When sending the Qing army in Chongqing across the river, Deng Ming also asked them to pack and take away some game. Watching the green battalion general's boat sail to the opposite shore, Zhao Tianba, who was beside Deng Ming, sneered: "Let them be proud for a few more days." ”

Deng Ming put away the smile when he said goodbye, turned around and asked Zhao Tianba: "What do you think of Chongqing?" ”

"Since Li Guoying wants to give up Chongqing, there is probably no need for us to shed blood here." Zhao Tianba replied without hesitation that the Sichuan army in Jiangnan was estimated to return in large numbers until October, and even the outpost troops would not enter Kuimen until September. The army that followed Deng Ming's expedition to Burma should be disbanded after the Mid-Autumn Festival anyway, so that everyone can go home and relax. Therefore, it is unlikely that Chongqing will be attacked this year, and now it seems that there is no need to sacrifice in vain: "If Chongqing really gives up the idea of blocking our shipping lanes, then let them stay in the city first, but Li Guoying must try to eliminate it." ”

"Well, now Li Guoying is our most dangerous enemy, and if it weren't for him, maybe Chongqing would be more beneficial to us in the hands of the Qing army." Deng Ming nodded. Just now, the generals of the Green Battalion recounted Li Guoying's words, and for the Qing court, ensuring the supply of Chongqing was a heavy burden. If the army stationed in Chongqing was not the current 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers and horses, but 100,000 troops, then the savings of the Qing court would be greatly consumed here, and it would be advantageous to support the Ming army and the anti-Qing rebel army on other fronts.

However, as long as Li Guoying is still in Chongqing, the threat of Chongqing is still huge. Now due to the strength of western Sichuan, Li Guoying will not force his men to die for the time being; But once the shape is reversed, or some flaws are revealed in western Sichuan, Deng Ming is convinced that Li Guoying will not hesitate to show a vicious face.

"You also heard them talk about the process of the Battle of Chongqing just now, right?" After drinking almost the wine, Deng Ming asked about the Qing army generals in an understatement, and all the green battalion generals admired Li Guoying so much that they boasted to Deng Ming about the Qing army's initial strategic decisions, tactical changes in the middle and the end of the battlefield.

"Hear me very clearly." Zhao Tianba has been accompanying him on the side, although nominally he is blocking the wine for Deng Ming, but in fact, Zhao Tianba and Deng Ming have not touched the wine, every time everyone raises a glass, Zhao Tianba pours the wine into his arms while people are not paying attention, and after eating, Zhao Tianba's clothes are wet.

Li Guoying can not only make up his mind, but also have enough skills to make everyone obey and do things according to his ideas, which is what Li Guoying did when Deng Ming and Yuan Zongdi besieged Chongqing. Last time Deng Ming left western Sichuan, Li Guoying wanted to take the opportunity to make trouble with the Ming army, but if it wasn't for the Kuidong army attacking Chongqing this time, I don't know if he would have blocked the Ming army in western Sichuan again.

"If any of our flaws fall into Li Guoying's hands, even if we have already drawn the others over, Li Guoying will probably still be able to let the whole army of Chongqing come to fight us; Li Guoying and Hu Quancai are not the same. Hu Quancai is actually a bit strategic, at least much stronger than Zhang Changgeng, but Li Guoying has more means than Hu Quancai. If Li Guoying is blindly tough, we don't have to worry. Zhao Tianba believes that if Li Guoying is still in Chongqing next year, it will be necessary for western Sichuan to launch an attack on Chongqing.

"We'll discuss it then, now let's go to Wanxian first." Deng Ming very much agreed with Zhao Tianba's evaluation, especially when he heard that Li Guoying did everything possible to cast cannons, which made Deng Ming even more vigilant. Although the plan to block the river with artillery failed, who would dare to say that next time there would be no losses to the Ming army? As the saying goes, there are only a thousand days to be a thief, and there is no thousand days to prevent thieves. Chongqing could remain in the hands of the Qing army and be used to continue to consume the strength of the Qing court, but the precondition was that the Qing army in Chongqing was harmless. This harmlessness can only be achieved through two methods: one is to launch preventive attacks from time to time, so that Chongqing does not accumulate troops and materials that can pose a threat to western Sichuan; The other is to drive out Li Guoying and soften the fighting spirit of the Qing generals in Chongqing.

The Ming army pulled the anchor that night, and after dawn the next day, the Qing army in Chongqing saw that the temporary water camp of the Ming army on the opposite bank was empty.

……

As soon as the Qing generals returned to the city, they ran to the governor's yamen to report the various news they had heard to Li Guoying.

Deng Ming did not inquire about the situation unilaterally during the meal, he also told many interesting facts about how the Ming army marched and fought in Burma, Deng Ming explained it more clearly than the Qing generals - even if the Qing army knew something about the strength and geography of Burma, they would not get the slightest benefit.

"Deng Ming didn't rescue Yongli at all."

"Deng Ming went to Myanmar to rob, he bragged for a long time."

