More than 20,000 Qing troops were captured in the Battle of Anqing. Deng Ming did not release these prisoners immediately, but used them as auxiliary soldiers. However, Deng Ming had told these prisoners that they did not have to worry about their lives. When the Ming army did not need their service, they would naturally release them all. Moreover, when they served in the Ming army, they also had one or two taels of silver per month, and an additional one or two taels of severance when they left.

"We have to fight in Jiangnan for a period of time, and we need auxiliary soldiers. Using these people will save us from recruiting ourselves; and," Deng Ming paused in the middle of the way and said in a more emphasis: "There are tens of thousands of people. Maybe after we let them go, they will go to Chizhou to wait for us, and then surrender and ask for a severance fee of one or two silver dollars. Then go to Taiping and Equal, and there are Jiangning, Yangzhou, and Suzhou behind... If this really happens, then along the way, no matter how much I have gold and silver, I will be poor by them, and I will not be able to be dismissed."

After selling some Jiangxi goods in Anqing, Deng Ming bought some food and continued to go downstream. In a day, he approached the next important town of Chizhou.

Shortly after setting up a camp outside Chizhou City, Mu Tan came to report that an envoy came to see Deng Ming.

"Aren't everything left to you?" When Mu Tan arrived, Deng Ming had just started eating. He had been busy for a day. After camping, he patrolled the entire camp before returning to his tent to prepare for dinner. He was already hungry. I remember that Mu Tan had already had dinner just now. Deng Ming complained that Mu Tan was full and didn't know that the hungry man was hungry, and said with some dissatisfaction: "You can handle it with all your power."

"It's not from Chizhou, it's from Tongcheng, and after entering the camp, he claimed to be the magistrate of Tongcheng." Tongcheng was also under the jurisdiction of Anqing Prefecture. After the news that Deng Ming had completely wiped out Zhu Guozhi's 30,000 troops reached Tongcheng, the local officials knew that Anqing would no longer have the ability to resist the Ming army. Even if the Ming army sent a partial army to Tongcheng, he would definitely not be able to hold on. He could only choose one between suicide and being punished by Beijing.

From that day on, the magistrate of Tongcheng completely lost the ability to manipulate his destiny and could only wait in the yamen helplessly. This was really an unbearable torture, but after learning that Deng Ming had not captured Anqing and headed downstream, the magistrate of Tongcheng still did not feel relieved, because Deng Ming's army was not far from Tongcheng, and it was basically a distance of coming day and night.

What's worse is that the magistrate heard that someone was planning to rebel nearby - this was the second time in eight months that the Ming army entered the hinterland of Jiangnan. Seeing that Deng Ming's army was entering a deserted land, the Qing army seemed to have no ability to resist at all. Some scholars in Jiangnan also began to be active, such as the scholars around Tongcheng planned to raise troops to attack the county town and welcome the Ming army to restore Jiangnan.

However, these scholars were only enthusiastic but not at all conspiracy. The officers they bought were unreliable, and someone had already reported to the county magistrate. The fact that they collected food and grass and recruited the people to make trouble had long been leaked. Long before they tried to buy the officers, the county magistrate had noticed their intentions.

If it were normal, the Tongcheng County Magistrate had already ordered the suppression, but now Deng Ming's army is on his side, the magistrate would not dare to suppress the Ming scholars, for fear of attracting Deng Ming's attention to Tongcheng. It was also because of Deng Ming's military pressure that the officers, soldiers, gentry, and clerks in Tongcheng were all rats. Perhaps Deng Ming would not stay in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time, but compared with the Manchu soldiers in Beijing far away, Deng Ming's ten thousand elite soldiers were in front of him. Supporting the county magistrate to suppress the Ming forces may receive commendations from Beijing, but the possibility of becoming a posthumous award is very high. In order to enjoy the mourning honor given by Beijing, the Qing faction in Tongcheng's Tongcheng also generally opposed the Ming faction who was trying to retaliate by force.

Based on the idea of ​​peace as the most important thing, the magistrate invited the leader of the Ming sect who was in Tongcheng who was intending to cause trouble to the trouble to his yamen with swords and guns. The scholar thought he would die, but after meeting, he found that the magistrate was kind and polite, and claimed that he was obsessed with the Ming Dynasty. He became an official in the Qing Dynasty just to make a living. Everyone was a scholar - why should scholars make things difficult for scholars? In short, the magistrate of Tongcheng hoped that these scholars would not cause trouble, at least not during his tenure.

Unexpectedly, the attitude of the county magistrate misunderstood the leader of the Ming faction. He thought that the magistrate also had the intention of any reason, so he began to persuade him to join the conspiracy group and expressed his willingness to give up the first position of the group, and everyone presented Tongcheng to Deng Ming as a meeting gift. After being flatly rejected by the magistrate, the leader of the Ming faction left angrily and said before leaving that the magistrate would give the magistrate another three days to consider. If he refused to give up the leader of the Ming faction, they would have to start a rebellion by themselves.

