Chapter 40: Headquarters of the Shanghai Gendarmerie

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Chapter 40: Headquarters of the Shanghai Gendarmerie Command

“Your Excellency, I am Xu Ruiyang, the incoming commander of the Special Police Corps of the Municipal Police Department. I was introduced by General Chengcang Yiwei, commander of the Kwantung Army Gendarmerie. Please inform General Miura of my arrival.”

On the day after arriving in Shanghai—the twenty-eighth—Xu Ruiyang finished breakfast and drove straight to the Japanese Gendarmerie Command Headquarters on Xuchang Road to request an audience with Commander Miura Saburo. Xi Yixian had reminded him that in Central China, the Japanese gendarmerie was the true force controlling the police system.

When the sentry heard that he wished to see the commander, he naturally did not dare delay. He hurried to the duty room and made a telephone call. To Xu Ruiyang’s surprise, Miura Saburo readily agreed to see him and sent an aide-de-camp to receive him, presumably out of consideration for Chengcang Yiwei.

After parking in the courtyard, Xu Ruiyang followed the officer upstairs to the second floor and entered Miura Saburo’s office. The man was seated on a sofa, smoking.

“Your Excellency, your subordinate Xu Ruiyang has come especially to pay his respects!” Xu Ruiyang bowed deeply.

“At the last meeting, Chengcang spoke to me in your favor. He said you were a rare talent. After joining the Security Bureau, you solved two foreign espionage cases within two months and were consequently commended by the Empire. Sit down. Is the house I assigned you satisfactory?” Miura Saburo gestured rather formally toward the sofa opposite him.

“Thank you for your consideration, General. I am deeply embarrassed to have caused you such trouble. Wild ginseng from beyond the pass is an extremely precious medicinal herb in China. It refreshes the spirit, replenishes the vital energy, and prolongs life. I went to some trouble in Manchukuo and managed to find a specimen more than thirty years old. I have brought it as a gift for you.”

Xu Ruiyang did not waste words. He opened his briefcase and took out a wooden box a foot long.

When Miura Saburo heard that it contained thirty-year-old wild ginseng from beyond the pass, his eyes immediately lit up. As soon as the box reached his hands, he opened it. Inside, besides the ginseng, there was also an envelope.

What surprised Xu Ruiyang was that the man showed not the slightest restraint. He opened the envelope at once and drew out the three thousand dollars inside. His eyes seemed to shine even more brightly.

When giving gifts to Japanese people, it was best to use an odd number. And when presenting money, one absolutely must not hand it directly to the recipient, as that was considered extremely discourteous.

Xu Ruiyang had not expected Miura Saburo to be so unconcerned with etiquette. He opened the envelope right in front of his guest without the slightest attempt at concealment. Even from such details, one could see how unscrupulous he was in his conduct.

Three thousand dollars might not sound like much, but at that time it was a considerable sum. In the twenty-eighth year of the Republic, one United States dollar was worth three yen and forty-five sen, making three thousand dollars equivalent to more than ten thousand yen.

Miura Saburo, a major general, earned four hundred and seventeen yen a month. As a member of the gendarmerie, he also received additional allowances, bringing his total income to more than five hundred yen. At the time, even a Japanese army general earned only five hundred and fifty yen a month.

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The money Xu Ruiyang had given him in a single gesture was equivalent to twenty months of his salary. An ordinary Japanese soldier earned nine yen a month, or only one hundred and eight yen a year. It would take nearly a century to earn that much.

Would offering money immediately upon meeting someone provoke resentment?

The answer was no.

Xu Ruiyang had worked as a police officer beyond the pass and often dealt with the gendarmerie. The greed of the Japanese Army’s gendarmes, who enforced military discipline, far exceeded ordinary people’s imagination. Unless a case involved the underground Communist Party, even someone arrested by the gendarmerie could often buy his way out.

