Li Laiheng slapped the table loudly, but Zhou Peigong was unchanging, and he couldn't help but admire a little when he saw the other party's expression, and felt that it was necessary to make a new evaluation of Zhou Peigong. The Ming army was full of sabers and guns, and Zhou Peigong came alone, in addition to his considerable understanding of Deng Ming, his courage was indeed not small. In a feudal society, officials were less trustworthy than kidnappers, and to be a successful lobbyist in this era required better psychological qualities and guts than future negotiators.

After Li Laiheng finished roaring, Zhou Peigong still kept smiling and asked calmly, "Dare to ask who this general is?" ”

"It's the vanguard officer of Admiral Ben's campaign against Wuchang, General Xingshan Li." Deng Ming said lightly, implying that the large forces of the opposing Ming army had not yet arrived behind.

"It turned out to be a tiger handsome, long admiration, long admiration." Zhou Peigong saluted Li Laiheng, and then faced Deng Ming again: "Then according to the Admiral's opinion, how much is this silver appropriate?" ”

Deng Ming felt that Zhou Peigong, as a young scholar with no business experience, could be said to be not simple today. Zhou Peigong is not like Deng Ming, he has not had the opportunity to see the demeanor and negotiation methods of big businessmen from television, the Internet, and other media.

Deng Ming did not directly answer Zhou Peigong's question, but turned his head and asked Li Laiheng: "What does General Li think?" ”

Li Laiheng had never encountered a similar scene, but his mind was very nimble and able to detect Deng Ming's intentions in time, and began to play the role of a hawk in the Ming army.

"It's useless for the Admiral and the Tartar to talk too much," Li Laiheng replied in a deep voice, while changing his left hand and slapping it again on the table to strengthen the momentum. However, the force used this time was much smaller, and the force just now was too strong, and now Li Laiheng's right palm is still hurting: "When Wuchang is captured, aren't all these silver ours?" ”

Deng Ming's jaw was silent, and Zhou Peigong hurriedly shouted: "General Li's words are wrong, is there only silver in the general's heart, and there are no ordinary people?" ”

After finishing speaking, Zhou Peigong threw himself to the ground towards Deng Mingchang again.

Before leaving Wuchang, Zhang Changgeng told Zhou Peigong that if the other party was tempted, he could raise it a little on the basis of 500,000 taels. Zhou Pei said fairly: "I also hope that the admiral will think of the common people." If the Admiral is willing to quit the army, Governor Zhang and the Governor of Huguang are willing to destroy their wealth and donate another 50,000 taels of silver. ”

So much more than 50,000 taels in just a few words? Lee Rae-hyung reached out and stroked the short beard on his chin to restrain his affection, so as not to laugh out loud with joy. Although the palm of his right hand was still hurting, Li Laiheng felt that this palm was simply worth it, and he sold 50,000 taels of silver at once. While Li Laiheng admired Deng Ming more and more, he thought that his appearance was enough to win more silver for the Xingshan army.

Suddenly, Li Laiheng felt that he was kicked on his calf again, and suddenly came back from his trance, and looked sideways, Deng Mingzheng frowned at him, and made a look.

"How much does General Li think is appropriate?" Deng Ming was slightly dissatisfied with Li Laiheng at this time, every time Zhou Pei made a price in the communion, his alliance showed a satisfied look, just now he touched his chin and began to wander, the corners of his mouth turned up, and he was about to smile - if it was in his previous life, this kind of negotiation assistant would have been blasted out of the team a long time ago, right?

Zhou Peigong saw that Deng Ming still refused to agree, so he looked at Li Laiheng again, waiting for the figure reported by the Ming army.

Under the gaze of Deng Ming and Zhou Peigong, Li Laiheng felt a burst of nervousness, and he had never had such a great pressure when he stood under the banner of Shuai and commanded the battle. In fact, Li Laiheng already felt that the conditions in Wuchang were very good, and he couldn't get so much money even if he swept around Hanyang and Wuchang for nothing. Now Li Laiheng is more concerned about how to ensure that the Wuchang side fulfills its promise and honestly hands over the 550,000 taels of silver to the Ming army, rather than continuing to raise the price -- what if the Wuchang side is angry and refuses to continue the negotiations? Is it really to go to the ant attachment to attack Hanyang and Wuchang?

However, under Deng Ming's gaze, Li Laiheng had to continue to play the image of a good hawk, and he immediately coughed. After hearing this voice, Zhou Peigong and Deng Mingdu were shocked, and they waited for Li Laiheng's figure with full attention.

