After the imperial meeting ended, the ministers walked out of the hall in groups of three or three. Oboi took advantage of the situation and rushed to Sony in a hurry and asked in a low voice: "There are some rumors about Deng Ming, Sichuan recently. I believe you have heard of them?"

"I haven't heard of it." Suni answered without hesitation, shook his head violently.

Oboi stared at Sony dissatisfiedly, and he was very dissatisfied with the other party's ungrateful responsibilities.

"Since I know it was a rumor," Sony also realized that he had reacted too quickly just now. When encountering such a problem, he should ask back first: "What rumor?" and then deny it. But Sony is old and the imperial meeting was held for too long today, which made him exhausted and lost his due vigilance and reaction: "What do you care about it?"

"How can you ignore it?" Oboi said anxiously, his voice couldn't help but raise it a little, but then he hurriedly lowered: "Deng Ming is probably Chongzhen's son!"

"Who said no?" Sony nodded repeatedly. Last time Shunzhi secretly told him and Oboi about the news, and then ordered that Deng Ming be wiped out with all his might and not live. Shunzhi had a very good reason. The Qing army entered the pass and used the Qing army to avenge Chongzhen. The literati who surrendered to the Qing court to comfort themselves by using the Qing army to avenge their "revenge of the king and father" for them. If Deng Ming was really a descendant of Chongzhen, his appeal would be much higher than that of the prince of the Ming Dynasty, and he could inspire many people who had given up on the Ming Dynasty. Although I don't know why Deng Ming concealed this matter now, the Qing court could never show off for him, but to eliminate this great trouble as soon as possible.

"So the emperor must eliminate this person as soon as possible, and it is strictly forbidden to use the time to make news..." Aobai was talking about the reasons that Shunzhi had brought out last time, but now some absurd rumors are circulating in the capital, that is, Deng Ming is actually a bannerman, and his background is quite large. He is neither the son has the hatred of taking his wife or killing his father. As time goes by, these rumors have become more and more eye-catching.

"A lot of them believe it in the two white flags," Obai's eyes were full of hatred, but there was a hint of fear in it: "These rumors should be settled quickly."

"How to settle?" Seeing that Oboi had the intention to ask him about his own solution, Sony waved his hand and said, "Would you ask the emperor to issue an edict to say that Deng Ming is actually Prince Chongzhen? Isn't this a thief for this?"

Oboi also knew that this method would not work at all. If he had any good solutions, he took the initiative to propose it at the imperial meeting just now. It was because he was helpless that he came to discuss with Sony.

But Sony had no idea of ​​discussing the matter at all, and blocked all Oboi's allegorical statements as quickly as possible: "I think the best way is not to believe in rumors, let alone discuss rumors. If they try to calm them down, they will fan the storm."

There was also a young man behind Sony, who was about twenty-five or six years old. This was Sony's third son Soetu. Shunzhi gave him the identity of the imperial guard commander. Sony brought him to thank him today, and after the imperial meeting ended, he took his son home with him.

After Oboi left disappointed, Soetu's eyes flashed and he said to his father: "Ama, my son has a good way to share the worries of the emperor."

"You have no choice." Sony shook his head, obviously not wanting to hear Soetu tell him what he did.

"Son really has!" Soetu said anxiously. He was surprised when he heard this rumor before, and gradually he had a vague idea in his heart. When Oboi mentioned this, Soetu wanted to tell the good strategies he had figured out. Sony and Oboi were both ministers of Zhenghuang Banner, a close confidant of Shunzhi. Sony would be older if they were qualified. But in the past two years, Oboi relied on his youth and the limelight had begun to catch up with Sony. Soetu hoped that his father would take the credit for himself, so he endured it until Oboi left, and then he spoke out. Seeing that his father did not believe it, Soetu showed anxiety: "The son's method is..."

Sony stood up and turned around and looked at Soetu coldly. In an instant, the seemingly old minister of Zhenghuang Banner suddenly had a momentum of uneven power, and he blocked Soetu's words back.

"Are you so sure that this is a rumor?" After stopping his son's words, Sony turned forward again and staggered towards the palace gate. His straight waist bent down again. The momentum that had just emerged had disappeared, and Sony once again became the old man in his twilight age.

"Isn't it a rumor?" Soetu asked with wide eyes.

"Haha," Sony walked slowly and chuckled a few times: "Deng Ming has painted many forbidden objects, and is more familiar with the arrangements of Da Nei than me, and does not call ** the Chengtian Gate. Could this be the son of Chongzhen who escaped from Beijing 17 years ago?"

