One letter of information was sent to Xuzhou continuously for three consecutive days. The prefect of Xuzhou held military meetings every day. Even the prefect Yuan Xiang would come to the meeting after handling his official duties and express some of his military views.

By the time the fourth report was delivered, everyone in the state of Xuzhou completely changed their views. Li Guoying undoubtedly launched a large-scale offensive, mobilizing more than 40,000 troops, of which the armored one was estimated to be around 10,000. Until now, the Ming army's report is still a general number, mostly officers observed the Qing army from a distance, and then made inferences based on their old opinions in their hearts. The same is true in the state of Xuzhou. However, the intention of Li Guoying to launch such a large-scale offensive still confuses Xuzhou. Now Deng Ming's speculation is very close to Yuan Zongdi's original one, that is, Li Guoying wants to vigorously supplement Zhongxian so that Zhongxian can station more troops and play a greater role.

"But as long as Wanxian is still in our hands, even if the Qing army builds a water camp in Zhongxian, it will not have much impact on our shipping." Yuan Zongdi was particularly concerned about Zhongxian's urban defense because he wanted to become the main force to conquer Chongqing. Deng Ming always believed that the western Sichuan troops would be the main force to attack Chongqing. At most, the Wanxian troops played the role of partial divisions, but it was not a big problem. In this way, Li Guoying placed a large number of troops in Zhongxian County, which would be equivalent to putting more troops on the secondary battlefield. Not only would it cost huge resources to replenish Zhongxian's troops, but once Chongqing lost its Zhongxian Qing army, there was no other way to go except surrender: "Do you think Li Guoying would touch Wanxian's brain?"

If the Qing army was controlled by the Qing army from Chongqing to the north bank of Wanxian, the ships going downstream would be fine, but the cargo ships returning to Xuzhou would be a little troublesome. There was no safe and reliable base at such a long distance, no supply or intelligence. Moreover, the cargo distribution center had to be moved to Fengjie, which was not only a trouble for the Ming army's escort group, but also an increase in costs for merchants.

"It is unlikely that Wanxian has 40,000 or 50,000 people now." Xuzhou estimated that the scale of troops dispatched by Li Guoying this time was about 40,000 or 50,000. Although he still underestimated the strength of the Qing army, it had exceeded the original expectations of the Qing army. However, even if it was so 40,000 or 50,000 people could not conquer Yuan Zongdi's Wanxian. Moreover, the Western Sichuan Army was going downstream and could reach Wanxian in a few days to reinforce, so there was not much time left for the Qing army.

"Maybe Li Guoying also underestimated the strength of Duke Jingguo?" The more Deng Ming thought about it, the more he had this possibility. The supplies he brought back from Jiangnan were astronomical figures that others could not imagine. Not only did Li Guoying absolutely unimaginable, but he probably wouldn't believe it even if he told him in person. Therefore, Li Guoying might not know that Deng Ming not only had the spare time to develop the farmers and workers in Chengdu, but also could strongly support Yuan Zongdi, an ally closest to Chengdu.

"That's fine." Deng Ming's subordinates all laughed. If Li Guoying used troops similar to Yuan Zongdi to attack Wanxian, he would definitely suffer a big loss: "If Li Guoying was defeated under Wanxian City and was then chased back to Chongqing by Duke Jingguo, then Chongqing would not be necessary."

"Li Guoying is very cautious. Chongqing will not leave troops. However, whether he has the idea of ​​attacking Wanxian or simply trying to replenish Zhongxian, this kind of action will make his troops weaker. We should encourage him to take risks like this." Deng Ming thought for a while, and felt that from any perspective, Li Guoying could not pose a major threat to the Ming army, so Deng Ming had no intention of interfering too much: "If what we guessed before was right, that is, if Li Guoying wanted to use some exhausted military strategy, of course we don't need to send a navy; I dare not expect Li Guoying to hit Wanxian's solid defense, but if he just wanted to supplement Zhongxian, I don't need to disrupt our own plans to stop his completely harmless action."

After three days of discussion, Xuzhou still tends to wait and see the changes instead of sending a navy immediately. If it were in normal times, Deng Ming would order the navy to reinforce without thinking. However, Deng Ming's own offensive has entered the countdown stage and the first batch of mobilization has begun. Although in order not to affect the production scale as much as possible, recruited soldiers will arrive in Xuzhou by boat every day. Now Xuzhou has gathered three thousand sailors, two thousand standing troops, and ten thousand recruited soldiers. As for the civil servants who went to harvest crops, 10,000 people have been mobilized. Within seven days before the scheduled departure date, another ten thousand will be assembled.

In order to reduce government spending, Deng Ming had the first words. The dietary standards of these civilians and husbands were as good as those of the soldiers, but they were not considered soldiers. Therefore, their names were also changed to civilians instead of auxiliary soldiers. The same dietary standards were not bullied, beaten, and there were also subsidies and bonuses. They were treated even in other Ming army or green camp troops. However, Deng Ming's policy aroused protests and dissatisfaction in the civilians and husbands' troops. They said they also wanted a series of military treatments including copper buttoned military uniforms to assist blind dates.

