Three days later, Deng Ming still did not get the approval letter from the Governor of the Cao Transportation. Lin Qilong felt that Deng Ming's conditions were very harsh, but he did not dare to object, so he couldn't help but start delaying the time. Seeing that Lin Qilong didn't even have a counter-suggestion, Deng Ming knew that this would not go smoothly - the other party didn't know how to bargain.

Moreover, the more he thought about this, the more Lin Qilong thought. When the Governor of the Canal Transportation Army faced the threat of force from the Ming army, he felt that he would definitely not be spared, so he gave gifts and started negotiations. Unfortunately, Deng Ming did not seize this opportunity, and because he was concerned about the influence among the people in Jiangnan, he did not completely cut off the canal traffic and prevent all shipping, including civilian ships.

When Lin Qilong discovered this, he began to suspicion again, thinking that perhaps Deng Ming's force was not as powerful as he thought, so he did not seize Yangzhou by force. Therefore, Lin Qilong decided to make preparations, on the one hand, continue to negotiate with Deng Ming, and on the other hand, he prepared to defend the canal by force and expel the Ming army.

The order of the Governor of the Canal Transport frightened Liang Huafeng. The armored soldiers he brought from Nanjing were only 3,000, and many of them were local soldiers from the surrounding prefectures and counties, which were much worse than their subordinates during the last battle in Nanjing. Liang Huafeng knew that Deng Ming had brought from Sichuan with the 8,000 armored soldiers. He estimated that the equipment provided by Zhu Guozhi to Deng Ming was enough to arm the joint forces of Zhang Huangyan and Ma Fengzhi. Even with the troops from Yangzhou, fighting hard with Deng Ming was tantamount to hitting stones with eggs. Now it is very difficult to guard the city, let alone defend the canal.

But no matter how Liang Huafeng opposed it, Lin Qilong felt the more he thought about it, and he thought it was reasonable. He believed that Deng Ming was suspected of bluffing, and it might be exposed in a few days, and then he had to withdraw his troops immediately. Therefore, he planned to continue to adopt a procrastination policy and wait until Deng Ming's weakness was exposed.

"It seems that Yangzhou really needs to be hit." On the 19th, Deng Ming summoned officers to urge the entire army to prepare for going deep into the canal.

While the captains were going to prepare, Ren Tang asked Deng Ming: "What is the purpose of our army in this attack? It shouldn't be to take Yangzhou?"

Deng Ming shook his head. Jiangnan is still a ruling area of ​​the Qing army. Yangzhou has no military value to the Sichuan army. Deng Ming doesn't even intend to stick to Zhenjiang, and he will not consider leaving four or five thousand troops in Yangzhou. Deng Ming cannot leave half of the mobile troops in Yangzhou because Yangzhou has no value to him, but it is completely different to the Qing court, and it is even more unforeseen for the Governor of the Valley Transportation. Otherwise, even if he can escape from the Ming army and return to Huai'an Prefecture, he will not be able to escape the Qing court's knife.

"This matter is from the Jiangnan Admiral Liang Huafeng, the Qing Dynasty Admiral Liang Huafeng." Deng Ming waved a letter to Ren Tang, Mu Tan and Zhou Kaihuang, the three men: "Liang Huafeng said that he would only lead his troops to defend Yangzhou, and he would also enter the city as much as possible with the Liangjiang troops outside the city. Although he could not control the price camp and river troops of the Governor of the Grain Transportation Army, his strength was very limited. Liang Huafeng said that he firmly believed that we could annihilate them in one go."

Liang Huafeng did not want Deng Ming to be rampant in Yangzhou Prefecture, because it was the jurisdiction of the Liangjiang Governor's Office after all. If Deng Ming seriously damaged the canal traffic, the court might also vent his anger on Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng while severely punishing Lin Qilong. If Jiang Guozhu lost the opportunity to win the throne of Liangjiang Governor, Liang Huafeng, who was prosperous with him, would suffer. He knew that Jiangxi Governor had a group of military generals who were thinking about his position and wanted to replace him all day long. Therefore, although Yangzhou is not as important as Jiangning, if it could reach a compromise with Deng Ming, Liang Huafeng would never be willing to lose Yangzhou.

