Chapter 1294 Suspicion
Tokyo, Ministry of Finance.
Fuichiro Hayashi walked to the parking lot with his briefcase, opened the car door and sat down in the driver's seat. He slightly adjusted the position of the rearview mirror in the car and observed the situation behind him.
In the rearview mirror, several low-level clerks passed by behind the car, arguing fiercely about which restaurant had more beautiful geishas, with loud voices.
After hearing what the other party said and looking at the familiar faces he saw often, Hayashi Fuichiro put down his guard, started the car and drove out of the gate of the Ministry of Finance.
After driving for a while, Hayashi Fuichiro suddenly frowned and glanced at the right rearview mirror alertly. A black car had followed him at three intersections. Is this a coincidence?
After several years of training, Hayashi Fuichiro is no longer the new intelligence officer who was scared to wet his pants by Zuo Zhong. He calmly thought for a moment and continued to drive along the original route, but at a slower speed.
This is a test method. If the vehicle behind also reduces its speed, there must be a problem.
If the other party does not reduce the speed or leave, it only means that the other party may be aware of it, but it does not completely eliminate the danger.
Hayashi Fuichiro released the accelerator little by little, using the foreign cars and pedestrians in front of the vehicle as obstacles, and quietly and slowly lowered the speed of the vehicle. Other than that, he did not perform any professional anti-tracking actions.
He understands that if he is really targeted by counterintelligence agencies, once he engages in counter-tracking, he will be exposed. The Ministry of Finance's job does not include teaching people how to escape tracking.
After a while, the car passed the fourth intersection, and the suspicious vehicle turned and entered the side road, but Lin Fuichiro's heart suddenly sank.
Because at the moment when the black car left, another old Buick car drove out from the side road and followed his car again. It was a standard follow-up tracking technique that only intelligence agencies would use.
Countless images flashed through Lin Fu's mind. He was arrested, his father apologized for committing seppuku, his wife was thrown into a comfort camp, and the Lin Fu family that had been passed down for hundreds of years was overturned.
He shook his head, pinched his thigh with his right hand, forced himself to calm down, and thought hard about what went wrong.
As the legitimate son of the Lin Fu family, the future Earl of the Empire, the son-in-law of the Suzuki family, and someone close to Prime Minister Konoe Fumiya, neither the military nor the cabinet’s intelligence agency would be able to target him for no reason. There must be someone among them. reason.
Was the "Outline of the Empire's National Policy under the Changing Situation" he handed over to the military commander leaked?
It is possible, but unlikely. After the war between Germany and Russia, the Kwantung Army's actions against the Red Russia were not a secret, and many people knew about it.
Did he miss something when delivering the information?
That's still wrong. If he is discovered during the delivery of intelligence, the other party should not follow him. Instead, he will wait in the dead mailbox in order to steal the stolen goods.
Without conclusive evidence, the counterintelligence agency would not be able to arrest him, let alone speak loudly to him, unless they are not afraid of offending the Ministry of Finance and do not care about budget reductions.
Hayashi Fuichiro ruled out many possibilities and suddenly thought of Konoe Fumiya and the recent situation in Tokyo. Could someone want to use him to criticize Prime Minister Konoe and force him to resign as soon as possible or even step down directly...
Political struggle is cruel, and it can be said that every effort is made, but sometimes a small chess piece can promote the entire overall situation.
By getting rid of him, first of all, the position of Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Finance can be vacated, and then Fumiya Konoe can be stepped down, and finally, the Lin Fu and Suzuki families can be weakened.
There are so many advantages in that the military, political circles and even some members of the Locust Chamber will be tempted. Not to mention that he has problems in the first place, even if he has no problems, these people will find "evidence".
The imaginative Hayashi Fuichiro felt that he had discovered a shocking conspiracy, and at the same time he was a little angry and helpless. The empire had its own national conditions, and no one could afford to investigate.
He has done all these things, including squandering public funds, taking bribes and bending the law. Not only him, but also the entire Ministry of Finance, from ministers to ordinary clerks, have done this.
This is still a small problem. The worst he can do is resign from the Ministry of Finance and escape. What he is worried about is that if he cannot endure the torture during the interrogation...
"Baga!"
Hayashi Fuichiro cursed bitterly, but he didn't know who he was scolding, maybe Tojo, maybe Konoe.
But swearing couldn't solve the problem. He silently thought about how to save himself. After much deliberation, he finally came up with a good idea - find a scapegoat as a shield.
If he guessed correctly, the person following him didn't actually care who made the mistake, as long as the person who made the mistake was related to Prime Minister Konoe, so who should he choose? Ichiro Hayashi thought about Konoe's cronies.
Konoe's personal secretary Ozaki, diplomatic advisor Sorge, and more than a dozen names and figures kept appearing in his mind.
As long as he does something with these people's personal belongings, such as placing a few secret documents of unknown origin, and then reporting them to the counterintelligence agency, his predicament can be perfectly solved.
The question was whether he really wanted to do this. In a state of confusion, Hayashi Fuichiro returned to the door of his mansion. The Buick car behind him was parked far away on the roadside.
