1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1915 Security Vulnerabilities
Pepper, a spice crop, has actually been introduced to the local plantation by the Haihan Ministry of Agriculture a few years ago, and the species grown in Haihan are different from the peppers in Mindanao and the Spice Islands in the south, which can be identified by their appearance and taste. .In addition to being used as a food spice, this thing also has considerable medicinal value, so its sales in the market have always been quite good.

Peppers produced in other regions have no price advantage in the spice market in Sanya, and they may even dilute profits due to cross-sea shipping costs. However, in the current situation of the Spaniards, they have to try to sell colonial products to ensure that they have funds to maintain operations. At present, the most important trade hub in the South China Sea region is the Sanya region under the rule of Haihan.

In fact, before the battle of Manila this year, the Spaniards had been doing this kind of business secretly through middlemen. At that time, Haihan believed that this kind of trade could bring him benefits at the same time, so he turned a blind eye to such small actions.However, after the war, the conflict between the two countries has become clear, and Haihan also intends to suppress Spanish forces in the South China Sea, so all trade content related to Spain has been blacklisted.The middlemen have also been warned that they are not allowed to import Spanish products to the Haihan market—as for selling Haihan products to the Spaniards, this is not prohibited.

The government issued a ban, and these middlemen who had already registered with the Hong Kong District Management Committee naturally did not dare to make mistakes, and stopped the original gray business one after another.There are a few companies that commit crimes against the wind with a fluke mentality, and they are all fined painfully afterwards.Of course, the most painful thing is probably the Spaniards who are thousands of miles away. Once Haihan’s ban came out, they lost a large amount of income from foreign trade, and could only rely on the silver that was sent from America once a year. finances.Although the products of Daming and Haihan can still be bought, on the books they are only out and not in, and it is still very uncomfortable for the Spaniards whose colonial area has shrunk greatly.

Now that the ban is still being implemented, and products from the Spanish colonies have appeared in Sanya, this may be a sign that someone is committing crimes against the wind.

An official of the management committee replied: "Even if someone secretly sells this kind of pepper in bulk, it may not be released to the market for retail sale. You can negotiate the price with the buyer and deliver it directly. Complete the transaction. As long as the seller takes the initiative to lower the price below the market price, there should still be people who want to buy this kind of black market goods that avoid supervision. However, it is very risky to put this kind of goods on the market for retail sale. We have set up a report on this Rewards, generally speaking, it is unlikely that the situation envisioned by Section Chief Zhang will occur."

In order to completely ban the circulation of Spanish goods in the field of trade, Haihan is currently powerless. After all, there is no way to check all the ships entering and leaving the port thoroughly, and to supervise the buying and selling of private people.As long as the price of Spanish goods can be kept low enough, they will always be able to maintain a place in international trade. Even if they cannot openly enter the market operated by Haihan, they must play around and use the trade channels here to do some black market transactions. Han is also difficult to stop.

Of course, if it’s just about the black market trading of pepper, it’s not enough for an intelligence officer at the level of Zhang Qianzhi to directly intervene, but the Ministry of Security realizes that this kind of trade loophole may gradually evolve into a more serious security loophole, which will affect even more people. profound level.

The existence of trade loopholes means that there is the possibility of benefit transmission, and the Spanish spy case that was cracked in Victory Harbor in 1634 has always been one of the cases repeatedly studied by the Ministry of Security.Even with the anti-espionage capabilities of the Haihan Security Department, they dare not guarantee that the country is peaceful. If the Spaniards can complete the transfer of benefits to specific targets through black market trade, then it is impossible to say that Haihan still has people working for it. .

But to conduct investigations in this area without any clues, Zhang Qianzhi can only start from the trade field, but now it seems that this black market trade is also not easy to find out, even if there are professionals to give pointers, they will still face practical difficulties .

"All middlemen who have registered with the management committee before will be checked again, especially those who have a ship berthing at the Shengli Port Wharf in recent days, they must focus on inspections. If there are officials or public officials involved..." Zhang Qianzhi paused, looked around everyone's expressions, and made sure that these people were listening to him, and then said slowly: "Be sure to report to the security department as soon as possible!"

