Chapter 1334 Repeated Testing
Liu Shang found that since he had an official status, it was very convenient to go out to do things. Even if it was just an emergency temporary appointment, the people below would treat him like a god and no one would question him. Is this Youth League officer a temporary position or a regular employee? Liu Shang proposed to interview some immigrants in order to write a report. The staff in the immigration camp immediately arranged an office for him to conduct this matter, and all the pen, ink, paper and inkstone were available. The clerk who had previously introduced Liu Shang to the immigration situation came over to ask what criteria would be used to select interviewees.
Liu Shang had already thought of a plan for this, and he deliberately pondered for a while before responding: "Well, it's simple. I just randomly named those people from the roster. Do you still remember their names?"
"Remember, remember, I have always had a good memory. I will definitely remember such a recent thing! Sir, please sit down for a moment. I will summon them to come over and give you a reply." The junior official felt that he had another opportunity to perform in front of his superiors. After answering, he rushed to summon the immigrants.
At that moment, someone else offered hot tea, and Liu Shang took it up and tasted it. Although it was not as good as the hospitality provided by the officials during his trip around the island some time ago, it was still much better than the tea he drank at Xinlong Tea House when he was storytelling. Of course, there are usually no high-ranking officials visiting this immigration camp, so the entertainment items prepared are naturally not high-end. It is reasonable to think that they are a little simple.
Not long after, the little official came to the door with several people named by Liu Shang. Liu Shang put down the tea cup and asked the little official to maintain order outside the door and let them in one by one for questioning. This place is in an immigration camp. Liu Shang wants to have a one-on-one meeting. Others don't have to worry about any safety issues. He can justifiably meet with Qin An alone.
When Liu Shang called the first few people in, he still pretended to ask about his feelings after coming to Haihan, what other requirements he had in life, etc. These new immigrants only knew that Liu Shang was the Propaganda Department Officer of the Times just now, but the authority of this official position in Haihan was unknown. They only knew that the staff in the immigration camp were respectful to this person, so they could only express their A more humble attitude.
Liu Shang's thoughts were not on these people, but in order to avoid arousing suspicion from others, he still stayed patient and spent enough time talking to everyone, so as not to appear too weird after being in contact with Qin An for too long.
Qin An finally entered the room. He looked around and saw that there was no third person in the room. The expression on his face relaxed a little. He stepped forward and saluted Liu Shang: "Qin An, a common man, has met Mr. Liu!"
"There's no need to go out, let's sit down and talk." Liu Shang didn't intend to put on any airs in front of him, and pointed to the chair in front of him expressionlessly. He knew that the other party must have recognized him, so there was no need to pretend to be a pleasant parent. The time is limited at the moment, and there is no room for the two of them to slowly go around in circles and play charades.
"When did you arrive in Sanya? Did the journey go smoothly?" Liu Shang asked in a calm tone. It seemed like a casual greeting, but in fact he was testing the other party's attitude. If Qin Yiyi is stupid and continues to play his current role, then Liu Shang will probably think that he is harboring evil intentions and become suspicious of himself.
Qin An slowly sat down opposite Liu Shang, clasped his fists and said: "I will arrive in Sanya by boat before the next seven days, and then I will stay in this camp waiting for the government to arrange it. Thanks to your concern, the journey has been smooth and there have been no problems. .”
Liu Shang noticed that the other party's attitude in replying had changed subtly. He was not as humble as when he first entered the house. He probably realized that he did not regard him as an ordinary immigrant, so he simply put down his disguise for the time being. Talking to Liu Shang on an equal footing - regardless of their status in Sanya, the two of them were indeed equals in the original organization. They were both people who had been doing hard work outside all year round, and there was no distinction between their official ranks.
Liu Shang nodded and then asked: "Is there anyone else going with you this time?"
Qin An hesitated for a moment before responding: "Your Excellency, if you ask this question, is it inconsistent with the rules?"
