When Zhou Peigong left Wuchang, he brought dozens of staff and guards, plus sailors and servants, a total of more than a hundred people. The group was smooth sailing and soon reached Jiujiang, an important city in Jiangxi. Here, Zhou Peigong received a high-profile welcome from Jiangxi governor Dong Weiguo. With the guests and hosts having fun, Dong Weiguo also invited Zhou Peigong to meet with Zhang Chao. However, Zhou Peigong did not dare to delay too much. This time he came to Liangjiang this time to conquer Deng Ming's troops near Nanjing. If he did not go to Nanjing immediately but turned to Nanchang, it would be difficult to explain to the court, Wuchang and Nanjing.

"The Governor has long heard that Brother Zhou is handsome and handsome. If he can't see him, he will definitely feel regretful. Since Brother Zhou refuses to go to Nanchang, then Brother Yu has to write to Nanchang to explain that the Governor is probably going to Jiujiang for a while, but I don't know if Brother Zhou is willing to stay in Jiujiang for a few more days." Although it was the first time we met, and Dong Weiguo's qualifications were much higher than those of Zhou Peigong, now the Jiangxi governor and Zhou Peigong were already called brothers when he was talking to him.

"How dare, how dare?" Zhou Peigong was so scared that he jumped out of his seat. The new Wuchang prefect, because of the urgent military situation, could not take time to go to Nanchang to pay homage to Jiangxi Governor Shang Ke. It would be crazy to ask Dadai to wait for Jiangxi Governor like Jiujiang to come to pay a visit. Zhou Peigong didn't dare to think about this at all, and if he did such a thing, his reputation would be completely bad, and even Eng-chan Chang Geng would not be able to see it.

"Since the governor ordered, the subordinates should leave for Nanchang." Before Zhou Peigong left Wuchang, Zhang Changgeng told him to have a good relationship with Nanchang and Nanjing, and not to be partial to the two. Unless Zhou Peigong wanted to break up with Zhang Chao, he would never dare to refuse again and leave on his own regardless of Dong Weiguo's invitation. But this would have been delayed for a few days. Zhou Peigong was a little worried about how to explain it to the court, and he was also worried that such a distraction would leave Nanjing with the impression that Wuchang would support Nanchang.

"Although soldiers are very fast, the 30,000 troops have to rest for a few days." Dong Weiguo guessed some of Zhou Peigong's concerns and comforted him with a smile: "The army stayed in Jiujiang for three days, but it's not impossible to say that it is impossible to tell if it is four days, right? There is a waterway from Jiujiang to Nanchang, and it is very convenient to go back and forth."

This time, Nanchang also paid 200,000 taels of military pay to Wuchang for reinforcements. Zhou Peigong heard the other party mention the army and knew that it was impossible to refuse. The next day, Dong Weiguo set out with Zhou Peigong to return to Nanchang. At the welcome banquet in Nanchang, in addition to Zhang Chao, Nanchang's civil and military officials also came out to welcome him, praising Zhou Peigong's loyalty to the country, and only the thieves were fighting, and sooner or later they would become the pillar of the Qing Dynasty.

After Dong Weiguo began to communicate with Deng, Nanchang quickly secretly sent a large number of people to Wuchang because he suspected Zhang Changgeng, looking for various clues about communication with Deng. According to spies, most of the goods that Deng Ming bought from Jiangxi were sold to Wuchang. When a large number of Ming army merchant ships changed the flag, they began to unload goods at the docks around Wuchang in a large manner. Not far from the porters were the fully armed green camp of the Chu army. The generals in charge were the horses of Wuchang and the two admirals.

