The poetry meeting went on as scheduled and ended as scheduled, but from the second half of the first day, Zhou Peigong's mind was no longer on the poetry to Hong Chengchou and the Qing court.

That, this is not something he is particularly good at, and his mind here is completely out of here, so he will take out the few songs he did on the road to deal with the errands, and just fool this pass. After all, people's energy is limited, and now there are new possibilities, and the freshness instinctively drives him to put his mind on this - listening to the talk of others, and even discussions, especially later, even their companions who got the opportunity to participate in the poetry meeting from the Yamen of Yunyang Governor also began a "critical" discussion, expressing great "dissatisfaction" with Chen Kai's bad behavior of changing the ancestral system without authorization, and he couldn't wait to fly to Guangzhou City immediately, pointing at Chen Kai's nose, Loudly questioned when he planned to open the advisory bureau in Huguang......

Of course, these are all seen by Zhou Peigong himself, whether others really think so, he has no way to determine whether he is wrong, let alone whether this is due to his subjective conjecture. But at least from the bottom of his heart, the way to read the sage book and take the imperial examination, he asked himself if it was not that material, and he didn't dare to say that he had that insight when he was a staff member for the big guys. This is undoubtedly one more way to rise, and the earlier you know it, the more opportunities you have in theory.

With such thoughts, Zhou Peigong listened and thought at the same time, and the three days passed quickly. So, after waiting for the end of the day, after bidding farewell to Huang Zhixuan, the political envoy of Huguang Zuo who represented Hong Chengchou and the chief steward of the Changsha shogunate, they each returned to their respective hometowns with their newly learned knowledge.

Whether this is a meeting of unity or a conference of victory, no one can say for sure, but there is no doubt that this is a conference that looks forward to the future. At least, in this regard, it is more fresh than previous poetry meetings.

At the beginning of the 14th year of Shunzhi, the Changsha Poetry Society ended, and the gentry and Confucian scholars of Huguang contributed a large number of poems and songs, lamenting the beauty of the mountains and rivers, the grand occasion was gratifying, and even sang praises for the Qing court and the Qing army, and made a icing on the cake for the literary affairs of Huguang.

It's a pity that Hong Chengchou, as the convener, is not very happy this time. As for the reason, it is very simple, it is also because of the Rausch of the Advisory Bureau. For he knew better than anyone else what this thing was, which at first glance did not seem to be very obvious, and could even anticipate the effects of this thing, none of which were apparently in his favor.

"No wonder Chen Kai wants to start a mutual aid association, he has been preparing for this from the beginning!"

In front of the gentry in Huguang, Hong Chengchou always smiled, rewarding the gentry for their cooperation, and also praising those who were later learning. This is the most suitable performance of him as a high-ranking civil official who has been in the officialdom for a long time in the activities of the scholarly class such as the Poetry Society, and it is also the most suitable performance under the current situation and his consistent style. However, after arriving at the person, in the presence of only him and Huang Zhixuan, his depression and resentment like a trapped beast were inevitably revealed.

Huang Zhixuan has seen a similar situation more than once, but the problem is that every time he sees it seems to be related to the guy named Chen Kai. Especially this time, even if you can't see the essence of this at a glance like Hong Chengchou, you can still feel the threat in it. He also deeply sympathizes with Hong Chengchou's behavior, comparing his heart to his heart, if he sits in Hong Chengchou's position, nine times out of ten he will be hysterical, and he may not be able to achieve Hong Chengchou's demeanor in front of people.

"Hengjiu, the poetry meeting is going on, and there are many Confucian scholars in private who are passing on the affairs of the Advisory Bureau......

"Can we still keep their mouths shut?"

The mouth of the people is more important than the defense of Sichuan, this truth, they are all characters who have read poetry and books, and there is naturally no reason that they do not understand if they can pass the Jinshi examination.

In fact, long before the poetry meeting was held, Hong Chengchou had already learned the news through the fine works sent to Guangdong, and he was shocked and angry at that time. For this poetry meeting, Hong Chengchou has not considered the possibility of being sung by others as a result of singing on stage.

