When Deng Ming was stationed in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Governor Zhang Chao did not meet with him, but handed over all the matter to his deputy Dong Weiguo because he had a more important thing to do, that is, a secret talk with Jiangning Governor Jiang Guozhu.

This private collusion by the officials in the border areas was very taboo to the court, but Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao were both worried that the court would turn against each other and launch a southern expedition. Since this possibility cannot be 100% ruled out, it is necessary for them to formulate an offensive and defensive alliance. This kind of alliance talks concern the future of the two people, and they were uneasy to use envoys to communicate, so Jiang Guozhu secretly went to Anqing Mansion to negotiate in person with Zhang Chao, who was disguised.

Except for Zhou Peigong, no fourth person was present in this negotiation, and even their confidants were excluded. Both sides agreed that open source training was the top priority. They needed troops to fight the court in the north and reject Deng Ming in the east. During the negotiations on this day, Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao reached many agreements on trade and taxation. During this period, the two had arguing several times, but they were all resolved by the sleek Zhou Peigong's kind words.

Now Zhou Peigong is a popular figure in the two rivers. The maritime trade issue he was fully responsible for was given great hope by Jiang Guozhu, so that it would be possible for the governor of Jiangning to train more loyal troops. Now Zhou Peigong is close to the second person in Jiangnan who deserves it; and Zhang Chao also hopes to use the relationship between Zhou Peigong and Deng Ming to make the unified purchase and sale of porcelain smoothly. Originally, giving Zhou Peigong the title of Jiangxi governor was just a means of winning over, and a large part of it was because of Zhang Changgeng's face behind him, but now Zhang Chao is willing to give Zhou Peigong greater power and make him his own deputy second only to Dong Weiguo.

Zhou Peigong, who is also the governor of Liangjiang and two provinces, can look at the problem from the comprehensive height of Liangjiang. If the two governors' talks are missing, they will almost fail.

At this talk, Zhou Peigong proposed the concept of "economic integration between the two rivers" from a high-level perspective. Nanjing and Nanchang neither blocked the other party's goods, did not impose additional taxes, eliminated trade barriers internally, and shared the profits of maritime and Yangtze River trade. Of course, this is all for merchants with official backgrounds. As for those small and medium-sized merchants, the Liangjiang Yamen must collect lijin to enrich the treasury of Nanjing and Nanchang. This strategy can not only further increase the income of the two provinces, but also attack competitors and strive for a strong position in trade negotiations with the Ming army.

Since officials and businessmen have many privileges, neither Nanjing nor Nanchang will unilaterally issue licenses to merchants, and all privileges must be granted by the other party in advance. Finally, Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao agreed to set up a special yamen to engage in this matter. They planned to jointly submit a report to the court to apply for the establishment of the "Two Rivers Suppressing Deng Zongli Yamen". The open function is to be responsible for intelligence collection, investigate Tong Deng's detailed work, bribe Mu Tan and similar lustful people to invade the Ming army, formulate Yangtze River trade review rules to prevent being used by the Ming army, and shoulder the responsibility of raising funds for the Liangjiang vassal treasury; secretly, they are naturally fully responsible for Tong Deng and issue such official licenses jointly recognized by Nanjing and Nanchang.

Zhou Peigong will be jointly recommended by the two governors as the first minister of the general secretary of the suppression of Deng, and will be appointed as the governor of the two provinces. The two governors will be located in Anqing, referred to as the suppression of the general government of the two provinces. It will have offices in Nanchang and Nanjing metropolis, referred to as the Nanjing Iron and Nanchang Iron and the suppression of the general government. At this time, both governors thought that this would be a yamen with simple functions and responsible for collecting money. Premier Zhou Peigong's rights were also very limited. Whether it was Jiang Guozhu, Zhang Chao, or even Zhou Peigong himself, he did not expect what kind of monster the suppression of Deng Iron and how powerful the governor Zhou Peigong would one day become.

