There was no more entertainment in this era, and at various important festivals, all Deng Ming was able to provide to the soldiers was food and drink, allowing them to play some gambling games. On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Ming army camp became a large kitchen, and they started steaming steamed buns in the morning. A number of stages have also been erected around the barracks. After careful reconnaissance, the Ming army determined that there was no sign of Qing army movement around, so in addition to the sentry and guards on duty, the soldiers could take turns to go out to play. During the play, snacks such as meat steamed buns are also provided.

However, the troops were sent out, so the Ming army was not allowed to drink a lot, and Deng Ming himself and the senior officers of the Sichuan army were not allowed to drink. Deng Ming had no interest in wine in the first place, and he was still very hostile to the traditional realgar wine, and felt that it was not a good idea to pour this kind of substance into his stomach.

Before noon, the officer in charge of receiving you reported the arrival of the Jiangning envoy.

This envoy is a congratulatory envoy sent by Jiang Guozhu, the governor of Jiangning, who came to Zhenjiang to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival to Deng Ming.

The gifts include jade and gold beads, which are basically based on property, but hanging in front is a pair of chickens and ducks. Jiang Guozhu also knew that sending salted duck to Deng Ming might not be eaten by the other party, in case he poisoned people - of course Jiang Guozhu would not think that he could poison Deng Ming like this, so he would not consider poisoning, and whether he ate it or not was in Deng Ming, and whether he sent it or not was in Jiang Guozhu, and he would not owe anything in the number of courtesies.

Deng Ming glanced at the gift list, knowing that the things on it were expensive, so he thanked the messenger and put the list away. Deng Ming never thought that the governor of Jiangning would actually send someone to congratulate him on the Mid-Autumn Festival, so he didn't think about returning the gift, but Deng Ming also knew that the other party probably didn't expect him to return the gift.

"I wonder how long the Admiral plans to stay in Jiangnan?" After a few polite words, the envoy Jiang Guozhu asked: "If the admiral needs to be entangled, Governor Jiang is very willing to do his best." ”

Deng Ming smiled and shook his head: "To tell you the truth, I have some doubts about Governor Jiang's credit, the last time I left Jiangning, Governor Jiang owed me 500,000 taels of silver, and I haven't paid it back yet." ”

The envoy also seemed to know about this, and after hearing Deng Ming's words, he replied unhurriedly: "This admiral has really wronged the governor of Jiangning, the last time the governor made up everything and prepared 500,000 taels of silver, but the admiral left in a hurry with something important, and the governor did not have a chance to send it to the admiral's army, at least for the time being, he helped the admiral save it." ”

"Then when does Governor Jiang plan to return it to me when I come this time?" Deng Ming asked, last time he didn't plan to stay around Nanjing for a long time, because Dasu had already arrived in Yangzhou, and the troops in Deng Ming's hands were only Li Laiheng's 3,000 soldiers who were more combative, and the Zhejiang army still lacked equipment and training at that time, and the Qing army in Nanjing still had a certain threat to the Ming army after eliminating internal contradictions. But now it was different, Deng Ming's 8,000 armor soldiers were enough to dispel any unwise thoughts in Jiang Guozhu's heart.

"The Governor hopes to send it when the Admiral leaves Jiangnan, I don't know what the Admiral wants," the envoy added after speaking: "This is only what the Governor owes to the Admiral, and as for this entanglement, it is naturally another matter." ”

"Governor Jiang has a heart." Deng Ming nodded, and gave the envoy some conditions, the conditions for retreating were many and harsh, and they were the initial asking price that Deng Ming used to bargain.

After hearing Deng Ming's offer, the envoy's face turned a little pale, knowing that Jiang Guozhu could not meet these requirements, but Deng Ming said to him before the envoy opened his mouth to plead: "You can't be the master of this matter, just bring my words back to Governor Jiang." ”

In addition to bargaining, Deng Ming also had the purpose of delaying time, if he scooped up a reasonable clause, what if Jiang Guozhu agreed? Since Deng Ming doesn't know when he can leave, then he will rely on negotiations to delay it for a while, anyway, Deng Ming will not stop fighting during the negotiations to show sincerity.

