Zhou Peigong, the governor of the 12 provinces, felt that the situation was serious, and first hurried to Jiujiang to talk with Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo, and then went to Nanjing day and night, intending to quell the internal strife between the two rivers.

Before Zhou Peigong entered Nanjing, Jiang Guozhu made a final analysis of the situation.

Although Beijing vigorously condemned Nanjing for provoking the incident, Suo Etu also wrote a personal letter, painstakingly persuading Jiang Guozhu to put the overall situation of suppressing Deng first. But Jiang Guozhu knew that the relationship between the emperor and the local ministers was very delicate. The new military defeat made the Qing court's treasury even more strained, presumably not to meddle in its own affairs - Jiang Guozhu believed that if Beijing really sided with Jiangxi and intervened by force, it would be good, and then Chengdu would not sit idly by; As long as Jiang Guozhu is willing to pay taxes, Beijing will say that this is the will of the people in Jiangxi, and the imperial court will not respect the choice of Jiangxi's fathers because he loves one person (Zhang Chao) -- now in Beijing, except for the young emperor who is working hard, the other Manchurian princes have basically seen it, anyway, they entered the customs because the Han regime was weak and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to grab a hand; Now that the Han people are so horizontal, everyone is still thinking about how to get rich, and it is not worth putting the lives of the whole clan into it for money that is destined not to be grabbed. Now the most worried about the future of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is not those Manchurian Taijun but their Baoyi, they have long fantasized about getting some leftovers from the fingers of the Manchurian Taijun. However, Jiang Guozhu did not take these people to heart, because Beijing is still the Manchurian monarch who has the final say.

Shandong and Zhejiang, while calling for peace, also hinted at Nanjing that they would not interfere in the internal affairs of the two rivers. Zhejiang and Shandong are both weak provinces, and their neighbors around them are stronger than them, so one hugs Beijing's thighs and the other obeys Chengdu's orders. For example, Zhao Guozuo and Song Kui, these two brothers are now planning how to sell Zhejiang to the Eastern Zhejiang Army all day long, it is estimated that in a few years, except for the Governor Yamen and the General's Mansion in Hangzhou, the rest of Zhejiang will belong to the forbidden sea area. Anyway, it was not Zhao Guozuo and Songkui's turn to divide the territory, neither Geng Jimao in Fujian nor Jiang Guozhu in Jiangnan dared to fight them, so they naturally did not care about the outcome of the Liangjiang War.

As for Huguang, Guangdong, and Fujian, which are likely to interfere in Jiangxi, they are also in a state of containment of each other. If they did send troops into Jiangxi, I am afraid that Chengdu and Beijing would be more intolerable than Chiang Guozhu to unify the two rivers, because that would completely destroy Deng Ming's plan to maintain the status quo, and Beijing's current strategy is to delay it for one more day.

"In the end, I still have to get Chengdu's understanding." Jiang Guozhu sighed lightly. Because Deng Ming led the main force to the sea, Chengdu now lacks the strength to intervene by force, but Jiang Guozhu does not intend to offend Chengdu too much, after all, he still has to leave a way out for himself. In this case, today's negotiations with Zhou Peigong are very important, because Prime Minister Deng is the person with the best relationship with the Qing court or with Deng Ming, and Zhou Peigong still has an army in his hands that can be used to intervene. If Zhou Peigong is willing to remain neutral, then his attitude may also have an impact on Chengdu - as long as he fights Zhang Chao alone, Jiang Guozhu is still relatively confident.

But Zhou Peigong and Jiang Guozhu's thoughts are completely different. Before leaving the mainland, Deng Ming had a talk with Minister Zhou Pei, hoping that Prime Minister Deng's yamen could help and assist Chengdu in supervising these warlords in China. But not long after Deng Mingcai left, the emperor in Beijing had to be the first to jump out and stir up the situation, and as a result, his prestige was lost, which made the vassal kings and governors even more impatient.

