1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1715 Covering Identity
When Qin Huacheng was living in Manila, he never thought that one day he would become a spy collecting intelligence for other countries, which was really an exciting job for him.However, working under Cheng Dapeng these days, he has gradually discovered that this job is not as dangerous as Cheng Dapeng emphasized. People outside just treat them as ordinary businessmen, and they rarely feel the precautions and threats from others. hostile.

Just like when they measured hydrological data in Belawan, others thought they were fishing, and they never thought that the string hanging from the boat into the sea actually had other uses.The activities of the sailors on the pier are not simply going ashore to rest. They perform their own duties, collecting various information about Belawan from places such as shops, restaurants, carriage houses and brothels near the port. After summarizing, slowly piece together a general intelligence framework.

From the cargo throughput of Belawan to the ethnic composition of the local residents, all kinds of information were collected in Cheng Dapeng in a very short period of time.Qin Huacheng could only express his admiration for the information gathering capabilities of Haihan's intelligence agency. At the same time, he also thought of a question, how many spies working for Haihan were lurking in Manila before Haihan attacked Manila and were doing similar work.Haihan was able to defeat the Spaniards and capture the city of Manila in a very short period of time, presumably it was inseparable from the full preparations made by the intelligence front.

However, when Qin Huacheng recalled his understanding of Haihan before the start of the Manila war, he found that it was almost blank. Among the Spanish army, there were only those who had a record of fighting with the Haihan army in Taiwan Island and the raid on Sanya. Only a little understanding of the opponent's situation.Before the war in Manila, Qin Huacheng himself thought that the official propaganda of "letting the blood of the Haihan people stain Manila Bay red" would become a real situation, but only after the fight did he find that this was not the case at all. There was an obvious gap in the combat effectiveness of the two sides. Haihan's targeted tactical deployment during the 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 a lot of opportunities to get in touch with the inside story. He gradually learned that Haihan almost perfectly avoided the target that the Spaniards placed high hopes on during the attack. The port fortifications, and destroyed several command posts of the Spanish army as soon as they entered the city. Obviously, this cannot be explained by good luck. God knows how many spies in Manila were providing accurate military information to the Haihan army. .

At that time, Qin Huacheng couldn't imagine how the Haihan people did it, but now that Cheng Dapeng took him to participate in the intelligence gathering process, he gradually understood the horror of the Haihan intelligence agency.According to what Cheng Dapeng said, Haihan did not intend to use force against places like Brawan at all, but he would still collect all kinds of information here very carefully, so it is conceivable that the areas Haihan regards as military targets , to what extent will it be subject to detailed reconnaissance.

In the process of analyzing and sorting out information, Cheng Dapeng did not forget to introduce the international situation in the Strait of Malacca to these rookies. .

Qin Huacheng can understand only a small part of it. With his insightful perspective, it is still difficult to understand the root causes of wars and conflicts of interest between these countries, let alone how to benefit Haihan from it.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 grasp it carefully. No matter whether he could fully understand it at the moment, he had to memorize it in his mind first before speaking.

After completing the intelligence work in Belawan, the sailboat left the port without haste and continued to travel southeast along the coastline of Sumatra Island.Cheng Dapeng asked the rookie trainees 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 unprepared battles, because we have a map database that is unparalleled in the world. You must remember that the geographic information we collect during every voyage will be Adding it to this database will become a reference for future development of sea routes and formulation of combat plans."

During the training process, Cheng Dapeng did not forget to instill the strength of Haihan's intelligence system to these students at any time, but what he said was not bragging. The map database possessed by Haihan is indeed unique in this era. .When European navigators were still exploring unfamiliar seas, Haihan already had a global standard chart, which was indeed a magic weapon for Haihan, who was constantly expanding his ruled area.

Due to the existence of the map database, there are basically no completely unfamiliar sea areas for the navigators and sailors of Haihan. Intelligence personnel like Cheng Dapeng’s reconnaissance of unfamiliar areas is actually only based on the existing database. further improvement and correction.

A few days later, when the ship passed Belitung Island, Cheng Dapeng ordered to stop the ship and organized a special visit.Those who participated in the activity were six students selected by him, and the object of visit was the local tin mine.

Haihan is mining tin mines on the two adjacent islands of Bangka Island and Belitung Island. Among them, the tin mine on Belitung Island is slightly larger. There are basically no miners working here in Haihan All the people who are registered are slaves and hard labor prisoners who have been sentenced to heavy sentences.The group of Spanish prisoners who were arrested for planning a riot in the Xingdao Hard Labor Camp last time were all sent to this place.

Compared with the hard labor camp in Xingdao, the tin mine on Belitung Island is the real place of death. The miners have to go down to nearly 50 meters underground every day, mining only with weak lighting, and then relying on pushing their shoulders to resist. Tin ore is transported to the surface.Of all the people sent here to work, almost no one has escaped successfully. Due to the relatively extreme labor and living conditions, almost very few people can survive in this place for more than one and a half years.

Of course, Cheng Dapeng arranged this visit not to let the trainees understand the mining process of the tin mine, but to use the situation of the miners and 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 language explanation is, it is not as intuitive and effective as coming here to see the situation of the miners.

