The key point of the so-called political struggle is nothing more than five words - who belongs to whom!

Guo Zhiqi was a Jinshi in the first year of Chongzhen, but when he first entered officialdom, he heard some old things mentioned. For example, after the Liao Dynasty, Liaoyang and Shenyang fell one after another. At the same time as the strategy, the Donglin Party elected Wang Huazhen as the governor of Liaodong, which led to the subsequent feud between economics and governor.

The reason why Donglin made such a fuss is that Wang Huazhen is a disciple of Donglin boss Ye Xianggao and a member of the Donglin Party, and Xiong Tingbi is a figure in the Chu Party. Fang Congzhe of the Zhejiang Party recommended this person to join forces with the Chu Party to suppress Donglin. Lin's influence on Liao affairs. In this matter, neither party can completely remove it. It is just that they are all partisans and oppose dissenters. The biggest difference is that Xiong Tingbi is at least somewhat capable, while Wang Huazhen is simply a waste.

Later, when Guangning fell, Donglin wanted to protect his former political enemy Xiong Tingbi, while the so-called "Eunuch Party" formed by other parties such as the Zhejiang Party, the Qi Party, and the Chu Party, united under Wei Zhongxian, turned around and wanted to protect Wang Huazhen, because After the defeat, Xiong Tingbi turned to Donglin when he saw that Donglin was powerful, while Wang Huazhen foresaw that Donglin was about to collapse in the future, so he chose the eunuch party.

As a result, with the fall of Donglin, Xiong Tingbi, who was secondary responsible for the fall of Guangning, was killed in the fifth year of Tianqi, while Wang Huazhen, the chief culprit, was postponed to the fifth year of Chongzhen, that is, he was executed seven years later - if not for It's just that he really has no way to get away with it. God knows whether he will be "reinstated" as the Donglin sages who tried to protect him when the accident first happened said.

In the same way, Chen Kai was a staff member of Zheng Chenggong, and is the current number two figure in the Zheng Group. He is completely different from officials like them who came from the orthodox imperial examination. Therefore, when Chen Kai encountered Liancheng Bi, his actual The above is a battle between the Zheng Group and the Western Guangdong Civil Service Group. Jin Weixin, who has a similar background to Chen Kai, is Li Dingguo's staff.

Of course, that's all. Logically speaking, they shouldn't make any more enemies when facing an opponent like Chen Kai. But the problem is that Jin Weixin has good relations with Chen Kai, and there are two prefectures and two counties in Guangzhou. Chen Kai's people were placed in all the official vacancies by Jin Weixin. He was obviously betting on Chen Kai's side in the battle for control of Guangzhou. This would affect Li Dingguo's final decision, so this time he simply killed two birds with one stone.

"If you hit a snake, hit him within seven inches!"

As far as the eye can see, Jin Weixin got on the carriage and let the draft horse listlessly pull the carriage out of the camp. The smile on the corner of Guo Zhiqi's mouth flashed away. Unlike the civil servants of the imperial court, the civil servants whom the emperor did not trust only wanted to see the people behind his back. The civil service group is strong enough, and there are opportunities in the official career. However, if the employer cannot trust a staff member, then the future of that staff member will be doomed. Unless that staff member can regain trust.

"This time we are involving outsiders, how can it be that easy?"

Thinking of this, Guo Zhiqi turned his head and no longer watched Jin Weixin's carriage bumping towards Guangzhou City. Instead, he tidied up the government office and then strode towards Li Dingguo's Chinese army tent.

"Your Highness, I apologize for my late arrival."

"The Superintendent's words are serious. Has the matter at Zhaoqing Mansion been resolved?"

"It has been solved. Please don't worry, Your Highness." After bowing his hands, Guo Zhiqi further explained: "Actually, it is not a big deal. The government has just resumed administration. The unclear responsibilities between the local government and those military generals can only be sorted out.

It’ll be fine.”