The last time Jiang Guozhu and Deng Ming negotiated outside Nanjing, they used Guan Xiao's subordinates at first, and then Guan Xiaozhong gave up on himself before replacing him with his henchmen, and Deng Ming, the envoy sent this time, also saw it. However, Deng Ming didn't know if this envoy knew everything about Liang Huafeng's situation, so he didn't say anything to him, but also asked him to bring the words back to Jiang Guozhu: "In addition to Governor Jiang, there are people in Nanjing who owe me a little money, I wonder if Governor Jiang will help me come back?" ”

The envoy was stunned for two seconds when he heard this, and then asked tentatively, "Is the Admiral talking about General Liang?" ”

Now that the envoy knew about this, Deng Ming didn't need to be vague, and he smiled: "Yes, General Liang also owes me some money." ”

Of course, Jiang Guozhu knew about this, and after he and Liang Huafeng slaughtered Lang Tingzuo and Guan Zhong, they found out that Deng Ming ate the upper house and the lower family with a pair of confessions. As a hostile camp, they can bet on both sides to this point, Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng are so angry that they scold, and this messenger naturally knows a thing or two about Jiang Guozhu's happiness.

Seeing the hesitation on the envoy's face, Deng Ming reminded: "Governor Jiang and Governor Liang have promised me, it is right for one person, if Governor Jiang doesn't believe it, just ask Governor Liang in person." ”

"If you know about it, you must bring it to the governor." The envoy came to his senses, this matter was not something he could agree to, and this time Jiang Guozhu sent him to test whether Deng Ming intended to negotiate.

After nothing else, Deng Ming asked the guards to take the messenger down to entertain him, not to mention a good meal, and the wine could be drunk as much as he wanted.

Soon after Jiang Guozhu's envoy left the camp, the guards came again to report that the envoys sent by Lin Qilong, the governor of Caoyun, and Liang Huafeng, the governor of Jiangnan, had arrived to deliver the Mid-Autumn Festival to Deng Minghe.

Although they are both in Yangzhou, they are two messengers of gifts, and the gift list is completely different. Lin Qilong's gift was similar to Jiang Guozhu's, some gold and jade playthings and utensils, and one each of the swordfish, anchovy, pufferfish, and sea bass were raised - these four fish were actually still alive. And Liang Huafeng's Mid-Autumn Festival gifts are all gold bars, and the gift on his head is a pair of beautiful maids.

Deng Ming thought for a while, both of them were in Yangzhou, and the envoy also came together, it is unlikely that he did not communicate with him in advance, but this gift is very different.

"Maybe they don't know what I like, right? So just bet on both sides, the things that are given away by one article and one martial arts are completely different, and there is always one that can make me feel very satisfied? Deng Ming was not very sure of his speculation, but he didn't spend too much thought on guessing Yangzhou's thoughts, and soon asked Liang Huafeng's envoy to go down to drink tea first and talk to Lin Qilong's envoy first.

"What's the matter with Governor Lin?" Recently, Lin Qilong's envoy ran very diligently to Zhenjiang, but fortunately, Yangzhou was not far from Zhenjiang, and the envoy arrived in the morning and evening.

Compared with the Governor of Liangjiang, the Governor of Caoyun has limited oil and water. Lin Qilong could make it easier for him to travel up the canal, but Deng Ming didn't plan to send ships into the canal, so Lin Qilong's power was of little use to Deng Ming. However, today, Lin Qilong's envoy really didn't have any bargaining tasks, he told Deng Ming that the basic knowledge was just to congratulate Deng Ming on the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the official business could wait until after the festival.

Deng Ming politely inquired about Lin Qilong's current situation, and then asked this envoy to go down and invite Liang Huafeng's envoy to come.

Similar to Lin Qilong's envoy, Liang Huafeng also had no official business to discuss with Deng Ming immediately, compared to Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong, Liang Huafeng can be said to be very idle. As a military attaché, Liang Huafeng only needs to obey orders and train troops for offensive and defensive operations, and negotiations and weighing gains and losses have basically nothing to do with Liang Huafeng.

Deng Ming casually asked Liang Huafeng's envoy about the recent situation in Yangzhou, and the envoy told Deng Ming that now Yangzhou is under martial law inside and outside, which can be called impregnable, and idle people cannot enter and exit at all.

In addition to this boasting, Liang Huafeng's envoy also told Deng Ming an interesting story, that is, a merchant from Huizhou once approached Liang Huafeng, hoping that he would send troops to protect the salt boat through the Guò Canal.

