Frequent crusades made the southeast more and more afraid of Sichuan, and when the Ming army sailed down the river in the past, Deng Ming also needed to carefully consider the time and place of each docking to rest, and he needed to be careful to beware of Zhang Changgeng's sudden sneak attack. But now there is almost no need for this, Huguang has completely lost the possibility of intercepting the Ming fleet at a dangerous location, and anyway, if he stops the Hubei Green Battalion, he can't defeat the Ming army that has landed, so the Ming army naturally doesn't worry about him blocking it.

In Liangjiang, the river became wider, and the Qing army, which lacked a naval division, lacked the means to block the Ming army than the Huguang Qing army, that is, when the Ming army returned to the division against the current, the Qing army still had a chance to fight - when the wind was unfavorable, the Ming army needed to anchor and anchor. However, it was the first time he returned to the division with Li Laiheng, the Qing army in Jiangxi tried to attack, and when the Ming army returned to the division, the Qing army here in Liangjiang became as docile as the green camp in Huguang.

"Now the governor of the southeast has been frightened by us, but this will also make them even less confident in their own strength." Deng Ming said to Li Laiheng and Liu Tichun that the defeat of the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade in the first battle of Gaoyou Lake was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the Southeast Green Battalion, which made them eliminate some of their fear of the Eight Banners of Manchuria. However, this is still not enough, Deng Ming found that the green camp still has a general fear of the Eight Banners, and the accumulated power of decades is not so easy to completely remove.

In addition to the green battalion, even the Ming army lacked confidence in the Eight Banners, and after seeing the military flag of the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty in the last battle of Chongqing, the Kuidong Army showed obvious morale fluctuations. That is, Yuan Zongdi's main battalion and some of Li Laiheng's subordinates who participated in the First Eastern Crusade performed slightly better, and the richer battlefield experience allowed the former to control his nervousness within a certain range; The latter had captured the real Manchuria under the city of Nanjing, and Deng Ming exhibited the troops that had been captured to the little tiger for a long time, which made many people realize that even the real Manchurian Tartars were the same people as them and not some monsters, and even eliminated the fear of the Mongolian and Han Eight Banners.

Now the most fearless of the Eight Banners is probably the Sichuan Army, many Zhejiang Tongxiu have witnessed Zheng Chenggong in Zhenjiang to break the Jiangning garrison Eight Banners, tens of thousands of people are witnesses of the Battle of Gaoyou Lake, hundreds of Mongolian Eight Banners are working in Chengdu and Xuzhou, and the pitiful appearance of the Chongqing Han Eight Banners is even more unlikely to make the Sichuan Army fear them.

In addition to introducing the experience of previous victories to friendly forces and helping them face the Eight Banners correctly, Deng Ming felt that it was also important to help the Southeast Green Battalion improve its confidence in the Qing court. Therefore, Deng Ming discussed with Li Laiheng and them at the beginning of the army, if the southeast is invincible, then the Ming army will look for a Qing army that supports Beijing as a target.

"We can't let the governor of the southeast feel that we are only bullying them, so that they will only have deeper and deeper resentment towards us, and at the same time, they will have less and less confidence to confront Beijing, and I certainly hope that the southeast will pay as little tax to Beijing as possible, so that we can sell them more public debt." Last time, the Ming army of the Eastern Expedition attacked the green camp in Zhejiang, which relieved Jiang Guozhu of a lot of pressure from the south, and made the attitude of the green camp in Zhejiang ambiguous: "I don't know if Li Shutai and Geng Jimao will react, if Beijing has the intention of letting Geng Jimao move to Zhejiang, we will attack him." ”

It is said that it is very unlikely that the Qing court will allow Geng Jimao to move to Zhejiang, which is much richer than Fujian, and it is not safe to let a vassal king so close to Nanjing. However, Deng Ming had already changed history too much, and in the sixteenth year of Shunzhi, Beijing thought that Yungui had already made up its mind, and his first thought was to move Geng Jimao from Guangdong to Sichuan, but soon changed his mind to change it to Fujian - this was of course to counter the threat of Zheng Chenggong, but also because the Qing court realized that Sichuan was different from Yungui, and as long as it was carefully managed, it could pose a serious threat to Shaanxi if it was seized by a certain vassal king.