After the leader of the Ming faction left, the magistrate felt that he had greater trouble. Due to his weak attitude, the other party had misunderstandings and had greater confidence in the uprising. The war in Tongcheng seemed inevitable. Finally, an aide had an idea and pointed out that Deng Ming was the source of these troubles. The so-called untied bell must be the person who tied the bell, so he suggested that the boss and Deng Ming obtain understanding.

The situation was urgent, and the magistrate of Tongcheng was not allowed to visit and convey information, so he rushed to Deng Ming's camp in person and expressed his willingness to give all the warehouses in Tongcheng to Deng Ming, just asking him not to send troops to support Tongcheng to support Ming faction.

"Since I am a magistrate, I really have to see you in person." Deng Ming put down his chopsticks helplessly, stood up and followed Mu Tan out of the camp, his stomach roaring and expressing strong protests - after eating the first bite of the meal just now, the feeling of hunger was even more difficult to curb.

After understanding the purpose of the magistrate of Tongcheng, Deng Ming also believed that the scholars were too early to carry out the matter. When the Ming army was still unable to control Jiangnan, these scholars were unnecessarily sacrificed. So Deng Ming immediately exchanged for Ren Tang and asked him to lead a thousand elite soldiers to visit Tongcheng to comfort the Ming sects who were preparing to raise the matter, and explained to them that Deng Ming was still unable to control Jiangnan for the time being, and asked them to continue to accumulate strength and patiently lurk in the Qing court.

"I can not enter Tongcheng, and I guarantee that you will not be charged with losing your land, but my condition is that Tongcheng cannot shed blood - it doesn't matter if the blood of those who support Beijing is the one who thinks of the Ming Dynasty must be unharmed, otherwise I will never sit still." Deng Ming said to the magistrate: "Since I cannot guarantee not to interfere with Tongcheng, I will not be in vain for the things in the warehouse. Do you know someone who does Tongcheng tea oil and candied date business? I plan to buy some, and I also have some local products in Jiangxi. If you want it, you can sell some to you. The price is fair and you will never force it."

In order to ensure that the magistrate will not settle accounts after the fall, and to ensure that the Tongcheng Ming faction will not make excessive moves, Deng Ming asked the Tongcheng magistrate to write a letter of loyalty to Deng Ming. Ren Tang would display this letter of loyalty to the Tongcheng Ming faction, and then bring it back to Deng Ming to make a guarantee. As for Deng Ming's instructions to the Tongcheng Ming faction, Ren Tang would also bring it, that is, long-term lurking, accumulating strength, and waiting for orders.

After all this, more than half an hour had passed. When Deng Ming saw that it was getting late, he called the magistrate of Tongcheng to stay in the Ming military camp for one night. Tomorrow, he set out with a thousand elite soldiers from Ren Tang to return to Tongcheng.

Returning to his tent, Deng Ming sat back at the dinner table, took a big mouthful of rice, and swallowed it in a hurry. Just as he was about to take a second mouthful, Mu Tan, who was still in dispersed, appeared in front of him again: "Admiral, the magistrate of Tongling County, asked for a visit."

"Tongling? I haven't even arrived in Chizhou yet, what did he do?" Deng Ming was shocked and angry, but no matter how dissatisfied he was, he still had to put down his job and stood up again to follow Mu Tan.

Tongling is under the jurisdiction of Chizhou Prefecture. Now Dengming is not far from the capital city. Tongling is also located on the edge of the Yangtze River and is located in the lower reaches of Chizhou. Jiangnan is not only a heavy tax area for the Qing Dynasty, but also a large amount of brass production in Anqing, Tongling and other places, providing Beijing with a steady stream of coin materials. In recent months, the brass produced in Anqing, Chizhou and Tongling are no longer transported north but stored in Tongling downstream, and are preparing to be sent to Beijing after the transportation is over.

After Zhu Guozhi was defeated in Anqing, Chizhou, in order to strengthen the defense of the city, even the two hundred newly recruited green camp soldiers from Tongling were transferred to the city. Now Tongling has nothing but the clerks, but there are still millions of kilograms of brass in the city. If there were no such brass, the magistrate of Tongling felt that Deng Ming might not pass by, so he tried his best to transport the brass to Chizhou.

