The frequent eastern expeditions made the Southeast increasingly fearful of Sichuan. In the past, when the Ming army was sailing downstream, Deng Ming still needed to carefully consider the time and location of each docking rest, and be careful to guard against Zhang Changgeng's sudden turn against him and attacked him. But now there is almost no need. Huguang has completely lost the possibility of intercepting the Ming army at a critical location. Anyway, if you stop the Hubei Green Camp, you can't defeat the Ming army, so the Ming army naturally doesn't worry about him blocking it.

In Liangjiang, the river surface became wider, and the Qing army lacked naval troops, which lacked naval troops, lacked the means to block the Ming army than the Qing army in Huguang. That is, when the Ming army returned to the army against the current, the Qing army had a chance to fight. When the wind was unfavorable, the Ming army needed to anchor and moor. However, it was the first time when Li Laiheng returned to the army, the Qing army in Jiangxi tried to attack. Later, when the Ming army returned to the army, the Qing army here in Liangjiang became as docile as the Green Camp in Huguang.

"Now the governors in the southeast have been scared by us, but this will also make them less confident in their own strength." Deng Ming said to Li Laiheng and Liu Tichun that defeating the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade in Gaoyou Lake is undoubtedly a shot of heart-warming agent for the Southeast Green Camp, allowing them to eliminate some fear of the Eight Banners of the Manchu and Mongolian Banners. However, this is still not enough. Deng Ming found that the Green Camp still had a general mentality of fearing the Eight Banners, and decades of accumulated power were not so easy to completely eliminate.

In addition to the Green Camp, even the Ming army lacked confidence in the Eight Banners. After seeing the military flags of the Han Eight Banners in the last Chongqing Battle, the Kuidong Army showed obvious morale fluctuations. That is, Yuan Zongdi's main battalion and Li Laiheng's subordinates who participated in the first Eastern Expedition performed slightly better. The richer battlefield experience allowed the former to control the tension within a certain range; while the latter captured Zhen Manchu under the city of Nanjing. Deng Ming exhibited the troops captured by Xiao Laohu for a long time, which made many people realize that even the Manchu Zhen Tartars were like them, not monsters, and also eliminated their fear of the Mongolian and Han Eight Banners.

The one who is most unafraid of the Eight Banners is probably the Sichuan Army. Many fellow scholars from Zhejiang have witnessed Zheng Chenggong defeating Jiangning in Zhenjiang to defend the Eight Banners. Tens of thousands of people are witnesses of the Battle of Gaoyou Lake. Hundreds of Mongolian Eight Banners work in Chengdu and Xuzhou. Moreover, the pitiful appearance of the Eight Banners in Chongqing is even more unlikely to make the Sichuan Army afraid of them.

In addition to introducing the experiences of previous victories to friendly forces and helping them face the Eight Banners troops correctly, Deng Ming felt that it was also important to help the Southeast Green Camp improve their confidence in the Qing court. Therefore, Deng Ming discussed with Li Laiheng and others at the beginning of his troops. If the Southeastern look invincible, the Ming army would look for a Qing army that supported Beijing as the target.

"We can't let the Southeast Governor think that we will only bully them, so that they will only have deeper resentment towards us, and at the same time they will become less and less confident in fighting against Beijing. Of course, I hope that the less tax paid to Beijing by the Southeast, the better, so that we can sell them more public debts." The Ming army in the Eastern Expedition last time attacked Zhejiang's Green Camp, which relieved Jiang Guozhu a lot of pressure from the south, and made the attitude of Zhejiang's Green Camp ambiguous: "I don't know if Li Lutai and Geng Jimao will react. If Beijing has the intention to let Geng Jimao move to Zhejiang, we will attack him."

It is said that the Qing court had very little chance of allowing Geng Jimao to move to Zhejiang, because Zhejiang is much richer than Fujian, and it is not safe to bring a vassal king so close to Nanjing. However, Deng Ming had changed too much history. In the 16th year of Shunzhi, Beijing believed that Yunnan and Guizhou had already made up their minds. The first idea was to move Geng Jimao from Guangdong to Sichuan, but soon changed his mind to change it to Fujian. This was certainly to fight against Zheng Chenggong's threat, and it was also because the Qing court realized that Sichuan was different from Yunnan and Guizhou. As long as it was serious and had sufficient financial resources, it might pose a serious threat to Shaanxi once it was seized by a vassal king.

Now Deng Ming's threat to the Yangtze River is getting worse, and there are still people in Beijing who regret not moving Geng Jimao to Sichuan. Recently, some people have suggested handing over Guangxi to Wu Sangui, so that he will continue to be responsible for defending Li Dingguo; while Sun Yanling replaced Shang Kexi to guard Guangdong and transferred Shang Kexi to Fujian to prevent Zheng Chenggong, so that Geng Fan can be re-established. The suggester hopes that after strengthening Geng Fan to Chongqing, Deng Ming can spend more energy to defend his base and thus reduce his pressure on the downstream. However, these voices did not receive a response from the court, because now the prince and the ministers of the regent are still thinking about using the central government.

