Chen Bu. An ordinary small businessman in Luoyang. He was in the cloth business.

In previous years, business was not very good, because of the war, there were few people who bought cloth. But because it's the winter moon. His business has been much better. The reason is that he secretly bought a batch of blended fabrics from the Republican Army, as well as simple color fabrics, and some special flower fabrics. These fabrics sell very well. This allowed him to finally make some money. He still wants this. It's a good year.

"Hey. Ay. Ladies and gentlemen. This is, what's going on. Chen Bu was taking stock of his goods, but suddenly rushed in some official errands.

"Don't talk nonsense, search." A leading officer did not hesitate to give a loud order. Some of the people who rushed in immediately began to search.

"This, hey. I, I'm a small business. Chen Bu was very excited. His family relied on this to feed everyone.

"We suspect that you have a spy here, a contact point for a spy. Search, fast. The leader said.

"Head. You see. This. One of the officials quickly turned over a few pieces of cloth.

"I think you're a spy for the Republican Army, come and take it away." The official almost arrested Chen Bu indiscriminately. Chen Bu didn't know what was going on at all? He had no idea what was going on.

"What's going on?" Chen Bu asked puzzled, he was about to cry in a hurry.

"Head. This Lao Bu is also an honest man, and it is unlikely that he will be a spy, otherwise, I will ask. A thin servant pleaded.

"Well, okay. You go and ask. The leader said impatiently. As he spoke, the servant took Lao Bu to the side.

Chen Bu is because he sells cloth. The people around him call him Lao Bu. To be honest is to be a human being, how can it be a spy.

"Lao Bu. I also know you're honest. However, this is an order from above. His Majesty has given the order. Extremely angry, this spy of the Republican Army, that is, the fine work. Running all over Luoyang. Anyway, there are some things related to Luoyang, and when they are found out, they are all spies, and they are going to be killed. The official said in a frightened voice.

"Ah, kill the head, kill the head. I, I'm wronged, I, you, you know, I'm just doing a business of selling cloth, this flower cloth, it's easy to sell, I just sell a little flower cloth. It's not a small work. Lao Bu pleaded.

"I know, but you see it. He doesn't know about me. In this way, you give me some money, and I will give you some points, some points, and maybe this matter will pass. The official said with a smile.

"But, but I don't have much money, my money is all in the goods." Lao Bu said anxiously, this is really a disaster. He really couldn't understand how he was selling flower cloth, how did he become a republican army.

"Oh, my old cloth, why don't you understand, this is a head-killing thing, you don't know, now there are many people in the prison of the government office. They are all reluctant people to pay, how can they be reluctant? and they will all be sent out of the city. Beheading. Think about it. Is your head important, or is it your money that matters? The official said.

"This, the head, the head is important." Lao Bu said helplessly. He knew that this time he might be bleeding again.

"That's right." The official said with a smile. Lao Bu had to take out some money, because the money was not enough, and some flower cloth was also taken away by the official. Lao Bu lost a big, big hole. I definitely won't be able to make any money this year.

Not only him, but many shops in the surrounding area have been blackmailed like this.

Emperor Ling of Han learned that the spies of the Republican Army were trying to steal his medical records and prescriptions. Extremely angry. He gave the order to Luoyang. Let him purge the IRA spies as soon as possible.

And most of the Republican spies are hidden in small traders and peddlers, as well as in the periphery, which may be a trader, or a peasant, or an inconspicuous person anyway. This made it very difficult for Luoyang Ling to eliminate the Republican spies, because he simply did not have much manpower to invest in those details to determine who the spies were.

He simply gave the order to the bottom, and he didn't know exactly how to arrest him and who the spy was.

As for the officials, they didn't know who the spies were, because they didn't know how to judge. It doesn't matter if you don't know the spy, however, where the spy is, they know it. Merchants, commoners, passing merchants. Maybe it's all spies. This gave the officials a good opportunity to extort money.

They are indiscriminate. As soon as I find an excuse, I start to frantically ask for favor fees, hush money, in short, all kinds of expenses. When they get the money, they release people, and they are not spies, but vice versa. As long as you don't pay. It must have been a spy, and then he was caught inside the prison.

