Chapter 40: The Black Dragon Society

“For Jiangnan, it’s nothing more than Nanjing, Suzhou, Yangzhou, and Songjiang,” Yu E’shui said. “Actually, for the deployment in Songjiang, we can choose Shanghai County. Songjiang itself is an industrial and agricultural city. Although it produces a lot of cloth, its value in commercial shipping is not as great as the port of Shanghai County.”

“What about Beijing?”

Jiang Shan said, “Delong Bank will definitely set up a branch in Beijing. Yan Ming is even planning to attract the illicit funds of corrupt officials and eunuchs. Our intelligence bureau should also open a small business there to get firsthand news from the court.”

“We shouldn’t forget about Liaodong,” Lin Biguang’s eyes gleamed with a strange light. “It’s not very reliable to rely solely on Li Luoyou as an intermediary. Besides, this person may not be completely trustworthy. We should send our own people to get firsthand materials on the ground. If necessary, setting up a trading post is also appropriate.”

“To be stationed in Liaodong for a long time, one would have to shave their head and wear a queue. No one is willing to do that.”

“It’s good to send someone to take a look first, not necessarily for a long-term stay,” Jiang Shan thought. Whether a long-term stay was possible was a big question mark.

With the plan decided, Jiang Shan compiled the issues discussed at the meeting into a document and went to report to Ma Qianzhu.

After reading the report, Ma Qianzhu asked a few more questions and then said:

“I have no objection to you filling your personnel. You can go to the Organization Department to see how many people are willing to be transferred to the Intelligence Bureau. Also, the Organization Department recently issued a document on the staffing of various departments. You should take a look at it first and write up a staffing table.”

“Yes, I’ll go right away.” Jiang Shan knew that State Secretary Ma was a leader who valued “Soviet-style comradely etiquette” and preferred short, direct answers and a crisp demeanor.

“The personnel establishment is not only for council members; native personnel also need to be staffed,” Ma Qianzhu said. “You should discuss this matter more. It involves next year’s financial budget—starting next year, all administrative agencies will have a budget and a final account. You should keep this in mind.”

“Understood!” Jiang Shan nodded crisply. “There are a few more things I’d like to ask for instructions on.”

“Go ahead.”

“In the intelligence activity plan I submitted, I mentioned the ‘government-supervised, private-operation’ collection approach, as well as setting up points on the mainland,” he said. “This all involves the issue of how to handle the business relationship with the Ministry of Colonial Trade.”

Although intelligence personnel could use various covers, being a merchant was the most common and easiest cover, and it could also be used to establish a commercial network on the mainland, killing two birds with one stone.

“I still have to discuss this matter with the vice minister of the Ministry of Colonial Trade,” Ma Qianzhu said. “Since it’s mutually beneficial, it’s more appropriate for them to invest in the newly opened commercial sites. Your intelligence gathering is just a side matter.”

“Yes, I think so too.” Jiang Shan was very happy to see that the Dugong had accurately identified the key part of his words and even expressed his approval.

“As for whether to send people to Liaodong, my personal opinion is that it’s unnecessary. Since we have Li Luoyou as our middleman, why send another council member? It’s redundant. The Later Jin is just a small plate; a gentle tap will shatter it. Why should we care what Huang Taiji, Dorgon, Dayu’er, or Xiaoyu’er are thinking?”

“I think understanding the situation in Liaodong is still meaningful for future military operations to conquer Liaodong,” Jiang Shan said. “My idea is to imitate the activities of the Japanese ronin, to collect basic intelligence on Liaodong’s geography, weather, fortified towns, commerce, population, etc., to provide intelligence support for future military actions and a comprehensive cleanup. In the long run, there’s no need to send a council member, but in the early stage, a council member should be sent to command.”

“If you think it’s necessary, and if any council member is willing to take the risk of shaving their head, I won’t object—to avoid people saying we don’t respect public opinion,” Ma Qianzhu said nonchalantly. “But the person who goes must be approved by the Organization Department. Talents with special skills cannot go.”

