The content of the Jiangxi general's report was similar to that of his subordinate Wang Han, that is, he learned that some of the Cao ships had been attacked by the Ming army, and they were quite widely distributed, probably causing a loss of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. The Jiangxi general said that given that the Ming army was so close, it was inevitable that Caoyun would be affected somewhat, and he sincerely hoped that the governor of Caoyun would help him to justify the matter to the imperial court.

Before leaving, the lieutenant general left two silver boxes. Looking at these things, Lin Qilong fully understood what was going on, there was no doubt that it was a self-theft, and his duty was to stop this kind of behavior. Although the officers and soldiers of the river do not have too strong combat effectiveness, and these Jiangxi green battalions are not Lin Qilong's direct subordinates, but Lin Qilong represents the Qing court, and just one look can make these martial artists kneel on the ground and kowtow like garlic...... A few years ago, there was no doubt that Lin Qilong could do this, although he was a shriveled old man, but even in the face of dozens of green battalion generals who were draped all over his body, he would not feel a little afraid, as a dignified governor, Lin Qilong would only make others feel afraid. Even if there was no large group of armor soldiers standing behind Lin Qilong, the fierce general would be as frightened as a sheep in front of him, knowing that he would be dragged out and killed in the next moment, he would only cry and beg for mercy, and he would never have the slightest intention of resisting.

The person who came had already left, and after saying goodbye to Lin Qilong respectfully and politely, he lightly withdrew from the yamen of the governor of Caoyun, and did not tremble with his teeth and tremble because of the great sin he had committed.

It was only at this time that Lin Qilong realized that the other party was not afraid of him, because it was impossible for him to drag the other party down and kill him, let alone rely on an official document to let the governor of Jiangxi behead these criminals. Lin Qilong looked down at the two boxes of silver sent by the other party, these were not life money, just simple distribution of spoils and hush money.

"Knowing that Deng Ming is in Zhenjiang, and knowing that Zhou Peigong's army of bandits can't help him at all, but the army of the imperial court still stays in Shandong honestly, looking forward to Deng Ming leaving by himself." Lin Qilong sighed lightly again, and his gaze returned to the book he had placed on the table. That's right, Deng Ming pays attention to profit in everything, so he never pushes people into a desperate situation. This certainly shows that Deng Ming's wrists are flexible, but on the other hand, Deng Ming does not have the strength to ask the other party to surrender unconditionally; Now, needless to say, the governor of the southeast, even the prince who commanded the army in Shandong, and even the imperial court in Beijing must adopt a more flexible hand, instead of being a thief. The imperial court does not have an absolute advantage, since ancient times, there has been a catastrophe for three hundred years, and the Hu people have no luck for a hundred years, is the general trend of the world finally going to reverse?

The imperial court needed Lin Qilong to ensure that the five million taels of silver could be put into the treasury, and asked him to personally escort the Cao transport fleet to Beijing: "If I don't send five million taels, but three million taels, will the court be angry because I am short of two million taels, or will I be rewarded because I can still send three million taels of silver when the Ming army is besieging Jiangnan?" ”

In the past, Lin Qilong would never dare to move this thought, let alone two million taels, that is, twenty thousand taels, two thousand taels or even one tael would not dare to be short, this is the express order of the imperial court. If Lin Qilong couldn't do it, some people rushed to do this Caoyun governor, and Lin Qilong's head was just used to deter his successor and warn those who came after him not to take the orders of the imperial court as a child's play.

But today, Lin Qilong not only dared to think, but also dared to follow this line of thought: "These two million taels are just used to buy the bonds of Baoguo Gong, this is not that he sent troops to rob the luck, and I have no reason not to buy his bonds." I won't go to Jingshi this time, and continue to stay in Huai'an, so I will say that I will supervise Caoyun in the back. The court will know that I am afraid of punishment, and it should reassure me, after all, I have completed most of the Cao Yun tasks. If the imperial court really wants to depose me, will anyone dare to be the governor of Caoyun in the future? Who would dare to say that they are better than me? And...... And if there is any rumor, I will run away to the Baoguo Gong, I bought his bonds of four million taels of silver, he must pay me back a part, he must ensure that I have no worries about food and clothing, right? ”

It didn't take long for Lin Qilong to make up his mind and ordered to find all the Caoyun escort officers in Huguang and Jiangnan, and everyone could do this together, and no one could be left clean. And as long as the people of Huguang and Jiangnan are dragged into the water, it is actually pulling the two rivers and the Yamen of the governor of Huguang into it. Now that the imperial court is so jealous of Deng Ming, does it dare to punish many officials in the southeast on a large scale at this juncture?

"Anyway, I don't have any soldiers in my hands, even if the court wants to turn around and make a move, it won't take me the first to open the knife, so as not to startle the snake." When his subordinates went to pass on the Caoyun escort generals in Huguang and Jiangnan, the more Lin Qilong thought about it, the more he felt that his method was good, if the imperial court didn't take the first one to open the knife, then Jiang Guozhu and they would be equivalent to Lin Qilong's shield, as long as he heard that they were unlucky, Lin Qilong could abandon the official and abscond, and go to Sichuan to be a rich man: "It's just to move the family faster, at least you have to get the eldest family out safely first." ”

The Cao transport fleet was waiting outside the camp in Guazhou for inspection, preparing to enter the canal and start heading north, so the escort generals also lived nearby, and were soon brought from the barracks by Lin Qilong's envoys. It is understood that there is not much to say to each other, and these generals, like the Jiangxi Green Battalion, are plagued by unpaid salaries and assessed bonds. The Qing court's coercion on them was also greatly weakened, and now that the governor of Caoyun took the lead, what was there to hesitate about? Everyone was soon incited, and they were excited, planning to go back and divide the silver of the imperial court to subsidize the family.

