1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1330 Authority Controversy
After He Xi sorted out the prisoners' statements, it was already bright daylight outside the window.He stretched his waist and greeted him, and soon someone brought hot washing water and breakfast.One of the greatest advantages of being a high-ranking official is that these details of life are taken care of by someone dedicated to them.Of course, these services are also to ensure that they can concentrate on their work without being distracted by the details of life.

Breakfast is whole wheat bread and milk. This meal seems simple, but basically only the rich and powerful can enjoy it locally.There are no more than [-] dairy cows raised in Sanya, and all the fresh milk produced is supplied to the travelers and their families. Occasionally, the surplus is made into milk powder, cheese, milk flakes and other dairy products for storage, which are not available in the market. of scarce goods.

The source of flour mainly relies on imports from Daming. Although the Ministry of Agriculture has also organized some trial planting of wheat on Hainan Island in recent years, the harvest is not ideal because of Hainan's geographical and climatic conditions.Civil strife continued in the northern Central Plains of the Ming Dynasty. Wheat production was declining year by year, and the flour that could be exported to the south was also decreasing year by year.Therefore, for Haihan, flour, a product with limited supply, is still in extremely short supply in the market, not much cheaper than meat, and only those who travel through can enjoy pasta at any time.

After He Xi returned to Sanya in the past two years, he mainly took charge of the work in the agency, and he didn't have to run around all day, so he lived a relatively healthy life.Last year, he married a Daming woman who came from a scholarly family with a clean family background. At the beginning of the year, he had given birth to a son for him, and now he is also a serious family member.After the living environment changes, there will indeed be some wonderful changes in people's minds. A few years ago, He Xi felt that it was more comfortable to be alone outside, but now he also feels that it is more convenient to live in Sanya, and this is the political center of Haihan Kingdom , It is also more beneficial to my future career development.

Limited by his special position, He Xi is unlikely to squeeze into the Executive Committee to sit in those positions that require a long-term exposure to the public. Therefore, his choice is to firmly control the intelligence system in his own hands as much as possible, and become a member of the executive committee. An indispensable and important part of the Haihan regime.Now Hao Wanqing is in charge of northern affairs, while he is in charge of southern affairs in Sanya. The international situation in the South China Sea is far more complicated than that in the north, and it is also a promising battlefield for the intelligence front.What He Xi has to do is to build a large intelligence network in the past few years, covering all the major countries in the South China Sea region, so as to provide Haihan with security guarantees.

If the plan of the Ministry of Security wants to gain the support of the executive committee, it is natural to show some achievements.The timely warning of the sneak attack on the Spaniards allowed the military to deploy defenses in advance and set up an ambush by the enemy. It can be said to be a major victory on the intelligence front.Although it is the result of the cooperation between the military and the Ministry of Security, in detail, the Ministry of Security played a major role in it, and more than half of the credit must go to the Ministry of Security.He Xi had already drawn up the application letter overnight, and he wanted to ask the Executive Committee for credit and reward for his subordinates who secretly collected and sent information in Manila this time.

Of course, what He Xi wants is not just a commendation order for his subordinates, but to go one step further and obtain the full support of the Executive Committee for the work of the Security Department, especially in terms of authority, budget, and establishment. Larger operating space.

"There can be a commendation order, but I think other conditions need to be discussed."

At a later meeting, Gu Kai clearly opposed He Xi's opinion.He is not in favor of further expanding the power of the Ministry of Security, because this kind of privilege is very likely to hurt the interests of the traversing people themselves.You must know that the Ministry of Security is not just an external intelligence agency, it is also responsible for the internal monitoring of public conditions and the task of collecting various information about the family.This means that the work and life of the general public may also be brought under the supervision of the Ministry of Security—especially after it has more sufficient manpower, budget and greater authority.

In Gu Kai's view, the authority of the secret service must be strictly controlled, especially to protect the rights and interests of the traversers.Letting go of this hole will have a negative impact on the stability of Haihan's officialdom, and it may become a political tool at a certain point in time.At that time, everyone will be in danger, and it will be too late to correct this mistake.

