1932: Playing with the Japanese Communist Party with a doll

"No, His Highness was merciful enough by not reporting you to the Special High Technology Department. How could you still make such an outrageous request? Are you planning to turn His Highness into a communist?"

"Well..."

That would be perfect.

Zhong Xigong's face flushed red, the veins on his neck bulged, and he stammered:

"Then...then please at least help save their lives..."

"I will naturally report this to Your Highness. Don't worry, if my prediction is correct, the Japanese Communist Party won't have too many casualties."

Just as Fujiwara Kanezane had expected, no one in the Japanese top leadership cared about this "devastating" disaster for the Japanese Communist Party.

After the incident, Section Chief Maori, who had made great contributions, not only did not receive praise from his superiors, but was instead reprimanded by Abe Genki, the Special Senior Police Officer of the Metropolitan Police Department, known as the "Red Hunter":

"...Don't you, the Special High Technology Department, know the order from Hachiman Palace? It's foolish to uproot these communists so early just for your own little bonus!"

"Minister...Minister...Which prince? What...what order?" Kogoro-san was almost crying.

Who could have imagined that arresting communists would offend the higher-ups and earn him criticism? How could a mere Special High Technology Section Chief like him be qualified to know what was going on at the top of Japan?

"Baga! Who else could it be!"

Although it was actually him who forgot to convey this order to his subordinates in time, how could Minister Abe admit his mistake? Seeing that Maori wanted to pass on the blame, he slapped him:

"You have ruined His Highness's plan! You must die to atone for your sin!" "Hai! This is all my fault! Minister, please clearly determine the punishment!"

This is how the Japanese workplace is: subordinates have to bear all the blame, and it's okay for the boss to beat you to death.

This was especially true during the Showa era.

That is why superiors like Fujiwara no Kanezane and Kudo Daibutsu are so loved.

"His Majesty Hachiman is far-sighted and has long ago warned us that most of the communists in Japan are useless and there is no need to wipe them out in one fell swoop, lest... lest... lest..."

After much deliberation, Abe Genki decided to use Fujiwara no Kanezane's original words:

"The Communist Party is like an anthill. If we don't destroy it, the ants inside will stay quietly in the nest and can be killed at any time. But if we destroy it, the ants will run all over the world, making it difficult to catch them."

In fact, Fujiwara no Kanezane was not the first to put forward this view, but he was the one who expressed it most clearly and had the greatest political influence.

To use a somewhat inappropriate and insulting description of the Japanese Communist Party, it is the later Chinese Weibo and Xiaohongshu and other things. Their existence value is based on a similar principle.

Moreover, the Japanese Communist Party is also a tool for the Japanese police to make money, because the Japanese Communist Party has previously received sympathy and donations from many wealthy people, and they can make a lot of money from them every time they arrest people.

In history, Abe Genki realized this, so he did not directly kill the Japanese Communist Party, which had long been infiltrated like a sieve. Instead, he adopted the strategy of "catch-release-nurture-catch-release" until the Japanese Communist Party no longer had any value.

Therefore, the Japanese Communist Party was destroyed and rebuilt time and time again, not only because of the support of the Communist International and the tenacity of these people, but also because the Japanese police high-ranking officials deliberately let them go;

Fish farming!

However, just because the Japanese government and police brass think this way doesn't mean their subordinates will follow the rules.

Catching communists will earn you bonuses, promotions, and salary increases. You say, "Catch a communist?"

Okay, okay, you want to arrest an organization, right? Got it! Let's kill the Japanese Communist Party! Let's overthrow the superiors, let's go!

Mao Liqi showed an expression of sudden enlightenment and said regretfully: "Hai! I understand! It's all my fault!"

"You idiot..."

Seeing that Mao Liqi admitted his mistake obediently, Abe decided to stop while he was ahead and began to think about ways to remedy the situation.

Now that I've caught him, it wouldn't be right to just let him go, but I can't go against His Highness's will.

At this time, Mao Liji, who had been beaten, came up cautiously:

"Minister, now that you mention it, I've remembered the teachings of His Highness Prince Kanezane, and I've come up with a solution."

"Hmm? You say." "Yes, we can..." "Ah! As expected of you..."

"Thank you for your praise, Minister. It's all thanks to you..."

Soon after, the Special High Technology Department suddenly announced that although the arrest of the Red reactionaries was a great success, His Majesty the Emperor, after His Majesty Hachiman-no-Miyako's intercession, granted these "non-citizens" a chance to reform:

As long as you pay a certain amount of money and can prove that you have not been involved in serious crimes such as violence, robbery, and theft, you can be released on bail, even if you are a communist.

To prove their claims, they even released Tokuda Qiu, who had been imprisoned in 1928 for violating the Public Security Law!

The news shocked the entire country, especially the remaining members of the Japanese Communist Party. Has the Special High Technology Department changed its nature?

Why catch and release?

But soon, some people realized the viciousness of the Special High Technology Department's move. 1. The first problem is money.

