Chapter 1725 He Xi’s worries
Of course, He Xi admired Cheng Dapeng's achievements in Batavia in recent years. He knew that his subordinate's ability to act on the front line was indeed very strong, and his understanding of the Dutch was second to none in the security department. The person in charge of the Batavia intelligence station must be him. So when Cheng Dapeng returned to Sanya and served for a period of time, he proposed to go back south to Batavia to stay there. He Xi agreed immediately because he knew very well that only by deploying Cheng Dapeng in Batavia could he maximize his potential. role.
But at the same time, He Xi also noticed that Cheng Dapeng's behavior in Batavia and even the South China Sea area was increasingly showing a strong personal style. Many things were planned and implemented by him, although he would also report to the Ministry of Security in accordance with the system. Sanya reported, but the time to take the initiative to ask for instructions became less and less.
This is not because there is something wrong with Cheng Dapeng’s loyalty. He Xi is still convinced that this subordinate is loyal to the country. It’s just that Cheng Dapeng acts alone thousands of miles away from the mainland of Haihan all year round. It is possible to make decisions after consulting the local authorities on all matters.
The advantage of this model is that front-line intelligence personnel can respond to changes in the local situation in a timely manner and will not miss great opportunities by asking for instructions back and forth. At the same time, it also improves the independent operation capabilities of intelligence personnel. But disadvantages also exist. Intelligence agencies are inherently privileged departments. Giving these officials who are in charge of intelligence work outside too much power can easily lead to a situation where the tail is too big to lose. This is not the case among the intelligence officials stationed abroad under the Ministry of Security. There is no precedent.
Most of the officials dispatched by the Ministry of Security are quite loyal to the emerging regime of Haihan. As upstarts who have risen with the country, they often cherish the power in their hands. However, they have money and power in their hands who have been stationed abroad all year round. It is difficult for someone to completely restrain their natural desire for a higher social status and more material enjoyment.
Due to the rapid expansion of Haihan, the demand for professionals is very high, so the official induction training period arranged for them is relatively limited, and the content often emphasizes professional skills. The instillation of ideological and political awareness is relatively limited due to time issues. less.
In an environment that lacks adequate supervision and restrictions, these half-started and privileged intelligence officers can easily lose their way. He Xi was really worried that Cheng Dapeng stayed in Batavia for too long, and gradually forgot that he was taking orders from Sanya, and was not someone who only thought of asking for help when he was unable to do anything.
The last time Cheng Dapeng went to the Strait of Malacca area to conduct cross-border trade, he went to Xingdao to recruit several Han prisoners who were said to be proficient in Spanish. Although He Xi nodded his head at the time, he still thought that Cheng Dapeng The recruitment was somewhat sloppy. After all, there are almost no suitable conditions for onboarding and training of intelligence personnel in the local area, and these people are prisoners exiled from Manila to Star Island. They may have more than enough respect for Haihan, but certainly not enough loyalty. Cheng Dapeng wants to personally train these people locally. Newcomer, He Xi doesn't think this is a completely reliable plan.
Now, it has only been a month since Cheng Dapeng completed his recruitment in Xingdao. On the pretext of controlling the grain market and attracting Dutch officials who instigated rebellion, he will carry out a major operation in Batavia that was not planned by the Ministry of Security. How necessary it was to take these measures, and how sure Cheng Dapeng was of success, this information was not specifically explained in the message sent back by Batavia.
How urgent is the local situation, whether the Dutch officials who contacted Cheng Dapeng are reliable, how much funds need to be used in the process of fighting for control of the local grain market, and whether these extra-budgetary expenses can be recovered through reasonable business methods afterwards... There are still a lot of issues that He Xi needs to figure out. If these issues do not get a reasonable explanation, then it will be difficult for him to explain to the executive committee the necessity for Cheng Dapeng to take drastic measures locally.
