Although salt merchants have both a sense of crisis and a plan, it is very difficult to implement. After giving a proposal to the merchants selling salt in Jiangnan, those merchants holding salt in various northern provinces clearly expressed their opposition. Last year's donation has caused great losses to the salt merchants in the north, and Zheng Chenggong's attack has nothing directly to them. The last time he was willing to pay money was already a helping hand among his peers. This time they were no longer willing to donate huge sums of money for wars that had nothing to do with them.

In fact, after Zheng Gongcheng's defeat last time, northern salt merchants had some complaints. After the crisis, many people began to doubt the role of donating money. People thought that even if they gave less money, they could win. More extreme thought that even if they didn't donate to Jiangning, they could defeat the Fujian army, so the huge amount they took out could be saved.

"These are unscrupulous merchants." The governor of the Cao Transportation Department heard about similar remarks from the salt merchants. When Liang Huafeng's envoy said this, he couldn't help but show contempt. The former governor of the Cao Transportation was killed in the war, and there were still people in the salt merchant group who felt heartbroken about money. Don't they know that their entire wealth was given to the court?

The messenger's answer made Deng Ming feel slightly relaxed. When the messenger mentioned the meeting of the salt merchant group just now, Deng Ming was a little nervous, worried that the Qing court would fight back, protect their business groups, or fight back against Deng Ming's business groups. Compared with the wealthy Hui merchants, Sichuan salt merchants were obviously less able to withstand the blow, and Zhang Changgeng was also unreliable. If the pressure from the Qing court was very high and he felt that he would be implicated, Deng Ming would probably regret the appointment and retreat.

Deng Ming showed great interest in this topic and continued to discuss it with the envoy, who also generously shared with Deng Ming all the news he learned from the Governor's Office of the Governor of the Valley Transportation. If Deng Ming showed a little interest in Yangzhou city defense and the deployment of the Qing army around him, the envoy would immediately become alert, but now he knew everything and said everything, because Deng Ming asked about completely irrelevant things. It was worth using some interesting stories from merchants to bring closer relationship with Deng Ming. The envoy felt that this would better complete the task assigned to him by the Admiral of Jiangnan, and there was no need to hide such irrelevant trivial matters.

According to the envoy, the merchants among the salt merchants in Huizhou who used the southern salt indicative of salt were not fully agreed with the proposal.

Even though Deng Ming issued a clear ban, the Sichuan Army was extremely tough towards the salt merchants in Huizhou - this attitude was extremely rare, and the Sichuan Army was quite friendly and gentle to other industries - but some Hui merchants still believed that it was ridiculous to say that "Deng Ming sent troops to Jiangnan to attack Huaiyan". All those with insight know that this was the Ming court and the Qing court were competing for the world, and for Deng Ming, who had a mysterious life experience, if the Ming court won, he would probably be the biggest beneficiary.

The owner of the dragon throne sitting in the Forbidden City is Deng Ming's opponent. Even if the Ming army is weak, at least the senior officials of the governor must be qualified to be the target of Deng Ming's attack. The merchants are the last of the four, and even the princes and ministers will not take them seriously, let alone figures at the lord level. If the Huai Shang promotes Deng Ming everywhere to regard them as opponents, they will definitely be regarded as shameless by those with insights. They have seen those who raise their own value, but have never seen such a way of raising their pride.

In addition to the lack of confidence in Huai merchants, there is also fear. Salt merchants may be the richest group in China in this era, and even the royal family could not compare with it. In Deng Ming's previous life, when Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, he was warmly welcomed by Huizhou salt merchants. The financial resources shown by the salt merchants made Qianlong feel unimaginable and shocked. However, no matter how rich the merchants were, they were still merchants with no political status. The money they donated to the Qing court was just to exchange for a smile from the government. If one day, Huai Shangxi

I hope the government can give special treatment to his filial piety. They have no right to ask what the money is used for by the government, let alone affect the government's policies. In essence, this is no different from the dog's sobbing and rolling under the feet of the owner. It does not contain the elements of transactions but simply flattering. Some businessmen are worried that it may not be good if they are too much. Donating is a kind of money after all. In the political system of this era, officials with huge power can easily have the idea of ​​killing people and seizing money when they see that Hui merchants without political status are so rich.

