There was no more entertainment in this era. On various important festivals, Deng Ming could provide the soldiers with food and allowed them to play some gambling games. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the military camp turned into a large kitchen, and steamed buns when they got up early. Some stages were set up around the military camp. After careful reconnaissance, the Ming army determined that there were no signs of Qing army movement around, so in addition to the guards and guards on duty, soldiers could take turns to go out to watch the show. When watching the show, they also provided snacks such as meat buns.

However, the Ming army was not allowed to drink a lot of alcohol, and Deng Ming himself and senior officers of the Sichuan Army were not allowed to drink. Deng Ming was not interested in wine at all, and he was very hostile to traditional realgar wine, thinking that putting this mineral into his stomach was not a good idea.

Before noon, the officer responsible for receiving your work will report to the Jiangning envoy.

This envoy was sent by Jiang Ning Governor Jiang Guozhu. He came to Zhenjiang to celebrate Deng Ming's festival for the Mid-Autumn Festival. After entering the door and meeting Deng Ming, he spoke all kinds of auspicious words, and at the same time took out a gift list and presented it with both hands.

Gifts include jade and gold beads, which are basically mainly wealth, but the ones hanging at the forefront are chickens and ducks. Jiang Guozhu also knew that giving salted ducks to Deng Ming might not necessarily eat them, just to prevent him from poisoning people. Of course, Jiang Guozhu would not think that he could poison Deng Ming to death like this, so he would not consider poisoning. Moreover, whether to eat or not is to give or not is to Jiang Guozhu. He would not owe any gifts.

Deng Ming glanced at the gift list and knew that the items on it were expensive, so he thanked the messenger and put them away. Deng Ming never thought that the Governor Jiangning would send someone to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival for him, so he did not consider returning the gift. However, Deng Ming also knew that the other party probably had never expected him to return the gift.

"I wonder how long the Admiral plans to linger in Jiangnan?" After a few polite words, the envoy asked for Jiang Guozhu: "If the Admiral needs money, Governor Jiang is willing to do his best."

Deng Ming smiled and shook his head: "To be honest, I have some doubts about Governor Jiang's credit. When I left Jiangning last time, Governor Jiang owed me 500,000 taels of silver, but I haven't paid it back yet."

The envoy seemed to know about this, and he replied calmly after hearing Deng Ming's words: "This admiral has really wronged the governor of Jiangning. Last time, the governor moved around and gathered around, and had prepared 500,000 taels of silver, but the admiral left in a hurry with important matters. The governor had no chance to send it to the admiral's army, at least help the admiral to preserve it for the time being."

"Then I'll come here this time. When will Governor Jiang return it to me?" Deng Ming asked. Last time he planned to stay around Nanjing for a long time, because Dasu had arrived in Yangzhou, and Deng Ming's only three thousand soldiers in his hands were more combat-effective. The Zhejiang army still lacked equipment and training at that time. After the Qing army in Nanjing eliminated internal conflicts, it still had a certain threat to the Ming army. But now it is different. Deng Ming's eight thousand soldiers are enough to dispel any unwise thoughts in Jiang Guozhu's mind.

"The Governor hopes to send him when the Governor leaves Jiangnan. I don't know what the Governor wants," the envoy added after he finished speaking: "This is only what the Governor owes the Governor, and as for the money this time, it's a different matter."

"Governor Jiang is intent." Deng Ming nodded and offered some conditions to the envoy. The conditions for withdrawal were numerous and harsh, which was the initial asking price used by Deng Ming to bargain.

After hearing Deng Ming's offer, the messenger's face turned pale. He knew that these requests were not met by Jiang Guozhu. However, before the messenger opened his mouth to beg, Deng Ming said to him: "You can't make the decision on this matter, just take my words back to Governor Jiang."

In addition to bargaining, Deng Ming also has the purpose of delaying time. If he comes up with a reasonable clause, what if Jiang Guozhu agrees in one go? Since Deng Ming doesn't know when he can leave, then he should delay it first by negotiating. Anyway, Deng Ming will not cease the battle during the negotiation to show sincerity.

