After being defeated by Deng Ming, Li Guoying did not stay in Chongqing for long and soon returned to Baoning to take charge. Although the Qing army stationed in Chongqing did not return with him, it would be a matter of time before evacuation from Chongqing. After Wu Sangui left Shaanxi and went south to Yunnan and Guizhou, the Qing court allocated only 300,000 taels of silver and 300,000 stones of food to Shaanxi every year, which was not enough for the Qing army to attack Sichuan. The rest had to be solved by Shaanxi's tax revenue and military camps.

The auxiliary soldiers convened by Li Guoying were captured by Deng Ming and lost more than 10,000 yuan in armor. The accumulated supplies over the years have been countless losses, which not only caused the Qing army to lose its offensive capabilities, but also caused the military income of the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi to sharply reduce. Li Guoying carefully calculated and believed that the Qing army could not recover to its original strength within three years. In Li Guoying's estimate, Deng Ming would launch an attack within one and a half years to two years, and the disadvantaged Sichuan Qing army could not defend Chongqing and protect the Jialing River shipping at the same time. Since this is the case, it is inevitable to give up Chongqing, and after returning the main force to Hanzhong and the Guangyuan front line, the loss of the Qing army would also be reduced, which would help the Shaanxi Green Camp recover its strength faster.

Now the 100 Manchu Eight Banners have followed Li Guoying to return to the Eight Banners. Zhao Liangdong, Wang Mingde and others did not move in Chongqing. The reason why they did not give up Chongqing immediately was that Li Guoying felt it was difficult to explain to the court that Shunzhi allocated an additional batch of military expenses to Li Guoying last time, asking him to hold Deng Ming as much as possible. As a result, not only did not invade Chengdu, but also suffered losses of troops and generals, even Chongqing was in danger. Not long ago, Li Guoying had just underestimated a memorial saying that the army was epidemic and the soldiers suffered a lot of losses. The summer weather in Chongqing was hot, and the Qing army lacked food and salary and the epidemic caused a poor morale. The governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi planned to give the court a few more vaccinations according to this idea, and then withdraw from Chongqing legitimately, still put the main force in Hanzhong, and then personally took charge of Baoning.

Today, Beijing sent an envoy to issue an order. Li Guoying was a little nervous after hearing the news. He didn't know what the court would react. However, Li Guoying probably wouldn't be very serious even if he had any punishment. At most, he would be a few verbal rebukes. Compared with the mysterious secrets of the Qing army in Yunnan, Guizhou, Huguang, Nanjing and other places, the performance of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Green Camp was good, and there was no loss of land. The defeat did not lead to the capture of civil and military officials (all of which were released from the court without telling it). With Wu Sangui, Hu Quancai and Lang Tingzuo in front, Li Guoying would not be particularly concerned by the court.

After the envoy who sent the order walked into the yamen, Li Guoying recognized the person at a glance, which was the imperial guard who returned to Beijing with those works of Deng Ming last time.

The imperial edict is very simple, and there is no blame for it. It is just that Li Guoying insists on Chongqing and cannot easily abandon it. This request really made Li Guoying complain, but he still couldn't help but receive the imperial edict.

"Please, Governor General." After reading the imperial edict, the envoy immediately expressed his intention to speak privately with Li Guoying and let the irrelevant personnel leave, the imperial guard immediately said to Li Guoying: "The emperor knows the difficulties of Governor General. Now the Governor General is facing the main force of Deng Zhe, and the court is also very worried about Sichuan. Therefore, the court has made a controversy to the Governor General General from next year to allocate one million taels of silver and one million stones of food every year. After the harvest in Jiangnan in the second half of this year, a batch of urgently needed food and salary will be allocated to the Governor General as appropriate. The amount is still not good, but neither silver nor grain will be less than 500,000."

"Empress Dowager." Li Guoying's surprise was extraordinary. Beijing increased the military expenditure allocated to Sichuan and Shaanxi to more than three times the original level. This level of attention was far beyond Li Guoying's expectations.

"The court wants to know what other needs of the Governor?" The envoy asked seriously: "The emperor personally asked the Governor to take a message, and wanted to know if the Governor was sure to defend Chongqing after the additional food and salary was paid."

"I am confident." Li Guoying immediately replied that in order to enter Sichuan, he had already drained Shaanxi's inventory and basically all the taxes that could be increased were all fully distributed. If Latin food was collected, it would probably be possible that Sichuan would not have fought again, and there would be a change in Shaanxi. But if Beijing could fulfill its promise, Li Guoying could expand the size of the army by at least 50,000 people. With these troops, defending Chongqing would not be an impossible goal.

