1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3922

Quyuan Fenghe on the west bank of West Lake in Hangzhou is one of the famous Ten Scenes of West Lake. Quyuan, which embodies this beautiful scenery, became one of the most popular gathering places for the local upper class after the Han Dynasty moved its capital to Hangzhou due to its quiet and elegant environment.

Today, it's clear that some wealthy person is hosting a banquet at Quyuan again, as the parking lot outside the gate is full of spacious four-wheeled carriages. Judging from their design, these are not the kind of public transportation that charges passengers a fee; they are all custom-made carriages that cost a lot of money, with each one possibly costing tens of thousands of yuan.

However, what attracted the attention of passersby the most was not these luxurious carriages, nor the arrogant grooms and servants beside them, but rather the group of heavily armed soldiers who were maintaining order and checking people entering and leaving the Quyuan gate today.

Such a scene is naturally rare, so people passing by the entrance of Quyuan would slow down and take a few more glances, secretly wondering which military leader had such a grand display.

Occasionally, passersby who want to enter the Quyuan (a type of ancient Chinese opera) without knowing the situation will be politely stopped and informed that the Quyuan has been booked for today by a distinguished guest, and they will be asked to come back another day.

Some well-informed individuals tried to find out the identities of the main guests, but they didn't get any specific information. They only knew that most of the guests came from other places and were not locals of Hangzhou.

At this moment, a black carriage, escorted by several cavalrymen, arrived outside the Quyuan gate. A dark-skinned middle-aged officer stepped out of the carriage, saluted the soldiers on duty at the gate, and walked straight into the Quyuan.

Someone recognized the middle-aged officer as Dai Chengrong, the commander of the 2nd Regiment of the 7th Division.

As is well known, the 7th Division of the Army is the main force of the garrison in the East China Sea Region, while the 2nd Regiment is stationed in Hangzhou and is responsible for the security of key areas within dozens of miles around Hangzhou. It is one of the garrison forces protecting the capital.

Dai Chengrong, as the regimental commander, naturally held a certain social standing in Hangzhou and could mobilize and deploy armed forces both inside and outside the city. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the armed soldiers guarding the entrance to the music academy were undoubtedly under his command.

For an ordinary military officer, booking an entire Quyuan (a traditional Chinese opera troupe) for a banquet would be far too extravagant, and they might not even be able to afford the associated expenses. But since the person who did this was Dai Chengrong, it seems perfectly reasonable.

Dai Chengrong was born into a family of salt merchants from Huizhou in Yangzhou. His father, Dai Yingda, was a representative figure of Yangzhou salt merchants, and his family's wealth was among the top in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions.

Back then, the Anhui salt merchants in Yangzhou took the initiative to cooperate with Haihan and defeated their rival, the Shanxi-Shaanxi salt merchants group. They then cooperated with Haihan to take over Yangzhou City, thus gaining the trust of Haihan's top management.

From then on, Yangzhou salt merchants began to use their wealth to make inroads in various fields, including the officialdom.

Dai Chengrong rose from a local militia commander to a colonel and regimental commander in the main force of the Haihan Army in just over a decade, and the Yangzhou salt merchant group behind him certainly played a significant role in his rise.

Of course, Dai Chengrong would also use his position to give special treatment to his family members. For example, he would provide them with some non-public information that did not involve military secrets. As for how to turn this information into profit, that was a matter for the old foxes in Yangzhou.

Today, the guests that Dai Chengrong is entertaining at the Quyuan Garden by West Lake are high-ranking salt merchants from Anhui who are visiting Hangzhou.

Representatives from the seven major Anhui salt merchant families—Dai, Yang, Ji, Ma, Xu, Cui, and Guo—were present this time, with several family heads attending in person, such as Dai Yingda, the head of the Dai family.

However, this group trip was low-key, and the outside world was unaware that these wealthy individuals had suddenly appeared in Hangzhou from Yangzhou overnight. Their low-key arrival in Hangzhou was certainly not for a lavish affair by West Lake, but rather for other important business.

Taking this opportunity, the old guys also wanted to meet Dai Chengrong. After all, he had been staying in Hangzhou for a long time, and they could not only learn about the current situation in the Haihan army from him, but also perhaps get some inside information from the Haihan leadership.

However, Dai Chengrong, who organized this meeting, actually booked such a famous place as Quyuan and even deployed a team of soldiers to guard the gate. Such a grand display was bound to attract more attention, which was completely contrary to the salt merchants' idea of ​​traveling in a low-key manner, and made some people dissatisfied with Dai Chengrong's arrangements.

In a banquet hall in Quyuan, Ji Qing, the head of the Ji family, complained to Dai Yingda, "Your Chengrong is acting too high-profilely. He even has a team of fully armed soldiers guarding the door. Is he afraid that people outside won't notice what's going on here?"

Yang Chengye, the head of the Yang family, chimed in, "Yes, Old Dai, our trip to Hangzhou was supposed to be discreet, but Chengrong's actions are just like making a big fuss to attract attention."

Dai Yingda didn't know why his son Dai Chengrong had made such an arrangement. When he was informed of the meeting, he had already mentioned that he should try to keep a low profile and not make a fuss. He didn't expect that such a grand affair would still be made.

Dai Yingda could only comfort the two of them, saying, "Since we're already here, it's not convenient to go anywhere else right now. Besides, Cheng Rong is always prudent in his actions, there must be a reason for this. We'll find out when he gets here."

As the old men were chatting, a servant came in to report that Dai Chengrong had arrived at Quyuan.

"Speak of the devil, and he appears; let's hear what he has to say!" Ji Qing stopped complaining and turned his gaze to the outside of the hall.

As he spoke, Dai Chengrong strode into the hall, took off his military cap, and greeted everyone present.

Most of the people who came from Yangzhou this time were his uncles and elders. Although they did not hold official positions, they were all prominent figures in the local area, and their influence among the people was even greater than his, a "government official." In front of these people, Dai Chengrong could not put on any official airs.

Not wanting to give others a handle to criticize, Dai Yingda took the initiative to ask, "Cheng Rong, didn't I tell you not to make the reception here too grand? Why are you doing the opposite and even arranging for troops to stand guard outside? Do you know how many people are watching us like this?"

Dai Chengrong replied, "I made all this show because I didn't want people to think that I was secretly meeting with my uncles and elders because I had some shady plans."

Upon hearing this, Ji Qing dismissed it, saying, "If you don't publicize it, probably not many people will know that we're in Hangzhou, right?"

Dai Chengrong said, “Indeed, not many people in the general public know this, but you have come to Hangzhou to meet with officials. There are countless people secretly watching you, and also watching me. You are salt merchants, not commercial spies. Such a low-key meeting could easily lead to misunderstandings.”

Hearing this, Dai Yingda understood his son's thoughts and immediately pressed, "You said someone is also watching you. Are they planning to find fault with you?"

“The bigger the tree, the more the wind will blow; there’s nothing we can do about it.” Dai Chengrong paused, then dropped a bombshell: “The Seventh Division currently has a vacancy for deputy division commander, but there are seven or eight people waiting in line to fill it. If anyone has a problem, or is likely to have a problem, they will automatically lose their eligibility.”