Hearing this, Wu Zheng couldn't hold back his temper anymore, and said sharply: "What do you want to say?" Do you want to persuade my father to surrender? ”

Qian Qianyi calmed down at this time, and he said: "The prince's heart to resist the Qing Dynasty is known to the world. Even if the old man is a stupid person, it is impossible to persuade the prince to surrender. The old man just wanted to say that since our dynasty could not go on a northern expedition in the short term, and now that we have just signed a peace treaty with the Qing court, we should strengthen our power. ”

Wu Zheng softened his face and asked, "How to grow?" Just signed a peace treaty, can't we start the army again? ”

Qian Qianyi shook his head and said with a mysterious smile: "The prince is smart and confused for a while...... Although I can't go north, I can go west. ”

Wu Zheng was stunned for a moment and said: "But Anqing Mansion and Huangzhou Mansion in the west, and Jiujiang Mansion in the southwest are also occupied by the Qing court." ”

Qian Qianyi smiled and said, "The prince allowed the old man to speak slowly. ”

Wu Zheng was really interested in him.

Qian Qianyi said: "Before the Dashun thief soldiers were defeated by the Qing court and the prince of Shuoying Azig in Hubei, after the death of Li Zicheng, the rest of the Dashun thief soldiers were divided into two, all the way to the west of Hubei defeated and retreated, one route to the Longwu Dynasty surrendered, Li Thief's wife Gao Guiying was named the Lady of Jie Xiaozhen Yi Pin by Emperor Longwu, and its department was also known as the loyal battalion, which belonged to the Longwu Dynasty under the Huguang Governor to block Yinxi, and resisted the Qing Dynasty in the Huguang area. After the death of the Longwu Dynasty, Du Yinxi led his troops to join the Yongli Dynasty, but the loyal battalion was still stranded in Huguang. ”

"The prince defeated the Qing army led by Duoduo before, and recovered Ningbo, Jinhua and other places, and the Qing army almost lost control in western Zhejiang. Now the loyal battalion has begun to march eastward, and the front of the army is directed at Jiujiang and Anqing. ”

When Wu Zheng heard this, his heart moved, "You mean to say that our army can cooperate with the righteous army to recover Jiujiang and Anqing?" ”

Qian Qianyi was stunned and said, "How could the prince think like this? If our army cooperates with the loyal army to recover Jiujiang and Anqing, will it not start another war with the Qing court? What the old man meant was that while the Qing army was now unable to deal with the loyal battalion, our army could march west along the Yangtze River and take over Huguang. The fifth master thinks about it, I will take over Huguang from the loyal battalion, and it is naturally unreasonable for the Qing court to take responsibility. ”

Wu Zheng was stunned, he forcibly held back the anger in his heart, and said coldly: "In this way, our army is bound to fight to the death with the loyal battalion?" But the Qing court can watch the fire from the other side, isn't this cheaper for the Qing court? ”

Qian Qianyi said: "The Qing court did take advantage, but the biggest profit was my dynasty." The gentry of Huguang Township have been suffering from the thief army for a long time, originally when the governor of Huguang of Longwu Dynasty blocked Yinxi, the thief army still had some restraint, and now the thief army is gone, the thief army has robbed the gentry of the country, and it has happened repeatedly, and the gentry of Huguang Township have sent envoys to our court several times to express their feelings, hoping that the king will go west, exterminate the thief army, and return Huguang Qingping. ”

Wu Zheng finally understood, he asked: "If our army wants to advance westward, it must pass through the land occupied by the Qing army, even if it advances westward along the Yangtze River with the water division, it must also be along the Yangtze River The Qing army must not obstruct it, how did the first assistant arrange?" ”

Qian Qianyi smiled and said: "Now that the Yixing Dynasty has signed a peace treaty with the Qing court, this matter is a good thing that the Qing court cannot ask for. As long as the imperial court sent an envoy, the Qing court would definitely agree. ”

"In this way, the 500,000 taels and the 200,000 taels promised by Shoufu should all come from the tribute of the Huguang Township Gentleman Clan, right?"