“Okay.” Jiang Shan felt a chill. He had a feeling he couldn’t voice: State Secretary Ma saw council members no differently than he saw natives.

“As for the overseas intelligence stations,” Jiang Shan continued his report, “besides the overseas stations cooperating with the Ministry of Colonial Trade, I also plan to establish a separate system, which I call the ‘Black Dragon Society’ system.”

Ma Qianzhu put on a look of disinterest. Whether it was the Black Dragon Society or the White Dragon Society, or even the Red Flower Society, he knew very well what Jiang Shan was getting at. It was all about funding.

Intelligence gathering required money, and a lot of it. It couldn’t be circulation vouchers. It had to be a large amount of silver or goods that could be converted into silver. Silver was now considered “foreign exchange” and had to be applied for on a case-by-case basis, which was a very troublesome procedure.

Jiang Shan persevered, “The Black Dragon Society is a private organization. Private capital from the transmigrator group’s system will fund the establishment of points and layouts throughout the mainland. The intelligence bureau will only dispatch key personnel to lurk and command within it. We can even consider recruiting intelligence and action personnel locally on the mainland…”

He talked for more than ten minutes about the organizational system and operational model of this Black Dragon Society. Only then did Ma Qianzhu speak:

“Have you considered which capitalists in Lingao will be the funders of the Black Dragon Society?”

The idea of a government-supervised, privately-run Black Dragon Society was good, but the problem was that the overseas stations were the property of the transmigrator group and could cooperate with just an order from the Executive Committee. As for private capitalists, their only thought was profit. Without sufficient profit, who would take the risk of joining some Black Dragon Society!

“I’ve thought about it. One is Lin Quan’an’s Quanfu Trading Company. Lin Quan’an got rich by handling large-scale procurement for us. Now that our supply system is gradually improving and our foreign trade system is also established, his days of profiting from his early monopoly supplier status are numbered. He will inevitably choose to transform.” Jiang Shan had already done his research. The orders Lin Quan’an had recently received from the transmigrator group were decreasing, and his profits were also much smaller. Of course, he had compensated for some of the profit loss from the rapidly expanding local population, but overall, it was on a downward trend.

Jiang Shan believed that Lin Quan’an was now eager to find a new business outlet. Cooperating with him was very possible.

“Lin Quan’an already has extensive business connections throughout Hainan, but the market in Hainan is very small. Many of the materials he used to procure are now being obtained directly by us, so he has the intention of expanding to the mainland.”

“Hmm.” Ma Qianzhu showed some interest. “Go on.”

“The reason Lin Quan’an hasn’t made a move yet is mainly because he feels he lacks a backer on the mainland. After all, he got rich because of us, and we also provided protection for his business development. Once he is on the mainland, he will be out of Lingao’s influence, and he is not confident about that.

“So I plan to use this psychology of his, to make him fully feel that we have not forgotten him, that our interests are tied to his, and that there will be a powerful organization supporting him from behind. Then Lin Quan’an will be willing to become a member of the Black Dragon Society.”

“Very good,” Ma Qianzhu commented simply. “What else?”

“Of course, it’s Runshitang.”

“You’ve rounded up all the capitalists in Lingao.”

“Yes,” Jiang Shan said. “Liu San from the Ministry of Public Health had a memo about establishing a ‘Watsons’ chain of pharmacies in the Great Ming, with Runshitang as the foundation.”

“The owner of Runshitang, Yang Shixiang, is currently investing in the mechanized production of Chinese patent medicine, and most of his products are also sold on the mainland. Expanding his investment on the mainland is his original intention. We are just using this intention…”

“Ahem,” Ma Qianzhu coughed. “Yang Shixiang already has his own business network on the mainland. His dependence on us is not as great as Lin Quan’an’s. Is it possible for you to get him to take the risk of joining the Black Dragon Society to conduct intelligence work against the Great Ming?”

