After Hao Shaoqi arrived in Fengjie, he was also very much in favor of Zhou Peigong's construction. After fighting two battles with Zhang Changgeng and being driven out of Zhongxiang, Hao Shaoqi and He Zhen both knew very well how big the gap between their strength and Wuchang was. In the view of Hao Shaoqi and He Zhen, the main reason for Deng Ming's strength was that he had a proper strategy, and he was able to use his short-term military advantage to seek huge benefits every time, and then further strengthen his strength by relying on a capable army and the bombing method to threaten Zhang Changgeng and others.

Deng Ming had always worried that his agreement with Zhang Changgeng would cause dissatisfaction among the generals in Kuidong, because it was actually a kind of restraint on the Ming army, which restricted their expansion of territory. Moreover, Deng Ming also assured Zhang Changgeng that if the Kuidong Army tried to attack the Yuezhou and Zhongxiang lines, the Ming Army in Western Sichuan would strictly maintain neutrality. The last time they passed through Wuchang, Zhang Changgeng and Deng Ming even signed a supplementary clause, that is, if Yuezhou and Zhongxiang were attacked by Kuidong's Ming army, Deng Ming would not only not be able to send troops, but would not even be able to provide transportation and material assistance; In return, Zhang Changgeng set aside a piece of land for western Sichuan merchants to make warehouses to store more and more goods in western Sichuan.

However, the general Kui Dong was not too dissatisfied with the agreement between Deng Ming and Zhang Changgeng, first of all, in the eyes of Hao Shaoqi and He Zhen, this agreement had a greater protective effect on the two of them than a binding effect, if there was no agreement, then they would have to guard against Zhang Changgeng all day long from attacking Xiangyang and even Gucheng, and drive the two of them back to the mountains. Because of this agreement, Zhang Changgeng also did not have much interest in appealing to the Henan Green Battalion to support him -- since the Governor of Huguang had said that supplies were tight, and there were not many people in Xiangyang, and that the recovery of Xiangyang was not regarded as a top priority for the time being, then the Henan Green Battalion would certainly not pay out of its own pocket to help Zhang Changgeng recover the lost territory.

Yuezhou, like Zhong Xiang, was lost by Hu Quancai, and Zhang Changgeng recovered these two places after taking power, the former was recaptured by force from Hao Shaoqi, and the latter was recovered by agreement with Li Laiheng. At that time, because of the limited number of troops and the short-sightedness of the people, Li Laiheng sold Yuezhou to Zhang Changgeng cheaply, so Deng Ming signed a neutrality treaty, and he had nothing to say. Now that he has more money, Li Laiheng regrets the original deal a little, but after joining the committee and knowing the benefits that Deng Ming can get from Wuchang, Li Laiheng, who is already very skilled in abacus, thinks that there is no way to persuade Deng Ming to break the contract. After weighing the benefits he could get from the committee and comparing Yuezhou's taxes, Li Laiheng temporarily suppressed his thoughts about Yuezhou. Now Li Laiheng plans to use Deng Ming's neutrality treaty to talk about things, let Sichuan Xi compensate him more, and wait for his territory to be more stable and stronger, and after he can single out Wuchang, Li Laiheng will think about how to swallow Hubei's own territory.

Like Lee, the committee members did not have much dissatisfaction with Deng Ming's neutrality agreement, but that didn't stop them from making a fuss about it. This time, Liu Tichun and Hao Shaoqi both emphasized that because of Deng Ming's neutrality agreement, it would affect their recovery of the land, and if they could not expand their territory, their strength would be affected, and their "huge" forces could not be idle, so it was a necessary action to go to Liangjiang to cooperate with Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao to loot those gentry who supported the Qing court; Moreover, because this was a second-best move under Deng Ming's neutrality agreement, Sichuan West was responsible for this and should have provided ship assistance.

Liu Tichun said that all the members of the committee are good people with good consciences, so the West Sichuan Sailor will not run in vain, and he can also get a share of the spoils. Liu Tichun's speech was unanimously approved by the participants, including Wang Guangxing, who had always been at odds with Li Laiheng and Liu Tichun, and they all said that General Liu had said too well -- all members of the committee had a share, and everyone had to send troops and share the spoils, and since Wang Guangxing was involved, he also had his share, and only Yuan Zongdi, who refused to participate in the committee, could not share anything.

However, Ren Tang, Mu Tan and Zhou Kaihuang did not agree, the first two did not have a deep friendship with Kui Dongzhong, and the latter did not have the slightest psychological burden because Yuan Zongdi was not there and had no chance to send troops.

This committee has no coercive force, just for the internal communication of the alliance, to put it simply, the operating principle of the committee is similar to that of the vegetable market.

Kui Dongjun was poor compared to western Sichuan, and when he saw such a large windfall, he wanted to swallow it immediately. But Mu Tan and the other three knew that Deng Ming's dispatch of troops to Jiangnan had always attached great importance to his image among the people. Jiang Guozhu will definitely put all the blame on the Ming army in order to maintain his image, and in order to apply for tax exemption from the Qing court, he will most likely try to exaggerate the tragic situation in the war zone. Even if the Ming army that went did not carry the banner of Deng Ming, it was still the Ming army after all. The Ming army in western Sichuan controlled most of the profits of the Yangtze River shipping, and Ren Tang and the others felt that the benefit was not very large, but the price paid was not small: providing a sailor was a large expense, but compared with the damage to the reputation of the Ming army, it seemed to be a small matter.

