In order to avoid the suspicion of melon fields and plums, Jiang Guozhu collected all the troops into the city, and waited until the rear guard of the Sichuan army passed guò, and the holy decree was able to cross the river.

After worshipping the incense case and welcoming the holy decree, Jiang Guozhu suddenly felt a bucket of frost and snow splashed down after reading it, and poured him cold: "The emperor said that if Deng Ming can't be stopped, he will be dismissed and investigated, and whoever lets Deng Ming go will have to bear Deng Ming's crime, where does this start." ”

When he saw Zhou Peigong, Jiang Guozhu's reaction was similar to Lin Qilong's, and he threw the holy decree viciously, and the fact that he didn't tear this thing to pieces on the spot shows that Jiang Guozhu is very self-contained: "There is also an urgent report sent to Nanchang and Wuchang, it is estimated that this is also the case, the emperor said that he will set off within five days, count the days, and now he may have left Beijing!" Governor Deng is gone, he still has to come, this is deliberately not leaving us a way to live, there are so many officials along the way, do the emperor have to be dismissed, and they all have to be guilty of the same crime as Deng Ming? ”

Zhou Peigong pondered for a while with a sad face, and finally figured out the problem, and shouted: "Oh, Lord Governor, the emperor is looking at all good news, what he saw was that Governor Deng attacked Wuchang Buke, Jiujiang was swirled and lost, Jiangnan was repeatedly defeated, crossing the river to attack Yangzhou in vain, and Houdun troops were under the city of Jiang, and they were also intercepted by the Liangjiang officers and soldiers of the Governor and the Hunan army of the lower officials. Therefore, the emperor must think that Deng Ming is already at the end of the road, as long as the officers and soldiers are desperate, even if they can't destroy him, they will definitely be able to block him, and if they can't stop him, they can only be because they are greedy for life and afraid of death. ”

"You're right." Jiang Guozhu found that he had indeed made the mistake of treating people with his own heart, since in the eyes of Shunzhi, as long as the officers and soldiers were willing to work hard, they would definitely be able to stop Deng Ming, then this holy decree would definitely give their lives to the governors of Liangjiang and Huguang, even if there were individual officials who were afraid of the enemy, they would not all be like this, so the punishment and blow would not be very large, so it was not that they didn't want to stop Liangjiang and Huguang, but they really couldn't stop it, if they didn't want to take back their orders, they would definitely have to take all the officials in these provinces to the end.

After pondering for a while, Jiang Guozhu had another doubt, and said to himself: "If the emperor really thinks so, then he should think that Deng Ming is not a big trouble, and he can expect Liangjiang and Huguang to expel him, why do you want to conquer him personally?" ”

However, this doubt was only stored for a moment, Jiang Guozhu gritted his teeth and replied to himself: "The emperor thinks that this is a good opportunity to eliminate Deng Ming, so he forced us to work hard, and he also wants to take the opportunity to come to Jiangnan to relax, and show off his martial arts by the way." ”

Zhou Peigong nodded silently on the side, deeply agreeing with Jiang Guozhu's judgment.

"But we can't stop this Deng Ming at all, when the emperor sees that we actually let such a weak enemy run away, he will definitely think that we are not doing a good job, and the emperor has issued three holy decrees in a row......" Speaking of this, Jiang Guozhu was stunned again, and muttered: "Although Deng Ming is rampant, he can't compare with Zheng Chenggong and Li Dingguo, the emperor has issued three holy decrees for him in just ten days, and his tone is so harsh, isn't it that the emperor and Deng Ming have any festivals?" ”

"Admiral Deng said no," Zhou Peigong said on the side: "The lower official has asked." ”

"If someone else said it, the official may not believe it, but Admiral Deng is a different matter." Deng Ming's credit has always been very good, Jiang Guozhu feels that the two sides are currently cooperating happily, and Deng Ming has no need to deceive himself and harm his own misjudgment: "The emperor is urging with a holy decree again, and he is personally conquering Jiangnan, and as a result of such a big move, he didn't even hurt Deng Ming's cold hair, how did the emperor get off the stage?" ”

Indulging the poor, coupled with making the emperor lose face in front of the world, Jiang Guozhu knew that he didn't say anything about the governor of Liangjiang, and this governor was almost the end, not to mention the aftermath of Tong Deng's exposure - even if Shunzhi did not personally conquer, if he took Jiang Guozhu's top and lost the protection of his official position, the chance of Jiang Guozhu's exposure of Tong Deng would be greatly increased.

Thinking about it, there was no good way to deal with it, Jiang Guozhu said bitterly to Zhou Peigong: "Brother Zhou, I didn't expect that it was because we boasted too much that we hooked up the emperor's personal conquest. ”

"The governor doesn't have to be frustrated, the so-called don't do it, don't stop it, just let's report it again," Zhou Peigong has no way to retreat now, in case of the East Window incident, he must be the scapegoat of all the governors, even if the emperor only kills one person, he will kill him, and whoever lives will not be able to survive Zhou Peigong: "This thing is really broken, Wuchang, Nanchang and Yangzhou can't be left behind, and there are so many prefects in Anqing, Chizhou, Zhenjiang, Suzhou, Songjiang, and Yangzhou, who can run away?" We will report a great victory, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people to the death, to save the emperor's face; As long as the emperor's face is saved, and then Deng Ming has indeed fled back to Sichuan, and there are many officials involved, it is time to dispel the idea of pro-conquest, and it may not be settled in our accounts. ”

Jiang Guozhu thought about it, there is indeed only this way now, fortunately, now the entire southeast is a grasshopper on a line, from the prefecture to the Caoyun Governor Yamen, there is no clean, even if it is a big lie, there is no need to worry about someone to expose it.