The reason why Guo Zhiqi did not rush back as soon as possible was, firstly, to avoid suspicion regarding Jin Weixin's matter, and secondly, something did happen in Zhaoqing Prefecture, regarding the Ming army in western Guangdong occupying civilian land to build military settlements.

If it were just ordinary people, that would be fine. The problem is that those Qiu Ba occupied the property of a gentry family, and this inevitably involved the budding of some civil and military disputes, so Guo Zhiqi rushed there in person.

The problem is easy to solve. The simplest way and the most effective way is to grant another piece of unowned wasteland to the generals, so that you can get the best of both worlds. However, there are also some problems exposed here, that is, Guo Zhiqi and the others are

The administrative experience of the officials appointed after the Battle of Guangzhou certainly left something to be desired.

Naturally, Guo Zhiqi would not put such a problem in front of Li Dingguo. The problem had been solved anyway, so he had to downplay it and get over it in one stroke.

"His Highness is making this move, may I ask why?"

After chatting about what he had learned during his tour of various prefectures and counties, Guo Zhiqi directly asked Li Dingguo the reason for recruiting him back to Guangzhou. In this regard, Li Dingguo also spoke frankly, mentioning the petitions of the people in Guangzhou, some of which were inconvenient to speak directly.

Yes, I simply took out the petition, the report, and some things that the people below asked about, and let Guo Zhiqi understand it on his own.

"It seems that these people have misunderstood me."

After sighing, Guo Zhiqi couldn't help but smile, and then shook his head. The smile was instantly mixed with a hint of bitterness. It seemed that there was also a trace of disappointment for a rising star, which was clearly presented.

In front of Li Dingguo.

There is no need to say anything more here. A misunderstanding, coupled with that series of expressions, has already made Li Dingguo feel a lot. Speaking of which, the cooperation between Guo Zhiqi and him started from Lin Qingyang, and Zhou Guan came quietly, and he

He also invited the latter to rush back to Anlong to reply, thus starting Cheng Bangjun's trip to Guangdong.

Before that, he led a large army to attack Zhaoqing. It was just some Ming troops from the Guangdong and Guangxi areas. The rebels responded spontaneously after hearing their reputation. For example, Wang Xing, Chen Qice, and Li Changrong from Guangzhou Prefecture, while the Ming troops from the south of Zhaoqing Prefecture completely ignored them.

.But after that, with the authorization of the imperial court, with the vigorous efforts of Guo Zhiqi, Liancheng Bi, Zhang Xiaoqi, Zhou Tengfeng and other officials, all Ming armies and rebel armies in western Guangdong, including those with thousands of soldiers,

At the beginning, there were still only a few hundred people in the volunteer group. One by one, they walked out of the mountains, crossed the sea, and came to join forces with them, helping them to sweep across a large area of ​​western Guangdong in just a few months.

, and arrived directly at the foot of Xinhui City.

The appeal of Guo Zhiqi and others actually originated from the Ming court, from the Yongli court that was under house arrest in Anlong and unable to function. Today, the power of the Ming court is no longer available, but at least it serves as a banner to resist the Qing Dynasty.

It still has a strong appeal, there is no doubt about this.

Thinking of this, Li Dingguo couldn't help but recall the reasons he had thought about when he decided to support the Ming Dynasty - Zhang Xianzhong was killed by the Qing army, and as an adopted son, he naturally wanted to avenge Qian Da; the Qing army was a Tatar and a barbarian.

, As sons of the Han family, they should not act as cowards; it is possible for them to be as self-reliant as Sun Kewang, but in this case, it is impossible for them who were born as bandits to have strong appeal in the local area like they were carrying the banner of the Ming Dynasty. They will only be

Doing twice the work results in half the result, and the truth is that if your strength is scattered, you will be weak. Sooner or later, they will be defeated by the Qing army one by one; and if he helps the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty can be revived in the future, and he can also use this to wash away his reputation as a thief...

All these factors finally made him decide to take the path of Fu Ming, and this was also the most difficult to reconcile conflict between him and Sun Kewang.