Now Jiang Guozhu is about to start a big war, which of course makes Zhou Peigong feel very annoyed, worried that it is likely to lead to a chain reaction. Wu Sangui and Shang Kexi may be paying close attention to the movements of Liangjiang, and Geng Jingzhong, who has just inherited the vassal king, is not a fuel-efficient lamp. These people also know that the opportunity is rare, and when Beijing and Chengdu can't take care of it, they will create a fait accompli -- if they grab a piece of land first and grasp it in their hands, they will bargain with Deng Ming in the future, and they will have more bargaining chips. If Jiang Guozhu succeeds, maybe Wu Sangui and the others will also start to brew small moves.

When Zhou Peigong went to Jiujiang this time, he strongly persuaded Zhang Chao to back down to Jiang Guozhu and hand over part of the profits of porcelain to Nanjing, or simply cede one or two prefectures and counties to Jiangnan, and wait for Deng Ming to come back and then theorize. But in the past few years, Zhang Chao has been the emperor of the soil, and no one dares to care about him, and no one dares to say that he is not, so Zhang Chao, like Jiang Guozhu, has undergone a sharp self-expansion, and disdains Zhou Peigong's compromise plan. Especially when he heard Zhou Peigong talk about ceding land, Zhang Chao was even more angry, saying that he was just peace-loving, but he was by no means timid and afraid. If Jiang Guozhu really dared to provoke a war, then Zhang Chao not only dared to fight, but also burned the war back to the land south of the Yangtze River. After the breakthrough of Nanjing, Zhang Chao did not mind sitting on the throne of the governor of Liangjiang.

As the right-hand man of the Zhang Dynasty in the past ten years, Dong Weiguo has a clearer understanding of the situation, knowing that Jiangxi and Jiangnan are at war, at most they can protect themselves, and it is purely a dream to enter Nanjing. However, when Dong Weiguo discussed with Zhou Peigong in private, he said that Zhang Chao could no longer listen to people's persuasion, and Dong Weiguo was also worried that once the land or interests were ceded to Jiangnan, Guangdong and Fujian, which were eyeing each other, would pounce on Jiangxi and bite Jiangxi -- if this happened, Dong Weiguo hoped that the Deng Corps would be able to participate in the war and help the Jiangxi Green Battalion defend the territory. But this kind of guarantee Zhou Peigong didn't dare to give at all.

Therefore, Zhou Peigong came to Nanjing empty-handed this time, and he couldn't come up with any conditions to satisfy Jiang Guozhu's appetite; And just as Zhou Peigong was worried, the governor of Liangjiang disdained Zhou Peigong's suggestion to persuade him to maintain restraint, and instead boasted about how Jiangnan would be strong and strong, and he could solve Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo in half a month and unify the two rivers.

"Is the old man helping me or helping the thief this time?" Hearing Zhou Peigong begging him to let Jiangxi go, Jiang Guozhu really couldn't hold back: "As for the actions of Guangdong, Fujian, and even Yungui, there is no need to worry. When I eliminate the thief, I will be able to free up my hands to help the old relatives suppress them, and ensure that no one dares to make any changes before Deng Xiang returns! ”

When he was in Jiujiang, Zhou Peigong tried his best to persuade Zhang Chao to make concessions, but if the other party was stubborn, Zhou Peigong had no choice. His suppression of Prime Minister Deng's yamen has business on the entire Yangtze River, although the governors usually buy Zhou Peigong's face, but if they really tear their faces and cause conflicts, it will not be good for Zhou Peigong. Even if Zhou Peigong can force Zhang Chao to bow to Jiang Guozhu, then the resentful Zhang Chao is likely to secretly cause trouble for Zhou Peigong, which can also bring him a lot of losses.

And Jiang Guozhu is stronger than Zhang Chao's strength, and Zhou Peigong needs more places where the Yamen, the governor of Liangjiang, needs to cooperate with him. Now that Jiang Guozhu pulled his face up, Zhou Peigong had no choice but to nod with a wry smile, indicating that he would remain neutral and secretly provide information to Nanjing.

After leaving from the yamen of the governor of Liangjiang, Liang Huafeng caught up with Zhou Peigong from behind: "Zhou Bu's political envoy, the governor will be the last general......

