A few years ago, when the Qing army was strong in Guangdong, except for Chen Kai, who still dominated the immovable place of Chaozhou, the other Ming troops were driven up the mountain and off the island. Compared with other places, the Qing army with Guangzhou as the core control area was slightly less controlled, and the survival of the Ming army there was easier.

Feng Yao, Zhou Jintang, Guo Dengdi and many other generals are entrenched everywhere, ranging from hundreds to thousands. And the Yongli Imperial Court also sent Zhang Xiaoqi and Zhou Jintang to liaise in the center, and Guo Zhiqi kept coming and going, and the strength of the Ming army there was finally stronger. However, there is no ability to regain lost territory on its own.

Last year, Li Dingguo swept through western Guangdong, changed the route of the previous year's direct attack on Zhaoqing, and turned south to seize southwest Guangdong with the cooperation of the Ming army in western Guangdong. Lianzhou, Gaozhou, and Leizhou were recovered, and then Li Dingguo raised troops in Gaozhou, but the army took the lead in entering the southern part of Zhaoqing and Guangzhou, and besieged Xinhui.

These three prefectures, in addition to Chaozhou and Qiongzhou, are already the earliest areas recovered by the Ming army, the Ming army controlled the place, Zhang Xiaoqi and Zhou Tengfeng under the banner of Li Dingguo, through the collection of military materials also achieved a certain degree of control of administrative power.

Zhou Tengfeng hurried to come because of the rivalry between the Western Guangdong Civil Official Group and Chen Kai, as a member of the Western Guangdong Civil Official Group, their efforts in southwest Guangdong naturally came in handy at such a moment. It is the same qi and branches, and it is also the same party and different parties.

"Tell the superintendent that last year's autumn taxes in Gaozhou Mansion, Lianzhou Mansion, and Leizhou Mansion have been collected. It is the quantity, which is less than one-fifth of the Chengping year. ”

"Yes, that's a good thing. Guangzhou and Zhaoqing couldn't collect last year's autumn tax at all, and even this year's spring ploughing was affected, so it's hard to say what the summer harvest will look like. ”

Regarding Luo Dingzhou's side, Guo Zhiqi didn't mention it. In the final analysis, Wei Yingdeng and Ye Biao had recovered there the year before last, and later Li Dingguo's army was defeated in Zhaoqing, and they were surrounded and suppressed by the Qing army. Last year, with the help of Li Dingguo's east wind, they once again recovered Luodingzhou. It is one thing that there is almost a military disorder and is dilapidated, but more importantly, the power of the civil official group in western Guangdong is very small there, and the entire Luoding Prefecture is basically still in a state of military control.

This is undoubtedly good news, but Guo Zhiqi did not let go of it, but asked Zhou Tengfeng: "When the old man went to Gaozhou Mansion last time, did he talk about the military salary?" ”

On the surface, the talk is about military salaries, but in fact it is about the transfer of administrative power after the end of military management. The army needs to eat, and it costs money to fight, and the imperial court needs military salaries to feed the army, otherwise the army will have to fend for itself. This is a normal thing, so if you want to maximize the control of local administrative power, you must first feed the army and pay sufficient military salaries in exchange for the concession of administrative power.

Previously, they had made some achievements through the Battle of Xinhui, including that the capital cities of these three prefectures and some county towns had been actually controlled by the civil official group in western Guangdong, but there were still large areas still controlled by those Ming army generals as a source of military pay and military rations. What Guo Zhiqi asked here is actually these.

In this regard, in fact, Guo Zhiqi does not have much hope, after all, there are still too few cards in his hand. Sure enough, Zhou Tengfeng also shook his head when he heard this, especially when he mentioned the question about Zhou Jintang and Deng Yao.

Zhangping Bo Zhou Jintang and Jingxiang general Deng Yao sent troops to Xinhui last year, and participated in the battle with Wang Xing in the Battle of Jiangmen as the main force of the Ming army in western Guangdong, and achieved a strong containment of the Qing army on the left flank battlefield. These two troops had already returned to their base areas, but after they returned, their achievements in the Jiangmen battle were basically used to expand the army.

"It is better to expand the army when you have money than to spend all your time drinking."

Having said that, Guo Zhiqi also knows very well that in this way, they will need to pay a greater price if they want to take back the administrative power of those military areas. And there is another problem, that is, the actions of these two generals are likely to cause a chain reaction of other Ming army generals in the surrounding area, such as Zhu Tong, Guo Dengdi, and Zhang Yue anyway, they are likely to expand their troops, and they are even likely to be doing it.

