1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3865

Over the next two days, the Haihan Army conducted a thorough search of Jiujiang City and its surroundings. After confirming that there were no other lurking armed personnel, Ning Zijing and Ha Jianyi finally entered the city's government office and began to officially take over local military and political affairs.

This was no easy task; their first task was to receive the mountain of documents and archives piled up in the government archives.

As agreed with Shi Chengwu beforehand, Lu Congshan carefully preserved all kinds of documents from Jiujiang Prefecture. These official documents covered Jiujiang's data since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and some of them had been stored in the warehouse for more than two hundred years. Their value was difficult to measure in monetary terms.

Of course, completing the inventory of these documents in a short period of time is not an easy task. Some of the older documents are so worn that the paper has deteriorated, and they might crumble into dust with the slightest touch.

Even with the documents and files, and the few junior officials recommended by Lu Congshan who were familiar with the business, it would probably take the new government at least five or six days to check all the documents in the warehouse.

Ha Jianyi unceremoniously handed over the task of checking the documents to Ning Zijing. It wasn't that he intended to take the opportunity to slack off, but rather that the process of taking over military affairs would not be easy either.

Jiujiang Prefecture governed five counties: Dehua, De'an, Ruichang, Hukou, and Pengze. Pengze County had already surrendered on the way to Haihan's army, while the other four counties were taken over by Haihan after the army occupied Jiujiang Prefecture.

Although there has been no armed resistance so far, and Lu Congshan has claimed that the magistrates of these counties have been communicated in advance, Ha Jianyi still dares not be careless and has sent a battalion of troops to each county to serve as a sufficient deterrent.

Especially in the south, where Nanchang is located, it is even more crucial to be on guard. It is the closest major city to Jiujiang, and if the Ming Dynasty were to mobilize troops for a counterattack, Nanchang would be the most likely location.

In addition, patrols need to be strengthened on the waterways leading from Jiujiang to the heart of Jiangxi and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to guard against a counterattack by the Ming Dynasty from the water.

However, Shi Chengwu volunteered to take on the task of commanding the fleet to patrol the waterways near Jiujiang, leaving Ha Jianyi to oversee the overall situation from the city.

Shi Chengwu did this not only to help Ha Jianyi quickly get into the position of garrison commander, but also because he had his own selfish motives.

Jiujiang was just a relatively important location in the Yangtze River basin. Shi Chengwu was more concerned about the next step after taking Jiujiang.

Although he had promised his father, Shi Diwen, that Jiujiang was the main target of the operation at this stage, he was not willing to stop there. Even if he would not take action against other areas in the surrounding area immediately, he would at least take this opportunity to find out about the hydrological conditions and geographical environment of the area so that he would not be completely clueless when formulating the battle plan.

As for whether Ning Zijing and Ha Jianyi could keep order in Jiujiang Prefecture, Shi Chengwu wasn't too worried.

Although Ning Zijing possessed a somewhat pedantic scholarly air, he was ultimately an elite figure among the younger generation, and Shi Chengwu believed he should be able to quickly take charge of local government affairs. Moreover, the team of civil officials sent from Hangzhou to assist him should arrive in Jiujiang in three to five days, at which point some tedious desk work could be delegated to his subordinates. As for Ha Jianyi, his performance during the handover process over the past few days shattered Shi Chengwu's preconceived notions about him.

Shi Chengwu originally thought that Ha Jianyi was a quiet and introverted person, but after this collaboration, he realized that Ha Jianyi was actually the type of person who was "ruthless and didn't talk much" and would not hold back when it was time to take action.

Ha Jianyi personally participated in the interrogation of the two groups of soldiers captured in Jiujiang City. Moreover, it was he who proposed and personally supervised the execution of the Ming military officers leading the groups outside the East Gate of Jiujiang.

Later, under Shi Diwen's instruction, Lu Congshan compiled a list of local pro-Ming forces, and Ha Jianyi organized and carried out the arrest operation. In just two days, forty or fifty well-known local figures were arrested, along with their families, servants, and others, totaling several hundred people.

If these people were detained locally, things could easily get complicated, so Ha Jianyi didn't let them spend the night in the Jiujiang prison. He sentenced them all to exile three thousand li away, and then loaded them onto a ship overnight. Their final destination was either the harsh land of Liaodong or a newly developed settlement in the South China Sea. In short, he wouldn't let them easily return to Jiujiang.

This approach was naturally quite simplistic and crude, and inevitably some innocent people would be dragged into it, but it suited Shi Chengwu's taste perfectly. Back when he first arrived in Nanjing, he had actually used a similar method to deal with the chaotic situation at the time, which had a very good deterrent effect in a very short period of time.

Jiujiang is much smaller than Nanjing, so the results of the investigation will spread much faster. As those pro-Ming figures disappear one by one, the Ming Dynasty's influence in the area will decline rapidly. Ordinary people who are not implicated will naturally realize that their environment is no longer under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

It was precisely because of Ha Jianyi's decisiveness and resoluteness in the past few days that Shi Chengwu was able to entrust him with the command in Jiujiang City. Even if any trouble arose in the city, he believed that Ha Jianyi would be able to quickly extinguish the flames.

Former Prefect Lu Congshan has not had an easy time these days. He was supposed to stay in Jiujiang as an advisor after the handover, and be given a new position once the situation stabilized. But the ambush incident has caused him to lose almost all his wealth and honor, and now he is in a situation where he is disliked by both sides.

The people of Haihan lost much of their trust in him, and the locals, due to the arrest and exile of many prominent figures, regarded him as a traitor.

Lu Congshan naturally felt extremely wronged. He had fully complied with the prior agreement with Shi Chengwu, basically fulfilled all the conditions proposed by the other party, and also achieved the goal of keeping Jiujiang from being ravaged by war. How could he end up like this?

In any case, it seems that it will be difficult to stay in Jiujiang for long. Lu Congshan is also wondering if he should take the initiative to apply to Shi Chengwu to continue his official career in another place.

So before Shi Chengwu left Jiujiang City to lead his troops to patrol the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Lu Congshan found him and told him his thoughts.

After listening, Shi Chengwu simply smiled and patted Lu Congshan on the shoulder, saying, "Lord Lu, you are a smart man, but don't let your smartness go to your own demise. First, you must prove your worth in Jiujiang before I will consider whether you should be transferred to another post."

Before Lu Congshan could offer a few words of explanation, Shi Chengwu preemptively said, "What you did before can at most be considered a balance of merits and demerits. I didn't hold you accountable because I felt that you had indeed done a lot of hard work. If you can assist the newly arrived Lord Ning and get Jiujiang back on track as soon as possible, I will reserve a position for you in Nanjing."