Going further, Liang Huafeng was unwilling to Deng Ming to block the canal, because the cutoff of the canal would also cause the court to be furious. In addition to Lin Qilong, who would definitely be unlucky, Jiang Guozhu also had the possibility of being tied up. If he let Lin Qilong continue to make trouble, Deng Ming would likely be furious and retaliated after being played. The more Liang Huafeng thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was very high, and Deng Ming would never tolerate his deterrence.

Since Liang Huafeng could not convince Lin Qilong not to be naughty with his own ability, he had to use external forces. Liang Huafeng wrote this letter late last night and delivered it to Deng Ming this morning.

"Liang Huafeng said that Lin Qilong was lucky. If we did not show our force, he would probably not be obedient. Therefore, our army needed to go to Yangzhou to persuade the governor of the canal to return to the road of win-win..." Deng Ming briefly introduced the content of Liang Huafeng's letter in his own words, but even so, Liang Huafeng still hoped that Deng Ming would not destroy the canal and not let Lin Qilong have no way out and throw out the canal.

"If we don't destroy the canal, how can we force Lin Qilong to kneel?" Mu Tan questioned. Mu Tan's hostility towards Liang Huafeng, a great hero in the Qing army in the Battle of Nanjing, was always very hostile and unconcealed. After hearing Liang Huafeng's request, he immediately expressed his objection: "Remember the admiral said that deterrence has three elements: we have the power to act; we have the determination to use power; we can let the enemy know our power and determination. If we have no crime along the way, Lin Qilong will doubt whether we have the determination to destroy."

"Yes, but Lin Qilong dare not gamble." Deng Ming told everyone that Liang Huafeng also helped the Ming army choose a target: "It is the canal transport terminals near Yangzhou. If these wharfs are lost, the canal transport will be in big trouble next year. These wharfs have been built for many years. The river officers and soldiers of the Governor of the Governor of the Governor of the Governor of the Governor of the Governor of the Governor of the Governor of the Governor of the Governor of the Governor of the Governor of the City will be inspected and renovated every month. Once destroyed, they will never be restored in a short time. Admiral Liang suggested that I defend Yangzhou, defeat the river troops left outside the city by the Governor of the Governor of the City, occupy these seemingly inconspicuous but very important wharfs, as well as the workshops for repairing canal ships along the way, and threaten to burn them all. Admiral Liang asserted that Lin Qilong would definitely bow his head under this threat."

No one can object, because everyone's familiarity with the canal transportation is obviously not comparable to experts like Liang Huafeng, the admiral of Jiangnan, and only Mu Tan still has doubts: "What if Liang Huafeng makes a wrong judgment? What if Lin Qilong still refuses to bow his head? What if Liang Huafeng lies to us? He said that this is important but it is irrelevant."

"We can burn all the wharfs, and then continue to go north and destroy the wharfs from Yangzhou to Huai'an as much as possible; we can also sink ships in the canal, dig the river embankment, and blast the dam. Whether it is important or not, don't think about leaving anything." Zhou Kaihuang said without thinking. As a man from the northwest, he lacks feelings for the southeast: "If the canal is over, not only the Tartars cannot transport grain, but even the Huai salt is over."

Liang Huafeng guessed correctly. After learning that Lin Qilong had noticed that he had changed his mind, Deng Ming immediately had the idea of ​​killing chickens for the monkey. The weaker the strength, the more important the reputation of paying for debts. If Lin Qilong is not severely punished, the fear of Deng Ming by other Qing officials will greatly alleviate. However, the complete destruction of the canal may cause serious losses to the people in Yangzhou and Huaian, and the damage to them may be greater than that given to the Qing court. Besides, it is not easy to completely destroy the shipping of the Grand Canal. The Qing court has no feelings for the people in the Huaiyang area and can mobilize a large number of people to engage in dredging work at any cost. Therefore, Deng Ming did not agree with Zhou Kaiyuan's words, but said: "No need to be so troublesome, we just need to take Yangzhou."

Taking over Yangzhou may cause trouble for Jiang Guozhu and Liang Huafeng, but they may be able to survive and not be investigated. Even if they are investigated, there is nothing to be afraid of Lin Qilong's typical example, as long as they do a good job in this aspect, there is no need to worry about the new Jiangnan officials in the future not giving in.

