Perhaps in order to prevent Deng Ming from refusing to admit his account, Zhou Peigong recorded all previous transactions in detail, and each record was signed by the officers of the treasury. When the staff reviewed the matter one by one, Li Laiheng sat next to them, watching their records attentively.

After a while, Li Laiheng started yelling: "How come he wanted so many patrons?"

Zhou Peigong, who was prepared for a long time, explained calmly: "It's winter coming soon. Doesn't the army of Husband's army need to keep warm? As far as I know, most of Husband's subordinates do not have good cotton coats and cannot resist the cold wind at all."

Of course, Li Laiheng did not have good cotton coats. He had been in a very difficult camp these years. The courts of the Southern Ming Dynasty did not allocate military pay, and even if they received the money, they would use it to smuggle grain and pig iron. Many soldiers were still wearing cotton coats used by their fathers. The cotton inside fell a lot and had been completely crushed to death. Even such things were good in the Kuidong Army, and the soldiers cherished them very much. In summer, many soldiers would carefully take out the old cotton, try to fluff it again, and then pick it up without any residue. Even if the cotton had rotted, they would not be willing to throw it away. They could continue to use it with some straw.

After suddenly having a lot of money in his hand, the officers who broke into the camp wanted everything. In addition, Zhou Peigong's shareholders set up 30,000 sets of new cotton coats.

"But a set of cotton coats and three taels of silver is also high, right?" Li Laiheng also knew very well that his subordinates had lived a hard life over the years. He saw soldiers crying loudly because they accidentally burned the "ancestral" winter clothes, so he could understand that the officers ordered cotton coats, but this set of three taels of silver... made Li Laiheng feel like he was killed by a profiteer.

"The cotton coat I provide is brand new from the inside to the outside. All the cotton covers are made of new cotton that was collected this year. The outside is also made of the best linen cloth. It is very strong and the knife cannot be inserted in at once." Zhou Peigong was indeed prepared. Not only is he very familiar with the transaction content, but he also knows the materials used. Faced with Li Laiheng's question, Zhou Peigong was not nervous at all.

"But Sanliang... it's just that there's too much new cotton, and how did I know you're using new cotton?" Li Laiheng's voice was already octave lowered, but he still tried to resist.

"Shishou Hu, don't slander people. Although you and I belong to the enemy country, you can't slander me, Zhou's innocence like this! If Hu Shuai doesn't believe it, he can go out a few sets of tests and open them in person. If it is mixed with old cotton, I would rather not have any money." Zhou Peigong seemed to be insulted a lot and said angrily: "Your army is so anxious that it will cost 30,000 sets at once, and it is all new cotton this year. Will the price of cotton not rise? Will it not attract the attention of those who are interested in making so many cotton coats? Doesn't it require closure fees and no more money to work day and night? What's strange about the higher prices?"

Li Laiheng was speechless when asked, and after a long time he whispered: "Please be cheaper."

"No," Zhou Peigong shook his head and said, "These cotton coats were originally made at the request of your army. Your army doesn't want them now. Who should we sell them to? Besides, the price was agreed by your army and they have been shipped to your army camp. I, Zhou, have always respected Hushuai and said what he said. Did I see it wrong?"

Zhou Peigong was very confident about these cotton coats. Although the price was a little higher, the quality was indeed quite good. The materials used were as high as he said - after all, Zhang Changgeng was also afraid of giving Ming Jun an excuse to rely on his kickbacks.

Helplessly put the documents of the transaction aside, Li Laiheng asked his aides to continue. He originally wanted to buy a large number of quilts and blankets for the Ming army to argue with Zhou Peigong. But their situation was similar to cotton coats. Li Laiheng probably had no chance of winning, so he had to give up this idea. Although he felt it was a bit expensive, Li Laiheng thought that his subordinates had suffered for so many years with his father and himself, and there was nothing to say about buying some quilts when he had money.

After a moment, Li Laiheng shouted again: "One thousand five hundred spears, each with five taels of silver, what is this? Are your guns made of gold?"

"Let me see," Zhou Peigong took the transaction order from the angry Li Laiheng, glanced at it, and laughed: "Hushang is too impatient, there are specifications below." Then Zhou Peigong read it out: "The gun is two feet long, three feet long, and two feet long iron spear head with two feet long iron casing..."

"That won't cost five taels of silver!" Li Laiheng shouted.

