Most of the Ming army was ready to move, and Deng Ming had no intention of returning to Nanjing, because he estimated that whoever won in Nanjing would not trade with him again. Moreover, the news from Yangzhou said that the advance force led by Dasu had crossed the Huai River and would soon reach the north bank of the Yangtze River. It is estimated that in addition to this batch of reinforcements, there will also be green battalions in Shandong and other places coming one after another. The Ming army had been in the vicinity of Nanjing for too long, and it would be too risky to stay any longer.

The separation was imminent, Zheng Chenggong looked at Mu Tan, and said to Deng Ming, "Mu Qian has always followed me for many years, both wise and brave, if the admiral does not give up, let him stay and serve." ”

For such kindness, Deng Ming naturally had no reason to refuse, and at this time, Zhang Huangyan also led Ren Tang to come, and also wanted to leave this young man by Deng Ming's side: "I see that the admiral has no effective staff by his side, he is a Jiangxi scholar, and he is not bad at riding shè, and he will not drag down the admiral." ”

Deng Ming had seen Ren Tang's cousin and knew that although he was a scholar, he was definitely not a powerless person, so he asked a little strangely: "Isn't Brother Ren in a hurry to return to Zhejiang?" ”

"I don't have a family in Zhoushan, and I wanted to go back and continue to work for Zhang Shangshu." Ren Tang replied very happily: "Now that the Admiral has given the Zhejiang army so much armament and a large amount of military salary, I will not be needed for the time being." If the Admiral wants to enter Jiangxi in the future, I can do my part. ”

Deng Ming estimated that he would not attack Jiangxi in the short term, and at most he would pass near Jiujiang on his way back. However, he also knew that this was the same as Zheng Chenggong leaving Mu Tan behind, and Zhang Huangyan also hoped to have an acquaintance of his side who could help Zhe Bing say a few words or facilitate communication if necessary. Therefore, Deng Ming included Mu Tan and Ren Tang in his guards, so that the total number of personal guards reached an unprecedented twenty people.

Of the three battles near Nanjing, two of them were won by the Zhejiang army, and the remaining one was fought alongside the camp rather than acting as an auxiliary force on the second line, so Deng Ming handed over most of the capture to Zhang Huangyan's Zhejiang army. Lang Tingzuo was captured by the Zhejiang army, and the ransom of 500,000 taels from Liang Huafeng was also given to Zhang Huangyan, and the remaining 500,000 taels, Deng Ming asked Zheng Chenggong and Li Laiheng to take 200,000 each, and he himself left 100,000 - although Deng Ming's guards are not big now, he also spends a lot of money.

The Ming army collected many ships from the vicinity, and the baggage had already been loaded onto the ships, and after the sun set, Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Huangyan set out with their troops, lighting torches and heading eastward. The number and banner of the Ming army were obscured, and the Qing army in the city could not see the details of the actions of the Qingming army.

After Zhang Huangyan and Zheng Chenggong left, Deng Ming and Li Laiheng did not stay long, Deng Ming finally met Lang Tingzuo and instructed: "Governor Lang don't forget jì, I will come back to get a million taels of silver after three years." If Governor Lang defaults, don't blame me for revealing the agreement between Governor Lang and me. ”

…… Liang Huafeng had been paying close attention to the movements outside the city, and he sent ten capable men to the Ming army camp to stay with Lang Tingzuo, so that they could protect Lang Tingzuo and hide as soon as the Ming army left. In the past two days, Liang Huafeng has been with Jiang Guozhu and repeatedly promised to be a middleman for him to eliminate the resentment between Jiang Guozhu and Lang Tingzuo.

waited until midnight, and finally a subordinate came to report that Liang Huafeng's army had retreated, and when he left, he tied them and Lang Tingzuo with ropes, and then threw a knife on the ground.

After these Qing soldiers cut the rope with knives, they immediately took Lang Tingzuo to a nearby house according to Liang Huafeng's instructions, and the other nine people are still with Lang Tingzuo, and this person returned to Nanjing in the dark to report.

