Chapter 1559: Investigating Clues
Although Su Keyi was unwilling to admit it, he also understood that in addition to trade, Haihan also had other means to blackmail the East India Company in the fields of military and international relations. If the cooperative relationship with Haihan is stopped, it will not only add Haihan as a rival. For example, the presence of Spain and Portugal in the Far East will force the Dutch to put aside their disputes over international trade and re-examine their relationship with Haihan. relationship. What's more, there are Annan Kingdom, known as Haihan's number one supporter, and Ming Dynasty, which has officially established diplomatic relations with Haihan. No matter how arrogant Su Keyi is, he will not think that the East India Company can fight against so many countries on its own. .
Besides, war was not the original intention of the establishment of the East India Company. The shareholders contributed money to maintain the operation of this organization. The main purpose was to obtain profits in the Far East. Making money was the company's first priority. The East India Company is now not only trading with Haihan, but also in the Far East international trading system under Haihan's leadership. Once it has a stalemate with Haihan, it is basically equivalent to being separated from the entire trading system. An even more unacceptable outcome for the East India Company than the new trade agreement.
Give in, what else can you do? Even if Su Keyi's heart is as high as the sky, the current situation is like this. The East India Company cannot come up with sufficient conditions to bargain with the Haihan people, and there is no other better choice than bowing.
Although the Portuguese are in a slightly better situation than the Dutch in this negotiation, Thomas is really not happy. Since the Dutch dare not fall out with Haihan, there is nothing to gain for him. However, the trade agreement announced by Schneider will soon be implemented. Whether this will be a blessing or a curse for Portugal, Thomas can't tell clearly for a while.
After sending away the gloomy ministers of the two countries, Schneider immediately picked up the phone on his desk and dialed the number of the Minister of Security, He Xi, and informed him of the exposure of the Portuguese merchant ship "Diego".
The "Diego" haunts the waters of Zhejiang and always docks at local ports. The appearance of its hull is obviously different from the ships of the Ming Dynasty and Haihan. It is basically impossible to completely conceal its whereabouts. It is sailed It is not surprising that Dutch merchant ships in this area were discovered. But the transportation mission of the "Diego" to Shandong is confidential, and even the sailors on the ship may not know the final destination. How this news was discovered by Su Keyi of the East India Company is a question worth pondering.
Either a Dutch merchant ship quietly entered the northern waters without notifying Haihan and found traces of the "Diego" somewhere, or a staff member of a relevant department intentionally or unintentionally Revealed this secret to Su Keyi. The former situation is considered a bold act by the Dutch, but it is difficult to find evidence, while the latter situation is more serious in nature. This kind of leak must be investigated and handled by the Ministry of Security.
Su Keyi's identity was quite special. According to diplomatic rules, the Ministry of Security could not arrest him directly for interrogation. He Xi was scratching his head after receiving this report. Fortunately, the Security Department also had experience in handling such cases. After He Xi hung up the phone, he asked his secretary to notify Xu Qiqi to report.
Gong Shiqi, the general trained by He Xi, followed Hao Wanqing to the north to work. Among the people who are following him now, Xu Shiqi is probably the best among them. In fact, Xu Shiqi is not a newcomer. He entered the Security Department only more than a year later than Gong Shiqi, but he was just a little lucky. When Gong Shiqi became famous in the industry after carrying out a beheading operation in Hangzhou in 1634, Xu Shiqi was still trying to get the qualifications to enter the foreign affairs department of the Ministry of Security. Later, He Xi was ordered to be transferred back to Sanya to take charge of Haihan's security intelligence affairs, so he brought Xu Shiqi back to Hainan Island.
Although there is no chance to make contributions to a foreign country, Hainan Island is the key to Haihan's security intelligence affairs, and most of the intelligence personnel sent to Haihan from various countries are concentrated here. In terms of the proportion of intelligence personnel in the population, Sanya is probably the place with the highest concentration of spies in the entire Far East region.
