There was no doubt that intelligence gathering was a very difficult task in both ancient and modern times.
That was why every time an intelligence agent with a high success rate appeared, he would be so famous and remembered by the world for his contributions to his country and the harm he brought to other countries.
Many famous people had talked about their views on intelligence agents, some even saying that an intelligence agent was equivalent to an entire division.
In reality, this was also the case. An intelligence agent who completed his mission perfectly brought benefits to the country even more than an entire division brought to the country on the battlefield.
That was why Xiao Ruxun had spent so much effort to establish Blackwater, letting Blackwater have spies all over the country to deal with those who wanted to harm Daqin. At the same time, he would explore the terrain, mineral resources, wealth, military, political, and economic situation of the surrounding countries.
With the development of Blackwater and the development of the relationship between Daqin and Europe, Xiao Ruxun even arranged teams of Blackwater agents on the merchant ships going to Europe. Some caravans were even made up of Blackwater agents. Xiao Ruxun needed them to gather intelligence for his own use.
In order for them to operate better, the largest expenditure of Xiao Ruxun's internal funds came from Blackwater. Only 30% of Blackwater's operating funds went through the national treasury's account, which was open and aboveboard. The remaining 70% was Xiao Ruxun's internal funds. It was the Shadow of Darkness, which specialized in doing shady things.
Correspondingly, in order to better serve himself, Xiao Ruxun set up Black Poison to supervise and deal with Blackwater. Black Poison had two major responsibilities. One was to supervise and deal with officials, and the other was to supervise and deal with Blackwater. He was specifically responsible for the people in Daqin, not civilians or foreigners.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, which used Black Poison as a source of manpower, was Black Poison's official identity. All the officials in Daqin knew about it. However, there were very few people in the Daqin government who actually knew about Black Poison's existence.
Xiao Ruxun also bore 70% of Black Poison's expenditure. That was why he opened up mines and nationalized metal mines. He also sent people abroad to find mines to fill his internal funds.
The emperor had to maintain a certain degree of economic independence and expenditure. Otherwise, he would not be able to guarantee his power.
Even so, with an annual expenditure of several hundred thousand taels of silver, Xiao Ruxun could only obtain about twelve to thirteen percent of the total amount of valuable and effective intelligence. The remaining eighty percent or so were useless intelligence.
However, the real value of this 12% to 13% of valuable intelligence was far more than hundreds of thousands of silver.
For example, Xiao Ruxun's full support for Blackwater had allowed Blackwater to set up a few spying teams to deal with Great Qin's internal and external intelligence agents. They often operated in the densest areas of cities and gathered all sorts of information.
Xiao Ruxun ordered Blackwater to vigorously attack these intelligence agents. Most of them were Japanese. In Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Ningbo, Blackwater destroyed seventeen or eighteen Japanese intelligence organizations. After interrogation, most of them were arranged by the Tokugawa clan, and a small number were from the Toyotomi clan.
After eliminating this group of people, Xiao Ruxun ordered his intelligence agents to be more vigilant, especially in the Tianjin port area where they were preparing to send troops. He wanted to eliminate all hidden dangers so that the Japanese would be blind and would not be able to know about Daqin's military movements in advance.
At this time, even if the spies obtained intelligence, it was difficult to send it back to the country. It was not like modern times, where electronic communication technology could be used to instantly send it back to the country. That did not exist. It had to be carried by people across the sea for half a month to a month before the intelligence could be sent back.
During this period, the Daqin army had landed and started to fight. Even if the Tokugawa clan and the Toyotomi clan knew about it, they could not do anything. They had no time.
On April 11th, Chai Guozhu began to attack Kyushu Island. Under the guidance of a spy guide, he successfully avoided the traps and traps set by the Tokugawa clan and launched an attack on the city. On the same day, the main force of Ma Wei on Tsushima Island also sent a vanguard to the direction of Ishikami.
It was not until the 12th, when the main force of Ma Wei set sail, that the intelligence of the Tokugawa clan was sent to the hands of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was fighting with the Toyotomi clan in Ishikami. When Tokugawa Ieyasu learned of this intelligence, he was commanding a battle with the Toyotomi clan army for the commanding heights and the arrangement of cannoneers.
In this battle, both sides sent their strongest generals and armies. Under the respective plans of Ishida Mitsunari and Tokugawa Ieyasu, they confronted each other head-on on the battlefield. Neither side was willing to retreat and hand over the commanding heights to the other.
Toyotomi Hidetsugu dispatched the powerful daimyo headed by the Ukita Hideika to lead their respective elites to launch a powerful attack on Tokugawa Ieyasu. Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, repeatedly encountered difficulties and obstacles, but was suppressed by his resolute attack.
The battle had been going on for six hours, and there was still no outcome. The casualties on both sides had reached thousands. Including the casualties in the past ten days, at least 10,000 people of the Toyotomi clan had died in the battle, and nearly 8,000 people of the Tokugawa clan had died in the battle. There would only be more injured.
Under such circumstances, there were very few external factors in the battle of strength between the two sides. Ishida Mitsunari's plan made Tokugawa Ieyasu feel that it was difficult to move an inch.
It turned out that Toyotomi Hidetsugu was quite capable. He could actually reconcile the conflict between the Ishida clan and the Shogun faction, and let them work together to deal with him.
Tokugawa Ieyasu only then realized that Toyotomi Hidetsugu was not a simple character.
It was no wonder that Toyotomi Hideyoshi had chosen Toyotomi Hidetsugu to be Guan Bai's replacement.
However, things had come to this, and there was no possibility for Tokugawa Ieyasu to retreat. This battle had to be fought to the end. Once he retreated, the consequences would be too tragic.
At this moment, just as Tokugawa Ieyasu was commanding a team of 1,000 people and desperately fighting for the commanding heights with the Toyotomi army, the cannons of the Toyotomi army and the Tokugawa army were also shooting at each other. However, at this moment, Tokugawa Ieyasu received information that the Qin Army had set sail from Korea and their target was Japan.
At that moment, Tokugawa Ieyasu felt that his heart was about to stop beating.
'No way? It can't be like this, can it?
How could the Qin army do such a thing?
How could they do such a thing?
How could they have the ability to do such a thing?
All kinds of questions lingered in Tokugawa Ieyasu's mind, so that when his subordinates came to ask for reinforcements, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not react in time.
It was not until the repeated calls that Tokugawa Ieyasu came to his senses and realized that he was on the battlefield.
"My Lord, Toyotomi has sent more troops again. We don't have enough people. Please send reinforcements!"
Tokugawa Ieyasu opened his mouth. He should have been determined to send reinforcements to continue to fight for the commanding heights, but he could not say it in any case.
Judging from the time, it might be too late now.
No, he could not continue to fight. If this went on, he would be finished.
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