Chapter 467 Report from the Ministry of Security
For the Security Department, which has a total staffing of only two to three hundred people, a seven-member team is already considered a medium-sized field team. However, for safety reasons, this field team did not arrange time travelers to serve as commanders. Therefore, the intelligence they could collect in Batavia did not have a good way to send it back to the Sanya base camp in time. About every two It takes a month to bring back a written report by a merchant ship going to the local area, and the timeliness is actually not good. Of course, as Tao Donglai said, intelligence collection work is not rushed. Sooner or later, these intelligence agents lurking in Batavia will come into play.
The work of the Batavia Intelligence Station was not the only reason why Tao Donglai and Yan Chujie came to the Ministry of Security together. In addition to sending intelligence personnel to collect information, another important function of the Ministry of Security was counterintelligence work. It has been some time since the last arrest of Jinyiwei spy Li Qingyang and others. However, due to the unclear circumstances of the case and in order to avoid the situation where the opponent sent multiple batches of personnel, the Ministry of Security continued a period of strict interrogation. It was not until recently that they were finally arrested. The case is closed. Another reason why Tao Yan and the two came to the Ministry of Security today was to listen to Hao Wanqing's case closing report.
"After our repeated interrogations and subsequent simultaneous investigation operations in Guangdong and Sanya, it can be basically confirmed that this group of Jinyiwei spies have no other accomplices, only the five people we arrested. Nanjing directly appointed Li Qingyang, a member of the Jinyiwei Hundreds As an action commander, the purpose is to penetrate into the Sanya area and find out our details, and he has been given the power to mobilize local Jinyiwei personnel to cooperate with the operation when necessary. "Hao Wanqing changed the topic here and said: "I personally think that we exist. It has attracted the attention of the Ming Intelligence Agency to a certain extent, but it is obvious that they did not pay enough attention, otherwise they should have sent out at least two to three batches of personnel from the beginning. "
"It's hard to say. Maybe the Jinyiwei Yamen also has its own considerations." Tao Donglai had a different opinion on this: "Looking at our own situation, does the Executive Committee pay enough attention to Batavia? But the personnel and The funds are limited, so they can only send a few people to lurk. They just want to check it out and don't treat us as a major rebellion. It's normal to invest limited resources. "
"What did Li Qingyang say in his confession?" Yan Chujie had no intention of participating in their discussion. This kind of subjective opinion is definitely not as accurate as the client's own statement.
Hao Wanqing lowered his head and looked through the information: "Li Qingyang claimed that the order he received was to lurk locally and collect information about our Haihan. As for other actions, we need to wait for further instructions from Nanjing."
Yan Chujie shook his head and said: "It's more like saying it or not saying it. Then have you found out why Nanjing is suddenly interested in us?"
"It's mainly because of the weapons we export." Hao Wanqing was very sure about this: "The various weapons we bought from Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian in the past two years are not a small amount. You two should know the specifics better than me. The situation. The thousands of matchlock guns and dozens of large and small artillery pieces that the Fujian Navy has equipped in the past two years are enough to attract the attention of interested people. "
In fact, the military equipment Haihan sold to Ming Dynasty was far more than just muskets and cannons, and also a variety of portable equipment with the prefix "tactics", such as daggers, multifunctional armed belts, marching backpacks, wound medicine, armor, and combat boots. etc. Of course, these items are not sold to ordinary soldiers in the Ming army, but to officers who have spending power and are willing to spend money to achieve better performance on the battlefield. Most of these things are copied from relatively mature products in another time and space. Whether it is the comfort brought by the ergonomic design concept or the convenience and practicality of functional design, they are all the standards of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty at the same time. Products are hard to match, and as long as the owner is willing to spend money, it can even provide customized differentiated services.
