Chapter 624： American trip (1/2)

In the era of imperialism, the embassies of foreign powers also collected information part-time. After sending Nino away, Minister Tom became busy looking up relevant information.

There is no way, France has limited interests in Colombia, and Colombia ranks very low in diplomatic activities.

Being a minister here is basically about eating and waiting to die. As time goes by, Minister Tom has fallen, and intelligence is still being collected. It depends on his mood if you want to see it.

Now I want to get the development right of the Panama Canal from the Colombian government. I do n’t know what the other party ’s weaknesses are.

The minute passed, and Tom had a rough idea of ​​what happened in Colombia recently.

As for the detailed information, I'm sorry that the embassy has limited funds and cannot afford to investigate further. The information collected now is actually similar to what you see in the newspaper.

Putting down the information in his hand, Minister Tom frowned, apparently the information on it was not what he wanted.

”Diff, find out information about Austria's activities in Colombia and information about the Panama Canal Project.”

Secretary Diff responded without hesitation: ”His Excellency, the embassy only has information on the activities of the Austrians, and the Panama Canal plan is not within our intelligence collection.

If necessary, we can find the public information of the Colombian government within a week, and it needs additional funds to check the in-depth information. ”

Minister Tom's face was darkened. The French government was rich, but the French embassy in Colombia was poor.

This can be seen from the staff staffed by the embassy. All members add up to less than 10 people, including a cleaner, a chef, and two guards.

Communication was inconvenient in this era. The power of the ambassadors abroad was very large, and hiring ordinary staff was one of the functions.

The main reason for the embassy's small staff is insufficient office funding. Otherwise, Minister Tom would not mind hiring more staff.

Many things ca n’t be done without money. For example: when collecting intelligence, you can only choose to focus on collecting it, and you can only discard secondary information.

Under normal circumstances, the canal plan of the Republic of Colombia will not have anything to do with France. They have too little influence here, and they can't get the benefits.

The situation is very obvious now and is abnormal. Minister Tom had more than one trouble in his heart, and he did not consider the actual situation at all.

In the face of Franc, since he promised others, Minister Tom still has to fulfill his promise. This is his professional ethics.

”No problem, I will grant you a special 10,000 francs. You must investigate the details of the Columbia Canal Plan as soon as possible.”

The secretary, Diffus, was puzzled, and suddenly became generous, unlike the ambassador he knew.

In his impression, Minister Tom was able to save provinces in normal times, especially the intelligence department, not even a professional spy, and the information was collected by embassy staff.

10,000 francs may not be a big number, but it is also a record breaking for the intelligence service.

Over the past three years, the total expenses of the embassy's intelligence department totaled less than 5,000 francs.

For every penny you have, you don't expect much to gain since you have less money. Generally speaking, excerpting some information from newspapers, plus hearsay at the banquet, sorting it out is considered to be a task.

Doubt came to doubt, but Desff didn't mean to ask. In any case, get the funding for the event first.

”Excuse me, as you wish. You can see the relevant information for up to three days.”

Rich money is easy to handle. This has not just come up with funds for activities, and the efficiency has suddenly improved.

Desf has been here for many years, and the network has long been established. Moreover, the Colombian government is like a sieve. It has no sense of confidentiality at all and it is too simple to get some unimportant information.

As long as you are willing to spend money, you can bring out the original information directly. There is no doubt that Desff is not prepared to throw money.

Based on his identity, to view unimportant information, go directly to the Colombian Government Archives.

If anyone dares to refuse, he will engage in things to create diplomatic conflict. This is a trial and error method, and the Colombian government is most afraid of diplomatic disputes.

...

Nino's origin is not high, but only middle-class. In order to climb up, he put in a lot of effort. This canal project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.

The big guys behind the scenes promised that as long as he can complete the preliminary work and persuade all parties to restart the canal plan, he will be the first president of the canal company, and will preside over the canal excavation and operation.

The credibility of this promise is very high. Big people will not default on this small issue, and there are ready-made cases. The first president of the Suez Canal Company is an example.

High returns are naturally accompanied by high difficulty. If anyone can get things done, it's not worth the price.

According to the analysis of the data at hand, Nino quickly found out that the Panama Canal is unnecessary for the Confederates, and their coastline is concentrated on the east coast.

Instead, it is the United States of America, whose territory spans the East and West Straits. In order to strengthen trade and commerce, it is still busy building railways.

If the Panama Canal is opened and the distance between the East and West Pacifics is reduced, the United States can obtain huge economic benefits and strategic value.

In this age where interests determine state relations, from the point of view of interest, obviously the interests of the United States and the Canal Plan are consistent, so this time the partner can only be the United States.