Jinan, on December 12th, the gentry from Jiaodong gathered in Laizhou. When Deng Ming was trying to persuade them to continue to support the sea ban policy, Zu Zepu received a good news from Xuzhou.

In recent days, Zu Zepu can be said to have lived like a year, because his elite troops have been lost. Whether it is captured by the Ming army or the grain transportation is cut off, what is waiting for him may not be just a black hat. Therefore, although the Qing Dynasty's Ming army was an absolute rebel, Zu Zepu spoke lies with his eyes open and reported to Beijing that this might be a group of spontaneously established rebels supporting the Qing court. If the Qing Dynasty's Ming army took any undeserved actions, it might be blinded by the Ming army.

Zu Zepu knew very well that the regent minister would not even believe his report, but the imperial edict returned was encouraged, instructing Zu Zepu to flexibly adopt the strategy of "killing his evil deeds, pardoning and threatening" to incorporate and support the Qing army and guide the army that was eager to the court to return to the right track. The court pretended not to know Zu Zepu's lies, which was long ago as Zu Zepu's staff group expected. The situation in Shandong is no longer ugly. The court was unable to send reinforcements to Shandong in a hurry, so it could only pretend to be confused.

The gentry are all powerful people in the local area. If they are a mess, it would be nothing to be afraid of. But even so, there would be no one in Beijing or Jinan government that wanted to kill all the gentry and scholars in Jiaodong. Even if they were arrogant, they would not be able to do it. In fact, the Manchu Taijun is very smart. If they really don’t understand people’s hearts at all, they would definitely still buy money in the savage mountain in Kuandian.

And Zu Zepu not to mention losing all his commando, even when his strength is intact, he cannot defeat the great alliance of gentry in Jiaodong - with all the green camps in Shandong. Zu Zepu can scare all the gentry in Shandong and kill every guy he dislikes; but if the gentry in two palaces suddenly unite to fight with him, the Shandong Governor will not be able to deal with it.

After hearing the name of Fu Qing and Impact Ming Army, Zu Zepu knew that the gentry in Jiaodong was still the two ends of the rat. Since Deng Ming, who won a great victory in Jiaoshui River, did not force these people to sue and was unwilling to drive the fence-riding faction to the Qing court, the failed Shandong Governor naturally had no courage. It would be easier for the gentry to ride on the fence-riding army. Zu Zepu's memorial to the court was a kind of comfort, implying that the gentry could come over at the right time. As long as it was not the chief evildoer and did not devote himself to selling his life to Deng Ming, the Shandong Governor's Office would definitely not blame him.

The court's instructions were even more recognized by Zu Zepu's strategy. Sony could not change food and silver, and Oboi did not make Manchu children grow up overnight, so they could only pretend to be confused about Shandong affairs, so everyone would have face. If they really shouted "You are all traitors", how could they not suppress the traitors? In the end, they would probably still have to recruit peace, and the court would be embarrassed. The recruitment of a group of traitors who had no good intentions from beginning to end was obviously not the same as recruiting a group of blinded loyal and righteous people.

With the attitude of "not deaf or dumb, not being a relative", Sony instructed Zu Zepu to work hard to save these loyal Qing people who went astray. However, Zu Zepu also knew very well that if the job was done in the end, the recruitment failed, and the rebels took over Jinan City, he would definitely bear all the charges, and he would be detained as "opening a word and blinding the court."

When he learned that the Qing Dynasty and the Ming army was still under the banner of striking the rebellion of "Tong Deng" when it was opened in Laizhou, Zu Zepu was also happy and worried. He knew that the Jiaodong Gentlemen Alliance still did not completely suppress the treasure on Deng Ming, and he was worried that Deng Ming, the traitor, was too cunning. If Deng Ming was blinded by victory and forced the gentry to immediately clarify his position, it would definitely cause the division of the Jiaodong Gentlemen Group. At that time, Zu Zepu could take the opportunity to see who must be attacked and who could win over, and there was also a scapegoat for those gentry to betray.

Today, after Nalan Mingzhu returned to Jinan from Laizhou, she had a secret talk with Zu Zepu for an hour, and then hurried back to Beijing to report.

"Deng Ming is really a bad guy. Why is he so careless?" After sending away the imperial envoy, Zu Zepu returned to the study and was furious at his aides: "Li Guoying actually said that Deng Ming is honest and kind, has he lived to be a dog at all ages?"

In addition to Li Guoying, there are not a few people who praise Deng Ming's kindness, so Zu Zepu had many misunderstandings before dealing with this person directly. A few days ago, Deng Ming recommended himself as the admiral of the Qing Dynasty to destroy the Ming army. After the letter of recommendation was sent to the Jinan Yamen, Zu Zepu was so worried that his hair turned white overnight. This evil man was found, but he was not capable of killing him. There was also a master who was also a debtor who was not worried about. Although those gentry were fencemen, they could not catch the right target to attack to kill the chicken to warn the monkey. Moreover, Deng Ming's memorial to recommend him was really unable to announce to the world, otherwise the court would become a laughing stock.

