The squadron sent back to Wuchang did not let Deng Ming wait in Jiujiang for too long. Before entering Huguang, the Ming army had already greeted Zhang Changgeng and informed the other party of his purpose and intention. ‘. The troops mainly composed of new recruits took those unused ships to Jiangling through Wuchang, while the remaining Ming army contacted Wuchang and sold the goods they brought to the merchants introduced by Lu Chenyin, and then brought the silver paid by Wuchang to Jiujiang.

This time, the Ming army still left one-third of the goods, and designated that they could only be purchased by the person who owned the IOU. This was the second time that Deng Ming made such a request, which began to arouse the curiosity of some shopkeepers. He began to ask around to find out what the IOU was and how to obtain it? However, it was a secret. Most of the Ming army would not know the agreement between Deng Ming and Zhou Peigong, and those who knew the inside story on the Qing army would not say it.

The market price of goods brought by the Ming army who went to Wuchang in Jiangxi was 150,000 taels of silver, and two-thirds were used to exchange silver, which resulted in Deng Ming's return of 300,000 taels of silver. In less than a year, the Ming army appeared on the Yangtze River for the second time, which made many Huguang merchants pessimistic about the shipping capacity of the Yangtze River in the future. The price of local products in Jiangxi remained high. Although the Ming army sold the goods brought by wholesale this time, the price was equivalent to the retail price before Zheng Chenggong attacked Nanjing.

This money greatly enriched Deng Ming's pocket. He would not have to worry about military expenditure for a long time in the future. After selling this batch of goods to Wuchang, Deng Ming still had more than 300,000 yuan worth of goods in Jiangxi, which was rare. If he exported too much goods to Wuchang at one time, the other party might seize the opportunity to price, and the movement could be smaller. After a few months, after Wuchang digested this batch of goods, Deng Ming could provide them with another batch.

"I don't know if Zhang Shangshu has received my news." Deng Ming also needs to consider how to compensate Zhang Huangyan for sending troops, and his plan is to hand over some of the goods collected from Jiangxi to Zhang Huangyan. Didn't Mutan say that it would be difficult for Zheng Chenggong to receive a large amount of Jiangxi goods? Deng Ming planned to transfer a batch of Jiangxi goods by Zhang Huangyan. If he could share the profits of the sea trade, Zhang Huangyan could gain some benefits. At the last meeting under the city of Nanjing, Deng Ming strongly suggested that Zhang Huangyan should actively participate in the sea trade and successfully arouse his interest.

These benefits can further strengthen the strength of the Ming army in Zhoushan. Deng Ming estimated that as Ma Fengzhizhi's army went to sea, Zhang Huangyan's material consumption speed was very amazing and needed urgent supplements. In this way, even if Zhang Huangyan discovered that Deng Ming's plan was not to recover the land but to harass the canal transportation (Deng Ming felt that this reason was easier to understand than to open the way for Sichuan salt merchants), he would not have had too much dissatisfaction.

Moreover, if Zhoushan becomes a part of the sea trade, Zhang Huangyan and Zheng Chenggong will have more common interests. Deng Ming is happy to help them add such a new bond to ensure that the Zhejiang army and the Fujian army can cooperate fully and put greater pressure on the southeast of the Qing Dynasty. The greater the pressure on the Qing Dynasty, the less threat to Sichuan and Yunnan.

Before Deng Ming left Wuchang, he had already sent a secret envoy to Zhoushan. Calculate the time and Zhoushan should have received news long ago. However, Deng Ming also knew that Zhang Huangyan might not be able to organize an army in a hurry. Ma Fengzhi, who had just led his troops to leave the mainland, would also need some time to calm the morale of the army and rectify the troops. Therefore, Deng Ming planned to wait a few more days to increase the success rate of the operation.

Before Deng Ming waited for Zhang Huangyan's news, Dong Weiguo had already passed by Jiujiang again with a group of Green Camp soldiers and sailors. After the Qing army successfully passed, Dong Weiguo arranged the troops' camping issue, so he led a few confidants to sneak up at night to meet Deng Ming.

This is the third time that Deng Ming has seen the Jiangxi governor. Among all Deng Ming's partners, Dong Weiguo's attitude is definitely among the top. Some of the reasons are the same as Zhou Peigong, who came to meet with Deng Ming after being captured twice. Dong Weiguo, like Zhou Peigong, gradually lost his fear of entering Deng Ming's camp due to the first two experiences.

