The Sichuan army stopped again in Anqing, and although the news was not good, Deng Ming still heard some rumors about the third holy decree. After halting the advance, Deng Ming once again convened a plenary meeting of the officers of the three majors and all the captains to discuss how to deal with it.

Not long ago, Zhou Peigong and his gang took a copy of the second holy decree and swore to the Ming army that Shunzhi would not insist on the pro-conquest, and it was not long before the Jiangnan officialdom began to spread the saying that the pro-conquest of Shunzhi was basically a foregone conclusion.

"Our army has reached an agreement with the governor of Caoyun and the governor of Jiangning that it will leave the two rivers as much as possible and return to Kuidong without stops along the way." In the past, Mu Tan was also a believer who never tired of deceit, but after following Deng Ming and constantly experiencing the benefits of keeping his promises, Mu Tan also unconsciously attached more and more importance to his reputation: "If we stay still, I am afraid it will be harmful to the reputation of the Admiral." ”

"Maybe the copy that Zhou Peigong brought us is fake," Ren Tang was very concerned about the safety of the Zhoushan army, and immediately suspected Zhou Peigong's body, thinking that he might want to divert the tiger from the mountain, and then concentrate his forces to attack Zhang Huangyan and Ma Fengzhi: "Zhou Peigong and Jiang Guozhu teamed up to deceive us. ”

"No, they will do more harm than good to them, they can't hope that the Tartar Emperor will come to the south." Mu Tan felt that this view was a little unbelievable, even without the assistance of the Sichuan army, the Zhoushan army also had warships, and it was not something that Jiang Guozhu could shake lightly, if it was for the purpose of assisting Shunzhi in his own expedition, wouldn't the Liangjiang officials be afraid of the East Window incident?

The lack of first-hand information made Deng Ming also feel troublesome, from his point of view, Lin Qilong and Jiang Guozhu did not need to deceive themselves, the Ming army and the southeast Qing army agreed on the issue of preventing Shunzhi's personal conquest, and they did not want the emperor to come to guide the situation out of control. However, if the news is true, Deng Ming naturally cannot stand idly by, and will definitely fight side by side with Zhang Huangyan.

"Let's stop in Anqing for a while, confirm the news, if the Qing Emperor doesn't come, we will continue to walk, if he really comes to the south, we will return to Chongming." Deng Ming issued an order, if Shunzhi does not give up the pro-conquest, then the strategy will return to the original track, and everyone understands that defeating Shunzhi will have a huge political significance, in addition to Deng Ming has another reason: "In addition to inspiring the hearts of the people in the world, we must not forget that Zhoushan is an ally of our army, and Zhang Shangshu and Admiral Ma are our comrades." The so-called allies are that when the enemy attacks, we can count on receiving support and help from our allies, so if we are in Sichuan, it will be forgotten, since it is close at hand, it is our unshirkable responsibility to support Chongming. Ladies and gentlemen, this is exactly the same as the fact that we need to protect Chengdu's Tongxiu, who pays taxes and serves us, and if the military is unwilling to fulfill its obligation to protect its citizens and support its allies, we will not have its citizens and allies. ”

After staying in Anqing for a few days, Deng Ming learned that another envoy from Jiangning had come to ask for a meeting, and the rumors had become more and more realistic in the past few days, which had already made Deng Ming very annoyed with the southeastern officialdom, and he was immediately summoned into the tent after learning that the envoy had arrived.

As soon as the visitors saw Deng Ming, they asked to exclude outsiders, and they could only leave absolutely reliable henchmen, such as Major Mu Tanmu. The person who came was not young, it seemed that he was a scholar and a staff member, and he didn't seem to be a brave man, Deng Ming met the other party's request and asked most of the guards to retreat.

"Meet Admiral Deng," after everyone else left, the envoy immediately confided his identity: "Xiaguan Jiang Guozhu see." ”

"Governor Chiang?" After confirming the identity of the other party, Deng Ming couldn't help but be surprised, the other party acted as the agent of the Yamen affairs of the governor of Liangjiang, and it was a feudal territory, so it stands to reason that he would not risk coming to see him in person, and he made a special trip from Nanjing to Anqing.

The person who came was indeed Jiang Guozhu himself, and after returning from Yangzhou, he learned that Deng Ming stayed in Anqing and did not leave, which made him feel that the sky was about to fall. Jiang Guozhu has already discussed with Lin Qilong and the others to cooperate to persuade Shunzhi to dispel the idea of pro-conquest, but the premise must be that Deng Ming will leave first, and now that Deng Ming is not leaving, how can they guarantee the safety of Jiangnan to the imperial court?

Although he was dissatisfied, since the governor of Jiangning had come to visit him, Deng Ming also politely invited the other party to sit down and have tea, and then asked him the most concerned question about the dynamics of Shunzhi: "Does your emperor still want to levy in person?" ”

"Alas, this emperor of the lower officials," Jiang Guozhu stretched out his hand with a wry smile and pointed to his head: "The brain is not very bright, but we as courtiers do our best to serve, what can we do?" ”

"Does that mean that the emperor still wants to levy it in person?"

"He wants to, but he must not be able to recruit in person, so the subordinate can pat his chest and assure Admiral Deng." Jiang Guozhu came to Anqing in person and entered the Ming army camp alone to see Deng Ming, that is, he made up his mind, no matter what, he had to persuade Deng Laohu to leave first, and then continue to go to Quanfu Laohu to return to Beijing and stay honestly.

Jiang Guozhu brought a copy of the third holy decree this time, in addition to the one given to him, there was also one for Lin Qilong, in order to show Deng Ming that they were open-minded and to Deng Ming

It's also all about it. Just this afternoon, after seeing Jiang Guozhu's report, Shunzhi just issued a declaration in anger that he would pursue wherever Deng Ming fled, but Jiang Guozhu still didn't know at this time.

