Chapter 082: The Empire’s Genius, Aoki Qiao

On November 22, in the fourth year of the Showa era, Aoki Kyo returned to Tokyo by passenger liner. After landing, he did not go home first, but headed straight for the Army General Staff Headquarters at Imperial General Headquarters.

The guards recognized him when he arrived, but even so, they still followed procedure. After checking his papers, they used the internal line to contact Colonel General Neiji Okamura’s office, which then put them through to the Intelligence Research Section. There, they were in the middle of studying the second-stage plan for infiltrating the Republic, and several men were locked in a heated argument at a critical moment. They could not leave. Aoki Kyo was no outsider, so they told him to come in on his own.

Aoki Kyo knew the place well. He went up to the second floor. He had no interest in the intelligence gathered here, and naturally paid it little mind. He went straight to the heart of the dispute: the Intelligence Research Section.

After entering, he took a look around. Aside from Okamura Neiji and Miyazaki Shuichi, the other three were astonishingly familiar too. Another Army Academy classmate, perhaps. Tongo Yasuo?

Chen Jiehua glanced at Miyazaki Shuichi, and the other man nodded. Sure enough, that fellow was with the man on the opposite side, the one he had only met once, and the one he had seen at the banquet where the Emperor bestowed a new name upon him: Kobayashi Toshishiro. At the last banquet, he and Miyazaki had mentioned that Army Academy classmate Tongo Yasuo was with Kobayashi.

The three men at the center, seeing Aoki Kyo enter, showed no intention of stopping and continued their argument.

Aoki Kyo listened for a moment, and thought: Damn it, aren’t they just studying how to carry out the second step of the infiltration plan for the Republic? That was exactly what I came to talk about. I was just worrying about where to begin.

“Uncle Okamura, gentlemen, I have an opinion I’d like to offer for your consideration.”

“What?” It was only after Aoki Kyo repeated himself for the third time that Nagata Tetsuzan, seated opposite Okamura, finally took notice.

Once everyone fell silent, all eyes turned to Aoki Kyo, standing off to the side. Though still young, he was already a colonel. In truth, the few people present all knew that, based on his achievements, the Emperor had originally intended to grant him a direct promotion to major general this time, only to be talked down by the Cabinet. The reason given was to “prevent there from being no rank left to grant in the future.”

The real reasons were impossible to investigate. There were certainly plenty of people who felt envy, jealousy, and bitter resentment.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Aoki Kyo did not bother with any pretense and said directly, “I hurried back from Shanghai in the Republic largely because of this very matter!”

“What?” Nagata was baffled by the opening and did not quite follow.

“I mean, I came back specifically to find a way to accelerate our infiltration of the Republic!”

“Go on. You’ve never paid much attention to Imperial military affairs. Why would you come back specially for infiltration this time?”

Beside Nagata Tetsuzan, Kobayashi Toshishiro, the superior of Tongo Yasuo, suddenly cut in from across where Aoki Kyo was standing!

That felt terrible. They had clearly only met once and had no real connection, yet it was obvious he had been watching him all along. The feeling of someone staring at you from behind—everyone knew that chilling sensation, that hair-raising unease.

And the meaning was unmistakable: you never cared about Imperial military affairs before, so why are you suddenly so invested now? If you can’t give a convincing reason, you won’t get through this.

What a step-by-step crisis.

“Aoki, Colonel Kobayashi Toshishiro here was also Uncle’s classmate at the Army Academy. You met him at the last banquet. You can call him Uncle Kobayashi.” Seeing that something about Aoki Kyo’s gaze was off, Okamura Neiji thought he was about to snap back and hurried to remind him.

Ever since that so-called “seven days in the blankets” affair, this boy seemed as if someone had flipped a switch. In less than two years he had shaken off his isolation and produced achievement after achievement. If not for the Aoki family head confirming it last time, I would have kept investigating to see whether someone had swapped him out!

I know he is Kobayashi Toshishiro, Okamura’s close friend, one of the “Three Crows.” The three of them could argue viciously whenever they were together because they were classmates and sworn companions. Miyazaki Shuichi and Tongo Yasuo nearby did not dare interrupt.

“What Uncle Kobayashi says is also true. Aoki hasn’t shown much interest in military or political affairs; the little interest he does have lies in medicine.”

“This time, while thinking about the expansion plan for the apothecary business, I came up with a splendid scheme that could help the uncles complete the infiltration plan for the Republic!”

“You’re saying something that has caught my interest. Go on.”

“It’s like this: when I first went to Manchuria and opened the Aoki Pharmacy, all of you uncles should be aware of the key point—its courier service.”

“This time, following the wishes of the family and the General Staff, I returned again to Shanghai in the Republic to expand the Aoki Pharmacy business. Now my first Aoki Pharmacy has already opened on the busiest stretch in Greater Shanghai! Business is booming!”

In fact, even if Aoki Kyo said nothing, Okamura Neiji already knew that the large pharmacy had opened. To put it bluntly, perhaps he would not know what medicine was stocked on the third row of the first counter to the left as one entered the shop, but Okamura Neiji would know.

“Once the first general pharmacy was stable, Mio and I traveled all over Shanghai’s busiest districts and found several storefronts suitable for opening more pharmacies.”

“But then we realized something: we were short of people.”

Aoki Kyo paused here. He had expected some opponent to jump out and challenge him, but everyone present was shrewd; they knew he would not have rushed back simply to ask for personnel if that were all. So they waited for him to continue.

“So we thought: for a great Imperial pharmacy, how could the shopkeeper keep hiring people from the Republic forever?”

“Not hiring people from the Republic for the apothecary is the right approach. You can always recruit Imperial talent in Hong Kong for urgent use; the homegrown talent still needs time to train.”

“Exactly, that’s it! I originally wanted to recruit from among Imperial subjects as well, but Mio said that an Imperial pharmacy could shoulder even more tasks in service of Imperial military affairs. We could not casually hire ordinary expatriates; we should go back and discuss it with the family. At the very least, they should be Imperial soldiers dispatched by the family and General Headquarters, and officially approved!”

“What kind of reasoning is that?” Finally, someone else chimed in.

“The Aoki Pharmacy can become an extremely advantageous Imperial intelligence-gathering station, and the couriers can be the outstretched tentacles of the Empire!”

“Uncles, think about it. If we open a hundred Aoki Pharmacies across all of Greater Shanghai and send out ten thousand couriers, what are those ten thousand couriers? They are the eyes of the Empire! Then, in front of the Empire, would Shanghai still have any secrets?”

As Aoki Kyo spoke, the atmosphere suddenly heated up. In the eyes of the Three Crows, a fierce light flared like fire!

They were all smart men. By the time he had said that much, if they still could not see the immense benefit within it, then they had no business sitting here in the first place.

Argue? Argue about what? With my Aoki trump card on the table, everything else is trash!

But at that moment, the Three Crows did not think that way at all. What a genius idea this was! To spread our pharmacies all over Shanghai, earn your money from medicine, and at the same time collect, in full, the intelligence I want! I can do whatever I please!

If one Shanghai could be like this, then what about all of East China? North China? Manchuria? Or even all of China, the whole of it!

A genius! An Imperial genius!