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Section 58 Alliance (Part 2)

Wuchang.

From time to time, new Ming army warships passed by, and the Sichuan army that set off later and the Kuidong army that rushed to hear the news. Looking at these rampant troops, Zhang Changgeng was in a very complicated mood. The Governor of Huguang knew that he had fallen too deeply in the quagmire of Tong Deng, so he couldn't help but start to hope that Chengdu could compete with Beijing. Now Deng Ming's victory in the world is more beneficial to Zhang Changgeng than Beijing sweeping the whole country.

However, Zhang Changgen did not want this progress to be too fast, at least for a few decades, so that Zhang Changgen could safely hold him, the local emperor, to die. Since his ambition was to rule Huguang for the rest of his life, Zhang Changgen would strengthen the military strength of the two lakes as much as possible to avoid being swallowed up by the evil neighbors around him: Deng Ming and Kuidong were all red-eyed robbers, but the Qing soldiers in Henan were not good at robbers, Wu Sangui of Guizhou, Shang Kexi of Guangdong, and Geng Jimao of Fujian were not good people; it was Zhang Chao of Nanchang and Jiang Guozhu of Nanjing. Zhang Changgen knew that if he showed his flaws, these two guys would probably pounce on him and bite him.

"Crisis is everywhere." The worried governor of Huguang sighed. Deng Ming controlled the Yangtze River trade, leaving Huguang with little profit margin, and the war bonds sold this time had to swallow up most of Huguang's small profits. Although Zhang Changgeng had known for a long time that he could only share some of Deng Ming's remaining remaining soup, he was still unwilling to share so little.

These days, Zhang Changgeng fooled the governor of Liangjiang and successfully cheated 200,000 taels of silver. However, compared to the ones stolen by Sichuan people, this is just a drop in the bucket. Sichuan bankers are like a group of locusts, and the prefectures and counties in Huguang extorted one by one. In addition, Wuchang, in just half a month, they were forced to subscribe to 200 million war bonds and paid 2.5 million taels of silver. It seems that Sichuan has accurately calculated the storage conditions of various prefectures and counties in Huguang, and never had any prefectures and counties unable to meet the other party's conditions. It can be seen that they have been planning for a long time.

Moreover, Sichuan people moved away white silver, while those left were public debts printed on paper. In the future, the ones that repay the public debts of various prefectures and counties will not be silver, but IOUs printed on paper. Now the price of IOUs is indeed good because they can be used to purchase goods on the route, but not every place can exchange 80 yuan for one tael of silver. Moreover, after this one-year government bond expires, Deng Ming will repay the IOUs of hundreds of millions of yuan at once. The exchange ratio of IOUs to silver will definitely plummet. It is hard to say whether a few hundred yuan can be exchanged for one tael of silver.

Although Zhang Changgen needed Deng Ming, at least before he died, he needed Deng Ming to block the Qing court, but he knew that if this continued, Huguang would sooner or later be sucked away by Sichuan. However, Deng Ming left room for work every time, always leaving Zhang Changgeng a way out, so he could not bear the determination to defeat the death. Deng Ming also did not force Huguang gentry and generals to the dead, so Zhang Changgeng would not respond to it. If the Qing court fought at this time, the civil and military officials of Huguang, through Deng Guoshen, would probably be closely united with Zhang Changgen to fight with Beijing.

"Zhang Chao, I'm counting on you." Zhang Changgeng said to himself softly. Although Nanchang tried his best to cheer him up, how could the governor of Huguang not know what the governor of Jiangxi were going to do? If Deng Ming and Zhang Changgen fought together, Nanchang might have taken the opportunity to raise the price of the ragged porcelain they had. These days, Zhang Changgeng tried his best to intercept shipping and impose an intelligence blockade on Nanchang, hoping that Jiujiang, Nanchang and Deng Ming would fight. If Deng Ming suffered a lot in Liangjiang, Zhang Changgen could win himself a more favorable alliance status - at least forcing Deng Ming to return a part of the silver, and it was silver, and it could not be the kind of IOU printed on paper.

...

While Zhang Changgeng was trying hard to cheer Zhang Chao up in his heart, Deng Ming had already arrived at the city of Jiujiang.

"I haven't seen each other for two years. Is this how Dong Gongma welcomed me?" Deng Ming, under the escort of three walls, had already boarded the land of Jiangxi: "Jiujiang martial law, is this planning to fight a war with me?"

"It's all Zhang Changgeng, who didn't even inform Xiaguan Duke to come." Deng Ming's army suddenly arrived, and Dong Weiguo went out of the city to pay a visit without saying a word. He still remembered the consequences of the last time he faced Deng Ming. Several big holes were blown up in less than a day: "As for Jiujiang martial law, this was a misunderstanding of Xiaguan. Xiaguan mistakenly thought that the Duke was willing to inspect the military appearance of the officers and soldiers in Jiangxi, so he asked them to climb the city to invite the Duke to parade."