Last time Jiang Guozhu and Deng Ming negotiated outside Nanjing, they initially used Guan Qizhen's subordinates, but later Guan Qizhen gave up on himself and replaced him with his confidant. Deng Ming, the envoy sent this time, had also seen Deng Ming. However, Deng Ming did not know whether the envoy knew about Liang Huafeng's situation, so he did not say it to him clearly, but asked him to take the words back to Jiang Guozhu: "In addition to Governor Jiang, there are people in Nanjing who owe me some money. I wonder if Governor Jiang will help me get it back?"

The envoy was stunned for two seconds after hearing this, and asked tentatively: "Is the admiral talking about General Liang?"

Since the envoy knew about this, Deng Ming did not need to be vague. He smiled and said, "Yes, General Liang also owes me some money."

Of course, Jiang Guozhu knew about this. After he and Liang Huafeng killed Lang Tingzuo and Guan Qizhong, they found that Deng Ming had eaten the previous family and the next family as soon as they confessed. As a hostile camp, they could still bet at this point. Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng were so angry that they cursed. Naturally, this envoy knew about the happiness of Jiang Guozhu.

Seeing that the messenger had hesitant expression on his face, Deng Ming reminded: "Governor Jiang and Admiral Liang have promised me that each person has one part. If Governor Jiang doesn't believe it, you will know if you ask Admiral Liang in person."

"I know, I will definitely bring the words to the governor." The envoy woke up. He was not allowed to agree to this matter. This time Jiang Guozhu sent him here to test it and see if Deng Ming intends to negotiate.

After nothing else, Deng Ming asked the guards to take the messenger to entertain him. He could drink wine at will without saying a good meal.

Shortly after Jiang Guozhu's envoy left the camp, the guards came to report again: The envoys sent by Lin Qilong, the governor of the canal transportation, and Liang Huafeng, the admiral of Jiangnan, arrived.

Although they are all in Yangzhou, they are two messengers who give gifts, and the gift list is completely different. Lin Qilong's gift is similar to Jiang Guozhu, some gold and jade toys and utensils, and one with one swordfish, a shad, a pufferfish, and a bass, all of which are alive. Liang Huafeng's Mid-Autumn Festival gifts are all gold bars, and the gifts on his head are a pair of beautiful maids.

Deng Ming thought for a while and they were both in Yangzhou, and the messengers also came together. It was unlikely that they would not have passed the air in advance, but the gift was very different.

"Probably they don't know what I like, right? So they bet on both sides. The things given by one business and one martial arts are completely different. There is always one that can satisfy me?" Deng Ming was not very sure about his own speculation, but he did not spend too much effort to guess Yangzhou's idea. Soon he asked Liang Huafeng's messenger to go down to have tea first and talk to Lin Qilong's messenger first.

"Is there anything wrong with Governor Lin?" Recently, Lin Qilong's envoy ran to Zhenjiang very hard. Fortunately, Yangzhou is not far from Zhenjiang, and the envoy arrived day and night.

Compared with the Governor of Liangjiang, the Governor of the Governor of the Grain Transport was limited. Lin Qilong could travel more conveniently on the canal, but Deng Ming did not intend to send ships into the canal, so Lin Qilong's power was not very useful to Deng Ming. However, today Lin Qilong's messenger really had no bargaining task. He told Deng Ming that basic knowledge was just to celebrate Deng Ming's Mid-Autumn Festival, and he could wait until the festival to talk about it.

Deng Ming politely asked about Lin Qilong’s recent situation, and then asked the envoy to go down and invite Liang Huafeng’s envoy.

Like Lin Qilong's envoy, Liang Huafeng had no business to discuss with Deng Ming immediately. Compared with Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong, Liang Huafeng could be called very idle. As a military officer, Liang Huafeng only needs to obey orders and train the troops to conduct offensive and defensive operations. Negotiations and weighing gains and losses have basically nothing to do with Liang Huafeng.

Deng Ming casually asked Liang Huafeng's envoy about the recent situation in Yangzhou. The envoy told Deng Ming that the martial law inside and outside Yangzhou is now solid and the idle people cannot enter and exit.

In addition to this kind of self-proclaimed self-proclaimed, Liang Huafeng's messenger also told Deng Ming an interesting thing, that is, merchants in Huizhou once found Liang Huafeng, hoping that he could send troops to protect the salt ship through the canal.

