Deng Ming made it clear that he did not want commercial banks to engage in vicious competition in overseas trade, so all banks pursued a first-come, first-served non-competitive strategy in promoting bonds. However, the Caoyun Governor Yamen and the Liangjiang Governor Yamen were two potential buyers of the bonds, so the bankers did not agree to let either one monopolize it. Deng Ming could not continue to support the exclusive right, otherwise no one would actively promote it in the prefecture and county, but would rush to Huai'an or Nanjing.

Therefore, the bankers reached an agreement in front of Deng Ming to share the profits from the bond sales of Huai'an and Nanjing, and the representatives of each bank solemnly signed their names on the contract, and then drew lots to decide whether to participate in the Huai'an group or the Nanjing group. The bankers first proceeded to sell bonds in various prefectures and counties, and then assembled in Nanjing and Yangzhou to meet Chiang Guozhu, the governor of Liangjiang, or to sail to Huai'an.

According to Xiong Lan's estimates, Huai'an's purchasing power is more than that of Nanjing, so the group of bankers who remained on the south bank of the Yangtze River is a small group. Yu Youming and Feng Ziming both drew the Nanjing lottery, they waited near Nanjing for a few days, and finally the whole group arrived, and everyone rushed to the Yamen of the Governor of Liangjiang together and submitted their names to ask for a meeting.

At this time, a large number of reports from the upstream had been sent to the yamen of the governor of Liangjiang, and after Jiang Guozhu read it, he couldn't help but scold Zhang Changgeng and Zhang Chao shamelessly in front of his henchmen: "Our four provinces are united, what kind of momentum is that?" As long as Zhang Changgeng is a little tougher, how can Deng Ming blackmail us so lightly? ”

Now that Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong have a deeper and deeper understanding of the importance of the Yangtze River trade, both of them have concluded that this is Deng Ming's main artery, and they can't help but fantasize about being able to take a knife and make two strokes on the side, forcing Deng Ming to give them more benefits. When Zheng Chenggong was alive, the two really couldn't muster the courage to challenge Zheng Chenggong and Deng Ming at the same time, and because of the inside story of the Battle of Gaoyou Lake, they also had to guard against the Qing court, which made them even more lacking in confidence.

After Zheng Chenggong's death, Jiang Guozhu thought that he would have no worries, as long as Zhang Changgeng and Zhang Chao were a little tougher, they would be able to buy themselves a long time, and when the time came, whether it was beating drums and cheering behind Huguang and Jiangxi, or reaching a new mutual aid agreement with Deng Ming, Jiang Guozhu could be invincible. After learning that Zhang Changgeng and Zhang Chao did not make any resistance and agreed to Deng Ming's request, Jiang Guozhu hatefully threw the report on the ground: "Two gutless rats, are you willing to be enslaved by Deng Ming for a lifetime?" Don't you have any courage at all? ”

Many of the reports Jiang Guozhu received were actually provided by the Ming army. Because Zhang Changgeng and Zhang Chao were full of hope that Jiang Guozhu and Deng Ming would fight hard to gain a more favorable negotiating position for them, but this was not in Deng Ming's interests, so after the Ming army entered Jiangnan, it provided a lot of real information to the Yamen of Prime Minister Deng. With the cooperation of Zhou Peigong, Jiang Guozhu was well aware of the situation in the upper reaches, and the massive smoke bombs sent by Zhang Changgeng and Zhang Chao were all seen through by the governor of Liangjiang and failed to play the slightest role.

"Seeing the tiger coming down the mountain to eat people, I don't want to save myself together, I know that I am racing with my teammates, how can I meet such a group of colleagues who are blind?" The more Jiang Guozhu spoke, the more angry he became, and he slammed the table loudly.

"The Governor is angry." Liang Huafeng was afraid that Jiang Guozhu would make some irrational decision under his anger, so he hurriedly persuaded him: "The eldest husband can bend and stretch." ”

"Deng Ming is really too deceitful," Jiang Guozhu angrily threw a letter he received yesterday to Liang Huafeng: "This is Deng Ming's handwritten letter that was just delivered, you look at it, it is simply treating this official as nothing, and it is a great shame." ”

"Forty thousand in armor." Liang Huafeng read in a low voice, he read this sentence over and over again several times, and when he spoke to Jiang Guozhu again, his voice trembled slightly: "Your Excellency, Governor Deng keeps his promises, he said that there are 40,000 armor, then there must be 40,000 people, and there will definitely be no less." ”

"How can this official not know!" Jiang Guozhu said angrily. Zheng Chenggong was born for ten years, and only brought 30,000 soldiers in the First World War of Nanjing, while Deng Mingcai operated in Sichuan for four years and had 40,000 armor. Although some of them must be Kui Dong's soldiers, the Sichuan army must have half of it, and this expansion rate made Jiang Guozhu frightened - last year, seeing that the Sichuan army could make up 50,000 troops for an expedition by itself, had already scared Jiang Guozhu enough. After the expedition, the Sichuan army also relocated hundreds of thousands of people back. Jiang Guozhu sent people to carefully investigate the movements of the Ming army, and found that they attached great importance to the living conditions of the immigrants along the way, which was completely different from when the Manchus entered the customs and plundered the population. When passing through Jiangnan, I also bought a large amount of food and clothing at any cost, and the cost was extremely huge.

After the Ming army left, Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng celebrated each other, both thinking that the Ming army was such a waste of financial resources that they would not want to threaten Jiangnan again for several years, and this judgment was also one of the reasons why they dared to blackmail Zhoushan. Since Zheng Chenggong's death, Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong have been pondering every day how to get Chongming back and share the benefits of sea trade with Deng Ming.

