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Section 2 Boycott

After Duke Zhou Pei arrived in Nanjing, the Qing army under the banner of Huguang Green Camp drove to Nanjing in a row, and then rushed to Zhenjiang in batches.

For ordinary people, this is the 30,000 reinforcements brought by Zhou Peigong. Countless soldiers pass by Nanjing every day, obviously, with a large number of people and strong strength. Some of the people are more knowledgeable and think that the force seems to be a bit wrong, not as much as the government promotes. The passing by is about one, two thousand to two, and three thousand soldiers every day. Although it has been passed for four days in a row, these are not enough to add up to 30,000. However, they will not be stupid enough to ask the government for how many people there are. What if they are arrested by the government as a meticulous act?

The clerks are more aware of the character of officials than the people. They also think that the number of people is not right, but officials will definitely fake the numbers, so it is not worth making a fuss even if the Hunan Army does not have 30,000. Most of the officials at the bottom of the Liangjiang River have no different opinions from those at the clerks.

Some of the staff and responsible officials in the Governor's Office in Liangjiang knew very well that many of the Qing troops passing outside Nanjing were Liangjiang's troops. Jiang Guozhu followed the methods when Dong Zhuo came to Beijing and divided the Biao Battalion into several waves. Each Biao Battalion brought a group of auxiliary soldiers, dressed up into Huguang Green Camp and passed through Nanjing in a swagger, took the boat to enter for a while, and then slipped back to the upstream while the night was falling, and then walked through the scene again.

However, they were told that this was just helping the Hunan Army create momentum so that the Hunan Army that was passing by Nanjing looked even larger. Those troops participating in the operation were unsure of the proportion they accounted for. Only a few people around Jiang Guozhu could know that all the Huguang soldiers outside were dressed in Liangjiang troops.

Some of these Liangjiang troops dressed as Huguang soldiers will follow Zhou Peigong to the vicinity of Zhenjiang. Although the soldiers were all from Jiang Guozhu, he ordered the officers of Biaobaung not to participate in the division of credit. Some of his confidants were a little puzzled by this, because if Zhou Peigong successfully persuaded Deng Ming to withdraw, the Liangjiang Governor's Office could completely hype the battle process. Isn't it a pity that such a waste of credit?

But Jiang Guozhu had other plans in his mind. Because he was empty and had no choice but to use Zhou Peigong to discuss with Deng Ming, but it is hard to say whether this matter will suddenly come out in the future. If Jiang Guozhu also asked Biaoying to share the credit, the difficulty of clearing himself in the future will also increase; if these battles were fought by Zhou Peigong, then Jiang Guozhu might still claim that he was blinded - Zhou Peigong saw that he could not win, so he traded with Deng Ming privately to persuade him to withdraw his troops - this reason is actually difficult to establish, but Jiang Guozhu is still guilty now. When encountering such problems, he always instinctively wants to shrink back and save lives.

When describing the appearance of the Hunan Army to the court, Jiang Guozhu also told a vivid story, saying that Zhou Peigong arrived with some reinforcements because the dock was crowded, so it could not reach the shore, and the boats used to transport personnel were also crowded. Zhou Peigong was impatient and led his team to jump out of the river water that was close to his waist, and then wade onto the water with his fully armed soldiers.

According to Jiang Guozhu, when Zhou Peigong and his personal soldiers walked up from the river, their lineup was still uneven and could quickly restore order, making the people watching by the river thunderously cheered. They all believed that Zhou Peigong's troops were imposing and brave.

...

"How can you see Zhou Peigong anywhere?" Deng Ming, who was in a military camp near Zhenjiang, first heard that Zhou Peigong had come here, was suspicious first, and after confirming the news, the only thing left was surprised. After hearing that the Qing army under the banner of Zhou Peigong and Huguang Green Camp approached Zhenjiang, Deng Ming prepared a table for negotiation in advance, waiting for Zhou Juren to come.

Zhou Peigong did not let Deng Mingjiu wait. That night, he disguised himself as a few entourages to the Ming army camp.

"Congratulations to the governor of Zhou." Deng Ming had already known about Zhou Peigong's promotion, so he congratulated him loudly as soon as he met.