Brothers for decades, the rift has reached this point. Li Dingguo has never doubted that his idea is wrong, because he has his own understanding of the power of the Qing Dynasty. He knows very well that only with the Ming Dynasty on his back,

Only in this way can we defeat the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which is the best choice for both public and private affairs.

Guo Zhiqi, the civil servants of Western Guangdong, did have some shortcomings, but at least they were officials directly appointed by the Ming court and represented the authority of the Ming court. During this period, they tried their best to assist him, even when facing Chen

Even when Kai was being aggressive, he was still able to tolerate each other for the sake of the country. As it is today, Guo Zhiqi may have concluded that it was Chen Kai who was causing trouble behind this, but he still did not say anything evil. His magnanimity was also very high.

Very rare.

In comparison, there is no doubt about Chen Kai's ability. At least from what Li Dingguo has seen over the years, there is no civil official in the Ming court who can compare with him. For example, these civil servants in western Guangdong, even if they are put together, they are not enough.

It was only through Kai's ability that his in-laws could have what they are today. Chen Kai contributed a lot to it. Even if it was to regain Guangdong this time, without Chen Kai's help, Li Dingguo would have thought of attacking the city of Xinhui, and then he would have been attacked.

The results of the Qing army's pincer attack can be imagined.

In this battle, siege, field battle, volley, and siege, Chen Kai helped him too much, especially when Chen Kai had just arrived from Fujian, which showed his unparalleled talents.

But now it seems that Chen Kai's temperament still seems to be a little eager for quick success and too superstitious about his own abilities, so he will use various means as much as possible to control the situation when the situation is unclear, and even

There has been a plan from the beginning, and it has been carried out step by step. With such strong abilities, it is naturally a good thing to be an ally, but acting in this way does not take the issue of unity into consideration.

With such a thought in his mind, the scales about Guangzhou's ownership after leaving quietly tilted. The scales were lowered, but Li Dingguo still couldn't do the matter of suppressing the petitions of the people in the city. Regarding this matter, Li Dingguo simply handed over the matter.

It was given to Guo Zhiqi, who went into the city to explain to the people in the city and the rumors about "dividing land" and "dividing houses".

By this time, it was already late May. Li Dingguo's letter was sent to Hong Kong, and the reply was only a letter from Chen Kai. The letter mentioned that there were some troubles in Huizhou that needed to be dealt with and that he could not go back for the time being. There was no news from him since.

.Originally, Li Dingguo also planned to listen to Chen Kai's opinion, but now that it has been like this, he simply stopped thinking about other things. He left the affairs in the city to Guo Zhiqi to appease him, while he was at ease with the army's upcoming westward march.

above.

According to the detailed report he sent to Wuzhou Prefecture earlier, it was said that the Qing government had just transferred the remaining vassal soldiers of Pingnan and Jingnan vassals from Wuzhou Prefecture. It was not clear where exactly they were transferred, but only the remaining vassal troops in the city were

Ma Xiong's Dingfan left wing and those green camp soldiers were defeated. It was always a good thing that the opponent was weakened. Li Dingguo quietly prepared and slowly mobilized the various ministries under his command, striving to have the most full force when going out.

morale.

As for the suddenness of the attack, he had no plans, because the news had already spread throughout the city of Guangzhou that Li Dingguo's army was about to leave. The people were okay, and those merchants inevitably did not have the Qing government's detailed work, but were sent by the governor's office of Nangan.

Yes, they were sent by the generals of Guangxi Dingfan, or they were the subordinates of Hong Chengchou, the Southwest Economic Strategist who had persuaded him to surrender to the Qing Dynasty the year before. The difference was probably that big.

The army is still mobilizing in an orderly manner, and Guo Zhiqi's pacification work in the city is gradually having results. Explain, guarantee, persuade - explain that those unfounded rumors are definitely not from him; guarantee that as the Grand Master of the Superintendent, he will represent the Ming Dynasty.

He will ensure the interests of the local people in Guangzhou; in the end, he will persuade the people to return home and wait for the news.

