Chapter 3597
Although Haihan took the initiative to suspend military operations in the direction of Nanjing, the aftermath did not subside. In fact, the impact of this operation within the Ming Dynasty has even far exceeded Shi Chengwu's expectations.
Just five days after Hezhou changed hands, the local magistrate Gan Kaidong of Chao County, the neighboring Luzhou Prefecture, took the initiative to contact Shi Chengwu who was still in Hezhou, saying that he was willing to surrender the city and let Haihan take over Chao County.
Shi Chengwu was also shocked after receiving the news. After occupying Hezhou, he had no plans to continue attacking the surrounding areas. Even Hanshan County under the jurisdiction of Hezhou only had an infantry company stationed in the county until yesterday. gain actual control over the local area.
The Haihan Army did not show any intention to attack Chaoxian County, but the other party actively invited the Haihan Army to take over Chaoxian County. In the past dealings with Ming Dynasty, it seemed that such a situation had never occurred.
Shi Chengwu was worried that there was fraud, but he was unwilling to refuse such a good thing that came to his door. After all, after taking Chaoxian County, the big ships can pass through the Yuxi River in Chaoxian County and sail directly from the Yangtze River to Chaohu Lake.
The capital city of Luzhou Prefecture is located on the northwest bank of Chao Lake. It will then be completely within the force projection range of the Haihan Navy, and the difficulty of attacking the local area will be greatly reduced.
Of course, more importantly, if this voluntary surrender is true, the imitation and cascading effects caused by it will be incalculable. Maybe there will be other places that can follow suit in the future.
Shi Chengwu did not dare to neglect, and personally rushed to Hanshan County overnight to meet the emissary sent by the other party. According to the identity of the visitor, he was the master of Gan Kaidong, the magistrate of Chao County.
In addition to being a county government staff member, this master named Xie Feisheng also has a special background. Fifteen years ago, as a member of the Ming Dynasty, he went to an academy in Danzhou, Hainan to study for two years. .
This means that Xie Feisheng can be regarded as an international student who has received higher education from Haihan.
Considering the situation in Haihan at that time, as long as a scholar like Xie Feisheng was willing to stay in Haihan, he could get an official position.
However, after he completed his study tour in Haihan, he did not stay and develop due to various reasons, but returned to Daming.
However, it was only after Xie Feisheng returned to the Ming Dynasty that he slowly discovered that what he learned in Haihan was not applicable to the imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, although he took the imperial examinations many times, he failed to make any progress in the end. He could only earn a living as a senior wage earner in the county government office.
After listening to him recounting his past experiences, Shi Chengwu had roughly guessed what happened in Chao County.
Based on Xie Feisheng's understanding of Haihan, he certainly understood that the comparison of national power between the two countries had undergone a huge transformation. A place like Chaoxian would change hands sooner or later, so it was reasonable to make plans early.
Shi Chengwu asked: "So, you should have managed to persuade the magistrate to ask for surrender to our country?"
Xie Feisheng was not greedy for credit. He bowed and responded: "Actually, Ganzhi County has also admired your country for a long time. However, Chao County is located inland and has little contact with your country. It has never been able to go to Hangzhou to visit you. General Shi's The troops committed no crime in Hezhouqiu, and the reputation had already spread to Chao County. After a little persuasion from the villain, the magistrate decided to follow the trend to keep the people of Chao County safe. "
Shi Chengwu smiled and praised Xie Feisheng and his boss for taking the overall situation into consideration. Shi Chengwu has been in contact with many demoted officials recently, and has heard a lot of talk about such situations, so naturally he will not believe all Xie Feisheng's words. Even before he was ready to march into Luzhou, Ganzhi County took the initiative to ask for surrender, which had something to do with the safety of the people in Chao County.
It was just that he wanted to seize the opportunity of Haihan's expansion and take some credit from Chao County. In the future, he would change his family and serve Haihan, and he would probably be able to continue to be a small local official.
But of course Shi Chengwu would not expose this fact. As long as he was willing to surrender, Haihan would naturally treat him with courtesy, and it would not be difficult to arrange an official position.
But what is the situation in Chao County? Shi Chengwu still can't believe it just by Xie Feisheng's words. He also specifically asked the other party whether the county magistrate Gan Kaidong could fully control the situation in Chao County, how many Ming troops were stationed there, and whether there were any uncontrollable variables.
After the other party introduced these situations one by one, Shi Chengwu calmed down a little.
The Luzhou Prefecture did not plan to turn Chao County into a frontline position against Haihan, so it only stationed a symbolic battalion of guard soldiers there, accounting for one-third of the vacancies. Naturally, there was not much combat effectiveness.
As for the county government officials, they are all close associates of Ganzhi County. They are all on the same page, so no one will cause trouble at this juncture.
Now that the matter has been settled, there is no need to rush. Shi Chengwu asked Xie Feisheng to send the news back first, and after a few days to handle the Hezhou government affairs, he would lead his troops to take over Chaoxian County.
After sending Xie Feisheng away, Shi Chengwu couldn't help but feel a little emotional. There was almost no large-scale combat in this operation, and the capture of various places was all done without bloodshed. All the preparations he had made before the action and the difficult situation he had envisioned did not come to pass. Although he was happy, he was inevitably a little disappointed. His military achievements were greatly compromised because of this.
Two days later, a secret message from the Military Intelligence Bureau was sent from Hangzhou. After Shi Chengwu met with Xie Feisheng, he reported the situation in Chao County to Hangzhou, and then the Military Intelligence Bureau immediately contacted Danzhou to verify Xie Feisheng's study tour in Danzhou that year.
This job was handled by the Military Intelligence Bureau, which was naturally very efficient. They quickly found the files from that academy and even found the lecturer who taught Xie Feisheng, which basically confirmed that Xie Feisheng's self-reported situation was correct.
Three days later, Chao County completed the handover of governance in a very low-key manner and was included in the Haihan territory.
After Gan Kaidong, the county magistrate, handed over his official seal to Shi Chengwu, he was immediately appointed as the head of the Chao County Management Committee, temporarily in charge of local government affairs. The entire county government staff has been retained basically intact.
This is not because Shi Chengwu is lazy and doesn't want to replace people, but because Nanjing's talent reserve is no longer enough. After taking charge of several prefectures and counties one after another, Nanjing was temporarily unable to find suitable candidates to come to Chaoxian County, so it could only continue to use the old team for the time being to stabilize the situation in the county.
It's not yet known what Gan Kaidong's abilities are, but with a staff like Xie Feisheng beside him, it shouldn't be a big problem to govern a county. Shi Chengwu decided to keep him for a period of time as an observation period. If it was not suitable, he would transfer people from the Donghai Region.
However, this forced retention served as an example invisibly. After the news spread, people from nearby prefectures and counties began to follow Chao County's example and quietly sent people to contact Shi Chengwu to inquire about voluntarily surrendering.