"It's all the blessings of Admiral Deng, not worth mentioning." Zhou Peigong couldn't help but smile, but he quickly restrained his smile and said to Deng Ming seriously: "Admiral Deng and me, don't waste time, let's start now."

After learning that Zhou Peigong had great negotiating and decision-making power, Deng Ming also breathed a sigh of relief because the Governor of Liangjiang and him still lacked trust. No matter what conditions Deng Ming raised, the other party suspected that there was a fraud. Compared with Yangzhou, which was much worse in defense, Deng was not very sure of blasting the city walls of Nanjing. Refusing to force was only the last resort. Moreover, if the action failed, it would probably put him in a more unfavorable negotiation position. Since the threat of force was the worst strategy to reach trust with Jiang Guozhu, it became Deng Ming's most troublesome thing to believe that he would keep his promise.

Zhou Peigong's arrival undoubtedly solved the communication problems between the two sides well. The two were familiar with each other and became familiar with each other's negotiations, and soon reached a lot of consensus. Where both sides felt threatened, they understood and trusted each other and quickly put forward a step forward, and quickly completed the general framework of peace talks.

For Deng Ming, the biggest gain was that he could get the guarantee from where Jiang Guozhu would not attack the Ming army's merchant ships all year next year; and the Ming army would also assure Nanjing that they would not take advantage of the opportunity of the starting of the canal transportation next year to block Guazhou and Zhenjiang again to cut off the Qing army's water transportation. In addition, Deng Ming also needed to withdraw from Zhenjiang and ensure that he would no longer actively attack Jiang Guozhu's prefectures within a year; and what Jiang Guozhu used to exchange was to not enrich the production of warships.

The two soon agreed most of the terms of the compromise plan in Jiangnan. In addition to the destination of Chongming Island, this was the focus of the debate between the two sides. Zhou Peigong said that the Ming army could not be allowed to establish camps so close to the Yangtze River estuary. However, Deng Ming did not give in, insisting that the Ming army must stay on Chongming Island to maintain its deterrent power to the canal transportation, so as to ensure that Nanjing can implement the treaty safely.

The treaty with Jiangnan was temporarily stranded due to the Chongming issue, so Zhou Peigong came up with another proposal, which was about Jiangxi. Zhang Chao and Dong Weiguo did not want Deng Ming to take down Jiujiang again on his return journey as a temporary foothold. Since there is no navy in Jiangxi now, Deng Ming no longer attaches great importance to Jiujiang and quickly agreed to Jiangxi for the exchange of passing money for him not to conquer the city and plunder.

As for the issue of goods pricing raised by Deng Ming's thought Liangjianghui, Zhang Chao and Jiang Guozhu did not have this awareness. Zhou Peigong should not be unclear about the importance of this matter, but he did not mention it either.

After the two agreement frameworks are drawn up, the next stage is to report and wait for approval.

When Deng Ming learned that Zhou Peigong was actually here as the commander of the first army, and that no official with a weight in Liangjiang was accompanied by him, Deng Ming was surprised again. According to his experience, when officials saw this opportunity to make military achievements without risking their lives, they would flock to him like a shark that smelled blood. Since Jiang Guozhu was willing to invite Zhou Peigong to Nanjing, it means that he was very confident in Zhou Peigong. It would be a bit incredible that he could make a contribution without a few confidants to follow him.

However, Deng Ming was not puzzled all the time. He soon guessed that it might be that Jiang Guozhu planned to clear his relationship with this matter, such as Zhou Peigong did everything behind his back in the future.

"Zhou Gongzheng, be careful," Deng Ming felt that his guess was probably not wrong, and he did not need to mention Jiang Guozhu to cover up, so he said bluntly: "If things are abnormal, they will be close to monsters. Zhou Gongzheng, please don't leave a bird and hide it all."

"Admiral Deng is too humble. Admiral Deng is not something I can deal with, so I have never been worried about being hiding the bow." Zhou Peigong laughed and told Deng Ming that although he was young, he was not stupid, and he also noticed that Jiang Guozhu's actions were a bit abnormal.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Peigong explained to Deng Ming that he had similar concerns when he was playing under Zhang Changgeng, but as time went by, this concern gradually disappeared, and Zhang Changgeng's mentality seemed to be changing. In the past, Zhang Changgeng was like Jiang Ning, and all the matters related to Deng Ming were left to his subordinates to deal with. He either ignored him or hid behind the scenes and did not show up.