Deng Ming was also quite restrained by the Qing army's warships. As long as it was not a large number of troops transported, the Ming army retreated to the Qing army's warships with green flags. This was mainly to cover people's eyes and let the people see that the canal fleets in Huguang and Jiangxi were not too strange when they passed safely.

In addition to the canal ships, there are some official ships in Huguang and Jiangxi. Of course, the Ming army would not intercept these enemy ships with agreements. The Qing army also tacitly did not arrange large groups of ships to challenge the Ming army. Therefore, on the Yangtze River and canals, the Qing army and the Ming army were often seen clearly distinguishing.

This scene caused some misjudgment among the people, believing that the Ming army was still afraid of the Qing army's navy. Therefore, the salt merchants hoped that the Qing army could dispatch troops to protect their salt ships and assist the salt merchants' transport ships to break through the Ming army's blockade and inspection.

Deng Ming was very interested in this topic, so he started chatting with Liang Huafeng's envoy. He didn't want to get a lot of information from the envoy - the envoy knew a lot, but he was not particularly serious. He even told Deng Ming with a smile: "The Admiral probably doesn't know yet. Now these merchants are shouting in Yangzhou, saying that the Admiral sent troops specifically to attack them, hahaha, haha, is that ridiculous?"

Since Deng Ming went downstream from Wuchang, he has always intercepted, confiscated and had no room for peace of mind for Huai Yan. The officers in Deng Ming's army have discussed the issue of salt industry. Every officer knows that this is related to the people's livelihood in Chengdu, and is related to their family, relatives and friends, and it is also the main purpose of Deng Ming's dispatch of troops this time. Therefore, the Ming army will not only not misunderstand Deng Ming's determination, but also have a completely consistent wish with Deng Ming, and the investigation of Huai Yan is very strict.

After the Ming army arrived in Zhenjiang, the transportation between the canal and the Yangtze River was completely in the hands of the Ming army. Deng Ming did not completely cut off the transportation of the canal, just like he had not completely cut off the shipping of the Yangtze River before. This is the ace used by Deng Ming to threaten Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong. The latter two did not know what the consequences would be after the shipping of the canal was completely cut off again. This unknown aggravated their fear. If Deng Ming came up and cut off the shipping, the consequences would be difficult to predict and might be very effective. Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong chose to bow their knees, but it may also lead to them stumble against Deng Ming to the end. Moreover, this kind of thing will inevitably offend many forces. Deng Ming, who always had the idea of ​​fighting and pulling, was unwilling to do things.

But Huai Yan was different, and the Ming army ruthlessly banned it. Huai Shangs were of course surprised by such obvious discrimination policy, but because Huai Shangs got a lot of privileges from the Qing Dynasty, they were not willing to blatantly bribe Deng Ming - they were not willing, either, the interests of Huai Shangs were tied to the central government of the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, for a long time before, the Huai Shangs did not act as a group. They were just instinctively disgusted with Deng Ming. The Ming army interfered with the shipping of Huai Yan to the Yangtze River in Jiangnan and Huguang, and threatened the Qing government, which gave salt merchants great privileges. Of course, this aroused hostility from salt merchants. Every time the salt merchants discussed the war on the Yangtze River, they urgently hoped that the Governor of Liangjiang and the Governor of Huguang could clear the bandit Deng Ming as soon as possible and restore the normal order of Yangtze River shipping.

The subsequent actions of the Ming army aroused the hatred of salt merchants. Deng Ming was willing to spend time and energy to distinguish the interests of local governments and central governments, but he adopted a simple and crude attitude towards Huai merchants. Some salt merchants who specialized in Huguang business tried to bribe Deng Ming's subordinates after their business became difficult, and these private behaviors were also rejected. Then the salt industry in Jiangxi was hit hard. The Ming army not only did not allow Huai salt to go up to Wuchang, but also kept Jiujiang and did not allow Huai salt to enter Poyang Lake. At this point, those salt merchants who sold salt to Jiangxi also joined the team cursing Deng Ming; then it was western Jiangsu; and now it was a pot of bribes. The Ming army seized the canal exit, and could not leave a salt ship, so they could only try to disguise themselves as other types of cargo ships for entrainment.

