Chapter 1686 Puppet Organization

When Francis served as the commander of the city defense of Manila, he also had the experience of giving many public speeches. However, in the past, his audience was mostly local Hispanic people, but he rarely saw such a unique scene surrounded by Han people.

Of course, these two types of audiences actually have something in common, that is, they are basically local dignitaries, but now that the Haihan family is in charge, this class has changed from Spanish to Han.

Most of the guests attending the ceremony today are familiar faces that Francis recognizes, and there are even in-laws like the Ding family. It goes without saying that these Han Chinese who were either rich or noble must have chosen to join the new master after the war.

Got the opportunity to appear on this occasion. Haihan was able to quickly calm down the local situation after the war. It seems that these Han upstarts also contributed a lot to it. Francis wanted to know what role the Ding family played in this process.

Is it true that he has been busy drawing boundaries with himself as he guessed?

Regarding the listing ceremony of the Western Management Bureau, officials from Haihan have communicated with Francis in advance to let him understand his role in this organization and the attitude he needs to express to his superiors and the public during the listing ceremony.

Although Francis is unwilling to do so, he also knows that the Spaniards no longer have the final say in Manila today. Even though he was once famous here, the person who calls the shots here has been replaced by Haihan, and he is just a pawn who obeys orders.

In order for his father and son to survive well in the future, although it is against Francis's will to cooperate with Haihan, he can only give in temporarily. If you work hard to survive, everything is possible, but if you don't cooperate, then...

Everything is really over.

Francis walked to Qiu Yuan, and Qiu Yuan smiled at him and gave him the protagonist's position. Francis adjusted his collar slightly. He was not quite used to this kind of Haihan style dress, but when he saw the people around him

Casting an envious look, he could also feel that this official uniform represented an identity and status that many people would envy. For Francis, it was almost effortless for him to obtain this official position. The Haihan people had already prepared it.

Everything is just waiting for him to relent, so he actually has no real feelings about this position yet.

Of course, Francis also understands that he is just a puppet in this institution. Even the institution itself is just a puppet used by Haihan to manage the Hispanic people. The real ones who give orders and make decisions are still the Manila Provincial Committee led by Qiu Yuan.

Management meeting.

Therefore, Francis' speech did not have much substantive content. He only stated that he would obey the arrangements, conscientiously implement the resolutions of the Interim Management Committee, cooperate with other official agencies, and do a good job in managing the local Hispanic people. As for what's next

He didn't say a word about how to do it. This was beyond the scope of his work, and he was not prepared to step in and speak out for the Western Management Bureau.

Francis's speech was naturally in Spanish, and most of the Chinese dignitaries attending the ceremony had lived in Manila for many years, so they could understand what he said. However, Francis's inaugural speech had no explosive points, and the audience began to whisper among themselves, and the public opinions and topics

Basically, it is inseparable from why Haihan chose Francis for this position, and whether the functional design of this agency indicates that it is just a puppet agency.

As Francis's in-laws, Ding Feng undoubtedly attracted the attention of the guests attending the ceremony. At that moment, several groups of people took the initiative to say hello to the Ding family and his son, hoping to establish a relationship and later have the opportunity to seek help from the Western Management Bureau in business. Ding Feng

It’s hard to go into detail right now, so I can only deal with it with a smile.

After Francis's inauguration speech, there was a simple unveiling ceremony. Amid the applause of the crowd, Qiu Yuan and Xiao Liang pulled down the red cloth covering the plaque of the Western Management Bureau, indicating that the organization had officially begun operation.

According to the design of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Manila Temporary Management Committee, the current main functions of the Western Management Bureau are to register Hispanic people who are unwilling to leave the local area, compile household registrations, verify real estate properties, and arrange related publicity activities to allow Hispanic people to

Being able to adapt to the new social order under Haihan's rule more quickly, and understanding that his future belongs to Haihan rather than the Kingdom of Spain tens of thousands of miles away.

