After the two of them were seated, King Xin asked, "Three cannons, currently on fire. Pharmaceutical factory storage fire. How much is the medicine? ”

Ding Sanpao thought for a moment and replied, "Go back to Your Highness, store the fire before. 2,300 tons of medicine, 1,500 tons were allocated to support the war in the north due to the war in Liaodong, and now only 800 tons are left."

Hearing this, King Xin frowned and said worriedly: "Hmm! There are too few, only barely enough for the firearms battalion, and in case of an emergency, the red-coated cannons on the walls of the capital are decorations! ”

"The redcoat cannon is reloaded with one fire. Medicine requires 100 catties, which is really a huge consumption, and there is no way to do it due to the current shortage of funds! Ding Sanpao said embarrassedly.

The king of letters is silent, at the moment it is indeed difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, without silver, nothing is easy to do, the top priority, to solve the military expenses is important, how to solve it?

Then he looked at Xue Fengxiang and said, "Xue Fengxiang! ”

"Your Highness!"

"You're on fire right now. The pharmaceutical factory has nothing to do, there are three guns and one is enough to deal with, I will arrange for you to do other things! ”

"Yes! Your Highness! Xue Fengxiang got up and answered.

King Xin took out a drawing from his arms, handed it to Xue Fengxiang, and instructed: "You follow the requirements of the drawing, first make a sample for this king!" ”

Xue Fengxiang took the drawing and took a look: I saw a pattern similar to a human skeleton painted on the drawing, it seemed that for a long time, Xue Fengxiang didn't see what it was, and asked curiously: "Your Highness, what do you want your subordinates to do?" The more my subordinates look at it, the more confused they become."

King Xin smiled slightly, "You just need to make it according to the requirements of the drawings, remember, it must be made of good steel, and this matter must not be known to outsiders, understand?" ”

"Subordinates obey!"

After asking about some other things and comforting everyone, King Xin left Wang Gong's factory fire. Pharmaceutical factory, when he came to the Ministry of War, King Xin supervised the soldiers and horses of the world, and the Ministry of War was naturally under its supervision.

Gao Di, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and Cui Guangcheng, the squire of the Ministry of War, hurriedly greeted each other with courtesy, and asked with a smile: "His Royal Highness King Xin is here today, I don't know what happened?" Both of them speculated in their hearts that King Xin had never been to the military department.

King Xin sneered: "This king has the duty of supervising the world's soldiers and horses, shouldn't he come to your military department?" ”

"Rightfully deserved, rightfully deserved, hehe! His Royal Highness King Xin, please, Weichen has prepared a high-grade dragon well, please taste it! Gao Di hurriedly flattered.

A group of people entered the military department's mansion, the guests and hosts sat down, the king of the letter was very disgusted with the military department Shangshu Gao Di for a special person, but today there is something to ask for someone, I have to be patient, suppress the anger in my heart, and said: "Gao Shangshu, some time ago, this king had a lot of things, I didn't have time to ask about the war in Liaodong, Jinzhou was lost, should your military department give me an explanation?" ”

Gao Di was shocked into a cold sweat when he heard this, and hurriedly explained: "Your Highness investigates carefully! The loss of Jinzhou a year ago was caused by Yuan Chonghuan's cowardice, and it has been found out that Jinyiwei has now arrested Yuan Chonghuan and imprisoned him.

A few years ago, Sun Chengzong, the former secretary of the Ministry of War, returned to his hometown and served as the governor of Jiliao, Gao Di, who was transferred to the Ministry of War and took over the post of secretary of the Ministry of War; After the north, Jin Nurhachi took the opportunity to provoke the end of the war, attacked Liaodong, in order to protect the official position, Gaodi fought timidly, and ordered the defenders of the cities outside the pass to dismantle the defense facilities and withdraw into the pass, resulting in the castles of Jinzhou, Youtun and Da and Xiaolinghe were abandoned, and ordered his general Yuan Chonghuan to guard Ningyuan and resist Nurhachi's army.

Gao Di hurriedly returned to Beijing with a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry to restore his life, falsely reported his military exploits, and immediately became the secretary of the military department.

After the Jin army easily took Jinzhou without much effort, Nurhachi led a large army to attack Ningyuan; Yuan Chonghuan, together with the chief military officers Man Gui and Ning Qiandao, participated in politics and held Ningyuan.

Yuan Chonghuan was not afraid of danger, convened the generals to discuss the battle and defense, and decided to adopt the strategy of fortifying the wall and clearing the wilderness, and organized the whole city to defend the city together; Soon defeated Nurhachi with a red-coated cannon, and Ning Yuan won a great victory; Yuan Chonghuan was appointed as the imperial history of the capital, specializing in the military affairs of Liaodong and guarding Ningyuan.

When King Xin heard this, his heart sank, and he said angrily: "Jinzhou is lost, you are the governor of Jiliao and cannot escape the blame, Yuan Chonghuan Ning's great victory, not only is there no fault, but it is really meritorious, isn't it that Yuan Chonghuan has been promoted to the imperial history of the capital and is in charge of military affairs in Liaodong?" ”

"This?" Gao Di was dumbfounded for a moment, his eyes rolled, and he hurriedly explained: "After Yuan Chonghuan Ning Yuan's great victory, he lost Jinzhou in front, so after Jinyiwei investigated it carefully, he was arrested, and it has nothing to do with Weichen!" ”

Cui Guangcheng, the squire of the military department, also hurriedly helped Gao Di explain.

King Xin was angry in his heart, and said in his heart: This Gao Di is full of nonsense, and there must be inside information in it! Today, let's first suppress Gaodi, and then solve the disaster relief funds, so I said angrily:

"Humph! This king will investigate it in detail, but today this king has something to discuss with the two of you."