“Have some tea. The situation in Central China is extremely complicated, especially in Shanghai. Because of the foreign concessions, the intelligence activities of the government in the mountain city are particularly rampant. The Special Higher Police Section of our Gendarmerie Command does not have enough personnel, so we urgently need the police department to play its part and assist the Empire in wiping out these underground anti-Japanese organizations.”

“You have only just arrived in Shanghai and are unfamiliar with conditions here. The police system in Manchukuo is now operating with great stability and maturity, whereas the Shanghai Police Department is performing abysmally, which is deeply disappointing. If you have any good ideas, you may report them directly to me.”

“I must warn you: if you place your hopes in the existing personnel of the police department, your work will be constrained at every turn. Most of them have never undergone rigorous training. They may manage ordinary cases, but they are still far from capable of dealing with the Military Statistics Bureau.”

“As commander, you are the leader. A great many practical matters will have to be handled by your subordinates. It will be difficult for one man alone to accomplish anything. For now, lay a foundation. Do not make any major moves. If you need support, I will have the Special Higher Police Section assist you,” Miura Saburo said.

He put the wooden box away in the safe, then instructed his aide to summon Major Okamura Shizō and Major Nanzō Yunko to the office.

Neither Chengcang Yiwei’s recommendation nor Xi Yixian’s meant a damn thing to Miura Saburo. What mattered was the ginseng and the dollars Xu Ruiyang had given him—the tangible benefits he himself had received.

Xu Ruiyang had come to pay his respects before even taking up his post in Shanghai. That convinced Miura Saburo that the young man understood the realities of the situation: if he wanted to make his way in Shanghai, he would have to rely on the Gendarmerie Command. Such a man was not only talented but also worth looking after.

Two minutes later, a Japanese male officer and a female officer arrived at the office.

The man appeared to be thirty-seven or thirty-eight. His expression was somewhat cold, and his gaze was razor-sharp, like that of a venomous snake lying in wait for the chance to strike.

The female officer was tall and slender. Among all the beautiful women Xu Ruiyang had ever seen, her figure ranked near the very top. Her features were strikingly beautiful—one might even call her dazzling.

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Yet her bearing resembled that of a well-educated young lady from a wealthy family. Her manner was modest, and a smile played at the corners of her lips. Elegance mingled with a trace of allure.

Together, these qualities formed a fatal temptation no man could resist.

“Mr. Xu, allow me to introduce them. This is Major Okamura Shizō, chief of the Special Higher Police Section under our Gendarmerie Command. He is responsible for all its affairs and will be your superior from now on. This lady is Major Nanzō Yunko, chief of Section One. She is primarily responsible for military intelligence, including operations concerning the Military Statistics Bureau, the Central Statistics Bureau, and the underground Communist Party.”

“Major Okamura, Yunko, this is Xu Ruiyang, the newly appointed commander of the Special Police Corps of the Shanghai Police Department. He graduated from Central University in Nanjing and has worked for the Xinjing Police Department and the Central Security Bureau of Manchukuo. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in espionage cases, the Kwantung Army Command specially petitioned for him to receive the Fourth Class Order of the Rising Sun with Gold Rays and Rosette from the Empire, as well as the Fourth Class Order of the Auspicious Clouds from Manchukuo.”

“Invited by Colonel Kagesa Teishō, and specially recommended by Xi Yixian and Chengcang Yiwei, Mr. Xu arrived in Shanghai yesterday but has not yet taken up his post at the police department. He is an expert in intelligence work. From now on, the Special Higher Police Section is to support him so that the police department can quickly establish an orderly working system,” Miura Saburo said.

“Mr. Xu, welcome to Shanghai,” Okamura Shizō said with a bow.

“Mr. Xu, I look forward to working with you,” Nanzō Yunko said with a bow.

Since Miura Saburo had introduced him with such solemnity, the two officers naturally knew how to respond. In truth, however, they were both bewildered. Why did the general attach such importance to a secret policeman from Manchukuo?

Even if he was highly capable, there was no need to make such a grand occasion of it.

“I look forward to your guidance, gentlemen,” Xu Ruiyang replied with a bow.

End of Chapter