Zhou Peigong on the other side looked haggard, Zhang Changgeng of course knew why this right-hand man was like this, and the governor of Huguang had also heard about the farce of wanting to transport grain to Chengdu. Although the Governor Yamen turned a blind eye to the Wuchang Commercial Bank's acquisition of smuggled goods for wealth and received benefits from them, this did not mean that Zhang Changgeng would also ignore them when he encountered a threat to the governor's interests.

"It is absolutely not feasible to transport grain to Chengdu." Zhang Changgeng strictly ordered Zhou Peigong to hold on, and never give in under the pressure of the hawks: "As for those smuggled goods, isn't there any other way to think of them?" ”

All the goods trading Governor Yamen can collect a share of black money, so it is not Zhang Changgeng's willingness to let a large number of goods accumulate in the warehouse without trading.

"This is really not easy, Admiral Deng is a very good chess player, as long as he does things within the rules discussed with him, he will not be angry if he can earn him, but will praise us for our skill; But if we go out of the thousand, Admiral Deng will have to flip the chessboard if he can't do it. Zhou Peigong shook his head, at the moment this compensation plan is running very well, although there are some shortcomings, but it can indeed benefit the hawk group, Zhou Peigong himself and the governor of Huguang, if the rules are broken and Deng Ming's revenge is caused, then maybe the gains outweigh the losses.

"And we have too many handles in the hands of Admiral Deng, and he is so powerful." Zhou Peigong sighed repeatedly, revealing his obvious fear of Deng Ming.

"Fox fake tiger might, this trick Deng Ming actually used so purely." Zhang Changgeng observed his words and looks, knowing that Zhou Peigong was very afraid of Deng Ming, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Fox fake tiger might?" Zhou Peigong couldn't react a little.

"Yes, Deng Ming said that there is only one place to break the sky, and this official is the governor of Huguang, the governor of Nanchang, the governor of Jiangning, and the governor of Caoyun, which is not a feudal official. If it weren't for Deng Ming borrowing the tiger power of the imperial court, who would be afraid of him? Zhang Changgeng asked himself, if he wasn't afraid that Wuchang would lose his own family and die, he would definitely be able to deal with Deng Ming with the strength of Huguang, or he could drag Deng Ming, who had a shallow foundation, by relying on the vast land of Huguang and many cities, and the two rivers downstream were far from being conquered by Deng Ming with so many troops in his hands. The really terrifying thing is Beijing, and it is precisely because of the terror of the Qing court that these Manchu magistrates cannot have the idea of fighting to the death with Deng Ming.

After Zhou Peigong understood Zhang Changgeng's words, he also nodded in agreement: "Your Excellency the Governor, this is exactly the plan of the fox and the tiger. ”

"Anyway, it's absolutely not feasible to transport grain to Chengdu." Zhang Changgeng emphasized again.

"Understand, Xia Guan will definitely not be so confused." Zhou Peigong admitted: "Although Deng Ming is scheming, but his subordinates are not decent, he can't always stare at Wuchang here, the lower officials deal with it seriously, there will always be flaws exposed, as long as we don't break his rules, Deng Ming will have nothing to say." ”

"Hmm." Zhang Changgeng no longer discussed this matter, but took out Jiang Guozhu's letter and handed it to Zhou Peigong: "This is a letter from the governor of Jiangning, he wants to borrow you from me." ”

Zhou Peigong hurriedly took the letter handed over by Zhang Changgeng, read it seriously, and exclaimed in surprise: "How did he know about what happened here in Huguang?" Could it be that Deng Mingsue sù? ”

"He didn't know that Governor Jiang was completely guessing and wanted to deceive his own official." Zhang Changgeng sneered, just after receiving Jiang Guozhu's letter, the governor of Huguang was also a little surprised, the first thought was that Deng Ming leaked his mouth, but after carefully reading Jiang Guozhu's private message, Zhang Changgeng found that the other party was vague, and did not clearly point out that Huguang was in Tongdeng from beginning to end. If Zhang Changgeng didn't have a ghost in his heart, then Jiang Guozhu's letter could be understood as the feasibility of discussing hypocrisy and wrongdoing, and asking for Zhou Peigong could also be regarded as a two-handed preparation of force and stratagem.

