On 3 August, after nearly 10 days of reconnaissance, Li Guoying was convinced that the Ming army was seriously undermanpowered, and called a meeting of all the generals of the army and decided to launch an all-out breakthrough. Although the number of armored soldiers of the Ming army may be comparable to that of the Qing army, the lack of auxiliary troops will seriously reduce the mobility of the Ming army in the interior, and they do not dare to easily engage in field battles with the Qing army, because after losing physical strength, the armored soldiers of the Ming army will not be stronger than the unarmored soldiers of the Qing army.

On the same day, Yuan Zongdi, who was sailing upstream, arrived at Deng Ming's military camp, and Deng Ming personally came out to greet the Duke of Jingguo and his 1,000 armor soldiers. At this time, Deng Ming swept away the tension of a few days ago, and led his subordinates to wash Yuan Zongdi's dust with a spring breeze.

"General Yuan led his troops here, it's really a charcoal in the snow." Deng Ming said to his allies with a smile, but whether it was him or Yuan Zongdi himself, they all knew that in this kind of melee in no man's land, a thousand armored soldiers could play a very small role.

The mobilization in Chengdu was even worse than Deng Ming had imagined, and now was the critical juncture of the rice harvest, as the yeoman farmers in Chengdu were looking forward to responding to the call after they had disposed of their own grain, and the firms were complaining to Liu Jinge, saying that if their workers were called away, it would deal a heavy blow to their industry and seriously affect the development of Admiral Deng.

Strictly speaking, what these merchants said was not a lie, all walks of life in Chengdu needed manpower, and many merchants were still looking forward to being able to hire yeoman farmers to do short-term labor after the farm was slack - everyone knew that the victory in the foreign war would bring a new population to Chengdu, and they were all eager for Deng Ming to win a new victory, but all the bosses wanted to recruit men from other trading houses, and every yeoman farmer wanted their neighbors to be recruited away when they were busy with the farm - anyway, this time it was fighting in eastern Sichuan, and Admiral Deng could not ask for a daughter-in-law for everyone.

Liu Jinge had to report to Deng Ming that the second wave of people who were ahead of the original plan was not going well, and the more than 20,000 people that Deng Ming took away last time were almost all the population in Chengdu that could be used before the agricultural slack. Liu Jinge only sent 10,000 people to Deng Ming, which was achieved by Liu Jinge forcibly apporting tasks to various commercial houses and forcing them to work and contribute, and it is estimated that these people will arrive one after another within a few days. Liu Jinge hoped to carry out another round of large-scale mobilization in ten days, but Deng Ming felt that it was too late, and by the time the mobilized troops arrived on the battlefield, Li Guoying had already fled back to Chongqing.

However, the intensity and rapidity of the mobilization in Xuzhou were far from being comparable to those in Chengdu, and the first wave five days ago had pulled out 10,000 people, and the second round of mobilization in two days had pulled out another 10,000 -- Yuan Xiang ordered that the captives should be used to harvest the small grain around Xuzhou, and whoever provided the prisoners' short-term labor remuneration would have the priority to recruit workers; The Shanxi captives who had just arrived in Sichuan felt that they were being treated well, so they happily undertook the task of harvesting, and various merchants came forward to share the food needed by the captives for the sake of labor—Yuan Xiang relied on this policy to liberate more than 5,000 yeoman peasants from the land, and all of them were organized into an army and sent to the front. These more than 5,000 yeoman farmers belong to "government investment", so that in addition to collecting taxes, the yamen of the Xuzhou prefect led by Yuan Xiang can also get an additional quarter of the spoils.

"Isn't there only 30,000 Ding Zhuang in Xuzhou?" Hearing that Xuzhou provided Deng Ming with 20,000 auxiliary soldiers (people's husbands), Yuan Zongdi was surprised. It was his nephew who was in charge, and he had close exchanges with Wanxian, so Yuan Zongdi also knew about the situation in Xuzhou.