"Okay, that's it." Although Liang Huafeng has been communicating with Jiang Guozhu, he is afraid that the other party is deliberately paralyzing himself, and the real purpose is to go out of the city to attack Lang Tingzuo, so he has been carefully observing the movements of Jiang Guozhu and Guan Allegiance. However, it seems that Jiang Guozhu is quite honest, and Guan Xiaozhong doesn't know what stupidity he is making, until now Liang Huafeng has not seen the other party send troops out of the city: "They are too late, the whole army will go out of the city, follow me to protect Governor Lang." ”

In addition to leaving a force to defend a city gate, Liang Huafeng poured out of the nest, and before leaving, he also sent someone to inform Jiang Guozhu, asking him to immediately lead troops to arrest Guan Xiaozhong. Liang Huafeng, who was holding the victory ticket, said proudly to the subordinates sent by Jiang Guozhu: "Sue Governor Jiang, whether or not you can make Governor Lang dissipate his anger depends on his appearance tonight." ”

Liang Huafeng soon rushed to Lang Tingzuo's hideout under the leadership of the henchman who came back to report the news. After seeing Lang Tingzuo who was hugged out by his subordinates, Liang Huafeng flew off his horse and rushed over and shouted excitedly: "The Governor is frightened, the last general is too late to rescue, and it is a capital crime." ”

Lang Tingzuo stared at Liang Huafeng for a few moments, and then looked at the large number of soldiers holding torches behind Liang Huafeng, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he was finally out of danger.

Lang Tingzuo suffered a lot from these rì sons, and was always worried that Deng Ming would break the contract and hand himself over to Jiang Guozhu and Guan Zhong, and that he would not be able to get rid of these two ministers for the imperial court. Thinking of the so many Min troops who had been let go, as well as the 500,000 taels of silver that had to be handed over to Deng Ming, Lang Tingzuo only felt the evil spirit surging in his chest, and now there was nothing to fear, and no one could stop him from taking revenge.

"Return to Jiangning." Lang Tingzuo shouted: "Follow the governor to arrest Jiang Guozhu and manage the two thieves." ”

"Yes!" Liang Huafeng hurriedly gave up his mount to Lang Tingzuo, personally helped the old governor to climb onto the horse, and then jumped on a horse and followed closely by Lang Tingzuo.

While rushing back to Nanjing, Liang Huafeng reported the content of his secret discussion with Jiang Guozhu to Lang Tingzuo, and finally mocked: "This thief may have already joined forces with Guan Loyalty, and we will go back just to catch them all." ”

"Hmph, this thief still wants to live, it's really wishful thinking." Lang Tingzuo scolded hatefully: "Forget Jiang Guozhu, the Han people are unreliable. The thief was still a banner man, and he actually forgot the grace of the court. ”

"The Governor is right, the bannerman should be the mainstay of the imperial court, and the thief really deserves to die." Liang Huafeng was on the side, pondering in his heart: "Last time I had a bloody battle with Zheng Chenggong, because I kept Nanjing, the emperor gave me the official position of governor of Jiangnan; This time I saved Nanjing in front of Deng Ming, should the emperor also raise the flag for me and let me become a flag bearer? ”

The more Liang Huafeng thought about it, the more he felt that he had a great chance, he secretly glanced at Lang Tingzuo in front of him, and thought: "If the governor wants the imperial court not to blame this time, he must say that I broke into the enemy camp and snatched him back." Although this is another great achievement, it is also a bully after all. The Governor should understand that I had no need to take this risk. Also, not only that, in order to save him back, I also released Zheng Chenggong's people and transported the silver from the treasury, which is all an adventure. If I hadn't rescued Governor Lang today, but had been given the upper hand by Jiang Guozhu and them, these would have been my sins. The Governor will definitely repay me well, he is also a banner man, I think it is not good to tell the emperor about the flag, but I can let the Governor help me say it. ”

Liang Huafeng was thinking about his glorious future, only to hear Lang Tingzuo scold again: "These two thieves, in order to please Deng Thief, actually released so many sea rebellions. I heard Deng Ming say just now that they paid 500,000 taels of silver to buy the governor's head, and I have to report these to the court, and it is really difficult to eliminate the hatred in my heart if I don't cut them with a thousand knives. ”

Liang Huafeng, who was beside him, was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly dissuaded: "Your Excellency the Governor, we also have a share in these things, if we say that the court will investigate strictly, we will inevitably be implicated." Besides, the Governor can't hand them over to the court! The two of them jumped over the wall in a hurry, and they would definitely bite us desperately. ”

Liang Huafeng's plan was to kill people and kill them, kill Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu tonight, and then deduct them for fornicating with Deng Ming, planning to dedicate Nanjing to the Ming army. But listening to Lang Tingzuo's meaning, he actually wanted to hand over these two people to the imperial court. If it was interrogated by Běijīng, Jiang Guozhu and the others would definitely drag Lang Tingzuo and Liang Huafeng into the water together.