"Aren't these all rumors?" Soetu asked in surprise. As a nobleman from Zhenghuang Banner, although he had heard these words, he was disdainful at all.

Upon hearing this, Sony sneered.

"So it's all true." After seeing the expression on his father's face, Soetu suddenly realized.

"I haven't said it." Sony still looked unbearable, and then slowly commented: "Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui are so devoted to our dynasty, but they struggled when shaving their heads. Hong Chengchou is a great man, and I was by the side of Taizong when he shaved his head. At that time, I thought he was going to repent and not surrender; Wu Sangui is also a hero and never regards shame as a matter of time, but back then

He was forced so urgently by Li Chuang that he still bargained for a few words on the issue of shaving his head; and there were Qian Qianyi's gang in Jiangnan, although they were all cordyceps, but they also cried when shaving his head. Hum, Hum, and Zheng Chenggong, who once coaxed the court to the ground, almost believed that he really wanted to surrender and transferred the troops guarding Southeast to the south, but he refused to shave his head, and we saw through the truth. And this Deng Ming, haha..."

After paying more attention to Deng Ming, the Qing court tried its best to collect all information about him. The Qing soldiers who fled back from Jianchang reported that in order to sneak attack the small troops sent to Jianchang, Deng Ming could take his subordinates to shave his hair and disguise himself as the Qing army; as for the subsequent setting fire in Kunming and fighting in Huguang, Deng Ming had obviously no psychological barrier to shave his hair.

"If Deng Ming was a vulgar farmer, it would not be surprising that he could do this, but he was a royal family and the son of Chongzhen." Sony sneered again, but did not continue to comment.

"Who is he?" Soetu asked nervously, thinking of other rumors about Deng Ming, such as his kindness to the Manchu soldiers, etc.

"He is a thief from Sichuan. We know in private that he may be Chongzhen's son." Sony said calmly.

"But my father clearly said it..." Soetu couldn't help but suggest, "Why don't you ask the emperor privately?"

"I won't go. The emperor said who Deng Ming is, who he is. Since the emperor told me that he might be Chongzhen's son, he must be Chongzhen's son. Unless one day the emperor calls me and tells me that he is not." Sony said to the son behind him word by word: "Obai must have asked, but I will never go, because I know that Obai will not die well one day, but I will definitely die of old age in the bed."

"Ah." Soetu let out a low scream.

"Obai thinks he is more loyal to the emperor than me. No, in fact, I am more loyal than him, because I am as loyal as the emperor wants me to be, not much or no less." Sony stopped again and looked back at his son seriously: "Don't be self-righteous, don't be more loyal than the emperor needs. In that way, what the emperor will not like will cause great trouble for yourself and the whole clan!"

Soetu was stunned for a moment before reacting, lowering his head and said, "What Ama said is that my son keeps it in mind."

"Oh." From Soetu's surprise just now, Sony could see that his third son was orally dissatisfied. In order to deepen his impression, Sony took out an example from a few years ago.

After Shunzhi took power, Sony made great efforts to eliminate the remnants of Dorgon. In order to repay this contribution, Shunzhi signaled Sony to pick one or two beautiful nieces and send them to the palace. Sony refused after hearing the news and said he would not agree. After Shunzhi forgot about this matter, Sony tried every means to make the girls at home fail to perform the draft.

Of course, Soetu was a little puzzled about this. He felt that if his sister and cousin could enter the palace, the emperor would be favored by Sony's contributions. Even if he could not grab the position of queen, he could become a concubine. If a prince is born in the future, Sony will try to help him as the crown prince. Then will the family's wealth and safety be guaranteed?

"No matter how favored the emperor, we must always remember that we are the emperor's slaves. When the master speaks to us, we listen. If the master doesn't say anything, we don't ask, and we don't want to catch up with relatives with the master. This is the duty of the slave. Only by being a good slave can we have a safe family." In order to augment the impression, Sony, the same negative word, said to his son four times in one breath: "Don't, no, no, don't forget that we are slaves, do nothing except for the matter, and think about nothing."

"What my father said," Soetu replied respectfully, but he felt a little dissatisfied and thought to himself: "My father is just looking forward to his work and is timid, so now even Oboi is about to climb onto our heads."

Sony saw that his son was still not completely convinced. For a moment, Sony began to regret letting him serve as the imperial guard: "The third brother never makes people worry. I don't know if it's time to find him a place to garrison the Eight Banners and send him far away?"

However, even Sony could not easily turn the imperial guards into the Eight Banners. He thought about it and felt that his son was still young and would be better in ten years. Sony said coldly: "Obai won't die well. I'll put this here. You can watch it carefully. If you don't want to live, go learn from him."