This speculation is actually not unreasonable. Traditionally, it is important to pay attention to wealth and not revealing it, largely because people are unable to protect their property. In Deng Ming's previous life, Qianlong sighed that the salt merchants were "wealthy financial resources", and returned to Beijing to weave a crime, and sent a large number of salt merchants who had served him to prison and searched their homes.

Without sufficient response, the proposed matter would naturally be left unresolved. Several people still refused to give up and went to ask for the Governor of the Cao Transportation Lin Qilong. When checking the cash, Lin Qilong smiled and praised these people for their loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and they must submit a report to the court to ask them for a plaque. However, there was an ignorant salt merchant who took the liberty to ask the Governor of the Cao Transportation what plans were and whether he could drive Deng Ming back to the upper reaches in the short term.

Lin Qilong, who was originally smiling and smiling, suddenly looked frost when he heard this problem. He didn't even scold him and left. Several other salt merchants hurriedly stood up to sue him, but failed to make Lin Qilong change his mind, but they were bombarded out of the yamen. In Lin Qilong's opinion, these salt merchants were strictly speaking, pigs raised by the court. The salt induced is equivalent to feed for pigs, and the fatter the better. If the pig is very tactful and knows that when the owner is hungry, the owner will be very happy. But the problem of this salt merchant is like a pig in a circle, accusing the owner of the poor food and pointing fingers at the owner's breeding method.

Lin Qilong's anger is similar to the master who was taught a lesson by a pig. When did the businessmen's turn to interrupt the country's affairs? Even successful businessmen can only be appendixes to emperors, officials, and gentry.

Another point is that if the enemy is Zheng Chenggong, with the sole purpose of taking Nanjing and restoring the Southeast, Lin Qilong might be slightly better for the merchants who can provide military expenditures to encourage them to spend more money to assist Lin Qilong in defending the canal transportation. But now the enemy opposite is Deng Ming, who always leaves room for work, but these merchants attempt to influence Lin Qilong's decisions, making him risk angering Deng Ming and losing everything to defend the salt merchant's money. This is really arrogant!

Since Lin Qilong has such logic, he naturally would not believe in nonsense such as "Deng Ming sent troops to fight for the interests of Sichuan Yan".

The Governor of the Cao Transportation did not know all the ideas of the salt merchants, and the messenger passed it to Deng Ming was even more incomplete, but even so Deng Ming understood it roughly. Deng Ming's companions actually had similar ideas, but most of them belonged to the "less-informed" group of people. They were all illiterate a year ago. They believed whatever Deng Ming said, and their discrimination against merchants was not too strong.

After some consideration, Deng Ming summoned Lin Qilong's envoy again and asked him about the reaction of the Huai Yan merchant. The insiders of the Governor of the Grain Transportation Office knew that it was indeed much clearer than Liang Huafeng's people. There was probably no difference in the situation, but Lin Qilong's envoy added some details.

The salt merchant's trivial matter has been discussed for most of the time. Deng Ming's inquiry was detailed and serious, obviously not the attitude he should have when he was chatting. When he talked about it later, Lin Qilong's messenger showed a strange look, and Liang Huafeng's messenger was also thinking. They obviously all doubted Deng Ming's purpose, but they still couldn't guess Deng Ming's real intention.

After some consideration, Deng Ming said to Liang Huafeng's envoy, "I came to Jiangnan this time to crack down on Huai salt and protect Sichuan salt smuggling."

Because it involves Zhang Changgeng, Sichuan salt smuggling is a unified external caliber for the top leaders of the Ming army, including the officers' meeting held by Deng Ming. The reason given to the officers was also to block the transportation of Huai salt to help increase the price of private salt. Deng Ming told the two envoys: "The salt merchant in Huizhou said it well. My original purpose of launching troops in Jiangnan this time was to attack Huai salt."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qilong and Liang Huafeng's messengers laughed, their laughter was cheerful and their expressions were natural. When their commanders used to ridicule and mock the enemy, they would laugh from the bottom of their hearts, no matter whether it was funny or not. Therefore, after hearing Deng Ming's words, both of them were so skillful that they began to support them.

In order to show that he was not a joke, Deng Ming repeated it seriously, in return for the two of them knowingly smiles... After saying it several times, Liang Huafeng's subordinates reacted a little, put away their smiles, and asked with a strange expression: "Admiral's words are serious?"