"How can you not say that isn't a deception?" Lang Tingzuo retorted sharply: "Besides, if the crimes of these two people are not brought to light, maybe there will be some confused officials who mistakenly think that the imperial court rewards and punishes unfairly and treats meritorious heroes harshly. ”

"This, this ......" Liang Huafeng was anxious, and hurriedly took two steps forward and grabbed the reins of Lang Tingzuo: "Your Excellency Governor, think twice, they let go of the sea rebellion, of course, it is to harm the imperial court and not really want to change the flag to come back, but we also did the same thing, and the imperial court may think that we also did it for the purpose of trading with Deng Thief." ”

The release of the prisoners of war of the Min army could be big or small, and if the Qing court thought that this was a last resort to save the flag, Liang Huafeng would have been easily forgiven. But if the Qing court realized that Liang Huafeng's purpose was to intrigue with Jiang Guozhu and them, it would probably be a different attitude. In the plea that Liang Huafeng had prepared, he used the previous reason to exonerate himself, and specially added a sum of money, saying that it was by taking advantage of the opportunity to trade with the Ming army that he took the opportunity to find out Lang Tingzuo's detention position, and then went out of the city at night to attack and kill, not only rescued the governor of Liangjiang, but also killed tens of thousands of Ming troops, forcing Deng Ming to retreat fifty miles.

Although Lang Tingzuo is right, if Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu's deaths are unclear, local officials may have other speculations. For example, it is speculated that because the two of them killed a large number of banner people, Shunzhi refused to forgive them, but it was not easy to blame them clearly, so he just found an excuse to kill them. Shunzhi did order the removal of the two from their official positions before, and many officials may really have similar suspicions. If such a situation occurs, of course, it will be detrimental to the rule of the Qing court, and it is easy for local officials to feel sad about the death of rabbits and foxes.

Shut down

But Liang Huafeng's first concern is his own safety, he took such a big risk in order to be promoted and make a fortune, not to accompany Guan Xiaozhong, Jiang Guozhu and Lang Tingzuo to the funeral.

"We originally released the sea rebellion in order to make a deal with the Deng thief." Lang Tingzuo replied: "But our purpose is to expose the true colors of the two thieves, Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu, so that the imperial court will not be deceived by them. The emperor will definitely be able to understand our suffering. ”

Liang Huafeng was dumbfounded, and asked after a while: "Then how should I tell the imperial court about the Governor's safe return?" ”

"Naturally, it's telling the truth." Lang Tingzuo had already thought about it, and raised his hand to bow in the direction of běijīng: "In order to prevent the thieves from succeeding and not letting the saint be deceived by the two thieves, this official had to let the ministers be damaged, and made some deals with the Deng thieves against his will. ”

At this time, Liang Huafeng was already sweating. If it is reported according to the truth, although the officials in the world can understand that Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu deserve their crimes, and the imperial court rewards and punishments appropriately, it is estimated that Lang Tingzuo will also be punished, and most of them will not be very light.

"I did all these things, I released the captives, and I robbed the feudal silver." Liang Huafeng was stunned when he thought of this, he glanced at Lang Tingzuo again, and a cloud of doubt rose in his heart: "Could it be that Lang Tingzuo plans to push all these things to me?" In this way, there will be no danger of damage to the court, and he can get rid of most of the charges, and the emperor will still think that he Lang Tingzuo is a loyal minister, right? I won't deceive you no matter what, by the way, he's a banner man, I'm not......"

Lang Tingzuo observed his words and guessed some of Liang Huafeng's thoughts, so he was sincerely relieved: "Admiral Liang rest assured, whether it is to release the prisoners or send silver to the Deng thief, it is the order of this governor, and Admiral Liang is just acting on orders." ”

"The Governor is serious, the last general will not dare to be, and the last general will not complain." Liang Huafeng hurriedly argued. But the worry in his heart was even heavier: "Lang Tingzuo said it nicely, saying that I was acting on orders, but he was in the Ming army camp at the time, how could he still give me an order?" The court will definitely think that I am doing my own thing. And now that he said it well, I don't know how I will be arranged at that time, he is the governor and the banner man, and the court must trust him but not me. ”

Lang Tingzuo thought that Liang Huafeng was relieved, so he continued to ride forward, but the more he thought about it, the more scared he became.