Bai Wenxuan took the gold from the Burmese pagoda and gave him some; Deng Ming himself also robbed a lot of Burmese land, and then sold it to Burmese monks; They also set up a puppet king in Burma, forcing the legitimate Burmese king to pay them a large sum of money and begging them to withdraw their troops. ”

"After the Burmese king paid, Deng Ming immediately forgot about their son of heaven and returned to China with his soldiers and horses and the gold and silver treasures he had looted," Gao Mingzhan added: "One of the things he did after he returned to China was to come to Chongqing to have dinner with us and let us help him sell the stolen goods." ”

Li Guoying was silent for a while, and sighed lightly: "I should have thought of it a long time ago, what King Qin?" It's just an excuse to go out and rob. Deng Ming, he claimed to be an imperial bandit. The other grass robbers are still secretive, either erecting a flag for the way of heaven, or claiming to kill the rich and help the poor; But Deng Ming was not ashamed but proud, how could he, an imperial robber, be a loyal minister? ”

After reporting to Li Guoying, Gao Mingzhan and others left the governor's yamen and gathered together to discuss. The price of jadeite is relatively cheap, and they all plan to try it. Deng Ming said that he was responsible for supplying rough stones, and also provided design drawings for jewelry processing, and they could all be paid on credit. If a sales channel is opened, it will not be too late for the Chongqing officials to return the money to him while they continue to buy goods -- since they don't need to take too many risks, these people will not be able to bear it. Hearing Deng Ming talk about the prospect of the jadeite market is simply out of the blue, I can't help but be tempted by these people in Chongqing. Deng Ming promised to wait for the officials to have money in their hands, so he asked the merchants of western Sichuan to send them all kinds of condiments, as well as local products from both sides of the Yangtze River and ale wine that could bubble up.

"The Governor doesn't trust him, but the best way to deal with Deng Ming is to let him know that there is no oil and water in Chongqing, and there is nothing to grab when he comes in." Gao Mingzhan was convinced that his speech on the upper floor of Jintangmen City was extremely important, and it was the threat of burning down his warehouse that dispelled Deng Ming's idea of attacking Chongqing.

"Also, he is full of thinking about doing business, and Deng Mingli doesn't get up early." Wang Mingde followed.

"But we can't let Huguang know about our affairs, Governor Zhang will impeach us when he hears about it. Deng Ming has harassed them several times, and they still expect us to help share the pressure. ”

……

On July 20, Deng Ming arrived in Wanxian.

He didn't see Li Laiheng and Liu Tichun. After the two of them withdrew their troops from Chongqing, they only stayed in Wanxian for one day, replenished some grain and straw, and then went downstream. They were worried that after learning of the defeat of the Ming army, Zhang Changgeng would make some irrational actions, so they had no intention of delaying in Fengjie, but would return to the Jiangling and Yiling defense lines at full speed.

After seeing Deng Ming, Yuan Zongdi said regretfully: "If we knew that Admiral Deng had returned, they might not have left, and we could attack Chongqing again." ”

"My army also needs to rest, Chongqing will talk about it next year," Deng Ming shook his head. Western Sichuan sent two huge expeditionary forces in two strategic directions, and production is estimated to have been affected, and no more troops can be organized. However, Yuan Zongdi's words made Deng Ming a little worried, after all, he had been away from Sichuan for almost a year, and it would be troublesome if Huguang had another basket: "Will Zhang Changgeng do anything stupid?" ”

"It's hard to say. We were defeated in Chongqing, but the Qing court has won one of the few major victories in recent years, and the Qing court will definitely brag about it desperately. Deng Ming helped rescue some captured soldiers, which surprised Yuan Zongdi, but the great losses of the Kui Eastern Army still made him heartbroken: "If Zhang Changgeng thought that our Huguang army was almost wiped out, he might have some bad ideas...... Well, but Admiral Deng is back, and even if he has a thief's heart, he should put it away. ”

Deng Ming pondered for a moment. Since the Ming army began to sell ivory and other Burmese goods downstream, the news of Deng Ming's return to China spread, at least everyone knew that Deng Ming would not stay in Burma for a long time -- this news prompted the Kui Eastern Army to speed up its attack on Chongqing, and it was also a deterrent to the Qing court Huguang and Liangjiang governors.

"If Zhang Changgeng really has such a thought, then he has to find an opportunity to beat him. Knowing this, we might as well let it go and say that my trip was not going well, and if Zhang Changgeng jumped out and did it, we could accuse him of breach of contract. Deng Ming shook his head: "Next time, when we are ready, we will release the wind to Zhang Changgeng." ”

After putting this thought down, Deng Ming asked the generals of Kui Dong, "What do you need?" Need food, belongings, or equipment? Kawanishi will do its best to replenish you. ”

Deng Ming's words made Dang Shousu feel incredible.

This time, the Kuidong Army sent troops, and a lot of grain and grass were given by Sichuan Xibai; Moreover, the generals stepped up their attack before Deng Ming returned to Sichuan, and also showed their precautions against western Sichuan. Kui Dong's generals all knew that Deng Ming would not fail to see it, and after everyone met, they just pretended to be confused and didn't mention it.

"The generals fought with the Tartars, and the army suffered losses, and we made some money during this period—the great cause of expelling the Tartars was, of course, a powerful contribution."

Deng Ming had a different strategy for Chongqing, and never thought of maintaining complete consistency with Kui Dong's generals, but Deng Ming felt that it was natural to help Kui Dong's army make up for its losses. If the Kui Dong Army and the Qing Army fail in the battle and are damaged, and they can only swallow the bitter fruit alone, then their ** in the future with the Qing Army may be reduced, and they tend to preserve their strength.