After listening to Zhang Changgeng carefully expound his analysis, Zhou Peigong let out a sigh of relief: "What the Governor said is right, the governor of Jiangning is just suspicious, but there is no real evidence, we can completely ignore it." ”

"No, we're going to grant his request." Zhang Changgeng shook his head: "Deng Minghu is a fake tiger, borrowing the power of the imperial court to overwhelm us, although he has not put forward any requirements that we can't meet, but do you dare to say that he won't be like this when we fall deeper and deeper?" When the time comes, we will not promise him that the court will kill our heads, and promise him that the court will still kill our heads if he is defeated. ”

"It turns out that the Governor General meant," Zhou Peigong suddenly realized: "Let's pull Governor Jiang and let him do something more excessive than us, so that in the future, if the imperial court wants to investigate it, it will first investigate Liangjiang." ”

"Did the official say that?" Zhang Changgeng smiled sympathetically, Zhou Peigong's idea is essentially a race between hunters and tigers, and in Zhang Changgeng's life, in addition to racing, this will also be a kind of bondage. Of course, the matter of Tongdeng still has to be concealed as much as possible, if Liangjiang is involved, then they will also have to help Huguang hide it here, and from then on, the governor of Huguang will not fight alone. Moreover, if the magistrates in the Yangtze River valley all adopt this strategy, the imperial court will not only not be angry and give the most severe punishment, but may also reflect: "For example, if the official heard that a county official bribed the thief in order to keep the city, the official will definitely punish him severely, and if a government does this, the official will probably ask for the guilt, but he will also consider it, think about whether there is any trouble, whether the enemy is powerful, although the prefect has bribed, but he does not intend to surrender to the thief, and keeps the city. how to weigh the pros and cons of this; If several prefectures did this, the official would never be in a hurry to investigate, but would find out what went wrong, so that so many prefectures and counties were forced to give in. ”

If the large-scale communication with Deng in Jiangnan could not be concealed in the end, after the outbreak broke out, Zhang Changgeng believed that after the Qing court was shocked, it would also realize that Deng Ming was actually using the power of Beijing to threaten the southern magistrates: "When the imperial court understands it, not only will it turn the big thing into a small one, but maybe it will also revise the law that losing land is a capital crime." The original intention of this law was to deal with the Yongli, who were focused on seizing land, and the court had to fight-for-tat; And Deng Ming and Yongli are completely different, they are good at tricks, so the method naturally needs to be changed. ”

If Beijing's policy becomes flexible, Zhang Changgeng feels that his hands and feet will no longer be tied tightly, and if Wuchang is no longer Zhang Changgeng's dead end, then he thinks that he will have more confidence in Deng Ming and can speak in a different tone.

"Xiaguan understands." Zhou Peigong was thorough at one point: "Then the lower official will make preparations and go to Jiangning to help the governor." ”

"Okay, but after all, this matter still needs the nod of the imperial court, and when the imperial court orders Huguang to send reinforcements to assist in the suppression, you should set off."

"Yes."

Zhou Peigong respectfully resigned, but the governor of Huguang did not leave his seat immediately, but sat there silently thinking about his own thoughts. Since he came out of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Changgeng has always served the imperial court dutifully, working for the emperor honestly, and has never thought more about it except for the money he deserves. Until the day when his subordinates murdered Hu Quancai, Zhang Changgeng never had the idea of snatching power from the imperial court, and he originally planned to continue to obey Hu Quancai's orders and resign himself to fate that day.

But after that day, Zhang Changgeng's career became completely different from before, the Qing court had no time to look west for a long time, and this year the governor of Huguang Yamen can be said to cover the sky with one hand, Zhang Chenggong can install cronies and cultivate party henchmen as he wants, although he is often under the military pressure of Deng Ming, when he enjoys unprecedented rights.

And Deng Ming's actions also made Zhang Changgeng feel his own strength, even if he was as cunning and brave as Deng Ming, he needed to bargain with himself politely. The more restrained Deng Ming used force and threats, the more Zhang Changgeng could feel the need and dependence of the other party on the rights he held, and this feeling increased day by day, but he did not wake up until Jiang Guozhu sent the letter.

After receiving Jiang Guozhu's letter, Zhang Changgeng suddenly woke up to the fact that the rights of the Yamen, the governor of Huguang, no longer belonged to the Qing court, but was becoming his private property. Even the Qing court in Beijing would need Zhang Changgeng's rights – he was no longer a mere agent of the Qing court in Huguang.

