Deng Ming took the lead in riding his horse towards the city gate, Xiong Lan shook the reins of the horse and followed closely behind the guards; Qin Xiucai, Liu Yao and others didn't look at Liu Jinge, and quickly caught up with them; Liu Jinge hung his head and followed the last of the team of officials who went out of the city to greet him.

After Deng Ming jumped off the horse, he quickly climbed the city tower. A group of black-clad rangers surrounded Deng Ming, and they would repeat every word of Deng Ming loudly and neatly, spreading the sound to the distance, so that the fellow talents near the castle tower could hear it clearly.

"Officers and soldiers went on an expedition to Burma, and someone asked me how the battle was won or lost." Deng Ming stood on the city tower, facing thousands of fellow Xiucai in western Sichuan, and asked loudly: "Do you think this battle is a victory or a defeat?" ”

"Master Wang's victory!"

No matter what kind of remarks have been circulated in Chengdu before, will the same show talents still not know how to answer now? Even if some people still feel that the expedition to Burma is futile and the gains outweigh the losses, they will never say this in front of Deng Ming, lest their respected commanders not be able to step down.

"How do you know?" Deng Ming immediately asked, "How do you know about the victory of Master Wang?" ”

It's easy to shout "Wang Shi's great victory" on Chunxi Road, but it's a little difficult to answer the second question. Some senators and imperial councillors who came to watch the ceremony also looked a little dazed: Bao Guogong said in his speech to the Imperial Assembly that this war was fought smoothly, not only won more with less many times, but also won war reparations, didn't you say these words yourself?

Without waiting for the talents to react, Deng Ming asked again: "What about the evidence?" What is the evidence of your victory? ”

This question is even more unanswerable, and Deng Ming's tone makes many people feel more and more confused: Could it be that Bao Guogong denied that this was a victory? Why did Bao Guogong ask so hard?

Deng Ming, who was on the city tower, took a deep breath and slowed down his speech: "Today I brought you evidence of victory, please take a look." ”

After saying that, Deng Ming waved his hand, and the rangers behind him immediately sent a signal to the outside of the city.

A large column of carts drove into the city, all manned in black, and each carrying a large open-lided box full of dazzling jewels.

"Gold! The gold of Myanmar! ”

"The jewel of Burma."

"The jade of Burma."

A ranger officer standing next to the box reached out and grabbed a handful of gold coins and gems, held them high above his head for everyone to see, and then threw them out and scattered them in the distance crowd, shouting to the crowd on both sides of the road: "These are the treasures of Burma, the evidence of victory." ”

After these words were shouted, the rangers on several carts picked up handfuls of treasures from their boxes and threw them in all directions with all their might: "Evidence of victory!" ”

The golden light in the sky suddenly caused a deafening cheer, and the Tongxiu talents shouted excitedly, raising their hands to catch the gold coins falling from the sky.

Meng Zhengfa and Zhu Zhiyu, who were watching, were completely stunned.

Since ancient times, it has not been heard of a prince who has ever declared victory to the people in this way. Even the unambitious prince knew that all foreign wars told his people were to hang the people, and that no one would admit to gaining wealth from war.

"The Admiral has an order, today the whole city celebrates the victory of Burma, eat and drink as much as you want, the Admiral treats guests, and treats guests with the gold of Burma." While scattering the gold coins, the Rangers shouted to their fellow talents.

Although Meng Zhengfa privately believed that Deng Ming would usurp the throne sooner or later, the He Sheng's poems he prepared for today were closely related to the theme of "loyalty, courage and diligence". The military parade imagined by him and Zhu Zhiyu would also be extremely solemn and solemn, and Deng Ming might also talk to the people about those soldiers who sacrificed their lives in foreign lands, and praised them for being loyal to the monarch and serving the country and dying well. If Deng Ming really brought up this topic, Meng Zhengfa also prepared some resignations to commemorate the soldiers.

But the scene was completely beyond Meng Zhengfa's imagination, and those who picked up gold coins and gems let out screams of excitement, jumping up and down to show off their gains to those around them; And those Tong Xiucai who didn't grab the treasure didn't find nothing, the carriages loaded with wine and food drove over one after another, and they were walking on Chunxi Road, which Xiong Lan prepared in advance according to Deng Ming's instructions. The people in the car opened jar after jar of wine, barrel after bucket of food. A bonfire was lit in the middle of Chunxi Road, and the sheep were roasted and distributed to the joyful fellow talents.

As the tantalizing aroma of meat wafted by, the cheers came in waves. Zhu Zhiyu, who was stunned, raised his head and looked at the city tower again. There, the young ruler of western Sichuan looked down on his capital, and saw him from a distance with one hand on his waist and the other on the battlements, looking relaxed and comfortable; The bright red cloak was blown into the air by the wind, and in the midst of a group of black-clad guards, the tall figure looked even more pretentious.

Although he couldn't see Bao Guogong's face clearly, judging from his posture, Zhu Zhiyu felt that he seemed to be laughing heartily, excited by the boiling scene around him.

