Jinan, on December 12, when the gentry of Jiaodong gathered in Laizhou, and Deng Ming was trying to persuade them to continue to support the policy of banning the sea, Zu Zepu received good news from Xuzhou.

In recent days, Zu Zepu can be called to live like a year, because the elite troops in his hands have been lost, whether it is captured by the Ming army or cut off Caoyun, what awaits him may not only be the black yarn hat landing. Therefore, although the Fuqing and Ming armies were out-and-out chaotic parties, Zu Zepu opened his eyes and said nonsense, and insisted on reporting to Beijing that this might be a group of spontaneously formed rebels to support the Qing court, and if the Fuqing and Ming armies did something undeserved, they may also have been deceived by the Ming army.

Zu Zepu knew very well that the auxiliary minister would not believe even a word of his report, but the holy decree that returned was full of encouragement, instructing Zu Zepu to flexibly adopt the strategy of "punishing his first evil and pardoning coercion" to absorb and support the Qing and destroy the Ming army, and guide this army with the heart of the imperial court to return to the right track. The imperial court pretended not to know Zu Zepu's big lie, which was also expected by Zu Zepu's staff group, and now the situation in Shandong can no longer be ugly, and the imperial court can't send reinforcements to Shandong in a hurry, so it can only pretend to be confused.

The gentry were all powerful people in the local area, and if they were scattered, there was nothing to be afraid of, but even so, no one in the imperial court in Beijing or the government in Jinan would be crazy enough to kill all the gentry and scholars in Jiaodong - even with the arrogance of the Manchurian monarch. In fact, the Manchurian Taijun were very smart, if they really didn't understand people's hearts at all, then they would definitely be buying road money in the savage mountains of Kuandian now.

And Zu Zepu didn't say that he lost all his superintendents, even when his strength was intact, he couldn't beat the great alliance of the gentry in Jiaodong - with all the green camps in Shandong, Zu Zepu could scare all the Shandong gentry and kill every guy he didn't like; But if the gentry of the two provinces suddenly unite to play with him, the governor of Shandong will not be able to deal with it.

When he heard the name of Fuqing to destroy the Ming Army, Zu Zepu knew that the gentry of Jiaodong were still the first rats, since Deng Ming, who had won a great victory in the Jiaoshui River, did not force these people to vote for the name, and was unwilling to drive the wall-riding faction to the side of the Qing court, the defeated governor of Shandong naturally did not have the courage to do so. If the gentry want to ride the wall, it will be easy to do, Zu Zepu's recital to the court is a kind of appeasement, implying that the gentry can come over at the right time anyway, as long as they are not the first evil, and they have not sold their lives to Deng Ming, then the Yamen, the governor of Shandong, must not be guilty of the past.

And the instructions of the imperial court are even more recognition of Zu Zepu's strategy, Sony can't conjure up food and silver, and Aobai doesn't have a magic weapon to let Manchurian children grow up overnight, so they can only pretend to be confused about Shandong's affairs for the time being, so that everyone has face. If you really shout "you are all traitors" with a sharp eye, then how can there be any reason not to suppress traitors? In the end, most of them still have to recruit peace, and it is the imperial court that loses face. And a group of traitors who have not been at ease from beginning to end in Zhao'an are obviously not the same thing as a group of loyal people who have been deceived in Zhao'an.

In line with the attitude of "not being deaf or dumb, and not being a family member", Sony instructed Zu Zepu to work hard to save these misguided loyal people of the Qing Dynasty. However, Zu Zepu also knows very well that if this errand is smashed in the end, Zhao'an fails, and Jinan City is taken by the rebels, then all the charges must be borne by him, and he will be charged with "opening the river and blinding the court".

When he learned that when the Fuqing Ming Army drove out of Laizhou, it was still under the banner of crusading against the rebellion of "Tongdeng", Zu Zepu also had joys and worries in his heart. I am glad to know that the Jiaodong Jingentry Alliance still has not completely pressed the treasure on Deng Ming's body, but I am worried that Deng Ming, a traitor, is too cunning. If Deng Ming was carried away by the victory and forced the gentry to immediately clarify their position, it would definitely cause a split in the Jiaodong gentry group. At that time, Zu Zepu will be able to take the opportunity to see who must be attacked, who can be co-opted, and there will also be a scapegoat for those gentry to betray.

Today, after Nalan Mingzhu returned to Jinan from Laizhou, he had a secret conversation with Zu Zepu for an hour, and then hurriedly returned to Beijing to resume his life.

"Deng Ming is really a bad stomach. He is such a young hairy boy, why is he so thoughtful? After Zu Zepu sent away the secret envoy of the imperial court, he returned to the study and was furious at the staff: "Li Guoying actually said that Deng Ming is honest and kind, has he lived to be a dog for a long time?" ”

In addition to Li Guoying, there are not a few people who praise Deng Ming's kindness, so Zu Zepu also had a lot of misunderstandings before dealing with this person directly. A few days ago, Deng Ming promoted himself as the commander of the Ming army to help the Qing Dynasty, and after the letter was sent to the yamen in Jinan, Zu Zepu was so worried that his hair turned gray overnight. I found this first evil, but I didn't have the ability to punish it. There is also a Yu Qi who is also a master who has a lot of debts and does not worry, although those gentry are grass on the wall, but they can't catch a suitable target to kill chickens and monkeys. Moreover, Deng Ming's self-proclaimed performance really can't be announced to the world, otherwise the court will become a laughing stock.

