Even if all reductions and exemptions were eliminated and allocated to the Three Feudals of Wu Sangui and others, this year there will be a total of four million stones of grain and ten million taels of silver entering the Grand Canal from Yangzhou and sending it to Yanjing all the way north.

Since Chengzu established his capital in Beijing, the canal has been the main artery that supports the dynasty. Without the support of the canal transport, the border defenses in the north could not be maintained at all, and the court could not operate. The 20 years of levying and taxation since the Qing court entered the pass have filled the treasury in Beijing again. Even if the canal transport was cut off for a while, it would not be devoured immediately like Chongzhen, but it would also cause heavy damage. The canal transport was cut off for a year or even more harm than the annihilation of 100,000 troops. It won’t take long. As long as there is no canal transport for three to five years, the Qing court would lose control of the northern green camp, and the combination of grace and power on Mongolia could not be maintained.

It is precisely because the grain transportation is so important that the Jieshu army gathered in Shandong feels afraid of throwing rats and being afraid of being attacked. The Beijing court also felt deeply dilemma, not only wanted to send troops to ensure the safety of grain transportation, but also was afraid of backfiring because there was no Yangtze River Navy. Finally, he also chose to believe Li Guoying's analysis for the time being, hoping to use Deng Ming's greed to form a tacit understanding.

Like in previous times, Lin Qilong rushed from Huaian, where the Governor's yamen, to Yangzhou, the starting point of the Grand Canal before the start of the canal. He would personally supervise the handover work in Yangzhou. After the completion of the canal, he would escort the canal fleet to Beijing with the canal officers and soldiers. The purpose of establishing this governor was to protect the canal. After arriving in Yangzhou, Lin Qilong could see Deng Ming's army stationed on the other side of Zhenjiang, and he knew that whether the canal transportation was smooth depends entirely on the other party's thoughts.

During this period, Lin Qilong had received letters from Jiang Guozhu several times, and the other party asked him to help ensure the safety of the canal transportation to the court to avoid a war in Huaiyang and Jiangnan.

"Jiang Guozhu is just afraid of destroying his territory." Lin Qilong read a book before going to bed tonight. Although the Ming army was close to him, Lin Qilong was not worried about completing the canal transport mission. He had bought Deng Ming's war bonds. Jiang Guozhu's several letters also showed that Jiangnan and the Sichuan army had reached a new agreement. However, Lin Qilong did not feel very grateful or happy because he arrived, because he was trapped more and more tightly. He used to be worried about the Qing court's family, but now he has two mother-in-laws on his head.

Zhou Peigong also came to Yangzhou at this time. His army of suppressing Deng was still far away in Luzhou Prefecture. When he saw Lin Qilong, Zhou Peigong also talked about the importance of abiding by the agreement with Deng Ming, saying that this was another win-win agreement. Lin Qilong agreed on this on the surface, but he disagreed in his heart: "This is Jiang Guozhu and Deng Ming's win-win situation, and it has nothing to do with me."

As for the establishment of the Yangtze River Squadron that Zhou Peigong strongly promoted, Lin Qilong had no intention, because it would cost money and cost a lot of money. Lin Qilong had no prefectures and counties, only one canal, and he was unwilling to spend money to help others raise the army, not to mention that the Governor's Office, as the richest Governor's Office, would have to bear the largest proportion of military expenditure.

The silver tax input to the canal every year is very considerable, but only half of it can actually reach Beijing. For example, the 10 million taels of silver this year will definitely not exceed 5 million taels of silver. In fact, Beijing requires so much regular taxes to be transported to the southeast this year. There are a variety of maintenance expenses on the canal, including fire consumption, drifting, canal wages, and ship renovations. It is related to the canal, the main artery of the canal, whether the court in the Ming and Qing dynasties was favored everywhere. As long as the silver required by the imperial court could be sent to Beijing, the maintenance of facilities was easy to say; whether the canal workers need to be appeased to ensure work efficiency, the court also trusted the Governor's Office of the Governor's Office, as long as the requirements were not overstated, it was reasonable.

