1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3885

As a representative of the peace-loving faction, Zhao Mingyu personally led the formation of this negotiation team, and he selected and determined most of the members.

Among them were a councilor and a councilor from the Provincial Administration Commission, a deputy prefect from the Nanchang Prefecture, a vice commissioner from the Provincial Judicial Commission, and two commanders from the Jiangxi local garrison.

Without a doubt, these people were all on good terms with Zhao Mingyu, and some of them were even promoted by him, making them his loyal supporters.

Zhao Mingyu's selection of personnel seemed to take into account all aspects, possessing both literary and military talents, but discerning people would notice that there were no people from the Jiangxi Provincial Military Command in this negotiation team.

Although both the Regional Military Commission and the Garrison Military Commission were command institutions of the Ming army, they were subordinate to each other and had different levels of authority. In principle, the local garrison troops should obey the orders issued by the Regional Military Commission.

However, the Commander-in-Chief's side was clearly a pro-war faction, and the vast majority of them were unwilling to support peace talks. If Zhao Mingyu hadn't held a high position and wielded great power, someone would probably have already stood up and cursed him.

The position of the Commander of the Guards was not so firm. A considerable number of the officials, who were from Jiangxi, believed that Zhao Mingyu's plan was the right way to resolve the crisis and were willing to stand up and support the peace talks he presided over.

After all, the areas currently occupied by the Haihan Army in Jiangxi are inextricably linked to their interests, and some of them have even received requests from their families to agree not to participate in the military operations against Haihan.

Knowing he couldn't persuade the people in the Capital Commandery, Zhao Mingyu had no choice but to settle for second best and win over the Guard Commandery, hoping to get some of the generals with military power to his side.

The formation of the negotiation team was fraught with compromises and concessions. If the situation hadn't become so dire, these covert struggles within the bureaucracy might have continued for much longer.

Of course, from the other side's perspective, the Provincial Administration Commission did not play its due role in command and coordination recently. The various prefectures and counties in Jiangxi fought their own battles and received almost no support during their defeat by the Haihan Army.

The military officers under the jurisdiction of the Regional Military Commission would probably think that Zhao Mingyu was the culprit who caused the resistance to fall apart and repeatedly missed opportunities.

However, the Ming army suffered repeated defeats on the Jiangxi battlefield, and the imperial court was also organizing ceasefire negotiations with Haihan. It was an inevitable trend, so the call for peace talks was stronger in Nanchang City, which gave Zhao Mingyu the opportunity to preside over the peace talks.

On June 28, Zhao Mingyu and others left Nanchang City and traveled down the Gan River by boat, quickly arriving at the meeting place.

The person who facilitated this meeting was the manager of Lufaxing in Nanchang. During times of war, only a very small number of people could freely travel between the two camps, and Lufaxing, which had already sided with Haihan, was a special entity that could gain the trust of both sides, thus playing such a bridging role.

The meeting place agreed upon by both sides was Zhao Family Village, where Shi Chengwu's troops had encountered the routed Ming army a few days earlier during their march.

Shi Chengwu needed to coordinate the attack plans with the other two forces, so he set up a temporary command post in Zhao Family Village and also dispatched troops to clear out the fleeing soldiers in the surrounding area to ensure the safety of the Ganjiang River waterway. Therefore, the negotiation meeting between the two sides was naturally arranged there. Zhao Mingyu was also familiar with Zhao Family Village. Besides the fact that the place happened to be the same as his surname, another reason was that he would pass through Zhao Family Village every time he went on patrol by boat, and had even stopped there for supplies on several occasions. Over time, he got to know some of the people in charge of the village.

However, when he arrived at Zhao Family Village, he was not greeted by the old village head he knew, but by the village head's eldest son, Zhao Gan, and several Haihan military officers.

Zhao Mingyu casually asked, "Why didn't Old Master Zhao come? How has his health always been?"

Zhao Gan replied with a gloomy expression, "Your Excellency, my father unfortunately passed away a few days ago and was only buried a few days ago."

Zhao Mingyu asked in astonishment, "What's the reason?"

Zhao Gan said, "The Ming army soldiers who retreated from Raozhou Prefecture came to the village to demand supplies and loot property. My father got into a dispute with them and was then slashed down by the soldier's leader. He died from his injuries!"

Zhao Mingyu sighed, wanting to say something, but swallowed his words back, finally managing to squeeze out only the two words "Please accept my condolences".

There have been many complaints recently about the misconduct of defeated soldiers among the people, but the government is too busy to deal with it all. Zhao Family Village can only accept their bad luck.

The Haihan officer then led Zhao Mingyu and his party to the manor. The original manor house had been requisitioned as a command post, and the reception room where the old manor owner had once had tea with Zhao Mingyu had now been transformed into a staff office filled with various battle maps.

Here, Zhao Mingyu finally met the person he was meeting: the young Haihan general Shi Chengwu. Rumors circulated that this general, who had inherited his father's position, was not yet thirty years old, but had already made outstanding military achievements in recent years. Now, he had finally met him in person.

Shi Chengwu was a very pragmatic person. After meeting Zhao Mingyu and his party, he did not stand on ceremony and led them to the temporary meeting room to begin negotiations.

Shi Chengwu said, "More than a month ago, I advised you to stop resisting as soon as possible and cooperate with our army to take over Jiangxi. If you had listened to me then, you might have been able to get better terms in exchange, but unfortunately you did not cherish the opportunity. Times have changed. You have finally realized that this war is beyond redemption and want to stop the war and negotiate. I would like to hear what other conditions you can offer."

Zhao Mingyu said, "General Shi, you are mistaken. As subjects of the Great Ming, we govern the land on behalf of the Emperor. When faced with foreign invasion, it is our duty to do our best to resist the enemy. As for success or failure, it is not up to us to decide. We only ask that we have a clear conscience! I have come to seek peace talks not for self-preservation, but for the sake of the country and the people, to avoid greater losses caused by war!"

Shi Chengwu said, "What Lord Zhao said is quite right, but unfortunately not everyone thinks like you. Ordinary people just want to live a peaceful life and don't care who rules the country. The orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty that you uphold may be an old system that should have been withdrawn from the stage of history in the eyes of many people."

Zhao Mingyu retorted, "If your country hadn't provoked the conflict, how could the people of Jiangxi have fallen into war?"

Shi Chengwu said, "But the ones who took up swords and spears to slaughter the people of Jiangxi were the Ming soldiers who were supposed to be protecting them. If it weren't for our army's arrival, the hundreds of people in Zhao Family Village would probably have been wiped out by your defeated soldiers long ago!"