Deng Ming, one of the leaders of the civil servants who caused trouble, happened to know him. He was named Tan Xiaozhuang, a captured Guizhou soldier. He was once a supplementary soldier of the Qin army in Xiying. He was qualified as a scholar in Chengdu after paying taxes last year. When conducting military training in Chengdu, Tan Xiaozhuang was appointed as a reserve corporal by the instructor's recommendation because he knew how to obey and had certain leadership skills.

During this recruitment process, Tan Xiaozhuang was full of thought that his reserve corporal could be promoted to regular service. When he found out that he was recruited as a civilian rather than a soldier, he was full of dissatisfaction and was finally elected by his civilian companions to bargain with Deng Ming.

Since ancient times, such leaders have been a very dangerous job. As long as there are enough people to cause trouble, their requirements will generally be met, but leaders will generally be punished. The vast majority of confused people are incited by a small group of ulterior motives. According to Deng Ming, this is the tradition of the rule of China for thousands of years. If the knife is not fast enough, the emperor and bureaucrats may be able to temporarily compromise with the angry many people, but they will never tolerate those who stand up and take the lead.

Eliminating the leader is part of the rule, fighting against injustice, shocking dissatisfied people, and at the same time eliminating the leaders of the people - Deng Ming regarded it as a low-level head shaving order. If this castration policy was not implemented persistently, perhaps the Han people in the late Song and late Ming dynasties would not have no ability to fight back against the iron hoofs of foreign races.

Fortunately, leadership ability can be cultivated. Deng Ming looked at the list of troublemakers sent by him and found that almost all of them were reserve officers: "The instructors of the standing army have very accurate vision, and everyone who recommends these reserve officers should be rewarded."

The reason for Tan Xiaozhuang and others is very simple. They are responsive to the court's conscript order, so they should enjoy the treatment of soldiers and should not be regarded as civilians.

"What you said makes sense, but I don't have so much armor and don't have so much money." Deng Ming invited all the troublemakers to his tent, asked them to sit on the other side of his long table, and explained the financial difficulties of the government very seriously: "It is indeed unfair to call you to serve in the military, but not give you soldiers treatment. This is my exchange condition: I guarantee that you will not be assigned to combat tasks, and priority will be given to protecting civilians when fighting occurs; if fierce battles break out this time, and the government awards soldiers a great victory bonus after the war, each civilian with other auxiliary roles can get half of the war soldiers, and those who have particularly outstanding contributions can get the same reward as soldiers. What do you think?"

Through negotiations, Deng Ming and the protesters reached an agreement.

Afterwards, Deng Ming invited all the restless people, including Tan Xiaozhuang, to celebrate the conclusion of the agreement that satisfies both sides. He learned that in addition to Tan Xiaozhuang, there were two other non-commissioned officers who were leading the troublemakers from Guizhou. Deng Ming also heard about their experiences when they were under Zhang Yong, Zhao Liangdong and Wang Jinbao. For a long time, this group of people have been clamoring for coupons that are not applicable to Zhang Yong and three others.

"You are so honest under Zhang Yong, why did you come to me to make trouble this time?" Deng Ming finally couldn't help asking after hearing their identities.

"Admiral's Secret," Tan Xiaozhuang smiled and said, "We kowtowed three times a day before we arrived in Chengdu. Four heads were not too many, seven or eight heads were normal, but I haven't knelt once in the capital for more than a year recently."

"So I shot myself in the foot." Deng Ming nodded. He still seemed a little uneasy when he saw some troublemakers. Maybe he was muttering about his own fate after the storm subsided. Deng Ming said: "The ancestral system, the court and scholars jointly govern the world. This country is the country of scholars, your country, and I am not an enemy of scholars. I should have discussed the matter, otherwise why should I be called co-governance?"

However, if Deng Ming had to explain and negotiate every time he had to do so, he would be too busy. With the help of the troublemaker, the recruited civilians soon knew Deng Ming's compromise plan. With the persuasion of the leaders, the storm subsided.

After learning that people's hearts are stable, Deng Ming once again ordered all the troublemakers to be summoned to his account.

"Okay, now is the time to settle the score in the autumn." Deng Ming announced loudly, his desk filled with handwritten orders: "Don't you, the leaders of trouble, want to join the army? Then I will promote each of you one level."

The last letter was for Tan Xiaozhuang. Deng Ming handed the order to the chief negotiator elected by the civil servants this time: "You will be promoted to two levels and will be a reserve sergeant from today. If you are recruited to the army next time, you will be recruited as a sergeant."

"As you said, you were all recruited as civil servants, and asking for the people should be rewarded, so you were all promoted; but I must warn you that next time you may be recruited as soldiers, I will negotiate with the scholars but will never talk to the non-commissioned officers under you. If you, as soldiers, dare to question my orders, I will execute you all and hang your heads on the camp gate." Deng Ming waved his hand: "Okay, dear delegates, you can leave and enjoy the cheers of your supporters. You have been here for too long, and I dare say they have begun to worry."
Chapter completed!