As Wuchang and Deng Ming trades more and more, the transaction volume grew, and Zhang Changgeng benefited a lot from it, he began to realize that the possibility of him taking him lighter became smaller and smaller. Since it was unlikely that he would be relieved of the crime after the incident was exposed, Zhang Changgeng had other thoughts. This time, the Governor of Huguang actively responded to Jiang Guozhu's call and sent Zhou Peigong to Liangjiang. His intentions and ideas were similar to Jiang Guozhu's binding tactics, which was to create the effect of not ruling the public as early as the future - of course, Zhou Peigong would not tell Deng Ming about these.

"It turns out that the governor Zhou was prepared for a long time, so I was worried about it." Deng Ming was not very interested in this topic. If he said too much, he might think that he was using a plan of discord.

During the first day of the meeting, Zhou Peigong did not mention the IOU redemption agreement in Wuchang. He knew that this might cause Deng Ming to react fiercely. If Deng Ming refused to be responsible for his subordinates, then the agreement would obviously not be followed. Zhou Peigong felt that in this case, Wuchang could make more money every day, and it would be better for Deng Ming's subordinates to keep him hidden from him. Of course, they would not take the initiative to talk to him today. Another situation is that if Deng Ming was willing to be responsible for his subordinates' words, Zhou Peigong felt that it would be of no benefit to take the initiative to bring up this matter under such circumstances. Maybe Deng Ming would sacrifice some interests in Jiangnan to save the Wuchang agreement, which would be equivalent to using Wuchang to damage to make Nanjing and Nanchang profits. Although Zhou Peigong has the title of governor of the two provinces, he would not let this happen for the time being.

On the way back to the camp, Zhou Peigong was also thinking about his future countermeasures. He was very serious during the negotiations today, and planned to try his best to make them pay less when he wanted Jiang Guozhu to return to Zhenjiang and ensure the safety of Jiujiang for Zhang Chao. This not only gave the two governors a surprise, but also Zhou Peigong understood his job.

When Deng Ming mentioned Jiang Guozhu's abnormal reaction just now, Zhou Peigong immediately said that he had noticed it and was not afraid because of Wuchang's experience. However, Zhou Peigong did not think as carefully as he said. Instead, he was a little dizzy by the carrots in Nanjing. The reason why he said that he had solved this problem at the first time was that Deng Ming developed a subconscious reaction during many negotiations. Zhou Peigong was afraid of revealing flaws in front of the other side, so he blocked everything first.

"Although the Governor of Huguang is as I said, he is more and more dealing with Admiral Deng, I am still the one who charges ahead. No matter what others do, I will definitely not be able to escape anyway. Governor Jiangning here, if there is something wrong in the future, he will definitely try to push the blame to me first. If many governors and governors are involved in this matter, even if the court is exposed, they may have some concerns and will not kill them, but they will always kill the chicken to show the monkey, right? Maybe I am the one who was killed." Zhou Peigong came here in a few days.

The mood gradually faded, but he realized that the other words he said to Deng Ming at that time were correct: "As long as Deng Ming still crisscrosses the Yangtze River, the governors will still use me. Whether it is the governor of Huguang, Jiangning, Jiangxi, their other subordinates will feel weak when they see Deng Ming, and they wish they could agree to all the conditions immediately. I am better than them - only if Deng Ming can still threaten the governors, the governors will rely on me... Well, I don't seem to have to be petty with Deng Ming."

After all, Zhou Peigong found that the best clauses for the governors and governors were not his best strategy. He only needed to be stronger than other people who did not understand negotiations. While proving his use, Deng Ming should get more benefits, so that the Ming army would become stronger and pose a greater threat to the governors and governors, so that Zhou Peigong's status could be increasingly consolidated and improved.

"If Admiral Deng posed a huge threat to Beijing, then the court knew about this and might not do anything to me, but also rely on my talents." Zhou Peigong began to realize that his best countermeasure was to "hold Deng's self-respect", so that he would be the safest: "But Governor Huguang is deeply in love with me, so it is difficult for me to do this; although Governor Chiang was a little wary of me, he also gave me a seal of the governor. It would be unsuitable for me to betray him."