Although there is no real evidence, the person in charge of the goods is not the price camp of the governor of Huguang, but the Wuchang horse army and infantry admiral are also professions. Zhang Changgeng would never sit by and watch them meet Deng privately, otherwise it is very likely that the Ming army entered Wuchang City and he still slept without knowing it. After Deng Ming cut off the shipping, the salt prices in Jiangxi began to rise steadily. Now, we need to buy some salt from the merchants in Wuchang. Although Wuchang claims that this is his inventory, Nanchang

It is suspected that these are all Huai salt seized by Deng Ming. In order to confirm the suspicion, Nanchang also instructed spies to conduct reconnaissance, confirming that there is indeed a lot of salt in the goods unloaded by the Ming army in Wuchang. The Huai salt seized by Deng Ming is indeed to be transported back to Wuchang first - this is because Deng Ming had to keep accounts in Wuchang, and then let the five major salt merchants in Chengdu sell on a proportional basis to support Sichuan salt merchants - but Nanchang certainly did not know this, and in their opinion, this is evidence of a strong relationship between Deng Ming and Zhang Changgeng.

The officials below may not be clear, but Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo knew very well that Wuchang was definitely the champion of Tong Deng. Wuchang, which should have been the first to bear the brunt of Deng Ming's main pressure, has not only done anything, but has led the disaster to the east to the Liangjiang River and gained a lot of benefits from Deng Ming's plunder. This kind of trick of harming others and benefiting oneself and uniting and joining the alliance made Nanchang both hate and jealous. Like Jiang Guozhu, after a private analysis, Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo also turned their attention to Zhou Peigong who was rising up, and the conclusion he came to was similar to that of Jiang Guozhu, that is, Zhou Peigong was not particularly good at fighting, but was particularly good at Tong Deng.

Nanchang didn't want Deng Ming to make trouble on his territory, and wanted to get huge benefits from selling stolen goods to Deng Ming, so Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo decided to win over Zhou Peigong. However, this reason cannot be clearly stated. Of course, it is necessary to publicize Zhou Peigong's great martial arts. When Zhou Peigong came to Nanchang, Dong Weiguo wrote a memorial to Beijing, boasting about the appearance of the Hunan Army, describing the "30,000 Hunan Army" as similar to the heavenly soldiers and generals. Even within Jiangxi, in addition to a small number of confidants, Zhang Chao also described Zhou Peigong as a loyal minister and general who was not fair and incompatible with Deng Ming. Anyway, these people didn't know what was going on in Wuchang.

After the dinner, Zhang Chao invited Zhou Peigong to have tea and Dong Weiguo was accompanying him. In name, of course, it was a good strategy to discuss Deng's strategy, but in fact, they were all about importing salt from Wuchang. On this issue, Zhou Pei took a lot of money, and could make a fuss about everything from quantity to price. This made Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo confirm their previous judgment - that is, the relationship between Deng Ming and Wuchang is indeed extraordinary. They even had a little doubt, thinking that Deng Ming was Zhang Changgeng's thug? At least Wuchang was also a quasi-ally alliance relationship, not Nanchang, and was forced to communicate with Deng.

"Brother Zhou is fighting thieves in Jiangxi. If he had not been in Jiangxi's official position, it would be a little troublesome." Dong Weiguo lowered his head and pondered for a moment, pretended to have an idea, took out the plan that he had discussed with Zhang Chao, and pretended to suggest to the governor of Jiangxi: "The following official views can be granted the title of governor of the prefect Zhou, so that the prefectures below will never dare to neglect the matters given by the prefect Zhou."

"Well." Zhang Chao pretended to be twisted and took a long exam. After a moment, he nodded and said, "What Dong Buzheng said is very true. If the prefect Zhou did not have a single official or half position in the Jiangxi Governor's Office, it would be very inconvenient."

"This matter must not be done!" Zhou Peigong was stunned by Dong Weiguo's proposal just now. Now, when Zhang Chao was intent on agreeing, he screamed in shock: "This move is not in accordance with the laws of the court, and the officials dare not be so arrogant."

