"Just checking, Han Zhengda, deputy director of the Department of Commerce of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, has absconded, and his destination may be Shanghai or Hong Kong!"
Qi Xuezhen paused for a moment after reading this: "Now, once discovered by the Shanghai District of the Military Command Bureau, they will be arrested immediately, interrogated on the spot, and the whereabouts of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' account books will be investigated!"
"What do you mean?" Meng Shaoyuan heard this in confusion: "It's none of my business that a deputy director of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has absconded. This is not something our military commander has to deal with."
"This case was really handed over to the military commander personally by the commissioner." Qi Xuezhen smiled bitterly: "You don't know about Chongqing's 'big affordable price case'?"
"What's a big 'affordability case'?" Meng Shaoyuan was confused when he heard this.
In the rear area, especially in Chongqing, the capital city, due to factors such as the large influx of people from the eastern coastal areas and poor harvests caused by natural disasters, the urban price index has been rising month after month.
Among them, the food price index has soared beyond the norm, more than five times in one year.
In addition, there was a wave of rice-grabbing crazes in various places, and Japanese planes bombed them every day. The people in Chongqing, the capital, and everywhere were anxious, and rumors arose, so much so that even though they were not afraid of the threat of bombings by enemy planes, they were only suffering from the skyrocketing food prices. The social psychology of panic.
Suddenly, the "rising" price of food became a serious social and political issue before the Chairman.
The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ordered the Price Purchase and Sales Office and the Agricultural Bureau, which are under the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the National Government and are responsible for food price parity, to try to stabilize food prices in Chongqing.
Weng Wenhao, then Minister of Economic Affairs, successively discussed grain parity measures with Wu Wentian, Director of the Affordable Price Purchase and Sales Office, He Lian, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Director of the Agricultural Bureau, and others.
However, a week later, the rice price that had just dropped rose again, but the Agricultural Bureau had no rice available at this time, and no extra funds to purchase new rice grains.
However, the chairman of the committee, who did not know the truth, ordered the Agricultural Bureau to continue purchasing rice to supply the market.
Later, at the weekly reporting meeting hosted by the chairman of the committee, ministers and presidents who attended the meeting always complained about the rising price of rice. Xu Kan, deputy minister of finance, even placed low-quality rice mixed with sand on the meeting table .
Under the constraints of practical factors such as the continuation of the war, the price of food in Peidu, which is difficult to afford, continues to soar, to the point where a solution is necessary.
Under such circumstances, a report reflecting fraud by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Office of Fair Price Purchase and Sale and the Bureau of Agriculture and Agriculture and other agencies appeared on the Chairman's desk, which ultimately prompted him to make a decisive decision to investigate and investigate with a warrant.
On the evening of December 28, 1940, Dai Li, deputy director of the Military Command Bureau of the Nationalist Government, secretly detained Zhang Yuanshan, director of the Department of Commerce of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Shou Moqing, general manager of the Domestic Products Joint Venture Company, with an investigation warrant issued by the chairman of the National People's Congress.
At the same time, the inventory committee headed by Xu Kan, Deputy Minister of Finance, is still in full swing to investigate the parity funds of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Affordable Purchase and Sales Office and the Agricultural and Economic Bureau.
On January 15, 1941, Xu Kan and others secretly submitted the results of the investigation to the Chairman of the Committee.
It was stated internally that the affordable grain section undertaken by the Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs "has never been properly supplied" and the purchase cost and price are unknown, resulting in the fact that "the price rises every time the price is affordable."
In the affordable clothing and fabrics business undertaken by Fushengzhuang, there are problems such as taking advantage of the opportunity to profit from its own operations.
After receiving these investigation reports, the Chairman became furious and ordered Dai Li to immediately arrest everyone on the list.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, in particular, must investigate thoroughly.
At that time, many officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs were secretly arrested.
The entire Ministry of Economic Affairs is paralyzed.
Later, after repeated requests from Minister of Economic Affairs Weng Wenhao, even at the risk of resigning, the Chairman ordered most of the arrested persons to be released on bail pending trial.
However, the investigation never stopped.
At the end of March, Dai Li gradually set his sights on Han Zhengda, deputy director of the Department of Commerce of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, believing that he would make a major breakthrough there.
But at this moment, Han Zhengda suddenly absconded with his wife.
I learned from an old servant of the Han family that when Han Zhengda escaped, he seemed to have taken a large box of account books with him.
After investigation, Han Zhengda's destination was either Shanghai or Hong Kong, and he was very likely to escape abroad from these two places.
Therefore, Dai Li personally ordered the military commanders of Shanghai and Hong Kong to go all out to capture Han Zhengda!
"It's simply ridiculous." Hearing this, Meng Shaoyuan looked a bit incredulous: "The person under our military command's surveillance actually escaped so easily?"
Isn't this a joke?
The person targeted by the military commander, and he was still in the rear area, was actually escaped by one big living person, no, two big living people?
Judging from the information transmitted from behind, Han Zhengda was fifty-five years old and his wife was fifty-three years old. How did two people in their fifties manage to escape?
It's simply impossible without help.
"Is it our internal problem, or is there something else wrong?"
Meng Shaoyuan pondered and said: "In short, there is definitely something weird in this matter. I guess Mr. Dai has already started an investigation."
"We have nothing to do with this matter." Wu Jingyi, who was called in by Meng Shaoyuan, said at this time: "Our mission is to find Mr. and Mrs. Han Zhengda."
"I'll mobilize manpower immediately."
Just as Qi Xuezhen finished speaking, Meng Shaoyuan had already said: "What's the hurry? Let me tell you, it's better for us to stay less involved in this kind of thing. It's best for me that Han Zhengda went to Hong Kong and didn't come to Shanghai.
There are too many important government officials involved in this major parity case. I would like to say that I am dismayed that every one of them has a back-up, and we cannot afford to offend any of them.
If Han Zhengda is really in Shanghai, it will not be difficult to catch him. The question is, what should we do after we catch him? Those account books have been seized by us, what should we do? "
How many people will this involve?
Once you get stuck in it, it will be difficult to get out.
"Listen." Meng Shaoyuan suddenly straightened up: "Send our people to look for Han Zhengda and his wife. If they can't be found, forget it. If we do find him, remember, we are not allowed to open his luggage!"
Wu Jingyi understood immediately: "This is the most important thing, especially not to see those account books. Once caught, don't stay for a moment and escort him to Chongqing immediately."
This is what Meng Shaoyuan admires most about Wu Jingyi.
She knows her own thoughts very well and knows what to do when.
Han Zhengda and his wife are like a ticking time bomb. If the inside story is really discovered in Shanghai, their lives will not be easy.
Suddenly, Meng Shaoyuan said fiercely:
"Show me the telegram."
Qi Xuezhen handed the telegram into his hands.
Meng Shaoyuan watched there for a long time, and then murmured: "I understand, I understand, I almost missed something big this time."
"What's going on?" Wu Jingyi asked.
"Go all out to arrest Han Zhengda and his wife." Meng Shaoyuan's expression revealed a bit of nervousness: "It seems that even if we want to stay out of the matter this time, it may not be that simple!"