Such a way of catching spies cannot catch real spies at all, because many people know that this way is simply impossible. But those officials can get the benefits. As for spies, all they catch anyway are "spies." "This kind of extortion has brought extremely serious consequences, many merchants, small businessmen, and civilians are extorted to the brink of bankruptcy because of such things as espionage, and many people cannot be rescued because of too much benefit. They turned out to be spies for the Republican Army. So sloppy. Unheard.

Luoyang's action of arresting spies has turned into an act of collective extortion by officials.

In contrast, the IRA's counterintelligence cell operations have been remarkable.

Because of the fine work sent by Luoyang. Most of them relied on the identity of businessmen to cover up, and in the Republican Army, businesses with more than 50,000 yuan, such as opening bank funds for tax registration. As long as you check for irregularities in the tax registration, it is easy to find out where the spies are irregular.

Because most of the businessmen came from Luoyang. They are losing money. However, there are always funds coming in to their funding accounts. And to keep it running, it's very abnormal. Merchants are for profit, and this kind of loss can continue to exist, and most of the businessmen who come here to do business are unlikely to lose money. This is very abnormal, and once investigated, it is easy to find out.

But the counterintelligence team only knocked out a few stubborn, uncooperative details. Most of the detailed work was bought by the Republican counterintelligence team. Became a double agent. On the one hand, they obtained information from Luoyang, but on the other hand, they provided Luoyang with some false information about the Republican Army, as well as less important information.

Luoyang's understanding of the Republican Army is in a state of blindness. All this is the fruit of the IRA counterintelligence team.

Inside the War Department.

"I heard that Luoyang is also counter-espionage." Shang Wu said.

"That's not counterintelligence at all, it's extortion. Many small businessmen have been forced into bankruptcy. The world is going to be chaotic again. Jia Xu said helplessly.

Shang Wu said that he was helpless. There were many chaotic problems in the imperial court, not only land annexation, but also the rapid rise of powerful landlords, who had their own armed forces. Not only these, but also the rule of officials. The problem of corruption seems to be easily concealed under high moral character. But in reality, such things are never inevitable.

The officials of the government will never give up any opportunity to make a fortune. They operate between the government and the common people, and how to get enough benefits is a simple matter for them. The issue of corruption has not received enough attention.

"This question, how to say. Many problems can be avoided, but the state of the imperial court seems to be no longer able to take care of this. It is impossible to avoid such a thing. Jia Xu said.

"Let's talk about building roads. Our Ministry of Transport has approached some related enterprises and banks to build a railway, which is difficult. However, difficulties can be overcome, and the key is, how much benefit can it bring? That's what they care about. Jia Xu said.

"Tell me about it." Shang Wu said.

"To Handan a small section of the railway, the main meeting is the demand for coal transportation, this railway, not long, can basically meet the demand, there is another section to meet the passenger and freight transportation, after all, Handan is getting bigger and bigger, simply rely on a variety of vehicles to transport, very unrealistic. Rail transport can meet this demand. Fast, efficient, swift and, most importantly, satisfying some of our impossible needs when it comes to horses. Jia Xu said.

"But these are short-distance and achievable, but if you want to build a long, long railway, how to make a profit, how to complete the distribution of benefits, it seems to be a difficult thing, and they also need policy support, not only tax exemption, but also hope to provide some funds, assets, and other related conveniences." Jia Xu said.

"Hmm. We need them to negotiate it themselves, and we can consider meeting some of their needs. That's as it should be. Shang Wu said.

"My concern is about the interests, and if there aren't enough of them, it's going to be very difficult for them to get together to do something like this." Jia Xu said.

"The point of the railroad is to continue trade, and simply relying on horse-drawn carriages and other vehicles to meet trade is no longer enough to meet our needs, and we need a lot of other things to do such things." Shang Wu said.

"What do you mean?" Jia Xu asked.

"Finance, if it can form a big breakthrough in securities, I think such a thing can still be considered, they can connect Hedong, Bingzhou, Hexi all. A more favourable situation should be formed for development. Shang Wu said.

"Finance." Jia Xu thought. Shang Wu plans to open the gap in finance first.