In addition to economic cooperation, the two governors were more concerned about the division of political power. With the mediation of the future Prime Minister Deng, Zhang Chao promised to withdraw from the competition between the Governor of the Liangjiang River and fully supported Jiang Guozhu to obtain this position; while Jiang Guozhu promised that after obtaining the position of Governor General, he would not interfere in Jiangxi's personnel and financial power, would not interfere in Jiangxi's internal affairs, and would do his best to safeguard Zhang Chao's position in Jiangxi.

Since the Suppression General Office has been confirmed to be in Anqing, neither governor can suggest to the court that it will be relocated to other places.

After the division of political rights was completed, Zhang Chao and Jiang Guozhu discussed economic issues again. However, it was almost always Zhang Chao who spoke today. Jiang Guozhu received a letter from Lin Qilong yesterday, and has been a little absent-minded since then.

"If any reason in the future causes the Deng Zongli Yamen to be unable to stay in Anqing, I suggest that a new location should be chosen as a resident on the border between Jiangxi and Jiangnan." In any case, Jiangnan's strength is still above Jiangxi. Zhang Chao was afraid that the General Suppression Yamen will eventually be completely absorbed by the General Suppression Yamen and become a subordinate institution, so he prepared for the sake of the General Suppression Yamen: "No matter what the situation is, the resident of the General Suppression Yamen cannot be placed in Jiangning or Nanchang, nor within 100 miles of Jiangning or Nanchang."

"I have no objection." Jiang Guozhu's mental state is obviously not good today and seems to be worried. Zhang Chao's suggestion was agreed without any bargaining.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Peigong, who was accompanying him, also showed some surprise. Yesterday, Jiang Guozhu was in a daze after reading Lin Qilong's letter. However, when Zhang Chao and Zhou Peigong asked about the content of the letter, Jiang Guozhu smiled and said that everything was fine and that the court did not take any special actions. Since Jiang Guozhu said this, Zhang Chao and Zhou Peigong were not good at forcing the Governor of Jiangning to share the private letters the Governor of the Valley Transportation to him.

At this moment, a guard standing guard loudly reported to him outside the door. After entering the room, the guard brought by Zhang Chao said, "Report to the three masters, Lord Dong Buzheng is here."

"What are he here to do?" Zhang Chao shouted unhappily. As the deputy governor of Jiangxi, Dong Weiguo certainly knew about his boss' secret talks in Anqing, but when Dong Weiguo came, wouldn't Jiangxi be an empty city plan?

"The governor asked to see the governor immediately." The guards also had a look of confusion on their faces: "The governor said something urgent, well, it was about the year name."

"Isn't it just that the reign of Kangxi will be changed next year? What's the big deal?" Zhang Chao was angry, but since Dong Weiguo came, he couldn't ignore him: "Let him come in."

"It's not good." Although Jiang Guozhu did not object, Zhou Peigong could not stand it anymore. Before the talks, the two sides had agreed that except for Zhou Peigong, a neutral person, the subordinates and aides of either party should not be allowed to participate. This is both for confidentiality and for balance. Now the Governor of Jiangning is obviously not in the state, and Zhou Peigong feels that he needs to say something fair to ensure that there will be no more conflicts between the parties to the negotiations: "The lower-ranking officials think that they can temporarily recess, and the Governor can privately..."

"What should come is always coming." After hearing the word "Kangxi", Jiang Guozhu shook his whole body again. He interrupted Zhou Peigong and took out the letter from Lin Qilong from his arms: "Let Lord Dong come in. If the official expected it was not bad, it was for the content of this letter."

...

Zhongxiang North.

A team of cavalry dressed in Qing army uniforms drove to the barracks with red flags. The officers led by the army turned over and dismounted, walked slowly to the barracks of the Ming army. They took out a letter and handed it to the guards of the Ming army, and introduced themselves: "I am the admiral of the Wuchang horse army, who came on the order of the governor of Huguang."

"Look for a long time, long time!"

The Ming army officer bowed his fists and led the visitor into the camp.

This is He Zhen’s military camp. After the news of the Battle of Gaoyou Lake reached Xiangyang, the Ming army was in full swing. After several letters with Hao Yaoqi in Yunyang, He Zhen swore a oath to set out and launched an attack on Wuchang.

