Chapter 1712 Special Recruitment
Tan Juren shook his head when he heard this and said: "You can buy this thing if you want. Last year, the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense went back and forth to discuss the issue of opening up military purchases. I don't know how long it was. If this money was not needed to fill this year's expedition to the West, How can we sell the warships made in our country to them if we don’t have enough military expenditures? Moreover, we have already made it clear to the Ma Dalan people at that time that they will not receive any more orders in the short term after these ships are sold out, even if they are willing to do so if they have the money! Even if you pay a high price, you still can’t buy it.”
Some of the information Tan Juren said has already touched on conflicts of interest among the upper echelons. Cheng Dapeng, a small intelligence officer, did not dare to pick up on this statement at will, so he could only nod his head in agreement.
In order to supplement fiscal revenue at that time, Haihan opened an arms purchase opportunity to the Dutch East India Company and the Materan State, allowing them to bid for Haihan's packaged weapons and equipment orders. Both of these two companies participated in this bidding with the mentality of eliminating the other party quickly, and the sky-high price orders sold afterwards also made Haihan a lot of money. Although these two companies are quite rich, This wave has indeed been squeezed quite hard. The money for military purchases can only be repaid in installments, and it has not been paid in full yet.
In order to maintain the strength of the two companies and not widen the gap due to this arms purchase, Haihan has also taken great pains in terms of arms purchase items, prices, delivery times and additional conditions, including the interval between the next arms purchase order. , lest one party forcefully overwhelm the other party through arms purchase with its financial strength. It has only been half a year since the last arms purchase. The warships purchased by the East India Company last time have just begun to be delivered one after another. The Malayan people are thinking about it again. The Executive Committee will definitely not accept such a small move. Even if they If you go to Sanya, you will probably have to go back in disgrace.
Tan Juren suddenly came to his senses and asked Cheng Dapeng: "Then if the Matalan people fail to achieve their goals in our country, will they look for other ways to purchase arms?"
Cheng Dapeng nodded and said: "This is exactly the situation that I am worried about. The Matalan Kingdom borders the Dutch-controlled area, and coupled with the war a few years ago, the conflict has become irreconcilable, and sooner or later there will be a war. But Matalan Country There is still a long way between the Dalan Kingdom and the Spanish-controlled areas. Although there have been some small-scale armed conflicts in the past, they were all minor fights and there was no unsolvable hatred this time. People suffered some losses in front of Spanish galleons, but maybe it will make them interested in Spanish warships. ”
It is perfectly normal for rich people like Ma Dalan to just use money to buy weapons and equipment that they cannot make themselves. If Haihan is unwilling to provide such goods, then they will most likely settle for the next best thing and seek help elsewhere. Although the Spaniards lost miserably in the Battle of Manila, this does not mean that they are weak. When facing a relatively backward civilization like Madalan, the Spaniards' strong ships and cannons are still too powerful for the opponent to withstand. Weapons - even used to fight the Dutch will not be at a disadvantage.
But if the two countries of Spain and Matalan are mixed together, it will not be good news for Haihan. It is reasonable for Cheng Dapeng to express concern about this trend. If you want to monitor whether there are any secret exchanges between the two countries, Cheng Dapeng must first identify some suitable candidates. If you understand Spanish and understand the habits of Spanish people, you will undoubtedly have a great advantage. , this was the main purpose of his special trip to Star Island.
Tan Juren also felt that Cheng Dapeng's words were reasonable, but he could not directly dictate the affairs of the Ministry of Security. Intelligence work was a very sensitive field, so it would not be a big deal to listen to Cheng Dapeng's work report, but if Once you get involved, the nature changes.
So after listening to Dapeng's words, Tan Juren simply nodded and said: "Since it is the intention of your security department, Xingdao will definitely try its best to cooperate. I have asked people to prepare the files of relevant personnel, and they will be sent later. I can hand it over to you. If you want to meet these people, you can arrange it as soon as possible.”
Cheng Dapeng quickly bowed and thanked him: "Thank you very much, chief, for the arrangement! I won't delay the chief's work because of my humble position, so I will go to the hard labor camp to select people."
