On the afternoon of September 8, Zhao Jingdong returned to No. 76 from the temporary headquarters monitoring HSBC and reported to Li Shiqun: "Director Li, General Ono asked me to tell you that the Shanghai branch of HSBC will move tomorrow morning. In the past two days, some people have returned home one after another, they have rented a cabin and a cargo hold on the Queen Victoria, and the rest of the people and some materials to be transported back to the British mainland, which will be loaded on the ship tomorrow and set sail in the early morning of the day after tomorrow. ”

Li Shiqun asked, "How did the general arrange it?" What else do we need to do other than the people you're leading and assisting right now? ”

"General, please make arrangements for yourself: to make a thorough surveillance, to find out the whereabouts of that gold reserve, and under normal circumstances, it should be shipped back to England by ship, and when the passenger ship sails to the high seas, the navy of the Empire of Japan will come forward to rob it; If the British make other arrangements, the general will consult with you and decide on the next course of action. General Ono's judgment was that the latter was a little more likely. ”

Li Shiqun was a little worried, and said: "So the imperial army is determined to get this batch of gold. The Navy stepped in? Is it appropriate that Japan and Britain still have normal state-to-state relations? ”

"Of course the Navy won't come forward directly, I think it should be disguised, right?"

Li Shiqun ordered: "I'll go over now, come to Zezhi, and call Director Ni over." Jingdong, is that batch of gold sure is still in the bank? ”

Zhao Jingdong replied with confidence: "Of course, the work of control, monitoring, and inspection is flawless, unless it is nothing, otherwise it must still be inside." ”

Li Shiqun took Liu Zezhi and Ni Xin to Zhao Jingdong's temporary headquarters, and after a comprehensive inspection of the recent work, he said: "Jingdong, I can see that you are very attentive and thorough. Ni Xin, you stay here to assist Captain Zhao. Remember: we are not bandits, and we must no longer openly attack the idea of the British property in Shanghai, we just need to find out where the gold has gone, and then report it to General Ono. Secretary Liu, let's go back first. ”

At eight o'clock in the evening, Zhao Jingdong called: "Director, my subordinates feel a little wrong, the entire bank building has been emptied, and the two trucks that the recycling company came to pull away the second-hand furniture just now have also left, and now there are only two guards left in the building, and even the Indian guards at the door have withdrawn." ”

"Really? Have the two recycling company cars been inspected? Did you report to General Ono? Where is Ni Xin? ”

Zhao Jingdong replied: "I personally led someone to inspect it, and I didn't find any problems." It has not yet been reported to the general. Director Ni went to the city police station, and he said that he wanted to find a search warrant and go in and search it. ”

Li Shiqun thought for a moment and ordered: "Report to General Ono first." Tell Ni Xin: When searching, it is best to bring a few police officers from the city police station, and do not use our own names first. ”

An hour later, Zhao Jingdong called again: "Director, something may have happened, we went into the bank building to search for drugs in the name of checking drugs, there was nothing in it, the door of the underground vault was locked, and the gatekeeper said that they didn't have the key either." ”

Mr. Li was uneasy, a feeling he had repeated since he had been ordered by Heiichiro Ono to help investigate HSBC's gold reserves. He asked, "Report to the general immediately, and I'll go over and have a look." Secretary Liu - Prepare the car. ”

Within a day, Li Shiqun visited the temporary headquarters for the second time, and Zhao Jingdong reported: "The subordinates have reported to General Ono, and the general said that the building has been sold to the Japanese Zhengjin Bank, and the formalities have already been completed. The general said that he would come right away, so please wait for him. ”

At nine o'clock, Heiichiro Ono rushed over with two Japanese who looked like clerks and said, "Li San, I've been waiting for a long time, I guess things are not good." These two are from the general affairs department of Zhengjin Bank, and they have already handled the handover with HSBC. ”

A middle-aged man who came with Ono bowed slightly and said, "Contemptible Mianguan Yiyi, the head of the general affairs department of the Shanghai branch of Zhengjin Bank. HSBC sold the building to us a month ago, and the agreement stipulates that we will be ready to move in after September 9. At 6 o'clock this afternoon, the HSBC General Affairs Department has handed over all the keys to us, and I personally inspected the facilities such as water and electricity with them on the spot, and now the building is empty. ”

Empty? Li Shiqun and Ono Heiichiro looked at each other, worried, and he said: "Mianguanjun, please give me the key to the basement and wait here, General, I will take Captain Zhao and a few of them down to have a look." ”

Heiichiro Ono frowned and replied, "I'll go with you, let's go." ”

Mianguan Yiyi said: "General, the door of the bank vault is specially made, so let's go with a few people." ”

Heiichiro Ono nodded in agreement. The group came to the door of the underground vault, Mianguan Yiyi first verified the password, and then opened the door with the key, it was pitch black inside, Liu Zezhi used a flashlight to illuminate, found the switch, and turned on the light. According to the schematic diagram of the plan, everyone entered three doors in a row and came to the location of the original underground vault.

The three vaults are empty!