As long as it was not a large force transport, the Ming army retreated from the Qing army ships under the banner of the owl, mainly to cover people's eyes and ears, so that the people would not feel too strange when they went to Huguang and Jiangxi to safely pass through the Cao transport fleet.

In addition to the Cao boats, there were also some official ships in Huguang and Jiangxi, and the Ming army would certainly not intercept the ships of these enemies who had an agreement, and the Qing army also tacitly agreed not to discharge a large number of ships to challenge the tolerance of the Ming army. Therefore, on the Yangtze River and the canal, you can often see the Qing army and the Ming army walking on one side, and the scene of clear distinction between the two sides.

This scene made the people have some misjudgments, thinking that the Ming army was still afraid of the Qing army's sailors, so the salt merchants hoped that the Qing army could send troops and horses to protect their salt ships and assist the salt merchants' transport ships to break through the blockade and inspection of the Ming army.

This topic made Deng Ming very interested, so he chatted with Liang Huafeng's envoy. I didn't want to get a lot of information about the salt merchants from this envoy - this envoy knew a lot, but he didn't take it very seriously, he even smiled and told Deng Ming: "The Admiral probably doesn't know yet, and now these merchants are shouting in Yangzhou, saying that the Admiral is sending troops specifically to fight them, haha, haha, ridiculous?" ”

Since Deng Ming went down the river from Wuchang, the salt ships of Huaiyan have always been intercepted and confiscated, and there is no room for accommodation. The officers in Deng Ming's army had already discussed the issue of the salt industry, and every officer knew that it was related to the people's livelihood in Chengdu, related to their families, relatives and friends, and was also the main purpose of Deng Ming's troops. Therefore, the Ming army not only did not misunderstand Deng Ming's determination, but even had the same desire as Deng Ming, and the investigation of Huaiyan was very strict.

After the Ming army arrived in Zhenjiang, the transportation of the canal and the Yangtze River was completely in the hands of the Ming army. Deng Ming did not completely cut off the canal traffic, just as he did not completely cut off the Yangtze River shipping before, this was the trump card that Deng Ming used to threaten Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong, neither of whom knew what the consequences would be if the Yangtze River and the canal were completely cut off again, and this uncertainty added to their fears. If Deng Ming comes up and cuts off shipping, the consequences will be unpredictable, and the effect may be very good, Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong choose to bend their knees, but they may also lead them to break the tank and fight against Deng Ming to the end, and this kind of thing is bound to offend many forces, Deng Ming, who has always held the idea of beating and pulling, is unwilling to do things to the end.

But Huaiyan was different, and the Ming army ruthlessly banned it. Of course, the Huaishang were surprised by such an obvious discriminatory policy, but since the Huaishang received many privileges from the Manchus, they were not willing to blatantly bribe Deng Ming—neither did they, and the interests of the Huaishang were tightly tied to the Manchu zhongyāngzhèngfu.

Of course, for a long time before, Huaishang did not act as a whole group, they only instinctively felt disgusted with Deng Ming. The Ming army interfered with the shipping of the Yangtze River, on which Huai salt was sold to Jiangnan and Huguang, and threatened the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which gave the salt merchants great privileges, which of course aroused the hostility of the salt merchants.

The subsequent actions of the Ming army aroused the hatred of the salt merchants, and Deng Ming was willing to spend time and effort to distinguish between the interests of the local zhèngfu and zhongyāng, but he adopted a simple and crude attitude of prohibition towards the Huai merchants. Some salt merchants who specialized in the Huguang business tried to bribe Deng Ming's men after business became difficult, but these private acts were also refused; Then the salt industry in Jiangxi was hit hard, and the Ming army not only did not allow Huaiyan to go up to Wuchang, but even held Jiujiang to prevent Huaiyan from entering Poyang Lake. At this point, the salt merchants who sold salt to Jiangxi also joined the ranks of cursing Deng Ming; further along is the western part of Jiangsu; And now it is a pot, the Ming army has blocked the exit of the canal, and a salt ship can't get out, so they can only try to disguise themselves as other kinds of cargo ships for entrainment.