This job does not seem too complicated, but it is quite tedious. In addition to Manila City, where Hispanic people live relatively concentrated, there are dozens of scattered immigrant villages and towns in the area around Manila Bay. The currently counted Hispanic population

There are still nearly three thousand, and the actual number will only be larger. The staff of the Western Management Bureau is only fifty or sixty people, and it is not easy to manage the scattered Hispanic population. In Francis' view, this job is even

It was difficult to even get a clue, and he also wanted to see how the Haihan people would proceed.

Francis's position as director is a false one. The person who is really in charge of the daily affairs of the Western Management Bureau is Ge Yong, another official sent by the Haihan Ministry of Civil Affairs. This man served on Zhifu Island in Shandong in the past two years. This attack

Before the operation in Manila, he was mobilized southward with the northern elite troops. After the war, he came to Manila with Qiu Yuan. Because he had accumulated rich experience in civil administration and diplomacy while in Shandong, Qiu Yuan arranged for him to move to the west.

In the management bureau, although his position is a deputy position, he is the real person in charge of the yamen.

Ge Yong's methods cannot be said to be anything new. They all deployed the work one by one based on past experience and the operating procedures of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He first divided the Hispanic settlement area in Manila Bay into three areas based on the Pasig River boundary.

There are two districts in the north and south, and Manila City belongs to the southern district according to its geographical location. Then based on the distribution of the Hispanic population in the two districts, a specific registration plan will be formulated.

During the Spanish rule, there was also household registration information for local people. Haihan also successfully obtained this information after capturing Manila. However, because many families and individuals were separated, missing, or died during the war, the process had to be carried out slowly after the war.

Check and revise it. In this process, the twenty Hispanic staff recruited in advance will come in handy. Most of the work of checking the information and re-registering must be completed by them.

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The Western Management Bureau has provided these Hispanic staff with quite generous benefits. In addition to a salary that is enough to support a family, they can also enjoy the same priority qualifications as those who enlist in the army when applying for naturalization in the future. When applying for Haihan nationality

After that, these talents will truly open up the path to advancement. At that time, they will no longer just be statisticians at the grassroots level for a lifetime, but will be able to obtain opportunities for further study and promotion by relying on the accumulation of labor points like ordinary Haihan citizens.

For these Hispanic workers, this is undoubtedly a very attractive condition. Although the local ruler has changed, they will not be the objects of rule in the future, but have entered the ruling class group. Manila area

Nowadays, everything is waiting for improvement, and the newly established official agencies need a large number of officials who are familiar with local people's conditions to fill their positions. Although they are just ordinary office workers now, if they can seize the opportunity, it is not impossible for them to become prosperous in the future.

Ge Yong did not deliberately avoid Francis on the administrative methods of the Western Management Bureau, and allowed him to participate in all daily meetings, without really treating him as a puppet. Ge Yong even allowed Francis to put forward his own opinions and suggestions on the affairs of the Western Management Bureau.

Of course, whether he adopts it or not is another matter. Francis was a senior military officer before the war. In his eyes, Ge Yong's measures were like directing a battle. The deployment and deployment were all in order, and everyone had a clear task to complete.

.

When Francis learned that Ge Yong was an official transferred back from the Ming Dynasty, he understood why he could handle these civil affairs issues so calmly. The complexity of the environment of the colony established by Haihan in the Ming Dynasty should not be much worse than that of Manila.

, if Haihan's colony in Shandong can be managed well, then the situation in Manila will naturally not be a problem for him. It is just a matter of changing a group of subordinates and management objects who cannot speak Chinese and write Chinese characters.

Of course, Francis also understands that this kind of thing is easier said than done. Spain's overseas colonial experience is certainly not inferior to Haihan, but there seems to be a clear gap in its ability to manage civil affairs. Before the war, the Manila authorities had little control over local civil affairs.

