Chapter 1715: Covering Identity
When Qin Huacheng lived in Manila, he never thought that one day he would become a spy collecting intelligence for other countries. This was really a very exciting career for him. However, working under Cheng Dapeng these days, he gradually discovered that this job did not seem to be as dangerous as Cheng Dapeng had emphasized. People outside just treated them as ordinary businessmen, and they rarely felt the precautions and precautions from others. Hostile.
Just like when they were measuring hydrographic data in Belawan, others thought they were fishing and never imagined that the string hanging from the boat into the sea actually had other uses. The activities of the sailors on the dock are not simply to go ashore to rest. They perform their own duties and collect various information about Belawan from places such as shops, restaurants, carriage shops and even brothels near the port. After summarizing, slowly piece together a rough intelligence framework.
From the cargo throughput of Belawan to the racial composition of local residents, all kinds of information were gathered here in a short period of time. Qin Huacheng could only express his admiration for the information collection capabilities of the Haihan intelligence agency. At the same time, he also thought of a question: before Haihan attacked Manila, how many spies working for Haihan were lurking in Manila and doing similar work. Haihan was able to defeat the Spanish and capture the city of Manila in a very short period of time. Presumably, it was inseparable from the adequate preparations made by the intelligence front.
And when Qin Huacheng recalled what he knew about the Haihan Kingdom before the Manila War began, he found that it was almost blank. There were only those in the Spanish army who had records of fighting against the Haihan Army in the battles on Taiwan Island and the raid on Sanya. Only then did I understand a little bit about this opponent. Before the war in Manila, Qin Huacheng himself thought that the official propaganda of "letting the blood of the Haihan people dye Manila Bay red" would become a reality. However, during the fight, he discovered that was not the case at all. There was a clear gap in the combat effectiveness of the two sides. Haihan's targeted tactical deployment during his attack on Manila highlighted the importance of military intelligence.
Although Qin Huacheng did not directly participate in that battle, he joined the security police after the war and had many opportunities to get in touch with the inside story. Slowly he learned that Haihan had almost perfectly avoided the Spaniards who had high hopes during the attack. The port and coastal defenses were built, and several Spanish command posts were destroyed as soon as they entered the city. This obviously cannot be explained by good luck. God knows how many spies there were in Manila at that time to provide accurate military intelligence to the Haihan Army. .
At that time, Qin Huacheng could not imagine how the Haihan people did it, but now that Cheng Dapeng took him to participate in the process of collecting intelligence, he gradually understood the horror of the Haihan intelligence agency. According to Cheng Dapeng, Haihan has no intention of using force against places like Belawan, but he will still collect all kinds of intelligence here in great detail. So it is conceivable that Haihan will regard the areas as military attack targets. , to what extent they will be subjected to detailed reconnaissance.
In the process of analyzing and compiling intelligence, Cheng Dapeng did not forget to introduce the international situation of the Strait of Malacca to these newcomers. Johor, Aceh, Pattani, Portugal... The forces of various countries are intertwined on both sides of this narrow strait, and their interests and demands are different. .
Qin Huacheng could only understand about half of it. With his knowledge, it was difficult to understand the origins of the wars and conflicts of interest between these countries, let alone how to benefit Haihan. But he knew that the content taught by Cheng Dapeng would be his job for a period of time in the future, and he had to master it well. Regardless of whether he could fully understand it at the moment, he should remember it in his head first before talking about it.
After completing its intelligence work in Belawan, the sailing ship leisurely left the port and continued southeast along the Sumatra coastline. Cheng Dapeng asked the rookie students to come to the deck, and the designated veteran sailors taught them how to observe the coastline and draw charts.
"Detailed maps are the foundation of all military operations. Our Haihan Army never fights an unprepared battle because we have an unparalleled map database. You must remember that the geographical information we collect during each voyage will be It will be added to this database and become a reference for future development of maritime routes and formulation of combat plans.”
