1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1914 Efficient Operation
In this era of extremely inconvenient transportation and communication, planning and arranging a long-distance trip for a team requires repeated coordination among multiple departments. This can be said to be a rather complicated project. The time is likely to be similar to the actual itinerary.Haihan has a specially formulated action plan and a good communication mechanism, which greatly reduces the time spent in the preparation stage, and can complete the entire process from planning the itinerary to actual travel in just two or three days.

This high-efficiency operation ability is not innate. It was originally to meet the needs of Haihan's high-ranking officials for temporary business trips.Sometimes they have to go to areas outside Sanya to handle some official business, but if they have to wait for ten and a half months to arrange the itinerary, then the day lily is probably cold.Therefore, it is imperative to formulate a quick travel plan. Then, after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revised and improved the travel plan for senior officials in Haihan, it was used for the itinerary of visits and inspections of foreign dignitaries.

Of course, even if Haihan had an action plan and corresponding experience, such a slightly hasty preparation time would inevitably have some imperfections.For example, the number of people traveling on the North Korean side must be limited to eight people, otherwise it will be difficult for the passenger ship responsible for the travel mission to accommodate official personnel from both sides at the same time.In addition, although this itinerary was chosen by the North Koreans themselves, the visits and inspections in various places on the way are basically a common pattern. No matter who comes, they will only see these items, and there is no time to really tailor the inspection content for Li Wei.

In addition to these travel arrangements, there are actually some hidden dangers in security work because of this haste.Because it is a temporary task, similar to the entourage and local personnel involved in the reception work, it is often a temporary recruiting organization, the screening and review of personnel will be relatively rough, and it is difficult to keep the itinerary completely confidential.

If it is a high-ranking official from Haihan, another set of stricter mechanisms will be activated to ensure the personal safety of important people. However, North Korea has never been active in the south. The standard is to implement the basic level of receiving foreign dignitaries at ordinary times, and no special arrangements have been made.

And having said that, Haihan officials may not take the initiative to keep this matter a secret.The son of the Joseon Dynasty traveled thousands of miles to Haihan for a visit and investigation. This would be an excellent promotional material with a little processing, and the relevant departments would naturally not let this opportunity pass by easily.The progress of the propaganda department is almost comparable to that of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before Song Yongan handed in the itinerary plan, it was confirmed that an official and a reporter from the Times would accompany him throughout the journey, so that he could review Li Min's itinerary in the first place. record, and then send the manuscript back to Sanya by telegram, so that the itinerary can be reported simultaneously in the newspapers issued during this period to ensure its maximum timeliness.

When Li Lu was leisurely studying Haihan reading materials in the embassy, ​​he didn't know how many departments and related people had suddenly entered into high-speed operation because of this temporarily decided itinerary, so as to prepare for the upcoming departure the next day. Arrange to prepare.Although there may be only a hundred or so people in the entourage, the number of people who need to be mobilized and coordinated with the travel plan is at least several times that of the entourage.

Relatively speaking, the preparation work at the North Korean embassy is much simpler. Basically, they only need to prepare a change of clothes and personal items for this trip, and they don’t have to worry about other things.Food, lodging, and transportation are all paid for by Haihan, unless they are not satisfied with Haihan's arrangement and have to pay for better treatment out of their own pockets—this possibility is of course very small for North Koreans who are short of money.

As for Haihan's request that the number of North Korean travelers be limited to less than eight people, Li Wei didn't think there was anything wrong with it. After all, it was Haihan who paid the money, so naturally he wouldn't spend money on insignificant entourage because of his shrewdness. too much.He himself and Li Xi must occupy two places, and the remaining six places, the two agreed on the result in a few words - two armed guards, four attendants to take care of daily life.

Naturally, it is difficult for this pitifully small investigation team to have any prestige at all, but the relevant departments of Haihan will send officials to accompany them throughout the process, which can be regarded as slightly making up for the lack of honor guard.

"Although there was no high-ranking official from Haihan on this trip, the fact that there are so many accompanying officials from various departments of Haihan shows his sincerity."

