Anti-Japanese War Espionage: I Have an Omniscient Perspective

The members of the Tongfu Society panicked immediately. The bald man rushed forward, trying to explain, "It wasn't our fault, they attacked first..."

Before he could finish speaking, a policeman struck him on the shoulder with a baton, causing him to wince in pain and become unable to utter a word. The policemen then rushed forward, subdued the members of the Tongfu Society one by one, and began to escort them away.

"Fine, fine, Wan Heilin!" The bald man, being escorted, turned back and glared fiercely at Wan Heilin, his tone venomous. "We, the Tongfu Society, will remember this debt, and we'll settle it with you sooner or later!"

Wan Heilin sneered, his eyes cold, and he didn't respond. In his eyes, these clowns were not worth mentioning at all.

Lin Rui, who was watching from a distance, witnessed the entire scene and realized that the power structure within the Green Gang was changing. With Boss Du's departure, another big shot was taking action to erode its power.

This is far from over.

A ruthless, cunning, and vindictive person like Zhang Xiaolin would certainly not let such a huge loss go unpunished.

Therefore, after returning home, he did not tell Su Wan about her cousin, only saying that he had not seen it, and then paid attention to the affairs of the two factions every day.

.........

Sure enough, news came shortly afterward.

When Zhang Xiaolin learned that his disciple had been arrested by the police, he was furious. He immediately ordered his men to cause trouble near several opium dens controlled by the Du family, smashing the doors and windows of the dens and beating the staff. Another conflict broke out, and both sides suffered injuries.

The matter escalated and quickly spread throughout the entire French Concession.

In the end, it was Huang Jinrong who stepped in to mediate. After all, Huang Jinrong was the most senior and influential of the three big bosses of the Green Gang, and he had a significant voice in the gangs of the French Concession.

More importantly, Sanxin Company controlled the opium trade within the concession. Huang was the behind-the-scenes boss, Du was the general manager, and Zhang was only the deputy general manager. With both sides blocking Zhang's opium business, Zhang's income immediately plummeted.

Under Huang Jinrong's mediation, Wan Heilin and Zhang Xiaolin temporarily reached an agreement to "maintain the status quo." Tongfu Club would no longer covet Dumen's casino, and Dumen would no longer pursue Tongfu Club's responsibility for provoking trouble. However, the conflict between the two was not fundamentally resolved. Instead, it was like a time bomb that could explode again at any time.

Lin Rui, who was secretly observing everything, suddenly had a breakthrough in his thinking. He found his leverage point and an opportunity to break the deadlock.

Zhang Xiaolin and Wan Heilin are sworn enemies with deep-seated conflicts. Zhang Xiaolin is cruel and ruthless, and colludes with the Japanese, making him Wan Heilin's enemy. Although Wan Heilin is in charge of the Du Clan, the Du Clan's power is currently declining and it urgently needs allies. If Wan Heilin can secretly strike at Zhang Xiaolin, he can not only weaken Zhang Xiaolin's power, but also indirectly do Wan Heilin a favor, laying the groundwork for future contact with the Du Clan.

More importantly, this method also allows him to quickly accumulate power and wealth, and win over people's hearts.

Without further hesitation, Lin Rui immediately turned around and left Beile Street, walking quickly towards Huang Dazhu's house.

He needed to find Huang Dazhu as soon as possible to carry out his plan.

When Lin Rui was found, Huang Dazhu was tidying up at home. Upon seeing Lin Rui's visit, he immediately greeted him warmly: "Master, what brings you here? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Lin Rui entered the room with a solemn expression and said to Huang Dazhu, "Dazhu, I have an important task for you. I need you to immediately gather some reliable people. Not too many, but they must be skilled, preferably those who are desperate and willing to follow you in building a small gang."

Upon hearing this, Huang Dazhu's eyes flashed with surprise, but without the slightest hesitation, he immediately nodded vigorously: "Alright, boss! I'll do whatever you want me to do. I know a few people around here, all military personnel who couldn't make a living after fleeing to the concession and haven't had any good connections. What do you think of these men?"

Lin Rui nodded. As the saying goes, cats have their ways and dogs have theirs. This concession has both old-established gangs like the Green Gang and gangs with various regional characteristics. Why can't there be gangs made up of soldiers?

Among the hundreds of thousands of refugees, there were at least tens of thousands of soldiers mixed in. Most of these people, like Huang Dazhu, were living in hardship.

If someone takes the lead, they'd probably be very willing to join.

He took out a stack of Chinese currency and handed it to Huang Dazhu: "This is 100 Chinese currency. You can use it for expenses."

"The host doesn't need so much!" Huang Dazhu refused to take the money, simply believing that 100 yuan was far too much.

Lin Rui's expression was serious: "Take it. I still have something to teach you, so don't ramble on about the money."

Huang Dazhu then put the money away.

Then, Lin Rui taught him some knowledge he had learned from the future.

"As the eldest brother, you need to know how to combine kindness and severity. Do you know what that means?"

"I don't know." Huang Dazhu shook his head blankly.

"To put it simply, if you want others to work for you, you have to make them feel indebted to you. For example, if they can't survive, you give them food; if they have family problems, you help them solve them. In short, you have to make sure they have no worries before they are willing to work for you."

"But it's not enough to just be kind; you have to have the authority of an elder brother. If your subordinates break the rules, you have to punish them; if they are bullied, you have to stand up for them. More importantly, you have to lead them to make money."

Huang Dazhu nodded repeatedly, "I understand. Just like the military leaders in my hometown, they do everything this way except make money. I've thought about it carefully before, so this is what the boss meant by 'a balance of kindness and severity.' I understand now."

"Alright, understanding and doing are not the same thing. You do it first, and we'll talk about other things after you've done it well."

"It's the boss."

After the two finished their conversation, Lin Rui turned and left.

He walked out of the alley and sat down in a teahouse next door, activating his supernatural ability to observe Huang Dazhu in the alley.

Is Huang Dazhu capable of handling the job?

He sat by the window in the teahouse, ordered a cup of tea, and could clearly see the situation in the alley through the wall with a holographic perspective.

Huang Dazhu, clutching the 100 yuan, hurriedly left the alley.

Where are we going?

Lin Rui was surprised that Huang Dazhu had taken action so quickly, so he paid for the tea and followed at a distance.

After walking briskly for more than half an hour, we arrived at the concession dock where Huang Dazhu was doing odd jobs.

More than a hundred ragged men huddled in a sheltered spot outside the dock. Some were dozing against the wall, while others stared blankly at the river. They were all emaciated and their eyes were full of exhaustion and confusion.

They were all waiting for a job moving goods. Only one in ten of them were selected, but even so, it was a hope for them to survive.

Huang Dazhu walked over quickly, his eyes scanning the crowd.

He quickly found the person he was looking for.

One by one, they shouted, "Let's go, I'm treating everyone to dinner today!"

Upon hearing that it was time to eat, these people immediately perked up and stood up.