Hearing the ringleader's speech, the surrounding crowd stirred into a commotion. Even those who had been crowding the ticket windows hoping to buy tickets grew restless as well, and a foul torrent of curses instantly erupted from their mouths.
Dim as the light had been last night, Zhu Shiqing had seen the faces of the people in those train cars with his own eyes. How could they possibly have been a bunch of burly toughs like these?
"Impossible!"
Amid the clamor, Lin Hongwen raised his voice in outright denial. "Everyone! Here at Beiping West Station, there is absolutely no possibility of anyone abusing their authority to smuggle people for profit! The only reason we recently halted railway traffic is that the Japanese planes are bombing so heavily during the day—we did it for everyone's personal safety! At night, large quantities of industrial supplies must be relocated south. This concerns the entire nation's grand strategy of resistance against Japan, and I, Lin, dare not neglect the greater good!"
"Bullshit! That Wang Lei took so much money from us and swore there wouldn't be any problem!"
Lin Hongwen let out a deep sigh and adopted a solemn expression. "Everyone, I have already sent someone to fetch Deputy Director Mi. If what this brother says is true, I believe Deputy Director Mi will never condone it!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Mi Yonghua parted the outer crowd with a squad of black-uniformed police officers, opening a path straight to Lin Hongwen's side. He reached out and shook Lin Hongwen's hand. "Brother Lin, I've arrived late."
Peering through the gaps between the people, Zhu Shiqing's gaze fell upon Mi Yonghua. The man was not tall, with somewhat prominent cheekbones. All in all, his features were utterly ordinary—the kind who, if tossed into a crowd, showed not the slightest hint of an official air.
Lin Hongwen continued his performance. He shoved the shouting ringleader in front of Mi Yonghua and instructed him to repeat what he had just said. When Mi Yonghua heard it, he flew into an immediate rage and ordered his men to arrest Wang Lei on the spot.
Less than ten minutes later, Wang Lei was "brought to justice." By then, several waves of onlookers had come and gone, and Zhu Shiqing and Fang Wenjian had moved closer and closer to the front.
The moment Wang Lei arrived, the mob pointed straight at his nose, screaming, "Damn it, it's him! It was him! Give us our money back! Pay us back!"
Mi Yonghua stepped up to Wang Lei, his eyes chillingly grim. "Captain Wang, you're a man! The entire population of Beiping is watching you. Did you abuse your authority to profit off these railcars?"
Frightened out of his wits, Wang Lei collapsed to the ground, kowtowing repeatedly. "Deputy Director, I was wrong! I'll never dare to do it again!"
"This certainly wasn't something you could pull off alone." Lin Hongwen stepped forward as well. "You must have accomplices at the station! Tell the truth!"
"Old Li..." Wang Lei answered meekly.
Hearing this, Zhu Shiqing almost wanted to laugh. He had not expected Lin Hongwen, frail as he looked, to possess such nimble wits, orchestrating every single link so meticulously. Back and forth, it was just like staging a press conference, instantly clearing both the police bureau and the railway station of any suspicion.
"I suspect you weren't just using the cars to transport people, Captain Wang. With so many railcars, how much space could this handful of people take up? You must have other dirty business going on!" Mi Yonghua finally showed his hand, barking an order on the spot. "Men, go search the residences of Wang Lei and that Li..."
"Li Quan," Lin Hongwen prompted.
"Right! Search the residences of Wang Lei and Li Quan thoroughly!"
Wang Lei's home was far away, but Li Quan lived right at the station. What followed unfolded exactly as Zhu Shiqing had anticipated.
Sure enough, a large stash of Forbidden City cultural relics was discovered in Li Quan's quarters and put on public display then and there.
Gasps of shock rose from all sides; people looked at one another in sheer uproar.
Ever since Lin Hongwen had arrived on the scene, Fang Wenjian's brow had not relaxed once. "Damn it, a bunch of slippery bastards."
Zhu Shiqing gave a helpless shrug. "Nothing we can do. They've been officials for years. Staging a double act and finding a few scapegoats comes second nature to them."