Heiichiro Ono was stunned on the spot, and Li Shiqun reacted in his initial astonishment and observed carefully. Ni Xin was also surprised, Liu Zezhi whispered to Ni Xin: "Nothing?" Could it be that the information is wrong? Transferred out a long time ago? ”

Ni Xin replied in a low voice: "No, before we set up the checkpoint, the Nanjing Ministry of Finance tried to send people here, and there were at least five to six tons of gold, each of which was 37.5 kilograms of gold bricks. ”

"So where did all this gold go? What are you doing - look at the thickness of the wall, it is impossible for the gold bricks to be hidden in the wall. ”

Li Shiqun looked around, didn't know the essentials, and said to Ono Heiichiro: "General, it's clear here...... You see, we'd better go to the temporary headquarters and figure out what the problem is. ”

Heiichiro Ono had no choice but to nod in agreement. Li Shiqun ordered: "Director Ni, you and Secretary Liu continue to search here to see if we can find some clues." Captain Zhao, let's go up first. ”

Several people returned to the headquarters, and Ono Heiichiro said: "Mianguan-kun, you go back first, this place will be temporarily sealed off in the past two days." ”

Mianguan Yiyi replied: "Okay, I'll leave first, and when the seal can be lifted, please give me a message." ”

"Please rest assured, it will not delay the opening of your bank on September 18."

Li Shiqun straightened out his thoughts and said, "General, the gold is gone, what do you think?" ”

Heiichiro Ono was irritable: "I don't have a clue at all. Even if there are moles in the checkpoints set up in the name of the Municipal Epidemic Prevention Bureau, there are secret sentry posts set up by me, and it is impossible for all the people involved in the monitoring to be moles, right? Losing one or two pieces, it's just that, now it's all the gold, more than five tons, how can it be gone? What the hell! ”

Mole? Zhao Jingdong, who had been in charge of control and surveillance, was startled, and was about to open his mouth to defend himself, Li Shiqun waved his hand and said, "Jingdong, don't be impatient." General, I think the first thing we have to do is to determine whether this batch of gold is still in Shanghai, and if so, where? It is impossible for such a large amount of gold to disappear for no reason, and the fire a few days ago needs to be re-investigated. And, General, who is the man you sent to the vault? Can he be sure that what he sees is indeed gold? Can't you? Is it possible that at that time, the gold bricks were dropped? The real gold bricks are no longer here? Are all the British's gold bricks of the same specification? Is it possible that 37.5 kilograms weighed only a small fraction of it? ”

Heiichiro Ono nodded and replied, "Yes, there are many possibilities." If the gold was no longer here, and the people I sent saw the Xibei goods, and we were heavily armed here, wouldn't we have fallen into the opponent's plan to divert the tiger from the mountain? If the specifications of the gold bricks are different, most of them are gold bars that are not heavy and can be carried around, and we only monitor the vehicles, isn't it in the hands of the opponent? And the few large gold bricks are cut by traditional methods and shipped out ......"

"The general is right, while investigating, I built a blockade of the dock station, and the British ships, including warships, should be monitored. Send Asano to search the Queen Victoria with one click. ”

Ono Heiichiro replied: "It is necessary to search the Queen Victoria, but I don't think it will be rewarding, in addition to a checkpoint set up by Zhao Sang, I have also set up two secret sentry posts, and everything on board has been carefully searched, so it is good to send Asano to take a look again." Zhao Sang, you immediately go to Nanjing, arrest Han Ruitian, the financial commissioner of the Nanjing Ministry of Finance who had been sent to inspect HSBC, and escort him back to Shanghai for interrogation on the 76th. Li Sang, let's discuss the blockade of the station docks. ”

Zhao Jingdong replied yes, and said, "General, does the command here still need to be retained?" ”

Ono Heiichiro thought for a while and said, "You go to Nanjing first, do you need to keep this headquarters, and wait for Ni Sang and them to search." ”

Ni Xin borrowed a construction team from the municipal administration to make holes in all the walls and ceilings, and had people pry up all the floor tiles, leaving the entire basement in a mess and finding nothing. The leader of the tired construction team said, "Sir, what do you think you have to do?" ”

Ni Xin, who was measuring the indoor area and checking whether there was a secret room, was silent, and the construction team leader said, "Mr. Ni, can you do it again tomorrow?" Everyone can't stand it anymore, and in the middle of the night, this work is too heavy. ”

Ni Xin shook his head: "No, you go over there first and wait, we will call you after we have discussed." Zezhi, I don't think it's enough to just look for it here, maybe the British moved things upstairs and hid them. We should search room by room, and all the walls and floors should be drilled......"

Liu Zezhi, who was covered in dust, didn't care about the mess, sat on a pried up floor tile with his buttocks, and interrupted Ni Xin's words: "Old Ni, you have mercy and spare us, it's past one o'clock in the middle of the night, and I haven't eaten dinner yet, you let me take a breath, and I'll talk about it tomorrow, okay?" ”

Ni Xin patiently persuaded: "Zezhi, it's not that I'm too troubled and unkind, the sooner I have a result, the more likely I can get back the gold, right?" Just work harder. ”

Liu Zezhi smiled bitterly: "I think you are in a hurry to go to the doctor, and it is impossible for the gold to still be here." Do you think, the British are gone, and the Zhengjin Bank is about to move in, it is a Japanese bank, what should the British do? Come back and grab it again? Is there such a fool who does this too much? Now they're taking their stuff and rightfully speaking, and we can only find a way to do it secretly, right? When they left, it was all sold to the Zhengjin Bank, even if it was a gold tael, it had nothing to do with the British, right? ”

Ni Xin thought for a while and replied, "What you said makes sense, but I must search thoroughly before I can give up." Let's go, go upstairs, three floors, room by room, you keep an eye on them first, and then I'll go to the municipal administration bureau to borrow two construction teams. ”

Liu Zezhi replied helplessly: "Okay, I'll let it go too." In the future, I will have a long memory, and I will never work with you again. ”

This book was first published in Reading Books