Bail was possible, but it would require a lot of money, and the Japanese Communist Party was already in great financial difficulty at the time, otherwise it would not have convened the "Atami Conference" and would not have agreed to those "criminal financial" tactics;

However, since His Majesty the Emperor has granted special mercy, you can tell me whether the Japanese Communist Party will save its members.

If you rescue them, the already stretched fiscal funds will surely be further aggravated; if you don't rescue them, who will stick with you in the future?

The question of who to save is also a question. If we save everyone, there won’t be enough money.

Only high-ranking officials and key figures were saved. Other members of the Japanese Communist Party may not have such high awareness and will definitely feel resentment.

Japan's only option was to raise funds from the rich and middle-class people who once sympathized with them, but because of the "criminal finance" incident, the other party had long been disgusted with the Japanese Communist Party.

Money can not only defeat a hero, but also bring down an organization.

2. The statement "Your Highness pleaded, and the Emperor showed mercy" not only demonstrated the "benevolence" of these two and Japan's "civilization," but was also a key move to disintegrate the Japanese Communist Party.

As we all know, there has always been a strong trend of thought within the Japanese Communist Party that "is against the militarist state but not against the emperor, and is for communism but not for His Majesty", which has led to the Japanese Communist Party officials not even daring to publicly put forward the slogan of "abolishing the emperor system".

Now, His Majesty the Emperor and future Emperors are so kind and willing to forgive us, so why should we still oppose the Emperor system?

As a result, the two groups of people who opposed the emperor and those who did not opposed the emperor started fighting among themselves, and the Japanese Communist Party became further divided.

3. "As long as they haven't committed any serious crimes" is a tactic to stigmatize the Japanese Communist Party members imprisoned.

If you are released, it means that you have not committed serious crimes such as robbery and theft, but what if you don’t get released?

Haha, it turns out that someone always claims to be a judge for the people, but in private he is actually this kind of person.jpgo

Now, in order to avoid becoming "serious criminals" in the eyes of the public, the Japanese Communist Party members must actively cooperate with the Special High Technology Bureau to reach a release condition;

What about the rest?

Ha ha.

No wonder your mother committed suicide and left a suicide note saying she "regretted giving birth to a communist"?

So you are such a "non-citizen".

In this way, even if all the members of the Japanese Communist Party were released, their reputation among the people would be ruined.

4. Confusing spies and non-spies.

Everyone knows that the Japanese Communist Party was once again destroyed because of a spy within the organization, but with the Special High Technology Bureau doing this, how can they tell who is the spy?

I said I wrongly accused you (a spy), and I said your family and friends paid money to redeem you. Who knows if that's true or not?

In other words, the Japanese Communist Party was still under the control of the Special High Technology Department's spies. This move was truly vicious.

After the Special High Technology Department released this statement, the remaining members of the Japanese Communist Party held a meeting under the watchful eyes of Special High Technology Department spies. They decided to do their utmost to save the top leaders first. Special High Technology Department then widely publicized this matter, which indeed caused many lower-level members of the Japanese Communist Party to become disloyal.

Furthermore, in order to avoid being labeled a "serious criminal" and to secure early release from prison, more than three-quarters of the Japanese Communist Party members, including some high-ranking members, declared their withdrawal from the party while in prison.

Moreover, many people openly expressed their gratitude and loyalty to Hirohito and Fujiwara no Kanezane in the newspapers, which led to another part of the Japanese Communist Party members cursing at them.

The Special High Technology Bureau watched the fun and added fuel to the fire.

As for spies?

Don't even think about catching them, they are all mixed in with the released people. Unless you check them one by one, it is impossible to know how many spies there are. Even Fujiwara no Kanezane from later generations did not know the full picture.

Moreover, the Japanese Communist Party, which was already in a state of complete division, was busy fighting among itself and cleaning up internal rebellion, so how could it have the time to care about the issue of espionage?

At this point, the Japanese Communist Party was completely trapped in the dilemma of "split and anti-split" and "financial exhaustion". It was closely monitored by the Special High Technology Bureau, had no support from the masses, and could not achieve any achievements.

Due to the extreme shortage of funds and manpower, and the fierce internal struggles, the Japanese Communist Party even published the party magazine "Red Flag". In the last issue of "Red Flag", it could only lament:

"Due to a lack of printing funds and the urgent state of emergency we are now facing, we are forced to suspend publication... Please, please, please answer the call for donations!"

"We wept bitterly...Everyone! As long as you pay all the paper costs, we can fully guarantee the publication of Red Flag."

Then almost no one paid any attention to them.

As a result, no one questioned Fujiwara no Kanezane's "weakness" in dealing with the Communist issue, and no one complained about the "policy of tolerance and indulgence" that Manchukuo had always implemented.

Anyone who dares to say that Fujiwara no Kanezane is wrong, or that he "treats communists well," will be attacked directly by others without him having to stand up and refute anything:

Did you see what happened to the Japanese Communist Party?