"Let me correct what you said. The existence of the Ministry of Security itself is a political tool, and the reason why this tool was created and processed is to serve to stabilize the rule of the Executive Committee. The demands I am making now have nothing to do with the security There is no conflict in the purpose of the Ministry's existence, and it is also in the interests of the Executive Committee. Minister Gu, don't oppose for the sake of opposing!" He Xi refuted Gu Kai's comments neither humble nor overbearing.

Gu Kai shook his head and said: "Go to the world to check the land, who should supervise the actions of the Ministry of Security? When the power is out of control, won't this become the same organization as Dongchang Jinyiwei?"

"Dongchang and Jinyiwei serve the emperor. We don't have an emperor here, only the executive committee!" He Xi seized the loophole in Gu Kai's words and fought back.

Gu Kai knew that he had made a slip of the tongue, and coughed dryly: "I'm just making an analogy... If the power loses effective supervision, it will easily go astray! The function of the Security Department is to provide security internally and collect intelligence externally. It is reasonable, and some other unnecessary functions should not be added."

"Because there are still many loopholes in the existing security system, I will propose an improvement plan here." He Xi still refused to budge: "Mr. Gu, please think about it, if we don't even have the schedule of senior officials Clear, how to provide perfect security? Of course, if you must regard this as personal surveillance, then I have nothing to say, but I hope you can put forward other constructive opinions before objecting, At least come up with a viable alternative."

He Xi took aim at Gu Kai's shortcomings. Although the other party is proficient in law and good at debating, he lacks practical experience in security matters, and it is impossible to come up with any alternatives.Moreover, the existing security work for the traversers is jointly undertaken by the security department and the military. If Gu Kai keeps catching up on this matter and objecting, he will not only offend the security department.

Of course, Gu Kai's brain is not slow, and he immediately noticed the trap that He Xi's words had planted for himself, and immediately shook his head and said: "Minister He, don't fish in troubled waters, what I object to is not the Ministry of Security and the military's efforts to cross the border. It is the security service provided by the government, but the Ministry of Security expands the scope of authority without supervision! Ladies and gentlemen, do you want your life and work conditions to be monitored by the secret service in real time? If this monitoring is in the name of security, you will Can you accept it with peace of mind?"

Gu Kai saw that He Xi was going to drag the military into the water, so he simply opened his mouth to drag everyone else into it.He believes that these opinions are raised out of public interest, and other members of the executive committee must have similar opinions as himself.

The personal safety of the time traveler has always been the top priority of security work. It can be said that the relevant departments have performed quite well in the past year. At least there has been no major security accident such as the death of a time traveler in a certain place.However, it is precisely because they are traversers who have experienced hundreds of years more, so they pay much more attention to personal privacy than people in this era. Since they have privileges, of course they don't want to be subject to some unknown meanings. monitoring.Therefore, there are indeed not a few people who agree with Gu Kai's opinion.

The two sides could not settle down, and in the end, Tao Donglai had to make a judgment in the middle.But Tao Donglai's own attitude has always been inclined to the military, and He Xi is a position he arranged alone. If he is asked to be a judge, he will be suspected of being a crooked ass to some extent.

Sure enough, Tao Donglai revealed his position as soon as he opened his mouth: "Security work must be carried out. The personal safety of the members of the time-traveling group can be said to be the foundation of our country. Every time-traveler is to our group and our country. , are important treasures that cannot be exchanged for gold and silver. To protect our companions is to protect this country that we have worked so hard to build. Including everyone here, it is because of our increasingly perfect security measures that we can An An puts himself into the daily work of governing the country with peace of mind. Therefore, I think that security must still be maintained at a certain level, and it is reasonable to adjust the authority of relevant departments in due course according to the situation."

Gu Kai coughed dissatisfiedly: "The problem now is supervision. The Ministry of Security supervises us. Who will supervise the Ministry of Security?"