Among these intelligence agents lurking in Sanya with different identities, there are both low-level personnel who are monitored and arrested by the Haihan Security Department, and there are also hidden stubs who have changed their identities and joined the nationality incognito for a long time, staying here briefly as businessmen or crew members. spies, and even official personnel from other countries openly operating in Sanya as diplomats. With the size and technical capabilities of the Haihan Security Department, it is obviously difficult to monitor or arrest all these foreign spies with different identities.
It is impossible to completely eliminate the channels for other countries to obtain intelligence from Haihan. The main responsibility of the Ministry of Security is to protect political, economic, military, social and other intelligence information that involves Haihan's fundamental interests as much as possible. The news Schneider reported to the Ministry of Security was either big or small, but He Xi couldn't ignore it, so he sent Xu Qiqi and gave him a general introduction to the relevant situation.
After Xu Shiqi listened to the briefing, seeing that He Xi did not issue specific instructions immediately, he knew that his boss was waiting for him to express his opinion on the matter, so he quickly took the initiative and said: "Chief, please tell me about your humble position first." Please correct me.”
He Xi nodded and motioned for him to continue.
Xu Shiqi said: "Su Keyi himself is of Chinese origin, and there is basically no cultural barrier with our country. He has unique advantages in collecting intelligence. He is stationed in Sanya on behalf of the East India Company, and he frequently visits various departments in our country. Gao, maybe he accidentally heard or saw some relevant documents while working in some department. It may not necessarily mean that someone deliberately betrayed the information to him. "
He Xi did not express his position, but encouraged him to continue his analysis: "Tell me your reasons."
Xu Shiqi continued: "The reason for his humble position is also very simple. Su Keyi has been dealing with my country for several years, and his coming to Sanya is not recent. This person has almost no loopholes in security intelligence. It can be said that He was very cautious. But when he threw out this information in front of Chief Shi to retaliate against the Portuguese, he should have considered in advance the subsequent impact of the leak. If the source of this information was from the Dutch, It is very likely that it will be exposed due to our subsequent investigation. I think Su Keyi will not act so hastily.”
The reasons given by Xu Shiqi coincided with He Xi. Cheng Dapeng, the intelligence chief of the Ministry of Security in Batavia, had already dealt with Su Keyi. At that time, Su Keyi was just a Chinese of the East India Company. Just a clerk. The Ministry of Security has relatively detailed and reliable records on this person's behavior. He Xi had already studied it before summoning Xu Shiqi, and believed that Su Keyi was unlikely to make such a low-level mistake while he was conscious.
"Then the question arises. If he didn't make a mistake out of necessity, there must be some purpose in throwing out this information. News like this is actually worthless as long as it is exposed once. What does Su Keyi want to achieve? What is the effect or purpose of such a move?" He Xi also began to participate in the discussion.
"Perhaps he wants to attract our attention intentionally, and then mislead us to investigate the departments and personnel related to this matter, and take the opportunity to create chaos." Xu Shiqi tried to analyze: "Even if we find nothing in the end, probably It will still leave a thorn in the heart, and the Dutch may have some long-term plans." He Xi said: "The Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Shipping, the Ministry of National Defense, and us are related to this matter. The confidentiality level of this matter is not low, so only a few high-level officials and personnel handling the matter know the information. If there is really going to be an investigation, the list should not exceed fifty people.”
After hearing what his boss meant, Xu Shiqi seemed to have decided to conduct an investigation, and immediately responded: "Then I will make a list of these people first, and then see which of them have had contact with Su Keyi in the recent past, and use them as key investigation targets first. No matter which department Su Keyi visits, there will definitely be a visitor record, and you can find out after checking it.”
Seeing that Xu Shiqi understood the spirit very quickly, He Xi nodded with satisfaction and said: "No matter whether his purpose is to mislead us into self-examination, the Security Department must do what it should do. Also, in addition to official meetings, In addition, Su Keyi’s recent personal itinerary must also be investigated. After all, we are still not sure whether the source of his intelligence was obtained during working hours.”
