Chapter 369: Telegram and Mission

Nan Wang was a scholar by background, so writing reports was easy and even enjoyable for him.

In fact, if you dropped those ancient literati into later generations, every single one of them would without a doubt be a top student. To thoroughly grasp, memorize, and then write essays in obscure, punctuationless classical prose within such a dull and backward educational environment — anyone who could do that would definitely test into a 985 university in later times too.

Among his cohort of Intelligence Bureau trainees, Nan Wang was rather lopsided, having poured most of his skill points into "liberal arts" — which was also the prerequisite for him to delve deep into chemistry. This advantage was one the vast majority of his colleagues did not possess, because the others had to spend a very long time just catching up on basic literacy; being a 007 agent was no easy gig.

Gripping a thick steel-barreled carbon pen, Nan Wang wrote his report draft with swift, scratching strokes.

Due to the lack of a critical component — the rubber or plastic ink-suction tube — the Kiln District was actually unable to produce the seemingly simpler capillary-tube fountain pen. As for those early models requiring a piston to draw ink, they simply disdained making those.

On the contrary, the carbon pen, which only gained popularity in the 21st century, happened to fit the current state of their craftsmanship: the Kiln District could produce qualified ink, sponge cores, and pen barrels.

As for the most demanding part, the pen tip... this was something the Transmigrators would not be able to make in their lifetimes. One had to realize that even the Senior Grand Secretary had been vexed by the ballpoint pen tip in later times. That internet-famous old lady Dong had seized the chance to ride a wave of publicity, and after cars, phones, and chips, she loved her country once more, vowing to create the core equipment for producing pen tips — which in the end came to nothing...

A single hair is 100 microns in diameter, and the machining tolerance for a ballpoint pen tip cannot exceed 3 microns. Even though the requirements for a carbon pen tip were lower, the Transmigrators currently had neither the specialized steel nor a system-wide machining precision capable of reaching the micron level, so this item truly belonged to the "in-our-lifetime" series and could only be imported.

Fortunately, with the old man Cao Emperor around, importing one box of pen tips meant tens of thousands of units, enough for everyone's current use.

In the future, once the Kiln District's machining technology upgraded, they could further compress the volume of imported goods: importing only the ball of the pen tip. That way, one box would hold hundreds of thousands.

Of course, the ultimate solution still relied on planting rubber trees and producing capillary-tube fountain pens. As for the ball in the pen tip, that could only be left for future generations to solve.

Well-versed in the Intelligence Bureau's internal review rules, Nan Wang divided his report into two parts.

The first part was supplementary content regarding his own past personal relationships. It included details on the closeness of Nan Wang's interactions with Huang Shaozhou, Fang Tangjing, and other members of the Huang Family, as well as financial dealings and so on.

These supplementary details were written to facilitate the Organization's internal review. His previous file had not covered this area in such detail, and now with the Fang Tangjing incident, if Nan Wang wanted to restore communication, he had to submit this content to the "Organization."

He understood the Intelligence Bureau's operating rules very well: the report's contents would be sent to Hangzhou, where the Hangzhou Station would organize the review, and the results would then be submitted to the General Bureau.

So Nan Wang wrote the report in as much detail as possible: concealment or omission would only make the review harder, and when the feedback came back, it would be detrimental to the person under review.

The second part of the report was his proposed plan for "Recruiting Guide Party Members."

This kind of Guide Party plan was already very common now. The 17th century was in the early stages of capitalist development; the West was still struggling in the quagmire of the Thirty Years' War and mercantilism, while the East was still sluggishly playing out the ancient games beneath the throne. Neither East nor West had yet established the concepts of the modern nation-state and nationality in this period.

So the Transmigrators handling intelligence later discovered: essentially acts of infiltration and cultivating Guide Party members were not subject to social condemnation or native vigilance at all in this era.

Apart from a portion of scholar-officials who never tired of mouthing "having received the Emperor's grace for generations," the rest of the Ming's various social strata had virtually no such advanced notion of "defending home and country," and recruiting them was all very convenient — just give them benefits and it was done.

So Nan Wang seized the opportunity today and wrote the suggestion of winning over the Huang Family into his report: even Guide Party members had an order of seniority; those who switched sides in '49 would get a lower rating in the aftermath.

This plan to win over Guide Party members was both a public service and a personal convenience for Nan Wang.

Publicly, winning over and recruiting a native gentry family for the Organization in the Jiangnan region — no matter how you looked at it, that was a good thing.

Privately, back when he was down and out, the first place he worked was Huang Fu. Master Huang was worldly-wise and treated him with sincerity, and Fang Tangjing was his close friend, so at a time like this, Nan Wang had to help Huang Fu no matter what.

Nan Wang was among the Empire's most elite batch of native figures; he was actually qualified to watch "internal reference films." So Nan Wang knew that sooner or later, a day would come when the Jiangnan gentry would be purged by cannons firing brass-cased shells... only the Guide Party would be exempt.

So he now urgently needed to begin guiding Huang Fu, and the first step of that guidance was to submit a report seeking approval from his superiors. Because only then could he legitimately mobilize some resources and, along the way, pass some information to Master Huang.