However, such a poetry meeting is held every year, which has the intention of stepping into spring, and a rash change of time will only lead to a wider range of people's hearts. What's more, such a powerful news, even if this poetry club is not held, it will quickly spread among the scholars. And what made him feel even more disgusting was that there were not only gentry in Chen Kai's advisory bureau, but also businessmen and haoqiang, which was only more tempting than the gentry for the businessmen and haoqiang in Huguang.

In addition to the merchants, the gentry and Haoqiang in the areas controlled by the Qing court were the largest part of the anti-Qing forces scattered throughout the country, because they had enough local influence and organizational power to carry out the armed struggle.

Chen Kai's hand really scared Hong Chengchou. However, after the initial shock, once he calmed down, with the psychological quality and adaptability he had cultivated over the years, Hong Chengchou quickly figured out the current situation. As a result, the poetry meeting was held as usual, and everything was still calm, at least not to let others see that their hearts were empty, so that they could speak later.

The bad premonition came true, especially on the most proud trick of Hong Chengchou in the past few years to win over the gentry, which made him not angry. At this time, such a sentence came out, Hong Chengchou took a deep breath, and immediately exhaled in a big gulp, and so on several times, finally relieved the depression in his chest, and his tone was a little less anxious, replaced by wisdom and calmness.

"Now this advisory bureau is just a body to pick up and fill in the gaps, and it is used to give Chen Kai ideas. However, when the old man thought about it, Chen Kai would probably be able to foresee what this advisory bureau would evolve into in the future. This hand was indeed unexpected by the old man, in comparison, the old man gave credit to the gentry and held a poetry meeting, and it had already been completed, and it was far from being able to come directly with the advisory bureau. ”

affirmed the opponent's conspiracy, Hong Chengchou was of course able to think clearly about what loopholes or problems existed in this: "It takes time for a decree or an institution to penetrate into the hearts of the people. Just like the imperial examination system, it already existed in the Sui period, but it was not until the Song Dynasty that it was followed by scholars. In the same way, Chen Kai's advisory bureau does seem to be sparing no effort to win over the gentry, but it will also take time to be universally accepted by the scholars......"

Hong Chengchou said this, Huang Zhixuan suddenly remembered that the report sent back by Xizuo had mentioned that Chen Kai proposed to use a year to determine whether the Provincial Consultative Bureau was effective, and if it could really better protect the people, assist the government administration, and gather greater forces to resist the Qing, then it would be extended to all provinces. This is the first stage, and if the councils of each province are effective, then they will report to the imperial court and recommend that it be promoted throughout the country.

Hong Chengchou didn't mention these words, and Huang Zhixuan ignored them for a while at first, because since the system was established, Chen Kai would definitely make it effective, even if it was invalid, it would be said to be effective. Because this is a matter of political credibility and prestige, Chen Kai will never smash his own signboard. However, now that Hong Chengchou has mentioned time, the time limit mentioned by Chen Kai obviously has a more far-reaching meaning.

If nothing else, when the two years come, Chen Kai will go to the Ming Court, with the current situation of the Ming Court, probably as long as they can overthrow the Manchu Dynasty, they are willing to do anything, and they have done it to the vassals and Taixi beggars without skin and face, will they care about the bottom line or anything?

When the time comes, the Ming court approves, and even as long as it acquiesces, the pressure will inevitably shift to the Qing court's side. At that time, the gentry asked the Qing court to also open a council, and with the style and nature of the Qing court, there was basically no need to think about what kind of actions they would make.

"Two years, huh, Hyung-jiu?"

"Yes, only two years." Nodding, Hong Chengchou couldn't help but sigh and said: "The back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, Chen Kai, this guy, he made a scale out of thin air, and the appointment period was two years, but he wanted to crush the court to death." This kind of thought, the old man has never seen any civil official play it in all these years. But now that I think about it, that is, he can play such a hand, and others really can't learn it. ”

Speaking of which, Chen Kai is indeed a civil official, but he has never belonged to the civil official group in the traditional sense - he has no merit in the imperial examination, and his husband and classmates probably died in the massacre of Datong.

According to Hong Chengchou's statement, Huang Zhixuan was vaguely able to foresee some things, all of which were shocking. But with only two short years to go, eagerness is inevitable.

"Heng Jiu, let's try to find some Cantonese gentry to go back, let them try to stir up the situation, we can't let Chen Kai go on so smoothly."