Before sending troops, He Zhen and Hao Yaoqi also jointly sent a letter of war to Zhang Changgeng, in which they called Zhang Changgeng the Governor General of Huguang of the Qing Dynasty. In the past, if He Zhen and Hao Yaoqi attacked the Qing army, they would naturally never send out any letter of war. They would rather not have known it when they were killed at the city. Even if they issued the letter of war, they would definitely call the other party the Lu Chou and the Tartars. Whatever they said was unpleasant.

But this attack was essentially about going to Wuchang to meet Deng Ming. He Zhen and Hao Yaoqi were worried that Deng Ming would not have time to come to the Han River Basin, and would only go to Jingzhou and Yiling to see Li Laiheng and Liu Tichun and return to Fengjie directly. The two politely applied for entry permit from Zhang Changgeng, and they promised not to attack Zhang Changgeng's prefectures and counties. They would leave after seeing Deng Ming, and would never stay in the other territory.

The envoy was brought to He Zhen. The horse army admiral had led his troops to fight with He Zhen for several battles at Zhong Xiang, and drove He Zhen back to Xiangyang. However, Zhong Xiang was the border between Deng Ming and Zhang Changgeng. After the Huguang army occupied this place, the security of Wuchang was guaranteed. Zhang Changgen did not take advantage of the victory to pursue him. He Zhen knew that his strength was too much worse than the governor of Huguang, so he did not try to retake it.

When Zhang Changgeng opened his reply, he was quite polite. The governor of Huguang in the Qing Dynasty not only replied to the two dukes of the Ming Dynasty, but also did not have bandits. The bandits cursed them, called them gentlemen, and agreed to the Ming army's entry request. Of course, Zhang Changgen had reported to Beijing the Ming army's invasion operation. The general of the Ma army who sent the letter was the commander-in-chief of the bandit suppression of Huguang, and was fully responsible for resisting the attacks of He Zhen and Hao Yaoqi.

The letter also explained Deng Ming's itinerary. Zhang Changgeng said that if everything goes well, not only He Zhen, but also Hao Yaoqi, who had not arrived at Zhong Xiang, would have had time to meet Deng Ming under Wuchang City.

In front of the envoy, He Zhen burned the letter as required in the letter and signaled his subordinates to take the Wuchang Ma Army Admiral to inspect the Ming army's barracks.

"Thank you, Lord Duke." Admiral Ma bowed respectfully and then inspected the entire camp accompanied by Ming army officers to confirm that the Ming army did not carry any siege equipment, especially the gunpowder and the big bell used for blasting that Zhang Changgeng repeatedly emphasized.

"Are you satisfied?" After checking the Ming army camp, the Ming army officer asked: "Can I go and see your army's defense?"

"It should be, it should be." The Admiral of the Ma Army took the Ming army officers to inspect the Qing army's positions without hesitation to prove that the Qing army did not ambush, nor did they collect food and grass or assemble troops.

"Why haven't Duke Hao arrived yet?" After the inspection was completed, the Admiral Ma Jun asked again.

"Oh, that's right, King Andong also wants to go to Wuchang." The Ming army officer replied that King Andong has always been protected by Hao Yaoqi and has always stayed behind safe Zhushan for many years. When Deng Ming galloped in Huguang, King Andong had thought about it, but in the end he still felt that the front line was too dangerous and did not come out of the mountain.

Later, Deng Ming's good news came one after another. King Andong felt very regretful when he saw that the Qing army in Huguang was afraid of Deng Ming as a tiger. This time, the news of Gaoyou Lake reached Zhushan. King Andong couldn't help it. Suddenly, he was braver and decided to meet this young clan, and by the way, talk about family matters and see if he could make a connection.

"Ah, a king is coming. OK, I understand. Wuchang will prepare the best opera troupe and actor to send it to your army, so that the king will return with satisfaction." The admiral of the Ma Army is informed and tactful. Since it is impossible to risk angering Deng Ming to deal with King Anton, flattery is the only choice.

"I'm going to do my best." Ming army officer nodded repeatedly.
Chapter completed!