The committee established in Fengjie allowed all the generals of Kuidong to understand the profitability of shipping. For some of them, Deng Ming also shared an important information with them, that is, the relationship between western Sichuan, Huguang and the two rivers. Among them, Li Laiheng and Liu Tichun had known this matter for a long time, and Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen also knew it, but for Wang Guangxing and Dang Shousu it was completely news.

After Li Siye arrived at Fengjie, according to the agreement between Deng Ming and Li Dingguo, he also learned about the inside story of the agreement between western Sichuan and Huguang, part of the agreement between the two rivers - the Battle of Gaoyou Lake, which of course, would not be made public on the committee. Deng Ming believed that it was necessary to let the alliance understand something so that it could play a coordinated role of the committee. The insiders were all generals who insisted on resisting until the end or their nephews and confidants. First, they would not say anything randomly, and no matter what bad things they said by the Qing officials, they would not be believed by the Qing court.

The profits of Yangtze River Shipping far exceeded the expectations of Li Laiheng, Liu Tichun and Deng Ming when they jointly issued the Yiling Declaration. Even if the part that was divided into Zhoushan, excluding subsidies to Li Laiheng, Liu Tichun, Yuan Zongdi and the two generals of the Han River, it has also brought more than 200 million yuan in revenue to western Sichuan this year. Now this part of the revenue is Deng Ming's financial support, ensuring the credit of the IOU and the operation of the western Sichuan government. As for how much silver is converted into, it will fluctuate slightly based on the fluctuations in the silver price.

This year, Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen also adopted policies similar to Li Laiheng and Liu Tichun, adjusted their relationship with the gentry and obtained subsidies from the committee, while Li Laiheng and Liu Tichun were hoping to increase their subsidies.

However, after the southeast canal transportation began this year, the committee's profits began to decline.

First of all, a lot of the income was extorted by Deng Ming last year, not entirely commercial income. Secondly, the Ming army traveled to and from the Yangtze River last year, playing a role in replacing merchant ships. If commerce was developed, the people along the river could also sell local products to merchant ships, or provide firewood, fresh rivers, grain and other items. Just like the Ming army last year, these incomes could be subsidized for household use and further transferred to areas not facing the river, allowing farmers to subsidize households by doing more miscellaneous work and bear taxes. This year, in order to complete the canal transportation, Huguang and Liangjiang had to further requisition civilian ships, which further exhausted the already exhausted middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The shipping of the Yangtze River has become even more depressed, and even if farmers want to do more work, it becomes unprofitable. Even if all this spare energy is invested in the land, it is impossible to further increase grain production. It is difficult to bear taxes based on land alone, let alone the consumption and prices of grain, vegetables, fruits and cotton are all declining.

The ban on the sea was the last blow to the economy of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. A large number of fishermen and sailors were unemployed and normal export trade was completely suspended. Faced with the ban on the sea, fishermen in Shandong, Liangjiang and Fujian, Zhejiang began to risk their lives to go out to sea secretly, but the Qing court was extremely strict and ordered officers and soldiers from all over the country to tie stones as the boundary, and the people who crossed were killed. Many coastal people who took risks for their livelihood died under the butcher knife of the sea patrol officers and soldiers.

Even in Jiangnan, Jiang Guozhu also implemented a strict ban on sea ban. First, he did not take the lives of the people seriously. He would only be easy to speak when facing a person like Deng Ming who held heavy troops; second, although Jiang Guozhu had an agreement with Chongming, he did not want to do this matter well, so except for a few smuggled docks, other places were not at all different when implementing the ban on sea ban. Finally, Jiang Guozhu secretly calculated that if the ban on sea ban was implemented well, his transaction with Chongming would have a monopoly position and it would be easier to raise the price.

Now the economy of Liangjiang is about to suffocate. Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao have no other way to deal with it except to persuade farmers and sericultures. After all, the taxes of the court cannot be stopped. Because they dare not reduce the taxes stipulated by the Qing court, it is just empty talk to persuade farmers and sericultures. Even if there is no future economic theory, our ancestors have already summarized it and if they want to resume production, they need to light taxes. Therefore, Liangjiang's solution now can only mobilize more officials to go to the countryside, inspect spring plowing, autumn harvest, and crack down on fugitives. This method has limited effect and also gives officials more opportunities to fish and people.

Seeing that the land prices continued to fall, and officials rely on the power of the court to rob, a large number of small landlords had begun to miss the time when the Ming army passed through last year. At that time, the Ming army was shocked, and the officials in the Liangjiang River were much more restrained, and the grain prices could be maintained, and local products could be sold and cheap goods were bought. Many landlords discussed privately, hoping that the Ming army would pass through again so that they could earn some money and pay the Qing court's taxes.

The gentry's situation is much better than that of the small lands. They currently have some tax preferential policies, which are much stronger than the ability of small landlords and farmers to withstand disasters. Many people also use heavy taxes to lend money and acquire land when the land prices are cheap.

"What can we do?" After hearing Zhou Peigong's secret envoy's speech, Ren Tang immediately remembered Deng Ming's theory, but he did not say it clearly, but continued to bargain: "If you want to restore the Southeast, you must stop paying taxes to Beijing. Do Governor Chiang and Governor Zhang have such a determination? If so, our army can help. If the two Governors do not have such determination, we will never convince the Tartars in Beijing not to collect your taxes."

