1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3912

If we start counting from the peaceful occupation of Jiujiang in March, the Haihan Army's military operations in Jiangxi have now lasted for nearly four months.

During this period, more than 20,000 troops from the three regions of Donghai, Fujian, and Guangdong and Guangxi were dispatched, along with more than 30,000 logistical personnel, including civilians and laborers. Nearly 10,000 tons of various combat materials were mobilized across regions, and a large number of ships and mules were also put into the operation. It was the largest military operation since the second war against the Ming Dynasty in 1657.

However, judging from the results of the war, this year's military campaign to attack Jiangxi seems to be far less successful than the second war against the Ming Dynasty.

Both wars lasted three to four months. The second war against the Ming Dynasty occupied a large coastal area from the Jianghuai region to the Shandong Peninsula and the Bohai Bay, causing the Ming Dynasty to lose all its coastline and become a landlocked country.

The operation in Jiangxi was actually quite routine; there were no particularly outstanding performances, but there were no major mistakes either. Everything went according to plan.

However, the Executive Committee still considered the operation to be of great significance because it was the first large-scale military operation to be independently commanded by a younger generation of generals on the front lines. The senior military leaders only provided assistance from the rear and did not directly interfere with the operations on the front lines.

The performance of young generals such as Shi Chengwu, Ha Jianyi, You Zhiyuan, and Xu Kaiyuan in action proves that they have inherited the military thinking and command capabilities of their predecessors and should be able to gradually take over the positions of the older generals.

The latest issue of the Haihan Times devoted a large portion of its coverage to the details of the Battle of Nanchang, which once again set a new record for circulation. It is said that more than 3,000 copies of the newspaper were sold in Hangzhou alone.

Meng Jinfeng, the newly appointed ambassador of the Ming Dynasty who had been in Hangzhou for three months, naturally would not miss this public information channel. Moreover, after carefully reading the articles in the newspaper, he discovered a detail that might be considered a positive development.

Meng Jinfeng had read through countless summary articles about the Jiangxi campaign, whether in the *Haihan Times* or other newspapers. He was certain that none of these articles referred to the battles in Jiangxi as the "Third War Against the Ming."

Don't underestimate this seemingly minor detail in word choice and sentence structure. Meng Jinfeng had done a lot of research over the past three months, especially studying the details of the two previous wars against the Ming Dynasty and the official characterization of the wars by the Haihan government. Therefore, he could draw a bold conclusion from this.

With the change of control of Nanchang, Haihan's offensive is likely to come to an end, and the scale of the operation will not be expanded further, thus preventing it from turning into the "Third War against the Ming".

This was naturally a great joy for Meng Jinfeng, who had been negotiating in Hangzhou for three months without making much progress.

Since taking office, he has been in a state of utter chaos, repeatedly being refused meetings with the Executive Committee, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense passing the buck back and forth, and no one willing to negotiate with him.

Helpless, Meng Jinfeng could only spend more time studying the war situation, the political system of Haihan, the governing style of the Executive Committee, and all other factors that might affect the war.

But the more they studied it, the more desperate they became. Throughout Haihan, there wasn't a single voice opposing the war; it seemed everyone was hoping to defeat the Ming Dynasty in one battle and take its place. This worried Meng Jinfeng greatly. Jiangxi might not be enough to satisfy Haihan's appetite, and the war might even end with the destruction of the Ming Dynasty.

But the situation suddenly took a dramatic turn. Judging from the articles published in today's newspapers, Haihan seems to be planning to wrap things up after taking Jiangxi. The best way for Meng Jinfeng to confirm his theory is to contact Haihan's official channels and see if their attitude has changed.

There was no need to wait for an auspicious day for this. Meng Jinfeng ordered his men to prepare a car immediately; he was going to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs right now. In the past three months, Meng Jinfeng had probably visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Haihan more times than he had traveled to Hangzhou, but most of the time he simply sat in the reception room, waiting to be received by Haihan diplomats, or being refused an audience.

The actual effective time for holding business talks with Haihan diplomats probably added up to less than two hours.

This was certainly not because the Haihan Ministry of Foreign Affairs was neglecting its duties, but rather because it was intentionally giving the diplomatic relationship between the two countries a cold shoulder. Meng Jinfeng could clearly sense that Haihan had no intention of engaging in peace talks with the Ming Dynasty before this round of fighting ended, and it even lacked the willingness to propose ceasefire conditions.

Meng Jinfeng hoped that such treatment was a thing of the past. If Haihan did not intend to continue the war, then there would be no need to shut him out anymore, and the two sides should have some issues to negotiate.

Meng Jinfeng's carriage arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the north bank of West Lake just after 9:00 AM, which was shortly after the start of the workday. Usually, there weren't many visitors at this time, so there was no need to wait in line for an audience.

However, when Meng Jinfeng entered the reception room he was very familiar with, he found that there were actually people who had arrived even earlier than him.

Meng Jinfeng recognized the man; he was Tomas, the Portuguese ambassador.

When Meng Jinfeng first arrived in Hangzhou, he visited the ambassadors of various countries in Hangzhou with the idea of ​​uniting them to put pressure on Haihan, including Portugal.

However, Portugal had been allied with Haihan for many years, so naturally it would no longer speak up for the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, Haihan and the Ming Dynasty were still at war. Portugal's decision not to send troops to participate in Haihan's attack on Jiangxi was already considered quite neutral.

At that time, Meng Jinfeng really couldn't offer any terms to get Portugal to side with him, so the previous meetings did not reach any substantive agreements at the national level.

However, Thomas also stated at the time that, given the "traditional friendship" between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty, he would step in at the appropriate time to help the Ming Dynasty mediate and restore peace with Haihan as soon as possible.

This may have been just polite talk in a diplomatic setting, or perhaps Portugal's attempt to balance international relations. In any case, Meng Jinfeng believed that this at least eliminated a potential threat to the Ming Dynasty.

Neither of them expected that their next meeting would be at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Haihan. Thomas was slightly surprised to see Meng Jinfeng, but he quickly stood up and greeted him, "Lord Meng, it's been a long time!"

During their pleasantries, Thomas revealed the purpose of his visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: he intended to request permission from Haihan to send a Portuguese caravan to Jiangxi.

"Lord Meng, as you know, Jiangxi is famous for its top-quality porcelain, which is a valuable international commodity, and the profits from exporting it overseas are considerable! If we could ship directly from Jiangxi, it would be a huge business opportunity for our country..."

Seeing Thomas's beaming face, Meng Jinfeng suppressed his displeasure and interrupted him: "Your Excellency may have forgotten that Jiangxi is the territory of the Ming Dynasty... at least in name, Jiangxi has not yet been incorporated into Haihan!"