"I don't care about this yet, and there's no need to worry about it. As soon as the king of Xining leaves, as long as he takes over the control areas of His Royal Highness in Guangzhou and Zhaoqing, the tax collection can be carried out and the generals can be discussed little by little, but there is no hurry. The key is still in the moment. ”

Guo Zhiqi said this, it can be said that he wants to distinguish clearly. In this regard, Zhou Tengfeng also deeply agreed, and then mentioned another matter: "Before leaving, Governor Zhang and the lower officials inquired and said that the Qiongzhou Mansion was organizing merchants to buy grain from Annan, and it seemed that the scale was not small. ”

"The old man knows that there is a grain shortage in Fujian, and Chen Kai has been busy transporting grain from Guangdong to Fujian recently, so as to restore Fujian's people's livelihood as soon as possible......"

Using Guangdong's grain to subsidize Fujian's deficit, Guo Zhiqi is not so stingy, after all, they are all Ming troops, and the people in Fujian who are waiting to be fed are also Han people. It's just that Chen Kai's attitude towards western Guangdong has always been very tough, and there are factional disputes between them, so it is inevitable that the Zheng group will be regarded as an outsider. Of course, this also depends on who to compare with, if it is compared with Sun Kewang, it can still be regarded as an ally, let alone the Manchu Qing, but if it is compared with other civilian and military generals under the Yongli Imperial Court who are almost under actual control, it is inevitable that there will be worries about warlords.

Zhou Tengfeng continued to talk about this matter, and Guo Zhiqi didn't care too much. Trade, it's always been like this, there's nothing new about it. As for the vassal of Annan, he knows a little, a small country that is in a state of fragmentation, in the eyes of the Ming Court today, the weight is really nothing, even if it is a beggar, he will not consider such a thing.

Governor Zhang and the lower officials pondered that there was also a shortage of food in western Guangdong, so they simply bought a batch of grain from Annan. It is the path of Gaoping Mohs, and the price is more reasonable. It's just that the two of us are humble and light-hearted, and if I want to buy more, I'm afraid I will have to save the face of the superintendent. ”

Zhou Tengfeng said a word, and subconsciously looked at Guo Zhiqi. The latter was stunned for a moment, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face, and he repeatedly praised Zhang Xiaoqi and Zhou Tengfeng's good strategy, and repeatedly said that he would repair the book and Annan as a superintendent and scholar, and seek convenience for their actions.

"Gao Ping's Mo's path can be walked, but the Zheng family's side is forgotten, and it can't be true."

"Xia Guan understands."

One country, two dynasties, four forces, this is the current situation in Annam. Among them, the Gaoping Mo clan in Guo Zhiqi's mouth, the king of the Mo Dynasty was only an envoy of the Annam Dynasty in the Ming Court, and he could only ensure that he was not eliminated by the Li Dynasty by holding his thick legs. When Guo Zhiqi talked about the matter of dog food, he hinted to Zhou Tengfeng again, and he could continue to press the price on Mo Chao's side appropriately, and Mo Chao would not dare to resist.

As for the Li Dynasty's side, Lord Ruan was in the south, and they couldn't reach it for a while. And the king of the Li Dynasty is actually a puppet supported by Lord Zheng, but he is a bit like the current Ming court's Sun Kewang to Emperor Yongli. They are politicians, who have always prided themselves on the orthodoxy of the imperial court, and of course they must avoid being thrown dirty by political opponents in the future.

In fact, in addition to these forces, there is also a protector in Annam, the Wu clan, whose strength is not strong, in the Xuanguang area of Li Chaoshi Town. It is landlocked and does not share borders with neighbouring countries, which is often overlooked. However, Guo Zhiqi and the others have been struggling in the Liangguang region for many years, and the surrounding forces have more or less some understanding. As far as they knew, this Wu clan was obviously following the Li Dynasty on the surface, but behind the scenes, they also hooked up with the Mo Dynasty, and after thinking about it, they also planned to use the relationship of the Mo Dynasty to try to go that way again.

Guo Zhiqi wrote a letter, and Zhou Tengfeng rushed back overnight. Not long after, Zhang Xiaoqi received a letter and hurriedly sent it to Gaoping Mo's.

Inspector, plus the status of a cabinet scholar, compared with Zhang Xiaoqi and Zhou Tengfeng, local officials in southwest Guangdong, Guo Zhiqi directly represents the Ming court, and is an extension of the Ming court's power in the Liangguang region. The safety of the Mo Dynasty was tied to the thought of the Ming Empire, which was a reality that had been more than a century. When Guo Zhiqi's letter arrived, the words in the letter could not be called condescending, but the tone was not much questionable, and he directly asked Mo to send grain to Zhang Xiaoqi, and tried to open up the connection with Wu, and strive to use Wu's channels in the Li Dynasty to purchase more grain.