"There is still a trouble," Lin Qilong knew that tonight was destined to be a sleepless night, in order to be realistic, the Qing army would burn some empty ships, and some people would also raise red flags, pretending to be the Ming army shouting, making the illusion of being attacked by the Ming army: "But it's not big." ”

Of course, these actions will confuse the Ming army, but Lin Qilong has already read Ye Tianming's book, plus some experience with Deng Ming, and thinks that he has grasped the other party's train of thought: "This matter is harmless to Baoguo Gong, I will give him some more silver, and let him help us cover it up when the time comes." ”

After checking his plan from beginning to end again, Lin Qilong was sure that nothing was missing, and everything was under control. He knew that the person in charge of the water camp in Zhenjiang was an old acquaintance Mu Tan, who was a greedy guy and had many cooperative friendships, so it was naturally most convenient to go back and inform him, and then let him tell Deng Ming on his behalf.

……

"Report, there's a fire on the other side."

After hearing the report, Wu Baoping jumped up.

Today, Mu Tan went to Deng Ming's camp, and Wu Baoping was responsible for controlling the main force of the Sichuan army's water division. Although the Qing army was very honest and the Ming army still had an absolute advantage in force, Wu Baoping had followed Deng Ming for many years, and he had been sneak attacking all the way from Jianchang and Dongchuan Mansion, and had seen powerful enemies lose because of paralysis and carelessness countless times, so he never dared to be careless. Since Wu Baoping was on duty today, he had been in good spirits in the first half of the night, and he was also lying in his clothes after changing the guard in the second half of the night.

Picking up the armor beside the bed, Wu Baoping rushed out of the camp tent, and when he ran to the river, he was already fully dressed.

"What's going on?" Wu Baoping carefully observed the fire in Guazhou, and asked Jiang Nan, who took over his duty.

In the eighteen cavalry of Dongchuan that year, in addition to Deng Ming, Zhou Kaihuang and Li Xinghan, there were fifteen people, all of whom now have the rank of major. Eight came on this expedition, with the help of four lieutenant colonels. In Mu Tan's battalion, Wu Baoping is the first adjutant and Jiang Nan is the second adjutant.

"I thought it was Yingxiao at first, but after looking at it for a while, I found that it wasn't," Jiang Nan pointed to the firelight on the other side and shared his experience with Wu Baoping. At first glance, the flames look like they are in the east and west, but if you look closely, you can see that there is a faint pattern in them. In the eyes of Jiang Nan, a master of arson and sneak attacks, it is obvious that someone is arranging: "I have ordered the whole army to be on alert." ”

"Hmm." Wu Baoping nodded, he completely agreed with Jiang Nan's judgment: "It's not our people who are attacking the enemy army. ”

"It's not." Jiang Nan immediately said that if Liu Tichun and Dang Shousu clashed with the Qing army, the fire would not be so regular: "But I have already sent a ship to contact them." ”

After observing for a while, Wu Baoping turned his head to look at Jiang Nan: "Why do you think it caught fire?" ”

"It's the enemy's trick to lure the enemy." The more Jiang Nan looked at the situation on the other side, the more suspicious he felt, the vague guess at the beginning was now quite clear, and when he spit out the word "enemy", Jiang Nan's voice had become cold and bone-chilling: "The other party is trying to make us misunderstand that there is a battle on the north bank, attracting us to mediate or participate in the melee, if my estimate is correct, there may be some people dressed as our army." ”

"Good thief." Wu Baoping also snorted coldly. Mu Tan was not there, and the two adjutants felt a heavy responsibility on their shoulders, and their nerves tightened more than when they had the chief presiding: "It may not be tempting us, maybe it is trying to tempt General Liu and General Dang." ”

"Hey, why did they pick this time of day?"

With Jiang Nan's exclamation, the two glanced at each other, and they both saw a look of worry and a hint of fear in each other's eyes: "How could the thief know that Lieutenant Colonel Mu went to the Admiral's camp tonight?" ”

The Qing army has been honest for so many days, and they don't do it early or late, so they just choose to do it when Deng Ming summons the chief officer. This kind of coincidence can't help but remind Wu Baoping and Jiang Nan of their battle of Gaoyou Lake, the other party has such a clear grasp of their own information, then they must have a great plan and are well prepared.

"The whole army is on the verge of battle!" Wu Baoping gave a loud order: "Clear the enemy ships on the river." ”

Since the other side can detect its own temporary personnel transfers, it means that there may be a small work lurking in the Chinese army, and the Qing army may have unknowingly and unknowingly transferred an army to Yangzhou, and then marched outside Guazhou at night. Wu Baoping and Jiang Nan both knew that Lin Qilong had already rushed to Yangzhou from Huai'an, and now he might be in the Guazhou camp, and the governor of Caoyun and the officers and soldiers of the river must be involved, and it is not known whether Jiang Guozhu's Liangjiang army will participate.

"I'll take the sailor to scout the upper reaches of the opposite bank." Jiang Nan felt that the situation was urgent, although it was almost dawn, but to find out the enemy situation was to race against time.

"Okay, I'll scout downstream." Wu Baoping and Jiang Nan acted separately, and after he boarded the battleship with his escort, he gave the order to prepare for battle: "I guess that there will be enemies on the other side who disguise themselves as our army and attempt to attack our friendly forces in Kuidong. If it is as I expected, it means that the party general is in danger and may be attacked by the enemy. ”

Wu Baoping was well aware of Deng Ming's strategy, and he didn't want his guess to be accurate, but if the malice of the Qing army was completely exposed, he could only attack it mercilessly.