The reforms enacted under the first Chongsheng Emperor were not utterly alien to the Chinese polity; the creation of a social structure within the Han core which encouraged mobility rather than staid loyalty to the landlord was something wished for in some form for the past century. China also, finally, officially opened up to western trade, albeit in a strictly controlled fashion, in Shanghai and Xiamen. The New Spanish, enraged that their covert operations had been shut down by Nanjing (the new capital), attempted to 'pull a Yokohama' and bombarded Fuzhou, a port they wished to hold a monopoly over. The attempt failed miserably thanks to a Chinese counterattack, and an unusual war was sparked, each power unable to decisively strike at the other. Instead, the New Spanish would seize the peripheral islands under Chinese control, Hainan and Taiwan, to which Qiángxù secured HEIC help in refitting his navy. The Chongsheng would also strike at any holdings the New Spanish actually had in mainland Asia, by employing a filibuster, Wu Fumei. Through a Cobard war he would destabilise the Nguyen dynasty in Viet Nam and become the vanguard of Chinese invasion, sweeping away heavy New Spanish influence and re-establishing the vassal status of Indochina. General Wu would also be utilised in Hainan, although there control would be lost of the man, neatly solved by Qiángxù's proclaiming of the vassal 'Kingdom of Hainan'.