"Is this the prince of the Ming Dynasty and the emperor's important minister?" Zhu Zhiyu felt that this noisy and chaotic scene was inevitably too unorthodox, like the king of the mountain showing off the results of going down the mountain to the minions, and he was also the most unruly of the bandits: "Scattering gold and silver, drinking wine in a big bowl, and eating meat in large pieces, even Kui Dong is not so ridiculous." ”

"I told you, but you just don't believe it." Chen Zuocai, who was next to him, heard Zhu Zhiyu's words, shook his head slowly, and said: "It's not that Baoguo Gong was influenced by Kuidong's group of people at all, but that Kuidong was influenced by Baoguo Gong." ”

At this time, a soldier dressed in black walked through the crowded crowd and came to Chen Zuocai's side: "Dare to ask if it is Mr. Zhu and Mr. Meng?" ”

After receiving an affirmative reply, the soldier stepped forward and gave a military salute: "If the two gentlemen are free, the Baoguo Gong will ask the two of you to go up to the city tower to talk about it." ”

"Didn't you call me?" Chen Zuocai asked.

The soldier politely replied, "Bao Guogong said that Chen sacrifice wine is free." ”

Chen Zuocai has seen Deng Ming a few times, but Zhu Zhiyu and Meng Zhengfa are the first time, so Deng Ming said that Chen Zuocai is at his own convenience, if he wants, he will go up to the city tower with Zhu Zhiyu and Meng Zhengfa, if he doesn't want to come, it doesn't matter.

"Well, I didn't want to go. I'll go over there and eat a piece of meat first. Chen Zuocai nodded with satisfaction, and walked towards a place where whole sheep were roasted.

Zhu Zhiyu looked at Chen Zuocai blankly. He also thought that with Chen Zuocai's stubborn temper, he would be furious because of Deng Ming's absurd behavior, and even walked away, but he didn't expect that the wine lord would actually go to get a piece of the pie with peace of mind. Chen Zuocai looked at the incomprehension on the faces of Zhu Zhiyu and Meng Zhengfa, and laughed: "The small state of Burma actually held the Son of Heaven hostage, bullied the cabinet, and bought sheep with their gold, of course I also have to eat a piece to relieve my hatred." ”

As Zhu Zhiyu guessed, Deng Ming has indeed been laughing on the city tower, and at the same time, he is secretly sighing in his heart, these fellow talents are too easy to satisfy.

Just like winning the lottery in later generations, most people only stare at those who won the lottery without realizing that they have spent a lot of money on lottery tickets. Deng Ming did not give money to each of his fellow showers, but concentrated and threw gold coins, so that the total amount of money spent was much smaller, but the effect was definitely more sensational than everyone's share. As for inviting Chengdu people to eat, the cost is also limited, needless to say, people in Xuzhou and other places, even the people scattered in the suburbs of Chengdu have not enjoyed today's food, they heard about this, and will envy the good luck of the people in the city at the same time, regret why they did not come to the city today.

Those who find gold coins, and those who eat free feasts, become effective propagandists, repeating today's event to their acquaintances and relatives, and becoming indisputable witnesses to Burma's victory.

"It's no wonder that the generals of ancient Rome always liked to invite the whole city to dinner whenever they triumphed, and this way to show off their victories was really a good way to spend less money." Looking at the jubilant Chengdu, Deng Ming couldn't help but have such an association: "But after our education is popularized, the Tongxiu talents in the capital can't be so easy to fool, right?" Their demands will get higher and higher, and they will never be satisfied with a meal again. ”

But that is undoubtedly something that needs to be worried about a long time later, Deng Ming feels that Tong Xiucai doesn't care if he is close to a bandit or not, anyway, everyone's understanding of the empire now is basically what it means. As long as the fellow talents feel that the war is profitable and can benefit them, even if it is just to pick up a gold coin, or a meal or two of free food, they will be happy.

At the Imperial Diet held around the New Year, the members of the parliament did not pass a new war proposal or call for a new war, as Deng Ming had guessed, which was really much to Deng Ming's expectations. After careful consideration, Deng Ming understood why the society in western Sichuan was tired of the war, and also understood that this war-weariness would soon pass—Deng Ming did not want the common people to become war-weary, and he was not willing to let it develop.

After today, no one will doubt the victory of the Ming army in Burma, nor will they doubt the benefits brought to them.

"Admiral Deng is clever." Xiong Lan stood behind Deng Ming. Because he was responsible for preparing today's wine and meat, he ran to the castle tower under the pretext of reporting work. Isn't it the only one who stayed with the rangers around Deng Ming, and that wasn't the greatest reward for his informant?

"From now on, even if someone criticizes what the court has done, no one will believe it." Xiong Lan said triumphantly.

"The Imperial Court?" Deng Ming looked at the crowd of carnivals in the city, and asked rhetorically without looking back.

Xiong Lan noticed that Deng Ming didn't seem to want to pretend to be the imperial court, so he thought for a while and immediately changed his words: "The courtyard will be." ”

"Yard?" Deng Ming pondered for a moment and nodded with satisfaction: "This word is good, I like it very much." ”

At this time, Meng Zhengfa and Zhu Zhiyu had not yet arrived, Deng Ming asked Xiong Landao: "The ancients said: Although the country is big, it will die if it is warlike. What does Governor Xiong think of this sentence? ”

"That refers to the great joy of the faint king. If they are all like the Admiral, they only fight wars for the benefit of the country and the people, and feed the war with war; Before every war, I seriously think about how to benefit my fellow talents, and the only way to get stronger is to fight harder. Xiong Lan replied without thinking.

"Haha," Deng Ming looked up to the sky and laughed a few times, and patted Xiong Lan's shoulder: "Brother Xiong's words, I very much agree, very much agree." In the future, when the bank is on the right track, you should also become a prefect. ”