After returning to the military camp, Zhou Peigong was still fighting against heaven and man. On one hand, it was his own interests and on the other hand, it was his own interests. He was a little unaware of how to grasp the standards. However, in the end, Zhou Peigong decided to properly safeguard his interests, and it was the examples of these governors and governors who made him determined. Since these officials in the border could go to Deng for their own safety, Zhou Peigong felt that he should be able to properly waterproof Deng Ming in order to ensure his own safety. As long as he ensured that the governors and governors did not suffer more losses than before he came forward, he would not have used the benefits they gave and the grace of cultivation.

"After most of the things in Fujian are Admiral Deng, he knows them, but what he knows is definitely not as detailed as me." After learning that Dasu was frustrated, the Governor of Huguang was very concerned about this, because it directly affected his strategy for Deng Ming. Although the Qing court strictly kept the losses confidential, there were still much more clues in the officialdom than those that flowed into the people, especially high-level institutions like the Governor's Office, who still had a little understanding of the severity of the situation.

Zhou Peigong planned to accidentally reveal some real situation in Fujian to Deng Ming when there was no one around, so that Deng Ming would have a better negotiating position. If Deng Ming used this to gain more benefits, it would not be that Zhou Peigong's negotiations were unfavorable. However, Zhou Peigong would not tell Deng Ming about the new agreement in Wuchang, because that agreement had little impact on the superiors, but was closely related to the interests of the Wuchang Hawks Group.

After signing the game agreement with Park Fan, Yu Youming and others, Zhou Peigong quickly went to Wuchang immediately. When he left, the agreement had not yet begun to be implemented, so he didn't know that the agreement had encountered some trouble as soon as it began to be implemented.

After obtaining the first batch of experimental certificates, the hawks in Wuchang went to exchange Ming army's goods. Other local products were held by Deng Ming, and they were responsible for the official organization. For these officials, Deng Ming's order was the only thing that needed to be considered. Since Pu Fan had the right to price, it had nothing to do with them how much IOU sold for the goods. They could pick up the goods by taking the certificate. They had no responsibility anymore.

There is no problem with other goods, but salt cannot be used for the IOU voucher that Youming gave, because although Park Fan has the right to price most of the goods, he cannot control the salt price, and the salt price is determined by the salt merchant.

In the eyes of people in the salt shop, this is what they suddenly make their selling price about one-third of the original price, which they absolutely cannot agree to. Therefore, if Park Fan can persuade them, the subordinates of these salt merchants did not agree to lower the price to sell salt.

It happened that Lu Huan escorted a new batch of Sichuan salt to Wuhan. Now the five major salt banks in Chengdu have formed an offensive and defensive alliance to the outside world, adopting unified prices and policies, and then splitting the profits equally. After hearing that Lu Huan arrived, Park Fan and Yu Youming hurried to find him, hoping that he could come forward to modify the salt price in Wuchang so that the certificates of Chengdu Industrial Bank could have better credit.

"Of course we can't lower the price." After learning the other party's request, Lu Huan shook his head like a rattle: "I definitely disagree. Even if I agree, the other four companies will not agree. Yes, I have the right to modify the policy of Chengdufu Salt Merchants Federation in Wuchang, but I must definitely make such a big change without the consent of others."

Yu Youming pointed out that although the selling price has dropped by one-third, the purchasing power of the IOU has also increased, so there is no loss.

But Lu Huan was still unmoved: "It has nothing to do with us whether the IOU can exchange more silver, because it is useless to us. For every 100 kilograms of salt sold here, we need to pay a tax of 100 yuan to Prefect Liu; for each 100 kilograms of Huai salt sold on behalf of the agency, in addition to paying a tax of 100 yuan, we have to pay a share of 50 yuan to Prefect Liu. How could I lower the price to 100 kilograms of salt to 66 yuan? Then we will have to pay more than 80 yuan for every 100 kilograms of salt!"

As for the salt that can be exchanged for silver instead of IOU, Lu Huan pointed out that he did not get any benefits from this agreement: "Instead of receiving the IOU certificates you have worked hard to collect the cash directly. The Admiral, like the Prefect Liu, purchased iron ore for our salt merchants. The ship's license is not possible. We cannot accept the IOU certificates of your Industrial Bank."—
Chapter completed!
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