In addition to giving Deng Ming a copy, Liang Huafeng's letter also sent a copy back to Nanjing. When Deng Ming began to cross the river and attack Yangzhou Prefecture, Jiang Guozhu also obtained a copy of the letter.

"General Liang did a good job." After reading the letter, Jiang Guozhu rewarded the messenger with a large piece of silver. Jiang Guozhu knew very well about Lin Qilong's thoughts, but after he was unable to make Tong Deng's final decision, he always wanted to escape without any damage.

However, Lin Qilong's actions are not only in line with Deng Ming's interests, nor are they in line with the interests of the Liangjiang Governor's Office. Although Jiang Guozhu can hide it if he can, he still hopes that all officials in the world will understand Deng. Even if the court finds out that he is not the one who stands out and stands for everyone.

Jiang Guozhu also knew about the situation of the canal transportation, and Liang Huafeng's suggestion made him very satisfied: "The canal transportation terminals have been destroyed, so there will definitely be a big problem in the canal transportation next year, and Lin Qilong will definitely compromise; but if he is really crazy, Deng Ming will definitely burn the dock and even sink a ship in the canal. In the future, when I cooperate with the canal Governor's Office to repair the dock and unblock the canal, I will never be able to escape my credit."

After Jiang Guozhu rewarded the messenger, he instructed his staff to supervise the various docks more carefully, and never allow an official ship to sail on the Yangtze River section of Nanjing-Zhenjiang, Zhenjiang, with green flags. Although Jiang Guozhu had no warships but only some small boats, he felt that Deng Ming would definitely be on guard, and was worried that there would be hidden water forces in Nanjing. The ban on navigation issued by Jiang Guozhu now is to further eliminate Deng Ming's concerns and ensure that Deng Ming can use all his strength to beat the river officers and soldiers of the Governor of the Canal Transportation Governor.

Lin Qilong's reckless behavior had another advantage for Jiang Guozhu, that was, it helped him attract Deng Ming's attention. Jiang Guozhu had always been worried that Deng Ming would not die in attacking Nanjing, and he had no soldiers and no talent in the shogunate, and urgently needed help from the Governor of Huguang. Now Lin Qilong jumped out by himself. Even if he couldn't hold on for long - Jiang Guozhu felt that this was certain. The Liangjiang troops around Yangzhou City were commanded by Liang Huafeng, and the Yangzhou Prefect was also under Jiang Guozhu's subordinates, so they would definitely not help. At the same time, Jiang Guozhu also sent secret orders to other prefectures and counties in Yangzhou to preserve their strength and strictly maintain neutrality in the conflict between the Ming army and river officers and soldiers - that would also allow Jiang Guozhu to fight for the opportunity to wait for reinforcements for at least a few days. He estimated that Zhang Changgeng might have obtained his letters now.

...

Wuchang, Huguang Governor's Office.

"Sir, please call the official to come, how can I ask what instructions do you have?"

Zhou Peigong has been very busy recently. The shareholders of Wuchang Hawks Group, which is the shareholders of Sichuan Salt Commercial Bank, have been discussing the constitution of the Salt Bank in the past few days. Originally, the acquisition of Sichuan Salt Group was to obtain some compensation for the Hawks Group to reduce the losses of being taxed by Li Laiheng.

But gradually, things changed. From the end of June to now, Yangtze River shipping has been in the hands of the Ming army. In the past, a large number of salt ships would sail from the downstream to Wuchang every day, unloading tens of thousands of kilograms of Huai salt. This busy scene no longer exists. At the beginning, a small number of salt ships occasionally arrived. They all sneaked like private salt ships, hiding salt in the bottom layer of the cabin, with all kinds of hidden things on it. If the ship owner who was dressed similar to a beggar could take out a wrinkle from his arms and hidden in a salted fish bag, the soldiers would definitely not be able to distinguish these official salt workers from private salt dealers.

The amount of Huai salt obtained in Wuchang daily shrank from more than 100,000 kilograms to less than 10,000 kilograms. When Deng Ming left Jiujiang and marched downstream, Huai salt almost disappeared. Now the amount of salt input in Jiangxi has also been greatly reduced, and the official salt transported to Nanchang needs to be smuggled in every way, let alone transporting salt to Wuchang.