“It’s fifty-fifty,” Jiang Shan said frankly. “We don’t need to let him know at the beginning. We just use his branch organizations as cover—directly placing intelligence personnel into his institutions. We can tell him after he has witnessed the capabilities of our intelligence agency.”

That was also possible. But Runshitang was different from Lin Quan’an’s Quanfu Trading Company. Quanfu Trading Company’s significance to the transmigrator group was now only that of a model; Runshitang was equivalent to a subsidiary of the transmigrator group. And Yang Shixiang and Liu San were planning to follow the chain pharmacy route in the Great Ming. If one branch had a problem, the entire army would be wiped out. Not to mention what Yang Shixiang’s attitude would be, even Liu San and the Ministry of Public Health, who had invested in Runshitang, would be furious.

“You must communicate well with Liu San, the Ministry of Public Health, and the Ministry of Commerce on this matter,” Ma Qianzhu reminded him.

“Yes, if they don’t agree, we will temporarily suspend the Runshitang plan,” Jiang Shan said. “With the Black Dragon Society system, we can reduce a lot of investment. A part of it can be borne by these capitalists…”

“And the other part will naturally be borne by us,” Ma Qianzhu thought. After all this talk, it still came back to the key issue.

He said, “Alright, write up a plan, and estimate the budget, then submit it.”

---

Ma Qianzhu instructed Hou Wenyong: for the next few days, all documents received regarding the Foreign Intelligence Bureau should be prioritized and sent to his desk. Hou Wenyong had been promoted to Secretary to the State Secretary. He was happy to have a “master advisor” level position at such a young age, but he was also very embarrassed, because he soon discovered that almost all the secretaries in the various departments were young women. Whenever there was a secretary meeting, he became the “only green among a sea of red.”

“Then you go to the Ministry of Colonial Trade compound and ask their vice minister to come over,” Ma Qianzhu instructed. “Hmm, don’t come to the Government Council compound. Go to the General Office lounge.”

He thought: although the other party is a vice minister, he is still the vice minister of a department at the same level as mine. There is no subordinate relationship between us. Calling him here directly would make me seem too arrogant. My reputation would suffer.

The Minister of Colonies and Trade had not yet been elected. According to the “Common Program,” all nine Executive Committee members were political officials and needed to be elected by the Yuanlaoyuan, but several of them had not yet been produced. These positions were either of no interest to anyone or coveted by too many people. The Yuanlaoyuan had held several plenary sessions without resolving the issue.

So those who were interested in these businesses followed the career official route. Positions below the Executive Committee were appointed. Si Kaide took this route and smoothly became the director of the office of the Ministry of Colonial Trade—which was currently equivalent to the vice minister of the department, and he was actually exercising most of the administrative power of the department.

Si Kaide had studied radar—there were a few radars in this place, but it was very difficult to build one. He immediately understood what “the art of slaying dragons” meant. So far, his entire professional experience had been doing maintenance work for the few radars of the transmigrator group.

Ma Qianzhu knew this person. He was a political oligarch, opposed to parliamentary democracy, and was at loggerheads with the leaders of the North American branch, the Qian brothers. He also called Shan Liang a “demagogue on a soapbox.” Ma Qianzhu felt that this person was suitable for being an official in the Ministry of Colonial and Trade Affairs: this department’s work could not be done by people who were too universalist or too democratic, but people who openly advocated for things like racial genocide were also not suitable—they were too extreme and always wanted to express their loyalty to their ideals, not knowing that many things had to be done in stages.

He placed a “Away” sign on his desk—this kind of sign came in two colors. One was green, meaning a short departure of within fifteen minutes, and the other was yellow, indicating that the departure time could be as long as an hour, to prevent people from waiting in vain.

Ma Qianzhu went downstairs and out through the back door of the office building—there was a native guard here. He showed his pass, and the guard carefully checked the photo against his face, then wrote down his departure time and pass number in the registration book.

He looked at the guard’s dark face, meticulously and clumsily copying the Arabic numerals according to the guard regulations, and thought: our system has really been implemented. Since people can be reformed, society can also be reformed.

