Upon hearing the news, Guo Shao ordered Huang Binglian, the prosecutor of Kaifeng Prefecture, to be the imperial envoy to patrol the area and grant him the royal decree to control the local authorities in pursuit of the murderer.
It must have been Zhao Kuangyin who did it, Guo Shao thought about it for a while in front of the window.
In the past, he had also ordered Wang Hong, the commander of the Armor Workshop, to be careful to prevent technology leaks. There were also some measures, such as surrounding the workshop area with a wall and transferring soldiers from Kaifeng Prefecture to garrison there for a long time; there was a division of labor in management, most people could not get involved in the entire process of armor making, and only a few master craftsmen could handle the workshop; craftsmen were asked to sign and seal confidential documents, and those who leaked the armor making technology would be executed and their families would be exiled three thousand miles away.
However, there are still big loopholes in governance, and it has not received enough attention. This is mainly because the ancients rarely stole specific technologies at any cost. Perhaps it is because the rulers of various ethnic groups did not attach importance to craftsmanship and technology, or they may have poor knowledge. Anyway, there have been almost no such cases for many years. For example, there is no record of the various technologies such as Zhuge Liang's wooden horse, flowing car, and Zhuge crossbow being stolen by Wei and Wu. The Tang Dynasty has long led the world in various technologies, and there is no confidentiality. Before Princess Wencheng brought the craftsman's tools, Tubo did not send people to steal the technology. The rulers of various countries basically have no concept of the level of technological development.
Therefore, Guo Shao only ordered the Jiafang Office to keep it confidential, and he didn't pay any attention to it afterwards, nor did he take it seriously.
Guo Shao paced a few steps in front of the window, thinking: If there is some force that is eyeing the armor-making technique and is willing to steal it at all costs, this armor-making technique cannot be foolproof; it is simply a matter of how difficult it is for the other party to steal.
First of all, the hammer forging technique is simple and easy to learn, not as complicated and professional as modern technology; secondly, the workshop is not located in the mountains and forests and the craftsmen are isolated from the world. As long as enough time and manpower are spent, the spies will definitely find a breakthrough.
However, it is also meaningful to increase the difficulty for the other party and delay the time of the leak. Guo Shao intends to pay attention to this matter and write down his ideas: first, strengthen internal governance; second, set up a spy agency. In case of technical leaks to a certain country, offensive counterintelligence can be used to eliminate rebellious technical personnel in the enemy country.
Soon, the guest minister Zan Jurun wrote a letter and presented some suggestions.
He suggested building a city in the workshop area and sending officers and soldiers to patrol and inspect, prohibiting outsiders from approaching the small city; regulating the craftsmen's going out. Building houses for the craftsmen and their families in the city, and separating them with high walls to reduce the noise in the workshop area. Jiafang Office set up a purchasing office in the city to distribute to the craftsmen.
Officials were sent to patrol the nearby markets and city walls to prevent outsiders from sneaking in.
After reading it, Guo Shao felt that Zan Jurun was more talented in this regard, so he immediately asked the officials outside the study to issue an edict, appointing Zan Jurun to the Military Equipment Supervisor, a higher-level government office than the Jiafang Office, and concurrently to serve in the Privy Council.
There were too many things to do in the court, and Guo Shao couldn't focus on just one place. He could only select some people he thought were talented and smart to take charge.
Guo Shao had been a military commander for many years, so he was not as cautious as the scholar. He thought of the spy agency and decided to start working on it right away. In his mind, he always thought that intelligence personnel were very useful, so he had asked Jing Niang to secretly organize an intelligence system before; but those things were small-scale. At the beginning, he was just a military commander and did not have that kind of authority and resources. But now it is different. He has just ascended the throne and has unlimited power.
He turned around and saw that the eunuch on duty today was Cao Tai, so he invited him in.
Guo Shao retreated to the back room of the study, flipping through the files in his hand. Prime Minister Wang Pu summarized the bureaucratic records submitted to him, and asked: Who is the Imperial City Envoy
This official position appeared in the late Tang Dynasty. Later, the Imperial City Administration became an institution controlled by eunuchs, mainly responsible for the opening and closing of the imperial palace gates, the management of weapons and armor for guards, as well as the supervision of some special officials. The family members of Zhao Kuangyin and his party who stayed behind were managed by this yamen.
In Guo Shao's view, the Imperial City Bureau was similar to the Ming Dynasty's Eastern Factory and Embroidered Uniform Guard, but its power and scale were obviously much smaller, and its role was not very significant.
Cao Tai immediately replied: Your Majesty, it was the eunuch Wang Zhong.
Guo Shao asked again: Can he be trusted
Cao Tai bowed and said: "When the late emperor Chai Rong was alive, Wang Zhong was a favored eunuch by the late emperor's side. Later, when the late emperor was seriously ill, this man secretly wanted to show his favor to the empress, and secretly passed the news of the late emperor's serious illness back to the palace from Hebei; unexpectedly, this matter was caught by his godson Wang Jie'en, and later exposed to the late emperor. Wang Zhong was beaten half to death and almost died. Later, Your Majesty entered the palace according to the imperial decree, and Wang Zhong was released and surrendered to the empress, and Wang Jie'en died.
Guo Shao then asked Cao Tai to send someone to summon Wang Zhong.
Soon, a fat eunuch came. Guo Shao suddenly remembered that he had seen this man during the Huainan War. He was indeed a trusted eunuch beside Chai Rong. However, he was a eunuch and it was impossible for him to be loyal to the emperor after he died. Otherwise, he would not have secretly defected to the queen.