"Thushou, our Wuchang gun is different from the kind of wooden spear used in the army. We use good pine wood for guns, and we don't want any insects to get rid of them. Tiger coach doesn't want these guns to break suddenly on the battlefield, right? And this is also a request from your side, claiming that the court... Well, the Eight Banners Brigade of our court is good at cavalry, so we need this two-meter-long horse-resisting rifle, and the materials of the gun must be good to support cavalry assaults. Not only are there in the Wuchang army, but there are no equipment in the green camps all over the world, so craftsmen will not make them. We have to choose skillful old craftsmen and work day and night to complete these thousand five hundred long spears on time... In fact, this price is no longer expensive. When the craftsmen were not familiar with them, they also made a lot of damage and consumed a lot of materials. The governor said that we would bear these losses and would not settle accounts with you."

Next, there is a knife, and a set is priced at 10 taels.

"These knives are made of good Min-iron iron. Each knife is made of ten kilograms of material, and the scabbard is also hardwood, and moisture-proof paint is also painted. Although it is a little more expensive, Hushang must not want the soldiers' swords to be embroidered soon, right? Besides the scabbard, each set of knives is also equipped with a gourd filled with oil, a brand new whetstone, embedded in the scabbard, which can be used to sharpen the knife at any time. It is very convenient. What the army wants is so urgent..."

"So you have to summon skilled craftsmen to work day and night to complete it." Deng Ming, who had not said a long time, added this sentence to Zhou Peigong.

Zhou Peigong seemed to have not heard the sarcastic meaning in Deng Ming's words, and accepted it with a smile: "Just like this, the admiral said nothing bad."

The more Ren Tang heard it, the more absurd he felt. At this time, all the projects were cleared. The staff set up their abacus and started adding and subtracting. Li Laiheng looked at them intently and said from time to time: "Did you add more... After four or five just now, you didn't forget to subtract one?"

After the liquidation was completed, Zhou Peigong's bill looked right. Li Laiheng personally held the abacus and reviewed it under the guidance of his staff. Deng Ming sighed lightly: "What does Mr. Zhou want?"

"It's just to ask for this 8,000 taels of gold." Zhou Peigong said with a smile. When he was in Wuchang, Zhou Peigong analyzed Deng Ming to Zhang Changgeng, saying that Deng Ming was cunning, but his credit was good. He looked more like a businessman rather than an official. No matter how he bargained before, he would comply once an agreement was reached. Originally, Zhang Changgeng felt that he had gained a lot of benefits, and there was no need to pursue the final payment of the 20,000 taels of gold to avoid angering Deng Ming, but Zhou Peigong believed that this was a good bargaining chip.

"The two countries are fighting each other, and they are never tired of deceitful deception!" Ren Tang slapped the case and shouted: "Do you want gold? Bring troops to get it!"

Ren Tang had just figured out the general story through other guards. Although he had a loud voice, he was not very confident, because the current situation was completely beyond Ren Tang's imagination. It seems that there is no similar precedent in history to refer to.

Zhou Peigong was still calm and asked Deng Ming: "Who is this?"

"Ren Tang, a scholar from Jiangxi." Deng Ming introduced Ren Tang to Zhou Peigong.

"It turns out to be Mr. Ren." Zhou Peigong heard that the other party was a scholar, and he had a friendship with Ren Tang with a smile. After clinging to each other, he found that one of Zhou Peigong's uncles was a classmate in the same year as Ren Tang's father's boss.

After the friendship was over, Ren Tang's voice became much lower. Zhou Peigong called "Brother Ren Shi". Although it was hard to just shout for fighting and killing for their own masters, they still had to make some sense.

"Brother Ren Shi, this money is not owned by the vassal treasury silver, our court, but the private money that Admiral Deng and General Hu owed us General Hu. To put it bluntly, it is the future wars and General Zhang will be defeated by the Admiral. With a few mistakes, the Admiral is better than the Admiral or General Hu owes him or her son. It is natural to pay the debt to repay the money..."

"I have no money." Li Laiheng spoke again and interrupted Zhou Peigong's fallacy. He had already reviewed it and there was no problem with the accounts. Li Laiheng took out several transaction documents: "These animals and these ships are worth about 20,000 taels of gold. I don't want it anymore. Please take it back by Mr. Zhou."

"Hushuai wants to sell these things to us?" Zhou Peigong shook his head and said, "We won't buy it."

Li Laiheng suddenly blushed and shouted, "If you don't buy it, you won't be there!"