"Is it true that Deng is in compliance with the laws of the court? Is it true that the laws of the court are in compliance with the laws of the court when he leads the thief to attack Jiangxi? He is too shameless at the young age!" Zhang Chao cursed in his heart and said with a look of spring breeze: "This matter will naturally be reported to the court for permission. I will go to the title of governor of Jiangxi for the prefect Zhou. If the court agrees, it is the grace of the court. How could it be that governor Zhou is arrogant? It is just that people are afraid of the words, but governor Zhou is loyal to the country. Will he refuse the grace of the court for his false reputation?"

"This... is still inappropriate." Zhou Peigong did not dare to refute the governor of a province, so he looked at Dong Weiguo with help.

But Dong Weiguo took the lead in saying this proposal, so how could he help Zhou Peigong?

"Don't worry, Brother Zhou, even if the court gives me a title, I will still be my brother Yu. Will Brother Zhou want to steal Brother Yu's job?" Dong Weiguo called out: "This is also for Brother Zhou to better serve the emperor in Jiangxi."

"Of course, the officials dare not have such ambition," Zhou Peigong said with a wry smile: "But even if the officials are in Jiangxi and have the care of the governor, what are you going to worry about?"

"This is inappropriate." Dong Weiguo shook his head and continued: "It will be much more convenient to have this official title. When Brother Zhou is walking in Jiangxi in the future, Brother Yu can't always be with Brother Zhou. The military situation is at a critical moment. If the local officials cannot cooperate fully, they may miss the big thing. If Brother Zhou has an official title, there is no need to notify Brother Yu first, and then Brother Yu orders to the prefectures and counties. This matter is decided, so Brother Zhou doesn't need to say more."

Seeing that the matter was unable to refuse, Zhou Peigong also accepted it. Although he had not submitted a memorial to the court, he still stood up and saluted Zhang Chao again with the etiquette of paying homage to his direct superior.

"Haha." After Zhou Peigong sat down again, Dong Weiguo joked again: "The governor is highly respected. Now the position of the governor of Liangjiang is empty, so Brother Yu is also drooling at the current position of the governor. By then, Brother Zhou will not be the same title. At that time, I will help Brother Yu well."

"I dare not think..." Zhou Peigong was almost knocked out by the pie that fell from the world one after another, and was about to thank him again.

"Dong Buzheng's words are inappropriate." Sure enough, Zhang Chao couldn't stand it anymore.

Zhou Peigong looked at the governor of Jiangxi with gratitude, but heard Zhang Chao say, "There are no outsiders here. I am determined to be the governor of Liangjiang, so I don't need to hide it from you. But by then, the governor of Jiangning will be Dong Buzheng. How can you stay in Jiangxi without leaving? The prefect Zhou is handsome and handsome, both civil and military. I think I can stand alone in Jiangxi!"

Zhou Peigong said goodbye from the Jiangxi Governor's Office in a dizzy manner. Dong Weiguo asked again whether he could take care of his daily life. After learning that Zhou Peigong only had a wife in his hometown and had no concubines, so he did not bring anyone out. Dong Weiguo sighed: "Brother Zhou is indeed poor, but if no one is serving him, he will have a headache and fever, wouldn't it delay the emperor's major affairs?"

As he said that Dong Weiguo was going to be a month old and helped Zhou Peigong choose a good daughter from a gentry family in Jiangxi.

"Jing is virtuous and has a son. This time he was ordered to lead the army to fight. It is really unreasonable to take a concubine without making any achievements. The governor of the government forgives him." But this time, Zhou Peigong did not agree with anything. His parents died early. When he was studying, his wife always managed the family and took care of her husband and youngest son. Therefore, Zhou Peigong was very grateful to his wife. Although he later became the prefect of Wuchang and bought the land of half of Jingzhou from Deng Ming, he never took a concubine.

"Poverty, too poor." Dong Weiguo praised: "Brother Zhou is indeed content with poverty."

Since Zhou Peigong insisted that Dong Weiguo would not force him. After sending Zhou Peigong to the guest residence, Dong Weiguo ordered his left and right to pick two artists who could sing and dance. In order to be foolproof, Dong Weiguo also asked his subordinates to find two beautiful book boys to send to Zhou Peigong together.