After thinking about it, Zu Zepu finally reported to the court in a vague way: There are rumors that Deng Ming recommended himself to be the admiral of the Qing Dynasty to destroy the Ming army, and brought the loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty to attack Deng's rebellion. Deng Ming clearly pointed out that he was a deer and was viciously surrounded by the gentry, scholars and governors of Shandong in Jiaodong, who were seriously injured, and did not know whether to denounce him angrily, so he could only ask the Beijing Holy Prisoner. Soon, Zu Zepu received a reply from Beijing, which was simple: Since it was a rumor, then don't care about it - Beijing was also in a dilemma.

According to Nalan Mingzhu's meaning, Deng Ming's insidiousness is still above Zheng Chenggong. Deng Ming usually does not force others to make things difficult. Not to mention his gentry allies, even those of the Qing court's life and death enemy, Deng Ming also acts like hesitating, and this is the most troublesome thing for the regent ministers. Because there is a choice, there is a possibility of making mistakes, and there is a way out for retreat. At the beginning, the court was so fooled by Zheng Chenggong that it was too late to make up its mind, and it was difficult to decide whether to fight or to have a peace. On the one hand, the court was worried that if he did not invest enough military expenses in the southeast, he would be attacked by Zheng Chenggong, and he was also worried that the money might be spent unjustly - if Zheng Chenggong was relieved, wouldn't it be better to use this money to deal with the Western Camp?

The touchstone used to deal with Zheng Chenggong was to shave his head, but this method was useless to Deng Ming. Nalan Mingzhu's judgment of Deng Ming was actually: his sincerity in discussing peace was greater than that of Zheng Chenggong.

Needless to say, the Beijing court, even the Governor's Office of Jinan were confused because of Nalan Mingzhu's judgment. If Deng Ming's attitude was clear at a glance and Zu Zepu could clearly know which way to take the suppression and ease, then he could go all out toward a goal and concentrate his efforts to achieve the solution with the greatest chance of success, rather than being lucky and unstable with his staff like now.

The staff team continued to quarrel over the response strategy, and Zu Zepu was overwhelmed with excitement.

At this time, the guard holding the news rushed in with excitement: "Governor, you're so happy, so happy!"

"What?" Zu Zepu raised his head suddenly: "What kind of happy events can there be? Could it be a great victory in Huaiyang?"

"That's right, it's right." The face of the guard who came to report the victory was full of uncontrollable joy.

The envoy who reported the victory arrived in Jinan. Prince Kang Jieshu reported to the court that the 100,000 troops he commanded launched a fierce attack on the Ming gangs entrenched in the Yangzhou Canal area and launched a fierce battle with the Ming army. Relying on the emperor and the empress dowager Hong Fu, he defeated the rampant Ming thieves and forced them to flee in the direction of the Yangtze River. In this battle, he killed Deng Ming's confidant general Zhao Tianba, and the news has been confirmed.

"Haha, haha." Reading Prince Kang's good news, Zu Zepu walked around the study excitedly. He opened his mouth just now and asked if it was news from Jiangnan, because he knew that Jiangnan was about to fight. Under the repeated urging of the court, Prince Kang would definitely not choose not to retreat without a fight, and he would have to fight a war. The Chinese New Year is about to be celebrated, so it will take these days to start the war.

"This Zhao..., yes, Zhao Tianba, I have heard of it for a long time. He is indeed the number one strong general under Deng Ming. It seems that the fire in Kunming was lit by him. In Zhongxiang, he was also Governor Hu whom he killed, and Governor Lang whom he held in Nanjing. No, take the rebel Lang Tingzuo." In this good news, Prince Kang also admitted that Deng Ming was indeed not in Yangzhou. The captured prisoners confessed that Deng Ming had already left Jiangnan and went to Shandong with a group of people, leaving behind his most trusted Zhao bandit Tianba, who was trying to restrain the royal army.

Zu Zepu excitedly raised Prince Kang's good news and announced to his surrounding staff: "The prince will lead the army back to Shandong soon, and use the remaining power of the victory to drive Deng Ming into the sea."

"Emperor Hong Fu, Prince's divine power!"

The staff present cheered.

Although Deng Ming was arrogant, the return of more than 100,000 troops in Xuzhou would naturally solve the problem of Jiaodong. No one has to worry about whether to negotiate or conquer it at a glance - Deng Ming would defeat him if he refused to negotiate, and it would be different whether he would talk or not.

Zu Zepu issued an order and sent someone to send the victory to Beijing immediately. He also said with jealousy that he also heard the news of the victory from the side. It is reported that when the thieves in Jiaodong heard about this, they were panic. If Prince Kang returns now, he will definitely be able to wipe out Deng Ming, who is in chaos.

The joyful team of staff were busy with their own efforts. Zu Zepu called a confidant to his side and whispered: "Go to Dengzhou quickly, it would be too late if you don't go."

"What?" The confidant saw Zu Zepu's ferocious expression, and the joy on his face disappeared without a trace, he asked in surprise: "Governor General, isn't this a last resort to Dengzhou?"
Chapter completed!