Although he was in the enemy camp and although Li Laiheng seemed very excited, Zhou Peigong was not afraid and snorted: "The tiger coach held heavy troops in his hand, but he sternly threatened me, a scholar who was powerless, and would not help but damage the general style of the tiger coach."

Deng Ming knew that Li Laiheng would definitely not be able to fight Zhou Peigong, so he interrupted again: "If you don't say secret words, what exactly does Mr. Zhou want to do today?"

Seeing that Deng Ming was as expected, he did not turn his back on his face for the sake of this 8,000 taels of gold. Zhou Peigong was excited and shook his fan gently: "I heard that the admiral was defeated by Liang Huafeng under the city of Nanjing? Is this true?"

"Of course not true." Deng Ming shook his head and said, "He is just bragging."

When Zhou Peigong heard that Lang Tingzuo was captured by Deng Ming, he was shocked and couldn't help but be glad that he had made the right choice. He did not become an enemy of Deng Ming but made a deal. But Zhang Changgeng had doubts about this and felt that Lang Tingzuo was among the troops and should not be easily captured by Deng Ming. Zhou Peigong immediately used Deng Ming to kill Hu Quancai in front of Zhang Changgen as an argument, but Zhang Changgen was not convinced immediately. Instead, he immediately began to ask if Jiang Guozhu was right next to him when Lang Tingzuo was captured? This strange reaction and association made Zhou Peigong inexplicable and could not understand it. Then more news came, and Zhang Changgen believed that Deng Ming was really rushing into the troops and captured Lang Tingzuo. He also began to celebrate and praised Zhou Peigong for a second time, calling him "My Son House".

After the battle of Nanjing came to an end, Zhou Peigong lamented to Zhang Changgeng that Liang Huafeng's bravery: Although it only defeated Deng Ming's vanguard, Liang Huafeng was able to kill Lang Tingzuo, a traitor in Deng Ming's army, and eliminate the loyalty of the Ming army under the pressure of Deng Ming, and strive to ensure that Nanjing is not lost. At least compared with Wu Sangui and Zhao Liangdong, Liang Huafeng's performance was very eye-catching, and it was much stronger than Wuchang.

But Zhang Changgeng once again showed skepticism about the battle report. At that time, Zhou Peigong argued: "Governor General Liangjiang rebelled and was killed. This is Governor Chiang's report, can there be false?" Zhang Changgeng was unmoved, but said inexplicably: "The Governor's report cannot tell the truth or false."

Zhang Changgeng believed that the battle report between Liang Huafeng and Jiang Guozhu was full of water, but since most of the imperial officials had similar ideas to Zhou Peigong, if Deng Ming was allowed to disrupt Huguang, the court would feel that Zhang Changgeng was incompetent when he compared Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng who turned the tide.

"To be honest, Governor Zhang also wants to brag about himself," it seemed that Zhou Peigong didn't plan to continue to go around the circle. He said to Deng Ming: "I hope the admiral will make a convenient situation. Then, the 20 million gold is just to be the one who paid out of his own pocket to redeem the city for the prefectures along the way. If the admiral is not satisfied, I am hereby order to come to Hubei to be fully responsible for the defense matters. The food and grass along the way of your army will be covered by me, and I will ensure that the admiral will not be short of the admiral's needs."

Li Laiheng, Ren Tang and others all relaxed their faces. Judging from the discussions over the past few days, Deng Ming was not interested in attacking these prefectures and counties. Since the Qing army was so sensible, it was the best of both worlds for the Ming army.

"No," Deng Ming shook his head immediately: "I don't have the money I owe now, but I can write an IOU and I will definitely pay it back in the future. As long as it is fair and reasonable, I can pay the interest. I have told Governor Zhang before that as long as I pay the city redemption fee, I will not move around Wuchang. This agreement is still valid, but other prefectures and counties in Hubei no longer have the agreement, so I cannot guarantee this matter."

The other guards showed suspicion again. Just before Duke Pei of Zhou arrived, Deng Ming said that as long as the Qing army paid the food and grass, there was no need to attack the city. After Duke Pei of Zhou made the purpose of his visit, Li Laiheng and the others felt that they were so lucky that they were so sleepy that someone gave him a pillow. Why did Deng Ming regret it again?

Among the people present, Zhou Peigong was the most peaceful person. He thought that Deng Ming was planning to bargain, which was also expected: "The students were sincere and sincere in their relationship with the admiral. It would be too insincere to say this. Well, the students are not afraid of the admiral raising the price. Let's tell the admiral everything. This time the admiral does not continue to conquer cities and land in Hubei, and it is a foregone conclusion that the governor was promoted to the governor of Huguang. Students can also get a prefect of Wuchang."

