The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 348 Investigation Bureau
After receiving his orders at Songfengting, Kuroko rushed back to his residence without stopping, closed the doors to visitors, and began to devise how to build an intelligence department.

After several days of deep thought and drawing on his previous experience as an inside man, a preliminary framework gradually became clear in his mind.

His idea was quite straightforward: the new department would mainly consist of two parts: internal affairs and external affairs.

The Internal Affairs Division is the brain and heart of the intelligence network, primarily responsible for management and logistical support.

Therefore, he planned to establish two departments under it: the Confidential Office and the Training Camp.

The Confidential Affairs Department is primarily responsible for organizing and archiving the internal documents of the entire organization.

All personnel files, resumes, contact information, and task records must be registered here;
In addition, the intelligence sent back from various locations must be backed up so that it can be accessed at any time.

As the name suggests, the training camp is primarily responsible for selecting and training future intelligence personnel.

These soldiers, accustomed to fighting on the battlefield, need systematic training to be transformed into warriors on the covert front.

Based on the characteristics of night spies and his own experience in the Ming army, Hei Zi also drafted a preliminary list of skills that intelligence personnel needed to master.

First, there is the ability to survive and maneuver behind enemy lines, including a range of capabilities such as stargazing for navigation, finding water and food, and long-distance raids.

Secondly, there is reconnaissance, which requires learning skills such as stealth, memorizing terrain, drawing maps, and judging enemy movements.

As for combat, he shouldn't need to worry about it. Anyway, those selected are all elite talents, and they only need to learn how to use short weapons.

The key lies in cultivating the psychological qualities of intelligence personnel. Some people cannot hide their true feelings and are simply not suitable to be inside agents.

A qualified inside agent must at least know how to control his emotions, how to deal with emergencies, and how to make advantageous decisions in the shortest possible time.

In addition, depending on the possible destination, field staff also need to master certain specific skills.

For example, people in the north needed to know how to drive a car and ride a horse, while those in the south needed to be familiar with boats and waterways. People in the capital even needed to know some basic official etiquette.

After passing the assessment, trainees will be assigned to the Foreign Affairs Bureau based on their expertise, place of origin, and other factors, in preparation for overseas assignments.

Hei Zi also set the focus of intelligence gathering for the three main directions indicated by Jiang Han: the capital, Huguang, and Fujian.

The capital was the heart of the Ming court, so it was essential to be well aware of the court's movements.

This includes the emperor's decisions, the political infighting in the court, the attitude towards the rebel army and the Later Jin outside the Great Wall, the appointment and removal of important officials, and so on.

In the Huguang region, it is necessary to gather intelligence on the combat situation, troop deployment, and outcome of various Ming army units and the rebel army.

The task in Fujian was relatively simpler, mainly involving dealing with the Zheng family.

If given the opportunity, one could also assess the strength of the Zheng family's navy, or secretly bribe some craftsmen skilled in shipbuilding.

In the eyes of the critics, this framework and plan are quite comprehensive.

So he excitedly went to the Prince of Han's residence again and presented his proposed plan.

Jiang Han received him in the study, took the thick stack of manuscripts, and carefully read through them.

However, as he looked at it, his brows gradually furrowed, and a look of dissatisfaction appeared on his face.

After a long pause, he finally put down the manuscript in his hand and sighed.

"Sigh, it seems... you still haven't fully understood what I meant."

Upon hearing this, Kuroko tensed up instantly, somewhat at a loss for what to do:
"Your Majesty, is there a problem with the architecture?"

Jiang Han shook his head:

"How to structure this department, how many sections to set up, whether it's internal or external affairs—these are secondary, just the surface."

"But you have no concrete measures on how to carry out the mission, how to operate the intelligence network, and how to ensure the safety of the inside agents."

"This is like dancing on a knife's edge; we must consider everything carefully."

He picked up the manuscript and pointed to the section on foreign affairs assignments:

"Regarding office operations and training, your ideas are basically sound; we can proceed along this line of thought for now."

"But when it comes to the specific dispatch and operations in the three directions of the capital, Huguang and Fujian, your plan seems too general, and even somewhat presumptuous."

Hei Zi's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stood up:

"This humble general is dull-witted, please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

Jiang Han waved his hand and explained:

"There are differences between different regions."

