Military Rule and Rule of Law: The Military Law Office and Intelligence Office

Since she had already taken Yang Yunzhi as a confidant, Hina stopped putting on airs.

She sat down in the chair behind her desk and asked curiously, "What school did you graduate from? How do you know so much?"

"I'm from the Flower Country. My real name is Yang Yunzhi, and I graduated from Golden City Maritime Academy!" Yang Yunzhi introduced himself. "But the school didn't teach me this stuff. I came to understand it myself through reading, observing the world, and combining theory with practice!"

"You can gain that kind of understanding just from reading?" Hina was a little curious. "I read too. Why can't I understand things like that?"

"People have different talents. Some are good at hand-to-hand combat, some at swordsmanship, some at shooting, and some at navigation. Maybe I'm just the type who's more sensitive to words." Yang Yunzhi thought for a moment before explaining, "A lot of people read, but they only read. They receive information, yet they never break that information down, think about it, and study it deeply!"

"Take this report, for example. After reading it, where do you think its greatest difficulty in implementation lies?"

"The source of the two million soldiers!" Hina thought for a moment before answering.

"Actually, recruiting two million soldiers would be easy!" Yang Yunzhi shook his head, then pointed to the second stage, the Reconstruction and Foundation Stage (5 Years). "This part is the hardest!"

"Because our world is a world ruled by people. Changing from rule by people to rule of law would be no less than creating a new world from nothing. The pressure we'd face would be immense!"

"What is rule by people, and what is rule of law?" Hina asked curiously.

"For example, you capture a pirate. He has murdered, set fires, and committed every evil imaginable. What do you think should be done with him?"

"Of course he should be killed!"

"Would you kill him?" Yang Yunzhi continued.

"Of course!" Hina was no delicate princess. She had both the strength and the means.

"Then that would be rule by people. You use your own likes and dislikes to decide whether someone lives or dies!"

"But what's wrong with that?" Hina asked. "He really deserves to die!"

"You're a good person, so your judgment would surely be fine. But what if it were an evil person? If he also thought someone deserved to die, would that person truly deserve to die?"

Hina immediately thought of the Celestial Dragons. They were a group that could execute others at will, regardless of whether those people were slaves, civilians, Marines, or even nobles.

Seen that way, rule by people really was not much good.

"Then what about rule of law?"

"Rule of law means writing a book that states what people are not allowed to do and what consequences they will face if they do it. For example, if someone steals, we arrest him for ten days or half a month. If someone fights and injures another person, we lock him up and make him work for several years. If someone murders, we execute him. Then, after we catch someone, what decides whether he lives or dies will no longer be a person, but that book. We punish people strictly according to its rules. That is rule of law!"

"Oh, so that's rule of law!" Hina nodded. "By that logic, our Marines are governed by law too, since we also have military law!"

"Only laws that are strictly enforced count as rule of law. If there are laws but nobody strictly enforces them, then rule of law is just empty words!"

Hina asked curiously, "So in your view, how well is our Marine military law enforced?"

"Not very well!" Yang Yunzhi shook his head. "At the very least, I haven't seen any organization in our base responsible for overseeing military law!"

"Huh?" Hina froze. "We're only a Marine base. Do we need that kind of organization too?"

"If there is no such organization, then when soldiers at a Marine base commit crimes, who punishes them?"

"There's the Navy Criminal Investigation Division!"

"How often does the Navy Criminal Investigation Division come here?"

Hina immediately fell silent.

The Navy Criminal Investigation Division only had so many people. They might not visit a grassroots Marine base even once a year. How could they possibly catch soldiers who committed crimes?

When they encountered such soldiers, whether they were arrested or not, didn't it usually depend on the base commander's personal conscience?

If the base commander believed they should be arrested, that was still a good thing. But if he believed they should not be arrested, then there was a good chance that the base commander was in cahoots with the soldiers.

Given his status, he might even be the one leading them in their evil deeds.

"Then should our base establish a department to oversee military law?" Hina thought for a moment and asked.

"Our base only has an authorized strength of 350 people, so there's no need for a large department. A small one with seven or eight people would be enough. It could be called the Military Law Office. You would serve as its director and recruit seven military police officers under you. They would work in groups of three to inspect military discipline, while the remaining person would serve as the Military Law Office clerk, responsible for filing and statistics!"