After thinking about it, Zu Zepu finally reported to the court vaguely: there are rumors that Deng Ming will protect himself and be the commander who will help the Qing Dynasty destroy the Ming army, and take the loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty to crusade against the rebellion of Tong Deng. Deng Ming clearly referred to the deer as a horse, and viciously coerced the gentry and scholars in Jiaodong, and the governor of Shandong, who was greatly injured, was in a dilemma, and he didn't know whether to reprimand him angrily, and finally he could only implore the Beijing Holy Judge. Soon after, Zu Zepu received a reply from Beijing, and the content was simple: since it is a rumor, then leave it alone -- Beijing is also in a dilemma.

Listening to Nalan Mingzhu's meaning, Deng Ming's insidiousness is still above Zheng Chenggong. Deng Ming usually doesn't make it difficult for others, not to mention that his gentry allies are life and death enemies like the Qing court, Deng Ming also puts on a look that he can talk about anything, and this is the most headache for the auxiliary minister. Because if there is a choice, it is possible to make mistakes, and if there is a way out, it is possible to hesitate. At the beginning, the imperial court was so fooled by Zheng Chenggong that it couldn't make up its mind, and it was difficult to decide whether to fight or peace. On the one hand, the imperial court was worried that Zheng Chenggong would be attacked if it did not invest enough military funds in the southeast, and it was also worried that this money might be spent unjustly - if Zheng Chenggong was recruited, wouldn't it be good to use this silver to deal with Xiying?

The touchstone used to deal with Zheng Chenggong was to shave his head, but this method was useless to Deng Ming. And Nalan Mingzhu's judgment of Deng Ming turned out to be that his sincerity in negotiating peace was greater than Zheng Chenggong.

Needless to say, the Beijing Imperial Court and even the Jinan Governor's Mansion were hesitant because of Nalan Mingzhu's judgment. If Deng Ming's attitude is clear at a glance, and Zu Zepu can clearly know which way to take and which way to go, then he can go all out towards a goal and concentrate on the plan with the greatest chance of success, instead of being lucky and wavering with the staff group like now.

The staff group quarreled over the coping strategy as always, and Zu Zepu was loud for a while.

At this time, the guards with good news in their hands rushed in with excitement: "Your Excellency, great joy, great joy! ”

"How?" Zu Zepu raised his head suddenly: "What happy event can there be?" Could it be the Huaiyang victory? ”

"Exactly, exactly." The faces of the guards who came to report the victory were full of irrepressible joy.

The envoy rushed to Jinan, and Prince Kang Jieshu reported to the imperial court that his army of 100,000 troops launched a fierce attack on the Ming Kou entrenched in the Yangzhou Canal, and engaged in a fierce battle with the Ming army. Relying on the emperor and the empress dowager, Hongfu repelled the rampant thieves and forced them to flee in the direction of the Yangtze River. He also killed Deng Ming's henchman Zhao Tianba in this battle, and this news has been confirmed.

"Hehe, haha." Reading Prince Kang's good news, Zu Zepu walked around the study excitedly. Just now, he opened his mouth and asked if it was Jiangnan's news, also because he knew that Jiangnan was about to fight recently. Under the repeated urging of the imperial court, Prince Kang will definitely not choose to retreat without a fight, and is bound to fight. The Chinese New Year is coming soon, so it's a matter of a few days to start a war.

"This Zhao ......, yes, Zhao Tianba, this official has already heard of it, and he is indeed the number one warrior under Deng Ming. It seems that he lit the fire in Kunming, and in Zhongxiang he also killed Governor Hu, and in Nanjing, he also held Governor Lang with his own hands, no, take Lang Tingzuo, the traitor. In this good news, Prince Kang also admitted that Deng Ming was indeed not on the Yangzhou side, and the captured prisoner confessed that Deng Ming had left Jiangnan with a group of people and went to Shandong, leaving Zhao Bandit Tianba, whom he relied on the most, in a vain attempt to contain Wang Shi.

Zu Zepu excitedly held up Prince Kang's good news and announced to the surrounding staff: "The prince will lead the army back to Shandong in the near future, and drive Deng Ming into the sea in one fell swoop with the aftermath of the great victory. ”

"The emperor is blessed, and the prince is mighty!"

The staff present burst into cheers.

Although Deng Ming was arrogant, the hundreds of thousands of troops in Xuzhou returned, and the problem of Jiaodong was naturally solved. Everyone no longer has to be entangled, and it is clear at a glance whether it is a negotiation or a crusade -- Deng Ming will defeat him if he refuses to negotiate, and whether he talks or not will have to say another story when the time comes.

Zu Zepu issued an order to send someone to send the news of the victory to Beijing immediately, and at the same time said with added fuel that he had also heard the news of the victory from the side. It is reported that when the thieves in Jiaodong heard about this, they were panicked, and now if Prince Kang returns, he will definitely be able to wipe out Deng Ming, who was in chaos.

The happy staff group went to their respective departments, and Zu Zepu called a confidant to his side and ordered in a low voice: "Go to Dengzhou quickly, if you don't go, it's too late." ”

"How?" Seeing Zu Zepu's hideous expression, the joy on Fang Cai's face disappeared without a trace, and asked suspiciously: "Your Excellency Governor, isn't going to Dengzhou a last resort?" ”

"Now is the last moment." There was still a trace of a smile on Zu Zepu's face, and his eyes were full of bloodshots: "Prince Kang must be defeated!" I sold him a good one this time, and I hope the prince can remember it when I am in trouble. ”