Up ahead, Mi Yonghua flew into "thunderous fury," delivering a vicious slap across Wang Lei's face on the spot. Li Quan, who had just been dragged over, caught a hard blow as well. The two knelt side by side, taking a barrage of verbal lashing and condemnation from all directions.
Seeing that the matter had run its course, Lin Hongwen spoke up: "How could such an outrage occur at my Beiping West Station?! This is something that I, the government, and Mayor Qin himself can never tolerate! These two men must be severely punished to give the people of Beiping an accounting, to give these brothers here today an accounting, and to give the Chinese nation an accounting!"
"Brother Lin, I have already sent word to Director Ma. The Palace Museum will send men shortly to cart these things away, and we've been asked to secure the scene," Mi Yonghua said with a beam.
Lin Hongwen nodded slightly, then turned toward all the watching citizens and called out loudly, "I, Lin Hongwen, give everyone my personal word! Once the critical supplies have left the city, passenger services will reopen in due course. I ask that everyone cooperate with our work!"
Before he had even finished, the "protesters" led the applause, driving the atmosphere to its peak. One after another, the crowd heaped praise upon this upright, heroic stationmaster who had incidentally rooted out the treacherous thieves.
Without waiting for the farce to conclude, Zhu Shiqing took Fang Wenjian and slipped away from the scene.
Around midday, Ma Heng, the director of the Palace Museum, dispatched personnel to register and reclaim the missing relics, while submitting a commendation to the government on behalf of Mi Yonghua and Lin Hongwen.
That evening, Mi Yonghua had the word "Deputy" struck from his title, rising to director of the Beiping Municipal Police Bureau. After all the twists and turns, Mi Yonghua did not mind that the goods had failed to ship; to him, a promotion was far safer and far more practical.
As for Wang Lei and Li Quan, who had been apprehended—whether and how they were dealt with—no one actually cared.
Ludicrous and melodramatic though the events inside the city were, they would not truly determine Beiping's future. The conference that actually held the fate of Beiping and Tianjin in its hands had convened the previous night in Tianjin.
Around the conference table, the participants were locked in an intractable dispute over whether to fight or sue for peace.
The first to slam the table was Tong Linge. As the leader of the war faction, he had already led his troops in bloody combat against the Japanese forces at Nanyuan for more than two days. With sorrow and urgency, he addressed the assembly: "Gentlemen, the enemy's objective is to seize all of North China—this has been premeditated for a long time! We cannot hesitate for even half a breath. We must immediately unite all our forces and deal the enemy a crushing blow!"
Yet another voice held far more sway at the meeting: peace.
Zhang Zizhong spoke with equal conviction: "Fellow comrades, our Twenty-Ninth Army has maintained its foothold in North China for many years. Everything here is the fruit of our painstaking labor. Once full-scale war breaks out, every enterprise will be ruined! If we squander our entire foundation and are driven back to the Central Plains, we will be like stray dogs, without an inch of ground to stand upon!"
Weighing their self-interest, most of the military and political leaders preferred to muddle along. After all, if North China were truly battered to pieces and they retreated into the interior, no one there would hand them official posts for nothing.
Song Zheyuan's inner conflict was greater still. Even if he had harbored any fighting spirit, the general tone of the Twenty-Ninth Army had already tilted toward peace. Over the past two days of fighting, everyone had witnessed the strength of the Japanese forces; their momentum was nearly unstoppable. This had even caused Qin Dechun, who had originally stood with Tong Linge, to waver, leaving his remarks ambiguous and noncommittal.
At this moment, apart from Feng Zhian, who was still commanding operations at Wanping, perhaps only Tong Linge and younger stalwarts like Zhao Dengyu were truly willing to fight.
When hearts were not united, how could they resist Japan?
Amid his hesitation, as everyone's eyes turned toward him, Song Zheyuan's half-closed eyes finally opened. He spoke slowly: "Jinchen, go contact Hashimoto Gun."
Chapter 66