When the Nanjing Imperial Court was still arguing about the Huguang matter, the situation in Huguang, which had changed drastically, had quieted down.

After Sun Kewang fled into Yiling, he learned that Gao Yihuan had captured Jingzhou and copied the back road of the Ming army, and he was immediately ashamed and angry.

In addition to his anger, he ordered the remnants of the defeated army again, preparing to take advantage of the opportunity of the Ming army being flanked to find He Tengjiao for revenge, and by the way, capture some Ming troops to make up for his losses.

It's just that Sun Kewang didn't expect that as soon as he went out of the city to fight with the Ming army, he met Gao Yihuan's horse army, and then he was defeated again, and fled into Yiling in panic again.

The originally hostile Ming army and the Wei army, before Sun Kewang could figure it out, suddenly put on a pair of pants.

Sun Kewang really didn't expect that the two sides would be so unprincipled.

Especially the Ming army, Gao Yihuan grabbed food, robbed Jingzhou, and destroyed nearly 10,000 Ming troops, so you are so good with him? Aren't you ashamed, but shameless?

This made Sun Kewang stunned, but in any case, it has become a fact that the Ming army is in cahoots with Gao Yihuan, and Sun Kewang, who returned from defeat, can only hide in Yiling City and tremble in the face of these two underworld forces.

Wuchang Zuo Liangyu saw that after Gao Yihuan entered Huguang, he was frightened in his heart, but the old hatred came to his heart, and his son Zuo Mengeng was played by Gao Yihuan and became a waste, which made him hate Gao Yihuan to the core.

At this time, Zuo Liangyu saw Gao Yihuan going south, and he hated and feared in his heart.

What he hated was Gao Yihuan's seizure of Xiangyang, blackmailing him for money and food, and hurting Zuo Mengeng, and what he was afraid of was Gao Yihuan's 300,000 soldiers and his reputation of repeatedly defeating Jiannu.

After the defeat of Xiangyang, Zuo Liangyu wandered in Huguang for more than half a year, and finally took advantage of the opportunity of Zhang Xianzhong's entry into Sichuan, seized the opportunity to seize Wuchang, and entrenched here for nearly two years, and the strength of the people and horses has been restored to a certain extent.

At this time, Zuo Liangyu was preparing for war in Wuchang, but suddenly received an order from He Tengjiao, informing him that Gao Yihuan's identity had changed, and he would be a family in the future, which immediately made him stunned.

At first, Zuo Liangyu rejected the news, but in the end he accepted the reality and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Since it is a family, it is difficult for Gao Yihuan to fight Wuchang.

After Gao Yihuan and He Tengjiao reached an agreement, He Tengjiao returned to Yuezhou on his broken boat, and according to the agreement, in the name of the governor of Huguang in the Ming Dynasty, he announced that Gao Yihuan would be appeased, so that all prefectures and counties in Huguang and all battalions would not stir up trouble.

At the same time as announcing the appeasement, He Tengjiao wrote to Nanjing, participated in the unfavorable command of Yang Wenyue, and humiliated the country, and at the same time stated his exploits, and then looted the treasury and transported money and grain to Gao Yihuan and Yiling's men and horses.

Although the will of the Nanjing Imperial Court has not yet come down, Huguang has taken the lead in ending the blockade of Gao Yihuan.

In the military, Gao Yihuan's requirements for the Ming Dynasty are actually not high, just don't stab the knife in the back when fighting, he values the economic strength of the Ming Dynasty, and hopes to obtain rich materials from the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with warfare, strong economic strength and abundant materials were the advantages of the Nanjing Imperial Court.

At this time, on the edge of the Yangtze River near Jingzhou, large ships full of grain, cloth, iron and other materials came to the vicinity of the wharf outside Jingzhou City under the tow of the slender man, and then were moved off the ship by the people.

Some of these ships were grain ships sent by He Tengjiao, and some were merchant ships of Ma Hongshan and others, providing Gao Yihuan with various military supplies.

On the wharf, groups of coolies are resisting sacks of rice and grain to get off the ship, and then stack them in a temporary warehouse next to the wharf.

Gao Yihuan rode a horse and stood by the dock with a few people, watching the busy people carrying supplies.

At this time, Gao Yihuan looked at it for a while, and suddenly said, "Mr. Lu, has the money and grain transported by He Tengjiao arrived?" ”

Lu Yifang said: "Dashuai, 500,000 taels of silver have been delivered, but only 100,000 stones of grain have been delivered, and the rest is said to be sent after the summer grain is harvested." ”

Gao Yihuan frowned, "Is the food for the people of Yunyang to settle down, and the military food enough?" ”

"The marshal can rest assured that the grain hidden on the small island of Dongting by the horsemen has already transported 150,000 stones, and the summer harvest is about to begin, and the food and military rations for the people are still enough." Lu Yifang said with a smile: "Even if it is not enough, now that the blockade is lifted, we can use the silver to collect grain!" ”

Gao Yihuan bowed slightly, "That's good!" However, don't wait for the grain to be collected when it is not enough, and it is necessary to build a warehouse to store a batch of grain to avoid sudden accidents. ”

"Dashuai, now they are collecting grain in batches in the vast number of lakes, and the price of grain has risen. If you want to reserve it on a large scale, I'm afraid the amount of silver spent will be twice as much as usual! Lu Yifang said hurriedly.

This time, Gao Yihuan copied a lot of silver and blackmailed a batch, which seemed rich, but in fact, except for expenses, especially to expand the number of people to 100,000, there was not much money left.

Gao Yihuan groaned slightly, "After the summer harvest, there is a lot of grain in Huguang, and the price of grain should fall somewhat, and then another batch will be collected and stored in case of emergency!" ”

"Don't worry, the handsome man has written down his humble position!" Lu Yifang nodded in response.

Now that Huguang has ended the blockade of Gao Yihuan, the blockade of him by the entire Ming Dynasty has actually become invalid, as long as Gao Yihuan has silver, he can buy what he wants from all over the world, transport it to Huguang first, and then transfer it into his own hands.

Theoretically speaking, as long as the Ming Dynasty does not control it, and Gao Yihuan has enough money, he will continue to buy materials, but this situation cannot exist, even if the Ming Dynasty has materials, Gao Yihuan does not have endless silver.

At this time, Gao Yihuan's heart moved, should he consider casting some money?

Although the south is rich in goods, in order to get supplies, you still need to have silver.

The area controlled by Gao Yihuan is mainly to grow grain, and there are very few fields for growing cash crops, and the handicraft industry and commerce are not very developed, so the annual taxes that can be obtained are naturally limited.

This made Gao Yihuan think of printing money, but this trick is obviously useless now, because no one recognizes the money you printed.

Gao Yihuan considered whether to start minting money, which was a very efficient and invisible means of collecting money.

In addition, he could also go to the market, collect the copper coins of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and then melt them, cast them into inferior copper coins, turn one into two, go to the north to purchase materials, and then smuggle them back to wage economic warfare against the Manchus. In addition, the minting of silver dollars is actually a means of exploiting the wealth of the people.

It seems a bit undecent to do this, but for the sake of war, Gao Yihuan doesn't care what means are used.

Thinking of this, Gao Yihuan suddenly looked at Lu Yifang and said, "Mr. Lu, do you know anything about minting money?" ”

Lu Yifang was stunned for a moment, and then said: "I know a little bit about my humble position." ”

Gao Yihuan was immediately overjoyed when he heard this, "Then Mr. Lao has found a group of craftsmen to come over, and Ben Shuai is going to mint some silver coins." ”

(End of chapter)