...

Jiangxi governor Dong Weiguo looked nervous and waited restlessly for the report of the horse.

More than ten days ago, Deng Ming led his troops to attack Jiujiang. In this battle, the Ming army was killed, seriously injured more than 60 people, and more than 200 people were slightly injured. One thousand Qing soldiers wearing armor, two thousand armorless soldiers and two thousand sailors were guarding the city, two hundred of whom were killed in battle, and the remaining ones, including the governor Dong Weiguo, became prisoners of the Ming army. Those Qing soldiers who resisted fiercely to cause death to the Ming army were often killed on the spot by the angry Ming army, and even if they surrendered, they would not be pardoned. The most intense area of ​​Jiujiang City's resistance was Xichenglou, which resulted in more than ten Ming soldiers' deaths in battle and dozens of wounded. The Ming army therefore refused to accept the surrender of the armored soldiers on this city tower, and more than one hundred Qing soldiers wearing armor did not leave a single prisoner.

However, the Ming army did not make too difficult for other prisoners. The Ming army not only did not kill him, but even served him with enough food and drink. At first, Dong Weiguo thought Deng Ming wanted to persuade him to surrender, but he soon discovered that all the captured Qing army had enough food. Although the Ming army was trying hard to persuade the prisoners to surrender, he had no intention of executing the stubborn.

After controlling Hukou, the Ming army's screening work was basically completed. Deng Ming immediately ordered the release of those people with family members in the Qing army controlled areas, bachelors who were unwilling to join the Ming army, as well as civil and military officials of the Qing court, such as Dong Weiguo, and each of them was given a severance fee of one tael of silver.

Deng Ming's method of handling Sichuan and Shaanxi green camps is very different from that of Huguang and Jiangxi green camps. This is not a secret within the Ming army. Deng Ming also organized a meeting of officers for discussion. It is necessary for all officers and soldiers to understand why there is such a difference. Now the Ming army all understand that this is the strategy of Admiral Deng's far-reaching and near-sighted attacks. For Sichuan and Shaanxi green camps that are threatening and close to Chengdu, they must try their best to eliminate them. Not only can they not be released for free, but they will also have to collect ransoms to weaken the strength of the Qing army and reduce the threats to Chengdu. However, Huguang and Jiangxi are temporarily in areas beyond the reach of Deng Ming. Deng Ming, the Qing army here, made it the first goal to weaken their fighting will.

This kind of discussion helps officers and soldiers understand the commander's strategy. Deng Ming is not afraid of leaking news, because the more the Qing army in Huguang and Jiangxi understands Deng Ming's strategy, the less likely it is to have the idea of ​​stubborn resistance.

Although released by the Ming army, Dong Weiguo still felt the future was bleak when he walked out of the prisoner-of-war camp: he threw away all the Jiangxi Navy and even the ships and sailors, and Jiujiang was also under Deng Ming's hand. Jiangxi's canal route had been cut off. He was defeated and captured, and he was probably unable to escape. In addition, he could not complete this year's canal transport mission, Cao Weiguo felt that he was afraid that he would not have much time, and the court might take his life if he was angry.

When leaving Jiujiang sadly, Cao Weiguo, who was alone, saw a fleet of green flags walking downstream and swaying towards Jiujiang.

"Is this?" When Cao Weiguo confirmed that this was a grain ship in Huguang, he kept rubbing his eyes. He really couldn't believe that there was such an idiot in the world who dared to break into Jiujiang where the Ming army navy gathered in broad daylight. At that moment, Cao Weiguo even suspected that the Huguang officer who led the team was a color blind man who could not tell the red flag and green flag.

However, when he saw the grain ships in Huguang coming, Cao Weiguo suddenly found that his situation was not that bad. If Huguang's grain transport was cut off, the Qing court might not have lost his temper just to Jiangxi. Besides, Jiangxi's troops were constantly being drawn before, and now it is the most empty province in the south, and the navy was even more severely hit. Since Huguang, which has a powerful navy and a famous general Zhou Peigong, could not complete the grain transport, the weak Jiangxi... Cao Weiguo had stared at the Huguang grain ships that were coming, and had already thought of some reasons to defend himself.

As Cao Weiguo expected, in a blink of an eye, there were loud shouts of killing on the river bank. Just before Cao Weiguo, a Ming general rushed to the Jiujiang Wharf to command the battle himself. The Ming general swung the sword in his hand one by one in the air, pointed at the Qing army's grain ship on the river, and shouted to the soldiers behind him: "Shoot! Shoot!"

