Hearing that He Zhen was coming, Deng Ming personally walked out of the camp to greet him. The Sichuan Army Water Camp is not far from Hanyang, and from the gate of the camp, you can see a banner fluttering on the head of Hanyang City, which reads: "Swear to defend the Great Hanyang". When passing through Wuchang, there was also an identical banner on the head of the city there, but the words "Hanyang" were replaced by "Wuchang".

After congratulating the governor of the Yangtze River on the victory at Gaoyou Lake, the envoy sent by Zhang Changgeng to Deng Ming's army informed him of He Zhen and Hao Shaoqi's plan of action, so Deng Ming was also prepared for He Zhen's visit.

"General He."

"Admiral Deng."

After the two saw the ceremony, they walked into the Sichuan army camp together, and after listening to He Zhen congratulate him on his victory again, Deng Ming did not be humble but asked rhetorically: "When will General Hao arrive?" ”

"It's probably been these two days, and the king of Dong'an will also come together, and the king of the county has long wanted to meet with Admiral Deng." When He Zhen first heard about Deng Ming, he regarded him as a figure like Zhu Shenglang, the king of Dong'an County, and only realized that Deng Ming was different from ordinary clans after the Kunming fire, but when they first met, He Zhen couldn't say that he had much awe of Deng Ming.

After the repeated battles in Hubei, He Zhen realized that this was a clan that could bring hope for victory to the Ming army, at least it could make the Eastern Army arrogant and the soldiers get rid of the situation of being unclothed and hungry. After the victory at Gaoyou Lake, in He Zhenjun, who was already full of respect for Deng Ming, there was a frenzy of worship. Not only the officers and soldiers under him, but now He Zhen himself no longer regarded Deng Ming as an equal ally, but began to regard him as the leader of the Anti-Qing Alliance.

"Is the Admiral in a hurry to leave? It doesn't matter if you wait a little longer for two days, right? He Zhen was afraid that Deng Ming was about to leave Wuchang, so he asked anxiously.

"It's okay, I'm not in a hurry to leave." Originally, Deng Ming agreed with the governor of the southeast that if the Eight Banners insisted on the southern expedition, he would return to the southeast to participate in the war, Deng Ming planned to stay in Wuchang for a while, and only returned to Sichuan after confirming that the southeast was calm, just waiting for Hao Shaoqi to arrive.

"I've never admitted that I'm a clan, and after the arrival of the King of Dong'an, I guess I can't hide this anymore." Deng Ming pondered in his heart, now he has realized that pretending to be a clan is not a small crime, but he asked himself that he had never admitted it, and besides, there is still a world-famous feat of killing the Manchu Emperor, even if he is recognized, there is nothing to be afraid of. Then he thought: "Even Inspector Wen may be sad, and the King of Yanping will also be disappointed." Alas, but I really can't pretend to be ah, I don't know anything about the situation of the various clans, and how can I make up my parents and resumes? ”

After entering the Chinese military tent, Deng Ming chatted with He Zhen about his conquest, but He Zhen's attention seemed to be attracted a lot by the Ming soldiers on the side.

Seeing that He Zhen kept wandering and his eyes swept towards his guards, Deng Ming asked curiously, "General He, do you think our army's uniforms are not good?" ”

"There's nothing wrong with that," He Zhen replied, his eyes still staring at a Ming soldier: "But this military uniform, can you let the last general see it?" ”

"Absolutely." Deng Ming asked people to take out a new set of Ming army uniforms and handed them to He Zhen, who immediately lowered his head and looked at it carefully.

He Zhen not only looked at it himself, but also handed over the clothes to his personal guard, and Deng Ming saw that the officer in Yudong was the same as He Zhen, and after grabbing the clothes, he went to touch the buttons on them.

It's just that this officer's city government is obviously much worse than He Zhen, and after he touched the buckle several times, he let out an exclamation: "Sure enough, it's copper!" It's still all copper! ”

"Well, it's copper, indeed." Along the way, Deng Ming made a batch of copper buttons from the captured brass and nailed them to the military uniforms of the Ming army. As brass buttons continue to be produced, half of military uniforms are now fitted with them. After the establishment of the water camp next to Hanyang City, many Sichuan soldiers put on their new military uniforms, and He Zhen saw the bright brass buckles on the Sichuan soldiers at the gate of the camp just now.

The officer in the eastern part of the country couldn't put it down and stroked the Sichuan army's dress repeatedly, and finally because of He Zhen's urging, he reluctantly returned it to Deng Ming. The buttons on this uniform are exactly the same as those sewn on the camp gates and ordinary soldiers in the camp; There are also big leather boots on the legs of the Sichuan soldiers, which are also so eye-catching.

"It's expensive, isn't it?" He Zhen asked.

"I didn't buy it for money," Deng Ming replied honestly: "I seized a million catties of brass and copper in Tongling, and I didn't think of any use for a while, so I used to make these buckles." Saying that, Deng Ming also pointed to the swords on the waists of the guards, these are the knights of the three walls, and their sword handles have been replaced with elegant brass handles, which are not only beautiful but also feel very good, and are very popular with the Sichuan army, but because the production is not easy and the quantity is limited, so the comprehensive change has not been completed for the time being: "I also made some sword handles." ”

"I see it." He Zhen nodded, and asked again

Look at the saber of the three walls.