"Looking at Deng Ming's crisscrossing of the Yangtze River, the officials of Huguang and Jiangxi provinces, no one dares to stand up?" The more Jiang Guozhu spoke, the more sad and indignant he became: "It's just a tiger cub, everyone rushes up, and they kill it with their bare hands." Now everyone is running, sooner or later the tiger will be fattened, and in the end everyone will be a tiger's mouth. Such a simple truth, even a three-year-old child can understand, how can Zhang Changgeng and Zhang Chao be so confused? ”

At this time, the guards sent the name card in, Jiang Guozhu glanced at it, and was even more furious: "The Sichuan Yankees are really too arrogant, after they bullied those soft bones in Huguang and Jiangxi, they blackmailed our prefectures and counties like locusts crossing the border, and now they dare to find the yamen of their own officials." ”

While continuing to scold Erzhang upstream, Jiang Guozhu asked the guards to bring a few bankers to the study to meet him. Liang Huafeng looked at the angry Governor of Liangjiang worriedly, for fear that he would do something irrational.

Yu Youming, Feng Ziming and four or five other bankers walked into Jiang Guozhu's study with their heads held high, and simply bowed, even if they saluted Liang Huafeng, the governor of Liangjiang and the governor of Jiangnan.

"It's a guest from afar, how is Baoguo Gong doing lately?" Jiang Guozhu asked with a smile.

These bankers had already discussed it in advance, as long as Jiang Guozhu put on the shelf a little, Feng Ziming, who was in charge of singing blackface, would jump up and point at his nose and shout: "Call the emperor's ** team to beat you!" ”

But Jiang Guozhu smiled cutely, and Liang Huafeng, who was sitting with him, did not put on any official stands, which made Feng Ziming, who was ready to go, have nowhere to go. Liang Huafeng also said that he was a showman, and warmly called Yu Youming them, which made these people a little embarrassed. Someone quickly said that they were just the same Xiucai, and when he heard this, Jiang Guozhu waved his hand: "Can the fame given by Baoguo Gong be fake?" But if you want it, what about Jiangning's prisoners? The official gave one to each of you. ”

Although these people in front of them were not officials appointed by Deng Ming, Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng had both heard that Tongxiucai in Sichuan was very loyal to Deng Ming, and there were officials in Liangjiang who tried to stuff these bond salesmen with hundreds of taels of silver, so that they could make it convenient for them to let them go, or say a few kind words for themselves in front of Deng Ming, and use financial difficulties as a reason to let themselves subscribe for half of the bonds, even if it was reduced by a few thousand taels. But these people resolutely disagreed, even the drunken guys, as soon as they heard this request, they immediately sobered up, changed their faces and overturned the table, forcing the county order to immediately take out the silver - I don't know where Deng Ming found so many people who were loyal to him, no matter the silver, banquets, and beautiful women, it was useless, and it would not be finished until he bought all the bonds prescribed by Deng Ming.

After talking to Jiang Guozhu for a few words, Yu Youming stopped talking nonsense, and said straightforwardly: "Baoguo Gong's hands are a little tight, send a few of our brothers to borrow some silver flowers from Governor Jiang." ”

Feng Ziming secretly held his breath, as long as Jiang Guozhu hesitated, he went up to scold him, but the governor of Liangjiang still smiled so kindly: "It's a trivial matter, I don't know how much Baoguo Gong plans to borrow from this official?" ”

"Two and a half million taels of silver, gold and silver, we will give Governor Chiang three days to make up the money." Yu Youming is responsible for singing red face, since he entered the governor's yamen, Feng Ziming, who is responsible for singing black face, has never had the opportunity to play, knowing that Feng Ziming has carefully prepared in advance, Yu Youming also worked hard to create conditions for him to play: "If there is no money by then, hum, don't blame our brother for being polite." ”

However, the governor of Liangjiang still didn't have the slightest intention of anger, but just smiled slightly: "This matter is on this official." I don't know how long Bao Guogong plans to borrow? ”

"Borrow for a year! I will also pay you 5 cents. Yu Youming glanced at Feng Ziming apologetically, he couldn't help his companion create the conditions for him to play. After saying that, the bankers showed Jiang Guozhu the power of attorney given to them by Deng Ming.

Jiang Guozhu carefully read Deng Ming's "IOU", asked for some details, pondered for a moment, and asked: "This IOU means that within a month, you will bring the real bond and exchange it for this IOU." ”

"Yes." Yu You replied in a clear voice.

"And the bond you gave to the official is also an IOU, proving that you owe the official 200 million yuan in principal, and it will be repaid together with the principal and interest when due, right?"

"Yes." Yu Youming confirmed again.

"And the 200 million yuan you paid back to the official is also an IOU, which proves that the Baoguo Gong owes the official a debt, and there is no repayment period and interest, the official is not wrong, right?"

"That's right." Yu Youming replied confidently. Feng Ziming next to him was secretly gathering his anger again, and it seemed that the governor of Liangjiang was still dissatisfied.

"So, the official gave you two and a half million taels of silver, and you gave the official an IOU of an IOU, right?" Jiang Guozhu asked the last question with a pleasant face.

"That's right!" Yu Youming's voice was like a bell, and Feng Ziming also held his breath, just waiting for the governor of Liangjiang to get angry, he jumped up and shouted, "Call the emperor's ** team to beat you." ”

"Hehe, is this still a problem?" Jiang Guozhu laughed easily: "This official is completely clear, within three days, he will definitely get together the silver." ”

〖