"How about 600,000 taels?" Li Laiheng pondered in his heart, and did not immediately say this number. The other party had just added 50,000 taels, and he would forcibly add another 50,000 taels, and Li Laiheng was worried that it would anger Wuchang's envoy. In his opinion, it would be nice to add 10,000 or 20,000. In fact, according to Li Laiheng's original intention, he hurriedly agreed to the other party's condition of 550,000 taels, and then urged the Qing army to transport the silver as much as possible.

Seeing Deng Ming's eyebrows gradually wrinkle again, Li Laiheng was inconvenient to think about it anymore, so he hurriedly coughed again, and said tentatively: "Six ......"

"Yes!" As soon as Li Laiheng's voice came out, Deng Ming immediately took the words, for fear that Li Laiheng would say a number in "100,000" to guide himself passively. Without giving Li Laiheng a chance to make mistakes, Deng Ming said loudly to Zhou Peigong: "What General Li said coincides with me, so as he said, give six million taels of silver, and we will withdraw from the army." ”

Zhou Peigong was shocked.

Li Laiheng also opened his mouth and said secretly: "Six million taels? That's what I said? ”

"If the Admiral is sincere in peace talks, he should show sincerity." Zhou Peigong calmed down and sneered: "Don't let your subordinates say nothing. ”

In Zhou Peigong's view, Deng Ming asked for a sky-high price, and he had to pay it back on the spot. However, the price of six million taels cannot be returned, and no matter how much you bargain, it will be more than one million taels, which is far beyond Zhang Changgeng's expectations and Zhou Peigong's authority. Therefore, Zhou Peigong planned to strangle Deng Ming's attempt in the cradle and let the other party negotiate on the basis of his own offer.

"I also know that this matter is by no means up to Zhou Juren," Deng Ming didn't intend to continue arguing with Zhou Peigong at all, he smiled and said, "Sir, please go back, just bring this figure of General Li to Governor Zhang." ”

Zhou Peigong knew that if he brought this figure back, there would definitely be no room for continued negotiations, and Zhang Changgeng would not be able to come up with so much money at all, even half of it. Seeing that the negotiations had de facto broken down, Zhou Peigong suddenly felt a wave of confusion, obviously the progress was going smoothly at the beginning, Deng Ming was obviously moved by his words, and he was about to reach an agreement, why did he suddenly break down without warning?

Zhou Peigong did not obey Deng Ming's order to evict the guests and leave, but asked with puzzlement: "Does the Admiral really think that the Governor will take out six million taels of silver to redeem the city?" If the governor really had six million taels in his hands, he would recruit Ding Yong and march into Zhongxiang, instead of sending students to the camp to admiral. ”

After hearing Deng Ming's eviction order, Li Laiheng was so nervous that his forehead sweated, lest Zhou Peigong brush his sleeves and leave. Seeing that the other party did not leave immediately, he felt a little relieved, and while Zhou Peigong's attention was on Deng Ming, Li Laiheng also threw a glance back at Deng Ming. However, Deng Ming didn't seem to be aware of Li Laiheng's signal at all, and he still wanted to bombard Zhou Peigong and leave.

Deng Mingdao: "Zhou Juren is really deceitful, if Governor Zhang knows which army under his command is reliable, which army will fight hard with this admiral to the end, not to mention that there are six million taels of silver, that is, only 500,000 taels, which can also be used to reward warriors and defend Wuchang." However, Governor Zhang didn't know if his generals could believe it, whether they would take his bounty and surrender to Admiral Ben in a blink of an eye, so he sent Mr. to my camp. ”

Deng Ming hit Zhou Peigong's death hole, and now Zhang Changgeng really can't judge the loyalty of people from all walks of life in Wuchang.

"Since the beginning of this expedition, Admiral Ben has been invincible and invincible. As General Li said, after taking Wuchang, the money and grain of these feudal treasury were originally mine, and Governor Zhang was either burned with the city, or was taken by the captive court to punish the crime; So it's not a matter of giving me as much silver as I quit the army, no matter how much Governor Zhang gives me the silver in Wuchang City, I will lose money or not; It depends on Governor Zhang's heart, how much silver do you think my retirement is worth. I think that a fair and reasonable price should be all the treasures in Wuchang City, plus the price that Governor Zhang thinks his life and career are worth. ”

"Doesn't the admiral consider the common people of Wuchang and Hanyang?" Zhou Peigong once again offered a magic weapon.

"If it weren't for the common people, I would have invited Mr. Zhou out of the camp a long time ago, so why bother talking here." Deng Ming was unmoved: "Mr. Zhou, go back and tell Governor Zhang what General Li said about the six million taels." ”

"Really, it's not a penny?" Zhou Peigong softened his attitude and tried to bargain on the basis of Deng Ming's price in order to get a figure that still had hope.