Most of these intelligence officers who entered Haihan to perform lurking missions were operating in a single line. According to regulations, they were not allowed to contact each other at will, let alone inquire about their respective missions from others, lest one person be exposed and lead to a large number of people. However, they knew each other and bumped into each other in this environment. There was no similar precedent before. Qin An was not sure what Liu Shang meant, so naturally he would not respond to him honestly.
Liu Shang coughed dryly and said: "I have no other meaning, just out of concern. You must have seen that I can still contribute a little bit to the resettlement here. If you have other partners coming with you, Then we can try to see if we can assign you to a place, which will make things easier in the future.”
Using tiger skin as a banner was Liu Shang's method at this time. He was only a temporary official in the Youth League and had no power to directly interfere with the immigration affairs under the Civil Affairs Bureau, but he came to the immigration camp. While performing official duties, the staff below will still make it as convenient as possible out of respect for his status. Liu Shang was also good at seizing this kind of opportunity, so he used it to brag about his influence to Qin An, hoping to get more information out of him.
Sure enough, Qin An was not familiar with the official system of Haihan. After hearing Liu Shang's words, he believed it. He immediately responded: "I am here alone. I don't know if anyone else is here at this time."
"That's it... did the superiors tell you who will handle your subsequent missions after you get here?" After hearing this, Liu Shang did not fully believe it and continued to test Qin An.
"Response..." Qin An suddenly felt that something was wrong. As an intelligence officer lurking in the enemy country, Liu Shang's performance was too enthusiastic. Recalling that someone had rebelled before and acted as a Haihan eagle dog to capture his own people, Qin An felt that he had smelled a hint of danger.
He held his breath and stared at Liu Shangdao: "Don't you think you are too curious? These are not things you should inquire about!"
After Liu Shang asked, he felt that he was a little too eager, which obviously made the other party suspicious. He immediately explained: "Don't misunderstand. I have a reason to ask about this matter. Please listen to me."
Liu Shang dared to have a face-to-face meeting with Qin An, so naturally he had already figured out a plan. Then he said in a deep voice: "The person who was originally in charge of affairs here is not in Sanya for the time being. If you originally wanted to contact this person, you will probably be in vain."
Qin An didn't dare to be careless and asked tentatively: "You said this contact person is..." "This person's surname is Liao. He has been here for a few months. If you want to find him, you don't have to go to waste." Liu Shang While talking, he paid attention to Qin An's expression.
Sure enough, a look of panic flashed across Qin An's face, but he immediately calmed down and asked, "Isn't this person exposed?"
"That's not true. If my identity is exposed, how can I sit here and chat with you?" Seeing his reaction, Liu Shang had already guessed 70% or 80% of it, and then continued: "He is just affected by his identity." I just need to go out with the proprietor to do some work. I was worried that something would happen if you couldn’t get in touch with him, so I found an excuse to arrange to meet you on this occasion.”
As Liu Shang talked, he sorted out some context in his mind. When he came to Sanya, he didn't know the arrangements from above. He only knew that he would get in touch with Liao Yuan after coming here and adapt to local life as soon as possible with his help. As for whether Liao Yuan has any contact with other people lurking in Sanya, Liu Shang has always wanted to find out in order to eliminate any hidden dangers that may expose his identity. As early as when he was around the island, he had already had the idea of killing Liao Yuan, but he just couldn't think of a feasible plan. Qin An's arrival just confirmed some of his previous guesses, that is, the intelligence network that the superiors planned to build in the Sanya area would have Liao Yuan as the core, and everyone else, like himself, would maintain single-line contact with him as external coordinators.
In fact, such an organizational structure also carries great risks. If someone's identity is revealed and Liao Yuan is implicated, a whole group of people will also be implicated. But from another perspective, it also shows that the superiors have great trust in Liao Yuan's ability and dare to hand over such an important position to him.
But Liu Shang is not a big shot above. The way he ensures his own safety is not to trust anyone, including his bosses and colleagues. His boss could trust Liao Yuan, but Liu Shang couldn't trust him, nor could he trust other lurkers who had contact with Liao Yuan. The only person he could trust was himself.