This may sound like a big deal, but no one dares to ignore the words of the Ministry of Security. After all, this is an organization directly loyal to the Executive Committee, and the attitude of the Ministry of Security can be equivalent to the wishes of the Executive Committee to a certain extent.And these naturalized officials present at the scene were repeatedly instilled in the awareness that they must obey the orders of the executive committee no matter what the circumstances.

Zhang Qianzhi is actually not sure whether official personnel will be involved in this black market trade, but he believes that this possibility is not small. Since Haihan can use profits to buy officials from other countries, theoretically other countries can also do the same. Use a similar method to bribe Haihan officials.And once a traitor appears in an official institution, the consequences may not only become more rampant black market trade, so eliminating hidden dangers through investigation is the work that must be completed now.

However, no substantive conclusions were drawn at the investigation and communication meeting. The identity of the drunk and his confession need to be further verified, and the investigation of the previous western goods middlemen may also take several days. Zhang Qian Zhi can only deploy the task first, and wait for the investigation results before proceeding to the next arrangement.

After Zhang Qianzhi came out of the meeting at the Port Center, he received a message from He Xi's special agent, asking him to report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as soon as possible to complete the registration of the accompanying personnel for the visit of the son of the Joseon Dynasty.

"Do you want to accompany the son of Joseon on a tour around the island? This job sounds quite easy..." Zhang Qianzhi weighed the stack of trade-related materials he had just taken out from the Port Affairs Center, thinking that this case might have to be put on hold for now. .Obviously, in the mind of the boss, the son of Joseon is more important than this black market trade.

Since it was the above meaning, Zhang Qianzhi could only accept it and execute it.When he went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked the officials in charge of outreach affairs, he basically understood the ins and outs of the visit.

It is certainly not the first time Zhang Qianzhi has seen itineraries for foreign dignitaries to inspect some key construction projects and prosperous areas in the country like this, but the Ministry of Security usually sends field personnel with stronger mobility for this kind of errand, and civilians like Zhang Qianzhi Officials are rarely assigned such tasks.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Zhang Qianzhi doesn't have the strength value at all. In fact, he has also received various related trainings.Moreover, he is one of the few civilian officials in the Ministry of Security who wears a gun. His shooting skills with a revolver are quite good, and he can also serve as an armed officer in the field when necessary.

Zhang Qianzhi looked at the list of entourage compiled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and saw that there was an expedition-grade warship and about a platoon of armed infantry among them. He knew that his errand should be relatively easy. After all, most of the security work was undertaken by the military. Yes, his participation in this activity as an official of the Ministry of Security is mainly to ensure that certain sensitive items that need to be kept secret will not be temporarily included in the visit targets.

As for the accompanying officials from other departments, Zhang Qianzhi looked at the list and found some he knew and some he didn't know, but most of them were young and strong officials.This is probably because the itinerary is relatively full, and young officials can better adapt to the arrangement.

The departure time is set for the next day, which means that the preparation time left for Zhang Qianzhi is only a little over half a day.But Zhang Qianzhi didn't think it was a big problem. He didn't need to bring many things when he went out, and it didn't take much time to pack a bag when he went back at night.

Zhang Qianzhi first went back to the Ministry of Security to report to He Xi. Although he did not find any useful clues, he still made a brief report on the current situation and his deployment to He Xi.

He Xi nodded and said: "Since no evidence has been found, this case will be handed over to other departments for implementation. You go and handle the errands of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This time, Minister Ning called to ask for the person. Remember to handle the matter." Be pretty!"

Zhang Qianzhi said: "Good boss, but why does the executive committee attach so much importance to the son of Joseon? Could it be that the chiefs want to help him sit on the dragon chair earlier?"