When Dong Weiguo met Deng Ming this time, he did not bow to the last time. He took the initiative to sit on the other side of the long table without waiting for the Ming army guards to draw their swords and threaten them. Deng Ming first expressed his gratitude to the Jiangxi governor. The goods sent by Dong Weiguo were of good quality before, which made Deng Ming very satisfied. He once asked the Qing army envoy to bring him back his performance. Today, Deng Ming praised Dong Weiguo in person.

"As the admiral said, the soldiers are never tired of deceitfulness, and they are talking about business," Dong Weiguo replied generously: "Since they are talking about business, of course they have to pay attention to honesty."

"Secretary Dong said it well." Deng Ming was also a little surprised by the speed of the other party's entry into the role. The two sides had not had a long time to deal with each other. He did not expect that Dong Weiguo could distinguish the different identities of officials and business partners so quickly: "The courage of Dong Bu Zheng is also very common, and my trust in me made me feel very much. If it were me, I would never dare to enter the camp of Dong Bu Zheng Zheng alone."

"The Admiral is praised." Dong Weiguo smiled bitterly. He was different from Zhou Peigong. He was very uncomfortable with such face-to-face talks with Deng Ming. However, now Dong Weiguo's future and fate are in danger. Although some of the grain transportation work have been completed, it is still unknown what the Qing court will do about him. Therefore, Dong Weiguo must come in person to try to convince Deng Ming to prevent the Ming army from launching further attacks.

Soon the two talked about the situation in Jiangnan. At first, Deng Ming did not raise any questions clearly, but when Dong Weiguo understood Deng Ming's problem, he told Deng Ming all the things he saw and heard in Nanzhili. Dong Weiguo not only told Deng Ming the number of troops of the defenders in various places, but also briefly explained to Deng Ming every general who could recall them. Although Dong Weiguo and Deng Ming had been chatting in a casual manner, it seemed that they were also talking about interesting journey experiences, it was obvious that Dong Weiguo hinted that Jiangnan could attack and even attack them.

Dong Weiguo first started with the empty military force in Nanjing. After the Battle of Nanjing, the upstream and downstream of Nanjing were occupied by the Ming army. Although the Qing army has worked hard in the past few months, it has not been able to restore its military force to the scale before its defeat. As for the quality, it is far from comparable to the officers and soldiers of the Liangjiang River a year ago. Therefore, in Dong Weiguo's description, Nanjing can be easily broken everywhere. As long as Deng Ming is willing to go to Jiangnan, he will never return empty-handed.

However, Deng Ming was not very interested in siegeing cities and territories. The temporary recruitment had basically returned to Sichuan. Although the army had slightly expanded its scale, most of the remaining troops were people from Sichuan with Deng Ming? If such troops were clenched into fists, it would be enough to make Zhang Changgeng and Zhang Chao both worried and dare not come out to challenge the Ming army. But if more than 10,000 people were stationed in scattered, the Qing army would probably not be afraid of the Ming army anymore, but would try to attack the Ming army's territory and regain the lost land to repay the merits to Shunzhi.

Deng Ming was afraid of Dong Weiguo's suggestions, and his words seemed not very positive. Soon Dong Weiguo noticed Deng Ming's thoughts. Although he was a little disappointed, Dong Weiguo was not discouraged. He soon talked about another story, and some comments on the streets and alleys. The central content was that Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng in Nanjing were a little disagreeable. Deng Ming had also heard of these things from other channels.

Deng Ming was also a little surprised at the end of the internal strife in Nanjing. He didn't know why Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng joined forces to eliminate their original allies in one fell swoop. However, if Deng Ming heard that the two were not in harmony, Deng Ming would not be surprised. One day before he withdrew his troops and released Lang Tingzuo, Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng were still alive and dead enemies. Not to mention that Jiang Guozhu had planned a plot to kill people with a knife, hoping to ambush the Liang army back to the army to help Nanjing, and put Liang Huafeng to death. Deng Ming believed that Lang Tingzu would definitely notify Liang Huafeng of this. Although these two people now had to form an alliance because of mutual cover or other reasons, Deng Ming felt that it was impossible for them to guard against each other in private.

Although Deng Ming tends to believe the information brought by Dong Weiguo, he is also well aware of Dong Weiguo's hint, that is, Dong Weiguo tries to tell himself that it is possible to show off his power in front of Nanjing City again. If it is a coincidence, it is not completely without a chance to seize Nanjing.

Compared to capturing some cities around Nanjing, Deng Ming was less interested in seizing Nanjing. After careful observation, Deng Ming felt that Liu Tichun's new equipment was not a threat to Nanjing. To capture Nanjing, he still needed to use authentic blasting or possess some super siege cannons.

