The First Soil War broke out in 1840. The former dynasty was defeated and was forced to sign the Treaty of Jinling, ceding the port city to the British. From then on, the port city became a British colony.
After the founding of the Republic of China, due to its weak national power, it seemed powerless to abrogate treaties such as Buping, including the port city, and could only maintain the status quo.
When the Sino-Japanese War broke out, the port city became an important external window of the Republic of China. A large amount of materials were transported into the mainland through here, and the port city's economy developed rapidly.
However, the Hong Kong city society is still divided into different classes. Not only between Westerners and people of the Republic of China, but also between the people of the Republic of China and each other, there is a gap or a chain of contempt.
Old people look down on newcomers, local people look down on foreigners, errands look down on those without status, and rich people look down on those without money.
Coupled with the greedy colonial government, domineering gangs, and excessively exploitative businessmen and squires, the city has become extremely chaotic.
Gorgeous and sad, it is a true portrayal of Hong Kong City.
Zuo Chong and Gui Youguang set off from Shanghai on the "Yankee". When passing through Honolulu, they changed their identities and took a seaplane. It took them 7 days to arrive at the Wan Wan Pier in Hong Kong Island. They saw several thefts before they even walked out of the gate. and violent conflict.
Gui Youguang, who was carrying the suitcase, became more vigilant and leaned slightly closer to Zuo Zhong. At the same time, he looked at the wooden signs with various names written on them in the distance.
Sheung Wan Pier is not only the landing place for seaplanes, but also the destination for passenger ships from the coast of the Republic of China and Macao to the port city.
Due to the war, many refugees flee here from the mainland every day. In order to make it easier for them to find someone, the local relatives and friends of these people will write the names of the people they pick up on wooden signs.
After a quick scan, Gui Youguang's eyes lit up, he pointed at one of the signs and whispered something to Zuo Zhong, and then the two of them walked over quickly.
The person holding the sign was a young man in his twenties or thirties, tall and handsome. When he saw someone walking towards him, the other person immediately waved excitedly.
After passing through the crowded crowd, the two parties merged smoothly. The young man bowed slightly and greeted him warmly and in a very respectful tone.
"This is Mr. Bruce Lee and Jack Chen. I am Chao Hou from the Wan'an Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Welcome you two to Hong Kong City."
Chao Hou?
Wanan Chamber of Commerce and Industry?
Hearing this person's self-introduction, Zuo Zhong raised his eyebrows and looked a little strange. Unexpectedly, their contact person turned out to be the future boss of Zihu.
This person is not well-known, but several of his sons will become influential figures in Hong Kong City in the future, especially the fourth son, who will be even more famous.
As for the Wan'an Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it is actually the Wan'an Gang. In order to make money legally and avoid being investigated, all the major gangs have registered legal companies with the Hong Kong City Administration Department, and they are selling sheep's heads as dog meat.
In recent years, in order to escape the war or find a livelihood, a large number of mainlanders have flocked to Hong Kong City. In just a few years, the population of Hong Kong City has soared by one million, social unrest has intensified, and various gangs have emerged and slowly Penetrate into all walks of life.
Using a gang identity as a cover is indeed a good choice. This allows you to arrange your time flexibly and make it easier to collect intelligence.
Decades later, Chao Hou successfully acquired the Wan'an Gang, turning it into a dynamic family-run group and doing big business.
This is normal. It is natural for a professional intelligence officer to deal with a group of short mules. Could it be that the other party has other ideas at this time?
Zuo Zhong glanced at this harmless-looking guy and sighed in his heart, no one who could prosper after the war was an ordinary person.
But this is all decades later. Now Chao Hou is just an ordinary agent at the Juntong Gangcheng Station. He nodded lightly and spoke the secret code.
"Thank you, Mr. Chao, for coming to greet us. Are the goods we need ready?"
"The 30 pieces of redwood your company needs are ready and can be inspected at any time."
Chao Hou immediately replied and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know the identity of the visitor, the headquarters sent three messages a day asking about the person's whereabouts. He was definitely not an ordinary person.
If something happens to the other party on the road, everyone at Gangcheng Station will definitely be implicated. With Mazu's blessing, Ping'an has finally arrived.
Gui Youguang on the side quickly checked the surrounding situation. Except for a few Chinese policemen commonly known as "big-headed green-clad policemen" and a red-headed Asan, he found nothing suspicious and quietly winked at Zuo Zhong.
When meeting in a strange place, you must always be vigilant. Even if the other party knows the password, you cannot take it lightly because you cannot be sure whether the other party is a traitor.
Seeing Gui Youguang's hint, Zuo Zhong was still a little worried. After all, this was the territory of the British. He pondered for a moment, raised his head and said to Chao Hou with a smile.
"Mr. Chao, we are not in a hurry about the goods. Could you please take us around first?"
Chao Hou was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly, turned around and took Zuo Zhong and the others outside the pier to call a red rickshaw.
Gui Youguang put his luggage on it and followed the coachman, while Zuo Chong and Chao Hou walked toward the east of Hong Kong Island along the cement road marked "Gloucester Road".
"Mr. Bruce Lee, that's the Queen's Hotel on Morrison Street, and where we are now was a vast ocean ten years ago."
Walking on the sidewalk with the sea on one side and Western buildings on the other, Chao Hou pointed to the ten-story building in the distance, then pointed to his feet, and talked about the process of land reclamation in the port city.
The port city is small and has been reclaimed many times since its opening. Even now, there are still small-scale land reclamation projects under way.