In addition to the surplus of maintenance costs, the canal ships have always carried cargo. Although there were strict restrictions on the size of the canal ships since the Ming Dynasty, the canal ships in each province have been repaired and larger, and finally developed to the actual loading capacity of the canal ships carrying 600 stones of grain is more than 3,000 stones, and four-fifths of the load are used to transport cargo. Such huge canals often cause congestion, and if they are not really unable to leave, the canal is also very stranded due to the large amount of embezzlement and deduction of dredging funds, each province must build canal ships that can be comparable to sea ships.

The officers and soldiers guarding the entrance of the Yangzhou Canal will pluck their hair. If they do not pay taxes and fees, they will not even enter the canal. As long as they do things according to the rules, a few thousand stone canal will be considered a qualified 600 stone canal and will be released. Of course, even if the excessive canal canal is paid, they will not pass the test even if they pay more benefits. For example, a few years ago, the officers and soldiers of Huguang built a brick-like canal. In order to load more goods, they will have a very deep and generous head. Not only will the speed be as slow as a snail climb, but they can perfectly block the water channel once they sink. This kind of canal transport will not agree to enter the canal in any case. The court is very good at talking about maintenance fees and canal wages, but if the canal transport cannot be completed on time, the governor will lose his head.

The incomes combined, not counting the property extorted by the officers and soldiers below and yamen at all levels, the Governor of the Grain Transport can get more than 3 million taels of silver, while the Governor of the Grain Transport can get one-fifth to one-tenth of the money. Even if we deduct the filial piety to the high-ranking officials in the capital, Lin Qilong is also the most deserving annual salary among the governors of the Qing Dynasty, even exceeding the total income of the latter few.

The canal transportation that is rich but has no territory and no soldiers, which is related to Lin Qilong's life is also held in Deng Ming's hands. As a result, Lin Qilong had to subscribe to the Ming War bonds of four million taels of silver, of which 2 million were punitive because Lin Qilong violated the Chongming commercial tax agreement signed with him last time - the two million taels of silver Deng Ming agreed to give Lin Qilong two months to raise them.

How to fill this big hole made Lin Qilong’s head turn white. In order to overcome the difficulties in the present and save the canal transportation and life, he not only turned the accumulated amount of the canal into the Ming Dynasty War bonds, but also embezzled the public funds of the canal transportation governor. Not only did he have the river maintenance funds for next year, but he also paid dividends from the yamen officials and clerks. This time, the canal transportation could not fill such a big hole, not to mention that there were still two million in the future.

"If Prince Kang's southern expedition leads to the severance of the canal transportation, it will not be my responsibility." Lin Qilong murmured to himself, but with his lack of army and territory, he could not afford to fight against Deng Ming, and he did not dare not write as Jiang Guozhu's intention in the memorial, which would attract all the hatred between Jiang Guozhu and Deng Ming to himself: "If Prince Kang and Duke Bao fought for a while, they would be able to fight both sides and lose money."

If a war really breaks out, it will be very troublesome for Jiang Guozhu and Zhang Chao, because the Central Army and the Ming Army fought on the territory of Liangjiang. If they strictly adhered to neutrality, they would inevitably make the court angry. But if they participated in the war, they would annoy Sichuan, let alone expect Deng Ming to pay back the money. However, Lin Qilong did not have similar concerns, because Lin Qilong had no territory, and the force of the river officers and soldiers was not enough to bear the task of suppressing the rebellion of the canal workers. Yangzhou and Huaian had combat guards all the green camps of Liangjiang. If they really fought, even if they were ignorant Prince Kang, even if they were recruiting nearby county magistrates, they would not require river officers and soldiers who only knew how to set up checkpoints and collect taxes to join the decisive battle. Deng Ming also did not care about Lin Qilong's military strength, and even assured Lin Qilong that as long as he was willing to buy bonds, Deng Ming would ensure that he could complete the canal transportation task on time.

Therefore, if everyone fights, Lin Qilong is the only person who will not suffer losses, and there is no need to worry about economic losses - even if the canal transaction cannot be completed, at least the two million punitive bonds are not required to be bought.

It was already midnight when the deputy general of the canal transport escort in Jiangxi to ask for the governor of the canal transport, but Lin Qilong still did not fall asleep at this time and was still reading books hungrily on his desk.