This is how smart people deal with Reds! Learn from them!

Your Highness truly has a keen eye and can see far and wide!

In a sense, it can be said that Fujiwara no Kanezane "betrayed" the Japanese Communist Party in exchange for a safer and more relaxed development environment for the Japanese Communist Party in Northeast China.

However, the Japanese Communist Party did not suffer only losses.

Later, the released Tokuda Kyu and the remaining Japanese Communist Party members who were under surveillance by the Special High Technology Bureau, Kobayashi Takiji and others, came to a decision:

Go to China!

Find Li Desheng! Find the Chinese Communist Party!

414 Soviet spies from Northeast China to Tokyo

"...I am now completely convinced that he is not indulging in communism, but is trying to take full advantage of our internal contradictions and cause us to lose without a fight."

Sorge knew about what was happening in Tokyo much earlier than Ozaki Hidemi. After listening to his report, he was not surprised at all. Instead, he gave him some updated information and then shrugged.

"Unfortunately, he was very successful. As an organization, the Japanese Communist Party was basically completely destroyed."

Ozaki Hidemi took a deep breath. He also realized the ruthlessness of the Metropolitan Police Department's move and realized that the Japanese Communist Party was probably finished this time. So he decisively gave up the rescue.

"In that case, I suggest that the Soviet Union and the Communist International stop sending people to Japan to rebuild the Japanese Communist Party. It would be a waste of effort. Alternatively, they should organize a completely new team to establish another Japanese Communist Party."

Like German Sorge, many members of the Chinese Communist Party, and communists in other countries, Ozaki Hidemi regarded the Soviet Union and the Communist International as his true homeland and faith, so he was "not a member of the Japanese Communist Party in the strict sense";

Therefore, after learning about the dire situation of the Japanese Communist Party, he made the choice to (temporarily) abandon the Japanese Communist Party from a rational point of view and without any psychological burden.

Historically, Ozaki Hidemi, Konoe Fumimaro's advisor, also desperately encouraged the other side to expand the war against China, advocating the elimination of the Chinese Republic government and the southward advance into Southeast Asia to wage war against the British and American governments.

Its purpose was to allow the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist Party to grow stronger in the process, and to realize a "New Order in East Asia" in which China was controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, Japan abandoned its capitalist system, and the socialist country, the Soviet Union, dominated.

From the perspective of modern nationalism, many of this man's actions are actually incomprehensible, but in that environment at the time, they were regarded as justice by the communists and they themselves regarded it as "the only way to save Japan."

(As I said, never look at things from a God's perspective. They lived in a different era than us, so their perspectives and decisions were different.)

(Don't be like some people who think that the Japanese army is invading China and destroying the Republic of China. They are the enemy of the Chinese people! They must be killed!)

But Ozaki Hidemi overlooked one question: why did Sorge not inform him in time when such a big incident happened to the Japanese Communist Party?

International communism is certainly a good thing, but in the process of implementation, there will always be deviations of one kind or another.

"Well, that's what we thought too. The task of rebuilding the Japanese Communist Party will be left to others..."

Sorge changed the subject seemingly unintentionally:

"By the way, do you know when Fujiwara no Kanezane will return to Manchukuo?" "Well... I haven't heard about it."

"Try to find out where he is. I want to find out his exact whereabouts." "Okay..."

Just as Ozaki Hidemi agreed, he suddenly remembered their last conversation and sighed:

"Have the higher-ups still decided to assassinate him?" "Why? No way?"

Sorge narrowed his eyes, intending to give Ozaki Hidemi one last chance. "No, I'm just offering a suggestion. I will obey the organization's orders absolutely. If you insist on assassinating him, I will try to find out his whereabouts, but I reserve my opinion. I oppose his assassination."

To be honest, during the time he stayed in Manchukuo, Ozaki Hidemi's previous idea that "Japan and China are beyond salvation and only the Soviet Union can save them" began to waver.

Having left the Soviet Union behind, under the rule of Fujiwara no Kanezane, the people of Northeast China seemed to be living quite well.

In the past, he could still accuse the people of Northeast China of "money bagism" and "being bought off by petty favors" just like some of the CCP members he met in Shanghai.

However, once the "Three Represents" theory was introduced and combined with the "mass line and people first" principle, this accusation instantly became pale in comparison.

Facts speak louder than words.

"...Well, I understand your opinion. Let's do it as soon as possible!" "Yes..."

Ozaki Hidemi left somewhat dejectedly, and Sorge also left the meeting point after confirming that everything was safe.

At this time, Sorge was already the chief of the Soviet Union's secret intelligence line in Manchukuo. The intelligence sent back last time was highly valued, and Moscow quickly made a judgment:

The core of the entire "Manchukuo" was Fujiwara no Kanezane. If he continued to rule the Northeast, it would greatly affect the Soviet Union's Far Eastern interests and threaten Soviet national security.