1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3933

By the late Ming Dynasty, northern cuisine, represented by Shandong cuisine, had developed a relatively clear cooking style and a rich variety of dishes. However, due to the limitations of the environment at that time, Huaiyang cuisine was still the main flavor in the Jiangzhe region, and northern cuisine was indeed not very common in Hangzhou.

The chefs that Chen Pingliao brought with him were all long-time kitchen staff of the Chen family mansion, and their cooking skills were beyond doubt, comparable even to the imperial chefs in the Forbidden City.

Bringing these chefs all the way to Hangzhou to prepare a family banquet for guests was not only a display of the Chen family's status as a prominent family in the north, but also a way to make the guests feel the special treatment they received.

Sweet and sour carp, chicken slices with egg white, braised sea cucumber with scallions, cuttlefish egg soup... one after another, the dishes, full of color, aroma and flavor, were served, allowing everyone to enjoy the feast.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, the atmosphere at the table gradually warmed up, and the conversation shifted from casual greetings to discussions of current events.

The hottest topic right now is undoubtedly the recently concluded battle in Jiangxi.

The invited guests all reside in Hangzhou and have access to far more inside information than Chen Pingliao, who is far away in the north. He can take this opportunity to learn some information that is unknown to the outside world from these people.

The young officials were most concerned about the distribution of spoils after the war. Since this operation involved troops from three sides, the question of who would be the biggest winner in the distribution of spoils became the focus of attention for all parties.

"The Executive Committee's intention is for the three parties contributing troops to jointly establish a management committee and stationed troops, in order to balance the interests of all parties as much as possible. But in the end, there are only two positions with real power, one civilian and one military, yet they are to be divided among the three parties. I think it will be an unequal distribution no matter what!"

Liu Tianning was the first to express his opinion, believing that it would be difficult to achieve a post-war division of interests that would satisfy all three parties.

After all, there are only two options for those who can control the local power: the military or the government. This could easily turn into a situation where there are two peaches and three warriors, and it would be ugly if the three parties' leaders torn each other apart over this.

However, Liu Tianning would only ponder such an extreme scenario in his mind; he wouldn't rashly voice it. Three of the people present had fathers who were members of the Executive Committee, and it would be troublesome if word got to them.

Shi Chengxin, however, had a different view: "It is indeed impossible for the three to share equally. Generally speaking, the executive committee's evaluation criteria are based on the cumulative military merits. It is obvious who has performed better. As long as the merits are rewarded, it will be fair and no one can complain."

Chen Pingliao said, "I learned from the newspaper that in the final battle in Jiangxi, the attack on Nanchang City was won by Shi Chengwu's troops. When it comes to rewards and honors, Shi Chengwu's troops should get the lion's share, right?"

Shi Chengxin said, “Everyone here is one of us. I won’t hide it from you. Although my brother has won the first merit in this capture of the city, he will soon return to Nanjing. He will not participate in the subsequent division of the spoils, nor will he serve in the Jiangxi garrison.”

If Shi Chengwu, who won the first merit, does not stay in Jiangxi to take up his post, then even if this military merit is attributed to the Donghai Region and other candidates are nominated from there to compete for the military and political power in Jiangxi, the advantage after the change does not seem to be so great.

Based on some previous information, Chen Pingliao could roughly guess who the East China Sea region was preparing to promote as a reserve candidate, which should be enough to make up for the loss caused by Shi Chengwu's withdrawal.

Shi Chengxin took a sip of wine, calmly put down his cup, and continued, "Ning Zijing and Ha Jianyi went to Jiangxi from the very beginning, and they stayed there for much longer than the other two families." "Lord Ning was a veteran when the Executive Committee was first established, and he has been in charge of the government for the past thirty years. If he wants to recommend Ning Zijing for a position in Jiangxi, I doubt anyone will object."

The others, upon hearing this, didn't find anything wrong with it and nodded slightly in agreement.

Although Ning Qi was in charge of education and diplomacy, which did not seem to be a powerful department, he was, after all, one of the country's true elders, and his influence on the executive committee and the public was enormous.

The young officials present here learned more than half of the textbooks written by Ning Qi when they were young. His status in the cultural and educational circles is so high that it is no less than that of Confucius and Mencius in the minds of old literati. Even today, he is still referred to as "Sage Ning" by the common people.

Although Ning Zijing has not yet achieved any outstanding results in his official career, his status as the eldest son of Ning Qi is enough to set him apart from potential competitors in the competition for the position of head of the Jiangxi Management Committee.

Moreover, before the full-scale war broke out in Jiangxi, Haihan peacefully took over Jiujiang Prefecture, and Ning Zijing became the new governor of Jiujiang at that time, which set a good precedent for subsequent military operations.

With all these factors combined, plus the support from Ning Qi and the Donghai region, Ning Zijing's eventual victory seems quite reasonable.

However, Ha Jianyi doesn't seem to have any obvious advantages in the selection of the garrison commander. His father, Ha Lugong, has already retired, and while his influence in the military may not have completely faded with age, it is certainly not as great as that of other figures who wield real power.

Moreover, in the military operations in Jiangxi, he served as Shi Chengwu's deputy, so his military achievements were certainly not as outstanding as those of the other two generals.

"I've heard that Xu Kaiyuan from Fujian is quite skilled at leading troops in battle. A couple of years ago, he led his troops to Luzon to fight the Spanish and achieved many victories. He's not only good at naval warfare, but it seems he's also quite adept at land warfare!"

When the topic turned to the selection of the garrison commander, Tan Tianming, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke up and provided some information.

As an overseas region, Sing Tao has always paid close attention to the movements of Luzon. In 1658, during the battle between Luzon and the Spanish colonial forces in the Banda Sea, Luzon invited troops stationed in Fujian and Taiwan to assist in the battle. Although Sing Tao did not participate in that battle, it knew a great deal about the process and collected a lot of relevant intelligence, even including the performance of foreign aid such as Xu Kaiyuan in the battle.

Tan Tianming had read about this information in the internal documents sent by Sing Tao, and now was the perfect time to show it off.

Bai Letong added, "I met this person once last year at the Zhoushan Shipyard. At that time, he was representing the Fujian Fleet to inspect Zhoushan. I heard him raise some questions about shipbuilding technology to the shipyard. He is indeed no ordinary person."

Shi Chengxin said, "The Ministry of National Defense has always been happy to give important positions to young officers who can command multiple branches of the armed forces and have experience in combat in various environments. If nothing unexpected happens, Xu Kaiyuan will definitely be promoted next."

Although Shi Chengxin did not say it explicitly, his words did not conceal his high regard for Xu Kaiyuan.

As for You Zhiyuan, the commander in Guangdong and Guangxi, although he comes from a privileged background and has performed well, his father, You Yihan, is not a soldier, and his influence is limited to the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. It is probably difficult for him to compete with Ha Jianyi and Xu Kaiyuan for the position of garrison commander.