Deng Ming thought for a moment, and Li Laiheng looked at him silently, full of hope like Zhou Peigong.

"If Governor Zhang can't take ......it out in a hurry," Deng Ming said in a long voice.

"Absolutely not!" Zhou Peigong said categorically: "Don't say it's six million, even if it's three million, you can't get it." ”

"You can borrow money from the gentry," Deng Ming came up with an idea: "Wuchang is full of humanities and businessmen, so it shouldn't be a problem to get together a few million taels of silver." ”

"Isn't the redemption of the city known to the whole world?" Zhou Peigong was stunned again. Zhang Changgeng and Zhou Peigong have already discussed properly, this matter must be kept secret, and it must not be known to the outside world that it was his own money to redeem the city: "What the admiral said, absolutely not!" ”

"Let's just say that it is to borrow money from the gentry, recruit strong men to defend the city, and reward meritorious officers and soldiers, why do you say that it is to redeem the city?" Deng Ming reminded: "Use the name of běijīng to borrow money." When I retire in the future, you can say that the soldiers are fighting hard to defend the city, all because of Governor Zhang's rich reward, Governor Zhang's loan is clearly a far-sighted move, meritorious and innocent, and the court will definitely repay Governor Zhang's money. ”

Zhou Peigong looked at Deng Mingleng and froze, feeling a mess in his head, it was difficult to connect the person in front of him with his previous benevolent and righteous behavior, and he didn't know how to refute the other party's statement in a hurry.

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhou can discuss with Governor Zhang slowly after he goes back." Deng Ming looked at Zhou Peigong stunned for a while, and then pulled the other party back to the real world.

"In short, this is not feasible." Zhou Peigong reiterated again, but his tone was obviously not as firm as just now.

"If there is really no cash, the Admiral may accept the conversion of the goods." Deng Ming came up with another solution: "cloth, grain and pig iron." Well, don't want armor and weapons, we have craftsmen ourselves, your armor is of a questionable quality, and it will definitely have to be converted into more silver taels, and Admiral Ben would rather have pig iron. However, the Admiral felt that there were two troubles in this matter, the first was that the movement was too great, and the Admiral would definitely check the quality of the goods in detail to determine how much silver taels should be converted, and it was estimated that Governor Zhang would not have the final say in this Admiral alone, and he would also send someone to reason with our army, which was too eye-catching; Second, to tell the truth, Admiral's ships were all used to transport soldiers, and there were no extra ships to transport these goods, so if the goods were to be converted, the grain ship and the cloth ship must be provided by Governor Zhang free of charge, and could not be converted into silver taels. ”

Zhou Peigong stood for a moment, and pondered hard, what step went wrong, and the situation that was originally not bad evolved to such a point. However, without waiting for Zhou Peigong to come up with a reason, Deng Ming urged him to leave again.

In desperation, Zhou Peigong had no choice but to give up his hand: "The student will go back to Wuchang, and he must bring the words of the admiral to the governor as they are." ”

"Then I'll wait for good news." Deng Ming nodded.

Zhou Peigong waited for a few more seconds, and saw that Deng Ming had no intention of keeping people, so he really couldn't find a reason to spend it, so he had to unwillingly raise his feet and leave.

"Wait a minute."

Just before Zhou Peigong was desperately preparing to leave, Deng Ming's shout triggered his new hope, and he hurriedly turned back when he heard it: "What else does the Admiral command?" ”

However, Deng Ming still didn't have any intention of reducing the price, he smiled and said to Zhou Peigong: "Mr. Zhou should act faster, Admiral Ben will launch an attack on Hanyang tomorrow." ”

"What?" Zhou Peigong's face changed again: "Didn't the admiral say that he would wait for the good news of the students?" ”

"How do I know if it's your delaying tactic?" Deng Ming said calmly: "Maybe Governor Zhang just wants to take advantage of this time to draw reinforcements from various provinces in Huguang, and even Jiangxi, Henan and other places, and he doesn't even plan to give me 500,000 taels at all, Mr. Zhou is just here to deceive me and give you time to wait for reinforcements." ”

"Never!" Zhou Peigong immediately swore an oath. Where are the reinforcements in Huguang now? Those who can be adjusted have already been exhausted by Hu Quancai, and Henan Green Camp is far from quenching thirst. If he hadn't been able to find a trustworthy army at all, Zhang Changgeng would not have taken the money to redeem the city as the last straw.

