Zuo Mengeng hurriedly recited silently in his heart.
"I am not a thief of Cao... I am not a thief of Cao..."
"Zhongshan is knowledgeable and talented, and his literary talent is outstanding. He is trapped in a house and is really a pearl in the dust. Now that Minister Chen plans to expand publicity in Jiangnan, what he needs most is a helper with good writing skills. I think Zhongshan should also pursue a career and learn from it.
It’s useful.”
Zuo Mengeng was not a womanizer. After a moment of ripples, he expressed his thoughts.
There is no need to doubt Xu Xianqing's talent and learning.
At the very least, it can be used to help Chen Hongshou write articles and proofread drafts. It is absolutely as easy as eating and drinking.
Xu Xianqing was greatly moved when he heard that Zuo Mengeng invited him to come out and do some writing work.
"I am not very talented, but thanks to the commander-in-chief's trust, I will be blessed throughout my life."
As for Xu Renlong, Zuo Mengeng, Chen Zhi, and Zuo Maodi, after discussion, invited him to serve as the deputy chief of the Songjiang Prefecture Police Department.
Xu Renlong was originally Su Song's military commander, and he also had considerable experience in local public security.
In addition, he has lived in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time and is familiar with both people and the land, so he will definitely be comfortable doing this job.
It's just that he is not yet familiar with the working methods of the Shandong police system, so he will temporarily serve as deputy, and after a period of training, he can take charge.
The Xu family were all very satisfied with the arrangement and settled down in Songjiang.
With Fang Yuegong's execution, the second conflict between Shandong and the imperial court came to an end.
Xie Sheng rushed to Songjiang Mansion in person and signed a new agreement with Shandong on behalf of the imperial court.
The imperial court had no choice but to accept all the conditions proposed by Shandong.
From now on, everything east of Kunshan and Taicang will belong to Shandong, and the imperial court will not be allowed to station troops in Suzhou Prefecture.
Of course, the administrative power of Suzhou, except for Kunshan and Taicang, was still in the hands of the imperial court.
In addition, the exchanges between Songjiang Prefecture and various areas south of the Yangtze River remained as before, and the imperial court could not stop them.
Zuo Mengeng also kept his promise and ordered the new army to retreat.
Prior to this, the New Army's attack was extremely fast and had already reached Zhenjiang.
People throughout Jiangnan were in panic and unrest, and many gentry and officials packed up their property and were ready to run away at any time.
As the new army retreated to Taicang, the situation in Jiangnan finally stabilized.
After experiencing this turmoil and seeing the strength of the new army, all the civil and military officials in Jiangnan became honest, and no one dared to act recklessly.
In addition to signing the agreement, Xie Sheng also sent Xu Erxuan and other culprits who massacred the people.
Naturally, Zuo Mengeng would not let these people go.
"Send it to the competent department for interrogation and set a day for execution."
Zuo Mengeng planned to use these people to scare the monkeys, so that all those who oppose Shandong would know the consequences of going against Shandong.
After the agreement was reached, Zheng Sanjun returned to Nanjing with Xie Sheng in despair.
With the withdrawal of the New Army fleet outside Nanjing, this rouge place quickly returned to its former glory.
Instead, Qian Qianyi stayed.
He is just a wandering cloud and a crane. He has no official status, so he has no worries.
The main reason is that after experiencing the power of Shandong in person this time, Qian Qianyi could not help but have different thoughts in his mind.
He was not willing to be an idle cloud and a crane, but was forced to step down.
His utilitarian heart has never stopped.
Since he couldn't get what he wanted from the imperial court, it was not impossible to seek refuge in Shandong.
If he really had a strong backbone, he wouldn't mind the water being too cold.
"Next, the focus of our work is to build the Huangpu River pier. There will definitely be countless ships coming and going here in the future, and today's simple pier will definitely not be able to bear it."
With Songjiang Prefecture falling into the hands of Shandong, from now on, business transactions between Shandong and Songjiang Prefecture no longer require covert smuggling.
Merchant ships from the two places can enter each other's ports openly, which will definitely cause a sharp increase in cargo volume.
In addition, commercial relations were also established with the Dutch.
If nothing else happens, there will definitely be an endless stream of Dutch people doing business in the future.
In addition, people from all over the south of the Yangtze River will also flock here, so the port of Songjiang Prefecture must be built extensively.
But Zuo Mengeng looked at the situation by the Huangpu River and was not satisfied.
"If we really want to build a port, my opinion is to place it at Wusongkou, not here."
Seeing that he had other ideas, everyone looked at him one after another without knowing why.
Of course, Zuo Mengeng did not make a temporary decision, but relied on the knowledge of later generations.
"This is in the hinterland of the Huangpu River. Foreign ships need to sail into the Yangtze River first, and then turn into the Huangpu River to reach here. And compared with the Yangtze River and the sea, the waterway here is still too narrow. Once cargo ships gather in the future, there is no doubt that it will be blocked.
The river channel affects traffic. On the contrary, if it is placed outside the mouth of the Wusong River, it means that the Huangpu River, the Yangtze River, and the sea converge at a point. Not only the water surface is wide, but the water depth is sufficient, that is the first choice for a good port."
The place Zuo Menggeng talked about was Waigaoqiao in later generations.
Although today's wooden sailing ships cannot be compared with those giant steel ships of later generations, and their water draft is not very deep, for long-term considerations, Zuo Mengeng still feels that it is better to stay close to that area.
But everyone couldn't help but be confused about his thoughts.
"Now the east of the Pujiang River is deserted, and the port is built at the mouth of the Wusong River. I'm afraid it will be inconvenient for transportation."
To the east of the Huangpu River in the Ming Dynasty, there were only some dilapidated and poor villages, and the land was full of wilderness. Everyone was reluctant to build a port in this place and abandon the prosperous Songjiang City.
In this regard, Chen Zhi supported Zuo Mengeng, and he also had realistic arguments.
"Nowadays, several big cities in Shandong, such as Dengzhou, Qingdao and Jinan, are expanding day by day and have long exceeded the original city limits. Now that Songjiang Prefecture has no shackles, future economic development will definitely absorb a large number of people.
The small Songjiang City simply cannot accommodate it. Instead of having to deal with things in the future, it is better to plan ahead now and save a lot of costs."
Among the people who had been to Shandong, they immediately changed their minds after hearing his judgment.
"Then choose Wusong River Estuary."
"This is the way it should be to give up the convenience of a moment to build a foundation for eternity."
Songjiang Prefecture quickly came to a consensus, and the new port was chosen to be east of the Wusong River Estuary, near the estuary of the Yangtze River.
However, with the birth of this resolution, various novel changes finally made people realize what the cluster effect is.
First of all, to build a port, a large number of workers must be available.
As these workers went to the port to work, a lively market quickly formed nearby.
Almost at a speed visible to the naked eye, markets turned into villages and towns, villages and towns turned into cities, and the population in the surrounding areas quickly flourished.
And with so many people gathered, the supplies needed for daily life are also huge.
Countless people began to engage in service work in surrounding industries, turning the originally remote Wusong River Estuary area into the second center of Songjiang.