"Even if Lang Tingzuo tells the truth, the emperor will not have a good impression of me, and will think that I am too timid to fight with Deng Ming, and I am full of ghost ideas, greedy for merit and fame...... If I leave the impression of a villain to the emperor, let alone raising the flag, it will be a question of whether the position of the governor of Jiangnan can sit firmly. After thinking about it for a while, Liang Huafeng peeked at Lang Tingzuo again: "This guy, if it wasn't for saving you, why would I take such a big risk and make such a big effort?" You don't want to repay me well, but for the sake of your own future, in order to show loyalty, you will vomit out all the qiē, and my future will be ruined! What a revenge! ”

"Your Excellency the Doge." Liang Huafeng took a step forward and grabbed Lang Tingzuo's reins: "I don't know what is going on in the city, the governor has a heavy responsibility, and he must not be in danger lightly, so let the last general enter the city to investigate first." ”

Lang Tingzuo was still hesitating, but Liang Huafeng said undoubtedly: "If the Governor has a case, who can still reveal the true face of Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu to the imperial court?" Please also ask the Governor not to stay here, and the last general will go to the city to capture the two thieves, and in case something happens to the last general, the Governor can also go straight to Suzhou. ”

After convincing Lang Tingzuo, Liang Huafeng asked a team of henchmen to stay behind to protect the governor of Liangjiang, and he took the lead in returning to Nanjing with his personal guards. Before breaking up, Liang Huafeng confessed to his confidants that no matter what happened, he could not take Lang Tingzuo into the city without his order.

…… Liangjiang Governor's Palace.

After the envoy came back just now to report Liang Huafeng's request, Jiang Guozhu has been frowning. Although he has some subordinates, he has no advantage over the forces that are loyal to him, and he is even at a disadvantage. Liang Huafeng asked Jiang Guozhu to attack Guan Xiaozhong, no matter how you look at it, it seems to have bad intentions. But Guan Xiaozhong still looks like he is being slaughtered by others, although Jiang Guozhu feels that Liang Huafeng is unreliable, but he does not have the capital to work hard.

If Lang Tingzuo returned to the governor's yamen under the escort of Liang Huafeng, Jiang Guozhu did not know whether he should resist or not. If Guan Allegiance really sat idly by, Jiang Guozhu would not last long, and the soldiers of the Governor's Yamen might still defect after seeing Lang Tingzuo; But if you don't resist, you're at the mercy of others.

Jiang Guozhu has been sighing for a long time, and he can't find a good way to turn the crisis into safety, and the only hope is that Liang Huafeng is really trustworthy and helps him get Lang Tingzuo's forgiveness.

"Lang Tingzuo knows that I want to kill him, if I don't contribute and have no use value, how can he let me go? Guan Allegiance is now tied, and most of the time Lang Tingzuo will surrender as soon as he is beckoned when he returns, and Lang Tingzuo will not need me at all. Jiang Guozhu kept turning in circles in the governor's yamen, until he suddenly heard a commotion outside, and then someone came to report that a large group of soldiers had come to the yamen.

"Is it finally here? Lang Tingzo is back in the city? Jiang Guozhu felt that his legs were weak, and he didn't know what to do.

In the end, Jiang Guozhu still mustered up the courage and ordered the soldiers not to let people in.

However, there was no conflict as Jiang Guozhu expected, and soon another subordinate reported that Liang Huafeng, the governor of Jiangnan, had rushed to the yamen with a few personal soldiers and the large army behind him, and asked to come in and interview Jiang Guozhu.

"Please." Jiang Guozhu was stunned for a moment, then said hurriedly, and at the same time rushed out of the door to greet him.

As the soldiers said, Liang Huafeng walked briskly into the yamen with less than ten soldiers. Jiang Guozhu's heart was relieved when he saw this, and the other party's posture gave him a glimmer of hope - Liang Huafeng's actions showed great kindness.

"But the Governor of Liangjiang wants General Liang to come?" Jiang Guozhu asked hopefully.