"Minister Gu, do you want to set up an independent department to be responsible for supervising the security measures of the Ministry of Security?" He Xi asked abruptly.

Upon hearing this, Gu Kai responded without hesitation: "Establish an independent department? After counting all the major departments in Haihan, is there anyone more suitable for this job than our Ministry of Justice?"

Although Gu Kai's words were a bit arrogant, it made sense when you look at it carefully. Except for the military and the Ministry of Security, other departments seem to be inappropriate to intervene in this matter.The Ministry of Justice has no taboos in doing things, and it is indeed more suitable to play the role of a regulator.

But how could He Xi allow his department to be overwhelmed by Gu Kai, and immediately rejected Gu Kai's solution on the grounds that this matter was unprecedented.The two insisted on their own views, and they had their own supporters behind them. The participants debated these two opinions for a long time, but still failed to come up with a solution acceptable to both parties.

In the end, Tao Donglai could only announce that this topic was temporarily put on hold, and let the military and the Ministry of Security make an on-site report on the results of the battle with the Spanish fleet.Now even Gu Kai shut up obediently. This victory over the Spanish fleet is of great significance. He also wants to know about Haihan's actual gains in this battle, as well as the follow-up intelligence analysis.Although he has a lot of complaints about the reform measures of the Ministry of Security proposed by He Xi just now, he will not blindly resist the existence of the Ministry of Security. After all, this department is indeed very important for maintaining Haihan's rule, and Gu Kai will not deny its positive role.

After nearly a day of summary statistics, the results listed by the military can be described as very impressive. The number of Spanish sailing ships damaged, sunk, and captured has set a record in Haihan's foreign wars in recent years.Although Haihan's record in attacking Shibazhi and Zhoushan Islands seemed to be even stronger, the level of strength of those opponents is indeed not the same as that of the Spanish fleet. It would be too unscientific to just compare the numbers.Being able to achieve such a record in the battle against the Spanish fleet, even the Dutch, who are also a maritime power, dare not say that they can achieve the same level.

After screening, screening, and separate interrogations of the prisoners of war, the Ministry of Security concluded that the war was a decision made by the Manila authorities on their own initiative, rather than a formal declaration of war from the Kingdom of Spain to Haihan.The fleet that happened to escort a large amount of cargo from the Americas to Manila probably gave the local chief executive the illusion that he could "take a fight". In the absence of detailed reconnaissance and a complete combat plan in advance, he organized an armed force hastily. The raid on Sanya.

If the Spaniards' opponents were other countries, even if this kind of raid was exposed a few days in advance, the opponents may not have time to deploy troops and organize effective defense methods, and they may still be forcibly eaten by the powerful Spanish fleet in the end.But this time the opponent they chose was such a tough bone as Hai Han, who not only couldn't chew on it, but also broke his teeth.

Both the American Fleet and the Manila Fleet participating in this operation suffered heavy losses, and a large number of combatants were captured.It's just that the captured spoils are not of much value to Haihan, and the captured ships have suffered serious damage. It is not worthwhile to repair them and keep them for their own use.And the weapons on these ships are far inferior to those produced by Haihan's own family, and they seem to have no other major uses other than taking them back into the furnace.Divide these two large items, and there is nothing valuable left. In short, the value of the spoils is definitely not worth the military expenditure of this Haihan naval battle.

Of course, with the large number of prisoners of war captured after this battle, Haihan should be able to make a fortune from the Manila authorities. For this, Schneider has drawn up a preliminary compensation plan, and is going to send people to Manila as soon as possible. Claims for war reparations from the Spaniards.If this matter can be resolved, then it should not be a big problem to start to get back the military expenditure.

However, after suffering such a big loss, the other party may not be willing to spend a huge sum of money to redeem the prisoners of war. If they fail to agree, most of these prisoners of war will have to spend the rest of their lives in hard labor camps.But this kind of result is not ideal for Haihan, so in addition to asking for war compensation, Yan Chujie also mentioned fighting to promote peace, and he must be prepared to continue the war and force the Spaniards to initiate peace.

(End of this chapter)