Before June, Deng Ming returned to Gangneung and came to Li Laiheng's territory.

"This expedition did not make a lot of money, but it repelled the invasion of Jiangnan by the Imperial Court, and our commerce, grain production areas, and sea outlets were all safe and sound, and it also deterred the governors of the southeast. Overall, it's not a loss. Deng Ming, Li Laiheng, Liu Tichun, Dang Shousu, Ma Tengyun and a large group of people said.

Everyone nodded, the effect of this expedition was indeed good, completely offsetting the adverse effects of Zheng Chenggong's death on Nanming. The cooperation with Deng Ming also made everyone feel very happy, the accounts were clear, and everyone got the share that was agreed in advance.

"It's time to pay the bill...... Mr. Dang said. The master helped him carefully calculate the expenses, and if he had to repay the silver that he had purchased the bonds, Deng Ming would face a huge loss, because most of the borrowed silver had been spent: "Does Guogong plan to repay this silver?" ”

"When we come out to do business, of course, we must pay attention to integrity, and we must not rely on our debts." Deng Mingzhengse replied.

"Why don't you help the Admiral." Li Laiheng was embarrassed to let Deng Ming bear all the debts alone, because the silver borrowed by Deng Ming was used by everyone.

After hearing Li Laiheng's proposal, several other people expressed their willingness to pay some money one after another, either happily or reluctantly.

"No, no." Deng Ming waved his hand again and again: "These silvers are all borrowed in the name of the imperial government, and the discounts in the middle are also taken by the bankers of the empire, where is the reason for everyone to share?" ”

"Does the Admiral have so much silver?" Li Laiheng asked curiously.

"Of course not." Deng Ming replied confidently that the money he had received had already been used to buy cattle, horses, and other materials needed by Sichuan, otherwise it would have been handed over to Yu Youming and other bankers to be used to invest in the coastal areas.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Li Laiheng smiled and patted his head: "The admiral is going to pay it back with an IOU, look at my memory." ”

"I didn't print new IOUs, and the listing of so many IOUs will make prices go up."

Deng Ming borrowed silver from the southeastern provinces, and then purchased supplies in the southeast, recruited craftsmen, and married soldiers. A large amount of goods flowed into Sichuan, causing Sichuan's population to surge and industry and commerce to prosper, but there was no inflation. On the contrary, Huguang and Liangjiang, as a large number of materials on the market were swept away by the Ming army, silver has seen a significant depreciation. Recognizing this trend, some banks in Sichuan began to invest in the purchase of land, and if the value of silver continued to depreciate, wealthy households would certainly buy land in large quantities – but they could also bury the silver in the ground. Of course, inflation in Huguang and Liangjiang is not so sharp now, and land prices are far from returning to the pre-recession level.

In a report to Deng Ming, Ms. Xiong said that the bonds had allowed Sichuan to obtain large quantities of supplies from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, so that the large-scale military dispatch had not caused price fluctuations. However, if a large number of IOUs are printed to repay debts, then after obtaining the IOUs, the governments of Huguang and Liangjiang will inevitably use them to buy the goods of Sichuan merchants, and even if these IOUs are lost and have a conversion advantage, the amount of IOUs returned to Sichuan will still be very large, and this will affect the prices of Sichuan.

"You can't pay back the IOU, because it can be used to buy things from Sichuan." Deng Ming said categorically.

"So what?" Li Laiheng suspected that Deng Ming would repay his debts at first, but just now he saw that he was so righteous and strict when he answered the party shousu, and he thought that he had misunderstood him.

"Who said I was going to pay it back?" Deng Ming asked loudly.

There was silence in the yamen of Jiangling for a moment, and finally Li Laiheng hesitated and reminded: "Didn't the admiral personally say that he wanted to pay it back just now?" That's just a blink of an eye. ”

"What I'm saying is that I won't pay the bill, but I don't have to pay it back." Deng Ming said with a smile.

"Isn't it a debt if you don't pay it back?" Li Laiheng was a little impatient.

Deng Ming showed a smile on his face, "Hu Shuai, you still have a lot to learn": "Hu Shuai, Zhang Changgeng's envoy is about to arrive, and when he arrives, you will know what I plan to do." ”

In order to prevent Deng Ming from bribing their army, the governors in various places collected the bonds in their hands, and the Huguang and Liangjiang IOUs secured by the bonds also began to be issued and handed over to the officials and soldiers who were owed wages and wages to prove that they were the creditors of the governors. Since he is not directly linked to himself, there is no need for Deng Ming to repay the silver, but he still does not intend to repay the debt, otherwise it will hurt his good reputation.

As Deng Ming expected, it was not long before Zhang Changgeng's envoy came to Jiangling with a whole box of war bonds held by Huguang. After meeting Deng Ming, the envoy first congratulated the Ming army on their victory, and then carefully pointed out that it was time to repay the one-year bonds. When Zhang Changgeng handed over the money to buy bonds, he had to accept a discount, but now as long as Deng Mingken repaid the Sichuan IOU on paper -- Zhang Changgeng gave him another discount to redeem the Huguang IOU he issued, and the soldiers could use the Sichuan IOU to buy things from the Sichuan people's trading houses -- now that the Sichuan Yuan can be circulated here in Wuchang, even if it is not possible in other places, there will be Wuchang businessmen who are willing to accept it.

"And interest." Deng Ming had already asked someone to settle the account and handed it to the envoy of Wuchang to look at: "I don't know if your envoy thinks this number is right?" ”

"That's right, that's right." Wuchang's envoy nodded again and again.

