Chapter 574: The First Half Ends

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Facing this petty Annamese official's insolent questioning, Great Ming Assistant Regional Commander Comrade Sha Zhengming let out a derisive laugh, then put on an expression of "I won't stoop to the level of someone with such poor scientific understanding": "Isn't that obvious? Of course ink is wet. With this cursed Annam weather, raining every single day, how could any document ever dry?"

Ruan Chuntang was thoroughly exasperated: once ink touches paper, it dries in a moment — what does rain have to do with it? By that logic, any place in the world that sees rain would be unable to store official documents?... Absurd!

Yet even though he knew the truth perfectly well, even though countless aged official documents sat right there in the County Yamen, Ruan Chuntang could not refute the man's words at this moment — the County Magistrate could see that this fellow was deliberately being unreasonable. That being the case, given the current circumstances, as a civil official he naturally could not get into a drawn-out argument with this Great Ming general.

Fortunately, Ruan Chuntang was clear in his heart about his purpose here today: to ascertain the other side's origins and attitude. Anything beyond that was not the job of a minor county magistrate like himself.

Shaking his head helplessly, Magistrate Ruan asked the next key question: "Then I wonder, the original holder of these title deeds, the Frankish merchant... Mei, hmm, where is this Mei?"

"Oh, you mean Messi. Yeah, an old acquaintance. When the Frankish fort fell, he was scurrying around blindly in the chaos on those good legs of his, and ended up getting his legs broken. He's recuperating in Macau right now."

Magistrate Ruan let out the same derisive laugh upon hearing this, revealing an "I knew it" expression: "That being the case, that Sea Merchant Te... hmm, Ter Stegen, I suppose he is also not present here?"

Sha Zhengming's face was full of reminiscence: "Ah, that one could be counted a true Prussian hero. Pity he insisted on guarding the gate when the fort fell, and now his legs are broken too. If Magistrate Ruan wishes to find these people, you may dispatch your subordinates for a tour of Macau City. I imagine these Sea Merchants are still around."

Ruan Chuntang laughed in anger: "General Daren, you have no witnesses, no official credentials, and rely solely on these few sheets of scrap paper with ink still wet to raise troops in force and come encamp on our humble nation's soil... Hmph, even the seals are wrong. When has my Hengpu County ever had such an official seal?"

Sha Zhengming smiled at this: "This general is here to take receipt of land on the orders of my Grand Commandant. What I carry out is military law; what I recognize is a military order. As for the official seal in the hands of a petty Annamese official like you... a poor, wretched place — it's probably carved from wood, the lines all blurred. Who has the patience to compare and verify?"

Hearing such utterly unreasonable and insolent words, Ruan Chuntang felt he had now thoroughly ascertained the other side's intentions.

The next moment, Magistrate Ruan slowly rose from his seat, one hand clasped behind his back, the other shaking the stack of title deeds: "May I ask, does the Great Ming court above you, does His Majesty the Chongzhen Emperor, know of your journey here, General?"

General Sha threw his head back in a hearty laugh, stretching out an arm smugly to trace a circle: "Let me enlighten you — everyone seated here today is a noble of my Great Ming, a pillar of the court. The Emperor... Hmph, you blind Native, do you see this Eunuch here? This is none other than Factory Official Du Daren, the one His Majesty values most."

Ruan Chuntang came from a wealthy background; he was a truly high-level intellectual who had the means to read classical texts. The moment he sat down earlier, he had taken in everyone in the room at a glance, recognizing that their attire, bearing, and manner were all extraordinary, and he understood that what Sha Zhengming said was likely no lie.

This situation made the Annam County Magistrate's heart grow increasingly grim.

The backing of a top political faction, combined with the city being frantically constructed outside — such a massive act of national investment required no great analytical ability for Ruan Chuntang to realize that the Ming People were playing for real this time, mounting a "full-scale national invasion."

And as a local official on the very front line of the conflict, Ruan Chuntang's view of the future was exceedingly dire. He already had a vague sense that he was about to face tremendous danger, both from within and without.

Extending his robed sleeve, he brushed at nonexistent dust on his leg. Magistrate Ruan then lightly flicked his hand, dropping those exquisitely printed scraps of paper onto the floor: "In that case, this humble official takes his Farewell!"

"No need to see you out."

After a perfunctory cupped-hand salute, Ruan Chuntang, under the gaze of many watching eyes, slowly Turned Around and walked toward the door.

But just as he was about to step onto the threshold, Ruan Chuntang ultimately could not suppress the patriotic sentiment in his heart. The next moment, he turned back, his face bearing a look of sarcasm: "Your invasion of my Annam today is, I presume, yet another imitation of the Yongle Emperor's exploits three hundred years ago."

"Since you are nobles come from the Ming nation, you must surely be well-read in the histories. Do you know that two hundred years ago, the Jiaozhi Administration was reduced to nothing overnight, and the Ming People fled north in panic — how many bones were left scattered in a foreign land?"

"Heh heh... In seeking to emulate the absurd deeds of your forebears, may I ask you all — do you possess the resolve to die as strangers in a foreign land?"

After speaking these few lines, Ruan Chuntang placed both hands behind his back, raised his eyes to the sky, and puffed out his chest, fully prepared to stretch out his neck for the executioner's blade.

However, things did not go as he had imagined.

He had originally thought that by prodding the Ming People's sore spot, he would likely be dragged out and beheaded. Yet after waiting a moment, Ruan Chuntang discovered the room was eerily quiet; the Ming People apparently were not enraged.