These sales methods with a strong commercial flavor have indeed greatly promoted the development of the arms trade in actual operations, especially those wealthy businessmen who organized local militia groups under Haihan's call, often tailor-made for themselves or their families regardless of the price. An exclusive set of equipment. For example, Li Nai, a fanatic of Haihan culture, has a combat uniform made entirely according to the standards of a time traveler officer, and his personal equipment is complete, except for walkie-talkies and firearms. The armed belt around his waist also has a gun. The holster held two flintlock pistols custom-made for him. Of course, this customized equipment with "李" logos everywhere is not cheap. The price is as high as four figures, which is enough to buy two 6-pound cannons produced by Haihan. After Li Nai returned to Guangzhou with this set of equipment, the Guangdong Office in Guangzhou successively received more than 20 sets of private customized orders in the next month. The total amount was enough to arm a company of militiamen.
Because Li Nai had the "Golden Shield Escort", a legal armed organization under his name, he usually dealt with the powerful people on the ground in Guangdong, so under the guidance of the Guangdong Guangdong Office, he formed an organization called "Haihan Tonghao". "Private organization. This organization, whose name sounds a lot like the Literary Poet Club, is actually a place similar to a military club, attracting a large number of wealthy second-generation people from nearby Guangzhou Prefecture who have nothing to do and have no intention of studying to gain fame. This "hobby club" organizes members to go hunting in the wild, cruise and other activities every month, and people from the Haihan military are responsible for arranging the itinerary and programs. The guns used for hunting are the standard equipment of the current militia, and there is no such thing on the market. It is impossible to buy one, and the one that goes out to sea is also the "exploration-class" warship of the Haihan military. Ordinary people cannot enjoy such treatment.
The cost of this kind of trip is not cheap. Generally, it costs two to three hundred taels to participate in a three-day and two-night event. However, members enjoy it because the content of this kind of event will be different every time. If you miss it once, you will probably In the next month, I will not be able to integrate into the discussion topics in this circle. After the "Hobby Club" has been running for several months, it has developed a group of loyal fans in Guangzhou, and young people from other prefectures have begun to come here to sign up for this private organization.
Although this kind of organization is purely folk in nature, because its members are almost all middle- and upper-class people in society, its influence is far beyond that of ordinary organizations such as chambers of commerce, hometown associations, and literati and poetry societies. In addition, there are With the conscious participation and guidance of the General Office and the military, this organization has begun to transform from a purely underground society to a semi-public form. The content of the activities in the past few months has been to organize members to visit the militia groups trained by Haihan in various parts of Guangdong, and to hold small-scale military exercises at the bases of these militia groups, so that these rich children can enjoy the sights and sounds of the mountains and rivers. You will also have the opportunity to participate in simulated military operations.
With Haihan's organizational skills and rich activities, there is no doubt that it will be easy to capture the hearts of these young people. Relevant departments do not need these people to directly join the Haihan Militia to serve the Executive Committee. It is enough that they have a heart for Haihan and will not jump out to become enemies of Haihan - of course, treat this matter as a business. It is only natural that you can make a fortune by running the business.
Naturally, not everyone likes this alternative organization. In the eyes of some people, the "Haihan Association" is simply a heresy, an insult to civility, and should be punished quickly. However, the objections of the scholars had no effect in front of these little bullies who were armed to the teeth. Instead, they were approached by members who had heard the news. These young people were rich and powerful and were not afraid of causing trouble at all. After several poetry societies were demolished one after another, no one in Guangzhou openly talked about "hobby groups" anymore. In later historical records, these members of the "Haihan Association" who made their fortune in Guangzhou were also called the first batch of "***s" in the history of Haihan.
Due to the distance, Fujian has not been subject to the same level of cultural invasion as Guangzhou. However, the navies stationed in Fujian's most important foreign trade ports are almost all equipped with weapons produced by Haihan, which have completely replaced the Ming Dynasty. The standard equipment of the Ministry of War. Moreover, the report sent by the Fujian Navy to the Ministry of War has clearly stated that all weapons and equipment quotas for the coming year will be discounted and prepared by the Navy itself. The main reason for attracting attention from Nanjing is probably because of this matter. As long as the intelligence department investigates with peace of mind, it is not difficult to follow the clues and find that the source of these weapons is in Guangdong. Haihan's reputation in Guangdong has long been known to everyone, and a lot of information can be collected without special inquiries.