"Alright. Then from today onward, the Military Law Office is established. I'll be the director, and you'll be the clerk!"

Yang Yunzhi continued, "Besides the Military Law Office, I also suggest establishing a Recruitment Office, mainly responsible for recruiting, receiving, and training new recruits. You're supposed to be fighting pirates, so how can you get bogged down with training recruits?"

"Mm, the Recruitment Office is necessary too!" Hina nodded. "How many people should that department have?"

"Three will do. One oversees everything and handles recruitment and reception, while the other two train the recruits! The person responsible for recruitment and receiving recruits needs to be approachable and can't scare people away. If recruits think the training is too hard and want to run, he also needs to sweet-talk them into staying. As for the two responsible for training recruits, they need to be stern and serious. They can't be too easy to get along with!"

"In short, one says nice things and plays the good guy, while two say harsh things and play the bad guys!"

Hina suddenly thought of something. Their Elite Training Camp back then seemed to have worked the same way. The chief instructors all wore dark expressions, while Zephyr had been kind and approachable.

So that was the trick. She had only learned it today after listening to Yang Yunzhi!

"Besides the Recruitment Office, are there any other departments we lack?" Hina continued.

"Mm, we also need to establish an Intelligence Office, responsible for gathering intelligence on pirates from every level. That way, we can strike pirates precisely instead of patrolling the sea like headless flies!" Yang Yunzhi said. "Many low-ranking pirates on pirate ships were forced or tempted into joining by their captains. As long as we give them a little money and promise not to kill them when we crack down on pirates, they'll tell us their ship's routes and destinations themselves!"

"You can catch pirates like that?" Hina was utterly astonished after hearing the idea. The Marines truly had no intelligence organization, and she did not know whether they simply did not value one or had never thought of it.

"That's exactly how you can catch them!" Yang Yunzhi nodded. "Intelligence work is of utmost importance. It must be handled by someone you absolutely trust. Otherwise, once intelligence leaks, it won't be us catching pirates—it'll be pirates catching us!"

"Mm, that's true!" Hina nodded. "Then you can serve as the director of this Intelligence Office!"

Yang Yunzhi hurriedly shook his head. "I'm only a Seaman Third Class. How could I hold a position like that? No, no!"

"If you won't do it, where am I supposed to find someone I trust?" Hina said. "And the soldiers I recruit are all muscle for brains. Besides you, no one understands this!"

"As for your rank, I'll promote you to Ensign!"

"No need for Ensign. Just make my Seaman Second Class rank official first!" Yang Yunzhi waved his hand. "As for this Intelligence Office, you can put your name on it. How about I serve as deputy director? That way, I can borrow your authority when recruiting people!"

"That works!" Hina nodded.

Yang Yunzhi then asked, "Then could you give us some funding for the Intelligence Office first?"

"Intelligence work naturally needs funding. Otherwise, why would anyone pass information to you?"

Hina was speechless, but after thinking about it, she felt that he was right.

"Fine. I'll give you 200,000 Beli first. If intelligence work really helps me catch pirates, it's not like I can't give you more!"

"Alright!" Yang Yunzhi nodded. Base 36's jurisdiction was not very large, so 200,000 Beli would be enough for the initial stage.

"By the way, should we submit this report for the higher-ups to see?" Hina picked up the report Yang Yunzhi had previously written on eliminating the mafia.

Although she lacked the ability to carry it out, it still felt wasteful to just leave it in a drawer to gather dust!

"That wouldn't be impossible!" Yang Yunzhi considered it. "Although this policy can't be implemented, it would still be good to leave an impression on the higher-ups. At least they would know there are talented people below. I'm just worried they'll learn about a talent like me and transfer me away!"

"Then do you want to be transferred away?" Hina looked at Yang Yunzhi, her gaze carrying an unusual undertone.

Yang Yunzhi shook his head without hesitation. "Of course not!"

"Why?" Hina asked. "Serving at Headquarters offers a bigger platform, faster promotion, access to many experts there, and the chance to learn plenty of skills!"

"But Headquarters also has plenty of petty people. If you perform too well there, you might attract jealousy. With my small frame, I could disappear without a sound someday. But if I don't perform well at Headquarters, what would be the point of going?"

"I understand!" Hina nodded. "I'll make it clear to Sister Tsuru that you won't be transferred away!"

"Mm, that would be best!"