Now that Deng Ming's threat to the Yangtze River is getting worse day by day, there are still people in Beijing who regret not moving Geng Jimao to Sichuan, and recently some people have suggested that Guangxi should be handed over to Wu Sangui and let him continue to be responsible for the defense of Li Dingguo; Sun Yanling, on the other hand, succeeded Shang Kexi in guarding Guangdong, and transferred Shang Kexi to Fujian to guard against Zheng Chenggong, so that Geng Fan could be renamed Sichuan -- the proponents hoped that strengthening Geng Fan to Chongqing would force Deng Ming to spend more energy defending his base area, thereby reducing his pressure downstream. However, these voices did not get a response from the imperial court, because now the prince and auxiliary ministers are still thinking of using the central army to wipe out Sichuan in one fell swoop: when the issue of transferring feudal domains was discussed in the past, some people said that Sichuan was known as the country of abundance in ancient times, and it had the benefits of salt, iron, copper and silver, and silk splendid was sold all over the world, and under normal circumstances, the border army grain and grass of Yunnan, Guizhou, Shaanxi and Gansu could be supplied with the power of a province; Although Sichuan is now ruined, it is not possible to let the vassal king settle in, even if it is a vassal king who has no governing power; Now, in addition to the above reasons, there are also more jadeite, ivory and other local products, Beijing has thought about it, and after the conquest of Sichuan, it will set up a minister in charge of tributary in Chengdu, and the profits of jewelry will be directly into the treasury. How could such an important place allow the vassal king to get involved?

"Geng Fan's predecessor was the Dongjiang Army, which followed the Manchu Qing Dynasty for many years, and was the most hardcore and most effective Han army in the hands of the Qing court. If the elite of Geng Fan can be annihilated in Zhejiang, Jiang Guozhu will be more fearless and increase the courage of the southeastern governor to confront Beijing. ”

Of course, Deng Ming didn't know that those princes and auxiliary ministers in Beijing were thinking about his capital, so after hearing that Geng Jimao had moved to Sichuan to threaten him or move his town to Zhejiang to help defend the two rivers, he had always been very concerned about Geng Jimao's whereabouts. If Geng Jimao came to Sichuan, Deng Ming would not be afraid, but like the Qing court, Deng Ming was not worried that a vassal king was so close to Nanjing: for Beijing, Geng Jimao was a vassal king of the Han people; For Chengdu, Geng Jimao was the vassal king of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

After hearing Deng Ming say this, Li Laiheng said: "I think Geng Jimao will not come to Fujian, although the national surname is dead, but the army of the national surname is still there, and the Tartars dare not leave." Most of us ended up going north along the canal and fighting a battle with Tartar in Fengyang Province or Shandong. ”

Deng Ming and others already knew that the Qing court was mobilizing heavy troops to encircle and suppress Shandong Yuqi, and from the news sent by the Yamen, the governor of Caoyun, Yu Qi's defeat was already a certainty: at the beginning, when Shandong responded to the group, Yu Qi was timid, and never dared to go out to cut off Caoyun, for fear of angering the Qing court and completely cutting off the back road of Zhao'an; This year, after the Qing court increased its troops in Shandong, it first ensured the smooth flow of Cao Yun, and then used the canal to mobilize troops, first scattered all the rebel troops outside Yu Qi, and then surrounded the main force of Yu Qi on all sides. When the Qing army was dispatching troops and pressing step by step, Yu Qi closed his door and did not come out, which could be called sitting still, and now Yu Qi's allies were defeated, and the main force was also surrounded by the Qing army, and there was no chance to transfer.

It is estimated that by mid-July or the end of the month at the latest, the Qing army in Shandong will be able to completely defeat Yu Qi, and the possibility of the Qing army taking advantage of the victory to aid the south is very great. Now the banks of the Yangtze River are important trade areas, which provide Deng Ming with a large amount of financial revenue, helping him to continue to vigorously support the commercial banks in Sichuan, and it is also the income guarantee of the southeast governor, so that Deng Ming can obtain sufficient low-interest loans. Therefore, Deng Ming did not want a battle to break out on both sides of the Yangtze River, and destroying both sides of the Yangtze River would cause Deng Ming to lose a lot of income and affect the sales of Ming government bonds.

Neither Deng Ming nor the other members of the committee wanted the war to spread to the Yangtze River waterway, and now the Ming army was resting near Nanjing, and did not continue to march in the direction of Suzhou and Chongming, and as long as the order was given, the Ming army could enter the canal area from Yangzhou -- the trade on both sides of the canal was basically monopolized by Lin Qilong, and Chongming could not gain anything from it, so Deng Ming did not care about the impact of large-scale military action on the canal basin -- not a single member of the committee cared. Moreover, defeating the Qing army in Shandong can also serve the purpose of protecting Nanjing and boosting the morale of the southeast green battalion.

"Yes, just wait for news from Zhang Shangshu." Deng Ming needed Chongming and Zhoushan to help him spy on the enemy situation in Shandong, and at the same time monitor the movements of Li Shutai and Geng Jimao: "If the Qing army in Shandong shows its intention to go to Nanjing, our army will immediately enter the canal." Beijing must now know that we have once again stationed troops in Nanjing, and I don't know how they will react. ”

……

In Beijing, as expected by the generals of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, the Qing court had indeed received the news that the Ming army had once again arrived in Nanjing.

