Wuchang.

From time to time, new Ming warships sailed by on the river, which were filled with the Sichuan army that set off later and the Kuidong army who rushed to hear the news. Looking at these rampant troops, Zhang Changgeng's mood was very complicated. The governor of Huguang knew that he had fallen too deep in the quagmire of Tongdeng, so he couldn't help but hope that Chengdu could fight against Beijing.

However, Zhang Changgeng didn't want this progress to be too fast, at least for a few more decades, so that Zhang Changgeng could sit he, the emperor of the soil, to death in peace. Since his ambition is to divide Huguang for the rest of his life, Zhang Changgeng must strengthen the military strength of the two lakes as much as possible, so as not to be swallowed by the evil neighbors around him: Deng Ming and Kuidong are all red-eyed bandits, but the Qing soldiers in Henan are not good at stubble, and none of them are good people in Guizhou, Shang Kexi in Guangdong, and Geng Jimao in Fujian; It was Zhang Chao in Nanchang and Jiang Guozhu in Nanjing, Zhang Changgeng knew that if he showed his flaws, most of these two guys would pounce on him and bite him.

"It's dangerous." The worried Governor of Huguang sighed lightly. Deng Ming's control of the Yangtze River trade left Huguang with little profit margin, and the war bonds promoted this time were to swallow most of Huguang's small profits. Although Zhang Changgeng had long known that he could only share a little of Deng Ming's remaining scraps, he was still unwilling to share so little.

These days, Zhang Changgeng has fooled the governor of Liangjiang and succeeded in defrauding 200,000 taels of silver, but this is only a drop in the bucket compared to the one that was robbed by the Sichuan people -- the bankers in Sichuan are like a swarm of locusts, and the prefectures and counties of Huguang have been extorted one by one, and here in Wuchang, they have been forced to subscribe for 200 million yuan of war bonds and pay 2.5 million taels of silver in just half a month -- it seems that the Sichuan side has accurately calculated the storage situation of various prefectures and counties in Huguang. There has never been a situation where the prefecture and county have not been able to meet the conditions of the other party, which shows that it has been planned for a long time.

Moreover, the people of Sichuan took away the silver of white flowers, and left behind the public debts printed on paper, and it was not silver that would repay the public debts of the prefectures and counties in the future, but IOUs that were also printed on paper -- the IOUs were indeed of a good price now, because they could be used to buy goods on the routes, but not every place could exchange eighty yuan for one or two silver; Moreover, after the maturity of this one-year public bond, Deng Ming repaid hundreds of millions of yuan in IOUs at once, and the exchange rate of IOUs for silver will definitely plummet, and it is difficult to say whether a few hundred yuan can be exchanged for one or two silver.

Although Zhang Changgeng needed Deng Ming, at least before he died, he needed Deng Ming to block the Qing court, but he knew that if this continued, Huguang would sooner or later be sucked dry by Sichuan. However, Deng Ming always left room for doing things, and always left Zhang Changgeng a way to live, so that he could not muster up the determination to break the net -- Deng Ming also did not force the gentry and military generals in Huguang to a dead end, so Zhang Changgeng should not think of responding to every call -- if the Qing court called at this time, it was very likely that Huguang's civil and military forces, who had passed through Deng too deeply, would closely rally around Zhang Changgeng and fight with Beijing.

"Zhang Chao, I'm counting on you." Zhang Changgeng said softly to himself, although Nanchang is desperately trying to cheer himself up, how can the governor of Huguang not know what the governor of Jiangxi is planning? If Deng Ming and Zhang Changgeng had a hard fight, Nanchang might take the opportunity to raise the price of their tattered porcelain. In the past few days, Zhang Changgeng has tried his best to intercept shipping and impose an intelligence blockade on Nanchang, hoping that Jiujiang, Nanchang, and Deng Ming will fight, and if Deng Ming loses a lot of money in Liangjiang, Zhang Changgeng will be able to win a more favorable alliance position for himself -- at least force Deng Ming to return some of the silver, and it is silver, not the kind of IOU printed on paper.

……

When Zhang Changgeng was desperately cheering Zhang Chao in his heart, Deng Ming had already come to Jiujiang City.

"I haven't seen you for two years, is this how the political envoy Dong Bu welcomes me?" Deng Ming, under the escort of three walls, has already landed on the land of Jiangxi: "Jiujiang is under martial law, is this planning to fight with me?" ”

"It's all Zhang Changgeng's house, and he didn't even notify the official and the prince to come." Deng Ming's army suddenly killed, Dong Weiguo went out of the city to meet without saying a word, he remembered the consequences of the confrontation with Deng Ming last time, and he was blown up several big holes in less than a day on the city wall: "As for the martial law in Jiujiang, this is a misunderstanding by the lower officials, and the lower officials mistakenly thought that the Guogong was willing to inspect the officers and soldiers of Jiangxi, so they asked them to go to the city to invite the Guogong to parade." ”

"Really? I can't see clearly from the wall. Deng Ming waved his horsewhip lightly: "Let the Jiujiang Green Battalion be stationed ten miles out of the city, and only need to leave the officials in the city." ”

"Yes." Dong Weiguo agreed without hesitation, anyway, there are only a few thousand armor in the city, and fighting is a dead end, so it is better to obey the order honestly and strive for leniency.

