1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3849

Shi Chengwu had a military post and could not leave Nanjing for too long. Moreover, he was eager to return to inform Tao Hongfang of the good news. Therefore, his inspection tour in Tongling County lasted only until the afternoon. He did not even stay for dinner before hurriedly embarking on his return journey.

Yue Shizong, having been invited, naturally accompanied Shi Chengwu as they left Tongling. However, before boarding the ship, Yue Shizong noticed another scene at the dock.

Disembarking from a ship were groups of young men, numbering over a hundred. Most of them carried luggage and their eyes were filled with curiosity about their surroundings; they were clearly not locals.

As Yue Shizong was wondering where these people came from, someone on the dock was already calling out to them loudly: "Come, come, look this way! Everyone, gather at the dock and rest for a while. Soon, a carriage will take you to the mine. We'll handle your identity registration and accommodation arrangements. Once you get to the mine, someone will guide you."

Upon hearing this, Yue Shizong understood that this must be a ship full of miners recruited from other places.

Although the copper mines in Tongling have adopted Haihan's advanced technology and machinery, they still require a large number of workers and have a considerable demand for miners. They will likely offer very attractive wages to recruit young and strong men from the surrounding areas.

Judging from their clothing and behavior, this group of young men on board most likely came from the Ming Dynasty's territory.

Seeing this, Shi Chengwu deliberately asked the local officials who were seeing him off, "How is the recruitment situation going?"

The official quickly replied, "General Shi, this month and last month, we've had about a ship full of people every day, which is barely enough."

If this calculation is correct, at least two to three thousand people would come to Tongling every month. For the Ming Dynasty, such a rate of population loss is alarming.

It's important to understand that Tongling is merely a county, and its living conditions are far from ideal, so the geographical scope for recruiting workers is likely limited. However, if regions under Haihan's rule all employed similar operational methods to Tongling, the rate at which immigrants could be absorbed from the Ming Dynasty might even surpass the speed at which wars were waged.

Yue Shizong understood that population is an important component of national strength. With the continuous outflow of young and able-bodied men from the Ming Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, the gap between the two countries' national strength would only widen in the future.

However, the Ming Dynasty seemed to have no effective solutions to this problem. At least in Yue Shizong's view, it seemed difficult to stop this trend of population movement.

The secret meeting between the two countries' officials in Tongling County did not seem to cause any immediate stir. Qin Jian, who was in Nanjing, was also unaware that Shi Chengwu had secretly met with Lu Congshan, the powerful figure behind Lu Publishing House.

Qin Jian was eager to make connections and secure some business in relocating powerful and influential figures from the Ming Dynasty to Haihan. However, most of the people he had contacted so far were just running errands for others and had no say in such important matters. At most, they could only promise to pass on messages to their masters and would consider asking for his help if needed.

Qin Jian knew this couldn't be rushed; for now, he could only cast a wide net and wait for the fish to come. Anyway, working at the Yanziji Wharf allowed him to gather information from all sides, and he would eventually find a suitable partner.

However, he didn't have to wait long before someone came to his door.

The one who found the Qin Jian was none other than Cheng Yunya, the second manager of Lufaxing, to whom he had previously put in a lot of effort.

Cheng Yunya came to him for a simple reason: he hoped that Qin Jian could help him find some more worthwhile farmland and real estate to buy in and around Nanjing.

Qin Jian tentatively asked, "Manager Cheng, are you planning to make great strides here?"

Cheng Yunya shook his head slightly, raised his hand and pointed upwards, saying, "It was arranged for a big shot above." Qin Jian was delighted upon hearing this and said, "Not bad, Manager Cheng! You actually managed to persuade your backer? Are you planning to pledge allegiance to Haihan?"

Cheng Yunya said, "I don't know what the higher-ups decided. I haven't even had time to go back to Jiangxi yet, and I've already received a letter from there telling me to set up a business here as soon as possible."

Qin Jian said, "As soon as possible? How urgent is that?"

Cheng Yunya said, "To be honest, Lord Qin, the deadline given by the higher-ups is very tight. This matter needs to be handled as quickly as possible. So, we can forget about real estate that cannot be sold immediately even if a price has been negotiated. Only transactions where money is exchanged on the spot are acceptable."

Qin Jian feigned difficulty and said, "If there is such a requirement, then there will indeed be far fewer suitable buyers. Moreover, if you are in such a hurry, it is easy for others to raise the price on the spot!"

Cheng Yunya said, "As long as it's a good house and good land, a slightly higher price is fine. This time, the employer has given me a sufficient budget, so I can try to buy as many places as possible!"

Qin Jian slapped his thigh and said, "Money makes things easier. Manager Cheng, please sit for a moment. I will order someone to prepare a carriage and then go find a suitable place."

Since discussing with his brother-in-law Qu Deren about taking on the business of settling down powerful and influential figures in the Ming Dynasty, they had anticipated that these people would definitely buy houses and land in Nanjing to settle down. So, the two of them had started to collect information on properties for sale in and around Nanjing and had already reached agreements with several properties. They agreed that if they could find buyers, they would receive a commission based on a certain percentage of the transaction price.

Now that Cheng Yunya has taken the initiative to approach him and is not price-sensitive, it's like a fat sheep delivered to Qin Jian's doorstep.

While Qin Jian was preparing the carriage, he instructed his men to go ahead and visit the places he planned to take Cheng Yunya to see, and to get information from the property owners.

In addition, he specifically ordered someone to find Qu Deren and ask Qu Deren to make corresponding arrangements for the resources he had found.

As expected, Cheng Yunya was extremely decisive during the subsequent on-site inspections. He almost always finalized deals on the spot for properties with good conditions, and even if he knew the prices were higher than the market price, he basically had no intention of bargaining.

Even some properties that weren't in great condition, Cheng Yunya actually bought after inspecting them. According to him, although the houses weren't great, the locations were good, and they could be renovated or rebuilt in the future.

In just half a day, Cheng Yunya bought five properties in Nanjing, including several large mansions with high prices.

Even though Qin Jian had seen many wealthy customers before, he had never seen anyone spend money like Cheng Yunya, buying so many properties in just half a day.

But at lunchtime, Cheng Yunya seemed to want more and asked Qin Jian to lead the way outside the city again in the afternoon to see the nearby Liangtian Farm.

However, finding farmland outside the city is not as convenient as looking at houses. The roads are long and scattered, and you have to find a local to guide you. Otherwise, even a local expert like Qin Jian can easily get lost in the crisscrossing fields.

In the entire afternoon, only one deal was finalized: Cheng Yunya purchased 400 mu of land from a wealthy landowner in Jiangning County, south of the city. Cheng Yunya paid the deposit on the spot and signed a contract with the other party.

On the way back, Cheng Yunya examined the pile of house and land deeds he had signed that day in the carriage, but there was no joy on his face. It seemed that he was still dissatisfied with the progress.