Xu Shiqi said: "Then the Ministry of National Defense...can you say hello to Chief Yan first to avoid misunderstandings?"
The military is a trouble that the Ministry of Security is unwilling to take the initiative to touch, because the military has its own intelligence system. People in the Military Intelligence Department of the Ministry of National Defense have always been unwilling to involve the Ministry of Security in military affairs, especially in investigations. The Military Intelligence Office has always believed that personnel involved in the case should be investigated and handled by the military itself, and that national intelligence agencies should not be involved. Xu Shiqi had encountered many problems with the military in the past when handling cases. If the chief did not first greet and issue an official letter on this matter, the people below would definitely have difficulties and achieve their goals.
He Xi nodded and said, "I'll say hello to the Ministry of National Defense later and ask the Military Intelligence Department to connect with you."
Even if He Xi comes forward, it is unlikely that the Ministry of National Defense will be persuaded to bow to the Ministry of Security. Therefore, the best way to handle this matter is to let both parties cooperate to complete the internal self-examination of the Ministry of National Defense. Otherwise, with Yan Chujie's straightforward temperament, he would probably complain to the Executive Committee again and make jokes like "Dongchang plotted against the Ministry of War."
As for the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Shipping, they are relatively weak in this regard. They can only cooperate well when the Ministry of Security investigates the case. What's more, this matter was originally reported by Commerce Secretary Schneider. There will definitely be no problem with the Ministry of Commerce's cooperation with the investigation. All it takes is for the Ministry of Shipping to do a little more work.
After agreeing on the general plan, He Xi stopped worrying about the details and directly handed the case over to Xu Qiqi. The Ministry of Security has a lot of affairs, and He Xi cannot spend too much time on such a case where the degree of leakage cannot be said to be too serious. He is also convinced that Xu Shiqi's ability should be able to get to the bottom of this matter.
After Xu Shiqi returned to his office, he immediately called a meeting with his subordinates to assign tasks. The Security Department is divided into different divisions according to their functions, and Xu Shiqi is in the Special Service Division responsible for case investigation and field operations. This department is divided into several action groups. Currently, the group led by Gong Shiqi in the far north is numbered as Group One, and the group led by Xu Shiqi is Group Two.
The establishment of this group of people is not fixed. Generally, a fixed team of between seven and twelve people will be maintained. Then, according to the needs of the task, personnel will be transferred from other departments to temporarily supplement them, and they will be added after the task is completed. Deactivate the establishment. For example, in the Spanish espionage case that occurred in Sanya in early 1634, the Ministry of Security used two special service teams during the investigation, each with more than 20 members. In addition to the field teams responsible for armed operations, this temporary establishment also includes civilian personnel responsible for data collection, sorting, and analysis.
Xu Shiqi's team was able to obtain the second number in the Secret Service Office, so it naturally made a lot of contributions. However, most of the tasks they perform are non-public, so the awards they receive can only be announced internally. Very few outsiders know the existence of this kind of special service team. And handling intelligence-related cases like this one is also the specialty of the second team.
Xu Qiqi first listed all the personnel from various departments who had access to the route arrangement of the "Diego", and then designated members to investigate the relevant personnel of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Shipping, and the Ministry of Defense respectively, and he himself He is personally responsible for the internal investigation of the Security Department and the investigation of Su Keyi's recent movements.
"According to what we know, the Portuguese merchant ship left Zhejiang waters only half a month ago, so everyone in these departments who had contact with Su Keyi within fifteen days must be investigated. Not only do I want to know what they talked about with Su Keyi, but I also want to make sure that they have not received any benefits from Su Keyi, and that their identity and family have nothing to do with Batavia. If there is even the slightest suspicion, You can't let it go." Xu Shiqi put forward very strict requirements for his men.
At this time, someone raised another possibility that was easily missed: "What if the Portuguese leaked the news intentionally or accidentally?"
Xu Shiqi said: "We have limited manpower, so we must first investigate the most likely clues. If the most likely causes are eliminated, then the remaining situations that seem impossible may be facts. The truth.”
(End of chapter)