Although the three generals in western Sichuan are Deng Ming's right-hand men, they have never been authorized to decide on the strategic direction, Deng Ming is basically equivalent to the status of the benefactor for the three of them, the lord is not there, which general dares to decide the policy without authorization? No matter how generous Deng Ming is, no matter how suspicious he is in employing people, they still don't want to commit this kind of taboo; Besides, if there are obvious benefits, maybe you can consider it, such as the master is not there, the housekeeper may be able to accept a generous gift from others for him - not completely without danger, but it will not cause trouble for the master, and it will not make the master feel that the housekeeper is unfaithful - and the pros and cons of this trip to Jiangnan are difficult to distinguish, and Ren Tang and others do not want to advocate for Deng Mingshan for such a little benefit.

Whatever you do, I'm the old idea. No matter how the committee blew its beard and stared, the sentence "The admiral is not there" prevaricated in the past, and there was no door to borrow the West Sichuan Water Division to use.

In desperation, Liu Tichun and the others had no choice but to go to Wen'an's arbitration.

Because of his age, Wen Anzhi rarely participates in the deliberations of the committee, and when he heard that Kui Dong and Sichuan Xi disagreed, Wen Anzhi did not dare to slack off, and immediately asked Liu Tichun to explain the reason for the matter in detail. Wen Anzhi knew that his responsibility was not light, and before listening to the statement, he secretly resolved that no matter how good his relationship with Deng Ming had always been, he must be impartial in order to maintain the unity of the committee, and then the unity of the entire anti-Qing alliance. Wen Anzhi knew very well that the fundamental purpose of Deng Ming's establishment of the entire committee was to unite, not to take advantage.

After listening to the cause and effect seriously, Wen Anzhi pondered for a while, and said slowly: "This official will repeat it briefly, if there is something wrong, several generals will correct it. ”

"Yes, Inspector, please." Liu Tichun, Hao Shaoqi, Wang Guangxing, they should be booming.

"Deng Ming and the Governor of Huguang of Tartar reached an agreement that he would sell goods in Wuchang in exchange for him not to help the officers and soldiers attack Hubei in the future, right?"

"Yes." Liu Tichun replied sonorously and forcefully.

"You think this is not right, so you want to make an agreement with the Governor of Huguang and the Governor of Jiangxi and Jiangnan of the Tartars, and go to Jiangxi and Jiangnan to attack those who are not pleasing to the governor of Jiangxi and Jiangnan, and the results will be divided equally. The Governor of Huguang will let you cross the border, and he will get his share as well. Right? ”

"Well, that's pretty much it." Liu Tichun's voice was an octave lower.

"And the governors of Jiangxi and Jiangnan appointed by the Tartars, the people they don't like are actually the hardcore lackeys who support the Capture Court the most! Now the people in western Sichuan do not agree to this agreement, although Ren Tang and the three of them prevaricate in every way, but from the meaning they revealed: Attacking these desperate lackeys of the court may be detrimental to the prestige of the imperial court!! ”

There was silence in the room, and no one could point out anything wrong with Wen Anzhi's summary.

"Alas," Wen Anzhi shook his head, he had long known that the burden on his shoulders was not light, and he also knew that Deng Ming was innovative, but this incident still refreshed Wen Anzhi's understanding of Deng Ming and the Kui Dong generals under his influence. Wen Anzhi didn't realize that he was actually greatly affected.

"The old man always thought that the officers and soldiers and the Tartars were clearly distinguished. Today you let the old man judge who is right and who is wrong in this matter......" Wen Anzhi shook his head again, this is the first time he has been asked to arbitrate since he took charge of the committee, and the result is such a problem, he looked around at the generals, all of whom are dozens of years younger than him: "Anyway, this world is supported by you posterior boys, you can weigh it yourself, the old man really doesn't know who is right and who is wrong." ”

……

Unable to get the arbitration result, everyone had to continue to bargain in the vegetable market, and Liu Tichun saw that they could not convince Ren Tang and other generals in western Sichuan to borrow a water division, so they asked them to quickly send a few envoys to chase Deng Ming's troops: "A month back and forth, how about it, is it enough?" If Zuo Dudu said yes, it should be okay, right? ”

In order to prevent Ren Tang from deliberately obstructing them in the middle, Liu Tichun and the others personally wrote a letter to Deng Ming, not only emphasizing the significance of this battle to the generals of Kuidong, but also hinting at the unity within the committee. Even the messengers who delivered the letters, several of them were excellent riders under the committee. Liu Tichun and they all hoped that Deng Mingquan would reply so that they could send troops as much as possible.

Liu Tichun and other generals felt that Deng Ming was likely to be unable to make a decision immediately because he did not understand the situation, so he would send someone back to ask for more specific information, and Deng Ming himself would continue to march towards Kunming at this time. After going back and forth a few times, half a year may have passed like this - after hearing that Deng Ming was not in western Sichuan, Liu Tichun and the others felt that most of the plans were going to be aborted, and if they failed to convince Ren Tang and them, everyone felt that the hope was very slim, and asking Wen Anzhi to arbitrate and sending someone to chase Deng Ming were just the last resort that could not be done.