Chapter 1119 - Feng Zongze
After leaving Liu Fuqing's office, he made his way to the clinic. Through the window, he could see only Kim O-sun inside—she had stabilized overnight, and the ship to transport her to Lingao would arrive in two days.
The blood typing and transfusion had been attempted after all. Though the nurse herself had not been confident, fortunately both procedures succeeded. Feng Zongze had been deeply worried—the blood type test relied on horse serum imported from the old timeline, and only a few bottles remained. Whether any had spoiled from improper storage was impossible to know. It had been a gamble.
Kim O-sun had regained consciousness. When she learned her brother had died, the girl did not shed a single tear. After a long silence, she spoke: "For the Committee. For the Officials. For the People." Her voice was weak and hoarse, yet something in the way she said it stirred the soul.
Her burnt hands, bandaged like two white clubs, rested at her sides. Feng Zongze did not know if this girl's hands could be saved. If they truly required amputation…
If it really comes to that, worst case I'll just take her in and look after her for the rest of her life.
This tasteless joke he told himself brought no comfort. His mind returned to Pak Deokhwan and the dark forces behind him. His earlier indecisiveness had not been weakness. First, he truly did not want to start a bloodbath in a place he had been managing for quite some time. Once the killing began, it would be like issuing a weakened version of an "extermination order" on his own territory—bringing Jeju through a brief "period of pain." And launching a major purge of collaborators he had personally promoted would seriously damage his prestige within the Committee.
Launching a bloodbath in his own jurisdiction would undoubtedly invite the Executive Committee to question his administrative abilities—a far more serious matter than being criticized among Committee members. After all, the Executive Committee held administrative power.
The moment the Jeju incident broke, Feng Zongze could already imagine how the soy-sauce-party members in the Committee would pile on. If they held one of those so-called hearings, the best evaluation he could hope for would be: negligence, poor judgment of character, complacency, allowing collaborators who had cost considerable training investment to be corrupted, turning a blind eye to hostile activities… The worst would likely be incompetence and dereliction of duty.
The Leizhou Sugar Industry and Guangzhou Station incidents were not that long ago. Though the nature differed somewhat this time, the stay-at-home soy-sauce Committee members would not care whether you were working yourself to death for the Committee abroad. In their eyes, external posting equaled perks, equaled regional fiefdoms.
Screw up once on this kind of issue and recovery would be difficult—especially for a soy-sauce Committee member like himself, one with no factional backing yet wielding "significant power." And especially given the work team massacre incident in Danzhou, which had left several Committee members thoroughly humiliated.
The thought of possibly sitting in that lone chair in the middle of the horseshoe-shaped table while being "roasted" sent chills down Feng Zongze's spine.
Those idiots! he cursed silently. All you know is killing—what's the point! Don't you understand that people are precious resources?
But a major purge was also a way to rebuild his image and silence critics…
Jeju is about to have a bloodbath? All because someone defied heaven? Exactly right! At this thought, Feng Zongze's eyes lit up. The rage within him could no longer be suppressed.
Though blood for blood was not the best solution to the current "crisis," it was the least bad option. He understood the island's situation was far from deteriorating to the point requiring a full military purge. But considering the Committee back in Lingao, he resolved to act decisively—the scale and momentum could be ramped up.
The Kim siblings' story had to be written up extensively! That was the greatest highlight of the 3.20 disturbance! As the saying went, turn a bad thing into a good thing…
To date, no case under Committee rule had provided such a perfect exemplar of the "new morality" for propaganda purposes. Though the Cuigang martyrs' cemetery in Lingao and the "Martyrs' Memorial Park" in Sanya already held many naturalized citizens who had died in the line of duty, none possessed the powerful emotional impact of Kim Yuk-sun.
He would personally compile the materials on the Kim siblings—made as detailed as possible.
The cigar's ember glowed intermittently through the smoke as Feng Zongze's gaze fell on his desk: Qiming Star and Weekly Dynamics.
Last night, he had carefully studied every article in them. Qiming Star was the Committee's theoretical journal; Weekly Dynamics compiled the week's Committee news. Reading them together proved invaluable for grasping the latest Committee dynamics.