After the Qing army in Jiujiang drove out of the city as ordered, Deng Ming's face slowed down a lot, and invited Dong Weiguo to sit down and drink tea: "The last time I met Dong Buzheng, you and I drank and talked happily, and last time, Dong Buzheng and Governor Zhang came to me with their families and children, and they wanted to entrust the family to me, isn't this a fateful friendship?" ”

"Yes, yes, Xiaguan and Guogong, that is definitely heart-to-heart, by the way, there is also the governor, he often said to Xiaguan that for thousands of years, he admired the most Guogong."

"Also, if you are in trouble, let me kill Fulin, why don't I go too." Deng Ming reproached with dissatisfaction: "This time I am short of money, I want to borrow some money from you, but I don't even give me this face, you know, if you don't buy my war bonds, that is my war object." ”

"The righteousness of the country is thin and cloudy, the last time I heard that the lower officials were in trouble, they couldn't even take care of their families, and without saying a word, they went to Gaoyou Lake to behead the first emperor, and every time the lower officials thought of this, they were moved to tears." I haven't seen him for two years, and Dong Weiguo's schizophrenia has obviously intensified: "After the death of the first emperor, all the loyal and righteous people in the world clapped their hands and applauded, the Guogong needs money, and the lower officials are smashing the pot and selling iron, and they have to make it up for the Guogong." It's just that Jiujiang and Chengdu are far away, and the lower officials are afraid that someone will swagger and deceive under the banner of Guogong, so they didn't immediately take out the money. Now that he knows that this is indeed the meaning of the Guogong, the lower officials immediately raised the money for the Guogong, and whoever pushes the three and hinders the four is the mortal enemy of the lower officials, and they are the lackeys of the Tartars, and everyone will be punished. ”

After Dong Weiguo gathered the money that Deng Ming wanted, Deng Ming ordered the army to get on the ship, and when he saw him off, Dong Weiguo asked with hope: "Guogong is going to Jiangning?" ”

"No," Deng Ming shook his head, he had already ordered the fleet to prepare to enter Poyang Lake: "I want to go to Nanchang first. There has been no news from the bankers of the Chengdu Development Bank, but some say that Governor Zhang showed them the bank's public bonds. I have a terrible thought, that is, these Sichuan Tongxiu have encountered misfortune. ”

"Ah, it definitely won't, absolutely not." Dong Weiguo hurriedly defended Zhang Chao and said: "Maybe the governor, like the lower officials, is worried that someone is using the name of the prince to commit fraud. ”

"I hope so, but several of them are Tongxiucai from Sichuan, maybe you think this fame is ridiculous, but it is not a ridiculous thing for the Imperial Parliament, before leaving Chengdu, the Imperial Parliament gave Ben Gong a clear order, that is, whoever makes Tong Xiucai bleed, Ben Gong will pay him back in blood." When Deng Ming said this to Dong Weiguo, there was no trace of a smile on his face.

"Hehe," Dong Weiguo laughed dryly, he had never taken the title of Tong Xiucai seriously, but he now felt the need to correct this opinion: "Guogong is too worried, except for those Tartar lackeys, who dares to be rude to Guogong's people?" ”

After a while, Dong Weiguo asked tentatively: "If the governor mistakenly thinks that these fellow showmen are impostors, if it is just a misunderstanding, can Guogong open the net?" ”

Dong Weiguo didn't know how Nanchang dealt with the bankers, so he planned to test Deng Ming's tone first, whether he could accept compensation, or hand it over to Deng Ming and a few ghosts to take care of.

"If there is such a thing, then Zhang Chao will have to pay for his blood debts." After hearing this question, Deng Ming even ignored Zhang Chao's official title.

"If the governor is deceived," Dong Weiguo still did not give up: "If it is the Tartar lackeys in the middle to provoke." ”

"If Governor Zhang is so stupid, can he still sit in this governor's position? Is it a fellow talent in western Sichuan, if you can't judge, just leave it to me? Deng Ming glanced at Dong Weiguo: "Governor Zhang is old, if he can't afford this position, he should support his old age; Dong Buzheng is in the prime of life, I think it is very suitable for this position, I must be able to maintain the stability of Jiangxi, Jiangxi is a large porcelain production area, we must maintain a stable dìng! ”

If Zhang Chao provoked Deng Ming's authority and killed his people, then Deng Ming would attack Nanchang in retaliation, not only to kill Zhang Chao, but also to expose his participation in Gaoyou Lake to the world, so that Wuchang, Nanjing, and this Jiujiang would clearly realize what the consequences would be if they fought against Chengdu. However, Deng Ming did not intend to push all the powerful factions to Zhang Chao's side, or force them to seek refuge in the Qing court once again. Until Deng Ming was sure that he had cleaned up the Qing Dynasty and the Southeastern Alliance, he would never attempt to annex the power of a governor or governor for no reason. Therefore, Deng Ming clearly told Dong Weiguo that even if the emperor's ** team retaliated, it was only against Zhang Chao alone, only for hurting Tong Xiucai, and he would still acquiesce to the current Nanchang Group's rule over Jiangxi: "I know that Dong Bu's political envoy and Jiangxi's hundred officials are all in Cao Ying's heart in Han, and in order to preserve the country's vitality, they have to be vain and wrong, and deal with the Tartars, so the latter will be cheeky to borrow money from you; And if the Tartars want to settle officials in Jiangxi that you don't want to accept, I won't sit idly by, as long as Dong Bu's political envoy sends a letter, I will send troops to arrive, just like Gaoyou Lake; If Governor Zhang hadn't done anything foolish, I would have no intention of interfering in Jiangxi's internal affairs. ”