Qin Anke didn't expect that Liu Shang had so many thoughts. After hearing this explanation, he actually believed it. Just as Liu Shang guessed, the mission he received did involve contacting Liao Yuan, and Liu Shang was someone he had met before. He could be sure that the other party was from the same camp as himself, so there was no further contact. It is suspected that Liu Shang's proactive exploration had another purpose.
After Liu Shang gained Qin An's trust, he immediately started talking to Qin An and continued to talk to Qin An. Although Qin An is also a trained intelligence officer, he is engaged in the carpentry industry. The people he usually interacts with are not as complex as Liu Shang, and his mind is far less cunning than Liu Shang. A lot of information was tricked out in one go.
Qin An's main task when he was sent to Haihan was to try to break into the Victory Port Shipyard and steal the technical data of Haihan's warships so that the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilders could find structural weaknesses or copy them. Copy its strengths. This task cannot be accomplished by people like Liu Shang, because even if Liu Shang goes to the shipyard for a few months, it will be difficult for him to learn the shipbuilding technology, so people who know the industry must be sent to do it.
Liu Shang didn't have much objection to this kind of task arrangement. After all, people made the best use of their talents and resources. He really couldn't complete such a professionally demanding task, and he couldn't blame his superiors for sending someone to share the work. However, he still couldn't let go. He always felt that Qin An was also a hidden danger that might expose his identity.
Liu Shang remembered that Zhang Qianzhi, an official from the Ministry of Security who put great ideological pressure on him during his trip around the island, came from a shipbuilding family, and his father Zhang Tiangui was the chief engineer of the Shengli Port Shipyard. All Haihan warships were built under his supervision. When Qin An went to the shipyard, he was afraid that he would have to deal with the Zhang family and his son, but Liu Shang did not think this was a safe job.
Liu Shang secretly planned a countermeasure in his mind and asked Qin An: "Do you know where the immigration officer here is going to recommend you to work?"
Qin An responded: "The immigration officer has already told me that there are two places to go, one is the shipyard, and the other is the construction team of the Ministry of Construction. If you can enter the shipyard, that would be ideal."
Liu Shang muttered: "That being the case, I will try to think of a way to see if I can convince them to arrange for you to come there. You can leave here in a day or two. I will give you an address and wait for you to settle in." After that, come and find me yourself.”
Qin An no longer doubted Liu Shang's intentions at this time, and immediately agreed and wrote down the address Liu Shang said.
Liu Shang saw that it was almost time and signaled Qin An to step back to complete the conversation. After the meeting with the immigrants was over, Liu Shang called the clerk in again, thanked him for his careful arrangements, and then said as if he had no intention of doing so: "I asked him carefully about the carpenter just now, and it seems that he has not been there since he left the army. What kind of big job have you done? If you were assigned to a shipyard to build warships, it would be a bit unsafe, right?”
The little official said in shock: "How could this happen? He claimed to have been a carpenter for more than eight years and knew how to do all kinds of work. Unexpectedly, he was bragging... Fortunately, Director Liu knew what was going on, otherwise he would only let this man enter the shipyard. If it is found that his ability is not enough, then he may be held responsible for the low-level job, so lucky! ”
Liu Shangdao: "Don't ask him again, otherwise he will inevitably bear a grudge against me when he finds out that this happened because of me."
The young official understood and said: "I understand, Mr. Liu, please rest assured that this person will never be able to enter the shipyard. I will change the resettlement plan slightly and let him go to Changhua County to saw railway sleepers. He must be able to use his carpentry skills. With experience, I should still be able to do it.”
Although Liu Shang was not an official of the Immigration Bureau, he cleverly used the influence of his status to change Qin An's whereabouts in a few words. Liu Shang secretly thought: "Qin An, Qin An, don't blame me. If you want to blame you, you came at the wrong time and happened to meet me. If we keep you in Sanya, we will both be in great risk. It's better to send you to Changzhou." If the railway is repaired, at least the environment there will be closed, and there won’t be many opportunities for contact with outsiders. Everyone can live in peace, which is better than being killed if something happens.”
(End of chapter)