"Don't dare to be." Zhou Peigong hurriedly bowed his hand and said humbly: "How dare the lower officials hold up in front of Admiral Liang, besides, Admiral Liang is also the pro-son of the Governor, right?" We're also relatives. ”

The two were polite, and finally called each other brothers. Liang Huafeng told Zhou Peigong that Jiang Guozhu hoped that he would take Zhou Peigong to inspect the troops in Liangjiang and let him understand how big the gap between Jiangnan and Jiangxi was. Zhou Peigong smiled bitterly a few times when he heard this, but he didn't shirk and followed Liang Huafeng to the barracks.

After inspecting the elite soldiers in Jiangnan, Zhou Peigong's face was still full of worry, and Liang Huafeng asked cautiously: "In Brother Zhou's opinion, is this Jiangxi good to fight?" ”

"Brother Liang has been leading the troops for a lot more days than the younger brother, I don't know what Brother Liang thinks?" Zhou Peigong asked rhetorically.

"Hmm." Liang Huafeng twisted his beard for a long time, and said slowly: "Since I heard that Jiangnan and Jiangxi are going to fight, our stocks here have also fallen, but the decline is much less than that of Jiangxi, which shows that there are still more people who are optimistic about us, right?" ”

"Brother Liang knows what he knows," Zhou Peigong gave a thumbs up and praised: "This is much better than just listening to his subordinates boasting about themselves." ”

"But has Brother Liang ever thought that the rules of this world have changed, and now it is completely different from the troubled times in the past." Zhou Peigong changed the topic and pointed out that this is not a heads-up between Jiangnan and Jiangxi at all: "Since Admiral Deng was born, the rules have been completely different. And why can the younger brother soar and now carry the political envoys of the twelve provinces on one shoulder? It's because the younger brother knows Admiral Deng's rules best. ”

"My brother has a point." Liang Huafeng nodded slightly. If only the troubled times of the past would have had a lot of opportunities to fish in troubled waters, and the status of the military would have been much higher. Although this kind of rule now makes Liang Huafeng feel lost, he can't help but admit that Zhou Peigong is right.

"Our old dear, alas! Although Admiral Deng went to sea, this set of rules has not changed back, and the rules are still there. Zhou Peigong sighed again. If he goes step by step according to Deng Ming's strategy, Zhou Peigong is sure that he can win a rich return for himself and his family, so he doesn't want the world to be chaotic and the heroes rise together, which will make Zhou Peigong's face full of variables again - Zhou Peigong is not Wu Sangui, nor Shang Kexi, he is not very confident in fighting on the battlefield, and he is quite satisfied with what he has obtained, and he does not want to pursue too much.

……

At this time in Guilin, Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, was indeed as Zhou Peigong had guessed, staring intently at the development of the situation in Liangjiang.

"Li Dingguo replied, he said that as long as the prince is willing to do it anyway, he is willing to explain to Deng Ming on behalf of the prince." Xia Guoxiang read Li Dingguo's reply to Wu Sangui. Wu Sangui and Li Dingguo have been facing each other for ten years, but no one can help anyone. Therefore, Li Dingguo repeatedly proposed to Deng Ming, asking for permission to allow Wu Sangui to launch the Northern Expedition with the Ming army in Yunnan anyway.

However, Deng Ming was extremely wary of Wu Sangui, and although he could not control Guizhou and Guangxi, Deng Ming's conditions repeatedly demanded that Wu Sangui must hand over a province to Li Dingguo after any event, and that he must not expand his territory on his own -- as long as he watched from the sidelines. Wu Sangui repeatedly protested to Li Dingguo against Deng Ming's naked distrust, saying that he was very insecure and could not see the sincerity of the Ming army in treating him and his officers and men well.

After several years of grinding time, Li Dingguo gradually felt that Deng Ming seemed to be too harsh on Wu Sangui, and ten years later, Li Dingguo felt that his best years were spent endlessly in Yungui with Wu Sangui. Therefore, in this letter, he took the initiative to propose that as long as Wu Sangui was willing to openly correct and do his best to assist the Northern Expedition of the Yunnan Army, then Li Dingguo would ensure his future and safety, and he would definitely persuade Deng Ming to put aside his prejudices.