During the training process, Cheng Dapeng did not forget to instill in these students the power of the Haihan intelligence system at any time. However, what he said was not bragging. The amount of information Haihan had in the map library was truly unique in this era. . While European navigators were still exploring unfamiliar waters, Haihan already had a global standard chart. This was indeed a magic weapon for Haihan who continued to expand his ruling area.
Due to the existence of the map database, there are basically no sea areas that are completely unfamiliar to Haihan navigators and sailors. The reconnaissance of unfamiliar areas by intelligence personnel like Cheng Dapeng is actually just a review of the existing database. Just for further improvement and correction.
A few days later, when the ship passed Belitung Island, Cheng Dapeng ordered the ship to dock and organized a special visit. The six students he selected participated in the activity, and the object of the visit was the local tin mine.
Haihan mines tin mines on the two adjacent islands of Bangka Island and Belitung Island. Among them, the scale of the tin mine on Belitung Island is slightly larger. There are basically no Haihan miners working here. The registered personnel were all slaves and hard labor prisoners who had been sentenced to heavy punishment. The group of Spanish prisoners who were arrested for planning a riot in the Xingdao hard labor camp were all sent to this place.
Compared with the Star Island hard labor camp, the tin mines on Belitung Island are the real place of death. The miners have to go down nearly fifty meters underground every day, mining with only weak lighting, and then relying on hands and shoulders to resist. Transport tin ore ore to the surface. Of those who were sent to work here, almost no one managed to escape. Due to the extreme labor and living conditions, very few people could survive here for more than a year and a half.
Of course, Cheng Dapeng arranged this visit not to let the students understand the tin mining process, but to use the situation of the miners' prisoners here as a fresh example to let them deepen their understanding of the internal rules of the Ministry of Security. No matter how detailed the explanation is, it is not as intuitive and effective as coming here to see the miners' situation with your own eyes.
Qin Huacheng saw many familiar faces here. The condition of the Spanish prisoners who were sent here by him had already changed significantly in just a few days. Their spirits were sluggish and their eyes were dull. Narrowed into a narrow slit, he spoke very little. According to Cheng Dapeng, these are the effects of working in a dark, closed and narrow underground mine for a long time. This effect is not only physical, but also plays a big psychological role - It is said that there are also specialized personnel responsible for studying the theory in this area. When Qin Huacheng saw these Spaniards who had become dull and sluggish, it was difficult to connect them with the previous gang of thugs who planned riots in the Xingdao hard labor camp. However, he did not feel guilty about his actions. If these people had not been sent to Belitung Island to work as miners, then his own life in the hard labor camp would have been very difficult. Now he at least succeeded in saving his own fate. Of course, he could also understand that Cheng Dapeng's purpose in bringing him to see these people was nothing more than to scare the monkeys and make them understand that their destiny was under Haihan's control.
The tin ore produced in Bangka Belitung Island is initially smelted locally to remove impurities, and then the cassiterite, coke, and limestone are burned together to obtain metallic tin. These higher-purity tin will be transported back to Haihan, part of which is made into tinware, and the other part is used to make bronze, specifically used to make gun barrels and machine bearings. This is a sign of the industrialization advocated by the Haihan Executive Committee in recent years It is one of the indispensable strategic materials.
"Mineral resources, especially metals and coal, are very important raw materials for our country, so information about mineral deposits is also what you need to focus on in the future."
Qin Huacheng secretly kept these warnings in mind while listening to Cheng Dapeng's explanation. Since leaving Star Island, the amount of information he received every day was so large that Qin Huacheng even doubted whether he had really memorized so much knowledge.
After leaving Belitung Island, the ship Qin Huacheng took went all the way south. It took a day and a half to arrive at the Port of Batavia and returned to its starting point.
Batavia suffered complete destruction by the Mata Blues a few years ago. After defeating the Mata Blues' offensive, the Port of Batavia underwent a two-year reconstruction and the scale of construction was further upgraded. Today's Batavia Port has not only restored its former vitality, but its cargo throughput has also increased significantly compared with the past.