However, the Ming army was obviously caught off guard. Many archers only carried a bow, but forgot to carry a quiver. Under the urging of the Ming general, they could only pick up some dead branches or bamboo sticks from the ground and shoot at the Yangtze River.

"Can this shoot a person?" Although Cao Weiguo was not proficient in military affairs, when he was very suspicious of the power of dead branches, even the excellent feather arrows were difficult to pose a major threat to the ships on the heart of the river.

As Cao Weiguo was worried, the Ming army's "weapons" did not pose any threat to the Huguang grain ships. The leader of the grain transport officer was indeed a big idiot, but he was lucky to meet an opponent who was more than a hundred times more idiotic than him. Cao Weiguo found that the Ming general had no other actions except shouting "shooting arrows" at the top of his lungs. This Ming general not only had no intelligence, but also had no prestige. Cao Weiguo saw with his own eyes that many Ming army archers were lazy to look for branches and bamboo sticks, and stood on the shore and let out empty strings.

"After all, these are not military ships. What arrows do you shoot? They are all bulky canal ships, full of food, and they can't drive quickly. If you send a team of fast ships over, wouldn't you take them all?" Seeing the Huguang canal fleet passing slowly from front of you, Cao Weiguo, who was anxious, wanted to pounce on him and grabbed the idiot's collar and taught him how to cut off the Qing court's canal transport.

But the Ming general did not issue this correct order. The Qing army's grain ships sailed past the Ming Yangtze River regiment that covered the river and the sun, with passionate sounds of war drums always sounded on it.

The sound of war drums gradually faded away. When Cao Weiguo recovered from his shock, he found himself slumped on the ground. The Ming soldiers in front of him seemed to have nothing happened, and were still busy with their own affairs. After observing for a long time, Cao Weiguo finally confirmed unwillingly that no Ming warship left the dock to pursue the slow Huguang canal ship.

"The downstream Huguang can complete the canal transport, even if it is part of it, but a canal ship in Jiangxi cannot reach Yangzhou." Cao Weiguo looked at the green flag that was moving further and further away, and felt that he was so jealous that he was crazy: "Why didn't I meet such an idiot? In order to compromise, the governor would definitely say that it was because I threw all the ships in Jiujiang. When the court thought about it, he would still think that I was the culprit and would search my house and behead me."

If Cao Weiguo knew what happened on the Huguang ship at this time, he might have blown up his lungs. The Qing army general who was responsible for escorting the ship was a confidant of Zhang Changgeng. According to the description of the memorial by the Governor of Huguang, he followed Zhou Peigong to recover Huangzhou Prefecture last year. Not long ago, Zhou Peigong also fought together in front of the Hanyang city wall. He suffered several injuries and fought to the death without retreating.

"...The arrows fell like rain, and there was almost no place to hide on the boat. During this period, the thief jumped into the gangs and fought with them. The vocational department fought bloody battles and beat drums constantly. Finally, they broke out of the siege. The thief took them away and did not dare to pursue them." After dictating the thrilling pass, the Qing army general wiped the sweat from his forehead and added to the master: "By the way, we must say a few words about the dereliction of duty of the Jiangxi Green Camp. They lost Jiujiang and did not notify us, which led to the cabbage ships falling into danger."

"Mu!" The canal ships in Huguang were almost gone. Cao Weiguo looked at the general's flag of the Ming army and gently read the big words on it. Then Cao Weiguo saw the young Ming army general leaving the dock with a smile and talking and laughing, heading towards his camp.

"You're just laughing? You're so embarrassed to laugh!" Seeing the Ming general's appearance, Cao Weiguo was so angry that he wanted to drag Mu Tan down from his horse and shoot him a few big ears for Deng Ming: "You have a large army, Deng Ming handed over his navy in your hands, and you actually watched the canal ships in Huguang run away from under your nose, and you're so embarrassed to laugh!"

That day, Cao Weiguo stood next to Jiujiang Wharf until the sun sets, but after his anger dissipated, a crazy idea gradually took shape in his mind.

Today, Jiangxi governor Cao Weiguo came to fulfill this crazy plan. Now he is hiding in Poyang Lake with his subordinates.

"Sir," the messenger returned to the camp excitedly and reported to Cao Weiguo: "The thief general stationed next to the dock is still the same surname as Mu."

"Okay!" Cao Weiguo patted his thigh lightly, and his heart was both excited and nervous.

After returning to Nanchang, Cao Weiguo reported what he saw and heard to Jiangxi Governor Zhang Chao. The Ming army cut off the grain transportation made Governor Zhang worried and could not sleep at night.