After reading Shunzhi's holy decree, Deng Ming was even more uneasy: "Look at this meaning, the emperor seems to have some personal enmity with me, most of them will still chase it, and this kind of holy decree has been issued, how can he go back to Beijing without saying a word?" Doesn't he want to lose face? ”

"The emperor of the lower officials is shameless, he can even accept his brother and daughter-in-law as a concubine, and he can still issue an edict to publicize this shameless thing all over the world, will he have anything to fear?" As long as Deng Laohu can be sent away, Jiang Guozhu is already speechless: "The emperor of the lower official is different from the commander Deng, the emperor talks the same as fart, and he doesn't take his words seriously, as long as Deng gradient returns to Kuidong, the emperor will definitely not go down to the south of the Yangtze River, and the lower officials dare to guarantee with their lives!" ”

Of course, Jiang Guozhu also knew that empty white teeth could not convince Deng Ming, and he also brought Zhang Changgeng and Zhang Chao's letters and copies of their recitals today: "Admiral Deng, please see, the cantata of the governor of Jiangxi has already been sent, and the recital of the governor of Huguang also arrived in Jiangbei four days ago, and now it is estimated that it has also been sent to the emperor. Besides, the Governor of Huguang is an old friend of Admiral Deng, right? Deng Gradient can't trust the lower officials, and he can't trust Governor Zhang. Besides, there are also Lord Zhang and Master Dong in Jiangxi, and the lower officials heard that they have engaged in unified purchasing and sales, and they have always cooperated happily with Admiral Deng, so they are duty-bound to do this. Although the Admiral is 10,000 assured, as long as you go back to Kuidong, this matter of stopping the emperor will be covered by us. ”

Jiang Guozhu was easy to talk about, and finally persuaded Deng Ming to go on the road again, but Deng Ming had something to say first, if Jiang Guozhu and they couldn't stop Shunzhi, then no wonder he had to return to Jiangnan.

"Oh my God." Watching the Sichuan army set off again, Jiang Guozhu wiped the sweat from his forehead vigorously: "The emperor said that Admiral Deng is here, and he will personally conquer Jiangnan, let us stop Admiral Deng; Admiral Deng said that we can't stop the emperor, and he will personally conquer Jiangnan. These two are masters! ”

Leaving Anqing and entering the territory of Jiangxi Province, the henchmen sent by Dong Weiguo also enthusiastically led the way for the Ming army, and moved the pre-prepared rice and grain to the Ming army ship, lest Deng Ming refuse to leave quickly; Now Jiangxi and Jiangnan have a way of thinking, that is, looking forward to Deng Ming's departure to make Shunzhi lose the reason for his personal conquest, and then everyone rushed up, crying and shouting to hug Shunzhi's thighs, saying that he couldn't let him come to the south, Dong Weiguo hated what he hated most now was that the east wind was too small, and he couldn't wait to puff up his cheeks to blow the sails of the Ming army, so that Deng Ming's ship could go faster.

Tomorrow will leave Jiujiang and enter the territory of Hubei, on the eve of Deng Ming's departure from Jiangxi, another guard reported that a messenger came from Jiujiang, and it was not unusual for the envoy to come, but it was strange that the envoy was still dragging his family with him. Deng Ming's guards recognized one of the envoys, that is, Dong Weiguo, the once captured Jiangxi envoy, and what made the guards feel even more strange was that there was a Qing army envoy who had passed with Dong Weiguo, who seemed to have a very high status, and even Dong Bu's envoy was very respectful to him.

The mysterious messenger from Jiujiang covered his face with a black cloth, dragged a half-grown boy in his left hand, and dragged a young woman crying with pear blossoms and rain in his right hand, and the woman was still holding a babbling baby in her arms. Dong Weiguo stumbled behind the masked man, holding a woman in his hand, who was also holding a child in her arms, and tears flowed like the one in front of him.

"Xiaguan Zhang Chao, knock on the Admiral." The envoy tore off the black cloth on his face and knelt on the ground with a plop: "The lower official has a reluctant request, and I hope that the Admiral will agree to the lower official for the sake of Nanchang's consistent deference." ”

"It turned out to be Governor Zhang." With Jiang Guozhu in front, Deng Ming was not so surprised that Zhang Chao came to see him, he hurriedly stepped forward to pick up the governor of Jiangxi, and then helped Dong Weiguo, who was kneeling behind Zhang Chao, the scene in front of him made Deng Ming feel a little dazed, and blurted out: "Governor Zhang, political envoy Dong Bu, what are you doing here?" Is it to support orphans? ”

Deng Ming guessed casually and really didn't guess wrong, Zhang Chao came to support Gu, after Shunzhi's pursuit declaration arrived in Nanchang, Zhang Chao didn't say a word, took this concubine who served him personally and went straight to Jiujiang. Dong Weiguo is the same as Zhang Chao, his family stayed in his hometown, and he was accompanied by a concubine, and after listening to Zhang Chao's latest holy decree, Dong Weiguo also dragged the concubine and his young son to the Ming Army.

Ransom Jiujiang, porcelain purchase and sales, and Jiang Guozhu conspired to deceive the emperor, first reported the victory, and then tried their best to dissuade the emperor from conquest, let Deng Ming go and provide him with grain, Zhang Chao knew that he could not have a way to live. The governor of Jiangxi first pointed to the boy for a moment, and then pointed to the woman he brought and the young girl in her arms, and then he couldn't help crying loudly when he opened his mouth: "The lower officials only have such a little blood and bones, please ask the admiral to take their mother and son to the southwest, don't ask them to remember their ancestors, as long as they can live incognito, it's good." ”