"The capital and Fujian are currently relatively safe, as they are considered peaceful areas."

“In these places, you can learn from traditional methods and disguise yourself as a merchant guild, a security escort agency, or even a gentry family that has moved away to seek refuge. Use this as cover to gradually build an intelligence network and make your move slowly.”

Then he abruptly changed the subject, his tone becoming serious:
"But in Hubei and Hunan, the situation is quite different."

"This is a war-torn land, where government troops and rebel forces are locked in a fierce struggle, with the situation constantly changing and chaotic."

"In this environment, if you still follow the old ways of thinking and pretend to be a merchant, an ordinary person, or a scholar, it's no different from a sheep entering a pack of wolves."

"I'm afraid that as soon as the intelligence personnel arrived in Huguang, they were either killed by the government troops as bandits to claim credit, or they were robbed clean by the bandits, or even taken into their camp!"

Jiang Han stared at Hei Zi and posed a crucial question:
"Tell me, if your intelligence agents sent to Huguang were unfortunately captured by bandits, what would you do?"

"Are there any contingency plans in place?"

Kuroko was taken aback by the question and instinctively scratched his head:

"Isn't this...perfect?"

"Wouldn't it be easier to infiltrate the bandit ranks and gather information more directly?"

Jiang Han shook his head and said sternly:

"Bullshit!"

"Have you forgotten how Wang Jiayin instigated displaced people to attack cities back in Shanxi?"

“When the bandits captured able-bodied men, their first action was to use them as cannon fodder, driving them onto the battlefield to fill trenches and shield them from arrows.”

"We don't want to end up losing our elite troops instead of getting any intelligence; that would be a complete loss!"

Only then did Kuroko realize the seriousness of the problem and quickly asked:

"Yes, yes, yes, this humble general did not consider this carefully..."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

Jiang Han couldn't help but roll her eyes at him and said irritably:

"You're asking me? I'd like to ask you the same thing!"

"You're in charge of this department now, do you expect me to handle everything?"

Upon hearing this, Kuroko chuckled awkwardly and scratched his head sheepishly.
"Your Majesty, you have great foresight; please offer your guidance."

Jiang Han pondered for a moment before slowly revealing his thoughts:
"In my opinion, the cover identities of intelligence personnel sent to war-torn areas like Hubei and Hunan must be adjusted."

"They shouldn't be wealthy businessmen or students; ideally, they should be artisans with a special skill."

"With a skill to rely on, neither bandits nor government troops will send them to the front lines as cannon fodder."

"On the contrary, it is more likely that they will be left in the rear to serve the army."

He explained in detail: "For example, being a doctor is an excellent cover identity."

"You don't need to be a real doctor, to perform acupuncture and prescribe medicine; as long as you know some battlefield first aid, can treat common knife and sword wounds, and can prepare some wound medicine and hemostatic powder, that's enough."

"With this identity, I can not only ensure my own safety, but also easily contact all kinds of people and gather information."

He further elaborated his analysis:

"During the operation, personnel from Hubei and Hunan should not be scattered; it is best to form groups of two or three."

"They can disguise themselves as master and apprentice, brothers, or fellow villagers, pretending to wander together to make a living."

"This aligns with the common practice of people banding together to survive in chaotic times, thereby reducing the chances of being suspected and providing mutual support."

"If all else fails, you can disguise yourself as a blacksmith, carpenter, or something similar."

After listening, Hei Zi suddenly understood and repeatedly agreed:
"Wonderful!"

"Craftsmen will never starve, they won't stand out, and they can naturally get close to the army!"

Jiang Han nodded and continued his analysis:

"Furthermore, you must establish a rigorous system regarding the safety of the undercover personnel themselves and how to keep intelligence transmission confidential."

"They are doing something that goes deep behind enemy lines; if they are not careful, they will be doomed."

"I don't need to elaborate on how tragic the fate of those scouts who died on the grasslands was, do I?"

"First, the way we communicate must change."

Jiang Han emphasized,

"Ideally, there should be a single-line communication between superiors and subordinates, avoiding horizontal communication."

"Only in this way can we prevent one person from being exposed, which could implicate many others and destroy the entire intelligence network."

"You should know about the cuts and codes, so I don't need to go into detail."

"Furthermore, intelligence transmission must never be done in plaintext; it must be encrypted using a codebook!"