Early the next morning, Li Luo saw the itinerary sent by Haihan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a list of Haihan's official accompanying officials attached to it, and immediately commented a few sentences.Although he didn't know whether the official positions marked in this document were high or low, but seeing the many departments marked, he could feel the importance Haihan officials attached to this matter.

Li Xiying said: "The preparations of the Haihan people are indeed quite comprehensive, and they have considered all aspects, and they can arrange these things within two days. The efficiency is quite amazing."

The level is not enough, and the number of people is too small. Although the senior officials of Haihan have no time to accompany Li Min to complete this inspection, the attention of various departments has not diminished, because the Executive Committee has written overnight, informing all departments to cooperate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Make arrangements to ensure that the itinerary of the son of Joseon can be completed smoothly.And the safest way to guarantee it is naturally to send someone to accompany you, so that you can solve various problems that may arise on the way in time.

Execution is undoubtedly the biggest difference between Haihan and North Korea's administrative systems. With so many departments working together, it would take at least ten and a half months to complete the process in North Korea, but Haihan's efficiency far exceeds this level.Li Lue only saw how much the other party valued, while Li Xi, who was more familiar with officialdom operations, realized the operational efficiency of Haihan and other government agencies.

After being reminded by Li Xi, Li Luo immediately realized what he had missed, nodded and said: "You are right, if our country can also have such efficiency, then I don't need to wait for this time to go abroad and go south." It's been that long."

In order to make preparations for the study abroad trip, Li Mo pushed back and forth the time of his departure from Seoul, and it took almost a month of delay before he finally packed up and set off.If Haihan can handle things with the efficiency, presumably the preparation time can be shortened by at least half.

Li Lu also thought of Haihan sending troops to North Korea this year, and the preparation time was very short. From Li Xi's request to the executive committee to Haihan sending troops, it took only a few days.Why Haihan's official operation is so efficient is a subject worth spending time studying.

While Li Lu was thinking about this question, Ning Qi was reviewing the itinerary and budget sent by Song Yongan.As for the cost, Ning Qi has no opinion. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spends a lot of money on welcome and delivery every year, but the effect is obvious. Haihan's international influence and status are showing a rising trend year by year. In addition to force, The role played by relatively intuitive means such as trade, and the various tasks completed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot be ignored.Although the cost of arranging a team for the son of Joseon to go around the island is not low, but if it can have a certain positive impact on it and further improve the son of Joseon's perception of Haihan, then it is worth spending the money.

Ning Qi looked at the amount of the budget, and when he was about to sign, he remembered something, turned to the list of entourage in front and read it again, then put down the pen in his hand, and made a phone call.

"Old He, have you been notified about the inspection schedule of the son of the Joseon Dynasty? I read that there is no one from your side in the list of accompanying officials in the newspaper, so I called you to confirm."

"I have received the notification, but I don't have any suitable field personnel for the time being. Isn't the executive committee going to inspect the Qiongzhong mountain area next? I have already dispatched the elite forces on hand to investigate potential safety hazards. Sanya Basically, they are all civilians, what do you say?"

"Civilian jobs are civilian jobs. Anyway, armed guards from the military will accompany you all the way. There shouldn't be a big problem in terms of security. You can just transfer a young man of a similar level to your side. This will also facilitate contact with your local organizations. .”

"A young man of the same level? Then we can only let Zhang Qianzhi take a trip, and it happens that he is also familiar with Qiongbei."

"Okay, then I will add him to the list of accompanying officials first."

Ning Qi put down the phone, picked up a pen, and added another line at the end of the list of accompanying officials—Security Department: Zhang Qianzhi.

He Xi, the Minister of Security, was on the phone with him. Generally, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not interfere with the work assignments of the Ministry of Security, but Ning Qi thought that the Ministry of Security would rarely be absent from tasks of this nature in the past, so he made a phone call with him. He Xi checked to see if there was a problem with the information communication.They all agreed that there was no security issue in the inspection trip of the son of the Joseon Dynasty, so He Xi didn't even plan to send someone to accompany him at first, and although Ning Qi insisted on sending someone, he also felt that there was no need to make too much fanfare, as long as he felt it.