Unfortunately, Chizhou refused to accept it. The prefect Shen in the prefecture only had troops and did not need copper. Zhu Guozhi lost all the mobile troops in western Jiangsu. Even if Chizhou scraped the ground three feet, it would not be possible to get two thousand green camps. If it still had millions of kilograms of brass at this time, wouldn’t it be a long time for the birthday boy to hang himself? Not only did Chizhou not want it, but Taiping Mansion downstream also rejected Tongling’s request to transport brass to their place. Now this batch of brass is a hot potato. Whoever dares to accept it will wait for Deng Ming to conquer the city and then be charged with losing the land.

After asking for help, the Tongling County Magistrate was angry and became brave. He slapped the chopping board and shouted at the dirt-like guests, "Don't you don't want it, right? Well, I don't want it either. Then I will give Admiral Deng more than one million kilograms of good copper materials. I don't believe Admiral Deng, even if I don't believe Admiral Deng!"

The request of the magistrate of Tongling was very simple, that is, not to attack the county town where he had nothing but yamen runners. He was willing to hand over the copper materials and inventory to Deng Ming and satisfy Deng Ming's request. Deng Ming generously met his request. In the end, the two discussed it. Tongling would load the copper materials and the grain in the warehouse on board in advance. After Deng Ming's army approached, Tongling's magistrate was sure that the county town could not hold on, so he ordered his subordinates to carry these materials to "break through" the direction of the downstream Taiping Prefecture. Unfortunately, the breakthrough failed and the materials were seized by Deng Ming.

This kind of transaction is not harmful to Deng Ming. Leaving a way out for these local officials will not only establish friendship and friendship, but also ensure that they will not burn warehouses, ships sink to the river in despair, and destroy precious materials.

After reaching the agreement, Deng Ming called the guards and asked them to take the magistrate of Tongling to rest. After thinking about it, Deng Ming ordered the magistrate of Tongling to be taken to the next door of the magistrate of Tongcheng to let them get to know each other - this is also a kind of mutual restraint. If they want to repent in the future, they have to consider the consequences. Don't think that there is no proof or an insider in the Qing court.

The second time he returned to the dining table in the camp, Deng Ming sat down and drank a bowl of water, sighed with satisfaction, and wanted to eliminate all the food on the table.

"Admiral--"

Just as he lowered his head and picked up his job, Mu Tan's voice came from Deng Ming's ears, which immediately fixed his body like petrification. Now this voice is definitely what Deng Ming doesn't want to hear the least.

"The prefect of Chizhou asked for a visit."

"Oh my god, they are going to starve me to death. Wouldn't they discuss it together?" Deng Ming put down his job heavily, stood up angrily, and followed Mu Tan to meet the visitors for the third time.

"Prince Chen is here."

After seeing the visitor, Deng Mingcai opened his mouth and said, "The Lord of Chizhou opposite fell to the ground and whimpered, "I pay homage to the Admiral, my heart is in Cao's camp and in Han..."

I was really not in the mood to watch the officials performing again. Deng Ming, who was in a hurry to go back for dinner, interrupted him impatiently: "No need to say anything about the prefect Chen, I know your difficulties. Do you mean that as long as I don't hit your Chizhou Prefecture, you are willing to give me some benefits? If so, you should quickly tell me the benefits you are willing to give me. I am really busy today."

"That's right." Deng Ming was so straightforward that the prefect of Chizhou was a little uncomfortable, but he still quickly followed Deng Ming's rhythm and began to express his conditions one by one.

Although the prefect of Chizhou tried its best to plunder the troops under its jurisdiction, it only collected more than a thousand armored soldiers in the end. The prefect personally paraded the military and found that less than two-thirds of the more than a thousand green camps had armor. Even if they had armor, they might not have participated in several training sessions. The morale was even more shady. A large number of soldiers transferred from the prefectures and counties openly discussed whether to hand over the armor to the Ming army and then take a tael of silver home. They didn't even avoid the officers in the prefectures!

Just the day before yesterday, the prefect of Chizhou did not lead the guards, but only had a few staff members to inspect the military camps in the south of the city. When entering the military camp, he heard the soldiers inside shouting horns. Then the prefect saw a large number of soldiers standing in the camps, practicing in sweat.

Seeing this, the prefect was very moved. He looked around for a while before the trainees discovered that when the officers and soldiers came up to apologize in fear, the Chizhou Prefect, who was in a comfortable mood, not only encouraged them with kind words, but also rewarded the soldiers of the battalion. When receiving the reward, the officers and soldiers below all looked very strange, as if they were mixed with shame, panic, and wanting to laugh but not daring to laugh.

After returning to the yamen, the prefect praised the officers of the Green Camp in the south camp to the guards who did not follow him, saying that he had regained some confidence in sticking to Chizhou. Although the officers of the guards around him felt unbelievable, since they had seen it with their own eyes, how could there be any falsehood? They were immediately flattered and sent to him.