Qian Qianyi smiled slightly, and said with his head bowed: "Exactly." ”

Wu Zheng asked, "Your Majesty must have agreed to this, right?" ”

Qian Qianyi said: "The prince did not guess wrong this time, His Majesty did agree." As long as the prince is willing, the court and the prince will each send 20,000 troops, which will be enough to level Huguang without the obstruction of the Qing army. ”

Wu Zhengquan understood, no wonder Zhu Cihong agreed with Qian Qianyi's advice to sell the official mantle to raise funds to form 15,000 musketeers.

No wonder he made a bloody investment this time, and he was a prince and a general, so he showed favor in order to cooperate with his westward advance.

But Wu Zheng understood that although the Dashun Army was recognized by the Longwu Dynasty, the Yixing Dynasty did not recognize it and was still a thief army. Even in the Longwu Dynasty, some ministers approved and some did not.

For example, when the remnants of the Dashun army first began to cooperate with the Longwu Dynasty to resist the Qing Dynasty, they served under the command of He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, but He Tengjiao was not keen on the union of the two sides, he was forced, at the beginning, he sent an army to defeat the entering Dashun army, but was defeated by the Dashun army that still existed, and He Tengjiao had to choose to cooperate with the Dashun army under the deterrence of force.

It is understandable that Zhu Cihong's father was forced to hang himself by Li Zicheng, as a son, how could he cooperate with the Dashun Army, and he would definitely get rid of it quickly.

At this time, he can not only avenge his father's revenge, but also recover the land of a province, such a good opportunity, how can Zhu Cihong easily let it go?

The most important thing is that this is in line with Zhu Cihong's governing philosophy.

Zhu Cihong originally wanted to recruit the elite class of scholars and wealthy families to regain the glory of the Ming Dynasty.

The Huguang elite took the initiative to invest in the service, and they contributed money and supported it, how could Zhu Cihong refuse?

But Wu Zheng couldn't tolerate such a thing.

Although it is not optimistic about the loyalty camp, it is an anti-Qing force after all.

Let's not talk about its combat power, but at least it has a lot of people, when it united with He Tengjiao, the Dashun army still had 180,000 people, and after two years of conquest, it was reorganized into a loyal battalion by the Longwu Dynasty, and when Du Yinxi took over, there were still 120,000 people. The Longwu Dynasty fell, and the loyal battalion was divided into two (not to make a split, but the Qing army went south to Huguang, and the loyal battalion was divided), and the loyal battalion stranded in Huguang also had more than 50,000 people.

Such an anti-Qing force was exterminated by his own people, Wu Zhengzhen didn't know whether to sigh or applaud.

But there is one thing, Wu Zheng can be sure, even if he does not participate, Zhu Cihong will not give up this good opportunity, with the strength of the Yixing Dynasty, the Northern Expedition is not enough, it is enough to exterminate this righteous army, besides, listening to Qian Qianyi's words, the gentry in Huguang have already colluded.

This made Wu Zheng think that once upon a time, Shuntianfu was sold to the Manchus by the northern merchant gang and the gentry clan.

Looking at Wu Zheng groaning, Qian Qianyi thought that Wu Zheng was hesitating what benefits he could get, so he smiled and said: "Your Majesty promised that after the recovery of Huguang, the imperial court will acquiesce to the prince's use of troops against Jiangxi and Fujian, and all the recovered lands will be under the jurisdiction of the prince, and there is no need to pay taxes to the imperial court." ”

This made Wu Zheng's heart move, he did talk to Zhu Cihong about it before, and his future strategy would be transferred to the south, it seems that Zhu Cihong listened to it at the time, so he thought about drawing such a big pie for himself.

The problem is that Jiangxi and Fujian are still in the hands of the Qing army, and even Taizhou and Wenzhou have not been recovered.

In other words, Zhu Cihong is a white wolf who wants to empty gloves.

But I have to say that Wu Zheng was really moved after listening to Qian Qianyi's words.