In the past, the salt transported to Wuchang was not only for use in Huguang, but also transported a batch to Guizhou and some parts of Henan. Now the transportation of salt to these areas has been terminated. Henan is a little easier to deal with, and you can also think of some land transportation methods. However, this is much higher than the cost of going to the Yangtze River waterway, and it is difficult, so the rise in salt prices is inevitable. However, Guizhou is more troublesome. Not long ago, Wu Sangui mentioned the salt problem in his first letter, saying that the salt prices in Guizhou began to rise, resulting in unstable people.

The salt prices in Huguang are also rising steadily. Therefore, when Ye Tianming's "Sichuan Salt Smuggling Fleet" arrived in Wuchang for the first time at the beginning of this month, it really made many people feel relieved. Although the supply of Sichuan salt is only a pitiful average of 5,000 kilograms this month, the quantity has been rising steadily. It is hoped that before the salt reserves are exhausted, the daily supply will be increased to more than 30,000 kilograms (except for the batch of Sichuan salt left by Deng Ming at the beginning, the Ming army later transported millions of kilograms of seizure Huai salt.), which is the minimum estimated demand in Wuchang.

Therefore, selling salt has become a very profitable thing. Many former members of the hawkish group believe that if Deng Ming continues to stay in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the salt they receive will not only compensate them for all the taxes they paid but also have enough money (in theory, Deng Ming only compensates half of the compensation), but can even make a little profit.

Zhou Peigong's calculation result was the same, so around the time when Deng Ming left Jiujiang, the former Wuchang hawks group had changed from the original idea of ​​adopting a tough attitude towards the Lord Dong to supporting the tough attitude towards Jiang Guozhu. The goal of support was also different from before. The object of the previous one was the Qing army, but now it is the Sichuan Admiral Deng Ming. Of course, this support attitude was private at that time and could not be said openly.

As Jiangxi porcelain poured into Wuchang, the Wuchang Hawks Group not only supported Deng Ming's tough attitude towards Jiang Guozhu, but also supported Deng Ming's tough attitude towards Zhang Chao, because these porcelains also had to take out one-third to ensure compensation for the gentry holding IOUs. All goods transported to Wuchang must be deducted as reserves to ensure the convertibility of IOUs. This is not one of the terms agreed by Deng Ming and Zhou Peigong. Zhou Peigong only required the highest priority of IOUs, but the person in charge left by Deng Ming said that this policy was formulated by Deng Ming to show sincerity to ensure that the person in Wuchang here would not use inventory to exchange for real money and silver when claiming that there was an IOUs were out of stock. The Hawks Group was very worried that Deng Ming would use this method to default on their compensation.

Seeing that this rule was strictly implemented and the voices supporting Deng Ming were louder, of course, they could only be circulated privately. Zhou Peigong also received praise and gratitude from many people for this, and everyone admired him for his far-sightedness. Seeing that this policy was deeply loved by the people, Zhou Peigong took the credit for himself without hesitation, saying that he had come up with and promoted a one-third inventory retention system to ensure the interests of the hawkish group. Deng Ming's person in charge also adopted a default attitude towards this.

Gradually, the hawkish group began to feel inconvenient in this clause, because with the continuous shipment of a large number of Jiangnan local specialties, the IOUs in their hands - to be precise, the tax certificates began to be exhausted, and the goods shipped were still meticulously divided by the person in charge left by Deng Ming, and they could only be collected with IOUs when reserved.

After selling all the goods exchanged for the IOU, the hawks tried to persuade the person in charge who left Deng Ming to wholesale the remaining inventory to them. However, the person in charge disagreed and said that this was the rule that Admiral Deng repeatedly told him that he must strictly enforce, and advised those people to use silver to purchase another two-thirds of the goods that can be used, just like other competitors.

Of course, this answer cannot satisfy the hawks.

The ratio of silver to IOU that Deng Ming set was 100 yuan to one liang. At first, the hawks had no confidence in the exchange price, thinking that IOU was a piece of waste paper and could not be compared with real money and silver. However, Deng Ming did not force them to buy IOU, but provided it to them as compensation certificates, and they did not think too much. Soon the price of IOU began to overflow, because one third of the goods exchanged for IOU did not have many competitors, and two thirds of the goods that did not require IOU would encounter bidding problems. Anyway, one tael of silver would definitely not be able to get one tael of silver for a price of 100 yuan, at least one tael of silver, and even two taels of shortage.

