Who was Kang Ze? One of Chiang Kai-shek’s “Thirteen Guardians,” he had personally helped establish the Fuxing Society, this intelligence organization.
Within the Nationalist government’s system of governance, inspection work was actually the responsibility of the Control Yuan. The country was divided into several independent inspection districts, each with a designated inspection commissioner.
Each district had a specialized audit section, mainly responsible for economic accounting. The district’s direct leader was generally a standing committee member under the Control Yuan.
But due to actual conditions, relying solely on the Control Yuan’s own strength often could not effectively exercise inspection power.
The subjects of investigation were often more unruly than the Control Yuan itself, so this time Chiang Kai-shek had also mobilized military and political forces.
“However, Jiuru, corruption is unacceptable, and mere talk is unacceptable. Whatever the Nationalist government’s purpose this time, striking down a batch is ultimately a good thing.”
Zhu Shiqing, listening, felt his uncle’s words were somewhat disjointed and did not know what hidden meaning they carried, but still gave a soft reply.
The two sat side by side in the boat. Boatman Liu rowed hard, sending up wave after wave. Going upstream took far longer than the morning. After quite a while, the three finally returned to Xiaguan Ferry.
When leaving, Sun Beifeng left Zhu Shiqing with a sentence, said to be one Zhu’s father and he had used in their youth to encourage themselves: “Set your heart on doing great deeds, not on becoming a great official.”
The words came from the Father of the Nation, Sun Yat-sen.
Zhu Shiqing listened, nodded as if understanding but not quite, reined in his horse to take leave of Sun Beifeng, and headed straight for Jiangning County.
On the return journey, watching the grass and trees on both sides gradually recede, Zhu Shiqing suddenly realized that for three years he seemed to have fallen into a misconception. This was clearly a chicken-and-egg problem. Perhaps doing great deeds did not necessarily require being a great official.
When he returned to Jiangning County, the hour was slightly earlier than yesterday, and the sky still held some light.
What stunned Zhu Shiqing was that, looking into the distance, Jiangning County was clearly ablaze with lights, flames flickering everywhere. Looking closely, he saw torches moving quickly.
There was no major commotion in the county, but the rumble of footsteps spread everywhere.
“Not good!”
A guess flashed through Zhu Shiqing’s mind. Could it be today?
After pondering for a while, Zhu Shiqing knew there was no avoiding it. He spurred his horse straight into the county. As expected, a squad of soldiers was passing by the watching Jiangning townspeople and surrounding the county government office.
In the distance, several columns of troops were returning to the county. Their leader wore a dark blue Zhongshan suit, followed by several rifle-carrying attendants. They came from south to north, precisely from the direction of Fangshan.
Just as he reached the perimeter of the county government office, Zhu Shiqing dismounted and was about to enter when he was blocked by armed guards outside, who sternly shouted: “The county government office is under martial law. Idle people, keep away!”
Zhu Shiqing wore no uniform and now looked like a local young man. Having no choice, he produced his office clerk identity—one that might bring him mortal danger.
Hearing this, the guard’s suspicion showed on his face; his earlier sternness vanished completely. He came closer and asked in a low voice: “Brother, you’ve already gone out, why are you coming back?”
Zhu Shiqing smiled bitterly and didn’t bother explaining. He led his horse inside. Just as he approached the courtyard edge, a familiar voice came from an inner room: “Sir, this this is purely a frame-up.”
It was Diao Yuxiu’s voice. Zhu Shiqing felt sick to his stomach. As he entered the gate, he saw what was happening. The inner rooms were crowded with many people. The hall’s tables were piled with all sorts of county documents and journals; another table held account books. Great and small officials waited along the walls.
“You are Zhu Shiqing?”
A man stepped out from behind the door: square face, raised eyebrows, thick voice, wearing a shiny black leather overcoat, clutching a pair of white gloves.
Zhu Shiqing stopped. Not yet knowing who the man was, he judged from his bearing that his rank was not low.
“Replying to Sir, it is I.”
“Heard you went to Nanjing today?”
“Yes.”
“For what business?”
“It’s been a long time since I returned to Nanjing to visit family. Today I received the county magistrate’s permission; in the midst of busyness I stole leisure to go have a look.”
Zhu Shiqing’s mind was piled with doubts about the whole situation. The only thing he was certain of was that the county was under investigation. What specifically had been found, whether national defense fortifications had been uncovered, what the county magistrate had explained—none of it was known.
The man in the leather coat moved aside, seized Zhu Shiqing’s arm in a vise grip, led him two steps toward the central hall, pointed at the table, and his tone sharpened: “Were these materials all done by you?”
The piercing tone made everyone present fall silent at once. Even the auditing officials turned their gaze here. In the distance, Diao Yuxiu and a group of section chiefs kept their heads lowered, silent.
Zhu Shiqing stood silently. Coldness rose up his back; his strength seemed drained. He squinted at Diao Yuxiu, who kept his head even lower.
There was clearly no retreat, but this was absolutely not the time for a head-on clash. If he outright denied everything, who knew what chaos this small space might descend into.
The surroundings were deathly quiet. The leather-coated man narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at him. The next second he could shout for two men to execute him on the spot.
“It was me. This, this is my work,” Zhu Shiqing said with a solemn expression.
The leather-coated man heard this and gave a cold laugh, about to speak, when a middle-aged man in a Zhongshan suit arrived from outside the hall.
The leather-coated man abandoned Zhu Shiqing, tossed aside the volume in his hand, looked outside, stood beside the man, and said in a low voice: “Division Chief Zheng, everything has been investigated clearly. These were all done by this kid.”
These clearly referred to the documents and materials Zhu Shiqing had handled. This Division Chief Zheng thus became the highest-ranking person present.
Division Chief Zheng did not get angry but laughed. He approached Zhu Shiqing amiably, brushed the dust from his shoulder, and said, not sure if in earnest or not: “You are indeed a person. Dare to brazenly falsify.”
The moment Division Chief Zheng lowered his hand, without waiting for Zhu Shiqing to explain, several guards twisted Zhu Shiqing’s arms behind his back and escorted him out.
Beside the county government office courtyard was an alley. Zhu Shiqing was thrown in here. Guards were posted at both ends. What was laughable was that the alley also contained the frightened Xie family father and son, as well as several unfamiliar faces who could be judged to be township heads or militia commanders from other townships.
A fair number of people had been arrested!
The Xie father and son had already cried one round. Seeing Zhu Shiqing also thrown in made them unable to restrain themselves further. Regardless of onlookers’ eyes, they immediately embraced and burst into tears, crying and shouting hoarsely:
“Diao Yuxiu, you bastard!
The money was all earned by you, you motherfucker said doing this was fine!
You motherfucker, you won’t die a good death!”
The shouts surged out from the alley, pouring into every person’s ears outside, causing others in the alley to secretly wipe away tears.
Jiangning County’s common folk watched this spectacle. They were clearly accustomed to county and township officials preying on them, but truly arresting corrupt officials and local gentry was a first.
Of course, Chiang Kai-shek wouldn’t be foolish enough to move against local power brokers. But for grassroots figures like Diao Yuxiu and Xie Yuanhua, they were born to be made examples of to establish authority.
“Zhu Shiqing, come out. Division Chief Zheng wants to see you.”
The leather-coated man emerged from somewhere, leading Zhu Shiqing out again.
Chapter 11