The troops wiped out Sichuan in one fell swoop: In the past, when discussing the issue of moving the vassal state, some people said that Sichuan was called the country of Tianfu in ancient times, and it also had the benefits of salt, iron, copper and silver. Silk and brocade were sold in the world. Under normal circumstances, it could supply the border military food and grass from Yunnan, Guizhou, Shaanxi and Gansu with the power of a province. Although Sichuan is now ruined, it cannot allow the vassal kings to settle in, even if it is a vassal king without power. Now, in addition to the above reasons, there are also more local products such as jade and ivory. Beijing has decided to set up a minister in charge of tribute in Chengdu, and directly invest the profits of jewelry into the treasury. How can a vassal king be involved in such an important place?

"Geng Fan was the former Dongjiang Army. He followed the Qing Dynasty for many years and was the most powerful and combative Han army in the Qing Dynasty. The Green Camp's fear of Shang, Geng Fan and Sun Yanling's troops was no less than that of the Eight Banners. If Geng Fan's elite troops could be annihilated in Zhejiang, Jiang Guozhu would be more fearless and enhance the courage of the Southeast Governor to fight against Beijing."

Of course, Deng Ming did not know that the princes and ministers in Beijing were thinking about his capital, so after hearing the initiative of Geng Jimao to move Sichuan to threaten him or to move Zhejiang to defend Liangjiang, he was always very concerned about Geng Jimao's whereabouts. If Geng Jimao came to Sichuan, Deng Ming would not be afraid, but like the Qing court, Deng Ming was not relieved to have a vassal king so close to Nanjing: for Beijing, Geng Jimao was a vassal king of the Han people; for Chengdu, Geng Jimao was a vassal king of the Qing Dynasty.

After hearing Deng Ming say this, Li Laiheng said, "I think Geng Jimao will not come to Fujian. Although the Guo surnamed Master passed away, the Guo surnamed Master's army is still there, and the Tartars dare not leave. In the end, we mostly go north along the canal and fight a battle with the Tartars in Fengyang Prefecture or Shandong."

Deng Ming and others already knew that the Qing court was mobilizing heavy troops to encircle Yu Qi, Shandong. Judging from the news sent by the Governor of the Grain Transportation Office, Yu Qi's failure was a foregone conclusion: when the Shandong group responded at the beginning, Yu Qi was afraid of attacking and did not dare to attack and cut off the grain transportation, for fear of angering the Qing court. After the Qing court launched a large-scale increase in troops in Shandong this year, it first ensured that the grain transportation was smooth, and then used the canal to mobilize troops, first dispersed the rebels outside Yu Qi, and then surrounded Yu Qi's main force. When the Qing army mobilized troops and pressed step by step, Yu Qi stayed away and waited for death. Now Yu Qi's allies have been defeated, and the main force has been surrounded by the Qing army, and there is no chance of transfer.

It is estimated that in mid-July, before the end of the month, the Qing army in Shandong will completely defeat Yu Qi, and the Qing army will take advantage of the victory of the southern aid. Now the two sides of the Yangtze River are important commercial areas, providing Deng Ming with a large amount of fiscal revenue, helping him continue to vigorously support Sichuan's business banks, and it is also the income guarantee of the Southeast Governor, allowing Deng Ming to obtain sufficient low-interest loans. Therefore, Deng Ming does not hope that fighting will break out on both sides of the Yangtze River. Breaking down the two sides of the Yangtze River will cause Deng Ming to lose a lot of income and affect the sales of the Ming Dynasty's national debt.

Neither Deng Ming nor other members of the committee wanted the war to spread to the Yangtze River. Now the Ming army is resting near Nanjing and does not continue to march towards Suzhou. Chongming is advancing. With just one order, the Ming army can enter the canal area from Yangzhou. The trade between the two sides of the canal is basically monopolized. Chongming cannot get any profit from it. Therefore, the large-scale military action will have an impact on the canal basin. Deng Ming does not care about any member of the committee. Moreover, defeating the Qing army in Shandong can also protect Nanjing and boost the morale of the green camp in the southeast.

"Yes, I'm waiting for the news from Shangshu Zhang." Deng Ming needed Chongming and Zhoushan to help him detect the enemy situation in Shandong, and monitor the movements of Li Rutai and Geng Jimao: "If the Qing army in Shandong showed his intention to go to Nanjing, our army would enter the canal immediately. Beijing must now know that we have stationed troops in Nanjing again, and I don't know how they will react."

...

Beijing, as the generals of the Eastern Expedition Army expected, the Qing court had indeed received news that the Ming army had arrived in Nanjing again.