A total of more than a thousand prisoners were imprisoned in the two hard labor camps on Xingdao, including more than a hundred Chinese prisoners sent from Manila. From them, those who could listen and speak Spanish were selected, and the relevant files were compiled and handed over to Cheng Dapeng. Pick.
Cheng Dapeng had his own set of criteria for selecting people. Almost all of these people had served the Spanish in the past, and many of them had even served in the army, so it was of little significance to investigate their past experiences. What Cheng Dapeng values most is personal ability and family background. Even if there are no particularly outstanding figures among these Han prisoners, he will still try to find something noteworthy about them.
In the files of these people, Cheng Dapeng quickly noticed the special existence of Qin Huacheng. Among the Han prisoners detained here, there are very few people like Qin Huacheng who have served as servants under both Spaniards and Haihan. Moreover, after Qin Huacheng arrived at Xingdao, he immediately made a great contribution and assisted the prison authorities in breaking down the riot planned by the Spanish prisoners.
Qin Huacheng's personal qualifications are mediocre from the records, his education level is average, and he has no extraordinary abilities. However, his strange and tortuous experiences in recent years are beyond the reach of ordinary people. Even Cheng Dapeng, who is well-informed, has never seen such a bizarre encounter as his. Moreover, Qin Huacheng's family still lives in Manila, and his brother Qin Huaming still works in Haihan's official organization, which is a plus in Cheng Dapeng's opinion. If Qin Huacheng is recruited, he should take into account the situation of his family and have more motivation to be loyal to Haihan.
Before he finished browsing everyone's files, Cheng Dapeng pulled out Qin Huacheng's files and put them aside as a priority. After reading the files in this way, Cheng Dapeng selected only five or six people. After the interviews, this number will probably be further reduced.
However, Cheng Dapeng was not in a hurry to summon these people. Instead, he first asked the prison officials sent by Tan Juren to assist him to understand the situation of these people. When he heard that the prison authorities had now arranged for Qin Huacheng to provide Spanish language training to the guards, he paid more attention to this person.
Qin Huacheng didn't know that his fortune had turned around. It was still the same day as usual. After breakfast, he sat and waited for the prisoners in the camp to go to work. Then he wandered to a room prepared for him by the warden Qin Bodu and said to him. Several guards who remained at the camp taught Spanish.
In fact, Qin Huacheng has never studied Spanish systematically, so the Spanish he masters is almost all slang and daily spoken language. He can speak but not write well, and there are no specific arrangements for the course. He gave lectures to these guards, and basically taught them wherever they went. It was a relatively casual teaching method. The prison authorities seemed to acquiesce to his method and did not put forward higher requirements. After all, Qin Huacheng's teaching did not receive extra compensation, it was just a dawdling job arranged for him by Qin Bodu.
So when someone came to Qin Huacheng and asked him to stop teaching to meet a special visitor, Qin Huacheng never thought that his fate would turn around in the next time.
"My surname is Cheng. If you are successful, you can call me shopkeeper Cheng." After Cheng Dapeng saw Qin Huacheng, he briefly introduced himself and then decisively cut to the point: "Qin Huacheng, if you can be released immediately after serving your sentence , what are you going to do next?”
Qin Huacheng blurted out: "Of course I will return to Manila to reunite with my family." Cheng Dapeng said: "Then do you have any plans to continue serving the country?"
When Qin Huacheng heard this, he thought that shopkeeper Cheng was probably not a businessman, but a Haihan official who used his identity as a businessman to cover up. Otherwise, how could he ask such a strange question to him. I just don’t know what the purpose of this person’s visit is, and whether it is directly related to the case I participated in solving before. But he could vaguely feel that this was a rare opportunity, an opportunity to escape from this ghost place. If he missed this time, who knows, the approval from Haihan Ministry of Justice would have to wait until the year of the monkey to reach this remote overseas border. .
"The villain has been loyal to Haihan wholeheartedly, but he was seduced by a traitor and committed a mistake before, so he was sent here. After the villain arrived here, he decided to change his past, and how he performed, shopkeeper Cheng only needs to inquire a little bit. You know." Qin Huacheng swallowed and said: "If you have the opportunity to continue to serve the country, I will do my best!"