"Let's go inside." Liang Huafeng hurriedly walked into a side compartment in the back, and after pulling everyone else apart, Liang Huafeng asked bluntly: "What's wrong with Guan Xiaozhong?" Why has the Governor been sending people to contact me for the past two days? ”

Seeing that Jiang Guozhu was a little hesitant, Liang Huafeng shouted anxiously: "If the governor still wants to live, he will confess to me." To tell the truth, Deng Ming has already released Lang Tingzuo, and now he is outside the city, and Lang Tingzuo has vowed to cut the allegiance of the governor and Guan with a thousand cuts. ”

Jiang Guozhu felt confused at this time, but judging from Liang Huafeng's tone, the other party also seemed to have a great dissatisfaction with Lang Tingzuo. The situation was urgent, Jiang Guozhu couldn't care about playing the game of fiction and reality, and told Liang Huafeng the situation of the jīng god who had been loyal to him for the past two days, as well as what he said, as quickly as possible.

"Is it true that you are loyal to the court?" Liang Huafeng sneered.

"Exactly." Jiang Guozhu didn't intend to tell this story, at least he wouldn't take the initiative to act as a witness for Guan Allegiance and repentance—even if he was killed by Guan Allegiance, he would not be able to reduce his guilt. But after hearing Liang Huafeng's words just now, Jiang Guozhu decided to take a gamble and tell the other party the truth - if Liang Huafeng couldn't give Jiang Guozhu a good answer, Jiang Guozhu was fully capable of making him unable to get out of the yamen of the governor of Liangjiang.

"These two bannermen, they're trying to kill us." Liang Huafeng did not delay, and poured the conversation between Lang Tingzuo and him just now to Jiang Guozhu word for word.

"Sure enough, it's the flag man." After finishing speaking, Liang Huafeng sneered again: "Sure enough, at the critical moment, the Eight Banners are still reliable, even if it is the Han Army Banner." They are all servants of the emperor, and for the sake of their masters, they can even do without their lives. ”

Jiang Guozhu pondered for a moment, thought about the news that Liang Huafeng brought him, and nodded slowly: "In the opinion of Admiral Liang, what should we do?" ”

"Neither of them can live. How about I go to deal with Lang Tingzuo, and the governor deals with Guan Loyalty? Liang Huafeng thought for a moment and added: "If the governor sees it right, and he summons the allegiance in the name of Lang Tingzuo in a while, he will probably not resist, right?" ”

"No way!" Jiang Guozhu categorically vetoed Liang Huafeng's suggestion, shook his head and said: "He will come, but tonight there must be deaths, and many people will die." ”

"Oh?" Liang Huafeng didn't react for a while.

"They are going to rebel and sacrifice the city to Deng Ming, so they will not be captured, and they will definitely resist stubbornly." Jiang Guozhu said: "Lang Tingzuo is easy to do, there is no one around him, but who dares to say that he knows nothing about the servants and subordinates in the loyal mansion?" None of them could stay. ”

"Well, the Governor is right." Liang Huafeng did not hesitate, and summoned a henchman to explain a few words in his ear, and this henchman immediately led the order to lead the troops out of the city.

"Okay, Lang Tingzuo don't have to worry," Liang Huafeng straightened his armor and said to Jiang Guozhu: "Let's go and attack the Guan Mansion immediately." ”

…… After a few years, Běijīng received the shocking news that the greedy Lang Tingzuo had surrendered to Deng Ming after being captured, and then joined forces with Guan Allegiance, who had a grudge against the emperor—the two bannermen actually planned to sacrifice the city to the Ming army, using the exchange of prisoners to make contact.

Fortunately, Guan Zhong's abnormal behavior was discovered by Jiang Guozhu of Jǐng Ti, and under Jiang Guozhu's reminder, Liang Huafeng also caught a few details of the Ming army and asked the truth, and the two of them planned to ambush Deng Ming when the Ming army came to steal the city gate, and killed the big traitor Lang Tingzuo who led the way on the spot. Guan Xiaozhong knew that he was defeated and resisted stubbornly in the mansion, but he was also broken by the soldiers led by Liang Huafeng and Jiang Guozhu, and both Guan Xiaozhong and the rebels were killed.

While reporting on the events in the imperial court, Jiang Guozhu also sent an urgent letter to Dasu, asking him to rush to Nanjing at full speed.

When the war in Nanjing finally came to an end, Shunzhi was finally relieved, and under great joy, in addition to commending Jiang Guozhu, he also considered raising the flag for Liang Huafeng, the great hero who turned the tide twice, and ordered Liang Huafeng to immediately present a portrait to běijīng for Shunzhi's imperial view. This is all for later, and I will not go into detail for the time being.