After Hao Yaoqi arrived at Fengjie, he was extremely convinced of Zhou Peigong's suggestion. After fighting two battles with Zhang Changgeng and being driven out of Zhongxiang, Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen were very clear about how big the gap between their strength and Wuchang. In the eyes of Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen, the main reason for Deng Ming's strongness was that he was able to use his short-term military advantages to seek huge benefits every time, and use this interest to further strengthen his strength. Relying on a capable army and the City Bombing Law to threaten Zhang Changgeng and others to submit.

Deng Ming has always been worried that his agreement with Zhang Changgen would arouse dissatisfaction among the generals of Kuidong, because this is actually a constraint on the Ming army, which restricts their expansion of territory. Moreover, Deng Ming also assured Zhang Changgen that if the Kuidong army tries to attack Yuezhou, the Ming army in western Sichuan will be strictly neutral. When he passed by Wuchang last time, Zhang Changgen and Deng Ming even signed a supplementary clause, that is, if Yuezhou and Zhongxiang were attacked by the Ming army in Kuidong, Deng Ming would not only not be able to send troops, but also provide transportation and material assistance; in return, Zhang Changgen set aside a piece of land to make warehouses for merchants in western Sichuan to store more and more goods in western Sichuan.

However, the Kuidong general was not very dissatisfied with the agreement between Deng Ming and Zhang Changgeng. First of all, in the view of Hao Yaoqi and He Zhen, this agreement has a greater protective effect on them than a restraining effect. If there is no agreement, they have to be wary of Zhang Changgen attacking Xiangyang and even Gucheng all day long and drive them back to the mountains. Because of this agreement, Zhang Changgeng was not very interested in calling on the Henan Green Camp to support him. Since the governor of Huguang said that supplies were tight and there were not many people in Xiangyang, and the recovery of Xiangyang was not considered as the top priority for the time being, the Henan Green Camp would certainly not pay out of his own pocket to help Zhang Changgeng recover lost territory.

Like Zhong Xiang, Yuezhou was lost by Hu Quancai. After Zhang Changgeng took office, he recovered these two places. The former was recaptured by force from Hao Yaoqi's hand, while the latter was recovered by agreement with Li Laiheng. At that time, because of limited troops and poor people and short-sighted ambition, Li Laiheng sold Yuezhou to Zhang Changgeng at a low price, so Deng Ming signed a neutral treaty and he had nothing to say. Now that he is getting rich, Li Laiheng regrets the original transaction, but after joining the committee, he learned that Deng Ming could go to Wu.

After Chang obtained the benefits, Li Laiheng, who had already made a good decision, thought he could not convince Deng Ming to break the contract. After weighing the benefits he could get from the committee and comparing the taxes in Yuezhou, Li Laiheng temporarily suppressed his thoughts on Yuezhou. Now Li Laiheng plans to use Deng Ming's neutral treaty to make more compensation to western Sichuan. When his territory is more stable and stronger, he can fight Wuchang alone, Li Laiheng will think about how to swallow Hubei's own territory.

Like Li Laiheng, although the members of the committee did not feel much dissatisfied with Deng Ming's neutral agreement, it did not prevent them from making a fuss about this. This time, Liu Tichun and Hao Yaoqi both emphasized that because of Deng Ming's neutral agreement, they affected their land revival, and their inability to expand their territory would affect their strength. Besides, their "huge" troops could not do nothing, so going to Liangjiang to cooperate with Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao to loot the gentry who supported the Qing court was a necessary action; more importantly, because this was a second-rate action under Deng Ming's neutral agreement, western Sichuan was responsible for this and should provide ship assistance.

Liu Tichun said that all the members of the committee are good people with conscience, so the Western Sichuan Navy will not run away in vain and will also be given a spoil. Liu Tichun's speech was unanimously agreed by the participants, including Wang Guangxing, who had always been with Li Laiheng, Liu Tichun and others, and they all said that General Liu said it was too good - everyone has a share of the committee members, everyone has to send troops to share the spoils. Since Wang Guangxing has participated, there is also his share, and only Yuan Zongdi, who refuses to participate in the committee, is not worth anything.

However, Ren Tang, Mu Tan and Zhou Kaihuang disagreed. The first two did not have a deep friendship with the generals of Kuidong, and the latter had no psychological burden to refuse because Yuan Zongdi was absent and had no chance to send troops.

This committee has no coercive power, it is just for internal communication between the alliance. Simply put, the operating principles of the committee are similar to those of the vegetable market. We must be willing to do so and not forcefully buy and sell.

The Kuidong Army was poor compared to western Sichuan, and he wanted to swallow it immediately when he saw such a big fortune. But Mu Tan and the other three knew that Deng Ming had always attached great importance to his image among the people when he sent troops to Jiangnan. Jiang Guozhu would definitely blame all the charges on the Ming army in order to maintain his image. In order to apply for tax exemption from the Qing court, he would probably try his best to exaggerate the tragic situation of the war zone. Even if the Ming army went there was not under the banner of Deng Ming, it was still the Ming army. The Ming army in western Sichuan controlled most of the profits of Yangtze River shipping. Ren Tang and others felt that the benefit this time was not very big, but the price was quite high: providing the navy was a large expense, but it seemed like a small matter compared to the loss of the reputation of the Ming army.