"Okay!" The envoy then asked: "The emperor still wants to know how much food and salary to give to the Governor, which can ensure that the Governor quickly wipe out the Deng bandits?"

"Can you quickly wipe it out?" Li Guoying was stunned again when he heard this. He knew that although Deng Ming was in Sichuan and Huguang, Beijing's attention was always in the Yunnan and Guizhou area, followed by Jiangnan and Fujian. It was precisely because of his clear strategic focus of the court that Li Guoying was so surprised when he knew that Beijing had greatly increased the allocation to Shaanxi. But when he listened to the envoy's words, it seemed that as long as Deng Ming could be quickly wiped out, Beijing would be willing to provide more materials.

"Yes, the emperor means that within two years, it is better to be faster or better." The messenger replied without hesitation.

"Why did the court pay so much attention to Sichuan at once?" Li Guoying was full of doubts. Sichuan was sparsely populated, and Beijing always believed that even if it was controlled by the Ming army, there would be no major trouble. Hunan was rich in rice. If it was occupied by the Ming army, it would be endless. Guizhou could not only cover Hunan, but also threaten the Yongli court with only one breath, which was naturally the most important battlefield. There is Zheng Chenggong there in Fujian, and if the Zheng family army is not destroyed in one day, it would be threatened. Of course, it is extremely important: "Sichuan? Is it worth the court's efforts to spend? Moreover, money and food were not in vain. If it was given more, it would naturally be less in other places." As the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, Li Guoying certainly hoped that the more things the court would give, the better, but the questions in his heart could not be explained.

"Governor General." Seeing that Li Guoying didn't speak for a while, the envoy urged him.

"It may be difficult to wipe out Deng Ming in two years." Although Li Guoying wanted more materials, he finally decided to tell the truth: "Deng's thieves came from Nanjing, Huguang to plunder more than 100,000 people, with millions of stones of food, countless armor and military weapons. He would hardly worry about his military use within two years. If he wanted to wipe out Deng Ming, he would need to divide his troops into four groups, two masters and two sides: from Guangyuan to Jiange to attack Chengdu from north to south; from the Yangtze River all the way, and then along the Minjiang River go from the Yangtze River to the east and the

Attack Chengdu from south to north. These are the main routes of the two routes. There are two side troops, one in the east and going to Jianzhou, echoing the army of the north and south, and not allowing Deng Ming to have room for rushing. The other way to west, it is cut off the retreat of the thieves who cannot escape Jianchang. Both main routes require more than 30,000 armors, which can defeat the main force of the thieves head-on, and the two auxiliary routes also require more than 15,000 armors, which is enough to protect themselves and hold the thieves. In this way, the four routes can ensure that there is no accident."

The imperial guard took out paper and pen and recorded what Li Guoying said in detail: "It just needs to be sold at 90,000 yuan, right?"

"Yes." Li Guoying felt even more surprised when he saw that the other party did not give up immediately: "Sichuan's people's livelihood is declining, and all the military rations are required to mobilize civilians to transport them from Guanzhong. Four large armies are coming out together. Without two million civilians and a large number of grain ships, it is impossible to do so. In my opinion, it is better to expand the warehouse in Chongqing first, reserve military rations, and fight in the army, and gradually recover Sichuan."

"Yes." After listening to Li Guoying telling the story of the roads in Sichuan, the warehousing situation in various places and the shortage of manpower, the imperial guards finally realized that Beijing's wish could not be realized.

"Western Sichuan is remote, and it is a minor problem after all." Li Guoying still couldn't figure out why the court had to destroy Deng Ming first at any cost. He persuaded: "As long as Chongqing is consolidated, the Deng thieves are limited to western Sichuan, and after the court wiped out the rebels from Huguang, Yunnan, and Fujian, it is easy to eliminate Deng Ming. Every year, the court allocated one million taels of silver and grain to Sichuan and Shaanxi to do this. After Guanzhong recovers a few years, Chongqing's city has been solid, and it may not be necessary."

"The Governor General's words will report to the emperor," the envoy did not comment on Li Guoying's suggestion, and he did not have the right to make a judgment on it. However, since the envoy realized that it was unlikely to achieve the rapid suppression of Deng Ming by force, he told Li Guoying another thing: "The court intends to re-issue the reward for Deng Ming, which is about 50,000 taels of silver, and ten futures of the bannermen, and the Han people carry the flag; as for the thieves around Deng Ming, as long as they can meet with Deng Ming, they will not blame them for the past and will be admired by Sichuan."