A codebook?
Hei Zi was completely unfamiliar with the word and looked bewildered.

Jiang Han explained:

"It's actually a kind of information encryption method. This thing has existed since ancient times, and it's not something I made up."

"In ancient warfare, communication was very backward, so military secrets could only be transmitted by letter."

“Letter delivery is not only inefficient, but also very risky.”

"Therefore, the ancients invented many ways of secret communication, such as secret symbols, secret writing, wax writing and other encryption methods."

"In terms of content expression, they also use coded language and wordplay to describe it."

By the mid-Ming Dynasty, Qi Jiguang, building upon the experience of his predecessors, created a highly advanced cryptographic system called the "Fanqie Code".

He composed two rhyming verses, representing the initials and finals of Chinese characters respectively, and assigned a number to each initial and final character.

Whenever there is internal military communication, the military clerk will convert the information to be transmitted into a set of corresponding numbers according to the initial and final sounds of each character before transmitting it.

The receiver can then convert the numbers back into text using the same mnemonic and encoding rules.

To train communications personnel to master the skills, Qi Jiguang also compiled a book called "A Handy Guide to the Meanings of the Eight Tones" as a teaching material.

For example, the mnemonic for initial consonants might be "Liu Bian Qiu Qi Di, Bo Ta Zheng Ri Shi"; the mnemonic for final vowels might be "Ying Meng Niao Jiao Zao, He Tang You Chou Ou".

Suppose that when the message "sneak attack" is to be transmitted, the initial consonant of the word "steal" is "t", corresponding to the word "other", then the number is seven;
The final is "ou", corresponding to the character 鸥, and its number is 10.

The numbers for the initials and finals combined are seven and ten, which correspond exactly to the character "偷" (steal).

The receiver can decipher it using the same mnemonic, but if the ciphertext is intercepted by the enemy, who does not know the encoding rules, they will also be unable to decipher it accurately.

After listening to Jiang Han's explanation, Hei Zi finally understood how the codebook worked.

He slapped his thigh excitedly:
“I see. Deng Yang and I have used this method before, but it was not as complicated.”

"This method is good and should be promoted!"

Jiang Han waved his hand and suggested:

"Although Qi Shuai's reverse code is good, it is still a bit complicated and requires a long period of training."

"We can simplify things. From now on, we can use digital codes to transmit our core intelligence."

"For example, find a common book, such as a certain edition of the Thousand Character Classic or the Great Learning, and agree to use this book as the codebook."

"Each character is represented by three numbers: page number, line number, and character number."

"Once the new department is established, you can find a few people to do the coding and order a codebook that is unique to us."

Hei Zi nodded repeatedly, feeling a sudden clarity in his mind.

Finally, Jiang Han emphasized again:

"Another crucial point is that you must have contingency plans in place in advance."

"In case, I mean in case, our people are unfortunately arrested and... they can't withstand the torture and eventually confess."

"Then all the contact points he knows, as well as his upline and downline contacts, could very well be wiped out in one fell swoop!"

"What should we do if this happens?"

Upon hearing this, Kuroko straightened up, his expression serious:
"I have considered this issue before."

"In my opinion, if an intelligence agent is found to have been arrested or gone missing, then his superiors and subordinates must cease all activities and move to a safe place."

"In addition, an early warning mechanism can be established."

"For example, hanging specific decorations or leaving special markings at contact points to notify other people of safety or danger."

Jiang Han nodded and sighed:
"This is the last thing I want to see, but we must be prepared."

"In fact, the court may not be very vigilant about investigating spies and sentries, after all, the Jurchens have already infiltrated the Ming Dynasty like a sieve."

"Even so, we cannot let our guard down. Those who disobey orders must be severely punished!"

"When selecting people, try to choose those with families. The salary must be high, starting with the monthly salary for five people."

"During the training, you must also do a good job of ideological work. After all, you are working behind enemy lines, and willpower is the most important thing."

Hei Zi, standing silently to the side, nodded and said:

"Understood, I will go back and revise it again."

He was about to bow and take his leave when he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly ran back to look at Jiang Han.

"Your Majesty, this new department doesn't have an official name yet. Why don't you come up with one?"

Jiang Han pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with a good name.

He waved his hand helplessly:

"I can't think of anything for the time being, so let's just call it the Investigation Bureau for now."

(End of this chapter)