As Nan Wang wrote furiously, the sky darkened outside before he knew it. He stood, drew the curtains, lit the kerosene lamp on his desk, and after lowering his head to review the completed draft once more, he picked up a sheet of letterhead printed with the red Intelligence Bureau header and began copying it out neatly.

By the time everything was done, it was already past eight in the evening. Nan Wang folded the finished report, got up, and went first to the Mess Hall. The Intelligence Bureau's Mess Hall naturally had its fires going twenty-four hours a day. After hurriedly finishing a boxed meal, a certain someone turned around and headed for the headquarters building.

Though called a building, it was still only three stories, just with two additional annex wings. After having his credentials checked at the building entrance, going inside to register and report on the first floor, Nan Wang obediently sat on a row chair in the lobby to wait.

Since his request to see a superior was made on the spur of the moment, he did not know if it would succeed, so he could only wait for news in the first-floor waiting area.

His luck was good today; after waiting nearly 40 minutes, Nan Wang received a notice: the duty Bureau Chief wanted to see him.

According to the Intelligence Bureau's internal regulations, at any given time, one Transmigrator would be stationed at headquarters to perform combat readiness duty. And as far as Nan Wang knew, his direct superior, Action Division Chief and Deputy Director Tang Qi, had gone on a business trip not long ago, so the person seeing him today could only be one of two: Deputy Director Ma Yue or Bureau Chief Dai Yun.

Sure enough, at the duty sentry post on the third floor, Nan Wang was told: Bureau Chief Dai Yun was waiting for him.

This was the advantage of being an old hand who had joined when the Company first opened: the big leaders all knew you, you were a familiar face, and if you had something, they would do you the courtesy.

To be honest, if one were to speak in terms of office politics, Nan Wang really was "one of Dai Yun's people." Because it was Dai Yun who had seen potential in him back then and personally recruited him into the Intelligence Bureau. It was just that here among the Transmigrators, all the rules were newly built, and so-called office politics was still immature and not that obvious.

Passing by the communications room echoing with the tapping of telegraph signals, then walking all the way to the end of the corridor, after receiving a nod of permission from the beautiful secretary who was typing, Nan Wang entered the Bureau Chief's office and was then greeted by a smiling Dai Yun, who gestured for him to sit on the guest sofa to the side.

After respectfully explaining the purpose of his visit, Nan Wang handed over the written report with both hands. Dai Yun took the report but did not rush to read it; he first inquired with concern about Nan Wang's personal situation. After this, he had the secretary pour tea, and only then did he lower his head to read the report.

It took roughly fifteen minutes for Dai Yun to carefully read through Nan Wang's report. After finishing, Dai Yun first took a sip of tea, then after considering for a moment, said to Nan Wang: "Since it was a chance encounter, don't let the opportunity slip. Mm, I agree in principle for you to initiate further contact with this Fang Tangjing."

Nan Wang was inwardly delighted, and he quickly nodded in agreement. However, just at that moment, Dai Yun raised a palm to stop Nan Wang's next words, and a reminiscent expression appeared on his face.

Quickly, Dai Yun rose from the sofa, returned to sit behind his large rosewood executive desk, then took out a key, opened a drawer, and retrieved a telegraph manuscript.

After glancing at the manuscript, Dai Yun thought again, then took out his phone and dialed: "Old Qiao, it's Dai Yun. Yeah, I wanted to ask you something — when does that big fellow at the shipyard launch? What, fitting out starts this month? Then when will sea trials be? Oh... alright, alright, got it. Bye."

After finishing this phone call, Dai Yun tapped his fingers on the desk for a while, took out a pen and made a few marks on the manuscript, then reached out and beckoned Nan Wang over, handing him that telegraph manuscript.

When Nan Wang took the manuscript and looked, he found it was a telegram sent directly from Shanghai to headquarters. Its content was a request for reinforcements from Shanghai Station Deputy Station Chief Xiong Dao. Among it, the line "request the dispatch of capable personnel familiar with gentry affairs to report here for duty" had been underlined by Dai Yun.

"It seems this assignment is fated for you. Hmm, familiar with gentry affairs, a Hangzhou native, and today you happened to run into an old connection there and are planning to expand on it."

Dai Yun paused here, giving Nan Wang a moment to react, then continued: "You've seen the telegram. Things in Shanghai are temporarily at a stalemate, and the next step requires manpower support. So, do you have the confidence to return home for a mission?"

Could Nan Wang say no at this moment? Besides, he was no longer the frail scholar he once was — what was there to fear in returning home? Full of confidence in himself, Nan Wang immediately replied: "I have confidence. Please give the order, Bureau Chief!"

"Mm." Seeing the confident look in Nan Wang's eyes, Dai Yun nodded with satisfaction: "At the earliest two months, at the latest three, our side will launch the operation. From today, you must begin preparations. I am now authorizing you to access all future intelligence sent from Shanghai. Additionally, regarding that Fang Tangjing, you need not hold back in your approach — resources can be appropriately tilted his way."

"I will not fail the trust Bureau Chief Dai has placed in me!" Nan Wang's face was a mask of resolve at this moment.