The original Wuchang prefect had been taken down by Zhang Changgeng and executed. Of course, the charge was for having an affair with the Ming army and intending to offer the city. In addition to a large number of letters to discuss the city with the Chuangying, Zhang Changgeng also found evidence that he had privately printed a letter from the deputy general of Yuezhou to Li Laiheng.

"When the Governor becomes the governor and the student becomes the governor of Wuchang, is it much more convenient for the admiral to do business in Huguang in the future? Helping the Governor and the students will do all the benefits and harm the admiral." Zhou Peigong said with confidence: "Before coming, the Governor has already told the students that the admiral can talk about anything he wants, and it is easy to say how much food and grass is."

After saying that, Zhou Peigong waited calmly for Deng Ming to offer. He felt that his suggestions were very tempting, and Deng Ming had no reason to object.

"After my troops arrived at the city of Nanjing, Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu gave me 500,000 taels of silver, asked me to withdraw my troops, and also asked Lang Tingzuo's head to promise to give me another one million taels of silver when the matter was completed; Liang Huafeng and Lang Tingzuo's other gang also gave me 500,000 taels of silver, asking me to withdraw my troops, and gave him five days to clean up Guan Xiaozhong and Jiang Guozhu, and also promised to give me a million taels of silver in five days."

Just now, without waiting for Deng Mingwen, Zhou Peigong automatically expressed the purpose of Zhang Changgeng's promotion to governor, showing a frank look, as if he had already spread all his trump cards - this is also the trump cards of Zhang Changgen that Deng Ming had originally guessed. At first, Deng Ming promoted three and four to better ask for a price. When he first heard that, Deng Ming was happy and felt that the matter had been clear and he could start bargaining. But then he thought about it, Deng Ming suddenly felt that things were a bit suspicious, and he felt that Zhou Peigong would not be so honest. Deng Ming had watched many movies about business wars and spy wars, and many honest people with kind faces would be like Zhou Peigong today, but his sincere purpose was indeed better to hide the trump cards.

Based on the principle of lenient prediction for the enemy, Deng Ming suppressed the impulse to start asking for the price and told Zhou Peigong the transaction between the two factions in Nanjing and himself in a row, and the latter was also stunned.

"How come Governor Jiang and Admiral Liang killed Lang Tingzuo and Guan Qizhong together?" Zhou Peigong reacted from the shock and asked hurriedly.

"I don't know this. Mr. Zhou can go back and discuss with Governor Zhang. I can't guess the reason anyway." Deng Ming took a leisurely sip of tea. For the first time since the negotiations started today, he felt that he had taken the initiative.

"Why did the admiral tell me such a secret matter?" Zhou Peigong changed his mind and felt that Deng Ming would not be so kind, so he revealed this secret without any intention. He asked tentatively: "Did the admiral want the governor to help him report this matter to the court?"

"Of course this is impossible. Even if I make such a request, how should Governor Zhang explain to Beijing how he learned it?"

Zhou Peigong was just a test. After hearing Deng Ming's words, he nodded in his heart and asked, "Why did the admiral tell the students about this?"

"It does not benefit me, but it will cause a lot of harm to Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng." Deng Ming explained: "No matter what I say, your court and other officials in various provinces will not believe it. But Governor Zhang is different. Although Governor Zhang cannot report it, it can be said that there is such rumors. In addition to Governor Zhang, I will also talk about this matter if I have the opportunity. Gradually, the news will spread, and your court may be skeptical. Besides, Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng will also have enemies, and they can also use this matter to find all kinds of clues to Lang Tingzuo, Guan Yizhong reverses the case, so that Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng will not die well."

Zhou Peigong was stunned: "Does the admiral hate Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng so much?"

"Hate? No, I don't hate them at all." Deng Ming laughed.

"Why is the admiral?" Zhou Peigong felt an ominous premonition in his heart, and he felt as if he was stepping into Deng Ming's trap.

"Because they didn't inform me in advance." Deng Ming replied: "Not only did they do things in my name, but they did not pay afterwards, and they also broke the contract and refuted the one million taels he promised to me."

"Oh." Zhou Peigong was thinking.

"Okay, let's start over." Deng Ming put down his teacup: "What do Governor Zhang asks Mr. Zhou to come this time? What are you going to do in my name?"

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Chapter completed!