On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the Dutch have become more proficient in operating the Sunda Strait. Carried by the East India Company, the cargo entering the South China Sea from the Indian Ocean has increased compared with previous years, and a considerable part of it has passed through the sea. The Han Dynasty resold it to the Ming Dynasty and other countries in the north, revitalizing the Dutch trade routes in the Far East. Although Dutch merchants only had Damuan Port on Taiwan Island near the Ming Dynasty coastline, the number of merchant ships sailing from Batavia to Damuan Port has increased at least three times compared with the past, and the profits generated from this have also been repaid. On to the post-war reconstruction of Batavia.
Cheng Dapeng's current business in Batavia is far beyond the original grain business. He is involved in almost any business that can make money. However, most of these businesses are not run by him as a sole proprietor, but in cooperation with other people through shares or joint ventures. Of course, Cheng Dapeng's partners were not ordinary people. They were almost all officials of the East India Company at all levels, mainly the Netherlands. It is no exaggeration to say that to some Dutch officials in Batavia, Cheng Dapeng is a business wizard-like existence. No matter what line of work he does, he always makes a lot of money. Working with him can almost It is equated with making money.
Cheng Dapeng's success is certainly due to his own business talent, but more importantly, behind him is the strong financial resources and intelligence system of Haihan State as support. Almost all the business decisions he makes come from Haihan Business. The reference provided by the Ministry of Commerce, and some business measures even come from the instructions of the Ministry of Commerce. Relying on the huge consumer markets of Haihan and Daming, Cheng Dapeng's profits from foreign trade are enough to subsidize the losses that may occur in other business projects. Therefore, those projects jointly operated with Dutch officials will never see losses on their books. exist.
Although some of these projects are inevitably operated with money, from the perspective of intelligence work, this method of spending money to maintain connections is perfectly normal. Moreover, Cheng Dapeng has been operating in Batavia for several years, and the results have been very obvious. If anything happens to him, at least half of the officials in Batavia will choose to side with him.
The students who returned to Batavia with Cheng Dapeng did not get much rest, and were immediately dispersed and assigned to various industries under Cheng Dapeng's name. However, their work assignments have one thing in common, that is, they are responsible for product promotion. Some operate in stores, while others need to go out to visit customers. Cheng Dapeng hopes that through this arrangement, his trainees can become familiar with business rules more quickly and enter their roles as early as possible.
Cheng Dapeng's purpose of recruiting this group of people was to send them to investigate the Spanish intelligence. The cover identities Cheng Dapeng prepared for them were all related to business. The more familiar they are with business operations, the better they will be able to interpret the truth in the future. The identity is well hidden. Of course, if someone among them is exposed to be seriously unsuited to the business environment during this learning process, Cheng Dapeng will eliminate them without mercy.
Qin Huacheng is actually not a person suitable for business, otherwise he would not have been frightened by the conditions offered by two old foxes when he was in Malacca. But now it was time to catch up, and if he didn't learn, he would have to go back to jail. He had to work up his energy to be a serious apprentice. Qin Huacheng was assigned to a rice store, and the shopkeeper in charge of him was a serious businessman. When he entered the door, he first told him how difficult it was for the great shopkeeper Cheng Dapeng to gain a foothold in Batavia, but now he has mastered Batavia. Nearly one-third of the grain market in Davia can be said to be able to influence the local grain market with just a tap of the foot.
Qin Huacheng cooperated very sensibly and touted Cheng Dapeng's achievements. In the end, the shopkeeper was quite envious that he, a newcomer, could follow Cheng Dapeng on the voyage to Banda Aceh. After all, this kind of treatment may not even be available to old employees. He was able to win it, but this young guy who was said to have been temporarily recruited from Xingdao accidentally went on a foreign mission and was assigned to the big shopkeeper's fortune business when he came back. This shows how seriously he is valued.
(End of chapter)