Francis also knew something about the management situation. At that time, Aragones was responsible for almost all civil affairs. One of the consequences of being in charge of power was that all aspects of management work were in a mess, because he simply did not have the energy to do it.

Taking into account all aspects.

Although Manila also promoted and implemented the household registration system during the Western Unification, due to the complexity of the mixed ethnic groups, the authorities did not implement it well. In the end, the household registration system was only barely implemented among the Hispanic group.

Archives management. However, only a few years after this work was completed, it was used as a wedding dress for Haihan to take over the place. The Haihan people who took over also disliked that the Spanish's preliminary work was not detailed enough, so that many materials needed to be rewritten.

Verifying the registration also made Francis quite emotional.

In order to allow Francis to sit in this puppet position with peace of mind, the interim management committee specially arranged an "inspector" position for little Francis. As for what to inspect and where to inspect, there is no specific content. To put it bluntly, it is

A superficial position. But little Francis is very satisfied with it, because this job basically does not require him to do anything, he can get a salary, and most importantly, he can also get personal freedom - although he cannot leave Manila.

, but it is still much better than the situation of being imprisoned before.

After the Western Management Bureau began to operate, Francis and his son were automatically released and were no longer the targets of Haihan's imprisonment. Their former residence in the city was also fully restored and returned to them. In fact, the father and son only stayed in the Western Management Bureau for half a day.

After a while, I dealt with the two senior officials Qiu Yuan and Xiao Liang who came to see the work situation with the guests, and then got Ge Yong's permission to sneak home and rest.

Fortunately, Francis' residence in the city was not destroyed by the war. Even the damage was not too serious. Several servants at home had not been sent away. This made him feel when he returned home that he might really be lucky enough to be chosen by God.

Not only did his son survive the war well, but he also regained his freedom so quickly after the war and returned home to start his life again. If it weren’t for the dazzling Haihan official uniform on his body that reminded him of today’s

Identity, Francis really has the illusion of going back to before the war.

Little Francis did not feel this way. To him, the cooperation between his father and the Haihan people was a normal transaction. The two parties set out their own conditions and reached a consensus to form a partnership. This was not the same as the previous war.

No conflict. As for the charge of treason, little Francis, who has never set foot in Spain since his birth, does not feel any guilt, especially when he saw those motivated Hispanic colleagues in the Western Bureau today.

I feel that serving Haihan is not a sin or a need to feel guilty towards the Kingdom of Spain.

"Father, I think the Haihan people have shown full sincerity. Maybe you should really consider cooperating with them and do something to prove your ability. I know that you are not the kind of person who is willing to be a puppet.

"Little Francis tried to persuade his father to let go of his worries, regard the current situation as a new beginning, and stop dwelling on the past.

Francis pondered: "It's not that I haven't thought about the problem you mentioned, but it is not easy to truly gain the trust of the Haihan people. What they need now is a Spanish puppet who can control the situation, not a

A capable official, do you understand? If I really try to interfere in the daily affairs of the Western Management Bureau, then maybe the Haihan people will kick me out immediately and replace me with another person who is more suitable as a puppet."

"But it's always worth a try, isn't it? The deputy director treated you very politely today, and also allowed you to understand the daily operations of the Western Management Bureau. I think this is a good start.

"Little Francis continued to encourage: "Trust needs to be established slowly. Just because they don't trust you enough now doesn't mean they will continue to do so in the future."

"Perhaps what you said is right." From the moment Francis agreed to Qiu Yuan to take up this position, his defenses had actually collapsed. However, he still had many scruples in his heart. The Haihan people did not trust him, but he was not willing to do so.

Trust each other gullibly?

Seeing that his father's attitude had relaxed, little Francis didn't dwell on the issue anymore. Instead, he asked him for leave and planned to go to Ding's house to meet his wife who had been away from him for many days.

"I suggest you not to take the initiative to visit us at this time." Francis objected to this: "The Ding family has already met us today. If they still want to maintain a good relationship between the two families, they should visit us as soon as possible."
Chapter completed!