Those who do not have IOU are also dissatisfied. In their opinion, the price increase is related to this rule, and a large number of goods that can make money immediately will be locked in the warehouse and become moldy, which is obviously a waste.

So the person who praised Zhou Peigong for being far-sighted and began to complain that he was the initiator of this rigid policy and asked Zhou Peigong to take the responsibility of a hawkish leader to cancel this policy.

But this not only wrongly accuses Zhou Peigong, but also exceeds his ability. Zhou Peigong did not participate in the formulation of this policy at the beginning. It was entirely the idea that Deng Ming came up with alone. However, afterwards, Zhou Peigong felt that the response was good, so he casually drew some credit to him. Now of course he can't cancel it.

After Zhou Peigong was persuaded, the person in charge who was in charge of Deng Ming did not let go. If you want to get these reserved goods, you must bring an IOU. Soon, Zhou Peigong found that he had become a shield for the person in charge, and said one by one: "This is what you, Master Zhou, agreed to," "This is the first proposed by you, Master Zhou, to the admiral."

The pressure on the person in charge increased by ten times and pressed on Zhou Peigong.

"I was cheated!" Zhou Peigong complained to his wife in private: "I was too careless and thought I could take advantage of Admiral Deng for free. I was really unlucky!"

Since the road to silver cannot be understood, everyone has to find a way to save the country in a curve. So some people want to change some IOUs from the person in charge of Chengdu. There is no need to compare the silver dollar of 1 to 100, even 1 to 90 or even 1 to 80, these people also expressed that they could accept it.

But the person in charge broke their dream again and told them that the 100 yuan announced by Deng Ming is equivalent to one tael of silver, just to help the hawks understand the value of their IOU. In the final analysis, it evolved from one stone of rice to one hundred yuan. If he wanted to change the IOU, he would have to pay taxes to the Chengdu prefect Liu Jingo. In other words, if he transported a stone of grain to Chengdu and handed it to Liu Gongfu, he would get an IOU of 100 yuan. In fact, it might not be possible. This is just the statement of the person in charge Deng Ming.

Chengdu is too far away. In the past, it was necessary to organize a fleet. Some people in Wuchang proposed to advance the IOU for next year, but unfortunately they were rejected by the person in charge. He said that the tax for next year has not been paid yet, and this IOU does not exist at all. Since this is the case, some people said they would go to pay the tax for Li Laiheng, Hao Yaoqi, He Zhen and others in advance. I believe they would definitely be willing to collect it, but the person in charge still disagrees, saying that Deng Ming said that it was to compensate for the positive tax every year. Even if they paid it in advance now, they would have to give the IOU next year. Hawks Group failed to make another plan, and they all said that they felt that Li Laiheng had less taxes and were willing to pay more taxes to the Xdong Army, but this was still not recognized by the person in charge. Deng Ming only compensated the taxes but not the donations. This was obviously voluntary, and spontaneous salary assistance behavior could not be issued to the IOU.

While the most complaints hit Zhou Peigong, some people in the Wuchang Hawks Group have begun to seriously consider the issue of transporting grain to Chengdu. The person in charge reminded them that it is questionable whether they are qualified to pay taxes in Chengdu, which means that Liu Jinge may not accept the taxes paid by the Wuchang people to the Chengdu prefect's office. However, the person in charge did not say anything, so several people have prepared grain ships and planned to go to Chengdu to throw stones and ask for directions to see if they can be exchanged for the IOU.

But it is one thing to privately purchase the goods smuggled by Deng Ming in Wuchang. Organizing grain ships to cross the area occupied by Ming troops in western Hubei and transport grain to Chengdu is another thing, especially a group of people yelling to take on the responsibility of Zhou Peigong as the hawk leader to escort their grain ships, which made the prefect Zhou even more worried.

The Duke of Zhou Pei was working hard on this matter for the past two days until he was summoned by the Governor General of Huguang to the Governor's Office.
Chapter completed!