Just when Li Guoying was thinking about writing a piece of music and Chongqing, Zhou Kaihuang arrived in Fengjie with Li Siye. Although Li Dingguo's order to Li Siye was to go directly to Fengjie, but the development of Xuzhou greatly exceeded the expectations of the King of Jin, Li Siye arrived in Jiading Prefecture after the news soon spread to Xuzhou, he went to Xuzhou to replenish supplies, change horses, and met Deng Ming, who was negotiating a special tax.

For the appointment of the Duke of Baoguo and the Governor of Zuodu, Deng Ming gladly accepted it, in his opinion, this was part of the previous agreement with Li Dingguo, and accepting the title and title that King Jin had obtained for him was also an agreement between the two. And it just so happened that Deng Ming still needed to report the course of the battle to the Wen'an Zhihe Committee in Fengjie, so he asked Zhou Kaihuang, who was in charge of this matter, to take Li Siye and his party to the east by boat.

Wen Anzhi had heard that a big war broke out between Chongqing and Wanxian before, but the specific situation was not very well understood, and when he saw Zhou Kaihuang, a general under Deng Ming, come to report, Wen Anzhi knew that the scale of this battle must be not small; And Li Siye is the prince's son, and his status is even more extraordinary, Wen An expected that he must have brought important information.

After hearing that it was the title that King Jin asked for for Deng Ming, Wen Anzhi remained silent, but muttered secretly in his heart: "What does this kid want to do?" Could it be that he has changed his personality and does not covet the throne? ”

What surprised Wen Anzhi even more was that this national prince, and the special instructions for not posthumously sealing the three generations, after Li Siye handed over the holy decree to Wen An with a complicated expression, the old superintendent's face was silent, but his heart was full of turbulent waves. Wen Anzhi's experience and Deng Ming's experience are completely different, although Wen Anzhi's knowledge of science and geography cannot be compared with Deng Ming's, and he has not eaten so many good things, but he will not be naïve to think that this title is normal - Deng Ming does not attach much importance to the title, he only cares about the stability of the agreement and the alliance.

"Does the Duke of Bao know about this?" Wen Anzhi did not express his opinion, but asked Li Siye if he had notified Deng Ming.

After receiving an affirmative answer, Wen Anzhi asked again: "Has the Duke of Baoguo thanked him?" ”

"Yes." Li Siye replied. After learning that Yongli gave it to the Duke of Guo, Deng Ming's generals were a little dissatisfied and felt as if they were lower, but Deng Ming didn't care and happily accepted it.

"That's good." Wen Anzhi didn't plan to make a fuss, he admitted that he was getting more and more unable to understand Deng Ming. And now Wen Anzhi's energy is getting worse and worse, much worse than three years ago, and he often forgets things. Wen Anzhi pondered for a moment, and then felt that his energy was low, and he couldn't think deeply: "Jin Shizi rests for two days, and then the old man will introduce the envoys of the committee to you." ”

Although Wen Anzhi was a little tired, he was still very willing to listen to the news of Deng Ming's victory, and after Li Siye left, he inquired about Zhou Kaihuang in detail.

"Why did you go to Chongqing this time?" Wen Anzhi asked straight to the point, "Don't say anything to recover the land, Deng Ming definitely didn't go for this, let's say, what kind of goods are you selling?" ”

"The superintendent saw that Zuo Du wanted to cut Li Guoying's rice......"

"I knew it." Wen Anzhi snorted and waved his hand to signal Zhou Kaihuang to continue.

……

Now the troops defending Fengjie and Yunyang are left by Deng Ming, and they are in the same vein as the main battalion in the hands of Yuan Zongdi, and they are the backbone of the Battle of Wanxian, with more than 1,000 people. The officers of this group of troops were all promoted by Deng Ming, and the soldiers also had reverence for Deng Ming, and the supply of weapons was sent to Fengjie by Deng Ming through the Jiangnan River again and again.

After listening to Zhou Kaihuang tell about the battle, Wen Anzhi was happy, and then told Zhou Kaihuang that his energy is worse now than last year, and it is difficult to deal with tedious internal and military affairs, not to mention that Deng Ming has just handed over the committee to him. Wen Anzhi asked Zhou Kaihuang to go back and tell Deng Ming that he would send some capable people to Fengjie to help him manage the army, and it was best to imitate the military system in Chengdu and turn these people who had followed Deng Ming's conquest into a standing army.

Zhou Kaihuang comforted Wen Anzhi for a long time, saying that the superintendent should be strong and strong, and every time he came to Fengjie, he felt that Wen Anzhi's spirit was strong and far better than before, Wen Anzhi smiled silently, and finally insisted that Zhou Kaihuang convey his request to Deng Ming.

"Don't worry, the last general will definitely come." Although Deng Ming gave Zhou Kaihuang their military rank was still that of a colonel, they all considered themselves generals, and both friendly and enemy forces regarded them in this way.

"Every time I hear you talk about Chengdu, I feel very good, but I never have time to see it with my own eyes, alas, my old bones can't stand the bumps." Wen Anzhi had some emotion: "If it weren't for the drag of this committee, the old man would have been thinking about why he would have to go to Chengdu." ”

"If the Governor comes to the capital in person, the Governor of Zuo and all the soldiers and civilians will be very happy." Zhou Kaihuang hurriedly said.