He Xidao: "North Korea's national power is relatively weak, and there are two powerful neighbors, the Qing Dynasty and Japan. The relationship between the two countries has become more stable, so a ruler who is close to our country is the best way. The current king of North Korea, Li Ji, is more hesitant in doing things. Even the survival of the country can only be decided when the enemy's soldiers are overwhelmed. How do you think the situation will be if it is replaced by a North Korean king who is close to our country?"

Zhang Qianzhi said: "Needless to say, it should be like Fujian and Annan, open the door to our country, and follow our country's standards in military affairs, economy, and politics."

He Xidao: "In addition to visiting our country, the son of Joseon came to study in our country, but it is said that this son has not yet considered what major he wants to study, so he wants to go around first to see what he really is. Interested, and then let us arrange related courses."

When Zhang Qianzhi rolled his eyes, he understood the purpose of this arrangement: "Then the executive committee should have already figured out what major this prince should study."

"If it is proposed by the executive committee itself, it will have too many traces, and maybe it will make North Koreans suspicious, so arrange such an itinerary, let the son of North Korea slowly understand what major he needs to learn to help him to the greatest extent and his country." He Xi did not deny Zhang Qianzhi's guess, but he did not give a clear answer either.

Haihan proposed to North Korea to send the prince to study in Haihan at the very beginning, and he did not restrict his study majors. This was to show generosity and show that he had no intention of hiding personal interests, and secondly, to dispel the doubts of the Koreans. To prevent them from thinking that Haihan is arranging study abroad courses with some kind of purpose.And Li Luo has never considered his own study direction, which is actually giving Hai Han the initiative to manipulate space. Since Li Luo can't figure it out, then Hai Han will definitely make some arrangements to guide Li Luo to choose the right one. Haihan's most useful profession.

This seems to be quite simple to say, but it still needs a lot of work if Li Lu does not notice it in practice.Starting from Zhoushan Island, the various visits and investigation arrangements Li Luo made on his way south were actually consciously intended to subtly create a positive impression of Li Luo's ability to govern Haihan.In addition to broadening his horizons and increasing his knowledge, what Li Lue was able to gain from these trips also realized that Haihan's strength was not limited to the military field he had known before, and the reason for his strength was not only the strength of force.

What can be learned from Hai Han, this is a question that Li Wei has been thinking about, and Hai Han has been trying to guide his thinking.Li Lu has realized that North Korea will not become stronger immediately just by learning how to lead troops to fight, build roads and bridges, build ships and vehicles, or even manufacture the magical steam engine from Hai Han Guo, and even if he learns The last two years have not been better than professional ones.

How to bring Haihan's advanced model back to North Korea has become a major issue that Li Wei has been pondering recently, and this is exactly a question that Haihan wants him to think deeply about.

However, the authorities are confused by the onlookers, and Li Luo is caught in the problem that he has been unable to understand. Zhang Qianzhi has only listened to He Xi's general lecture, and he has already understood seven or eight points, and then said: "If he really chooses to study abroad according to the executive committee's intention Major, then when he finishes his studies and returns to China, it is indeed possible that he will not be satisfied with continuing to be the heir to the throne."

"If he wants to go back and give full play to the skills he has learned, he must have real power. As long as he can firmly stand on the stand of our country, it will not be difficult to support him to the top." He Xi said to Zhang Qianzhi The statement expressed affirmation, and at the same time pointed out the ultimate goal of the Executive Committee.

"That still depends on whether this person is a smart person or an idiot, and whether it is worth the country's efforts to train him." Zhang Qianzhi couldn't help but feel a little bitter when he thought that this North Korean son would be the ruler of a country in the future.

He Xi smiled and said: "That's fine, I'll add a task for you, observe the son's words and deeds during the trip, analyze his thoughts and values, and write a written report for me when he comes back!"

"Ah? Sudden additional tasks... Does the boss pay overtime?" Zhang Qianzhi and He Xi have been mentoring for many years, and the atmosphere of the conversation is relatively relaxed, and they can even make a few jokes to mediate the atmosphere from time to time.

(End of this chapter)