“Your pass, chief,” the guard came to attention and opened the back door.

“Thank you.” Ma Qianzhu put away his pass and walked out slowly.

Opening the back door was a long, open-air corridor that led directly to the courtyard where the Executive Committee’s General Office was located. The corridors between the various agency compounds allowed personnel from different departments to move between their buildings without going out the main gate, which was convenient for security and access control.

There was no one in the corridor; it was very quiet. Ma Qianzhu could even hear the chirping of birds. This kind of birdsong was becoming increasingly rare near Bairen City. The roar of the machines and the thick smoke from the nearby industrial area had driven away the birds and animals here.

The birdsong was so cheerful. That’s right, spring had arrived in Lingao. This place was, after all, subtropical. The winters were short and not obvious. The leaves did not wither, and flowers bloomed year-round. At noon, you could always run around in a shirt or even a T-shirt. Ma Qianzhu liked places with four distinct seasons, where you could feel the passage of time through the flourishing and withering of plants and the changing of the seasons…

He put his hands in his pockets. He recalled the recent documents from the General Finance Directorate on the construction of the financial system, tax system, and accounting system. And the conversations of Yi Fan, Chen Ce, and others at the Wudaokou finance and economics conference. He felt an unprecedented pressure coming towards him.

This pressure was difficult for others to understand, and they might not even understand it—the finance and economics system, wasn’t this a proper and upright system construction? As some people said: without an accounting and finance system, should we regress to a barter system?

“No, it’s not like that,” Ma Qianzhu thought. This was a struggle between two lines.

Simply put, it was a conflict between engineers and accountants, a struggle between two different development ideas.

The accountants were eager to do finance, to control society with economic indicators, and to manage enterprises in the way of managing enterprises. The engineers, on the other hand, intended to use a complex set of technical indicators to expand industry as quickly as possible.

Ma Qianzhu believed that the accountants’ thinking was only suitable for individual enterprises, and enterprises that could switch between multiple suppliers, multiple logistics providers, and multiple sales methods at any time. Only such enterprises could be managed with capital as the center.

He wrote in his secret memo:

…Under the current economic conditions in Lingao, the thinking of Yi Fan and others is meaningless. Capital cannot be used equally among different suppliers—that is, the production processes of other factories. It is impossible to linearly exchange one indicator for another. That is, the circulation voucher is not a real currency, and industrialized products do not have a mature market in this world where microeconomics can be applied at will. Therefore, marketization is not feasible. Complex indicators, that is, technical core control, must be used. Only mainstream technology, mature technology, that is, technology that can be opened to native management, can follow a pure capital control route.

…

High technology never follows the market. Because its own value cannot be measured by the market, it is only reasonable to follow the engineer core route. A planned economy must be maintained in core industries, using monopoly profits to compensate for development costs, and using technological superiority to deal with micro-efficiency losses.

…

However, from a government’s perspective, it is difficult to deny the role of currency, accounting, auditing, and accounting. It can even be said that without this system, a modern government cannot operate, including the most basic financial budget and final account of modern government operations. Therefore, how to strike a balance between them is a very crucial matter.

He thought he should talk to Cheng Dong. He should be able to understand his theory. Of course, Cheng Dong now also supported the plan of Yi Fan and his group—this was very natural. Once this plan was passed, the power of the finance and economics department would increase exponentially. It was impossible for people to resist this temptation.

He suddenly remembered that among the documents recently sent by the General Finance Directorate to the Executive Committee Secretariat, there was a request for the addition of “full-time bank security personnel.” This report was inconspicuous and was placed in a pile of routine reports. According to the procedure, as long as it was passed by the Executive Committee and then passed three readings at the Standing Committee of the Yuanlaoyuan, the matter would be settled.

“Ha!” Ma Qianzhu thought, “You want to create a Ministry of Finance secret service.” Could this be used as a bargaining chip? He immediately rejected his own idea—the bargaining chip was too small. How could an organization like the Ministry of Finance secret service be compared to the power that affects the overall situation?