1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3866

Shi Chengwu's words were less of encouragement and more of a pie in the sky, with no end in sight.

But for Lu Congshan, there is no turning back now that he has reached this point. If he wants to live a good life in his later years, he can only continue to move forward according to Haihan's arrangements.

Fortunately, the process of eliminating local pro-Ming forces went relatively smoothly. Although some people were unwilling to have their property confiscated, the recent public execution of Ming soldiers by the Haihan Army made them hesitant to resist, risking being shot. They mostly surrendered when the Haihan Army came to their door.

Lu Congshan was also somewhat impressed by Haihan's efficiency. He had thought that completing such a large number of arrests would inevitably require dealing with the complex local interests, which would take at least a month or two. However, he never expected that Haihan's army would not care about these things at all and would sweep up the list he had compiled in just a few days.

Among those arrested by the Haihan Army on charges of treason, most were actually guests of Lu Congshan, and many even had personal relationships with him. But now Lu Congshan needed to use these people to prove his loyalty to Haihan, and he couldn't care less about personal relationships. He had no choice but to harden his heart and use them as yet another pledge of allegiance.

However, what made Lu Congshan somewhat relieved was that although Hai Han arrested the people in no time, he did not exterminate these pro-Ming people. He simply found a charge to convict them of exile to a distant place. The purpose was to quickly eliminate the pro-Ming forces in Jiujiang without causing panic among the local people due to too much killing, which would lead to a large number of people fleeing to other places.

This approach seems to have put Lu Congshan in a very awkward position, but only he knows that it is actually a blessing in disguise, and in the long run it may even save him a lot of unnecessary trouble.

The most direct impact is that, with these "stubborn forces" gone from the local area, Lu Congshan will undoubtedly face much less resistance when assisting his new superiors in implementing new policies and systems.

He no longer needed to worry about who he could or couldn't offend locally, since Haihan had already taken care of all the tough guys. Now he could fully utilize his familiarity with the area and go all out.

However, Ning Zijing, who had just taken office as the governor of Jiujiang, was not as optimistic as Lu Congshan. He had never had the experience of governing a local area on his own before. Although he had studied the relevant knowledge, he realized when he actually started doing things that the complexity of the problems encountered in reality was far beyond what could be solved by the theoretical knowledge learned from books.

The newly acquired archives of the prefectural government were already giving Ning Zijing a headache. He spent two days in his study almost without sleep, and only managed to read through the local chronicles, government decrees, and some closed criminal cases from the past two or three years. These documents were only a tiny fraction of the entire archives.

However, he still needed to see these things in person. If he relied solely on the verbal reports of surrendered officials like Lu Congshan, he would inevitably miss a lot of information. Only by reading these archival records could he gain a more comprehensive understanding of the basic situation in Jiujiang.

Judging from the information reflected in these documents, the overall financial and public security situation in Jiujiang Prefecture was actually quite acceptable. After all, as an important passage connecting the Yangtze River, it gathered most of the commercial and trade resources of Jiangxi Province, and the amount of wealth flowing within its jurisdiction was quite astonishing.

These commercial resources have also created a large number of job opportunities in Jiujiang. Ning Zijing noticed that the proportion of the population engaged in traditional agricultural production here is far below the average, with a large number of people engaged in trade-related handicrafts, shipping, service industries, and other jobs.

In terms of proportion alone, Ning Zijing even felt that the employment distribution in Jiujiang was somewhat similar to that in Hangzhou, which gave him new expectations for Jiujiang's development prospects. The good employment situation and economic level also made the local security environment in Jiujiang Prefecture relatively stable. Even though it was not too far from the territory ruled by Haihan, there had not been too many disturbances in the past two or three years.

The ambush that occurred during the takeover of Jiujiang City a few days ago is probably the most sensational security incident in the area in recent years.

This might also explain why Lu Congshan was completely unaware of the ambush inside the city and had no preparations for such a sudden situation.

After all, Jiujiang under Lu Congshan's rule had always been a safe place, and he thought he had already dealt with the local generals and military leaders. He never expected that someone would put on such a good show right under his nose.

After gaining a general understanding of the local situation, Ning Zijing summoned Lu Congshan, intending to discuss with him a series of decrees that the new government would soon issue.

"First is taxation. I believe this is one of the most effective measures to stabilize the people's hearts. Therefore, I plan to apply to the Executive Committee to exempt the Jiujiang region from taxes for one year, including all grain taxes and commercial taxes, as a benevolent measure to incorporate Jiujiang into our Haihan Kingdom. What do you think?"

Upon hearing Ning Zijing's question, Lu Congshan quickly replied, "Lord Ning's actions will surely benefit the countless people of this region, and are truly a blessing for Jiujiang! On behalf of the local people, I thank Lord Ning for his benevolent act!"

Although Ning Zijing had encountered many people who flattered him to his face in the past, he had never served as a local official before. Most of them praised him for being young and promising and for his outstanding talent. This was the first time he had been praised for benefiting the local area, and he was quite pleased with it.

However, Ning Zijing was also clear that the purpose of summoning Lu Congshan was not to hear his flattery, but to get more professional advice from the perspective of a former local official. So he said calmly, "Lord Lu, you have been in power here for many years. I would like to hear your opinion. Is there anything about my idea that needs to be improved, or any drawbacks that need to be paid special attention to?"

Lu Congshan said, "Your Excellency's considerations are thorough, and I admire them. As for improvements, there is no need for them. However, this measure must be publicized throughout the prefecture as soon as possible so that all the people can know about the government's benevolent policies. Only in this way can we prevent people from becoming restless."

Ning Zijing nodded, signaling him to continue. Propaganda was one of the strengths of the Haihan regime, and over the years, they had developed mature propaganda strategies for newly occupied territories that could be easily copied. Ning Zijing didn't need to put too much effort into it.

After receiving affirmation, Lu Congshan became bolder and continued, "To be honest, there are some drawbacks. If the collection of grain and commercial taxes is suspended for a year, the funds needed for the operation of government offices at all levels in the prefecture and county, the daily expenses of the garrison troops, and the collection of emergency grain reserves in the government granaries will require more thought and effort from the officials."

Lu Congshan's implication was a reminder to Ning Zijing not to let local affairs spiral out of control in his pursuit of a reputation for "benevolent governance." If the government were to shut down due to lack of funds and supplies, it could indeed trigger widespread chaos.