Qin Huacheng saw a lot of familiar faces here. Only a few days passed by the group of Spanish prisoners he sent here. The condition of these Spaniards has changed obviously. Narrowed into a slit, very few words.According to Cheng Dapeng's conclusion, this is the effect of working in the dark, closed and narrow underground mine for a long time. This effect is not only physiological, but also plays a big role psychologically—— It is said that there are also specialized personnel responsible for researching theories in this area.

When Qin Huacheng saw these dull Spaniards, it was difficult for him to connect them with the good-for-nothing gangsters who planned the riots in the Xingdao Hard Labor Camp.However, he does not feel guilty about his actions. If these people were not sent to Belitung Island to work as miners, then his own life in the labor camp would be very difficult. Now he has at least successfully saved his own fate.Of course, he could also understand that the purpose of Cheng Dapeng bringing him to see these people was nothing more than to make an example of them, to let them know that their fate was under Hai Han'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 high-purity tin will be transported back to Haihan, some of which will be made into tinware, and the other part will be used to make bronze, which is specially used to make gun barrels and machine bearings. It is one of the essential strategic materials.

"Mineral resources, especially metal and coal, are very important raw materials for our country, so the information about mineral deposits is also the area that you need to focus on in the future."

While listening to Cheng Dapeng's explanation, Qin Huacheng secretly kept this warning in his heart.Since leaving Xingdao, the amount of information he has received every day has been astonishing. Qin Huacheng even wondered if he had really memorized so much knowledge.

After leaving Belitung Island, the ship Qin Huacheng was on went all the way south, and it took a day and a half to reach Batavia Port and return to its starting point.

Batavia was completely destroyed by the Mata Blues a few years ago. After defeating the Mata Blues' offensive, Batavia Port underwent a two-year reconstruction, and the scale of construction was further improved.Today's Batavia Port has not only regained its former vitality, but also has a significant increase in cargo throughput compared to 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 will increase next year compared with previous years, and a considerable part of it will pass through the sea. Han was resold to Daming and other countries in the north, revitalizing the Dutch trade route in the Far East.Although the Dutch merchants only left Dayuan Port on Taiwan Island near the coastline of Daming, the number of merchant ships sailing from Batavia to Dayuan Port has increased by at least three times compared with the past, and the profits generated from this have also been fed back. On to the post-war reconstruction of Batavia.

Cheng Dapeng's current business in Batavia is far more than just the food business at the beginning, but he has been involved in almost any business that can make money.However, most of these businesses are not his sole proprietorship, but are operated in cooperation with other people in the form of equity or partnership.Of course, Cheng Dapeng's partners are not ordinary people, they are almost all officials of the East India Company at all levels, mainly the Netherlands.It is no exaggeration to say that for some Dutch officials in Batavia, Cheng Dapeng is a business genius. No matter what he does, he always makes a lot of money. Working with him can almost It's synonymous with making money.

Cheng Dapeng's success certainly has his own business talent, but more importantly, he is backed by the powerful financial resources and intelligence system of Haihan Kingdom. Almost all the business decisions he makes come from Haihan Business. The reference provided by the Ministry of Commerce, some operating measures even come from the instructions of the Ministry of Commerce.Relying on the huge consumer markets of Haihan and Daming, Cheng Dapeng's foreign trade profits are enough to subsidize the possible losses of other business projects. Therefore, those projects that are jointly operated with Dutch officials will never see losses on the books exist.

Although it is inevitable that some of these projects are operated with subsidized money, from the perspective of intelligence work, this kind of practice of spending money to maintain contacts is perfectly normal.Moreover, Cheng Dapeng has been operating in Batavia for several years, and the results have been very obvious. If something happens to him, at least half of the officials in Batavia will choose to stand by him.

The few students who returned to Batavia with Cheng Dapeng didn't get any rest time, so they were immediately dispersed and assigned to various industries under the name of Cheng Dapeng.However, their job assignments have one thing in common, that is, they are responsible for the sales of goods.Some operate in the store, while others need to go out to visit customers. Cheng Dapeng hopes that through this arrangement, these students under him can get familiar with the business rules faster and enter their roles as soon as possible.

The purpose of Cheng Dapeng's recruitment of these people is to send them to investigate the intelligence of the Spaniards, and the cover identities that Cheng Dapeng prepared for them are all related to business. The identity is well hidden.Of course, if some of them show serious incompatibility with the business environment during this learning session, Cheng Dapeng will unceremoniously eliminate them.

Qin Huacheng is actually not a person suitable for business, otherwise he would not be bluffed by the conditions offered by the two old foxes when he was in Malacca.But now he is trying to drive ducks to the shelves, and if he doesn't learn, he has to go back to jail. He also has to cheer up and be a serious apprentice.Qin Huacheng was assigned to a rice shop, and the shopkeeper in charge of taking him was a serious businessman. When he entered the door, he first told him how difficult it was for the big shopkeeper Cheng Dapeng to gain a foothold in Batavia, but now he has mastered the Batavia. Nearly one-third of Davia's grain market can be said to affect the local grain market.

Qin Huacheng sensibly cooperated and praised Cheng Dapeng's performance. In the end, the shopkeeper was quite envious of him, a newcomer, who was able to follow Cheng Dapeng to Banda Aceh. After all, even the old employees may not be treated like this He was able to get it, but this young guy, who was said to be temporarily recruited from Xingdao, followed him on a trip to foreign affairs by accident, and was assigned to the fortune-telling business of the big shopkeeper when he came back, which also shows how much he is valued.

(End of this chapter)