The next day, Zhou Peigong said goodbye and returned to Jiujiang. After arriving in Jiujiang, he did not delay much and hurriedly set off on the road to continue to Nanjing.

Zhang Changgeng's instructions to Zhou Peigong were to do his best to assist Jiang Guozhu in solving the troubles, so as to leave a good relationship in Liangjiang, and to be careful to please Zhang Chao, and be impartial in this competition between the governor of Liangjiang. In this way, no matter who wins in the future, he will be a friend of Huguang rather than an enemy. Zhou Peigong did not think too much, intending to remain neutral between Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao, but his determination after going to Nanchang was shaken. Although Zhang Chao only gave him a cake, the temptation of the governor of Jiangxi was really great, and Zhou Peigong could not be completely unmoved.

When Zhou Peigong was on the boat with a complicated mood, Nanchang also issued an urgent memorial to Zhou Peigong for the title of governor to be appointed to Beijing, and this memorial was of course passed through Nanjing.

"So shameless! Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo, I underestimate the degree of your shamelessness!" This memorial made Governor Jiangning angry. If Jiang Guozhu had a way to detain the memorial and prevent it from being sent to Beijing, he might not be so angry, but he had no way to stop it. If he made small moves to prevent it, he would have become enemies with Zhou Peigong.

"Zhang Chao, Dong Weiguo! Do you have any national laws? Is the national official title x tool that you use to seek personal gain? Zhou Peigong was obviously a thief of Tong Deng. It is really a crime to ask for an official position for him." Jiang Guozhu was furious because according to his official experience, this memorial had a high success rate. In the case of Jiangnan decay, the water transportation was threatened, and Dasu was unable to return to help, Beijing would probably not care about a false title. Zhang Chao even boasted that the Hunan Army was rare in the sky and was completely in the ground. When Zhou Peigong held such a strong army, he was also relied on by the Governor of Huguang and the Governor of Jiangxi, and would not be stingy with rewards - in the special situation, of course, he would have to use extraordinary favors.

But when Duke Pei of Zhou arrived in Nanjing, he found that the gate of the Governor's yamen was wide open. The Governor Jiangning stood in front of the gate to greet him with a smile. The civil and military officials in Nanjing stood on both sides. The welcome specifications are far from comparable to Nanchang.

Seeing this situation, if someone was a little more timid, he might have been scared to incontinence on the spot. Over the past year, Duke Zhou Pei and Deng Ming fought bravely and did not have hundreds of things to confiscate the family and extermination of the clan. He was no longer comparable to ordinary people, but he couldn't help but be frightened and avoided the middle gate from afar. When the governor of Jiangning came down to greet him, Duke Zhou Pei first knelt down on the ground and saluted him repeatedly: "The imperial court's great law, the central gate was only for the imperial envoy, and the imperial envoy was issued to angels, and the prefectures were not dared to transgress."

"Brother Zhou was ordered to help Liangjiang. Although there was no title of an imperial envoy, what is the difference between him and an imperial envoy?" Although he had not drunk or eaten, Jiang Guozhu's ability to be familiar with was obviously better than Dong Weiguo, and he had already used the same title as the governor of Jiangxi to Zhou Peigong.

Jiang Guozhu kindly helped Zhou Peigong up and laughed loudly in front of the surrounding civil and military officials of Nanjing around him: "Now Deng is traveling against the river, and his creatures are in trouble. The elders hope that the king's army will be like a long drought, and the youngest son will look forward to the kind mother. Brother Zhou is the leader of 30,000 Hunan Army soldiers, and he is here at night. In the hearts of the elders of Jiangnan, he is comparable to his reborn parents. I am also in the mind of the five-pointer. What's wrong with opening a middle door for Brother Zhou?"

As soon as Jiang Guozhu asked, the Jiangning official who was following him immediately shouted intrigue:

“It’s perfect.”