He reviewed recent events once more. From the Executive Committee's perspective, the 3.20 disturbance really had not been that significant.
First, the command group had detected it and prepared in advance. Second, the uprising was swiftly suppressed with negligible losses. Third, the incident provided an opportunity to purge the local major power, acquiring large numbers of cattle and horses—enough to silence both the Planning Committee and Executive Committee.
Though Jeju's cattle and horses had always been within their grasp, what might have required buyout costs and economic measures now became war booty requiring not a single coin—all while fully embodying the spirit of "rule of law."
Combining the telegram from the Executive Committee with various other information, Feng Zongze concluded they were both satisfied and dissatisfied with his performance on Jeju. But the overall assessment was favorable—otherwise his Forward Committee ranking would have dropped more than one position. And they had provided a very presentable reason: "Jeju Island's current priority shall be implementing island-wide security enforcement."
Following this directive's spirit, he could easily have been ranked below Nangong Wudi. Dropping only behind Xue Ziliang meant one thing: the Executive Committee was generally satisfied with his civil administration work on Jeju.
Where lay their dissatisfaction? Obviously: "localism." Including the telegram's instructions regarding Jeju's economic development. Feng Zongze thought: the two articles in Qiming Star were actually warnings to externally-posted Committee members.
At this realization, everything became clear. Tonight he would write a thick report. He picked up the bell on his desk and rang it. His life secretary entered.
"Tell the guards I'm going out."
"Where to, sir?" the life secretary asked.
"The Political Security Bureau."
Liu Fuqing stood hunched before Feng Zongze. Though he had tried hard to learn the "Australian" posture of his young colleagues—head high and chest out—his years as a minor Ming bureaucrat had bent his spine into its current shape.
"Has Pak Deokhwan confessed?" Feng Zongze asked.
"He's confessed everything," Liu Fuqing replied. Pak Deokhwan had collapsed the moment he was brought into the Political Security office, crying and wailing as he confessed. He had knelt on the ground, sobbing that he "never betrayed the Officials," swearing "heaven and earth could bear witness."
"Do you believe he's telling the truth?"
"I believe he is." Liu Fuqing knew the Officials did not like word games—one is one, two is two. The traditional pettifogging of clerks held no currency with them.
He produced the confession materials and handed them over. Feng Zongze waved them away. "Just give me the summary."
Liu Fuqing briefly summarized Pak Deokhwan's confessed financial problems, including the results of the residence search—by local standards, the total value of bribes and stolen goods was actually modest. Feng Zongze listened expressionlessly.
As soon as Liu Fuqing finished, Feng Zongze asked: "Any leads connecting him to the 3.15 and 3.20 cases?"
"Report: as of now, we haven't found evidence implicating him in those two cases. However, his household servant Jang Seong-seol is under serious suspicion—ostensibly given to Pak Deokhwan by Huang Yunyu, but we've discovered she's actually Cho Myeong-gwi's bondservant. We're interrogating her now. From her, we should be able to determine whether Pak Deokhwan participated in these conspiracies."
"Excellent work." Feng Zongze nodded. The fact that Pak Deokhwan was not involved in the conspiracy was greatly reassuring. Any shred of evidence implicating him would have been damaging. The Political Security Bureau operated under direct vertical leadership; he could not influence the relevant materials.
This was also good, he thought. Having the Political Security Bureau vouch for Pak Deokhwan would be more convincing than simply issuing a "conclusion" himself. Pak Deokhwan being a corrupt official was preferable to him being a "counter-revolutionary."
"What about Pak Deokmeng?" He remembered Pak Deokhwan's brother.
"We've concluded our examination—the conclusion is non-participation. He's under twenty-four-hour surveillance for now."
Feng Zongze said nothing more and rose to leave. Liu Fuqing suddenly remembered something.
"Pak Deokhwan says he hopes to meet with you, sir—"
Feng Zongze felt an almost painful twinge. He hesitated, then said: "No."
(End of Chapter)