"Is that so? I can't see clearly even when I stand on the city wall." Deng Ming gently whipped his horse whip: "Let Jiujiang Green Camp be stationed ten miles away from the city, and only yamen runners need to be left in the city."

"Abide by the order." Dong Weiguo agreed without hesitation. Anyway, there are only a few thousand armors in the city, and fighting is a dead end. It would be better to obey the order honestly and strive for leniency.

After the Qing army in Jiujiang drove out of the city on order, Deng Ming's expression slowed down a lot and asked Dong Weiguo to sit down for tea: "Last time when we met Dong Buzheng, we drank and talked. Last time, Dong Buzheng and Governor Zhang came to me with their family and children, and wanted to entrust their family to me. Isn't this a life-long friendship?"

"Yes, yes, the lower officials and the Duke of the Kingdom are definitely loyal. By the way, there is also the governor. He often tells the lower officials that the one he admires most for thousands of years throughout the ages."

"Also, if you are in trouble, let me kill Fulin, won't I go too." Deng Ming rebuked with dissatisfaction: "This time I'm tight on my hands and want to borrow some money from you, but I don't even give me this face. You know, if you don't buy my war bonds, that's my target of war."

"The country is righteous and righteous. Last time I heard that the lower officials were in trouble, and they didn't even care about their family. Without saying a word, they went to Gaoyou Lake Formation to kill the late emperor. Whenever the lower officials thought of this, they were moved to tears. "For two years, Dong Weiguo's schizophrenia was obviously intensified: "After the death of the late emperor, all the loyal and righteous people in the world applauded. The duke needed money, and even if the duke was sold, they had to raise it for the duke. However, Jiujiang and Chengdu were far away, and the duke was afraid that someone would cheat under the banner of the duke, so they did not immediately pay the silver. Now that I know that this is indeed what the duke meant, the duke immediately raised the silver for the duke. Whoever pushed the third and fourth was the mortal enemy of the duke, and the lackeys of the Tartars, and everyone was killed."

After Dong Weiguo collected all the money Deng Ming wanted, Deng Ming ordered the army to board the ship. When he saw him off, Dong Weiguo asked with hope: "Donald is going to Jiangning?"

"No," Deng Ming shook his head. He had ordered the fleet to enter Poyang Lake: "I want to go to Nanchang first. There has been no news from the bankers of Chengdu Development Bank, but some people say that Governor Zhang brought out the government bonds of Development Bank to show them. I have a terrible idea, that is, these fellow scholars from Sichuan encountered misfortune."

"Ah, this is definitely not, absolutely not." Dong Weiguo hurriedly defended Zhang Chao: "Maybe the governor is like the junior official, and he is worried that someone would use the name of the Duke to commit fraud."

"I hope so, but they are all fellow scholars from Sichuan. Maybe you think this fame is ridiculous, but it is not a ridiculous thing for the Imperial Council. Before leaving Chengdu, the Imperial Council gave me a clear order, that is, whoever makes the fellow scholar bleed, I will pay his blood debt to pay back his blood." When Deng Ming said this to Dong Weiguo, there was no cold smile on his face.

"Haha," Dong Weiguo laughed dryly. He had never taken the title of fellow scholar seriously, but he now felt it was necessary to correct this view: "The Duke of the State is worried too much. Except for those lackeys of the Tartars, who dares to be rude to the Duke of the State?"

After a moment, Dong Weiguo asked tentatively again: "If the governor mistakenly thought that these fellow scholars were impostors, if it was just a misunderstanding, could the Duke of the State be a secret person?"

Dong Weiguo didn't know how Nanchang dealt with bankers, so he planned to first test Deng Ming's tone, whether he could accept compensation, or hand it over to Deng Ming and some scapegoats.

"If there is such a thing, Zhang Chao must pay his blood debts." After hearing this question, Deng Ming even ignored Zhang Chao's official title.

"If the governor is blinded," Dong Weiguo still did not give up: "If the lackeys in the middle are provoking."

"If Governor Zhang is so stupid, can he still sit in this Governor's position? Are you a fellow scholar from western Sichuan? If you can't judge, can you just leave it to me?" Deng Ming glanced at Dong Weiguo: "Governor Zhang is old, and if he can't afford this position, he should retire. Dong Gongshu is young and strong, I think it is very suitable for this position and can definitely maintain stability in Jiangxi. Jiangxi is the place of origin of bulk porcelain, so it must be stable!"

If Zhang Chao provokes Deng Ming's authority and kills his people, then Deng Ming will attack Nanchang as revenge. Not only will he kill Zhang Chao, but he will also expose his participation in Gaoyou Lake to the world, so that Wuchang, Nanjing and Jiujiang will clearly realize what the consequences will be when fighting against Chengdu. However, Deng Ming does not intend to push all the powerful factions to Zhang Chao, or force them to seek protection from the Qing court again. Before Deng Ming is confident of destroying the Qing court and joining the Southeast Alliance, he will never try to annex the power of a governor or governor without reason. Therefore, Deng Ming clearly stated to Dong Weiguo that even if the imperial army retaliates for revenge.
Chapter completed!
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