For this, the contemporary king of the Mo Dynasty, Mingzong Mo Jingyu, is also helpless. Speaking of which, if the Ming court was in Liangguang or the same as before, it would be fine, but now the Ming army has recovered Guangzhou in one fell swoop, and there is news further away that the Ming army recovered Fujian in one fell swoop last year. This is clearly a posture that wants the salted fish to turn over, and for a separatist force like them who rely on their thighs to survive, how to see it most clearly.

After receiving the letter, Mo Jingyu ordered the purchase of grain at a low price in the Gaoping area, and at the same time secretly sent someone to contact Wu Gongyi, the leader of the Wu clan today, and buy grain from the Wu clan as an intermediary.

In today's Annan, the strongest person is already Lord Zheng, like them, their strength is not even as strong as Lord Ruan, and they have to hug the thigh of the Celestial Empire to fake the tiger. Grain was quickly raised, and they took the land route, which was transported to Guangxi through the controlled areas of the Mo Dynasty, and then transferred to Lianzhou, from where they switched to the waterway and gathered the grain in the direction of Guangzhou.

Such an action will inevitably avoid the ears and eyes of Lord Zheng. However, at this time, Zheng Zhu could no longer take care of them, and the merchants of the Qiongzhou government came forward to purchase grain through their various connections in Annan, and the grain prices in the area controlled by Zheng Zhu inevitably rose. Of course, what made Zheng Zhu feel balanced was that these Qiongzhou merchants were also buying grain in the area controlled by Lord Ruan, and the rise in grain prices was also affecting this old rival.

Most of the money used to purchase grain came from the profit from the recovery of Guangzhou, and in addition to solving the grain shortage, the grain was more important to provide grain and grass for Li Dingguo's army.

In a blink of an eye, it was already May, and the grain was arriving one after another, and the generals of the Ming army in Guangzhou, who were waiting for the subsidy, found Guo Zhiqi faster than Li Dingguo and asked the supervisor to fulfill his earlier promise. In this regard, Guo Zhiqi's tone did not soften, only said that the agreement at that time was that the subsidy would be given after the summer tax was collected, and the calculation date was also in August. As for this batch, the Inspector has another purpose, not for subsidies.

"When food goes into the pockets of those generals, it's like rice goes into the stomach, and what comes out is only. Now, there are so many resources in hand, and every effort must be used to expand the actual control area. Only by controlling more areas can we have more money and food, and can we do more things. ”

Guo Zhiqi thought clearly, and he did the same. Here, grain is still coming, and he is also keeping an eye on Hong Kong, and it seems that there are also grain ships arriving from Qiongzhou, or Annan to be exact. Guo Zhiqi knew very well that a large part of this grain was transported to Fujian to relieve the grain shortage, and at the same time, it was necessary to feed Fujian's expanding army. However, there are also many Chen Kai who have the same thoughts as him, which is nothing more than tacit understanding of each other.

On 12 May, Chen Kai's official ship returned to Hong Kong. This trip is more than a month, counting the distance, a delay at sea is indispensable, but it is not too long.

After getting the news of Chen Kai's return, Guo Zhiqi specially flipped through the account books of food and weapons, these things were full of things in the warehouse, and after reading the account books, his heart was a little more settled. He knew very well that when Chen Kai returned from South Australia, it would be the time when the political struggle broke out again. Sure enough, the imminent departure of Li Dingguo's army, as well as the inside story of the battle for the ownership of Guangzhou between the Yuexi civil official group and the Zheng group, also spread in Guangzhou on the day of Chen Kai's arrival in Hong Kong. Calculating the time, it seems that the news has been leaked long before Chen Kai came back.

"This is Chen Kai avoiding suspicion."

Chen Kaizhi is for the people of Guangzhou, and it has the grace of reconstruction. Even if you think about it with your toes, you can guess which side those Guangzhou people will stand on once Chen Kai and Guo Zhiqi have a conflict. Once they heard the news, the gentry and people of Guangzhou went to Li Dingguo's line every day to ask for his life, and asked His Royal Highness the King of Xining to let Chen Kai enter the city of Guangzhou.

"Chen Kai, this is the biggest killer feature in your layout. Public opinion, it is really terrifying, but the old man will never lose to you. Let's see whose means are more clever. ”

Thinking about this, his eyes were blazing. After planning for a long time, ready to go.