Chapter 64 culture infiltration

Publishing books and cultural activities also received special attention from the Military Command, although this was supposed to belong to the CC faction, and this eventually became the jurisdiction of the Central Command Bureau.A second-team agent, Jia Jinbo, a native of Sichuan, who regularly brought "reactionary" books and pamphlets to the Chinese quarter of the city to gain the trust of progressives (he was well connected in the publishing world), his report It aroused Dai Li's great interest.The spy chief was also interested in Zou Taofen's "Life Bookstore" (where he placed a spy's son as an apprentice, hoping to develop a long-term secret post there - but this hope was broken by the War of Resistance Against Japan: this secret post lost contact with his superiors. contact) and the "Neishan Bookstore" that helped protect Lu Xun pay special attention.But Juntong was unable to infiltrate Japanese bookstores—for which Dai Li constantly blamed Jia Jinbo.

Another agent of the second group, Cui Wanqiu (as mentioned earlier, the editor-in-chief of Torch), obtained information through the intelligence network of the cultural circle, and also provided subsidies to journalists who wrote articles advocating government policies.One of Cui's connections was with Zhang Chunqiao, who used the pseudonym "Dick" to write articles attacking Lu Xun. [Note] In May 1935, Zhang Chunqiao went to Shanghai to serve in the cultural movement under Cui Wanqiu, a special agent of Fuxingshe. As a second-team agent living in the French Concession, Cui had a monthly income of 80 yuan plus allowances.Shen Zui personally went forward to deliver the funds, and several times he saw actress Lan Ping in Cui's living room.Cui always took Shen Zui to the kitchen or pavilion at the back of the house, where he handed over money and information, so Shen Zui never introduced this actress to each other.As we all know, the actor later changed his name to Jiang Qing.

Although, the Blue Shirts Society, a larger organization, was very successful in infiltrating middle schools and universities in the Shanghai area before the CC faction forced them to sideline, the Shanghai Station itself only controlled a few schools.There is a Zhaohe Middle School founded and supported by Yang Hu.A small number of teachers in the school work directly for Dai Li's agents.But because of their relationship with Yang Hu, the executioner of the 1927 purge, it was difficult for them to influence most students in the school, or to connect with progressive figures in the education field.Shanghai Station did establish a radio communication school in the French Concession, but Dai Li ordered that this "three-pole radio training institute" can only be used to train radio operators, and it cannot be used for secret agents, nor can secret agents use it as a cover .

In terms of recruiting and utilizing college students, the Shanghai station is not very effective. From 1934 to 1935, in the eyes of the secret agents, the most troublesome university was Jinan University.Therefore, in addition to opening a coffee shop outside Jinan University as a cover for spy activities, all the Shanghai station can do is to recruit some overseas Chinese students from Nanyang who pretend to be studying at Jinan University as spies.More interested in having a good time than being a student, these semi-professional agents often wore pistols to attract the attention of young women, and the best of them dropped out of school to join the military and became the backbone of professional espionage.

Fudan University is also considered a hot spot for "counter-revolutionary" activities, and it is very difficult to infiltrate it.The people in the second group recruited Yao Mingda, a professor in the history department, as an agent.Yao and some students worked as intelligence officers for several years.But the most effective espionage to begin with was by eating and drinking.Under Dai Li's order, Chen Shaozong, a former Whampoa military cadet, opened a restaurant with his wife at the back gate of the university, and the restaurant flourished as students dined there.Chen had taught military training at the university, so he already had some relationships with the students.He used the funds provided by the Shanghai station to expand this network by generously allowing student customers to keep accounts. This restaurant has two small rooms, one is used for banquets or dinners, and the other is often rented out to students for meetings and discuss political issues. .Chen often lets his 10-year-old daughter eavesdrop on students' conversations under the guise of serving tea.Then Chen would write what she had eavesdropped on the meal ticket, and asked his wife who was sitting at the counter to hand it over to the second group of couriers who came to eat.In this way he bought some students.These students also provided lists of some people, so the secret agents monitored the people on the list from time to time.

When Wu Naixian was the head of the Shanghai Station of the Secret Service in 1934, his activities to infiltrate progressives multiplied.Wu himself was a first-year student in Whampoa, and was highly valued by Chiang Kai-shek because of his betrayal of Deng Yanda.Jiang and Dai Li later tried to use Wu Lai to establish a relationship with the "third party", namely the "Provisional Action Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang".They wanted to use this method to neutralize opponents within the KMT and to gain access to the Communist underground still associated with the old "left wing" in the united front.Such activities were generally always carried out under the direct supervision of the Nanking Secret Service Headquarters.Dai Li's personnel in the capital established contact with the "third party" personnel in Shanghai alone, and more or less crossed the formal channels of the Shanghai station to cooperate directly with Wu Naixian.

Wu Naixian's deputy at the Shanghai station was District Secretary Zhang Shi, who was originally a member of the Communist Party.Dai Li hoped that Zhang's underground work experience would enable the Secret Service to penetrate into the core of the Communist Party.At that time, the funding for the Shanghai station was increased by 50%, and a district "inspector" was also added.But Wu Naixian and Zhang Shi, like Cheng Muyi, can't endure hardships, and they can't live in the workers' areas where the Communist Party has organized a self-defense system.Wu and his lieutenants, more cautious than their predecessors, moved offices from the French Concession to Laoximen in the Kuomintang-controlled Nanshi.However, because the Chinese area of ​​Shanghai was considered so dirty and unhygienic, Wu and his assistants lived in a secret residence on Huanlong Road in the French Concession, their address known only to two people in the Shanghai Station .

Thus, partly due to the fragility of the Shanghai Station leaders, they were not able to successfully infiltrate the Communist underground.But what hit them even more was that at least until 1935 they did not have the police power to punish Chiang Kai-shek's enemies.