"Of course." Deng Ming was already a little angry. He told the two envoys angrily: "Take my words back and tell Governor Lin and Admiral Liang."

Liang Huafeng's messenger stood up and hesitated not knowing how to answer. When a high-ranking local person said obviously absurd words seriously, the only thing he should do was to smile back and forth to show that the other party's words were indeed wonderful and hit the nail on the head, but today his face hurts, and Admiral Deng still repeated again and again - When is this the beginning?

After looking at his companions who came to Zhenjiang, the two messengers finally stopped laughing, but solemnly replied: "See the order."

"Very good." Deng Ming signaled that they could go out for a rest. The Ming army would prepare tea for them and a festive meal for them at night.

Originally, Deng Ming was still hesitating whether he should have implied that Jiang Guozhu's envoy was also here. Unexpectedly, Lin Qilong's envoy actually asked, saying that if Jiang Guozhu also sent an envoy to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, they would like to meet him. Obviously, Deng Ming underestimated the degree of protection of officials. No matter which official sent an envoy to Deng Ming, they were not afraid of colleagues who had the same behavior as them. On the contrary, they could also form alliances and gain a sense of security.

The guards were sent to ask, and when they saw that Jiang Guozhu's envoy was not opposed, Deng Ming asked the guards to arrange for them to stay together, and they might as well have dinner together.

After seeing off the people from Yangzhou, Deng Ming, who had been tired for a day, leaned on his back on a chair and closed his eyes to rest. At this time, Mu Tan flashed into the central army's tent and reported: "Just when the admiral met the envoy of Yangzhou, the envoys from Taiping Prefecture, Chizhou Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture arrived. Which one was the admiral going to see first?"

Deng Ming seemed to have not heard it, and he still kept his eyes closed and rested, just lifted up one hand and gently rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Latest military information!" When Deng Ming was not convinced, another person came from outside the Central Army's tent. After seeing Deng Ming's appearance, he did not dare to speak loudly, but said a few words to Mu Tan. After hearing this, Mu Tan turned his head to look at Deng Ming again and reported loudly: "

"I heard it." Deng Ming, who had closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and cut off Mu Tan who had only said four words. Although the soldier did not shout loudly, the central army tent was not very big. Every word the soldier said clearly came into Deng Ming's ears: "The Anqing Prefecture and Changzhou Prefecture are also here, right?"

"Suzhou, Changzhou, haven't I been there yet? Why are they here to join in the fun?" Deng Ming rubbed his nose and his face was exhausted. In the past two days, he would march again, meet with Zhang Huangyan and Ma Fengzhi, train the troops and buy supplies. Now he actually met with the local envoy of the Qing court: "Luzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture... I guess they are coming soon, are they treating me as the Governor's Office of Liangjiang again? I dare say that their gifts are definitely in duplicate, one to Jiangning and the other to me."

Speaking of this, Deng Ming suddenly stopped. After a moment, he closed his eyes and shook his head, denying what he had just said: "No! I am not the Governor General of Liangjiang, how could Jiang Guozhu give me a gift? Besides, there is also the Governor General of the Cao Transportation, I am obviously the Military Affairs Office."

After saying that, Deng Ming put down his hand and opened his eyes: "The Military Affairs Office did not meet him anytime you want? Let them all go to rest first, so be calm. When everyone is here, I will meet you together and receive the gifts together. Now I will go to have a meal first and then sleep for a while."

These envoys from Qing court officials were placed together. The two governors and many confidants of the prefects had met before. Those who were familiar asked about family matters, and those who were not familiar with each other quickly asked acquaintances to make friends.

The friendship that was gained by language alone was still unreliable. Soon someone proposed an initiative to request the Ming soldiers outside the camp. The Ming army readily agreed to their request, and Mu Tan had long explained that he should try his best to meet the requirements of these envoys.

Soon the Ming soldiers brought a few tables. The Qing army envoys and deputy envoys surrounded the left, talking about good strategies to deal with Deng Ming while playing mahjong. Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong's envoys sat opposite the door at the card table, which was also the main spokesperson of the Zhuge Liang meeting; Liang Huafeng's envoys sat between the two and expressed their opinions from time to time; in addition, the people at the card table and the few who were forbidden bye also interjected a few words from time to time.

After playing the cards for two laps, someone came from Hefei and Hezhou, and someone immediately shouted to the Ming army outside the tent: "Add a table of mahjong!"