This is obviously the most important place to think of, but Hong Chengchou doesn't think so: "Oumei, what Chen Kai took out, we don't have the right to take it out, and we can't take it out." asked the imperial court to ask some Cantonese officials to return to their hometowns, but when the time comes, I am afraid that they will end up with meat buns and beating dogs. ”

"So what should I do?"

It doesn't matter if the advice is not adopted, the problem is already the result of Huang Zhixuan's racking of his brains. In addition, he also pondered the people who bought the Yongli Imperial Court and the Zheng Group, and tried to get rid of Chen Kai's Advisory Bureau, but there was a lot involved in this, and it was not something that he could play with as a small Huguang Zuo political envoy.

Saying this, Huang Zhixuan couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. It must be known that in just two years, the establishment of the Changsha shogunate is far more than that, and what can be done is what it is now. Now we need to face such a situation, which is obviously completely insufficient.

"Oumei, we still have to do to stir up the situation, but we can't pin all our hopes on that. The key to solving the problem is whether Guangdong can be taken back within two years, and even if it fails to capture Guangdong, as long as any of the Western Thieves or Haikou can be eliminated, there will be only one Chen Kai left, and those gentry will only turn back to the wall. ”

Today, the Qing court occupies Liaodong, Northern Zhili, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, as well as most of Huguang and Jiangxi, and small parts of Sichuan, Guangdong, and Guangxi, and controls Monan-Mongol. In contrast, the Ming court, which only controlled Yunnan, Guizhou, Fujian, and most of Guangdong, Sichuan, and Guangxi, and was divided into several feudal towns, had no way to compare with the Qing court with hard data such as land and people.

However, the fact that the territory is small and the number of people is small, which does not mean that the Ming army does not have many troops. The southwest Ming army has the great power of internal affairs Sun Kewang, and the southeast Ming army has the sea trade and salary of the Zheng group, whether it is Sun Kewang or Zheng Chenggong, the command is sitting on a large army of no less than 200,000, and then counting the tens of thousands of troops of Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu, as well as a small Ming army such as the Kuidong Ming army, although the strength is still not comparable to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but at least the gap is far less exaggerated than the land and people.

The deployment of troops on the side of the Qing court, the green battalions were all over the prefectures and counties, especially on the 10,000-mile-long border bordering the Ming army, and heavy troops were gathered everywhere. In other provinces, the four banners of the right wing of Xi'an, Shaanxi, the four banners of the right wing of Jiangning in Jiangnan, the eight banners of the Hangzhou garrison led by Liu Zhiyuan, the general of Pingnan, the eight banners of the Jingkou garrison led by Shi Tingzhu, the general of Zhennan, and the eight banners of the Nanchang garrison led by the general Da Su of Annan, there are also the army of Prince Zheng Jidu, the Huguang Eight Banners army led by Gushan Ezhen Arzin, and the Eight Banners Army of Gushan Ezhen Yild, which has arrived in Ningbo to guard against Zhoushan, and Wu Sangui's Guanning army. Li Guohan's Han military flag.

It seems to be overwhelming, but in terms of soldiers, the number of Manchurian bannermen has not exceeded 50,000 in the past few years, and the Mongolian Eight Banners are even less than half of this number in terms of establishment. And the Eight Banners of the Han Army, it is inevitable to put the cart before the horse, and there are a lot of Niu Lu, but in fact, it cannot reach this number, especially in the case of the collapse of the two feudal domains of Pingnan and Jingnan.

The small number of core forces has always been the biggest problem of the Qing court. Hong Chengchou saw this very clearly, and he knew even more clearly that among his opponents, the Zheng Group and the Jin Domain, had two famous generals in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and their combat effectiveness was very impressive. Sun Kewang was strong on that side, but he was incompetent and exhausted the three armies. In comparison, the strength in Chen Kai's hands is not strong, and it is all the force of the Zheng Group, but now the most difficult thing is this guy, last year's comings and goings are an example.

At this stage, Hong Chengchou certainly understands the current situation of strategic confrontation. However, the Qing court had the advantage of strength, and as long as it managed to gather the main force, it would have an overwhelming advantage over any Southern Ming force. What is lacking is nothing more than an opportunity.

"Perhaps, it won't take two years."