As for arranging Zhang Qianzhi to accompany him, Ning Qi felt that it was very suitable. Zhang Qianzhi was He Xi's beloved apprentice, and he had made several great achievements on the security front, and now he has a high status in the security department, which was just in line with Ning Qi's choice. Conditions of accompanying officers.Moreover, Zhang Qianzhi had worked in Danzhou in his early years, and he was indeed familiar with the situation in Qiongbei area. Even those field personnel with stronger skills might not be able to match this advantage.

He Xi hung up the phone and called the secretary in: "Go and inform Section Chief Zhang, and ask him to prepare for a business trip. The specific arrangements... Let him go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find Minister Ning to inquire."

If it were someone else, He Xi would definitely not have given such an order to ask his subordinates to directly contact Ning Qi, that is, Zhang Qianzhi's situation is special, and he is also very familiar with the big bosses of the executive committee, so he can make such a joke .Of course, even if Zhang Qianzhi received this order, he would not go to Ning Qi in a foolish way. There are officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who are responsible for coordinating external relations, so Zhang Qianzhi will know who to go to.

It took some time for the errand notification to reach Zhang Qianzhi, because he did not work in the small gray building of the Ministry of Security today, but went to Shengli Port to investigate a smuggling-related case.In fact, it is not the job of the Ministry of Security to investigate and handle such cases. The Port Management Committee has a special anti-smuggling department, and the reason why the Department of Security was notified to participate in the investigation is because some of the goods found by the anti-smuggling department are somewhat special at the source. It is necessary for the Ministry of Security to send someone to check and confirm whether it has touched the scope of national security.

Because Zhang Qianzhi participated in the crackdown on the Spanish spy case three years ago, he has always had a good relationship with the Shengli Port Management Committee. In addition, most of the field personnel of the Security Department have been transferred out of Sanya recently, so this job fell on him. .Of course, there is another reason that is not known to the outside world, and that is that the investigation of this case seems to have a looming connection with Spain.

In a tavern near the port, there was a drunk who had no money to pay the bill, so he took out a bag of spices and wanted to settle the bill with the boss.This kind of thing happens quite often, so the tavern owner took this spice to a nearby spice shop to check the price. As a result, the clerk in the spice shop recognized that it was a special kind of pepper produced in Mindanao, and suggested that the tavern owner should try a plate of it first. The origin of this thing, because the place of origin of this thing is likely to come from a certain Spanish colonial area in the local area.

Haihan had just fought a big war with Spain at the beginning of the year, and the grievances between the two countries are naturally known to everyone. The owner of the tavern was worried that he would cause trouble, so he decisively ran to the port center to report the case.After confirming the species of the pepper, the Port Center did not dare to neglect, notified the anti-smuggling team and the security department of the Port Management Committee, and at the same time asked the police station to bring back the drunk who owed money first.

However, he did not get much information about the interrogation of the drunk. He only remembered that one night a few days ago, he had the courage to touch a boat docked at the pier in order to steal some valuables in exchange for drinks. But in a hurry, he only grabbed a package of goods in the dark.As for what the boat looked like, which pier it was at, or even the specific night of the day, this guy couldn't remember all of it.

If what the drunk said was true, then where the ship came from, where the goods on the ship came from, and whether the goods have been sold and left Victory Port are all unknown now.But for the investigators, the clues that can be investigated are not only from the drunk.

"Pepper isn't banned locally, but pepper from Spain is a different story, and you all know why. I wonder if any spice dealers are going to sell pepper from Spanish domination locally. pepper, can we find clues in the market?" Zhang Qianzhi proposed a way of investigating the case to the investigators present.

In order to hit the Spaniard's economy as much as possible, after the end of this year's Manila battle, Haihan has ordered the ban on the sale of various commodities and raw materials produced in the Spanish ruled area in the market, and spices are naturally included.This is why the tavern owner immediately reported to the authorities after the species of this pepper was identified.

(End of this chapter)