"Mr. Zhou doesn't have to be too humble."

"Quan Wang Master Zhou fought against Deng's rebellion and returned the people of Jiangnan to a peaceful world."

"Haha, justice is in the hearts of the people." Jiang Guozhu smiled and regardless of Zhou Peigong's protest, he pulled his hand and led him into the Liangjiang Governor's Office through the middle gate. He did not forget Zhou Pei, who smiled bitterly, publicly joked: "If Brother Zhou cannot fight against Deng's rebellion and disappointed the elders of Jiangnan, then there will be no treatment for the middle gate to open next time."

Although the crime of usurpation is not small, it is actually nothing compared to Zhou Peigong's countless crimes of raiding and extermination of family members. Therefore, after a while, he calmed down and no longer felt uneasy.

"That's right, Tong Deng has done it, are you still afraid of going to the middle door?" Seeing this, Jiang Guozhu nodded secretly, and his inner evaluation of Zhou Peigong rose to another level.

"Deng thief is entrenched in Zhenjiang and will not go. I wonder what good strategy does Brother Zhou have to teach me?" After the guest and host were settled, Jiang Guozhu had only two confidants left beside him, signaling Zhou Peigong but said it was okay. However, before Zhou Peigong answered, the governor Jiangning slapped his forehead and said first: "Ah, I almost forgot."

After saying that, Jiang Guozhu stood up, picked up a red silk bag from the table with both hands, walked down slowly, and handed it to Zhou Peigong solemnly: "This is the seal of the Jiangnan Provincial Administrator, Brother Zhou might as well accept it first."

"This...this..." Zhou Peigong was dry and looked at the seal at a loss. The powerful governor Jiangning stood in front of him, holding the seal of the governor in both hands, so that Zhou Peigong would not accept it, nor would he not accept it.

"Zhu Guozhi failed the holy grace and was already in prison."

Originally, after Deng Ming captured Zhu Guozhi, he had considered using him to compete with Jiang Guozhu, but Zhu Guozhi was a hardcore Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the local officials in Jiangnan criticized him for losing all the mobile forces in Jiangnan. Obviously, since Zhu Guozhi returned to Nanjing, he could not escape death, which made him lose all his value. In addition, Zhu Guozhi was extremely cruel to the Qing patriots during his tenure in Zhejiang. Even the gentry class also investigated severely in the spirit of killing mistakes and not letting go. Ren Tang and other Zhoushan troops hated Zhu Guozhi very much and were unwilling to see Deng Ming cooperate with him. Last point, Zhu Guozhi was extremely greedy and tried his best to plunder the people's wealth. Although the Qing court ignored his loyalty, it also completely lost his reputation. Deng Ming soon found that cooperation with him was harmful and useless.

Therefore, after receiving the one million taels of silver paid by Jiang Guozhu, Deng Ming quickly reached an agreement with Governor Jiangning, wrote a letter of persuasion to surrender and stuffed it into Zhu Guozhi's arms, and then sent him to the place where Jiang Guozhu was formulated. The Ming army loosened Zhu Guozhi not far from the Qing army camp. Before he took out the letter in his arms to see what it was, the officers and soldiers of the Biao Battalion, the governor of Liangjiang, rushed up to capture Zhu Guozhi. Now, in addition to losing his troops, he also had an additional charge of being a lobbyist for Deng Ming. Originally, Jiang Guozhu also expressed his willingness to pay tens of thousands of taels of silver for Deng Ming's letter, but Deng Ming generously stated that in view of the happy cooperation between the two, this time it was a free service to Governor Jiangning, and he also said to Jiang Guozhu this time, so that he would not have to be polite. In fact, it was indeed a small task to write a letter of persuasion to surrender.