"Excluding the captives who have just been transported to Xuzhou, when I left Xuzhou, there were more than 27,000 Tongxiucai and more than 5,000 lesbian Xiucai." Deng Ming nodded, this time Xuzhou mobilized two-thirds of the men to the battlefield: "Ling's nephew's governance is really breathtaking." ”

Although there is the convenience of water transportation, although there is a large amount of grain provided by Chengdu, and although it is a short-term mobilization, such a high mobilization ratio still makes Deng Ming extremely shocked. The government simply could not come up with enough rewards to call on the people to join the army, but the commercial houses strongly supported the mobilization of the Xuzhou prefect Yamen, and they went door to door to mobilize their men to join the army, and in order to make more people tempted, the bosses and shopkeepers also generously made wishes, saying that they would pay bonuses and raise wages -- this was just the opposite of the role played by the Chengdu commercial bank, although the people in Chengdu did not dare to sing against the government openly, but they privately poured cold water on those who wanted to respond to the conscription order, "good men are not soldiers" This traditional saying has also been resurrected in Chengdu, and has been used by many bosses as a reason to persuade the guys to stay.

Chengdu, which has 250,000 talents in the same show, first provided 20,000 people in the upcoming harvest season, and then 10,000 people, which is already considerable. Deng Ming felt that Chengdu's mobilization efficiency was still quite good, and if the government at the end of the Ming Dynasty could have such mobilization capabilities as Chengdu, it would definitely make the emperor and important ministers of the court cry with joy. The reason why it seems inconspicuous is mainly that the mobilization of Xuzhou this time is too impressive, and a total of 23,000 manpower was provided for the Ming army.

Now the Xuzhou side is worried that Deng Ming will let their dreams come to naught and interfere in the distribution of the spoils, in addition to worrying that Deng Ming will favor Chengdu, the bosses of the commercial banks are also worried that Yuan Xiang will break his promise, and Deng Ming will support Yuan Xiang. When Xuzhou sent the first batch of mobilized soldiers to the front line, a representative reported their agreement to Deng Ming, and Ye Tianming also expressed his hope that Deng Ming would not interfere with their private agreement.

"Originally, I only hoped that the Xuzhou government would be able to support 2,000 people, but now because of this agreement, you can support 20,000 people on the front line! In that case, why should I thwart your agreement, will I be unable to live with victory? Deng Ming not only said that he fully recognized the agreement signed by Yuan Xiang, but also escorted the agreement and watched it be executed: "I don't know if you have ever thought about turning this benefit-sharing meeting into a permanent one?" ”

In Deng Ming's view, this agreement is essentially a distribution of spoils, and by setting the rules for post-war distribution, everyone is stimulated to make upfront investment: "In the future, as long as the agreement reached at the spoils distribution meeting is reached, the criminal officer has the obligation to ensure that the agreement is implemented." ”

"That's it...... Hmm......" Although the representative of the comptoir knew that what Deng Ming said was right, the word "spoils sharing meeting" sounded too ugly: "Well, no matter what agreement is reached at this meeting, the criminal officer will approve it, is it equivalent to the law?" ”

"Of course not," Deng Ming shook his head: "The reason why I support this meeting is that it can better enable the scholars to support the imperial court, and also allow the scholars who support the imperial court the most to get the greatest benefit from the victory of the officers and soldiers." If the agreement proposed by the Spoils Sharing Association violates this principle, for example, Boss Ye wholeheartedly supports the imperial court and gets a rich return, while other people who have not contributed look at it and want to divide Boss Ye's family property, of course the imperial court will not agree to this kind of behavior. ”

"It turns out that the Admiral is worried about this." Many of the bosses of the Chamber of Commerce laughed when they heard this: "How could this happen? ”

"There may not be, there are many people in the world who want to get something for nothing under the banner of robbing the rich and helping the poor." Deng Ming said: "As long as it does not violate the principle of 'let the scholars who support the imperial court benefit', all the agreements of this spoils will be recognized by the Criminal Division, and they will be regarded as the same provisions as the law." ”

"Admiral, since it's permanent." The delegates listened to Deng Ming's mouthful of spoils, and finally someone couldn't bear it anymore and said: "Then dare to ask the Admiral to give this meeting a good name." ”

"Oh, wouldn't it be good to share the spoils?" Deng Ming asked rhetorically, "Do you have any ideas?" ”

Everyone's ideas are strange, and in general, they want to advertise that this is a meeting that represents kindness and justice, but the people from these auxiliaries have a limited culture, and most of them can't come up with a good name, and the few who are reluctant to put forward it are also very unpleasant.