...Another table...Another table...

During the reshuffle, Liang Huafeng's messenger looked up and glanced around the tent. It was densely packed with Qing officials. When he lowered his head to build the cards, he suddenly whispered: "To be a thief, to be the Admiral Deng, should this thief be too successful or too failed?"

...

After dinner, Deng Ming still had no time to take a nap, but instead brought Zhou Kaihuang, Mu Tan and Ren Tang, three confidant generals, to discuss external issues with them. Deng Ming planned to truthfully announce the purpose of his trip to the Liangjiang officialdom, and stated that he wanted to support Sichuan salt merchants.

Mu Tan was a little puzzled about this: "If Luting knew our true intention, would it cause us some trouble?"

"Are you afraid that the Lugong court will support the Hui merchants?" Deng Ming asked back. He suspected that the Qing court knew that his purpose was to attack the salt merchants in Lianghuai, and he might not have reacted to it. In his conversation with the envoy of Yangzhou just now, Deng Ming felt that the salt merchants were not worth mentioning in the eyes of the other party, and the two governors were even more unlikely to fight for their future for them: "And in the eyes of the Lugong court, merchants do not work for production, but only accumulate wealth from the people. Even if I cut them off temporarily, this wealth is not short, and it is still on the land of Liangjiang. As long as I did not seize the land, this wealth will still be in their hands and not lost, it is just a little troublesome to accumulate." Deng Ming made a judgment with full confidence.

"Is there any problem with the Luting's view?" Ren Tang asked in confusion. He felt that this statement was correct. Merchants did not produce grain or products. Since they were just moving things around, of course there was no shortage of wealth. However, what the Qing court did not know was that the Sichuan salt chambers of state took advantage of the situation and marched into Huguang to help Deng Ming gather the people's fat and ointment into the hands of the Ming army.

"Of course the troops, farmers, workers and merchants are all creating wealth," said Deng Ming.

Ren Tang shook his head and said tactfully that he did not understand Deng Ming's words, and he would never agree. In Ren Tang's view, businessmen may not be able to say that they can get something for nothing, but they are undoubtedly exploiting those workers. They have not produced anything but can earn wealth, which is obviously taking advantage of them.

"It's a bit off topic." Deng Ming suppressed the urge to argue with Ren Tang and brought the topic back to track in time: "And the content of the officer's full experience before I sent the troops has been spread to Yangzhou and Huai'an. It's meaningless for me to hide it anymore. It's better to say it explicitly. If Zhang Shangshu found out, he would think that I was hiding it from him."

The content of the officers' full-time meeting was passed on to the soldiers, and then passed it to the auxiliary soldiers from the armored soldiers, and then the people who came to trade with the Ming army. Deng Ming felt that it would not be concealed by it anyway, so it would be better to admit it directly and strive for Zhang Huangyan and the others' understanding. There is no need to spend time to conceal a message that is destined to be known.

"And it can also make Jiang Guozhu, Lin Qilong and others no longer suspicious. I see their envoys, but they are still secretly worried, afraid that I will attack their base. After Jiang Guozhu and Lin Qilong have acquainted with my purpose, they will be able to negotiate with confidence."

Mu Tan and Zhou Kaihuang had no objection to this decision, especially Zhou Kaihuang, which was definitely a "people without knowledge" in this era. After the officer meeting, Zhou Kaihuang wholeheartedly believed that Deng Ming had only one reason for sending troops, that is, to attack the salt merchants in Lianghuai and support the Sichuan salt industry. Mu Tan may not be as confident as Zhou Kaihuang, but it is not much different.

Seeing that both of them agreed with Deng Ming's opinion, Ren Tang no longer objected, but he did not leave with the other two, but stayed alone and asked Deng Ming seriously: "When the admiral decided to send troops in Wuchang, was it really for Boss Ye and the others? Instead of harassing Jiangnan, did he not think of Jiangxi's porcelain at that time?"

Ren Tang knew that Deng Ming had never deceived him, but this doubt in his heart could not be eliminated. Every time he remembered that Deng Ming was sending troops for a group of merchants, he always felt an unforgettable absurdity.

"Time travelers are lonely." Deng Ming sighed in his heart. He didn't know that Zhou Peigong had analyzed his wife's purpose of his actions, otherwise he would definitely be a confidant.
Chapter completed!