Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister-Chapter 631 - 517: Have Faith in the Wisdom of Future Generations, There is Something to be Discovered (Requesting Monthly Pass)

Chapter 631: Chapter 517: Have Faith in the Wisdom of Future Generations, There is Something to be Discovered (Requesting Monthly Pass)

In the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Miyazawa announced the news received from the Staff Director: last night, there were fires at fourteen warehouses all over the country housing Land Guard, destroying a large amount of military supplies and advanced weaponry, and additionally, more than ten soldiers responsible for guarding the warehouses were burned to death.

The preliminary estimate of the losses exceeded 2 billion US Dollars.

As soon as these words were spoken, the meeting room erupted into an uproar.

Just as they were preparing to investigate the Land Guard, so many scattered warehouses caught fire simultaneously—anyone could guess with their toes that it was definitely to cover up problems.

They were all too familiar with such tactics!

"This is preposterous! Absolutely preposterous! Isn’t this blatantly opposing our Cabinet’s investigation?"

"The guilty party files the claim! Now it seems that most of the content of the whistleblower letter is true; so many issues can’t be completely covered up by just burning a few warehouses!"

"Indeed, an investigation is still necessary; we need to make an example of a few typical cases to ’kill the chicken to scare the monkey’. Otherwise, if this indulgence continues, they’ll become even more unscrupulous!"

Yutian remained silent with a gloomy face, having just tried to call Hattori Si in secret, only to discover that the call couldn’t get through. He couldn’t help but worry that Hattori Si had already been exposed, and the Land Guard played this fiery dragon burning warehouses trick to square accounts and cover up the diversion of military funds.

If that was indeed the case, then the investigation he had pushed for was already meaningless, having offended the Land Guard for no reason. Although during peacetime the military didn’t have much say or influence, offending them didn’t really matter.

But to offend someone for no reason, without reaping corresponding benefits, always left a bad feeling.

The purpose of his pushing for the investigation was initially aimed at Aoyama Xiu Xin. Now, even if they could prove other illegal and criminal activities within the higher echelons of the Land Guard, if they couldn’t implicate Aoyama Xiu Xin, it wouldn’t be possible to throw mud at Yanchuan Shilang. What would be the point then?

Listening to the clamor around him, and knowing that his calculations had been thwarted, he, who had been the most emotional in yesterday’s meeting, now had absolutely no desire to speak.

He, who had single-handedly pushed for the investigation, now found himself outside the fray, as Prime Minister Miyazawa urged the Ministry of Justice to set up the investigation team today and immediately begin the investigation into corruption within the Land Guard. He also laid down a firm directive to dig out a Land General-level parasite.

This was the assignment established, but it was also the line drawn: the investigation team was only allowed to investigate to this extent before withdrawing, to prevent the situation from escalating further.

After all, he was probably going to step down as Prime Minister in a little over a month and didn’t want to create a big, uncontrollable incident during the last period of his tenure.

As for the continued corruption of the Land Guard...

Well, one should believe in the wisdom of future generations.

Regarding Miyazawa’s decision, the other members of the Cabinet also expressed their support, because they, too, only wanted to shake up the Land Guard and not exterminate them to the point of desperation, which would be bad for everyone.

After the meeting was dismissed, Ozawa Ichiro took the initiative to approach Yutian, "Why didn’t you say a word just now?"

"Hattori Si can no longer be contacted." Yutian said with a heavy expression and a tone of disappointment.

Ozawa Ichiro’s face changed immediately, realizing the reason for his silence, "You mean..."

"If something unforeseen has happened to Hattori Si, then it is highly possible." Yutian nodded.

"I’ll make some inquiries." Ozawa Ichiro went aside to make a call. A few minutes later, he came back with a gloomy expression, "Hattori Si is dead. He died in the fire at the warehouse. The northern troops have already provided a preliminary cause for the fire incident. It was because Hattori Si, while inspecting the warehouse, was drinking and having fun with the local soldiers, and the fire used for barbecuing got knocked over, leading to the warehouse catching fire, burning him to death too. Ueda Hikoshu and his daughter were both devastated when they went to collect the body."

Now, Ueda Hanon not only was completely separated from Hattori Si, but she also didn’t have to worry about the affair getting out and tarnishing her reputation with a divorced status.

"What nonsense!" Yutian angrily denounced before taking a deep breath and stabilizing his emotions, "It seems he really was exposed. This fire was to cover up the misappropriation of military funds; they must have used procurement as a pretext to transfer the military budget, and if we searched for the whereabouts of that money, they would say that all the material purchased with it was burned last night."

The Land Guard had already filled the biggest gap in this affair, and with the undercover Hattori Si dead, as well as the Land Guard’s prior preparations, it was essentially impossible to find concrete evidence regarding this matter in a short time.

"Reckless and cunning!" Ozawa Ichiro cursed, "What should we do now?"

"Let it be, this matter is no longer our concern, let the investigation team investigate however they want." Knowing that efforts were futile, Yutian decided not to waste any more time and was determined to extricate himself from the affair.

Ozawa Ichiro frowned, "But if Hattori Si has already been exposed, then the Land Guard and Aoyama Xiu Xin must already know our stance, even if we back off, they will surely bear a grudge..."

"So what?" Yutian dismissed with a contemptuous sneer, proudly saying, "Can the Land Guard send troops to kill us? Or does Aoyama Xiu Xin dare to? They may have the desire for revenge, but not the capacity."