This book that made the governor of the Cao Transportation go out and sleep was not a writing of a sage, but a book smuggled from Sichuan by the Zongli Yamen of Deng. The theme was on the struggle strategies under the complex situation of that year.

Compared with the iron-blooded head in Deng Ming's previous life, Duke Bao's diplomatic skills are still very simple now, but for the unheard of Sichuan people, this still caused serious demonstration chaos. It was obviously an enemy soldier but did not fight, and it was obviously an enemy's wealth but did not steal it - many people felt that they were not smart enough, so when this book trying to explain the imperial strategy came out, the professors in the academy competed to buy it. In addition to curiosity, they also had work needs. If they didn't understand the truth at all, they could not answer the questions for the students.

The book held in Lin Qilong's hand was written by a merchant named Ye Tianming. It is also the most popular and most widely circulated book in Sichuan that attempts to interpret Deng Ming's behavior. This book is almost written in vernacular, with a lot of private conversations with Deng Ming, and it interprets Deng Ming's behavior completely from the perspective of a businessman.

"It turns out that there must be my teacher when three people walk together." Lin Qilong has read this book several times, and the contempt for Ye Tianming's identity as a merchant at the beginning was long gone. Lin Qilong felt as confused as a scholar in Sichuan. The previous philosophy of struggle was very simple. Just follow the orders of the court and bite all the thieves who do not use the banner of "Qing Dynasty".

But now it is a complete chaos. Sometimes it is necessary to fight with the court, sometimes it is necessary to fight with the thieves, and sometimes it is necessary to fight with the 25-year-olds who betray the court; sometimes it is necessary to fight with the thieves, and sometimes it is necessary to fight with the thieves, and sometimes it is necessary to fight with the thieves. Sometimes it seems that there is a possibility of fighting with the thieves and the 25-year-olds in the court. Moreover, the situation of the struggle is also diverse, not only military struggles but also negotiating struggles. In the past, military struggles were to eliminate the enemy, and even negotiating struggles were persuading surrenders in negotiations. But now, not only are the purposes diversified, but also military and negotiations also penetrate each other. Now, there will be feint attacks and main attacks in negotiations, just like military forces, and even military attacks and negotiations require feint attacks and main attacks.

The past experience accumulated in the officialdom is no longer enough, and Lin Qilong drew a lot of nutrition from Ye Tianming's book. For example, when interpreting Deng Ming's strategy for Jiangnan, the author vividly used chicken eating to make good use of eating chicken: chicken is delicious and can nourish the body, but it cannot be eaten four or five in one breath, otherwise it will be overwhelmed. Although chicken cannot be eaten too much, it is nothing to drink more chicken soup. The author compared Deng Ming's repeated expeditions to stewed pots of chicken soup, and highly praised: drinking soup also has a nourishing effect, and you don't have to worry about being overwhelmed. It can be said that it has the best of both worlds.

On the title page of this book, there is also a friendly recommendation from Deng Ming. Because it involves a lot of private conversations, Ye Tianming gave it to Deng Ming for a review before publication. When Deng Ming returned it to him, he gave this recommendation.

"There is no eternal enemy, only eternal interests."

Lin Qilong chanted this sentence softly, for some reason, but this sentence deeply touched him.

Just as Lin Qilong reluctantly closed the letter and planned to go to bed, the guards reported outside the door: "Governor General, something happened to the Jiangxi pit ship, and it seemed that it was robbed by the Ming army."

"What?" Lin Qilong shouted and asked tremblingly: "Is it the Sichuan Army or the Kuidong thief?"

“It’s not clear yet.”

"Let him come in." When Lin Qilong heard that something happened in the canal transport, he dared not delay it. He immediately asked the guards to lead the people, but he was also a little confused: "Will something happen if there is an agreement on the canal transport? Is this the negotiation between Admiral Deng and Jiang Guozhu, and has Zhang Chao collapsed? Is it possible that I don't have to buy the remaining two million taels of bonds?"

When Liu Ji, Jiangxi, decided to apologize to the guerrillas a few hours ago and tried to drag the chief into the water, he could not have imagined how much land this matter would evolve overnight.
Chapter completed!