He Xi came to Victory Fort the next day with Cheng Dapeng's message. He first found Schneider and explained the situation to him. At present, foreign affairs are jointly managed by Ning Qi and Schneider. Ning Qi is in charge of the Ming Dynasty and the surrounding small countries that are deeply influenced by Han culture, while Schneider is specifically responsible for the affairs of Western colonial countries. The two have their own division of labor. Cheng Dapeng was responsible for the Dutch control area in the South China Sea, so He Xi naturally wanted to talk to Schneider first.
After listening to He Xi's introduction, Schneider expressed his position: "It's okay for the Executive Committee to support the actions of the Ministry of Security, but Minister He, you have to come up with some practical information. First find out how much food the Dutch want to buy from Champa. I If you send people from the embassy here to do the work, you have to have a clear explanation, otherwise it will be meaningless if you are looked down upon by the Champa country. Also, your people are going to disrupt the grain market in Batavia. Isn't it worth 1.8 million? Can you give me an accurate figure? How much money does he have, how big is the gap, when will the money be used, and will the money be withdrawn gradually or transferred to you? In the Ministry of Security’s budget for next year, we must first come up with a plan for these trivial matters.”
He Xi couldn't help but feel a headache when she heard the problems mentioned by Schneider. The telegram sent back from Batavia was only one or two hundred words, so how could it explain so many problems clearly. But Schneider's request is not nit-picky. He is in charge of foreign affairs and is also the person in charge of the Ministry of Finance. These things have to go through his hands. If you just accept it without paying attention, it will cause any trouble later. Since Schneider's responsibility was taken away from him, he naturally had to clear things up with He Xi first.
Ning Qi also arrived while they were talking. After listening to He Xi's story, Ning Qi's attitude was basically the same as Schneider's. He believed that the intelligence provided by the Ministry of Security was too little, and even if the Executive Committee wanted to cooperate, it would be difficult to do so. As for whether Cheng Dapeng's actions in Batavia were necessary, this was what He Xi was most worried about being criticized by the executive committee members, but surprisingly no one mentioned it.
But in fact, it is not difficult to understand. A considerable part of the external information that senior officials like Ning Qi and Schneider have comes from the intelligence department led by He Xi, and the reliability of this information is mostly reported to the Executive Committee. It has been verified before. If it is indeed news of doubtful credibility, He Xi will naturally explain it. But since He Xi did not explain it specifically, they subconsciously believed that the measures Cheng Dapeng planned to take in Batavia actually came from He Xi's arrangement.
The Haihan Executive Committee has always had a default rule, which is not to interfere too much with the work direction of the intelligence department. Professional work is left to professionals. If everyone can dictate the work of the Security Department according to their own wishes, Otherwise, there will definitely be problems with the operation of this department. Unless there are serious deviations in the work of the Security Department, or He Xi and Hao Wanqing raise some issues that need to be resolved by the Executive Committee, generally no one will question the plans and arrangements of the Security Department.
Based on this understanding, neither Ning Qi nor Schneider would doubt whether the requirements put forward by the Ministry of Security were reasonable and necessary. They would only put forward their opinions and requirements to He Xi on problems that may arise during the implementation process. But He Xi had a headache. This was the only information fed back by his subordinates. If he had to pursue detailed data, Cheng Dapeng might not be able to get it. After all, front-line intelligence work must make decisions based on intuition many times, unlike the Sanya rear area, which can have data and information from all aspects as a reference. Each department will discuss and weigh before choosing the safest or most suitable one for Haihan. Favorable plan. If Cheng Dapeng really had to collect the information requested by Ning Qi and Schneider before making a decision, I'm afraid the day lily would have been cold long ago.
"The problems you raised do exist, but the actual situation must also be taken into consideration. It seems okay for some things to drag on for a day and a half, but the local intelligence personnel may have missed the best opportunity because they were waiting for Sanya to issue an order. The timing of the action." He Xi thought about his words, and then explained to them: "Cheng Dapeng is one of my most capable intelligence officers. I think the missing information in the telegram he sent back was not an intentional omission, but a deliberate omission. It’s too late to conduct a more detailed investigation.”