Jiang Guozhu also said the same remarks as Dong Weiguo to Zhou. These high-sounding principles were written by Zhang Chao in the memorial. Jiang Guozhu plagiarized them unceremoniously, and then said to Zhou Peigong: "The position of the governor of Jiangnan is empty. I have already asked the court for my brother Zhou to ask the court for me. During the period of suppressing Deng, my brother Zhou will take charge of this seal. If the court does not allow it, my brother Zhou will return it to me at that time."

Seeing that Zhou Peigong was still hesitant, Jiang Guozhu sincerely persuaded further: "The capable ones work hard and do not give in. This is the right reason. If Brother Zhou does not accept this seal for a day, I will not return to sit down for a day."

"The governor is grateful for his love, but the subordinate is ashamed of his commander." Zhou Peigong finally reached out to take over the seal of the Jiangnan governor.

"When the imperial court issued an order, Brother Zhou was the governor of Jiangnan. In the future, except for Brother Yu, the civil and military officials of the governor's yamen were all subordinates of Brother Zhou." After Zhou Peigong took the seal, Jiang Guozhu's tone became more intimate: "Brother Yu knew that Brother Zhou was kind, but it was related to the court's integrity. Brother Zhou should not lose the majesty of Shangguan."

First, he opened the middle door to greet him, and then became an important official in Jiangnan, who was under one person and above ten thousand people. Even though Zhou Peigong was quick-witted, he didn't know that he should answer it.

"Brother Yu is now acting as the governor of Liangjiang. If it weren't for Deng... Well, Deng Ming came to Zhenjiang." Since there were only Zhou Peigong and two confidants around, Jiang Guozhu's name for Deng Ming has changed a little, and he has become more intimate with Zhou Peigong: "Brother Yu has probably been removed. If Deng Ming has been reluctant to leave Zhenjiang for a long time, Brother Yu would probably not be able to save his position as governor. Alas, Brother Yu's wealth, life, and future prosperity will depend on his virtuous brother."

"The Governor is so serious. How dare you not do your best?" Zhou Peigong answered in a general way, feeling that Jiang Guozhu seemed to have something in his words.

really.

"That's all up to my brother. If my brother was proud of me all the time, I would never forget my brother's merits. At that time, the position of governor of Jiangning was naturally the one in my brother's pocket." After Jiang Guozhu said that, he sighed lightly: "My brother is so young. After my brother returned home, can the position of governor of Jiang be able to escape from my brother's palm?"

Jiang Guozhu was afraid that Zhou Peigui would have a gap with him for the Nanchang matter, and generously said that he didn't care at all. Anyway, Zhang Chao gave only one title, not a real shortcoming like Jiang Guozhu. Jiang Guozhu was not afraid of competition at all. He was sure to win and made him feel good. He also joked humorously: "In ancient times, Su Qin wore the seal of the six kingdoms, and now he had a virtuous brother who served as the governor of two provinces. This is also a good story. Maybe the virtuous brother would not be in two provinces in the future. Anyway, my foolish brother was very eager to see his virtuous brother's merits and not let the ancients go."

After returning to the residence he arranged for him, Zhou Peigong stroked the seal of the governor who had just obtained, and felt like he was dreaming.

"My family has some savings to support me in school. After being admitted to the scholar, I got a share of grain. Later, I was admitted to the juren. I had a job as a guest in the Huguang Governor's Office and got a piece of silver. It was nothing strange to be together at that time, but this year I seemed to have been dreaming every day. I bought thousands of acres of fertile land in my hometown in one go, became the confidant of the governor of Huguang, and became the governor of Wuchang. This time I was once again in charge of the two provinces... All changes started with Tong Deng. Since I was captured twice by Admiral Deng and got in touch with me, I was transferred to my luck all at once."—

The author's note: According to the editor's requirements, it may be changed to 3,000 per section in the future and two updates per day.

Another note: Tianjin "Tonight News" has an event for Tianjin authors this Saturday. It seems that there is a question or signature activity. Tomorrow, I will ask the address carefully and then send it out. I am eager to support readers in Tianjin.
Chapter completed!