It is impossible to turn against the Ming army directly. Although Jiang Guozhu is now using smuggling channels to make money and actively cultivate private forces, it has only been half a year to tinker with, and no matter what, it will be impossible to achieve great results. If the Qing Dynasty gave up Sichuan, Guangdong and Guangxi would definitely do their best to pacify the Southeast. As long as Beijing spared no expense and was not afraid of the situation going back to more than ten years ago overnight, it would definitely be able to gather a considerable army to suppress the rebellion. By the time of the fall, Jiang Guozhu would definitely be dead; and if the Ming army was invited to help, not to mention whether it would be possible to win or not, even if the territory was won, it would be the Ming army.

"It's a bit too hasty to fight the Tartars now." Before Zhou Peigong's envoy answered, Liu Tichun replied for him.

Now anyone with discerning eyes can see that the Qing court still has an absolute advantage, and the Ming army was able to fight to the southwest, which largely took advantage of the Qing court's dispersed forces. The farther it was from the political and economic loyalty of the Qing court to the west, and the weaker the supply and control capabilities of the Qing army became. Therefore, even if the Qing court had several times or even ten times the advantage of national strength, it could not gain an overwhelming advantage on the western front.

Xiangdong could only attack the war, with the purpose of plundering materials to strengthen himself and weaken the national strength of the Qing court. The Kuidong generals saw this very clearly. Even if they were as powerful as Zheng Chenggong, they could not seize the southeast. As brave as Deng Ming, they could not firmly control even a stronghold. The Kuidong generals were even worse. Li Laiheng and Zhang Changgeng are still balanced, while Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen could not even defeat the Chu army. They could gain a foothold in Xiangyang because Wuchang was worried about Deng Ming's reaction. Therefore, everyone of the members of the committee knew that the policies adopted by Deng Ming were probably the most beneficial to the Ming army at present.

"The committee means," Liu Tichun used the name of this institution for the first time: "We sent troops to Jiangnan to conquer some prefectures and counties so that the two rivers can obtain some tax exemptions, but our ships are not enough, and we need the Western Sichuan Navy to assist in the war."

"Is this what the envoy mean?" Mu Tan asked in surprise. If he had broken through the prefectures, what would be the benefit of Jiang Guozhu even if he could be exempted from taxes? But if he just pretended and did not allow the Ming army to take away the savings in the warehouse, how could Liu Tichun and the others actively agree with this resolution?

"Yes." Zhou Peigong's envoy replied, and then he told Zhou Peigong's plan.

Since serving as the governor of Liangjiang, Zhou Peigong has been very dedicated to the affairs of Liangjiang, and he is also an active supporter of Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao's establishment of his own: because Zhou Peigong knew that only when Deng Ming was at great threats could he have the greatest value. Whether his yamen was called "Suppressing Deng" or "Tong Deng", the court agreed to the establishment of this yamen because of the former, and the governor of the Southeast treated him well because of the latter.

Zhou Peigong also saw the dilemma of the Southeast and was anxious. If the situation continued, not only would his yamen have influenced him, Deng Ming might be dissatisfied, but Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao's reputation among the people would also become very bad - this was very unfavorable for them to cultivate private power. The court officials did not need to care too much about their prestige among the people, but it would be completely different to be a local emperor.

Jiang Guozhu's original idea was to take action against a group of gentry, the reason was that these people missed the Ming Dynasty and were dissatisfied with the Qing Dynasty. The Qing court has always been very sensitive to the remarks of the Han people. This crime will definitely satisfy the court. The gentry's property is also relatively large. Flooded wealth can fill the vassal treasury, land can be used to resettle immigrants who relocate to the sea, and renting them will also bring some income.

However, Zhou Peigong felt that it was inappropriate, because although this excuse was easily accepted by the court, it would have caused too much damage to Jiang Guozhu's reputation unless Jiang Guozhu took out part of the income to compensate the people in Jiangnan. If he had to clean up a group of gentry, exempt the taxes from the small landlords who owe them their loans, and allocated some land to them, it might be a good idea, but Jiang Guozhu thought about it and was reluctant to let go of the bleeding.

Finally, the plan was further revised. Jiang Guozhu planned to reach a secret agreement with the Ming army, and the Ming army would come forward to deal with a group of wealthy and gentry. Jiang Guozhu was responsible for secretly cooperating and not causing trouble for the Ming army's military operations. In the end, their property was added to both sides, and Jiang Guozhu would not have to pay the additional cost of the Ming army's troops.

The committee felt that this method was good. The camp had no good feelings for the gentry, and Jiang Guozhu promised that the people on the list were the most loyal to the Qing court - they were the common enemies of Jiang Guozhu and the Ming army. After Jiangxi learned this secret plan, he also happily joined. Zhang Chao said that before the Ming army went to Jiangnan again, he could go around Jiangxi and kill all the fenceists and the hardcore Qing factions. He was responsible for letting Jiangxi Green Camp perform a show "There is no shadow of the soldiers and bandits, and the soldiers are no trace of the soldiers. Poor soldiers and bandits, when will they meet?"
Chapter completed!