"I trust your professional judgment, but you have to tell me, what can I do to help your people complete their tasks?" Schneider didn't want to argue with He Xi on this issue. He still had several meetings to hold today. In comparison, this application from the Ministry of Security is not really an important matter.
After Haihan sent troops to capture Manila at the beginning of this year, he seized a large amount of gold and silver treasures from the local area, and these properties had to be liquidated through a series of procedures before they could be added to the national treasury. At the same time, the national treasury needs to spend a large amount of military expenditures to distribute rewards to participating troops and meritorious personnel, pensions for fallen soldiers, and the cost of returning various participating troops to their original garrison.
In addition, Haihan mobilized some large businessmen to invest in Manila to complete control of the local economic lifeline as soon as possible. Haihan Bank, which is an extremely important part of Haihan's economic system, has also set up local branches and begun to implement it in Manila. Haihan has a bank-centered financial system, and is already preparing to release paper Haihan coins into the Manila market and enter the circulation system.
Although Schneider himself does not have to keep an eye on these matters, the general arrangements require his participation and decision-making. Therefore, he has been very busy recently. There are at least three or four meetings every day with various people. .
In addition, there is another more important matter that has kept the Ministry of Foreign Affairs very busy recently - in two days it will be the third anniversary of the founding of Haihan and the tenth anniversary of the time-travel operation. Sanya will host A series of celebrations. Most of these activities are conducted publicly, and representatives from many countries that have established diplomatic relations with Haihan are invited to participate.
In addition to some foreign envoys stationed in Sanya, some invited foreign dignitaries are arriving in Sanya one after another. As officials in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Schneider and Ning Qi are both responsible for receiving these dignitaries. Let them spend too much time paying attention to the affairs of other departments at this time, which is really a bit busy.
So although Schneider still has some doubts about what He Xi said, he no longer intends to dwell on this issue. As long as He Xi comes up with a decent solution, then he can just arrange it according to the other party's wishes.
As for the problems that may arise in the process, Schneider believes that they can actually be ignored. The fact that people from the Special Security Department want to disturb the local grain market in Batavia is actually a matter of money, and for Haihan For us, problems that can be solved with money are not problems. At most, they can ask the Ministry of Security to complete some additional procedures afterwards, so that the Finance Department can have a reasonable reason to balance the expenditure accounts.
Of course, He Xi also heard the impatience shown in Schneider's words. Although he himself was not 100% confident in Cheng Dapeng's plan, as the top leader of the security department, he still had to take the responsibility at this time. To take on the responsibility, we must first win over diplomatic and financial support.
It only took He Xi about half an hour to get what he wanted from Schneider and Ning Qi. Ning Qi would later personally send a telegram to the Haihan embassy in Champa, asking them to try to prevent Champa from selling large quantities of grain to the Dutch. Schneider issued a bad check to the Ministry of Security, authorizing He Xi to mobilize a sum of no more than one million yuan when necessary to cooperate with intelligence agents' operations in Batavia.
This arrangement is undoubtedly very relaxed for the Ministry of Security, and He Xi has nothing to be picky about. He now just hopes that Cheng Dapeng will not make any mistakes in Batavia, otherwise next time there is a similar situation that requires domestic emergency support, the two departments of foreign affairs and finance may not be willing to help like this again.
After He Xi returned to the small building of the Security Department, he immediately drafted a reply call to Batavia. In the message, he made several requests to Cheng Dapeng. First, to feedback detailed information about the operation to the Ministry of Security as soon as possible, including the relevant amounts required by the diplomatic and financial departments, so as to better cooperate with Cheng Dapeng. Dapeng’s local actions. The second is to ask Cheng Dapeng to pay attention to the scale and try not to conflict with the Batavia authorities, so as not to affect the operation of the intelligence network that has been deployed there for several years.
However, according to the system of the Ministry of Security, the default communication time of radio stations stationed abroad is arranged at night to prevent the temporarily erected antenna from being noticed by interested parties, so his call back can only be sent to Cheng Dapeng at night. side. We may have to wait one more day for Batavia's next call back.
(End of chapter)