The servant guarding the door opened the door, and Fuichiro Hayashi started the car again, looking subconsciously at the stalker and the ramen restaurant across the road.
The car that was moving forward suddenly paused, and then slowly drove into the mansion. The Viscount in the driver's seat had a nervous expression, and his hands holding the steering wheel were shaking slightly. A pair of warm curtains were replaced above the door frame of the ramen restaurant. This may be just a small thing in the eyes of ordinary people, but for Hayashi Fuichiro, this is the highest level of early warning, which means that he is at risk of exposure. He really was being targeted.
The only good news is that the military commander has noticed that his situation is not good and has given a reminder. There must be someone around to protect him at this moment, or to silence him when he is arrested.
Hayashi Fuichiro steeled himself, got out of the car slowly, walked to the porch to change his clogs, and handed the briefcase to his wife Suzuki Sonoko.
Suzuki Sonoko took the briefcase and bowed deeply: "You are back. You have worked hard today."
"Sonoko, I said, you don't have to say these words in the future. You and I are husband and wife, and I prefer the way Western families get along." Ichiro Hayashi took Suzuki Sonoko's hand and said.
The greasy couple immediately walked into the house. This mansion was a wedding gift from Kantaro Suzuki to the two juniors. There are no high-rise buildings around, so the privacy is excellent.
Outside the door, a young man in the Buick car kept looking outside. This man had a haircut and was wearing a national uniform similar to the army uniform. He scratched his head and ears like a restless monkey.
"Why don't we control the suspect and the suspect's wife? These non-nationals should be arrested."
The young man patted the dashboard in front of him, looking impatient, with a sharp voice and a strange accent.
The other people in the car pretended not to hear the other party's nonsense with cold expressions. They went to arrest the legitimate son of an imperial earl and the grandson-in-law of a general without any evidence. Who would dare to give such an order.
"Baga! You are really a bunch of cowards! You are worthy of being the subjects of His Majesty Tian Locust!"
Realizing that his words were not responded to, the young man opened his eyes wide and yelled angrily in a low voice, spraying the driver next to him in the face with angry saliva.
The driver wiped his face calmly, turned his head and replied seriously: "Captain Sudou Tetsuji, our mission is to monitor the target, not to arrest. Unless we receive an order from the staff headquarters, we will not leave this car for even half a step.
I also recommend that you stay calm. The identity of the target is very sensitive. Any untimely move will bring us huge trouble. The influence of those nobles is beyond your imagination. "
Everyone in the car became more and more dissatisfied after hearing this, and they all started to persuade Sudou Tetsuji, not taking the young captain seriously at all.
Sudou Tetsuji clenched his fists tightly, his chest heaving up and down, his eyes staring at the driver who was the first to rebel against him, his eyes full of sternness.
The driver really wanted to give him a slap in the face to let him know what it means to respect your seniors, but considering the position gap between the two, he decisively chose to follow his heart and slapped him against his will.
"Captain Suto is worthy of being valued by the Minister and all your lords. If you can get permission, we are willing to follow you to capture the target and his wife."
Upon hearing this, Tetsuji Suto immediately got out of the car and walked into the grocery store. After driving away the store owner, he picked up the phone and called the staff headquarters, and started chattering.
Several people in the car were stunned, especially the driver. He just flattered the newly appointed captain, but the other party actually took him seriously?
"Your Excellency Minister, I think..."
"Hai! I'll find the evidence."
"Excuse me, Mr. Minister."
In the store, Tetsuji Sudo was scolded by the new head of the Ministry of Intelligence, Kiyofuku Okamoto, but he still assured the other party in a stern tone.
After hanging up the phone, Tetsuji Suto walked out of the grocery store, and then seemed to notice something, turning his gaze to a row of shops in the distance.
I saw customers coming in and out of those shops from time to time. The road in front of the door was bustling with people, and vehicles of various models and old and new whizzed past. Everything looked normal.
Sudou Tetsuji looked there suspiciously for a while, then returned to the Buick, sat down and closed his eyes. This would be a long stay, and he had to seize every moment to rest.
A qualified intelligence officer should learn the ability to fall asleep quickly at any time and anywhere. Seeing that he was silent, the other agents also began to take turns, and the car gradually became quiet.
The street lights came on, and the shops in that row closed one by one. Two small voices rang out from the second floor of one of the oil painting shops.
"That guy is sharp and dangerous."
"Well, the General Staff Headquarters can't all be stupid. There are always one or two talented people."
"Do you want to find a chance to solve it?"
"No rush, protect Lin Fu first, his safety is the most important."
In the quiet room, bearded Zuo Zhong and Wu Chunyang sat across from each other. Both of them wore traditional kimonos and talked quietly in Japanese.
① Located in Flower Street, the restaurant where geishas serve guests is Ryotei. Restaurants are divided into two types. One has a kitchen and chef to provide guests with homemade meals. The other type has no chef and only provides drinks and simple dishes to go with drinks. It will also order takeout for guests if they need it.