Although the three generals in western Sichuan were Deng Ming's right-hand man, they had never obtained the authorization to decide the strategic direction. Deng Ming was basically equivalent to the position of a benefactor for the three of them. If the lord was not there, which general dared to decide the policy without authorization? Even if Deng Ming was generous and did not doubt the use of people, they still didn't want to commit such taboos. Besides, if there were obvious benefits, they might be able to consider it. For example, if the master was not there, the housekeeper might be able to accept a generous gift from someone else for him. It was not that there was no danger at all, but it would not cause trouble for the master, nor would it make the master feel that the housekeeper was unfaithful. And the pros and cons of this trip to Jiangnan were difficult to distinguish, and Ren Tang and others did not want to make a good decision for Deng Ming for such a little benefit.

I am the old idea if you do anything. No matter how the committee blew his beard and glared, I would make excuses for the words "The Admiral is not here". I would like to borrow the Western Sichuan Navy to use it, but it would be a gate.

In desperation, Liu Tichun and the others had to go to Wen Anzhi for arbitration.

Because he was old, Wen Anzhi rarely participated in the committee's discussions. When he heard that Kuidong and western Sichuan had disagreements, Wen Anzhi did not dare to neglect it, so he immediately asked Liu Tichun and others to explain the reasons for the matter in detail. Wen Anzhi knew that his responsibility was not light, and before listening to the statement, he made up his mind that no matter how good the relationship between him and Deng Ming had always been, he must be impartial in order to maintain the unity of the committee and thus maintain the unity of the entire anti-Qing alliance. Wen Anzhi knew very well that Deng Ming's fundamental purpose of establishing the entire committee was to unite, not to take advantage of it.

After listening carefully to the causes and consequences, Wen Anzhi pondered for a while and said slowly: "I will repeat it briefly. If there is something wrong, several generals will correct it."

"Yes, please speak in the supervisor." Liu Tichun, Hao Yaoqi, Wang Guangxing and the others answered.

"Deng Ming reached an agreement with the Tartars' Governor of Huguang. He sold goods in Wuchang in exchange. In the future, he would not help the officers and soldiers attacking Hubei, right?"

"Yes." Liu Tichun responded strongly.

"You think this is wrong, so you want to reach an agreement with the Tartars' Governor Huguang, Jiangxi, and Jiangnan Governors, to attack Jiangxi and Jiangnan, and attack those who Jiangxi and Jiangnan Governor disliked, and share the gains equally. The Governor Huguang let you pass through, and he also wants to get his share. Right?"

"Well, this is basically the case." Liu Tichun's voice lowered octaves.

"And the governors of Jiangxi and Jiangnan appointed by the Tartars, the people they disliked were actually the hard-core lackeys who supported the Luting Court the most! Now the people in western Sichuan do not agree to this agreement. Although the three of Ren Tang and the others tried to make excuses, from the meaning they revealed: attacking and destroying these devoted lackeys may be detrimental to the prestige of the imperial court!!"

The room was silent, and no one could point out the wrong things in Wen'an's summary.

"Oh," Wen Anzhi shook his head. He had long known that the burden on his shoulders was not light, and that Deng Mingbiao was unconventional. However, this incident still refreshed Wen Anzhi's understanding of Deng Ming and the generals of Kuidong under his influence. Wen Anzhi did not realize that he was actually greatly affected.

"I have always thought that the officers and soldiers and the Tartars were clearly divided. Today you ask me to judge who is right and who is wrong in this matter..." Wen Anzhi shook his head again. This was the first time he was asked to arbitrate since he took charge of the committee. The result was such a difficult problem. He looked around the generals and was all dozens of years younger than him: "Anyway, this world is supported by you young boys. You can do it yourself. I really don't know who is right and who is wrong."

...

Without obtaining the arbitration result, everyone had to continue bargaining in the vegetable market. Seeing that Liu Tichun and others could not convince Ren Tang and other generals in western Sichuan and could not borrow the navy, they asked them to send a few envoys to chase Deng Ming's troops in one by one: "What's the matter with one month, is it enough? If the left governor said it was OK, it should be fine, right?"

In order to prevent Ren Tang and others from deliberately obstructing them in the middle, Liu Tichun and others personally wrote a letter to Deng Ming, which not only emphasized the significance of this battle to the generals of Kuidong, but also implied that it was related to the unity within the committee. Even the messengers who delivered the letter were excellent riders under the committee. Liu Tichun and others all hoped that Deng Ming would make a reply as soon as possible so that he could send troops as soon as possible.
Chapter completed!