Qin Huacheng said this partly out of sincerity and partly because he wanted to get out of trouble. Cheng Dapeng naturally had a problem in his heart and would not fully believe what he said. He raised this question to Qin Huacheng, on the one hand to see how the guy would react, and on the other hand to elicit what he would say later.
"Since you are determined to continue serving the country, there is an opportunity now. But you need to say ugly things first. The things assigned to you are risky and may even cost your life. Are you willing to participate?" Chengdu University Peng continued to ask.
After hearing this, Qin Huacheng suddenly complained in his heart. Although his current situation is not good, at least he is not in danger of his life for the time being. But if he has to take on the next extremely risky job in order to leave here, why bother himself. Anyway, if you only have to wait a few months for the Ministry of Justice's approval, even if your sentence is not completely reduced, you probably won't have more than a few days left. It's better to just sit back and finish your sentence here, and then whether you go back to Manila or If you make other plans, you are free to choose.
As if he had understood what he was thinking, Cheng Dapeng said slowly: "I have already inquired about the case you handled before, and the result will probably not be available soon."
Qin Huacheng said in astonishment: "Why is this? Hasn't everyone been arrested, interrogated and sent away?"
"This case needs to be reported to the Ministry of Justice. I don't know what year or month it will be until the Ministry of Justice handles it. Maybe the Spaniards sent to mine are all dead, and you are still locked up here." Cheng Dapeng was sarcastic. said. He did have a general understanding of the case before, but as for the handling of the case after it was reported, he just casually deceived Qin Huacheng. Anyway, the information held by both parties was completely unequal, and Qin Huacheng had no way to verify whether what he said was true or false.
After hearing this, Qin Huacheng felt a little panicked. Although he had calculated that he would only serve three years in prison at most, but if he really stayed in this hard labor camp for three years, who knows what else would happen during such a long time. . If he had a choice, he really wouldn't want to stay here any longer.
Cheng Dapeng saw the change in his expression and knew that what he said had an effect, so he continued to persuade: "Although the errand I prepared for you is risky, it is not as big as you think. If you can do it right Well, you can get promoted and make a fortune in the future, and you have a much better future than you did as a security policeman in Manila.”
Qin Huacheng said: "If that little guy accepts this job, can he go back to Manila to see his family?"
Cheng Dapeng shook his head and said: "This job is a national secret. After you accept it, you will not be able to see your family again until the job is completed. To be honest, this job may require you to change your identity. But how much do you have to do? Excellent, I will definitely have the opportunity to return home in the future. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to return to my hometown in fine clothes?”
Qin Huacheng heard what he said beautifully, but he didn't believe it in his heart. He felt that the other party repeatedly used words to seduce him, so there must be a lot of risk in this job. But he couldn't resist the temptation of regaining his freedom, and he was very hesitant to take the risk at the moment.
Cheng Dapeng saw that he was hesitant, so he took retreat as a step forward: "Well, let's give you one day to think about it. I will leave Xingdao tomorrow. Before that, you have to make a decision. Also, this job is not about leaving. If you don’t succeed, you might as well think about why I want to recruit you first.”
Qin Huacheng was not stupid, and he responded after hearing this: "Shopkeeper Cheng looks down on villains, naturally because what he wants to do is related to the Spanish."
"As long as you understand. There are still many Chinese prisoners in this hard labor camp who have dealt with the Spaniards. I think we will always find people who are willing to serve the country." Cheng Dapeng waved his hand and said: "You can go out first. , if you think about it clearly and are willing to do it, then let the guard bring you to me.”
This time Qin Huacheng refused to leave: "Shopkeeper Cheng, I have thought clearly, I will take over this job!"
Qin Huacheng knew that what Cheng Dapeng said was true. He was not the only Han Chinese who could speak Spanish in this hard labor camp. If this job was robbed by others, he would not even have to take the regret medicine. It's better to take a risk. Anyway, no matter how bad the situation is, it won't be worse than staying in a hard labor camp. If God really wants to take my life, it will be the same wherever I stay. As for the errand that the other party had been avoiding talking about, Qin Huacheng had actually vaguely guessed it.
(End of chapter)