This reward was equal to Zheng Chenggong and Li Dingguo, and it was just a killing. Li Guoying asked tentatively: "If Deng Ming can be captured alive, would it be more than twice?"

Generally speaking, the reward for capturing alive is higher than killing, but the envoy hesitated after hearing this and said to Li Guoying: "The court does not intend to announce the world in this matter. It is fine if the Governor is aware of it. The emperor means that Deng Ming should die, not live. If the thief around Deng Ming captures him to see the Governor, the Governor executes him on the spot and releases the body to the court."

"The emperor understands the meaning of the emperor." Li Guoying nodded. He guessed that Beijing's attitude towards Deng Ming was related to the pictures he handed over, but the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi also knew what to ask and what not to ask: "The minister obeyed the order."

"The court will order the establishment of Mancheng in Chongqing next month." The envoy sent another shocking news. In the past, only one province would be pacified, Mancheng would be built in the provincial capital, and sent from Beijing to garrison the Eight Banners. But now Sichuan is far from pacified, and Chongqing is not the provincial capital of Sichuan: "When the entire Sichuan is recovered, we will move to Chengdu."

"I know, I will start preparing immediately." Li Guoying agreed without hesitation. Since he was going to build a city, Baoning's 100 flag soldiers were ready-made garrison Eight Banners. Li Guoying planned to send people to Chongqing tomorrow to draw a piece of comfortable houses for the Eight Banners soldiers to live in, and encircle them with a solid castle.

Since the Manchu Taijun wants to stay forever and the family of Taijun will come, we must provide more abundant daily necessities. Although this is not required by the court, Li Guoying, like other governors, attaches great importance to the quality of life of the Manchu Taijun. Not only must the Manchu Taijun want something, but they have to think of it for them in advance. This is even more troublesome than the Manchu City: "It is not difficult to garrison the Eight Banners for one hundred times. A fleet is used to transport fruits, vegetables and silk to Chongqing." Li Guoying thought in his heart.

"The eight banners of Manchuria sent last time were temporarily stationed in Chongqing," the envoy confirmed Li Guoying's speculation, but he still had the following: "Chongqing, that is, Sichuan's eight banners stationed in Sichuan, will be assigned a thousand! The difference will be sent from Beijing within the year."

"One thousand garrisons of the Eight Banners..." Although Li Guoying realized that Beijing attached great importance to the Sichuan battlefield, he never expected that he would pay attention to this point. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty's entry into the pass, the number of Eight Banners in various provinces was limited. Except for the 4,000 stationed in Nanjing, there were only hundreds of others. Hangzhou was so important that only five hundred stationed in the Eight Banners. The stationing of Chongqing was garrisoned in Chongqing meant that this would be the most military center with the Eight Banners outside of Nanjing - but it was not even the capital of Sichuan.

...

June, Chengdu.

The 12,000 Ming army boarded the ship and prepared to set off. Deng Ming mobilized eight thousand armored soldiers, two thousand sailors and two thousand auxiliary soldiers on this expedition. The 8,000 armored soldiers recruited were trained some time ago, and the 1,000 standing troops can currently recognize about one hundred common words. In addition to the 2,000 soldiers, Deng Ming also brought one hundred cavalry with three walls, and more than two hundred war horses were transported on the ship with the cavalry, and they will serve as Deng Ming's direct guards.

It is the busy farming time, and Deng Ming did not make a big publicity about this expedition, but in addition to the civil and military officials in Chengdu, there are also bosses of several business companies who came to see him off.

"After I leave, I will leave the matter here in the capital." Deng Ming briefly said to Liu Jinge, Yuan Xiang, Zhao Tianba and others. Deng Ming took away a thousand standing troops on this expedition, and among the five majors, Zhou Kaihuang, Ren Tang and Mu Tan. Zhao Tianba and Zhou Kaihuang stayed in Chengdu and continued to conduct military training for their fellow scholars. If the Qing army came to attack them, they would shoulder the responsibility of commanding the army.