Due to the lack of manpower of the Ming army, and Deng Ming also wanted to show his kindness to the surrounding gentry, the Ming army was far from being able to examine every cargo ship, and the salt merchants could still send salt into the Yangtze River as long as they were broken into pieces. Even if someone is occasionally found in the random inspection of the Ming army, the number is very limited, and the boss of the ship responsible for transporting salt can still pretend to be pitiful, claiming that it is a personal act, and then cry bitterly and say that the old and young are waiting for the rice to be cooked, and the Ming army inspection soldiers will often be soft-hearted, and will not chase after them but let them return with the goods.

Although the Ming army's inspection system had many loopholes, far inferior to that of the Manchu professional private inspection team, as long as Deng Ming's ban was in place, the salt merchants could not stop the fleet's transportation, and the number of smuggling was limited and the cost was greatly increased. And by this time, the Hui merchants in Yangzhou finally confirmed that the Ming army's hostility to the salt merchants came from the top and spread throughout the army.

More and more news came that the Ming army had adopted an uncompromising attitude towards the salt merchants, and that they were resolutely unwilling to accept bribes from top to bottom, and even some rumors of Deng Ming's plenum had flowed out and reached the ears of the salt merchants in Yangzhou—they knew it even earlier than Zhang Huangyan.

At first, most of the salt merchants found this unbelievable, and the Ming army did not move out to conquer the city, but to protect the commerce in the territory of the Ming army. But as the Ming army meticulously enforced the blockade, more and more salt merchants began to believe the truth of the news. However, to this day, people other than the salt merchants still do not believe that the purpose of Deng Ming's troops is to protect the Sichuan salt merchants, not only the Manchu officialdom does not believe it, but the local gentry do not believe it, and even Deng Ming's allies also scoff. Zhang Huangyan had gotten along with Deng Ming and had many heart-to-heart negotiations, but after hearing this rumor, Zhang Huangyan just sneered, and didn't want to listen to it a second time at all - now in Zhang Huangyan, the purpose of Deng Ming's troops was to blackmail the Manchu officials in Jiangnan.

Although the Ming and Qing dynasties, local gentry, and even businessmen engaged in other industries found this statement extremely absurd, the salt merchants themselves could not take it lightly. On the day the Ming army arrived in Zhenjiang, a strict blockade policy was imposed, and the Hui merchants who sold salt to Zhejiang reacted immediately. Camouflage was a long-planned countermeasure, and while the Ming army was still circling around the periphery of Anqing, the salt merchants had already begun to think about how they would survive if the canal was cut off.

In parallel with the entrainment transport, Yangzhou salt merchants held a large-scale meeting to discuss how to deal with the threat of the Ming army. If the Ming army only stayed for a short time, the damage to the salt merchants was not irreparable, and some big salt merchants would not be unable to recover even if they cultivated for a few months. But for many small salt merchants, if there is another quarter to six months of shipping cut-off, the damage will reach the point of fatality.

The last time Zheng Chenggong attacked the Yangtze River, the salt merchant group donated a large amount to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, hoping to make up for the losses after repelling Zheng Chenggong, but encountered Deng Ming's disturbance, and the time of the interruption of shipping was prolonged. This year, before business was fully restored, the Ming army invaded Jiangnan again, and the blockade against the salt merchants was much more severe than the last time Zheng Chenggong invaded - after all, Zheng Chenggong was targeting the Qing army, but the transportation was inconvenient; And now they have encountered the Sichuan army, which is targeting the salt merchants.

Businessmen smuggling salt to Zhejiang spoke at the conference, saying that the smuggling would continue the price of official salt, making illegal salt more rampant and official salt less competitive. In the past, the Manchu inspection was aimed at those smugglers who did not have salt introductions, but now the Ming army is against salt merchants, even if the Ming army's inspection system is flawed, this also eliminates the greatest advantage of salt merchants and pulls them to the same level as smugglers.

Moreover, salt merchants have been trying to establish their own marketing channels in various places in order to make full profits from salt sales, which requires a large amount of capital and a continuous supply of goods. The blockade of the Ming army would cut off the main income of the salt merchants, making them lose money in the sales stores they had established in various places, and even the big salt merchants who had no worries about survival, Deng Ming's blockade would have made their efforts go to waste, and their power would quickly regress ten years ago.

The merchants who sold salt to Zhejiang felt an existential crisis, and those who scooped salt from Huguang and Jiangxi were of course even more painful, and they advocated at the meeting to donate to the Qing court again to help the Qing court repel the Ming army, and at the same time make the Qing court realize that they were the target of this Ming army's attack.