, for the imperial family and gentry of the Zhu Ming to receive the salvation of our Great Song is harder than a camel passing through the eye of a needle. They are only surprised or fearful of our strange and ingenious skills; in their bones, they still regard us as barbarians. The moderate ones want to assimilate us, the radical ones want to eliminate us.

e> Therefore, we must abandon any illusions about the Zhu Ming ruling class. To us, Zhu Youjian and Yuan Chonghuan, Sun Chengzong and Wu Sangui, Wang Cheng’en and Shi Kefa, there is no difference. Strictly speaking, these people are no different from the Spanish Governor-General in Manila, the Portuguese Bishop in Goa, or the Tokugawa Shogun in Edo. Between us and them, compromise and cooperation are temporary, partial, and relative; struggle and destruction are permanent, total, and absolute. Towards them, we have nothing but Jihad, and more Jihad.

I see many heads, heads wearing tall black gauze hats, round and shiny heads, in the capital, in Nanzhili, in Hangzhou, all ripened, ripened like watermelons. The land of the Zhu Ming seems to be a melon field waiting to be harvested.

…

Zhao Manxiong made a mark on the article with a pencil. The next one was: “Whose Domain is the Hangzhou Station? Is the Senate’s Jiangnan Strategy Paving the Way for Someone Surnamed Zhao to Build His Own Empire!!!”

Zhao Manxiong skimmed it and made another pencil mark. It seemed the firepower against Zhao Yigong was quite intense. He flipped through the next few pages, all of which were various attack articles. Many articles also brought up past events of the Guangzhou and Leizhou stations. Matters concerning Shandong were also dragged in.

Emperor Zhao has some skill.

Zhao Manxiong thought to himself. This was a clear attempt to drag all the external stations into the water, playing the game of “all for one, and one for all.” The dispatched Elders and their supporters in Lingao would inevitably jump out. Then, new and old grudges would erupt together, and everyone would be busy tearing at each other, and no one would care about the Hangzhou station anymore.

Naturally, Zhao Yigong’s goal was to muddy the waters. The murkier, the easier to get through. Zhao Manxiong was not interested in the fate of his namesake. His only interest was the security departments of the various external stations.

These security departments were currently under the dual leadership of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau and the Department of Colonization and Trade. Although members of the Ten-Man Group were secretly placed among them for counter-espionage purposes, and the members of the security departments also received professional guidance and training from the General Political Security Bureau, they did not fall under the General Political Security Bureau’s management.

The crisis at the Hangzhou station, especially the appearance of Hao Yuan, gave him a great opportunity to infiltrate the security departments of the external stations. He did not expect to seize leadership of the security departments, but at least he could establish a “Political Security Group” within them and openly insert his own personnel.

He had to make full use of this opportunity. However, sending people to join the inspection team was a high-risk matter. He had to fully grasp the spirit of the Executive Committee and the “direction of the wind” in the Senate.

While Zhao Manxiong was seriously studying the political winds, in a conference room in the Executive Committee compound, Comrade Yi Fan, the head of the Special Audit Committee for Purging Corruption and Idleness, or “Cheka” for short, had been confirmed as the leader of the inspection team.

At this moment, talking with Comrade Yi Fan were [Ma Qianzhu][y005], the direct leader of the Cheka, Cheng Dong, and the head of the First Division of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, Li Yan.

Obviously, Cheng Dong was just there for show. Everyone knew that the problems of the external stations were never just financial issues, but more about resource allocation and the policy of the mainland strategy.

“…Comrade Yi Fan, your task is heavy.” [Ma Qianzhu][y005] sat on the sofa, leaning slightly forward. Due to his long hours of work, his forehead was already half-bald. “Many of the current problems at the external stations did not accumulate overnight. They are more the product of long-term expediency and inter-departmental interest struggles. Therefore, I hope that when you go to these places, you will not only discover problems from the accounts, but also identify problems in all aspects—especially those structural problems.”

“Yes, Comrade [Ma Qianzhu][y005].” Yi Fan was both excited and happy. The leader of the Central Inspection Team! To put it more “traditionally,” he was an imperial envoy. Although he didn’t hold a “Shangfang sword,” the pen he used to write reports was as heavy as a mountain. A single word could mean life or death. The political fate of so many people would be in his hands. He felt a little giddy.

[Ma Qianzhu][y005] seemed to see through his thoughts and continued, “You are now a person sent by the central leadership. What the local people tell you and show you will inevitably be embellished. You must have a heart that can distinguish objective facts and not be deceived.”

“Yes, you can rest assured. I will definitely guard against arrogance and rashness, and with a learning attitude, do all my work with modesty and prudence…”

[Ma Qianzhu][y005] waved his hand: “Let’s not talk about making resolutions. The situation at the external stations is very complicated. Some obvious violations had their own unavoidable reasons at the time. Some projects have already had huge investments, some projects involve the hearts and minds of the local people, and some may even be related to certain central ministries and commissions. For all these projects, first, you must investigate the specific content clearly, without any omissions; second, you must treat them with caution and objectively estimate the consequences. Do not act rashly.”

“Without instructions from the Executive Committee, I will not make any related decisions.” Yi Fan nodded with an extremely sincere attitude, thinking to himself that Old Ma’s instructions were hesitant and his attitude was a bit ambiguous. He had to be careful. “I just have a few points I’d like to ask for instructions on.”

“Go ahead.”

“If we discover major problems during the inspection, do we have the power to deal with them on the spot? For example, detaining personnel, freezing accounts.”

“The Cheka has all the compulsory powers, and the inspection team has them too,” [Ma Qianzhu][y005] said. “However, any measures must be taken on the premise of not interfering with the normal operation of the external station. Unless the inspection team believes that the current project poses a major danger to the Senate or the external station. You are there to find out the problems, not to carry out a purge.”

“The final decision-making power on the problems still rests with the Executive Committee and the Senate.”

“Right, I’m relieved that you are clear on this point.” [Ma Qianzhu][y005] nodded in approval. “This inspection team will also have comrades from the General Political Security Bureau and the Foreign Intelligence Bureau. Their scope of work is different from yours, but I will talk to them and ask them to fully cooperate with your work.”

“Yes, I will also fully cooperate with their work.” Yi Fan understood the subtext.

“The industrial sector, agricultural sector, and the General Staff will also send a few people along,” [Ma Qianzhu][y005] said nonchalantly. “As the group leader, you must do a good job of promoting unity.”