Ozawa Ichiro was immediately at a loss for words. The Land Guard, of course, didn’t dare retaliate against them, and Aoyama Xiu Xin might have dared to but lacked the ability, and by the time he had it, it would have been decades later, so indeed, they didn’t need to worry.

"Should we disclose the existence of another whistleblower’s letter directly?" Ozawa Ichiro tentatively asked.

Yutian Zi pondered for a moment but ultimately shook his head, "Announcing it now would be meaningless, and it would only seriously offend the Land Guard with no benefit. Best not to do such things."

He believed that the Land Guard wouldn’t dare to retaliate against him simply because things hadn’t reached that point yet, but if they insisted on relentlessly pursuing the Land Guard without being able to take it down, the Land Guard might indeed take desperate risks.

The first whistleblower’s letter could be kept for now, in case a good opportunity arises in the future to make new use of it.

"But this matter is very important. If we don’t deal with it, they will only become more rampant, which will be detrimental to national defense in the long run!" Compared to Yutian Zi, who prioritized personal interests, Ozawa Ichiro clearly felt more responsible.

Yutian Zi was dismissive, "The current Japanese military is like a tiger without teeth. No matter how chaotic, it can’t go too far. As for national defense, Mr. Ozawa, do you think we really need it with the presence of the United States? At most, only Sea Guard and Air Guard are needed! Land Guard? Hmph."

Faced with such blunt words, Ozawa Ichiro was suddenly speechless; although unwilling to admit it, Japan was completely controlled by the United States, and it was virtually impossible to break free. Land defense truly seemed dispensable.

"Alright, Mr. Ozawa, since we’ve missed an excellent chance to significantly harm the Liberal Democratic Party, let’s forget about it and think of new strategies to ensure we defeat them in next month’s elections," Yutian Zi said casually, patting Ozawa Ichiro on the shoulder.

"Mr. Yutian is right," Ozawa Ichiro nodded and sighed. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something, "Should we tell Yanchuan about Aoyama Xiu Xin collaborating with the Land Guard to embezzle military funds? It might distract him before the elections start."

"Tell him? Wouldn’t that be helping him a great deal?" Yutian Zi laughed with a dark gleam in his eyes, "Given Aoyama Xiu Xin’s greediness and lack of discretion, he will inevitably cause greater trouble for Yanchuan one day. So now, far from telling the old crook Yanchuan about it, we should even help cover it up. As for the rest, let’s leave it to time."

Yutian Zi had always been cautious, but he believed that Yanchuan had misjudged Aoyama Xiu Xin and that inevitably, Yanchuan would fall because of him.

"Mr. Yutian, you must truly be an excellent hunter," Ozawa Ichiro complimented.

After parting with Ozawa Ichiro, Yutian Zi called Oguma Hideyama, informing him there was no need to investigate the Land Guard’s embezzlement of funds invested in East Field Construction Corporation, and a normal inspection of internal discipline was sufficient.

Although Oguma Hideyama found it strange that Ozawa Ichiro had suddenly changed his mind, he was also genuinely relieved.

His trip to Hokkaido was now completely secure.

.........

At the same time, in Sapporo.

"Hey! Hey! Got it," Ueda Hikoshu ended the call and looked at Aoyama Xiu Xin, "Director Ito says the Cabinet is furious and wants to make an example out of someone, at least promote one Land General out, and also demote several other military officers of various ranks to appease the Cabinet’s anger."

The Cabinet had many members; naturally, the Land Guard also had connections that could learn the content of today’s meeting immediately.

"One Land General, quite the appetite," Aoyama Xiu Xin commented. There were not many Land General ranks in the entire Land Guard, and one step above a Land General was the Land General rank itself.

However, Ueda Hikoshu said, "This is already a good outcome. If the embezzlement of military funds for investment is confirmed, not just one Land General, at least three Land Generals would have to be brought to a military court."

"No matter what, the crisis seems to have temporarily passed," Aoyama Xiu Xin slowly exhaled before quickly changing his tone, "Although the most critical evidence is destroyed, we must remain vigilant against Yutian Zi’s undying scheming. When the investigation team arrives, Mr. Ueda still needs to be highly alert."

Unless the investigation team was disbanded, the threat was never truly gone, and in the future, they would absolutely have to avoid embezzling military funds to prevent a repeat of the current situation.

"That’s not something Mr. Aoyama needs to worry about. I assure you that once the investigation team arrives, they will be closely monitored around the clock," Ueda Hikoshu replied with a smile, now significantly more relaxed.

"That’s good to hear," Aoyama Xiu Xin nodded, glanced at his watch, "I have another appointment, I must take my leave."

He still had to take his sister-in-law to the hospital for a prenatal check-up.

"Take care, Mr. Aoyama, I won’t see you out."

"Hey! Mr. Ueda, wait,"

As he stepped out of Ueda Hikoshu’s office, Aoyama Xiu Xin’s phone rang, "What is it, go ahead."

"Minister, this is Mikuriya Shouta. The psychiatric hospital you asked me to investigate definitely has issues!"

"I’m returning to headquarters now." Aoyama Xiu Xin hadn’t expected the psychiatric hospital investigation to turn up results so quickly. After hanging up, he called Elena, asking her to take his sister-in-law for the prenatal check-up while he hurried back to the police headquarters.