"It seems that Dong Weiguo just wanted me to cause some trouble for Nanjing. Well, if it was less than a year later, Nanjing would be attacked by the Ming army again, and the Qing court would definitely be shocked, right? At that time, no one would remember that Dong Weiguo lost Jiujiang and was captured." Deng Ming could also guess some of the conflicts between Nanchang and Nanjing.

At this time, Dong Weiguo became even more disappointed. He could see that Deng Ming not only did not have much interest in the towns around Nanjing, but also had no motivation to become famous again in Nanjing.

"Deng Ming is only in his early twenties, why isn't he good at all?" After the topic was disconnected by Deng Ming, Dong Weiguo responded with his mouth, and his mind was rotating rapidly. After a moment, he said: "I heard that after the admiral returned to Sichuan last year, Jiangning could be very busy..."

According to Dong Weiguo, after Deng Ming and Zheng Chenggong left, Jiang Guozhu immediately summoned many old shipbuilders from Liangjiang to the Governor's Office and asked them about the materials needed to quickly build ships.

"Oh?" After hearing this information, Deng Ming's eyes lit up. Because of the size of the army, he would not attack those cities that could not be maintained for a long time. However, the Qing navy on the Yangtze River was another division. Sichuan had no shipbuilding industry, and there was no shipbuilding industry in the east and west Hubei. Li Laiheng may have obtained some shipbuilding capabilities after seizing Jiangling. However, it was far from comparable to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Deng Ming didn't know how long it would take for the Qing Dynasty to form a fleet that was paying attention to threatening the Ming army's Yangtze River Navy, but if Beijing had this intention and Jiang Guozhu gave his best, Deng Ming would probably not be too long.

If the Qing Dynasty regained the right to sail the Yangtze River east of Yuezhou, Deng Ming would lose the connection with overseas Fujian and Zhejiang armies, and would not be able to continue relying on military maintenance to force the Qin Dynasty local officials to compromise. Deng Ming could tolerate many other disadvantages, but he would never tolerate the Qing navy's rampant in the Yangtze River. The main purpose of this attack on Jiujiang was to eliminate the Qing army's Jiangxi water camp stationed here.

Dong Weiguo immediately noticed Deng Ming's change in expression, which gave him hope, and his voice became louder when he spoke again. Dong Weiguo told Deng Ming that he did not know how short Jiang Guozhu planned to rebuild Susong Navy, but he did use this as an excuse to ask Jiangxi for money, and the fact that he summoned many ship workers a few months ago was not nonsense.

"Yes." Deng Ming nodded again, signaling the guards to go out of the tent Deng Ming often told senior officers about his negotiation experience and shared his experience with these officers. If today's negotiations were interesting, Deng Ming would also use them as a textbook for officers, but now he needs to make Dong Weiguo feel that he is safe.

"Why did the General Dong want me to attack Nanjing?" Deng Ming directly expressed his question: "If the General Dong wants me to deal with this, I need to understand first what benefits can the General Dong get?"

After hesitating for a moment, Dong Weiguo still told Deng Ming that the governor of Jiangxi is also a strong competitor in the position of governor, but this hope becomes increasingly slim as Deng Ming conquered cities and land in Jiangxi, unless Deng Ming can embarrass Jiang Guozhu even more: "For the admiral, going to Jiangning is just a slaughter. If Governor Zhang becomes the governor of Liangjiang in the future, won't the admiral achieve a win-win situation in Liangjiang? Wouldn't the admiral want Jiangning to sit in your friend?"

"The governor said it well." Deng Ming nodded. Nanjing and Nanchang were competitive, which was the most beneficial to Deng Ming. Just like the two factions in Nanjing last year, compared to Jiang Guozhu or Zhang Chao's dominant family, Deng Ming would rather have the position of governor of Liangjiang, the Qing Dynasty, as long as he was always vacant.

However, Deng Ming still told Dong Weiguo that he was willing to continue to march downstream.

"Thank you, Admiral Gao Yi." Dong Weiguo was overjoyed when he heard this. Since the deal with Deng Ming, the other party has been honest and trustworthy. He assured Deng Ming that this friendship will be kept in mind.

Deng Ming agreed to send troops not to believe that Zhang Chao would be grateful, but felt that it was necessary to launch a preventive blow to the restored Susong Navy and carry out some damage to the shipyard in Jiang Guozhu's hands. In addition, Deng Ming also wanted to try to maintain the balance between the two officialdoms. Deng Ming thought in his mind: "For me, it is better for any one to dominate the two. Whether Jiang Guozhu or Zhang Chao becomes the new governor, it is better not as good as this vacancy. I broke through Jiujiang and made such a big stir in Jiangxi.