Because the Ming army was short of staff and Deng Ming wanted to show his kindness to the gentry around him, the Ming army was far from able to examine every cargo ship. As long as the salt merchants were divided into small pieces, they could still send salt into the Yangtze River. Even if someone was occasionally found in the Ming army's random inspection, the number was very limited. The boss of the ship responsible for transporting salt could still pretend to be pitiful, claiming that it was a personal act, and then crying and saying that the old and young waited for the rice to be put into the pot. The Ming army inspected the soldiers and would often be soft-hearted, and would not pursue them relentlessly, but let them return with the goods.

Although the Ming army's inspection system had many loopholes, far inferior to the professional private teams of the Qing Dynasty, as long as Deng Ming's ban was present, salt merchants could not prevent the fleet from transporting, and the number of smuggling was limited and the cost was greatly increased. And by this time, the Hui merchants in Yangzhou finally confirmed that the Ming army's hostility towards salt merchants was from the top and popularized the entire army.

More and more news came, pointing out that Mingjun took an uncompromising attitude towards salt merchants and refused to accept bribes when they fell from above. Even Deng Ming's full meeting also leaked out and spread to the ears of Yangzhou salt merchants - they knew even earlier than Zhang Huangyan.

At first, most salt merchants found this unbelievable. The Ming army launched a large-scale move not to conquer cities, but to protect the business in the Ming army's territory. However, as the Ming army meticulously implemented the blockade, more and more salt merchants began to believe the authenticity of the news. However, until today, people outside the salt merchants still do not believe Deng Ming's purpose of sending troops was to protect Sichuan salt merchants. Not only did the Qing officialdom, but the local gentry did not believe, even Deng Ming's alliance also sneered. Zhang Huangyan had been with Deng Ming and had many heart-to-heart talks, but after hearing this news, Zhang Huangyan just sneered and didn't want to listen to it again. Now, in Zhang Huangyan's view, the purpose of Deng Ming's dispatch of troops was to blackmail the Qing officials in Jiangnan.

Although the officialdoms of the Ming and Qing dynasties, local gentry, and even businessmen in other industries thought this statement was ridiculous, the salt merchants themselves could not take it lightly. The day the Ming army arrived in Zhenjiang, the strict blockade policy was implemented, and the Hui merchants who sold salt to Zhejiang immediately responded. Disguising and entraining was a countermeasure that had been thought of. When the Ming army was still circling around Anqing, the salt merchants had already begun to consider how they should survive if the canal was cut off.

While carrying out entrainment transportation, Yangzhou salt merchants held a large-scale meeting, and the discussion was about how to deal with the threat from the Ming army. If the Ming army only stayed for a short period of time, the damage to the salt merchants was not irreversible. Some large salt merchants would not be unable to recover even if they were cultivated for several months. But for many small salt merchants, if the shipping was cut off from another quarter to half a year, the damage they suffered would be fatal.

The last time Zheng Chenggong attacked the Yangtze River, the salt merchant group donated a large amount of money to the Qing Dynasty. He wanted to make up for the losses after repelling Zheng Chenggong, but he encountered Deng Ming's disruption, resulting in the delay of shipping. Before the business was fully restored this year, the Ming army invaded Jiangnan again on a large scale, and the blockade against salt merchants was much more severe than when Zheng Chenggong invaded the last time. After all, Zheng Chenggong targeted the Qing army, but it was just inconvenient transportation; and now he encountered the Sichuan army targeted the salt merchants.

The merchants who smuggled salt to Zhejiang spoke at the conference, saying that this kind of smuggling would continue to be the price of official salt, making private salt more rampant and official salt become less competitive. In the past, the Qing Dynasty's private prosecution targeted smugglers who did not attract salt, but now the Ming army is facing salt merchants. Even if the Ming army's inspection system is flawed, this eliminates the biggest advantage of salt merchants and pulls them to the same level as smugglers.

In addition, salt merchants have been working hard to establish their own marketing channels in various places to obtain the profits of salt sales. In addition to a large amount of funds, they also require a steady supply of goods. The blockade of the Ming army will cut off the main income of salt merchants and make the sales stores they have established in various places lose money every day. Even for the big salt merchants who are worried about survival, Deng Ming's blockade will make their efforts waste and make their power quickly retreat ten years ago.
Chapter completed!