Then something that astonished Ruan Chuntang happened. Sha Zhengming, seated at the head, pondered for a moment, and instead of growing angry, slowly nodded and spoke, deliberately pausing between each word: "Mr. Ruan is quite right. Back then, the Yongle Emperor was indeed too hasty. The Ming nation sought to swallow Annam whole in one gulp, but could not digest it, and in the end suffered a crushing defeat, vomiting Annam back out in one go."

"However, this time is different."

At this point, Sha Zhengming let out a Hehe Smile and leaned sideways against the armrest: "We have read history, so we have learned its lessons. This time, we'll take it slow, one step at a time, starting right here from Hongji Port."

In the end, Ruan Chuntang walked safely out of the gates of Hongji Fort. He had accomplished his mission of probing the enemy's situation perfectly, and the harvest was greater than he had imagined: the Ming People had revealed their intentions without the slightest evasion, couldn't even be bothered to disguise them, much less make things difficult for a sesame-seed Annamese official like him.

The rest of the matter was beyond Magistrate Ruan's ability to interfere. His Remaining task was to report everything he had learned to Shenglong Prefecture. As for the future direction of relations between the two nations, that was something for the great figures above to plan and strategize — it had not the slightest connection to a petty official like himself.

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Speaking of strategizing, just as Ruan Chuntang was walking out of Hongji Fort, Sha Zhengming and Shao Qiang were also conducting market analysis for the investors.

Originally, they had planned to wait until the guests had rested for a couple of days. They hadn't expected an Annamese official to show up. Once both sides had that confrontation, some words had already been spoken. Since that was the case, they had no choice but to strike while the iron was hot and give the investors a proper sales pitch.

And so, Shao and Sha began their grand bamboozlement.

"This place is called Hongji. The mining zone stretches a full hundred li and is rich in anthracite and steam coal. The strata here are shallow; there's no need for miners to dig shafts. Just strip away One Layer of topsoil and you can mine on a massive scale... Steam coal is the kind of rock coal specifically for burning in Boilers... Boilers... you needn't trouble yourselves with the details of Boilers. In short, this place abounds in rock coal, that's the point."

"With the rock coal, gentlemen, all our initial expenses are covered. Note this — there is no such thing as official monopoly on any of the rock coal. Whoever digs it up, it's theirs. We will purchase it without limit! You need only 'invite' some local Natives over, and you can sit right here and generate wealth."

"What, title deeds? At this stage, what need is there for title deeds? Everyone head out tomorrow morning to stake your claims. Ride horses, stake claims as you ride, as big a Circle as you can make. Once the claims are staked, my Grand Commandant will uniformly print and issue the title deeds! Don't forget to leave a big plot for the Emperor!"

"Annamese? No need to consider the Annamese!"

At this point, Sha Zhengming walked to the wall and pulled open a large-format military map: "Right now is the rainy season, unfavorable for large-scale troop movements. The Annamese can't move either. Let's set our minds at ease and build houses and dig mines here in Hongji. Once October comes..."

A lecherous grin now appeared on Sha Zhengming's face as he drew a Circle on the map with his Pointer: "You've all seen the Zhenman when it arrived, yes? When the time comes, there'll be no need to trouble the Annamese to come here. This general will personally lead the Shore Bombardment Fleet on a trip to Shenglong Prefecture, fire off a few rounds of Cannon, and have a chat with that living Cao Cao, asking him whether my family's title deeds are valid or not!"

"By that time, let alone Rice, everyone can go stake out estates in the surrounding area to plant lychees. We'll set up canneries right on the spot and sell directly to Beijing for huge profits!"

Hearing Sha Zhengming say this, several of the investors who hailed from Jiangnan had excited glints in their eyes — these very men had personally witnessed the grand spectacle of a certain warship bombarding the Xu family of Shanghai. Now, hearing that they were going to bombard the Annamese again, these onlookers immediately grew thrilled.

Although they had more or less made some guesses before coming, today Shao and Sha had laid their cards on the table so nakedly. With this, the newly arrived investors had been given a complete lesson in the law of the jungle.

Yet it was precisely because of this that the investors grew all the more confident in this Annam strategy.

First of all, there were so many ready examples before their eyes — Yizhou, which had long since become a paradise and great granary, and all the profitable industries under the Cao Clan. So when it came to development and making money, the original investors had confidence in the Cao Family's plans. In Later Generations, this sort of situation would be called a premier trust fund.

Secondly, everyone who could sit here today was a carnivore who made a living drinking blood and picking bones. In the Great Ming, they still had to restrain themselves somewhat. Now that they had come to Annam to reclaim wasteland, to be frank, if Sha Zhengming and his people weren't ruthless, vicious, and tough, these fellows wouldn't stand for it.

And so, over the next few days, the Majority of the people in the investment group successively reached agreements with Shao Qiang.

The agreement's content was simple: the Great Ming investors would provide capital to open mines and agricultural estates in Hongji. The Transmigrators, in turn, would be Responsible For providing security protection for the investors' enterprises. Additionally, the Transmigrators would also be responsible for providing various scientific technologies to boost mine output, as well as for use in the cultivation, processing, and Transport of agricultural products, among other areas.

Of course, when it came to the so-called investment, the bigwigs had no need to carry silver all the way to Annam. Don't forget that the Transmigrators had bases laid out along the Great Ming Coastal Area, capable of sending telegrams at any time.

So the investors only needed to hand their silver over to the banks the Transmigrators had set up locally in the Capital or Jiangnan. This silver would be transformed locally into refugee resettlement institutions, as well as grain, cloth, and fuel. Ultimately, these Resources would be converted into shipload after shipload of refugees heading Southward and goods heading north, causing the "Transmigration Economic Circle" to flourish and grow.

With this, the Annam strategy could be considered to have finished its first half, entering a halftime break. As the rainy season deepened, this game would have to wait until after October before the second half's program could continue.