"The world must be divided for a long time, and it must be divided for a long time, I am familiar with history books, it stands to reason that the emperor and the Ming Dynasty have been mixed with a sea for three hundred years, and there should be a more than two hundred years, and a hundred years later, and the princes should be divided for a hundred years, and the Qing Dynasty will unify the sea so quickly, which is obviously unreasonable." Zhang Changgeng could go to the solemn soldiers in front of the yamen, in the era of Hu Quancai, if the patrol asked to see, the governor could not refuse to meet; Needless to say, high-ranking officials like the governor, even the appointment and dismissal of the prefect is not Hu Quancai's final say, but the instruction of the imperial court. But in the past six months, the governor no longer has the qualifications to make irresponsible remarks in front of Zhang Changgeng, and the appointment of the governor of Huguang is endorsed by the imperial court, Zhou Peigong is the best example, and the appointment of a Wuchang prefect was agreed by the imperial court without saying a word, and now Zhang Changgeng wants to promote him as the governor of Hubei, presumably the imperial court will not object.

However, the time of six months of arbitrariness is still too short, and Zhang Changgeng was awakened by the thought he had just born: "What am I thinking? The court can't control it because Zheng Chenggong made a big fuss in Jiangning, and now Da Su has taken heavy troops to exterminate the Fujian thieves, and the general has tens of thousands of elite green battalions, as well as the Eight Banners of the Near Brigade, if I am restless, he will come back from Fujian, and he will be able to calm me down at once. ”

Reluctantly put away the fantasy just now, Zhang Changgeng began to consider the countermeasures to deal with the imperial court again, the whole strategy has not changed, it is still to unite the Yamen of the Governor of Liangjiang and the Yamen of the Governor of Caoyun, if you can hide it, you can hide it, and if you can't hide it, you will do the law and not blame the public, anyway, you did not defect to the Ming army, there is no loss in the big festival, and it is a last resort to make compromises.

……

When he returned to the prefect's yamen, the guards reported that someone from Sichuan had asked to see him.

"Yu Youming, president of Chengdu Industrial Bank." Zhou Peigong read the famous assassin again, and when he heard that this person had a letter of recommendation from the person in charge of Deng Ming's stay in Wuchang, he asked the guards to bring the person to the flower hall for tea. After tidying up the official uniform, Zhou Peigong came to the flower hall to meet guests.

"President Yu." Zhou Peigong's words were very polite, he didn't know what a bank meant, and he didn't know what the official title of president was.

"I've seen Governor Zhou." Yu Youming also saluted meticulously, the last time Deng Ming formed a standing army, Yu Youming failed to be selected. For these Zhejiang army leaders who did not meet the requirements of the standing army, Deng Ming gave the treatment of retired generals, that is, the allowance of the same person, in addition to the identity of a reserve officer, according to Deng Ming, it will be of great use in the future.

However, when the conscription troops went to Jiangnan this time, Yu Youming, these reserve officers, were no longer recruited, and all the officers of the standing army were taken away. Yu Youming and the others still don't have any specific work, he has nothing to do with his allowance, except for exercising, he chats with Xiong Lan after work - the previous conflict with Liu Jinge made Yu Youming and Xiong Lan form some fighting friendships.

The Sichuan salt business is tantamount to a stimulant to Chengdu's economy, driving the development of tool manufacturing and banking, Yu Youming is a young man in his twenties, who is already bored, and when he saw that the banking industry was booming, he partnered with some other equally idle people to set up a bank.

"I followed the Admiral when I was in Anqing, and the Admiral did not give up, and was ordered to take charge of the first army, and after arriving in Chengdu, I stepped down from the military position, and then became the president of the bank." Yu Youming recounted his experience to Zhou Peigong selectively.

"Hmm." Zhou Peigong already had a rough outline of the identity of the person who came: Deng Ming's henchman general, who resigned from his military post probably to hide people's eyes, and most of his visit to Wuchang this time was also instructed by Deng Ming.

"You have to deal with it seriously, don't be cheated by Admiral Deng again." Zhou Peigong immediately cheered up and waited intently for Yu Youming's next words.

"I heard that the commercial bank here in Wuchang needs an IOU, and I came here for this purpose." Although Yu Youming bought a banking license, he was not able to carry out any business in Chengdu.

However, in the casual chat with Xiong Lan and Qin Xiucai, Yu Youming heard very important information, that is, Deng Ming deliberately took Wuchang's neck, allocated a batch of salt that was only allowed to be purchased with IOUs, and used this batch of goods to raise Wuchang's appetite, and then buy some materials needed in Chengdu.

