Although Deng Ming brought more than 2,000 standing troops to Chongqing this time, the soldiers had already left Chengdu to fight outside for a year, and most of them were looking forward to going home as soon as possible. Deng Ming didn't want to let this loyal army take any more risks, so he had no intention of fighting. In order to prevent the Qing army in Chongqing from making irrational actions, the water camp of the Ming army was set up on the other side of the river, and when Gao Mingzhan came to negotiate several times, he needed to cross the Yangtze River to meet Deng Ming.

Regarding the food expenses of the Qing army, Deng Ming also did not object, this rule was strictly said to be pioneered by him, and the last time he was in Zhongxian, he asked Wang Mingde for a sum of food expenses. These prisoners of war of the Kuidong Army followed Li Laiheng and Liu Tichun to fight in Sichuan and Hubei, and they did not live a good life for a few days, Deng Ming just casually looked at the bill listed by Wang Mingde, and nodded in agreement.

However, since a precedent was set this time, Deng Ming was worried that the Qing army would continue to increase the food cost of the Ming army prisoners in the future, so he had to take precautions. Deng Mingzhan told Gao Mingzhan that in the future, all prisoners of the Ming army would pay a maximum of one tael of silver per month for room and board, and the standard of room and board was: three meals a day, and hygiene should be ensured, the Ming army was not allowed to eat moldy and spoiled food, beans or vegetables were provided with one meal a day, and at least one or two pieces of meat were eaten every five days.

Seeing Deng Ming write this standard, Gao Mingzhan secretly smacked his tongue, but since Deng Ming was willing to pay the bill, it was easy to say. Finally, the two sides drafted an agreement prohibiting the ill-treatment of prisoners. However, this agreement was only valid for the armored soldiers of the Western Sichuan Army and the Chongqing generals, and Gao Mingzhan did not care about the life or death of the unarmored soldiers at all. If someone from Kuidong's army was captured, Deng Ming was willing to pay the bill in principle, but Chongqing needed to send an envoy to report to Deng Ming immediately. As long as Deng Ming nods and signs, he will definitely fulfill the contract, otherwise Deng Ming has the right to refuse to pay for room and board-lest Wang Mingde and they will say that they are Kui Dongjun if they catch a few grass coars.

"If my captain is captured...... Deng Ming felt that it was unlikely that the school officer would be captured, now only a few people such as Li Xinghan and Zhao Tianba were school officers, in case these people were caught by the Qing army, the Qing army might not be willing to release, but Deng Ming planned to promote another group of people to the rank of school officer soon, so he still set the standard in advance: "For the third-level captain, I will pay their room and board fees according to the standard of five taels, ten taels, and fifteen taels of silver a month, and they must have meat to eat every day; Officers are four times as large as their peers, and they should live in a single room, with mosquito nets in the summer and quilts in the winter......"

Gao Mingzhan couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, there had never been a commander who had taken the treatment of captured soldiers so seriously. Although these conditions were basically difficult to achieve - the Qing army in Chongqing did not expect to be able to capture the officers in western Sichuan, but Gao Mingzhan firmly remembered that if the soldiers who caught western Sichuan must be treated properly, otherwise Deng Ming would definitely turn his face and deny people.

The terms of this prisoner exchange were quickly negotiated: today Gao Mingzhan will bring back a part of the deposit, and tomorrow when the prisoners are released in batches, the Ming army will pay a part of the ransom for each batch of prisoners, and when all the people have arrived and confirmed that their lives are safe, the last group of escorted Qing soldiers will be able to bring back the food money.

Although Deng Ming had no intention of fighting, Gao Mingzhan didn't know this, and no one dared to have the idea of greedy Deng Ming's deposit; The next day, after the exchange of prisoners, one of the guards of the three walls said to Gao Mingzhan and others: "In order to celebrate the complete success of this cooperation, Baoguo Gong invites you to cross the river to dinner. ”

Of course, the generals of the Qing army didn't want to go, although Deng Ming's credit was very good, but if he could not go to the enemy camp, of course it was better not to go. But the messenger of the three walls did not agree: "Baoguo Gong has already killed pigs and sheep, do you really refuse to appreciate your face?" ”

"Since it is an invitation from the national government, then the lower officials must be disturbed." Wang Mingdeqiang said with a smile. Deng Ming listed a list of several people such as Hu Wenke in addition to him. Now the three big gaps in the northwest of Chongqing have not been blocked, and they all think that as long as Deng Ming attacks, everyone will be finished together, so it is not good to offend Deng Ming to death.

Sun Sike hurriedly stepped forward and shouted, "How can this be done? If Deng Ming detains you all, what will happen to Chongqing? ”

"If he wants to fight Chongqing, it's the same whether he deducts it or not." Wang Mingde just figured out that if Deng Ming really wanted to attack Chongqing, he would definitely not detain himself, but he was really hard to say.

In addition to Wang Mingde, the Shaanxi generals, Deng Ming also sent an invitation to the commander of the Eight Banners stationed in Manchuria, because what he wanted to do was to drag this guy into the water. The commander of the Eight Banners of Manchuria stood for a moment after seeing the invitation, pondering repeatedly, according to the battle between the masters, it shouldn't be what happened to him, didn't Deng Ming let him go last time he caught him, thinking of this, the commander squeezed out a smile and agreed.

Sun Sike, Yuan Jiawenbi and the Shanxi generals stood on the side and looked stupid, and when they saw that the commander of the Eight Banners of Manchuria was about to walk towards the river, Sun Sike couldn't help but shout again.