"Please make it clear to Your Highness!" Seeing that King Xin was not pursuing it, Gao Di wiped the sweat from his forehead and hurriedly replied,

"Hmmm! As you know, the explosion of Wang Gong's factory this time, the loss of the ** factory is serious, and now the war in Liaodong is very tight, and our army completely relies on red-coated artillery to deal with the Jin army; Therefore, Wang Gong's factory is in urgent need of repair, otherwise the supply will be weak and the consequences will be unimaginable! ”

King Shin looked at Gao Di and Cui Guangcheng, and continued:

"So, this king is in dire need of some silver taels, do you understand?

When the two heard this, they looked at each other, their faces were extremely ugly, and Cui Guangcheng said: "Your Highness, according to Weichen, Wang Gong's ** factory was not damaged this time?" What's more, the construction of the ** factory is the business of the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Industry? ”

"Hmmm! With such a powerful explosion, Wang Gong's factory was in the center of the explosion, how could it not be damaged? Could it be that you're talking about this ** mouth? ”

King Xin said angrily: "Fire. Pharmaceutical factory produces fire. The medicine should be tight in the war in Liaodong, if not, this king will come to your military department? How can this be justified?"

"Wechen don't dare! What Wechen heard was just rumors, yes, rumors! Cui Guangcheng saw that King Xin was furious, and hurriedly shrunk his neck and explained.

Gao Shou watched coldly, his little eyes rolled, and he said secretly in his heart: Today, the king of faith is blaming Jinzhou for the loss of Jinzhou, and it is true that he wants two silver! If King Xin bites Jinzhou and does not let go, I'm afraid I will not be able to escape the blame, I falsely reported my military exploits, and I can't make the head fall to the ground, this little King Xin is young and shallow, it is better to spend some silver taels to send it away, anyway, he will not come to the military department once a year.

"Your Highness, it's easy to say, it's easy to say!" Gao Di hurriedly flattered: "I don't know how to repair the fire. How many taels of silver do you need for a pharmaceutical factory? ”

King Shin looked at Gao Di, stretched out his palm and shook it!

"Five thousand taels! No more, no less, easy to say, hehe" Gao Di laughed.

King Xin shook his head when he heard this!

"Huh? Fifty thousand taels! Gao Di hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, the army has been fighting for many years, and the military budget of the military department is tight, where can you get so many silver taels?" ”

Cui Guangcheng, the squire of the military department, was also anxious, and his forehead was sweating, "Yes, the military budget of the military department is really tight."

"Hmmm! It's not 50,000, it's 500,000! You have done your best for the imperial court, and this king naturally knows" paused, looked at Gao Di and said: "I heard that when Gao Shangshu returned to Beijing to restore his life, but more than a dozen carts were pulled by big carts and small carts, and I don't know if there is a warehousing inspection?" ”

When Gao Di heard this, his face turned pale suddenly, and he knelt on the ground with a 'poof', and said with a sad face: "Your Highness Mingjian! "Those money, but the people's fat and ointment that he looted during his tenure as the governor of Jiliao, as well as the embezzled military expenses, are completely invisible, and I don't know how the king of faith knows about it.

"That's it! Don't put it into the warehouse for the time being, the right to repair the first factory funds, I will make this matter clear to the emperor and reward Gao Shangshu's merits! King Xin smiled and asked, "Gao Shangshu, what do you see?" ”

When Gao Di heard this, sweat flowed on his forehead, and he was so frightened that he hurriedly kowtowed, and cried out in his mouth: "Your Highness! Spare your life! Wechen will send a lot of silver tickets to the Xinwang Mansion tomorrow! ”

"Hmmm! Gao Shangshu Gao Feng Liang Festival, this king is very satisfied, so be it, this king is back, don't send it, this king is free and come to drink tea! With that, King Xin got up and left the military office.

Gao Di sat on the ground weakly, wanting to cry without tears, he had worked hard to accumulate half a lifetime of money, he had honored Wei Zhongxian 500,000 yuan before, and today he was extorted 500,000 yuan by King Xin, and he returned to the liberation overnight, how could he not be in a hurry?

"My lord? Now what? Cui Guangcheng shouted at a loss.

"500,000, 500,000! I still have 500,000 there? Before the filial piety of the 'nine thousand years old' 500,000, there are only 400,000 left, what can I do? Gaudi cried.

"My lord, it's really not good, we pay for the military from the military department?" Cui Guangcheng said tentatively.

"Confused! King Xin has already set his sights on the Ministry of War, if he continues to pursue it, once the matter in Jinzhou is exposed, you and I will have to fall to the ground! Gao Di angrily reprimanded Cui Guangcheng.

Cui Guangcheng was so frightened when he heard this, he shivered excitedly, and hurriedly asked, "What should I do then?" ”

Gao Di looked at Cui Guangcheng, rolled his eyes, and said in a frightened manner: "You and I can't escape this matter, in this way, you will pay half of the 500,000 for King Xin."

"Huh?" Cui Guangcheng knelt down in front of Gao Di. He pleaded, "My lord, where do I have so many taels of silver?" ”

"Fart! You've been by my side for so many years, and you've been holding a lot of money, right? Do you want me to send someone to your house to find out? Gaudi threatened.

"My lord, I'm out, can't I get out!" Cui Guangcheng hurriedly agreed.

"Humph! Then you will pay 400,000, and I will make up for the rest" Gao Di flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.

"Ahh Cui Guangcheng wanted to cry and sat on the ground in a daze.