There is no need for strong intelligence analysis capabilities. As long as the situation in Fuzhou and Guangzhou is combined and sorted out, anyone who is not blind can see the role played by the Haihan force behind the scenes. If Haihan was only engaged in business activities, perhaps Jinyiwei would not be too interested in following up. However, one of the most important commodities sold by the Haihan people to the Ming Dynasty was arms. If this was not investigated, then Jinyiwei would have to do so. Serious dereliction of duty. "It's natural that the Jinyiwei want to investigate us. There's nothing to say about it. But after what happened this time, there's no guarantee that Nanjing won't send out a second or third group of people, and I'm afraid that their mission here is not just Just lurking. What countermeasures does the Ministry of Security have now?" Tao Donglai asked.
Hao Wanqing responded: "We are currently taking two main response measures. First, the Liaison Office in Guangdong will use connections in Guangdong's officialdom to obtain relevant information. Last time we were able to catch Li Qingyang's group, and the source of the information was also They are people from the officialdom. Second, we have to rely on strict security at all checkpoints entering Sanya to eliminate suspicious persons, but it is hard to say how effective this method will be. Compared with Jinyiwei, our entry and exit management personnel are only amateurs. If the opponent's whereabouts are not confirmed in advance like last time, it is estimated that it will be difficult to directly identify the person from the immigrants. "
"Both of these methods sound like they're a bit lucky. Will they really work?" Yan Chujie questioned.
Hao Wanqing smiled bitterly and said: "We also know that this is not the best way, but hundreds of immigrants are transported from the mainland to Sanya every time, and we do not have the ability to verify the identities one by one. This job is really difficult to do!"
Tao Donglai heard something from Hao Wanqing's words, and said thoughtfully: "If the Security Department has any concerns, you can speak up directly. The purpose of the Security Department's work is to ensure the interests of Haihan as a group, and it can be appropriately relaxed if necessary. Standards of conduct. "
Hao Wanqing said: "Then I can just say it directly?"
"Say it!" Tao Donglai nodded and motioned for him to continue.
"The best way is to let them fight among themselves." Hao Wanqing obviously didn't come up with this idea just now, and he said eloquently: "The only person who is most familiar with Jin Yiwei's way of doing things is Jin Yiwei himself. If Jin Yiwei can go to the Immigration Management Office to work for us, things will be much easier to handle. "
"From what you said, someone has already been chosen? The royal guard of Yacheng?" Yan Chujie asked tentatively.
Hao Wanqing shook his head and said: "The people in Yacheng are similar in nature to temporary workers. Their professional quality is not enough. They don't know as much about the Jinyiwei system as I do. According to Li Qingyang's explanation, if they can successfully arrive in Sanya, they will not take the initiative to follow Yacheng." The reason for contacting the Jin Yiwei in the city is that they are afraid that they are not professional enough and will expose the whereabouts of this team of lurkers. "
"That's true. If you can buy it with five hundred taels of silver a year, how strong can your professional quality be?" Tao Donglai also held the same opinion about Hao Wanqing. There are only a few Jinyiwei in Yacheng. As soon as they took out the money from the Yacheng office, Yacheng Jinyiwei immediately willingly became a transparent person from then on and stopped asking about Haihan's affairs at all. It would not be difficult to spend more money to let these people work for Haihan, but Hao Wanqing did not intend to spend the limited funds to hire a bunch of idlers.
"I think so. It's better to hire the Yacheng gang to try to instigate the few people they caught this time." Yan Chujie also agreed: "These people are all from the Nanjing Yamen, and they have some rules for doing things. The most important thing is If Nanjing continues to send people over, maybe they will recognize it. Old Hao, have you tried to do their job? "
Instigating opponents is nothing new here. Luo Shengdong can be regarded as the first person to be instigated. Later, Haihan successfully instigated Wei Ping, Yuzhen, the Ruan brothers, Wu Sen and others, and these People have developed quite well after entering the Haihan system, at least better than their previous situation. However, these people are almost concentrated in the commercial and military police departments, and the intelligence agencies have never experienced a similar situation.
(End of chapter)