Jing should also add some barriers to Jiang Guozhu. I am too far from Jiangnan. If Jiang Guozhu held the power of the two rivers in his hands, he would definitely not be too afraid of me. His attitude might be much stronger than Zhang Changgeng. Of course, if Zhang Chao came to power, he would probably not be different from Jiang Guozhu. Even if Zhang Shangshu didn't come, I would have to do my best. Besides, after Ma Fengzhi, the Qing army in Nanjing had been focusing on the east side. I came from the west, and maybe I could get the effect of avoiding the real and attacking the virtual."

After making up his mind, Deng Ming and Dong Weiguo discussed the cost of Jiujiang's city redemption.

...

Jiangnan Admiral Liang Huafeng was not stationed in Nanjing. Since Zheng Chenggong and Deng Ming withdrew from the army, he has been in Suzhou much more than in Nanjing, and he often goes to Songjiang Prefecture to inspect the troops.

Ma Fengzhi failed to siege Hangzhou, and the elite suffered great losses. Although he had to bear tens of thousands of people, his combat effectiveness was far inferior to the old team. Although Zhang Huangyan's troops improved a lot, regardless of the length of training or weapons and equipment, they were still quite different from the elite troops in the Green Camp. After the two retreated to Zhoushan, Dasu judged that they did not have the ability to return to the mainland for the time being, so he moved to Fujian.

But Liang Huafeng dared not take it lightly. For him, he could get reports from coastal areas earlier in Suzhou. If there was any emergency, Liang Huafeng could react faster than staying in Jiangning.

After just learning that Deng Ming went south to Huguang and his troops were approaching Wuchang, Liang Huafeng was not very worried and still focused all his energy on the east side. Last time, Hu Quancai was considered to have caught him off guard and had weak troops dispersed, which gave Deng Mingke an opportunity to take advantage of it. Later, when Li Laiheng impersonated the name of approaching Nanjing, Liang Huafeng felt that this was also because of the sudden assassination of the governor of Huguang and the chaos in Wuchang, such a big loophole appeared.

Moreover, Liang Huafeng believed that if the Ming army failed to take Wuchang, it would definitely not be able to invade Jiangxi, and of course Anqing would not be in danger.

As a result, Liang Huafeng was surprised to find that Zhang Changgeng, who had always been calm and good at fighting, had acted worse than Hu Quancai for this year. This is for Liang Huafeng, and for officials outside the Liangjiang area, Zhang Changgeng was obviously much stronger than Hu Quancai. He had never defeated a war or lost a city.

Originally, Liang Huafeng thought that Wuchang could repel the Ming army and could at least hold on for a while. He could also analyze the situation in Wuchang by himself and get a warning time. Unexpectedly, although Zhang Changgeng had not lost a single city, the Ming army regarded the Huguang navy as if nothing had happened. Seeing that he could not take advantage, he went downstream and entered Jiangxi at an unexpected high speed.

Just after Liang Huafeng received the news that Deng Ming appeared in Jiangxi, the news of the fall of Jiujiang reached Suzhou. The Ming army's marching speed surprised Liang Huafeng. Jiang Guozhu was also afraid that Deng Ming would attack Anqing. If the outpost of Nanjing was lost again, there would probably be another shock in the southeast. Governor Jiang hurriedly wrote a letter to Liang Huafeng in Suzhou and discussed with him to move the main force of the Qing army west to Anqing to prevent Deng Ming from invading Jiangning again.

When Liang Huafeng was busy dispatching troops, the news that came later became more and more relaxing. Deng Ming stopped in Jiujiang and later began to recruit soldiers.

Although the expansion of the army means that Deng Ming may want to attack further, Liang Huafeng knew that these new recruits were burdens in the marching. Deng Ming brought these newly recruited male soldiers, probably unable to perform a rapid assault. Liang Huafeng, who was confident in his heart, no longer urged the troops, but rushed back to Nanjing with a small number of guards to discuss with Jiang Guozhu.

Before arriving in Nanjing, Liang Huafeng met an envoy from Jiang Guozhu, and without any verbal message, he simply brought two war reports.

Liang Huafeng tore open the envelope of the battle report. Both were the good news of the fleet's forced entry into Jiujiang, one from Huguang and the other from Jiangxi. Both fleets transported heavy food and grass. Their commanders boasted about their bravery at the same time, and the process of passing through the barrier was even more thrilling.
Chapter completed!