"Of course, there is joy, but Deng Ming is probably a little nervous in his heart, although he is hesitant, but the old man knows that he must have made a lot of mess there. The old man is neither deaf nor blind, nor has he never heard any rumors. Wen Anzhi laughed, and then shook his head: "Besides, the saint wants the old man to build a mansion and worship the festival, without the will of the saint and the cabinet, the old man will have to keep the festival for the imperial court." And...... And it's also relatively close to Yiling. ”

"Why did the Overseer say that?" Zhou Kaihuang hurriedly objected.

"Eighty old man, what else is there to taboo? I have already chosen the auspicious cave in Yiling. Wen Anzhi smiled disapprerovingly: "My three dogs are now by the saint's side, if there is not even a person wearing linen and filial piety at that time, it will be really sad." ”

"The last general is willing to replace ......" Zhou Kai said nothing, and then immediately realized that this kind of words could not be said at all, and choked suddenly.

"It's okay, it's the right thing for them to assist the Son of Heaven." Wen Anzhi's face was solemn, and after a while, he said slowly: "In the future, I will need Zuo Dudu to help take care of it." ”

……

September 15, Xuzhou.

After the war in Chongqing, Deng Ming's camp has been located here, in addition to constant communication with the parliament, Deng Ming and his army stationed in Xuzhou can also help Yuan Xiang better survive the initial chaos period, after all, this time the prisoners accepted exceeded the original population of Xuzhou.

At the same time, Deng Ming was still preparing for another expedition to Jiangnan. Zhou Pei agreed that he would discuss matters, that the two rivers needed to be deterred, that the sea ban needed to be used, and that the operation of Chongming Island should also be inspected -- it was inevitable to go to Jiangnan, and the question was only when to set off.

This seemingly definite operation was challenged today, and the envoys who rushed from Kunming brought a report of the imperial court in distress, and the generals around Deng Ming all changed color.

......After the initial shock, Deng Ming's first sentence was: "The three sons of the Inspector are all in Myanmar, right?" ”

In order to show his favor to Wen Anzhi, Yongli promoted his sons to his attendants, and they were all scholars, so they were not in the Jin army, but acted with the cabinet.

"Yes." Zhao Tianba replied solemnly.

"Is there any news of them?" Deng Ming asked Li Dingguo's envoy.

The envoy shook his head, and only a few of the Imperial Guards had fled, and the Yongli group of attendants had fallen along with the cabinet.

"Fengjie, don't talk about it yet." Deng Ming thought for a moment, and felt that such a big matter must not be hidden for too long, so he said to the envoy: "If you want to do me a favor, just say that the son of the overseer has returned safely, and is now assisting the king of Jin in Kunming." ”

"Yes, Guogong."

Wen Anzhi was already eighty years old, Deng Ming felt that this kind of white lie had to be said, and then he discussed the situation with the surrounding henchmen and officers for a while, and basically accepted Li Dingguo's speculation, that is, Mang Bai planned to fall to the side of the Qing court, and wanted to use the finances brought by the Yongli monarch and ministers to buy people's hearts.

"I can't go to Jiangnan, I have to go to Kunming. I'm really going to take a few thousand armor soldiers with me this time. Deng Ming didn't think for too long, so he ordered the soldiers and horses to be rectified: "It just so happens that our grain and grass are also ready, and I will take 3,000 soldiers and 7,000 people to Kunming." No, these 7,000 people are not considered people, and those who are willing to go to Kunming with me will all be given military status. ”

Although Feng Shuangli assisted along the way, after leaving western Sichuan, the Ming army lost its greatest water advantage, and mobilizing 10,000 troops to Kunming would also be a big burden, requiring a lot of food.

"Governor Zuo." After a moment of silence, Mu Tan took the lead in speaking: "Going deep into the unpredictable wilderness, I'm afraid there will be no money to be made in this battle." ”

"Yes, Zuo Dudu," Ren Tang, who was now faintly priding himself as an imperial soldier, also chimed in. In his opinion, although Deng Ming's move is very moral, for the sake of Wen Anzhi's previous kindness, Deng Ming can not ignore his sons, but marching to the south of the Yangtze River is the consensus of all walks of life in western Sichuan, countless people have worked hard for this expedition, and have made a lot of preparations, and now Deng Ming has completely reversed the strategic direction in one sentence: "The admiral must not be emotional." ”

After looking at Li Xinghan for a while, Deng Ming found that he also disagreed, and finally had to look at Zhao Tianba: "What does Brother Zhao think?" ”

"I'll go with the Admiral," as soon as Zhao Tianba spoke, the other three people had uncertain looks on their faces, feeling that Zhao Tianba was also emotional, and put aside the plans of the West Sichuan Group for the sake of the old relationship with Li Dingguo: "But I think it's okay for the Admiral to bring fewer people, and if it is insufficient, King Qingyang can add some." ”

"Why do you agree?" Deng Ming stared at Zhao Tianba's eyes.

"The saint is the co-lord of the world, no matter what people dare not say in their hearts, but the world can no longer withstand a dispute between Tang Gui and Tang Lu. If there is anything wrong with the saints, there will definitely be disputes, and we will fight for others if we don't fight. We may not live to see the result of the struggle, and if we can't fight, hehe, in the eyes of the world, we will all become unnamed rogues. Zhao Tianba smiled: "I think the Admiral is not emotional, but of course, and he also wants King Qingyang to send troops to King Qin." ”

"Brother Zhao knows my heart." Deng Ming praised sincerely.