A guard stepped forward, untied the sword and handed it to He Zhen, He Zhen stroked the brass handle for a while, and when he returned it to Deng Ming's guard, his face showed undisguised jealousy: "The Admiral went to Jiangnan this time, but he made a fortune, tsk, I can't think of what to use for a million catties of brass." ”

"It's true that I made a small fortune, so I dressed the soldiers in good clothes." Deng Ming said with a smile. He believes that military clothing is important and cannot be based solely on practical considerations. In addition to copper buckles, Deng Ming also designed epaulettes for military uniforms, which are similar to shoulder pads, making soldiers look more majestic and majestic. If you look at it purely from a practical point of view, this is undoubtedly a waste, but Deng Ming feels that the status of soldiers in this era is too low, and decent military uniforms help to enhance the pride of soldiers, which also has a certain effect on improving their social status. For example, when they were in Jiangxi, the impression left by the soldiers of the Sichuan army was completely different from that of other armies.

"What the Admiral said is very true," He Zhen hurriedly said that he agreed with Deng Ming's point of view, and also thought that the status of the soldiers needed to be improved: "Can these uniformed admirals allocate a batch to the last general?" And these bronze hilts, if the admiral has a rich man, give some to the general. ”

"I'm really sorry General He, we don't have enough of these, you see that our army hasn't all changed its clothes yet." Brass is not an easy item to come by, unless copper coins are collected and then melted down. Deng Ming knew that since He Zhen and Hao Shaoqi were here, they must want to fight the autumn wind from themselves, and he was willing to give these two allies some help, but this scarce copper material was obviously not among them: "I brought back a lot of grain this time, since General He is here, of course I can't let you come in vain, so bring some food back." ”

However, He Zhen still refused to give up: "Admiral, the last general is also your soldier, if the last general's men and horses are too shabby, it is not very good for the admiral, isn't it?" Last time, Li Laiheng followed Deng Ming to Jiangnan, and after he came back, he became the richest man in Yudong, this time Deng Ming went to Jiangnan alone, and after coming back, the Sichuan army used brass as a buckle, He Zhen was of course extremely envious of this: "I don't know when the Admiral will go to Jiangnan next time, take the last general with me." ”

Deng Ming smiled when he heard this, thought about it in his heart, and finally decided to make his words clear: "General He, in fact, you and I should be considered allies, right?" ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"When I met Tartar, General He and I were in the same breath and fought side by side against the enemy, there is nothing to say; But I have never interfered in General He's territory, and of course General He has the final say in the army, and I never want to interfere. Saying that, Deng Ming arched his hand casually to the south: "We are all the emperor's ministers, and the soldiers and horses under our command are all the emperor's old man's soldiers, General He's army, I really don't dare to raise it for the emperor." ”

"Hmm." He Zhen was silent. Deng Ming's meaning is very clear, it's easy to say that he can help He Zhen with some food or something, but it is absolutely impossible to treat the Sichuan army equally. When he fought in Huguang before, Deng Ming didn't ask about the spoils of the Kuidong Army, whoever contributed the effort was whoever, and as for how much to distribute to others, it was a sentiment rather than an obligation. This time Deng went to Jiangnan in the same way, how much of the spoils he obtained was willing to be distributed to his allies was completely his business, and as for whether he was willing to use the fleet of the Sichuan army to take He Zhen to make a fortune, it was impossible to force it.

"To tell you the truth, I just have a hard time raising these tens of thousands of soldiers, and most of them will have to be laid off when I return to Chengdu." Deng Ming smiled bitterly and spread his hands: "General He has been fighting for many years, and the difficulty of raising an army, I think General He also understands it very well, and I am also powerless." ”

However, of course, Deng Ming would not say nothing, strengthening the princes of the Eastern Army is not only conducive to the overall situation, but also helps to increase his own influence: "Since General He's food is tight, how about I give General He 50,000 taels of silver and 100,000 stones of grain?" ”

He Zhen did not contribute in this battle, Deng Ming felt that this was already a lot, and he was not a fortune boy, and compared to the Southern Ming Dynasty, which never paid military salaries, this was also a lot of wealth.

With the things given by Deng Ming, He Zhen and his party returned to their military camp.

"Dad, there's a lot of these things." Seeing that his father was depressed, He Daoning was relieved: "Fifty thousand taels of silver and one hundred thousand stone of grain, this is enough for us to raise 10,000 soldiers." ”

"I don't have big ambitions." He Zhen scolded. There are indeed a lot of these things, but the Sichuan army even has cowhide boots for small soldiers, how can tens of thousands of taels of silver make He Zhen's heart balanced?

"How did I forget it, Admiral Deng is essentially a businessman, and the little tiger is what he taught badly." He Zhen turned around the tent a few times and muttered to herself. Deng Ming obviously would not treat He Zhen's department as a descendant for a few flattering words, and it was impossible for He Zhen to hand over military power and governing power. After stopping, He Zhen stared at Er for a while, and suddenly said: "Liu Tichun and Yuan Zongdi have done it, why can't they do it all the time?" I've decided, you're going to Chengdu to work for the Admiral. ”