"Let's call it the Xuzhou Branch of the Imperial Diet." Deng Ming pondered for a while, and came up with a name that he thought was very imposing: "Like the Senate, a person who can have a chair in the parliament will also have the title of a member." ”

Everyone discussed for a while, but no one knew what the Imperial Council was, and no one could say that the name was bad, so they all agreed, at least this name was much better than the stolen goods.

"We are the Xuzhou Prefecture Branch, so what is the Imperial Council?" Since there is a branch, there will definitely be a general meeting, and none of the bosses in front of Deng Ming are fools.

"It's the spoils of the whole Sichuan, just like the prisoner of war issue this time, the capital will definitely have a conflict with Xuzhou, the Xuzhou branch is to manage how to divide Xuzhou, and the imperial parliament is to manage how to divide the capital and Xuzhou, and Chongqing and Jiading may be added in the future; After the king recovered the provinces, the Imperial Council began to control how to divide the provinces. ”

Deng Ming said that this is also a permanent meeting - there may not be a permanent parliamentarian, and the parliamentarians can be summoned to a meeting somewhere when there is a need to share the spoils, but the Imperial Diet will not be abolished.

"Will the Metropolitan Government agree to our discussions?" Some people in Syria are still a little worried, after all, there are 250,000 Tongxiu talents in Chengdu, while Xuzhou only has 27,000 Tongxiu talents.

"Of course, there is a saying that 'no tax without representation', have you ever heard of it?" Such a fashionable constitutional slogan, Deng Ming knew that these people in front of him definitely didn't know, he was just selling the knowledge of the traverser.

As Deng Ming expected, the bosses shook their heads one after another, but after Ye Tianming pondered for a moment, he asked rhetorically: "Admiral, does this mean 'don't let us participate in the distribution of spoils, don't want us to contribute money and efforts'?" ”

After a moment of silence, Deng Ming nodded with difficulty: "Yes, that's what Boss Ye meant." On the other hand, if you want to participate in the distribution of spoils, you have to contribute money! ”

"Oh, that's what the Imperial Council meant." The representatives of Xuzhou all understood, and they all smiled and bowed their heads.

However, the time-traveler would never be defeated by the natives so easily, and Deng Ming threw out a more fashionable word: constitution.

"As for the Imperial Constitution, even I can't violate it. The Imperial Diet cannot make any unconstitutional resolution, otherwise the judge will be obliged to veto it......" Speaking of excitement, Deng Ming's eyebrows fluttered, and the deputies of Xuzhou were confused.

"Admiral," after listening carefully for a while, Ye Tianming asked while Deng Ming was drinking tea to quench his thirst: "Is the constitution the basic rule for dividing spoils?" ”

Deng Ming was stunned again with the teacup, and nodded after a while: "Yes, that's what it means." ”

"Oh, it turns out that the Imperial Constitution is the rule for dividing spoils." Everyone suddenly realized, and once again showed a clear smile.

Since Deng Ming had such a guarantee, the people from Xuzhou were relieved, and they said goodbye to Deng Ming and left the barracks. With the help of these future councilors of the Xuzhou Prefecture, when Li Guoying was preparing to launch a full-scale breakthrough on 5 August, the Ming army standing in front of him was not the 20,000 or 30,000 people he had guessed, but a full 50,000 troops.

"Admiral," on the eve of the war, Ren Tang suddenly asked Deng Mingdao again: "The meaning of the empire, is it a robber?" ”

"Of course not," Deng Ming didn't expect Ren Tang to have such a ridiculous idea, and asked disapprovingly, "How can you have such an idea?" ”

"The Admiral taught the officers to fight for money - this is not the banditry, and then said that such an army of bandits was called the Imperial Army; The Admiral planned to establish a robber-sharing society, which he intended to name the Imperial Diet; And the rules that all robbers must abide by are called the Imperial Constitution. Ren Tang had been thinking about this issue for several days, and he said confidently: "Isn't that the empire just a bandit?" ”