"Deng Ming did not come here by himself this time, and he brought all the thieves in Kuidong." If Deng Ming had come by himself, the Qing court might not have been so nervous, because Deng Ming was very restrained in the first three Eastern Expeditions and did not plunder the local area - although Jiang Guozhu, Zhang Changgeng and Zhang Chao kept complaining, from the perspective that the southeast could still meet the most basic grain transportation, Deng Ming still regarded himself as a royal army and did not cause too much harm to the Yangtze River Basin.

After learning in early May that Deng Ming threatened Jiangnan, the first idea of ​​the Qing court was to let Shandong soldiers rush to Yangzhou. However, Shandong Yu Qi had just been completely surrounded and could get rid of this hidden danger once and for all. It was a pity to give up halfway: This time, Yu Qi was confused by the smoke of reunion from beginning to end, stayed in the base area honestly, and still had fantasies when he died, and was still waiting for the court to recruit him. It was not until the Qing army launched a general attack that he woke up in his dream. If the Qing army withdrew the encirclement of the southern aid at this time, Yu Qi would definitely not sit still and wait for death again.

Besides, Deng Ming's progress was too fast, and he was once again approaching Nanjing, making it impossible for the Qing court to withdraw troops from the Shandong battlefield.

"If Deng Ming is the same as in the previous few times, he just collects food and grass and retreats, then don't worry about him." Like Deng Ming, Beijing does not want a series of wars on both sides of the Yangtze River. Because the Ming army has water advantages, the possibility of annihilation of Deng Ming is very small, but once a war begins, it will definitely ruin both sides of the Yangtze River. A large number of Qing troops from other provinces enter the Yangtze River basin to fight, regardless of whether the Ming army is driven away, taxes will definitely not be expected. The reinforcements showdowns to local governments and looting by officers and soldiers will only damage them more severely than Deng Ming's army. Just like the last time Zheng Chenggong invaded the Yangtze River, turning Zhenjiang into an empty city, it is not the Ming army but the Qing court's reinforcements. You should know that this is the troops of the province. If reinforcements from Shandong are driving in, it is very likely that the entire Zhenjiang Prefecture will not be able to find a living person.

Beijing now understands Deng Ming's habits and hobbies. He seems to have no idea of ​​establishing a base in Jiangnan. He just tried hard to relocate the population to Sichuan - the two evils are the least. Anyway, it cannot stop Deng Ming from escaping. It is naturally the best choice to keep the war away from the Yangtze River waterway. However, this time Deng Ming brought the Kuidong Army, which made Beijing worried that there would be variables. These people might be like Zheng Chenggong, not relocating the population seriously, but thinking about changing the base area.

"Let Ebilong help Prince Kang and continue to encircle and suppress Yu Qi with all his might." The main general who attacked Yu Qi was not unexpectedly appointed by Jieshu. Yebilong and Li Guoying worked together in front of Prince Kang's tent. The three auxiliary ministers who stayed in Beijing won the unanimous agreement not long after, and they would make preparations: "If Deng Ming went back to Sichuan like the previous few times, then don't let the army go to Jiangnan, and the soldiers go there, and they will not be able to recover for three or four years."

If all the Ming troops invaded returned west, the Shandong army would also advance west as planned and find a place in Sichuan as a battlefield for decisive battles, thus avoiding the destruction of the Southeast's taxes. If only Deng Ming took the Sichuan army back and the Kui Dong army stayed alone and tried to open up a base, Beijing felt that relying on Jiangnan's own strength would almost drive them out. Deng Ming had never gained a foothold in Jiangnan. This certainly had his habits, but it also showed that the Southeast's governor still had a certain ability to resist. If the Southeast's complete self-defense ability, Beijing felt that Deng Ming would not be unmoved.

The biggest danger is that Deng Ming planned to help the Kuidong Army open a base, just like he helped Ma Fengzhi steal Chongming Island before. However, Chongming Island is still an island in the final analysis, and Ma Fengzhi has not shown any ability to develop on land in the past two years. Since Chongming's tax on Jiangnan does not pose an immediate threat and does not need to send large troops to reinforce, and can let Southeast itself solve it, just like treating Zhoushan, Jin, and Xiamen.

But if the Kuidong Army intends to open a base around Nanjing this time, or try to bring Ma Fengzhi out of Chongming Island, the situation will be completely different. That is a direct threat to the heavy taxation areas in the southeast. The Qing court does not want a war on both sides of the Yangtze River, but if the Ming army presses forward, Beijing has no choice but to fight with all its might. If it is really necessary, even if the vassal kings are transferred back from Fujian, Guangdong and other places, they will drive the Ming army out of the Liangjiang River.

"If Deng Ming was reluctant to go, or planned to cut off Yangzhou's grain transportation, or planned to capture Suzhou, Shandong soldiers would immediately go south to fight. Even if Yu Qiduo lived for two days, he would have to do so."
Chapter completed!