Deng Ming shook his head vigorously, and when Zhou Peigong's poisonous oath was finished, Deng Ming asked rhetorically: "If Mr. Zhou is in the position of this admiral, how can I believe that this is not a delaying strategy?" ”

Zhou Peigong thought for a long time, and found that he had no way to fully trust the enemy, so he was speechless, and could only mutter: "But this is really not a delaying tactic, and I hope that the Admiral will be clear." ”

"That's it," Deng Ming lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head again and said to Zhou Peigong: "Before noon tomorrow, transport 500,000 taels of silver to my camp, and I will not attack Hanyang." ”

"How does this work?" Zhou Peigong retorted vigorously: "The admiral has not agreed to withdraw the troops, and the conditions have not yet been negotiated, how can the silver be given to the admiral now?" ”

"Because you said that you are not using a delaying tactic," Deng Ming said: "Anyway, no matter how you talk about the conditions, it can't be less than 500,000 taels, right?" If you arrive tomorrow, I believe for the time being that you are not delaying the army. Moreover, during this period, the soldiers and horses of Wuchang and Hanyang were not allowed to leave the city, and the sailors of Dongting Lake were not allowed to be on the Yangtze River and Hanshui, because Admiral Ben did not want to be suddenly attacked by you. After you have shipped the deposit of 500,000 silver on time, the Admiral will continue to negotiate, Li Xianfeng will stop the preparations for the siege and collect grain and grass around Hanyang, and Governor Zhang will not send troops to disturb him. ”

Zhou Peigong felt that such conditions were extremely unfavorable to Zhang Changgeng's side, and retorted again: "What if the admiral goes back on his word and continues to attack Wuchang after taking the silver?" ”

"That's just a few days earlier for me to get the 500,000 taels, anyway, if you break through Wuchang, Governor Zhang can't take care of himself, can he still escape with the silver?" Deng Ming sighed: "That's good, if you send the silver in time tomorrow, Admiral Ben can allow Governor Zhang to send a team of soldiers to my camp to monitor our army and not build siege equipment." ”

"A word?" Zhou Peigong felt that this condition was unimaginably good, and hurriedly confirmed it.

"No regrets." Deng Ming replied while kicking Li Laiheng under the table. The latter, who was in a daze, suddenly jumped three feet high, and angrily shouted that this was an extremely unfavorable condition for the Ming army, and it was a humiliating treaty that had never been seen in military history, and strongly demanded that Deng Ming withdraw his order.

"But you have to dress up as our army, and you must not reveal your identity." In order to appease the excited hawks, Deng Ming began to add conditions.

Zhou Peigong immediately nodded: "This is natural." ”

"All right, then please send the money to my camp by noon tomorrow." Deng Ming asked Zhou Peigong to go back immediately to prepare for relevant matters: "As for how much ransom fee is appropriate, it will not be too late to discuss it in detail after confirming that you are not using a delaying strategy." ”

Zhou Peigong answered, and was about to leave, when he suddenly felt a trance in his heart, how could it seem that the conditions had evolved completely different from those agreed in advance? Originally, Zhang Changgeng didn't plan to pay 500,000 taels of silver immediately, and he planned to delay it for as long as he could, if Deng Ming honestly withdrew from the army, and the situation in Huguang changed in favor of the Qing army, Zhang Changgeng would be very happy to get rid of this debt.

"The Admiral said he didn't believe us, but why do we have to believe the Admiral?" Zhou Peigong asked Deng Ming again: "The admiral said that he would let us send someone to supervise, saying that he would not attack Wuchang, but in the end, this is just a sentence from the admiral." ”

"Because of two points!" Deng Ming seemed to have expected Zhou Peigong's question, and he raised a finger: "First, this is what you Governor Zhang owes me, and when I assassinated Governor Hu in Zhongxiang, he owed me a favor. ”

Zhou Peigong's face showed a dazed look again, and he couldn't guess what Deng Ming meant by a favor: "Could it be that King Shaofu could also kill the governor at that time, but his subordinates showed mercy?" ”

"You don't have to think nonsense, go back and tell Governor Zhang, he understands it very well." Deng Ming said with a smile, and at the same time raised a second finger: "Second, tomorrow I will start building siege equipment, and then start attacking Hanyang and Wuchang." I don't know how long your army will be able to resist outside the city under the prestige of our army's successive victories, but I guess it won't last long. When my rushing car crashed into the city wall of Hanyang......"

Deng Ming's raised arm waved forward slightly, pointing straight ahead, and suddenly, Zhou Peigong felt a heroic momentum diffuse from the other party's body with this action.

"At that time, as Mr. Zhou said, the attack on Hanyang and Wuchang was already related to my reputation, military morale, and my great cause of Zhongxing. At that time, no matter whether I cared about the creatures of Wuchang and Hanyang in my heart, this battle must be fought to the end. My great work cannot be bought with money. ”