"I'll cross the river to Yangzhou and have a face-to-face interview with Lord Lin." Jiang Guozhu said that he would do it, and immediately ordered to carry the fast boat and personally go to discuss with the governor of Caoyun how to unify the caliber, and at the same time repair the book Nanchang and Wuchang, asking everyone to work together to tide over the difficulties. Now that the emperor is now, the personal grievances between Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao will also be put aside.

"Admiral Deng, don't inform him," for Deng Ming Jiang Guozhu is still in line with the principle of concealing what can be concealed, if the other party knows the new holy decree, maybe he will return to the division because he is worried about the safety of Zhoushan, then the emperor will probably have to go to the south of the Yangtze River: "Admiral Deng must go, otherwise there is no way to dispel the emperor's thoughts of personal conquest." As for saving the emperor's face, persuade the emperor to stay in Beijing...... Alas, do your best, and let it be the destiny of heaven. ”

……

After arriving in Yangzhou City, Jiang Guozhu, Lin Qilong, and Liang Huafeng sat together with a frown to discuss countermeasures, and the latter two also agreed with Jiang Guozhu's analysis and confirmed that the Shunzhi pro-campaign was indeed provoked by himself.

Originally, Liang Huafeng was still thinking about turning against him and telling the emperor to exonerate himself, but now this road is mostly impassable, before Deng Ming was still in Zhenjiang, Liang Huafeng could still count on fighting hard to seek forgiveness, but now that Deng Ming is gone, after the emperor found out that he was ruthlessly deceived, he had nowhere to vent his anger, and Liang Huafeng, as the highest military governor in Jiangnan, was most likely to be buried with him.

However, even if Deng Ming is still there, Liang Huafeng's previous road may not be successful, first of all, Shunzhi moved faster than he imagined, the silver boat tossed back and forth, and it was too late to go to Beijing; And Liang Huafeng's reversal also lost credibility in the minds of the nearby heroes, he had just driven the nearby outlaws out of the barracks with big sticks, and now it is not easy to recruit them back - many people are still lying on the bed with sticks and sticks to leave them with injuries, and they can't immediately train into an army when they pull them back, even if Deng Ming doesn't leave, Liang Huafeng can't take out the gambling book to find the Ming army desperately.

"It's definitely a personal vendetta." Liang Huafeng was angry when he thought of this, whether it was dealing with Zheng Chenggong or Li Dingguo or anyone else, Shunzhi's response followed the traditional rules of fighting for hegemony, so his behavior was very predictable. In Liang Huafeng's view, Shunzhi's behavior this time is obviously and very personal emotion.

"The order changes every day, and it is capricious." Liang Huafeng looked up to the sky and roared angrily: "The emperor regards national affairs as child's play, so I am in danger of the Qing Dynasty, and the society of my ancestors is in danger!" ”

"Admiral Deng said no." Jiang Guozhu did not reprimand Liang Huafeng, on the contrary, he deeply sympathized with Liang Huafeng's words: "The Son of Heaven should not be moved lightly in the center, and if he leaves the Beijing Division lightly, the sea will be uneasy, and the people will be panicked. ”

"Governor Jiang said well, this official is willing to sign it." Lin Qilong raised his hands in agreement with Jiang Guozhu's construction, and at the same time reported the victory, he also had to write a blood letter, so that the emperor could stay in Beijing to suppress the Quartet, and not learn from Ming Wuzong to come out and make trouble: "It's just that our weight alone is probably not enough." ”

"I have revised the book to Zhang Changgeng of Wuchang, Zhang Chao of Nanchang, and Dong Weiguo, all of whom are henchmen of the imperial court, pillars of the country, and commendable loyalty, and will definitely echo our proposition."

……

Without the report of the Manchu governor, Deng Ming was indeed unable to learn the most confidential information at the first time, and was kept in the dark and continued to return to Sichuan.

At this time, Shunzhi had already left the capital division with five thousand Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners, and marched south along the canal.

After leaving the big mansion of the Forbidden City, Shunzhi felt a lot better all of a sudden. Every day by boat to watch the scenery on both sides of the strait, the boundless vast world seems to dispel a lot of gloom caused by the death of the favorite concubine in Shunzhi's heart, especially thinking that he is the master of this world, it makes Shunzhi feel a sense of pride and pride, which is very different from standing in the Forbidden City and touching the map.

Shunzhi's good mood was broken by the good news in Jiangnan, and the first to be sent to the emperor was Lin Qilong and Jiang Guozhu who wrote a few letters proudly when they first learned that Deng Ming had withdrawn from the army, and then a large number of them came, Deng Ming was attacked by fire and robbed by the camp, and was beaten by the Qing army, and there was no piece of armor left, but Shunzhi only saw one thing from it, that is, they let Deng Ming run away.

"I really see my holy decree like waste paper!" Shunzhi was furious and ripped these good news and the admonitions that persuaded him to put the society first into pieces: "Deng Ming humiliated the temple and bowed, so that the reputation of the concubine was damaged, how can he ask for indulgence?" ”

What annoyed Shunzhi even more was that Wuchang and Nanchang also came to join in the fun, and they all said in unison that they should put the community first.

"Deng Ming is stubborn, how can he be appeased? There is also Zhoushan Zhang Huangyan, and now he is actually in Chongming! What is going on in Fujian, I have to see with my own eyes. "Two hundred Manchuria Eight Banners who were captured in Fujian were actually sent to Yangzhou by Deng Ming for release, which made Shunzhi feel that the other party was deliberately slapping himself again, and he passed the decree again, declaring that this time he would first take Chongming and Zhoushan, and then chase Deng Ming straight into Xichuan, and Li Dingguo said that he would also be exterminated. In his holy decree, Shunzhi announced that he would not destroy the rebellious parties in various places and would not return empty, and that all provinces on the front line should be ready to take over.