"It depends on whether Jiang Guozhu goes smoothly or not." After listening to Li Dingguo's letter, Wu Sangui smiled slightly. Confronting Li Dingguo was not what he wanted, but as long as he didn't get rid of Li Dingguo for a day, Wu Sangui didn't dare to put his main energy in other directions, so he could only accompany Li Dingguo to spend it.

Deng Ming's obvious hostility made Wu Sangui very uneasy, and he was always worried that he would not be able to pass on the vassal kingdom to his descendants. After careful study, Wu Sangui believed that it was necessary to wage a major war to expand his territory—even if he could not compete with Deng Ming, he must force Deng Ming to admit his status and strength. Time is obviously not in favor of Wu Sangui's side, how do you think that Wu Sangui will die decades earlier than Deng Ming, and his descendants will not be slaughtered by others at that time?

Six years ago, Wu Sangui seized the opportunity to play a trick that caught Beijing and Chengdu off guard. He knew very well that neither the Qing court nor western Sichuan could agree to him entering Hunan, so Wu Sangui never had the idea of Hunan from the beginning. Wu Sangui just released a smoke screen to deceive Beijing, Chengdu and the world. As Wu Sangui expected, Zhang Changgeng successively obtained information from the channels on both sides of the Ming and Qing dynasties that Wu Sangui was going to attack him, and then began to cooperate with Wu Sangui's performance, helping Wu Sangui to blind the greedy Sun Yanling - Sun Yanling was so stupid as to regard Wu Sangui as an ally, not only let down his guard, but also jumped up and down to advocate a crusade against Zhang Changgeng, and helped Wu Sangui attract most of the hatred in Beijing and Chengdu.

Just like when he was in Shanhaiguan, Wu Sangui had a very clear understanding of what results he could obtain with the strength in his hands, and hid his goal very well, no one realized that Wu Sangui actually intended to be in Guangxi, so no one interfered with it. In the end, Wu Sangui not only easily annexed Guangxi, but also relieved Chengdu and Beijing, feeling that this result was completely acceptable.

However, just one Guangxi is not enough, Wu Sangui knows that he needs more gambling money, and this time he thinks he has the strength to occupy at least half of Hunan.

"As long as Jiang Guozhu defeats Jiujiang, I will do it anyway, and then immediately attack Hunan, crusade against the puppet governor of Huguang of the Tartars, and take the three prefectures of Yongzhou, Hengzhou and Baoqing."

"What about Chenzhou and Changsha, does the prince really want to give Li Dingguo?" Xia Guoxiang, as Wu Sangui's son-in-law and confidant, was very clear about King Pingxi's plan, but when he talked about these two rich mansions, Xia Guoxiang's face was still full of reluctance.

"Haha, didn't Li Dingguo want this king to cooperate with him in the Northern Expedition with all his heart? Of course, the king will do what he says. Wu Sangui not only wanted to cede Chenzhou and Changsha to Li Dingguo, but also planned to allow the Ming army in Yunnan to enter Hunan by way from Guizhou, and even temporarily hand over Guizhou Province to Li Dingguo's control.

"Little family gas!" Seeing the painful expression on Xia Guoxiang's face, Wu Sangui laughed at him: "Li Dingguo is a person who wants to be Yue Fei, of course this king wants to give him a way to go to the Northern Expedition." You can rest assured, Li Dingguo will definitely not look down on Hunan, let alone our Guizhou, as long as he finds that Jiangxi has a chance, he will attack the two rivers, well, he may also go to Henan. When the Northern Expedition of King Jin is in full swing and he has no time to be distracted, we will help him manage these territories. ”

"That's what the prince said." Xia Guoxiang knew that Wu Sangui planned to let Li Dingguo attract the attention of the governors of the southeast, and he could also use it as a shield against Deng Ming. But not everyone can afford and put it down like Wu Sangui.

"It's reluctant." Wu Sangui chuckled again, changed the topic and asked, "How is Shang Zhixin's side?" ”