"Tell me, is what Governor Guo said true?"

"Not to mention that he is also a native of Guangdong. His home is in Jieyang County, Chaozhou Prefecture. I went there when I was doing the corvee service the year before last."

"Who knows if this is some kind of delaying tactic that the storyteller said. Anyway, I still believe in Chen Fujun, but if everyone doesn't petition, I won't be the one who takes the lead."

"That's right, if we come under someone else's control in the future, the person who takes the lead at this time will have to be killed. Even if the supervisor doesn't take care of us, there will never be a shortage of little people below."

"..."

The wave of petitions began to gradually subside under Guo Zhiqi's guarantee day after day. Food shipped from Annan and weapons produced in Foshan were also continuously transported into Li Dingguo's warehouse.

During this period, there was no movement from Chen Kai's side. Not only was there no news about Chen Kai, even Zhou Hezhi and Ke Chenshu, the commanders of the Zheng Group's amphibious and land armies who stayed in the east of Guangzhou, did not make any movement at all.

Soldiers were being drilled there, and some seemed to be new recruits brought over from Fujian.

Speaking of which, there have been several confrontations between the Western Guangdong Civil Service Group and Chen Kai. Every time Chen Kai took the lead and took the initiative, but now there is no movement. Compared with the tit-for-tat confrontation, Guo Zhiqi felt even more incredible. However, for a long time,

disappeared, Li Dingguo's bias already existed, and it was getting bigger and bigger. This was something Guo Zhiqi could feel.

Time continued to pass, and the entire month of May passed silently at this rhythm. By the beginning of June, Li Dingguo's army was fully prepared, and there was also a certain amount of savings in terms of food, grass, and weapons. It was nothing more than what Chen Kai had promised earlier.

It's just not in place, but with the food, fodder and weapons prepared by Guo Zhiqi, it will be enough to last for a while.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the battle for dominance in Guangdong will be revealed on the day the army sets off. Li Dingguo already has a bias in his mind, so he simply transfers Jin Weixin out of Guangzhou and returns to the scene.

As for the city of Guangzhou, to the civil servants in western Guangdong, it was nothing more than a memorial to the imperial court.

"Historically, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi also served as the governor of Guangzhou. The company's army was in Zhaoqing to pacify the people and control the generals, and they did a very impressive job. I actually planned to ask the imperial court for an order and followed this old practice."

The older people are, the more they understand the importance of waiting for the best opportunity, and the tempering of years has also given them better resilience. Without directly asking Li Dingguo whether he agreed, Guo Zhiqi got his words right. As long as Li Dingguo didn't

If he objected verbally, he could write a memorial step by step, and then ask Li Dingguo to sign it, so that he could perfectly achieve the four words of "righteousness".

At this point, Guo Zhiqi said nothing more and looked at Li Dingguo. Although he did not give a direct affirmative answer, he did not object. This was enough. However, before he could get up to leave and go back to write the memorial, there was a rider outside the big tent.

An urgent military intelligence report was immediately sent to Li Dingguo's case by name.

"It belongs to Chen Fujun."

After receiving the military intelligence report, Li Dingguo tore open the letter and said something casually, but Guo Zhiqi's heart skipped a beat. Next, Li Dingguo's eyes were bright and he read the words word for word, and the middle

There was no pause at all, and it seemed that he didn't even breathe.

After reading the letter, Li Dingguo slapped the letter on the table and shouted loudly: "What a Chen Jingcheng!"

If this was just described in words, it would be regarded as a sign of indignation. However, in Guo Zhiqi's eyes, Li Dingguo's expression was not at all angry, but rather excited, and he couldn't help but be excited.

"Your Highness?"

"Haha, such good news, the supervisor happens to be here too."

As he said that, Li Dingguo handed the letter to Guo Zhiqi. The latter took the letter and, relying on the hard work of studying hard in the cold window, a pair of eyes quickly scanned the words, describing the excuses, processes, excuses, moisture, etc.

After sifting through it, only one sentence remained.
Chapter completed!