Zuo Zhong nodded slightly and asked some questions casually. He had passed by Hong Kong City many times in the past few years, but he always came and left in a hurry. He really didn't know much about the local situation.
The two chatted while walking, and gradually became familiar with each other. Chao Hou was not as nervous as he was at the beginning, and he relaxed a lot when talking.
Perhaps because he wanted to please the commander at the headquarters, he also took the initiative to share his experience and basic information in order to impress Zuo Zhong.
According to what he said, he was from Lufeng, Guangdong Province. He joined the military in the 20th year of the Republic of China and received short-term training. After the war, he was ordered to lurk in the port city.
His current position is the deputy captain of the Gangcheng Station Action Team. This time, Shancheng requested to send a contact person who was familiar with the local situation, so Gangcheng Station asked him to come and greet him.
"Are you from Lufeng?"
Hearing this, Zuo Zhong suddenly asked Chao Hou in Hoklo dialect. The so-called Hoklo dialect is the dialect of Hailufeng area in Guangdong Province, and later generations were collectively called Chaoshan dialect.
This language is very difficult to learn. Not to mention outsiders, it is also difficult for people from Guangdong Province to learn it without long-term study. There is a local saying that "Hoklo, Hoklo, learn to be old", which is enough to prove the difficulty of mastering Hoklo. degree.
If there is a problem with Chao Hou's identity, other things can be disguised, but language and accent cannot be disguised, unless the other party is a traitor who rebelled after being arrested.
But along the way, Zuo Zhong observed carefully. Chao Hou had clear eyes and a calm expression. No injuries were found on his arms, neck and other parts. There were no suspicious people nearby. The possibility of the other party being a traitor was very small.
So as long as Chao Hou can speak the Hoklo language, there is basically no problem with his identity. Of course, there is no problem for the time being. The only person he can trust in Hong Kong City is Gui Youguang.
Besides, when Chao Hou heard the familiar dialect from his hometown, he immediately replied in familiar Hoklo dialect. Only after he finished speaking did he realize that this was the headquarter officer testing him.
"Haha, don't get me wrong. There's no harm in being cautious in our industry. From now on, just call me Mr. Li, no need to say your full name."
Zuo Zhong explained with a smile, then looked down at his watch and found that he had been shopping for more than an hour. He was a little tired and wanted to go back to the hotel to rest.
Chao Hou nodded immediately, summoned three rickshaws, and led Zuo Zhong and the two of them to a mid-range hotel in Causeway Bay that was owned by a British person. Fortunately, it was not a "Lijing Hotel" owned by a local.
Zuo Zhong was very satisfied with this arrangement. The Wan'an Chamber of Commerce was just a small gang in Hong Kong City. If its members arranged for guests to stay in high-end hotels, it would arouse suspicion.
Living in a British store is safe and guaranteed. Today's Hong Kong police are sleazier and more corrupt than those in the "Money Empire" period, and often blackmail fleeing people.
If you really encounter a gangster, this group of people will run faster than anyone else. "AB┴CD, big head and green clothes, unable to catch anyone, blowing┴beep" describes the Hong Kong police of this era.
As intelligence officers, they certainly wouldn't be afraid of these trash without guns, but after all, Hong Kong City is not the territory of the government, and they have important missions to do. One more thing is worse than one less thing.
After registering with the fake passport, Chao Hou led the two people out of the room and immediately said goodbye. Now that he had received the person, he must immediately report to the superiors and inform Shancheng.
Before leaving, he also left a number, saying that if there was an emergency, he could contact him by phone. Compared with Shanghai, Jinling and Shancheng, the telephone network in Hong Kong City was denser, making communication a lot more convenient.
"Mr. Li, your friend has prepared a magazine in the room. There may be content you are interested in. Goodbye." Chao Hou whispered before leaving.
"goodbye."
Zuo Zhong said goodbye with a smile, watched Chao Hou's leaving figure walk away, then suppressed his smile, nodded to Gui Youguang expressionlessly, and the bald man followed immediately.
After working in intelligence for a long time, he was used to controlling everything. Naturally, he felt insecure when he suddenly came to a strange place. Although Chao Hou was not suspicious, he still had to find out.
After Gui Youguang disappeared in the corridor, Zuo Zhong opened the door and walked into the room. The first thing he did was to check all the devices connected to the wires to see if there were any eavesdropping devices.
After making sure the room was clean, he closed the blinds, turned on the lamp, sat on a stool, hiding in the shadows outside the light, and flipped through the newspapers and magazines on the table.
Among them was a slightly outdated "Time Magazine". On the cover was an old man with a Prussian-style mustache, looking forward with a smile.
"As the 'model governor' of the Republic of China, he actually controlled an independent kingdom. Although there were still food shortages in the area, he still brought prosperity to 11 million people. In the Republic of China, they were the richest, so they He appears to be outstanding.”
"His hobby is not women, alcohol, tobacco, or even money, but high-quality roads, textiles, the army, police stations, cattle, horses, farm tools, poultry, fertilizers - everything that can be brought directly to his fellow villagers. Something good comes from it.”
Looking at the extremely flattering words in the magazine, and then thinking about Hase Ryosuke's message "A visitor will arrive from the northwest in ten days, the destination is Hong Kong City", Zuo Zhong's eyes flashed with a stern look, and he gently closed the magazine.
(Drinking, 4 people, 4 bottles of liquor, a bottle of vodka, I can’t hold myself any longer Σ⊙▃⊙川)
(End of chapter)
