1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3851

When war approaches, the first to receive the news are often powerful and wealthy businessmen with close ties to the government. These people are far more adept at seeking profit and avoiding harm than ordinary people. Their most instinctive reaction before the war is to transfer themselves and their assets to areas unaffected by the war.

Before Haihan attacked Yingtianfu, real estate prices in its subordinate cities of Yangzhou and Hangzhou had risen due to the influx of powerful figures from other regions. Now that Yingtianfu had become Haihan's front line in its conquest of the Ming Dynasty, the sudden and unexplained rise in the real estate market was naturally interpreted as a sign of impending war.

Based on this judgment, those who are interested can easily find other signals that confirm this conjecture when they observe other fields.

Recently, the prices of rice, flour, and medicinal herbs in Nanjing have all increased to some extent. Although the increase is not large, such price changes can be interpreted by those who pay attention as being due to the scarcity of related resources.

The military area of ​​Yanziji Wharf in the north of the city is becoming increasingly busy, and sometimes it is even necessary to temporarily requisition the adjacent civilian wharf so that some military vessels can temporarily berth and load and unload cargo.

It is said that at least three infantry battalions have recently moved into several military bases inside and outside Nanjing under the pretext of rotation, but no one has seen the troops leaving Nanjing.

There are also reports from outside sources that the East China Sea Fleet is quietly assembling inland waterway combat vessels, reportedly for routine military training on the Yangtze River. However, it's hard to say whether such training might become a real operation.

With these reports corroborating each other, more and more people began to believe that Haihan might launch another campaign against the Ming Dynasty this year, and Nanjing would be one of the main bases for the operation.

When these rumors reached Hangzhou, some members of the Executive Committee became uneasy. This was because, to date, the Ministry of National Defense had not reported any large-scale military operations against the Ming Dynasty in the near future.

To prevent the military from leaving without prior notice, Ning Qi still included this matter in the executive committee's routine work meeting for discussion.

Defense Minister Yan Chujie's response was also intriguing: "Military deployments against the Ming Dynasty have never ceased, and we have always been preparing for the next round of combat. The key lies in the right timing. We cannot predict when the opportunity will arise, so when taking action, the time to report to the Executive Committee may not be too far in advance."

Ning Qi asked, "Does that mean the military is indeed implementing certain war preparations in the Nanjing area?"

Yan Chujie did not deny this: "If we wait for the right opportunity to take action, it might be too late by then."

Ning Qi pressed on, "What exactly is this 'timing' you're talking about? Could you be more specific?"

Yan Chujie did not respond immediately this time, but instead looked at Tao Donglai. After seeing Tao Donglai nod slightly, he began to explain the situation to the few people present who were still unaware of the facts.

"There is indeed an action plan targeting the Jiangxi region, but it is not necessarily going to break out into the large-scale war that everyone is worried about. This time, the military is likely not the main player, but rather plays a supporting role in intelligence work."

"In addition, this plan was not originally related to Nanjing, but rather to an operation plan called 'Infernal Affairs' that the Ministry of State Security had many years ago. This plan was interrupted for many years for various reasons, and all related materials were sealed. It wasn't until two years ago that He Xi restarted the plan in Sanya."

The "Infiltrator Plan" was a secret operation led by He Xi in the early years. It arranged for a group of young literati to enter the Ming Dynasty, providing them with resources to engage in business or politics, and to remain as pawns for a long period of time. Among these pawns, some have already returned to Haihan, some have disappeared without a trace over the long years, and of course, some have achieved success and have already entered the ranks of the powerful and influential in the Ming Dynasty, becoming prominent figures.

In October 1657, He Xi restarted this long-dormant plan and handed it over to his favorite student Zhang Qianzhi, hoping that he could gain some great merit through this plan and then rightfully take over the Ministry of Security.

In subsequent operations, Zhang Qianzhi also successfully made contact with some of the undercover agents in the "Infernal Affairs" plan, including high-ranking officials such as Xiang Chunfu, the prefect of Ganzhou, Jiangxi.

With such a powerful local official in charge, the Ministry of State Security naturally had even greater ambitions, wanting to gain control of Ganzhou Prefecture without firing a single shot. Up until last year, the relevant preparations had been progressing steadily, and the dawn of hope seemed not far off.

Regarding the Invisible Project, the Security Department had reported to the Executive Committee when it was restarted, so when Yan Chujie brought it up again, everyone still had some recollection of it, but they were not very clear about the subsequent developments.

Ning Qi asked, puzzled, "Ganzhou Prefecture borders the Liangguang region. Even if troops need to be dispatched, they would depart from the south. What does this have to do with the situation in Nanjing?"

Yan Chujie said, "Old Ning, don't worry. Nanjing's target is also Jiangxi, but not Ganzhou Prefecture, but Jiujiang."

The important figures present were all very familiar with geography. Ganzhou and Jiujiang are located at the northern and southern ends of Jiangxi Province, respectively. They immediately realized that if they could take action against these two places at the same time, they could create a coordinated effort.

Yan Chujie paused here and looked at Shi Diwen, saying, "Let Old Shi introduce the situation in Nanjing."

Shi Diwen continued, "They discovered in Nanjing that most of the Ming Dynasty's trade activities entering and leaving our country via the Yangtze River in the past two years have come from Jiangxi. So they have been trying to get in touch with the high-ranking officials in Jiangxi. They later discovered that the current Left Provincial Governor of Jiangxi, Zhao Mingyu, was the imperial examination tutor of Yue Shizong, the Ming Dynasty's ambassador to Hangzhou."

"So we used some methods to turn Yue Shizong against his cause, and asked him to contact that Lord Zhao to see if there was any possibility of turning him against the other side. We also wanted Yue Shizong to think about any acquaintances he might have there. As a result, he contacted Lu Congshan, the prefect of Jiujiang, who was Yue Shizong's classmate in the Hanlin Academy."

Upon hearing this, Ning Qi couldn't help but interrupt Shi Diwen: "Wait, you're saying we've successfully turned Yue Shizong against us? Is that true?"

Shi Diwen nodded and said, "It's absolutely true. We also arranged for Yue Shizong to go to Nanjing a few days ago to persuade Lu Congshan in person. The matter is progressing smoothly. If there are no unexpected events, it's only a matter of time before we take Jiujiang Prefecture."

Ning Qi felt that the amount of information was really too much, and he couldn't digest it all at once.

It turns out that Ambassador Yue, who always talked about "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism," had secretly defected to Haihan and was now working tirelessly for them. The methods he used were probably not as simple as Shi Diwen described.

Such a big thing, yet no one reported it in time. If we hadn't discussed this topic today, who knows how long these things would have been kept hidden.