Huaiyang, Jiaodong and northern Zhejiang, which was in turmoil, made Zhang Changgeng more afraid of Deng Ming, and now the central army of the Qing court retreated to Shandong, Zhejiang took care of itself, and the two rivers guarded the north more than the guard Deng Ming, Zhang Changgeng knew that if Deng Ming suddenly turned his face, then he definitely didn't have to expect to get any reinforcements. Seeing that Deng Ming didn't seem to intend to repay the debt, the envoy sent by Zhang Changgeng was also overjoyed, now Chengdu already has an obvious advantage over Wuchang, if Deng Ming turned his face and didn't recognize Zhang Changgeng, there was nothing he could do.

"Well, I've got all the IOUs ready, and you can take them at any time." Deng Ming paused and asked rhetorically, "But why are you in such a hurry?" Is it the bad credibility of the imperial government? Worried that the imperial government will not pay back? ”

"Where?" The envoy of Wuchang accompanied the smiling face and said, "The prince and the emperor...... The credibility of the Imperial Government could not be better. ”

Originally, the envoy felt that it seemed difficult to open his mouth to praise the robber's good credit, but seeing that Deng Ming himself said so, he also agreed.

"Is the interest we are not paying high enough? So you have a grudge in your heart and want to take it away in a hurry? Deng Ming asked again.

"Nope." The envoy of Wuchang hurriedly shook his head: "If it is stored in the money bank, we still have to charge a storage fee, and the Guogong will help us keep it, not only will we not collect the money but also give the profit, this is simply pie in the sky." ”

"Then drop it again." Deng Ming said with a smile: "I am about to issue this year's treasury bonds, and the principal and interest of Wuchang's bonds this time will buy my new bonds together, and a single yuan will not be missing yours." ”

……

Outside the city of Jiaxing Mansion, the camp of the Jingnan army.

A distinguished guest came today, who was the envoy of Liang Huafeng, the governor of Jiangnan, and with the military power in the hands of his master, the Jingnan army had to be properly received.

"This is a letter from the governor of Zhejiang to the governor of Liangjiang, and the governor forwarded it to my lord," the envoy didn't seem to see the look of vigilance on the faces of Zhuang Yuncheng and the others, and handed over Zhao Guozuo's request for help as soon as he entered the door: "The governor of Zhejiang borrowed troops from the governor of Liangjiang and wanted the governor of my family to come to Jiaxing to embarrass you." ”

After reading Zhao Guozuo's letter, although Zhuang Yuncheng didn't know the reason, he still had a good impression of Liang Huafeng, who reported the letter, and since the other party gave this letter, most of them would not send troops to attack them, Zhuang Yuncheng hugged his fists and said: "Admiral Houen, I don't know how to repay it." ”

"No, no." This envoy had been to Zhuang Yuncheng's hometown before, and at that time, he assured Liang Huafeng that this Ming history case was not a matter at all. Now the envoy waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "My lord knows that you have raised the banner of Jingnan, and this banner is playing well!" Now that there are indeed traitors in the court, it's time to clear them up. ”

After learning about the events in Zhejiang, Jiang Guozhu recruited Liang Huafeng from Suzhou to Nanjing, and both of them were not very optimistic about the war situation. The government's greatest advantage over the gentry was that it had a well-trained army capable of defeating those who dared to take the lead in rebellion. Now that Zhejiang can't clean up Zhuang Yuncheng for a long time, it will be difficult to clean up the situation in Zhejiang.

Since Jiang Guozhu also planned to build a prison in Jiangnan, he was particularly concerned about the changes in the situation in Zhejiang. Zhuang Yuncheng's successive victories forced Chiang Guozhu to repeatedly postpone his deadline for initiating the Great Prison. After receiving Zhao Guozuo's report for help, Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng both thought that they must not wade into this muddy water - the army in Jiangnan was busy, and they had to monitor those gentry who might rebel, and they had to beware of the imperial court, Zhang Huangyan of Chongming, and even Zhang Chao of Nanchang, where was there any spare strength to help Zhao Guozuo? Besides, Zhou Peigong secretly reported that Zhao Guozuo's financial situation was very bad, and he might not be able to pay the assistance needed by the guest army. It is impossible for Jiang Guozhu to pay out of his own pocket to help his neighbors solve problems, and there will be political harm in helping Zhao Guozuo, and Beijing may think that Jiangnan wants to expand its territory and has signs of rebellion; Chengdu seems to be the mastermind of the chaos in Zhejiang, and if Jiang Guozhu goes to help Zhao Guozuo, it may make Chengdu think that he is hostile to Deng Ming.

"Writing a book is too broad, isn't it?" Liang Huafeng's envoy made a statement of righteous indignation: "Mr. Zhuang knows the governor of my family, and he has been speaking up for the old man for two years. ”

"Admiral Liang's care, the grass people keep it in mind." Hearing such a clear statement, Zhuang Yuncheng couldn't help but be a little moved.

"You can rest assured, my admiral will continue to avenge the court for you, and when the time is ripe, my admiral will go to the court, ask the saint to pardon you, and reject the Ming history case." What Liang Huafeng's envoy said echoed most of the participants of the Jingnan Army, who rebelled because they couldn't survive, but they were actually a little dazed in their hearts, and they didn't know how to end it in the end.

After calmly accepting everyone's gratitude, Liang Huafeng's envoy and the Jingnan army reached an agreement not to fight-Jiangnan troops would not enter Zhejiang, and Zhejiang's Jingnan army was not allowed to support the anti-thieves in Jiangnan -- if there was also a rebellion in Jiangnan, the Jingnan army was not allowed to provide personnel, food, or arms support, but would cooperate with Nanjing to denounce it.