The Ming army that had captured Jiujiang had not yet left. The Jiangxi Governor's Yamen heard that Deng Ming had a man named Ren Tang from Jiangxi who was recruiting soldiers in Jiujiang and recruited tens of thousands of young and strong men in one go. Deng Ming must be busy training this group of new recruits now. In addition, the Jiangxi Governor's Yamen also heard that the Ming army summoned all the matchmakers near Jiujiang, and he was planning any conspiracy.

The Ming army was delayed and the canal transportation could not begin. Since the fall of Jiujiang, the officialdoms in Huguang and Jiangsu began to impeach Zhang Chao. Zhang Changgeng was mainly preventive, with the purpose of giving him various canal transportation lags in advance and making excuses for the drifting. Jiang Guozhu was obviously offensive and took advantage of Zhang Chao, the rival of the governor of the two rivers.

"If the canal transportation cannot be sent to Nanjing, I still don't know what the traitors of Chiang Kai-shek would say." Cao Weiguo cursed in his heart with hatred. His military adventure was the last hope of the Jiangxi governor who could do nothing.

Zhang Chao plundered all the ships in Poyang Lake, loaded the food and handed them to Cao Weiguo. Before leaving, the governor of Jiangxi said to his deputy in emotion: "If there is a possibility, then there will be no ship in Jiangxi."

At that time, Cao Weiguo swears that he will not disappoint the governor. If someone else commanded Deng Ming's Yangtze River Navy, Cao Weiguo would not have the idea of ​​forcing him to break into Jiujiang even if he was desperate. On the way here, Cao Weiguo made up his mind that if Deng Ming's navy commander replaced him, he would rather go back and wait for death than risk going through the barriers and throw the last ship of Jiangxi and hundreds of thousands of stones of grain here.

But now Cao Weiguo finally felt relieved. He had already found out that this guy named Mu Tan was famous for being greedy and incompetent. It was rumored that he had accepted bribes from Li Guoying in Sichuan. There could be rumors that this guy was greedy. It is said that Mu Tan's sister is extremely beautiful and is Deng Ming's most favored concubine. Therefore, Deng Ming also indulged Mu Tan in every way. He laughed out the greed for accepting bribes and still let him command the navy.

"After all, I'm still young and don't know how to abstain from sex at a young age." Cao Weiguo was still worried and sent two more groups of spies to confirm the enemy's banner again and again.

"We smuggle overnight, do not hit the drums or make sounds." After the spy set off, Cao Weiguo once again told his subordinates that more than ten days ago, he saw the Huguang canal ships passing by the Ming army fleet with his own eyes. His preparations today were much more appropriate than the Huguang Navy. Not only did he smuggle at night, but he also tried not to make any noise.

Cao Weiguo had already prepared burning materials such as pine resin. After rushing into the Yangtze River from the Ming army, the Qing army would light a fire and go straight downstream. During the day, the Ming army would not chase the canal ships in Huguang. Cao Weiguo felt that they would not go out to chase him at night, so it should be safe as long as they pass the Ming army's water camp.

As for the road where fire cannot be raised, Cao Weiguo was also fully prepared. He arranged a guide for each boat to be familiar with hydrology. The passage from Poyang Lake to the Yangtze River is not very narrow, so it would not be a big deal if you are careful.

As for the equipment to escort the army, Cao Weiguo thought it was not important. If Deng Ming changed his order to others in charge of the navy, Cao Weiguo would not have the possibility of rushing out at all. No matter how well the equipment was, it would be useless. As for Mu Tan, Cao Weiguo probably would not do reconnaissance at all. If he had a little sense of reconnaissance, he would not have let the Huguang grain ship arrive in front of him. Since the Ming army could not have been a big shot in Huguang grain ship, it would be even more impossible to notice that the Jiangxi grain ship had sneaked up. At this time, just rush over at the fastest speed. What's the use of arming the teeth? Do you really want to fight a war with the Ming army?

Two groups of spies returned one after another, and Mu Tan was undoubtedly responsible for Jiujiang Wharf. One group of spies even inquired about the locations of Deng Ming’s other two subordinates: “Zhou Kaihuang trained troops in the east of the city, Ren Tang identified new recruits in the recruitment office in the south of the city, and Deng Ming himself was in the yamen in the city.”

"God helps me." Cao Weiguo laughed to the sky, laughing happily - the dark future of family destruction was finally about to reverse it. After laughing, the commander Cao had no hesitation at all. He immediately ordered the entire army to camp and rest, preparing to set off after sunset as planned, arrive in Jiujiang at midnight and then rush past the Ming army's fleet.
Chapter completed!