1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3879

Yue Shizong's words came from deep feeling. If he hadn't foreseen that he would be purged and punished by the court in the future, why would he have secretly moved his family from the country to Hangzhou to reunite with them? His purpose was to settle his family in the relatively safe Haihan and resolve his worries about the future.

The threat from Huo Jingxing, a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, made Yue Shizong realize that he was nothing more than a scapegoat in the eyes of the court, and that he could suffer a terrible backlash at any time if the situation changed.

This situation prompted him to later decide to join the Han Dynasty and then try to resign from his official post to extricate himself from the conflict between the two countries.

Of course, before that, he had to follow Hai Han's arrangements and contact his old acquaintances to persuade them to surrender, paving the way for Hai Han's plan to conquer Jiangxi in exchange for Hai Han's protection.

Regardless of whether Meng Jinfeng came to Hangzhou because the court needed someone to take the blame, or because he thought the position of ambassador to Haihan was a lucrative post and wanted to take the opportunity to gain some fame and fortune, Yue Shizong believed that Meng Jinfeng's future prospects were not very good.

Out of goodwill, he reminded the other party of the hidden dangers of the job before leaving.

Meng Jinfeng, who rarely had the opportunity to leave the capital, had obviously not thought much about this potential danger before. After listening to Yue Shizong's words, he realized that his situation was probably more dangerous than expected. The difficulties he faced not only came from the hostile Hai Han, but he also had to be wary of someone stabbing him in the back.

Thinking of this, Meng Jinfeng couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. How could he have taken on such a hot potato? If he wasn't careful, this job of presiding over the ceasefire negotiations might be the last stop in his career.

However, Yue Shizong has extensive experience in this area, and if Meng Jinfeng can get his guidance, he believes he still has a chance to turn the tide and get through this crisis safely.

Meng Jinfeng's mind raced, and he asked Yue Shizong, "I think Shangtianzhu is a quiet and beautiful place. I'd like to stay here for a couple of days. Is that alright?"

Seeing that he had taken his words to heart, Yue Shizong nodded and said, "The renovation of Shangtianzhu Temple requires a lot of money. Accommodating pilgrims and making offerings is one of the main sources of income. Lord Meng only needs to contribute more incense money, and the monks in the temple will arrange food and lodging for him."

Seeing that the other party did not object, Meng Jinfeng decided to stay at the temple for the time being. In any case, the prospects for the ceasefire negotiations were bleak, and it wouldn't matter if he delayed for a day or two. He might as well stay here and learn from Yue Shizong about his experience in dealing with Haihan, so that he could avoid some detours in the future.

Yue Shizong's assessment of Haihan's official attitude was actually quite accurate. Especially when he heard that Meng Jinfeng had encountered setbacks upon his arrival in Hangzhou, he was even more certain that the Executive Committee was intentionally stalling for time.

Since Haihan has chosen to continue its advance and occupy more areas after capturing Jiujiang and Ganzhou, it will not consider a ceasefire at this stage. Even if the Ming Dynasty has a strong desire to conduct ceasefire negotiations, the Executive Committee will not choose to cooperate. It is more likely that they will give a perfunctory attitude and use diplomatic means to buy time, allowing Haihan's army to gain a greater advantage on the Jiangxi battlefield.

By this time, more than a month had passed since Haihan launched its campaign against Jiangxi, and the reviewed frontline battle reports had begun to appear in major newspapers, causing quite a stir within Haihan. Although the people of Haihan were already accustomed to similar news of territorial expansion every year, whenever Haihan expanded its territory through military action against the Ming Dynasty, it always attracted wider attention.

After all, at least 80% of the territory currently ruled by Haihan originated from the Ming Dynasty. Han Chinese have consistently constituted the vast majority of the population. Many of the older residents were originally citizens of the Ming Dynasty, and although they have since changed their nationality, they still harbor special feelings for their homeland.

Although from the official perspective, the Haihan Army's operations in Jiangxi were somewhat bumpy and not very smooth, in the eyes of ordinary people, the fact that they were able to capture five prefectures in just over a month was a smooth and easy pace, no different from their previous operations in other regions.

Of course, observant people will also notice some details mentioned in the battle report, such as the appearance of some unfamiliar young officials in this operation to attack Jiangxi, and these people are very likely to be appointed as the civil and military leaders of the newly occupied areas.

It is even rumored that the Jiangxi Chamber of Commerce in Hangzhou has begun to secretly inquire about the family backgrounds of these young officials, so as to find channels to make contact as early as possible and prepare for the resumption of trade activities after the war.

However, although the merchants were quick-witted, those who only received the news at this point were destined to be left behind by those who truly had connections and influence.

For example, Lu Faxing of Jiujiang, relying on his connections with the top management of Haihan, transferred a large amount of resources and wealth out of Jiangxi before the war started. He even ran away with all the ships under his name. In this way, the impact on his business was minimized when Haihan marched into Jiujiang.

Once Haihan had stabilized the situation in Jiujiang, Lu Faxing ordered the cargo ships that had been moved to Nanjing, Yangzhou and other places to return to Jiujiang fully loaded with goods in order to stabilize the local post-war supply of materials.

Haihan officials were happy to see this happen and gave it the green light. Lufax not only made a fortune from this opportunity, but also further consolidated its commercial position and influence in Jiangxi.

Today, shipping links between the Poyang Lake region of Jiangxi and the outside world have been almost completely severed by Haihan. Under these circumstances, Lufaxing became one of the few large trading companies that could still maintain normal shipping exchanges with the outside world, and effortlessly monopolized the commercial resources of northern Jiangxi.

Meanwhile, ordinary merchants, lagging behind in the news, were still racking their brains about how to establish relationships with the local officials appointed by Haihan. As for restarting trade activities in Jiangxi, they were several steps behind merchants like Lufaxing.

As one of the direct beneficiaries of Haihan's expansion into Jiangxi, Lu Congshan, the former prefect of Jiujiang, no longer holds a formal official position, but he still wields considerable influence in Jiujiang solely through his title of "Special Advisor to the Jiujiang Management Committee."

After Shi Chengwu and Ha Jianyi led their troops south, Lu Congshan became Ning Zijing's most important assistant. Based on his understanding of the local situation in Jiujiang, he gave Ning Zijing a lot of useful advice on handling local affairs. At the same time, the large amount of supplies transported back from Haihan by Lu Faxing also played a very important role in stabilizing local prices.

These positive actions finally allowed Lu Congshan to redeem the bad impression left during the handover of Jiujiang. Ning Zijing's trust in him also grew day by day, and he even tacitly approved Lu Faxing's preferential privileges in engaging in trade activities in the occupied areas.