"Deng Ming didn't come by himself this time, he also brought all the thieves from Kui Dong." If Deng Ming had come by himself, the Qing court might not have been so nervous, because Deng Ming had shown great restraint in the first three Eastern Crusades and had not plundered the localities on a large scale -- although Jiang Guozhu, Zhang Changgeng and Zhang Chao all complained vigorously, but from the point of view that the southeast could still satisfy the most basic Cao Yun, Deng Ming still regarded himself as a king and did not cause too much harm to the Yangtze River valley.

After learning that Deng Ming threatened Jiangnan in early May, the Qing court's first thought was to let Shandong's soldiers and horses rush to Yangzhou, but Shandong Yuqi had just been completely surrounded, and it seemed that this hidden danger could be pulled out once and for all, and it was a pity to give up halfway: this time Yu Qi was confused by the smoke of Zhao'an from beginning to end, and stayed in the base area honestly, and still had illusions when he died, still waiting for the imperial court to recruit him, until the Qing army launched a general offensive before waking up from a big dream. If the Qing army withdrew from the siege to the south at this time, Yu Qi would definitely not sit idly by again.

Besides, Deng Ming's progress was too fast, and in the blink of an eye, he once again approached the city of Nanjing, so that the Qing court had no time to withdraw troops from the Shandong battlefield.

"If Deng Ming, like the previous times, just collected some grain and grass and retired from the army, then leave him alone." Like Deng Ming, Beijing did not want a series of major battles on both sides of the Yangtze River, because the Ming army had water superiority, the possibility of annihilating Deng Ming was very small, but once the war started, it would definitely be a mess on both sides of the Yangtze River; A large number of Qing troops from other provinces marched into the Yangtze River valley to fight, regardless of whether the Ming army was driven away or not, there was definitely no need to count on taxes. The showdown of reinforcements to the local government, coupled with the looting of officers and soldiers, the damage will only be more serious than Deng Ming's army, just like the last time Zheng Chenggong invaded the Yangtze River, it was not the Ming army but the Qing court's reinforcements that made Zhenjiang completely an empty city.

Deng Ming's habits and hobbies, which Beijing now understands, do not seem to have any idea of establishing a base area in the south of the Yangtze River at all, but are only trying to relocate the population to Sichuan -- the lesser of two evils, and Deng Ming will not be prevented from escaping anyway, so it is naturally the best choice to keep the war away from the Yangtze River waterway. However, this time Deng Ming brought Kui Dongjun, which made Beijing worry that there would be variables, and these people might be like Zheng Chenggong, not seriously relocating the population, but thinking about changing the base area.

"Let Kupilon help Prince Kang and continue to encircle and suppress Yu Qi with all his might." The main general of the crusade against Yu Qi was served by Jieshu without any surprise, and Kubilong and Li Guoying served together in front of Prince Kang's tent, and it didn't take long for the three auxiliary ministers who remained in Beijing to get a consensus, and they would make preparations with both hands: "If Deng Ming is the same as the previous times, and honestly goes back to Sichuan, then don't let the army go to the south of the Yangtze River, and the soldiers will go on a trip, and don't think about recovering for three or four years." ”

If all the Ming troops returned to the west, then the Shandong army would also advance westward according to the original plan, looking for a place in Sichuan as a decisive battlefield, so as to avoid the destruction of the tax-bearing land in the southeast. And if Deng Ming had only returned with the Sichuan army, and the Kui Dong army had stayed alone and tried to open up a base area, Beijing felt that relying on Jiangnan's own strength would almost be able to drive them out. Deng Ming has not been able to gain a foothold in Jiangnan, which of course has his habit problems, but it can also show that the southeast governor still has a certain ability to resist, and if the southeast is completely capable of self-defense, Beijing feels that Deng Ming will not be unmoved.

The biggest danger is that Deng Ming plans to help Kui Dongjun open up a base area, just like he helped Ma Fengzhi rob Chongming Island before. However, Chongming Island is still an island in the final analysis, and Ma Fengzhi has not shown any ability to develop on land in the past two years -- since Chongming does not pose an immediate and direct threat to the taxation of Jiangnan, there is no need for Beijing to send a large army to reinforce it, and it can leave it to the southeast to find a solution on its own, just as it did with Zhoushan, Jinshan, and Xiamen.

But if this time the Kui Dongjun planned to open up a base around Nanjing, or try to pick up Ma Fengzhi from Chongming Island, the situation would have been completely different. It was a direct threat to the tax-paying lands in the southeast, and the Qing court did not want a major war on both sides of the Yangtze River, but if the Ming army pressed in, Beijing had no choice but to go all out. If it is really necessary, it is to transfer the vassal kings back from Fujian, Guangdong and other places, and to drive the Ming army out of Liangjiang.

"If Deng Ming doesn't go, or he plans to cut off Yangzhou Caoyun, or he plans to capture Suzhou, the Shandong soldiers and horses will immediately march south, even if it is for Yu Qi to live for two more days, he has to do it."

The Auxiliary Minister sent an urgent letter to Shandong to inform Prince Kang and Kupilon to make preparations in advance and await further orders from Beijing.