Chapter 3082
"I want to know what our people responsible for collecting intelligence have been doing recently? Why did we get the news so late? Tan Juren's son caused such a big battle in Sanya. Could it be that before that, No one is monitoring him? ”
"The Sanya Embassy spends so much money every year, and every report it submits claims that the situation is under control. Is this what you do? Is this what you say is under control? It's all useless!"
The old man who was furious was Xi Mang, the special commissioner who had just arrived in Sanya. Several people standing in front of him, including Thomas, the ambassador to Sanya, all had their heads drooped, not daring to take a breath.
Although Simang does not have a formal official title, his qualifications and reputation are much deeper than those in the Sanya Embassy. Even though his rebuke was a bit overwhelming, no one dared to refute.
As early as 20 years ago when Haihan sent troops to attack Manila, Simang, as one of the few Portuguese officers who could speak Chinese at that time, was appointed by Malacca Governor Costa to join the Haihan coalition forces as a military observer and translator. Participated in the war that changed the situation in the South China Sea.
After the Manila War ended, Simang went north with the Haihan Army and participated in the war to aid Korea and resist the Qing Dynasty in the same capacity. Xi Mang witnessed every battle fought by the coalition forces in North Korea that year.
During this period, Simang gradually developed a good personal relationship with Haihan's senior officials, especially many senior military generals, and even established some high-level connections in North Korea.
For a long time afterwards, Simang has been responsible for the liaison and coordination between the armies of the two countries, and has successively visited many Haihan military bases such as Jinzhou in Liaodong, Zhoushan in Zhejiang, Manila in Luzon, and Jinlan Port in Annan. It can be said to be a genuine Haihantong product.
If he were not a little older and his family's influence in the country was less, with Simang's qualifications, he might even have a chance to become the successor of the Governor of Malacca.
Not only does Costa have great trust in Simao, but Lopez, the successor currently designated by the domestic royal family, also relies on him to handle Portugal's affairs in East Asia.
In fact, it was Lopez's idea to let Simang go to Sanya as a special commissioner to handle foreign affairs this time.
The Haihan Army of Sing Tao ignored the feelings of the Portuguese and sent troops to capture several places at the northern end of the Strait of Malacca. Although Lopez personally intervened, they were ultimately unable to get the Haihan Army to spit out the meat they had eaten. .
Lopez learned from the experience afterwards and believed that part of the reason was the poor performance of Thomas, the ambassador to Sanya, who failed to effectively dissuade Haihan from carrying out the military operation beforehand, so he transferred Simang to Sanya and asked him to confirm the work of the embassy.
But just a few days after Ximang arrived in Sanya, he happened to encounter a series of promotional activities organized by Tan Tianming for Xingdao. This is undoubtedly a resounding blow to Portugal, which is bent on creating public opinion within Haihan and curbing the expansion of Star Island.
Of course, it is not unusual for the Sing Tao authorities to take such measures. After all, its development must rely on the domestic support of Haihan. However, the Portuguese Embassy did not notice this in advance, so that it had no response when the incident came. This is what makes it so frustrating. The real reason for Simao's rage.
"Mr. Thomas, I think it would be inaccurate to just use 'negligence' to explain such a mistake. As the ambassador, what do you think the problem is?"
Seeing that the group of people were silent, Simang directly named the person in charge, Thomas. Seeing that he couldn't escape, Thomas had no choice but to bite the bullet and responded: "Sir Simang, according to usual practice, we will monitor Xingdao's office in Sanya for a long time. However, after the head of this office was seriously ill and left to recuperate last year, It basically came to a standstill, and until this promotional event, there was no movement.”
"What we can confirm now is that this event was not organized by the Singtao Office, but was secretly organized by Tan Juren's second son, Tan Tianming."
Simang interrupted impatiently: "Then why didn't you keep an eye on this Tan Tianming? I saw him today. He was only a half-grown child, and you actually let a child do it under your nose without realizing it." Isn’t this a sign of incompetence in such a big matter?”
Cold sweat broke out on Thomas's forehead. It seemed that Simang was not ignorant of the true situation of the matter, and he was not so easy to get away with it.
Thomas argued: "Sir, this Tan Tianming came to Sanya to study six months ago. He usually keeps a low profile and rarely appears in public. After our assessment, we believe that his danger level is extremely low and it is difficult to monitor, so we did not arrange any targeted measures. ”
"In this case, I suspect there is someone behind the scenes to give him advice and tell him how to act. Otherwise, with his experience and experience, how could he come up with so many weird ideas?"
Simang waved his hands and said: "But the fact is that he led this publicity campaign. It is too late for you to say this now. The so-called publicity effects in the past few years have been destroyed. I ask you , how do you plan to remedy the current situation? ”
Thomas said: "Perhaps we can find people to participate in the lottery and create some trouble from it, making people question the true effectiveness of the entire event."
Ximang shook his head slightly and said: "If you want people to think that the lottery is unfair or that there is something fishy in it, you have to have credible examples. But the activities they organize are all held in public, and there are hundreds of people present. Watch, it’s not easy to cause trouble, and there are police and troops on the scene to maintain order. Obviously Victory Fort provides support, so be careful and get yourself burned.”
Thomas hesitated and said: "Then... how about attacking the organizers directly so that they can't hold subsequent activities?"
Simon glanced at him and couldn't help but sigh. Although Thomas has served in Sanya for a long time, his ability is really mediocre and he has no brains. He can say such unrealistic words. It is no wonder that he was unable to dissuade Haihan from taking military action in the South China Sea.
Ximang said in a deep voice: "If something happens to Tan Tianming at this time, who is the beneficiary will be the most suspicious. You wouldn't have thought of this, right? What's more, his father is a high-ranking official in Xingdao. How can he let it go if something goes wrong? Haihan will definitely get to the bottom of it. Will you be able to clear up the relationship then?”
"This..." Thomas was speechless for a moment.
It's not that he doesn't know the serious consequences of touching Tan Tianming, but in the face of the pressure exerted by Xi Mang, he simply can't think of any effective way to stop these propaganda activities led by Xingdao.
(End of chapter)