After enjoying the compliment with pride, the prefect of Chizhou Chen asked these guard officers to answer his questions: "The exercise I saw today was completely different from the past. I thought about it and didn't know what it was for the battlefield?" As he said that, the prefect of Chizhou described the scene he saw to these confidant officers: "After a command, the soldiers inserted the swords and guns in their hands to the ground, then hugged their heads and squatted on the ground. Then they would stand up again, pick up the swords and guns, and then they would whistle up again, and squat down again, holding their heads and squat down like flying. The official felt that their soldiers were very well trained, and they were extremely skillful and neat, just like a person. It was really pleasing to the eye. What is the use of this on the battlefield?"

When the prefect of Chizhou was happily recounting his experiences, the faces of the guard officers around him became paler and paler. They had all heard of Deng Ming's habit of fighting in Nanjing and other places. After the prefect finished speaking, the officers of the guard were silent for a while, and suddenly jumped up and rushed towards the prefect. Suddenly, everyone reacted as if they were being stabbed by bees, rushing to hug the prefect Chen's thighs, and they all cried in tears: "Master, this Chizhou cannot be guarded, so I'd better find a way!"

While Deng Ming and the prefect of Chizhou were busy reaching a consensus, Zhou Kaihuang and Ren Tangliu reached his camp. The former was to report the recent literacy progress, while the latter had just picked up a thousand soldiers and two thousand prisoners who could serve as auxiliary soldiers, and came to Deng Ming to leave the camp for approval.

"Why is the Admiral left so much food?" Ren Tang looked at the food on the table and said strangely: "The Admiral usually has no left food."

"Who told you? The Admiral's leftover meal is normal. Now there is no leftover meal just because he is in the army. Do you know how the Admiral was seen strange by Duke Jingguo at the beginning?" Zhou Kaihuang proudly told Ren Tang about the scene when he first met Deng Ming. It was also a good thing to add fuel to the fact that Deng Ming did not eat anything clean.

As he said that, Zhou Kaihuang picked up the bowl and ate it. Ren Tang was stunned when he saw this: "Have you had dinner before?"

"I've eaten it, but I'm a little hungry." Zhou Kaihuang's mouth was stuffed with food and replied vaguely: "Anyway, the admiral won't eat it anymore."

"Well," Ren Tang looked at Zhou Kaihuang and ate and drank for a while, and also went to get the wooden barrel for serving rice: "I seem to be a little hungry, too."

...

"You two guys!" After Deng Ming returned to the camp, he saw clean wooden barrels, and Zhou Kaihuang and Ren Tang were tiring leisurely with wooden branches at the table.

Deng Ming was furious, and the two guys realized that the commander was still hungry. Zhou Kaihuang hurried out and asked the guards to do it. Ren Tang said kindly at the side and comforted him. Find out why it was so late today before Deng Ming had eaten. Ren Tang immediately said with a smile: "Congratulations to the Admiral, Zhou Gong vomited and the whole world was returned."

While waiting for the rice to be ready, Deng Ming was hungry and discussed their work with Zhou Kaihuang. Ren Tang saw that the two guys were burping each other from time to time when they were reporting, Deng Ming was so angry that he grinded his teeth secretly.

Perhaps seeing Deng Ming's hatred, Ren Tang explained to Zhou Kaihuang an allusion that Zhou Gong vomited food, saying that this was a good omen, and finally praised: "With the view of a humble position, the wise admiral is probably better than Zhou Gong!"

"Mr. Zhou vomited three times in one meal, and he was even more virtuous than Duke Zhou, but he vomited four times?" Zhou Kaihuang said on the side: "It's good to have four times, so it's just right for the prefect Chen and his team to gather a table of mahjong."

"Thank you for your good words, but there is still no need." Deng Ming waved his hand quickly, saying that he was definitely not as wise as Zhou Gong and did not want to pursue this state. While speaking, Deng Ming finally waited for the newly prepared supper.

"Okay, at least it's hot." Deng Ming always looked at everything. When he smelled the aroma of the food, he felt that his appetite seemed to be so hungry that he began to hurt, and he had to pour the food down immediately.

"Admiral--"

Mu Tan appeared at the entrance of the camp. When he opened his mouth and spoke, Ren Tang and Zhou Kaihuang saw Deng Ming, who was sitting at the door of the tent, trembling all over his body, as if he was being frightened the most violently.

"The magistrate of Taiping Prefecture, bring all his subordinates to the magistrates to come and ask for the admiral."

Bang!

Deng Ming slapped the chopsticks on the table and said angrily: "Where are they here? Do you think the Governor of Liangjiang? Come and join in the fun. My place is the Ming army camp, I am the Sichuan Admiral of the Ming Dynasty, not their Governor of Liangjiang! Bomb it away! Blast them out for me!"
Chapter completed!