And the Manchurian Taijun's answer was even more straightforward: "Now that Chongqing is ruined, we can only have the determination to sacrifice for the country to fight with Deng Mingxu and the snake, and buy time for the governor to strengthen the city defense." ”

The Manchurian Taijun didn't shirk anymore, and Gao Mingzhan couldn't find a reason to refuse, and he felt that Deng Ming didn't embarrass him yesterday, and probably wouldn't be today. He has already said that if Deng Ming attacks him, he will burn the warehouse in Chongqing, and if he releases such ruthless words, he must be able to dispel Deng Ming's attack a lot. Not only to comfort himself, but also to be a hero, Gao Mingzhan pretended to be relaxed and said to Sun Sike and the people of Shanxi: "Deng Ming's credit is okay, although he likes to bargain, but as long as he speaks, he will definitely do it." This kind of person who keeps his word is rare now, and it's no wonder you're worried -- by the way, Deng Ming's food is pretty good. ”

Sun Sike and most of the Shanxi people were not invited, and Deng Ming also knew that if too many people were invited, most of them would dare to come, so he only asked Shanxi Green Camp to send a representative. The Shanxi people discussed for a while, and finally decided to send a guerrilla to follow Governor Gao and the generals of the Shaanxi Green Battalion to meet the world, and the rest of the people still stayed in Chongqing's own army in line with the principle of "Zhuge is only cautious in his life".

The more Sun Sike and those Shanxi generals thought about it, the more worried they became, and they collectively went to see Li Guoying, wanting to ask the governor to prepare in advance, in case Deng Ming turned his face and detained the generals of the Shaanxi Green Battalion and then attacked the city, he would not be caught off guard.

But Sun Sike and the others were closed. Yesterday, after throwing the details of the negotiations to Gao Mingzhan and the Manchurian Taijun, Li Guoying announced that he had gone to bed early, and that he did not know anything about what had happened. Just now, when Gao Mingzhan accepted the invitation, one of the guards of the Governor's Battalion hurried back to Chongqing without saying a word, and slipped into the Governor's Yamen without attracting attention. And when Sun Sike and the others came to the door, Li Guoying's housekeeper and the standard camp guerrillas had been waiting in front of the yamen for a long time, and as soon as they stretched out their hands, they stopped Sun Sike and his gang: "The governor is resting." ”

"Didn't the Governor go to bed early yesterday morning?"

"Yes, it hasn't gotten up yet, please go back." The housekeepers and the guerrillas of the standard camp took the guards together and pushed this group of petitioners out of the yamen without saying anything.

……

"The arrival of all the gentlemen is really brilliant." Deng Ming's main purpose in inviting these people to dinner was to sell his stones, especially jadeite. Jadeite was obviously so valuable in later generations, but it couldn't be sold at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, which really made Deng Ming unwilling.

When giving gifts under the city of Chongqing, Deng Ming put a lot of jadeite in the box, but because Li Guoying said "fake jade", these guys in Chongqing lost interest and did not accept jadeite when exchanging prisoners of war.

Although the invited guests had smiles on their faces, they were all a little restless after entering the camp. Deng Ming pretended not to see, he prepared a round table and beckoned the guests to sit down around it. Gao Mingzhan's expression at the head of Chongqing City made Deng Ming feel at the bottom of his heart, knowing that most of the other party did not dare to annoy him, but this advantage Deng Ming did not use it in the bargaining of the captives, but in the matter of treats.

"Today, please eat Sichuan hot pot." In order to sell his stones, Deng Ming carefully prepared this meal, not only killed a sheep, but also took out a lot of special products brought back from Yunnan.

...... chili, pepper, and butter, Deng Ming knew that what he was preparing was not the current authentic Sichuan hot pot, but there were chili peppers and various spices brought back from Myanmar, which would definitely leave a deep impression on the officials in Chongqing. Deng Ming warmly entertained the guests and introduced: "We call it third-rate hot pot, why is it third-rate?" It's drooling, runny nose, and tears. Deng Ming once traveled to Sichuan in his previous life, and he used the vocabulary of the tour guide at that time, and he really won the applause of the audience.

Gao Mingzhan looked at Deng Ming's copper pot, and complimented him without words: "The Admiral's pot is very good." ”

"Governor Gao has good eyesight. This pot is made of the finest brass produced in Tongling, which is the most flavorful. Deng Ming immediately gave a high hat, and then continued to introduce the dishes to everyone. Some of the mushrooms on the table were still transported from Dujiangyan: "These are all mushrooms from Qingcheng Mountain, you must try them carefully." ”

The people of Shaanxi really knew that they could eat spicy food better than Zhang Huangyan and Ma Feng, and it didn't take long for Gao Mingzhan and Wang Mingde to eat and shout, praising this kind of chili pepper in unison, and Admiral Deng was really a gourmand - they were all out of the way, even if they wanted to die, they would first be a full ghost - but most people still had confidence in Deng Ming's credit.

The Shanxi guerrilla seemed to be very unsure, he hid away from Deng Ming after entering the table, and his movements were also very restrained during meals, trying not to attract the attention of others as much as possible. But after eating a few bites, this Shanxi guerrilla couldn't stop his tears, and everyone at the table laughed, complimenting today's third-rate hot pot really worthy of its name.

But then it was not good, the Shanxi guerrilla burst into tears, and then everyone realized that something was wrong, and the camp tent suddenly became cold.