Not long ago, there was an upgraded version of this news, Xiong Lan and Liu Jinge both received a notice from the messenger sent back by Deng Ming, saying that in addition to salt, Wuchang also had a batch of other goods, which also needed to be purchased with IOUs. Deng Ming's plan was for Wuchang to trade IOUs for ships and pig iron, and then exchange them for the goods he had deliberately hoarded. In addition to helping Chengdu get the materials it needs, Deng Ming also wanted to take the opportunity to support Chengdu's water transport trading firms, and the high profits reserved for the firms in the pricing of goods.

Deng Ming did not explain the specific operation in detail, and let Chengdu act on the opportunity, and his idea was to form some commercial houses and let them enrich this trade. But when Deng Ming's plan arrived in Chengdu, it was immediately revised by the officials he left behind according to their own ideas.

Liu Jinge always kept in mind Deng Ming's instructions to let him develop Chengdu's industry, so he set a tone that everything that Chengdu could produce by itself could not be imported, so as not to destroy the production enthusiasm of Chengdu Commercial Bank. According to this guiding ideology, Liu Jinge believes that farm tools and grain are no longer purchased, and even imported cattle and horses need to be demonstrated in detail, so as not to impact the breeding enthusiasm of Chengdu horse dealers. In order to ensure the local industry, Liu Jinge also issued a ban on imported goods not to be sold on the market.

And Xiong Lan is reluctant to issue more IOUs, although Deng Ming said that the restrictions will be relaxed, but he keeps in mind the threat of "Cao Cao's grain official", in Xiong Lanlai, now Wuchang executes the book-keeping transactions very well, and does not plan to give Wuchang a real IOU, it is best not to release even one yuan out of the capital, so as not to make it difficult for him to master. In Xiong Lan's vision, it is best to ship a batch of goods back from Wuchang, and after selling them in Chengdu, the resulting IOUs are paid into the government, and then a voucher is issued, and then sent back to Wuchang to pick up the goods.

As for Qin Xiucai, he is most concerned about how much tax his tax bureau can draw, and strongly advocates that the tax bureau monopolize this import trade. Qin Xiucai fully supported Xiong Lan's plan, claiming that his tax bureau could be responsible for issuing the voucher that Xiong Lan said.

However, Qin Xiucai's plan is not entirely in Xiong Lan's interests, and he hopes that the private bank can profit from it to improve his political performance. Again, the plan did not fit Liu Jinge's vision, fearing that the banks would infringe on his plan to support industry in order to make a profit, and thus make Deng Ming dissatisfied with his work.

Due to the tripartite dispute, Wuchang has more and more goods, but there are no commercial banks in Chengdu that are interested and capable of carrying out import trade.

Using the personal relationship with Xiong Lan and Qin Xiucai, Yu Youming persuaded them to let Chengdu Industrial Bank engage in this business behind Liu Jinge's back, and the whole process was that Yu Youming purchased goods in Wuchang, but instead of paying the IOU, the accompanying deputy director of the Taxation Bureau, Pu Fu, issued a voucher to the Wuchang cargo manager for accounting. After the sale of these goods was exchanged for IOUs, part of the tax was paid to the tax bureau, and part of it became the profits of the industrial bank, which was clearly set aside by Deng Ming for private commercial banks in the pricing, and both the Chengdu central bank and the tax bureau were eager to get a piece of the pie.

After receiving a guarantee that he would not import farm tools and livestock, Liu Jinge also agreed to Yu Youming's plan, and he also wanted to repair some relations with the people of Zhejiang, and he also suggested that Yu Youming give priority to the purchase of pig iron and forage to help the local manufacturing and livestock industry.

"I don't know what the governor wants about the goods." After listening to Yu Youming's introduction of the IOU voucher scheme, Zhou Peigong was already completely clear about the identity of the other party: this must be Deng Ming's cronies, who were ordered to engage in smuggling activities and buy urgently needed materials for Chengdu.

"Farm implements, ploughing cattle." Yu Youming replied without thinking about it, the most scarce thing in Chengdu is industrial products and livestock, and the profits will be very large. If you buy pig iron and forage, limited to the current limited production capacity in Chengdu, Yu Youming thinks most of them will not be able to sell. As for Liu Jinge's request, hmph, Yu Youming didn't forget that he was beaten by him.

Xiong Lan and Qin Xiucai also agreed with Yu Youming's idea, and both of them were more concerned about profits. As for Liu Jinge's ban, it is naturally that you have a good plan, I have a wall ladder, and under the instruction of Xiong Lan, the Chengdu Industrial Bank also purchased a blacksmith shop and a cattle and horse shop monopoly license, and when the time comes, the imported goods will become the products of local commercial houses.