Most of the eunuchs with some power in the imperial city have surrendered to Fu Jinzhan. Guo Shao can only use them. After all, the eunuchs who surrendered to Fu Jinzhan are the most reliable eunuchs. They also need to be talented. Those who have not been tempered in the palace for many years will be useless if they are promoted suddenly.
When Wang Zhong met Guo Shao, he was flattered and kowtowed continuously on the ground.
Guo Shao asked him to get up and said directly: I have something for you to do.
Wang Zhong bowed and said: "Your Majesty, please give me your orders. I will do whatever it takes."
Guo Shao said: You are in charge of the Imperial City Department, and under it there is an Internal Affairs Bureau, which is independent from the opening and closing of the imperial palace gates. What does the Internal Affairs Bureau do? It looks after the families of Zhao Kuangyin and other rebels, as well as Zhang Yongde. You must have sent people to monitor them. If the emperor wants to investigate corrupt officials, you will send people to investigate secretly. Those who do these things are assigned to the Internal Affairs Bureau.
Wang Zhong hurriedly said: “I obey your order.”
Guo Shao added: "You have ready-made people to form the Internal Affairs Bureau. Now I have two things to do. There are some officials and craftsmen in the Armor Workshop. You should place people nearby to monitor and protect them, and pay attention to monitoring and investigating the idle people near the workshop area."
The second thing is to deploy spies in Kaifeng Prefecture, especially in the city of Tokyo, the city gates, the east and west markets, the inns, the wine shops, the tea houses, and the city rooms to monitor those suspicious persons. If they are suspected to be spies of unknown origin, they can be secretly arrested and tortured. He pondered for a moment and said, if the matter involves officials and celebrities, we must not act rashly and must report it first.
Wang Zhong bowed and said: Your Majesty, please forgive me, but you must give me the royal order. The second thing will require many people and cost a lot of money, so I have to ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs for money.
Guo Shao glanced at the eunuch Cao Tai next to him. This guy was one of the highest-ranking eunuchs in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, there was another supervisor, Yang Shiliang.
Guo Shao nodded and agreed, thinking that in the past two years, he had destroyed the two great kingdoms of Shu and Nan Tang, and robbed tens of millions of strings of money and sent them to the treasury, but he still couldn't afford to support a group of spies. Historically, the Northern Song Dynasty also robbed countless money, but he probably spent a lot of it when he released the military power with a cup of wine. I remember there was a story that Shi Shouxin came home and saw money piled up all over the house, and said, "What have I done with so much money? It's better to just sit back and enjoy the wealth."
Then he hurriedly summoned the Privy Councilor Wang Pu.
Wang Pu walked into the back room of the study, kowtowed and immediately said: This old minister was just about to request an audience with Your Majesty, and just received an urgent report from Judge Huang Binglian that two bodies were found one after another on the bank of the Yellow River. They were the bodies of Sun Fangtou who had been held hostage and a child. After the coroner's autopsy, it was determined that the two were drowned.
Huang, the judge, guessed that after the ferry was strictly guarded by the government, the spies were panicking and forced their way across the Yellow River. When crossing the river, something unexpected happened, such as the boat capsizing, and two people were drowned. In addition, there were three spies and a workshop worker named Lu, who were not caught.
Guo Shao was relieved immediately after hearing this. Sun Fangtou, who mastered the structure of the armor workshop, died. It would be difficult for Zhao Kuangyin to replicate the workshop, but there would still be risks. How much did the craftsman surnamed Lu know
According to the report, Lu Craftsman used to work in the forging room, which is also the key to armor making. In comparison, the wheels and waterwheels in the transmission room are not key technologies. People of this era have long learned to use waterwheels as power. The extent to which the armor making technology can be leaked depends on how much craftsmanship the undetected Lu Craftsman has mastered. If a person with high comprehension and intelligence works in it for a period of time, he may figure out the principles and structures of those mechanical components. After all, they are not complicated. Of course, if a person has no ambition and only knows how to work and get paid, he must be confused. Moreover, most low-level craftsmen are illiterate, so it is difficult for them to explain the structure clearly.
Judge Huang did a good job. Envoy Wang can send someone to commend him and ask him to continue to work hard on the case and arrest the remaining people. Guo Shao said.
Wang Pu bowed and said: I, your honor, obey your command.
Guo Shao said again: I summoned Envoy Wang for another matter. I want to set up an office in the Privy Council, called
The first thing that came to Guo Shao's mind was of course the Intelligence Bureau, which was supposed to be a foreign spy agency, but this name was neither fish nor fowl and had no confidentiality. He thought for a moment and said: Let's call it the Bingcao Division, whose main function is to spy on the enemy's politics, with a focus on the Liao Kingdom and the Northern Han Kingdom. You recommend a reliable person to set up this office, and plan long-term undercover plans and short-term spy plans.
Guo Shao rubbed his forehead and said: This office must be confidential. The budget does not need to be reported to the Ministry of Revenue and the Censorate. It can be directly allocated from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs is also aware of the expenses.
Wang Pu agreed immediately. This was a very easy thing to do. Generally speaking, the establishment of a new government office was something that everyone was happy about, but the abolition of government offices and officials would be met with resistance.
It seems that there has never been such a special organization before. At most, they would temporarily find people to carry out counter-espionage. The main foreign spies were envoys and ministers. However, the Privy Council also had some experience. Wang Pu sent people to secretly investigate and collect intelligence on some generals and important officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and recorded it in files.
Guo Shao also thought that it might be beneficial to participate after Jingniang pulled away. When Guo Shao and Zhao Kuangyin were fighting fiercely, Jingniang did a good job in organizing spies; Guo Shao also taught her how to use shops as bases and how to forge identities. The officials of the Privy Council might not understand these organizational forms such as single-line contact and how to avoid being caught in one fell swoop, but Jingniang had learned them from Guo Shao before.