When he first came, Deng Ming slandered the Ming army that he would not fight after leaving the water route, but now Deng Ming is no better than Yuan Zongdi and others and is extremely dependent on water route transportation. If he marched along the land, one warrior would need at least two or three auxiliary soldiers to help him transport equipment and military rations. This is still the case where there are animals and vehicles. If there are no transportation tools, the auxiliary soldiers will need a greater demand; but if he advances along the water route, as long as there are ships, the dozen sailors can carry hundreds of equipment and daily necessities of warriors, and can also take these warriors away.

A lot of manpower can be saved along the waterway and will not seriously interfere with Chengdu's production activities.

After giving his last explanation to the Wenwu who saw him off, Deng Mingyou looked at the bosses of the several businesses, who were all salt merchants in Chengdu without exception.

"Don't worry, this time I will open up the trade route in Huguang for the salt merchants in the capital." Deng Ming assured them again.

During peacetime, Sichuan, which is rich in products, exports a large amount of grain to Yunnan and Guizhou and Shaanxi, but Huguang is different. Hunan is a major rice export province, and the grain output in the Jianghan Plain is also very considerable, so there is no demand for Sichuan's grain. However, in addition to grain, Sichuan also exports bulk commodities to Huguang, and the world-famous Shu brocade and high-quality stone salt both account for a large share. Even during the war, Huguang still needed Sichuan's salt. For example, Yuan Zongdi, who was stationed in Daning, used to exchange for grain and cloth urgently needed by the Ming army.

But now Yuan Zongdi does not pay much attention to the production of salt, because the Ming army seized a large amount of land in Hubei. Now the Ming army is most concerned about how to produce more food. Including Yuan Zongdi, most of the Ming army focused on self-sufficiency of daily necessities, and salt should be enough for the Ming army to occupy the area. Therefore, the amount of salt smuggled into Huguang over the past year has not increased, but has been greatly reduced.

Only Deng Ming is different. He has no idea of ​​self-sufficient at all. Since many things are difficult to produce by Chengdu themselves, the tight manpower makes Deng Ming unable to allocate manpower in all walks of life. In addition to plundering and blackmailing, external materials can also be purchased. If they want to acquire, they must be exported for exchange. Now Deng Ming does not have the ability to restore the production of handicraft products such as Shu Jin, so he came up with the idea of ​​exporting salt.

In recent times, Deng Ming has personally intervened and concentrated the large amount of manpower released after the disbandment of the army on salt production. In this month, the salt produced in Chengdu has been enough for the people here to eat for half a year.

Most of the salt that had just been produced was loaded on the Ming army's warships. Deng Ming also specially chose the best quality batch. When he passed by Daning, he planned to ask Yuan Zongdi. If Yuan Zongdi had rich salt in his hands and the quality also met the requirements, Deng Ming also planned to buy some.

The salt merchants who came to see him off also had high hopes for Deng Ming's trip. Now the production capacity of Chengdu's salt industry is far greater than the local demand. Even if Deng Ming summoned a large number of temporary salt workers back to the army, it would be useless. The supply is still twice the demand. If the Huguang market cannot be opened, the salt merchant's production capacity will be wasted - it is already wasted now.

"Breaking the flag and winning!"

"Go straight to Wuhan!"

The salt shop boss who came to see him off was wearing coarse cloth clothes and held a banner himself, with crooked characters on it, which were handwritten by them and their salt workers.

Huguang has millions of households and is also connected to multiple provinces. As long as Deng Ming's trip is successful, Zhang Changgeng will force Zhang Changgen to sign the city alliance again. These salt shop owners who have only been in the industry for a year will know that their good days will come. Chengdu's current salt constant will definitely not meet the needs of Huguang. At that time, it is probably necessary to leave Chengdu and go to Xuzhou to develop the salt industry - Zigong's salt industry has long been abandoned due to the war.

"Admiral! You must let the people of Huguang eat our salt." One of the bosses of the salt bank said to Deng Ming excitedly. Lu Huan made every effort to expand production under Deng Ming's encouragement. Not only did he not pay a single large loan from the bank before, he owed a higher debt - in the past few months, the wages of a large number of salt workers were paid with loans. Lu Huan's clothes were patched and then beaten. As the boss of the salt bank, he was so poor that he could not afford anything except salt.

"Don't worry, Boss Lu, not only should the people of Huguang and Jiangxi eat your salt, but also let them eat your soy sauce in the future." Not long ago, when Deng Ming persuaded Lu Huan to expand production, he described the bright prospects of upgrading the industry, not only making salt but also making soy sauce.

"Set off! The troops will be sent to Chongqing." After boarding the ship, Deng Ming ordered loudly.
Chapter completed!