Cuihua Pavilion was silent for a while. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Only the melodious sound of birdsong, mixed with the sound of the harp coming from nowhere, makes the whole garden more secluded.

"Your Majesty, since it is difficult for Your Majesty to adopt the policy of peace discussed by the micro-ministers, then the micro-ministers will retire."

Li Xiao, who had been silent for a long time, bowed to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen was silent.

After a long time, he waved his hand and said lightly: "In this case, Aiqing should go back to Shandong." Let me think about this matter of peace. ”

Li Xiao made another gesture and was about to retreat, when he suddenly saw the eunuch Wang Chengen, walking quickly towards Cuihua Pavilion from a distance.

"Your Majesty, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Xuanda, is waiting outside the palace and wants to see the emperor. The slave maid came to ask the emperor, should you meet him now? ”

Wang Chengen, who was out of breath, walked outside the pavilion and hurriedly bowed to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen's eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately said to Wang Chengen: "Since Lu Jiandou is already waiting outside the palace, you can take him to see me quickly." ”

Wang Chengen promised, and left in a hurry.

At this time, Chongzhen turned his head, squeezed out a smile on his face and said to Li Xiao: "Li Xiao, don't leave in a hurry first, and listen to Lu Jiandou, what he thinks about this peace policy." ”

Hearing Chongzhen's words, Li Xiao's heart became more and more sad.

Coming from his previous life, of course he knew that this Lu Xiangsheng could be called the leader of the generals of the main battle faction, and such a so-called loyal and righteous person hated his own peace policy.

However, the emperor asked him not to leave in a hurry, and Li Xiao had no choice but to promise and stand aside.

Not long after, Wang Chengen led Lu Xiangsheng to come in a hurry.

When he walked not far from Li Xiao, Lu Xiangsheng, who was dressed in a second-grade civil official uniform and had a dusty face, caught a glimpse of Li Xiao standing solemnly on the side.

A look of resentment suddenly appeared in his eyes, and he snorted coldly and brushed past Li Xiao.

Seeing that this former old superior had such a hostile attitude towards himself, Li Xiao sighed in his heart.

Then, Lu Xiangsheng lifted his robe and knelt on the ground.

"Minister, Xuanda Governor Lu Xiangsheng, knock on the emperor, long live my emperor, long live long live!"

"Aiqing is flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Lu Xiangsheng stood up, and before Chongzhen could ask a question, he hurriedly surrendered his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the minister came from Xuanda, but on the way, I heard that Your Majesty wants to agree to the peace between Yang Sichang and Li Xiao and others, but he is really anxious and resentful, I don't know if there is such a thing?" “

His awe-inspiring question made Emperor Chongzhen, who was already weak and hesitant, even more depressed, and he replied in a low voice: "This matter is still under study and has not been implemented. “

"Ahem!" Lu Xiangsheng shouted, and his face showed an anxious and painful look: "Your Majesty, such an agreement that misleads the country and misrepresents the country, humiliation and loss of power, must not be agreed!" “

Chongzhen sighed, and asked: "Then according to Aiqing's opinion, what should I do to control the Qing captive?" “

Lu Xiangsheng lifted his court clothes, knelt on the ground again, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, according to the opinion of the ministers, you should fight to the death with the Qing captives to the end!" “

Emperor Chongzhen was stunned for a moment, his mouth was gentle, but he couldn't say anything.

It's just that before the emperor could speak, Lu Xiangsheng continued to say loudly: "Your Majesty, my Ming officials and soldiers, for many years, have fought bloody battles with the Qing captives, and they have not dared to rest. Since the Battle of Salhu, how many loyal and brave soldiers, pillow corpses on the battlefield, blood overflowing the wilderness, buried bones in other places, in the hope that I will destroy the traitors and dominate the rivers and mountains. It's only hateful, such a big revenge has not yet been avenged, and now there are traitors and villains who want to encourage His Majesty to negotiate peace with the Qing court, which is really a great chill for the heart of my Ming officials and army, and it is a great disappointment to the hope of the people of the world! The emperor is above, the heaven and the earth are clear, I am strong and loyal to the Ming Dynasty, which has been established for more than 200 years, and has never bowed to any barbarian! Your Majesty, if the ancestors and the ancestors knew how disappointed and sad it would be to see Your Majesty bending the knee to negotiate peace with the rebellious vassals! And after a hundred years, what face will Your Majesty have to go and see my ancestors and ancestors! ”

Lu Xiangsheng's words were sharp and piercing, which made Emperor Chongzhen's face suddenly blush.

Sitting on the dragon chair, he bowed his head, like a child who had made a mistake and was waiting for punishment.

Lu Xiangsheng paused, and continued: "Your Majesty, please listen to Weichen analyze the situation again. Think about the Qing Dynasty Tartars, since the rebellion against the Ming Dynasty, although they have stolen a place in the northeast, how can they be compared with the Jin Dynasty that has swallowed half of the country. My Ming Empire, with a territory of thousands of miles, a million armor, and trillions of people, can the Southern Song Dynasty, which only has half of the country left, be able to reach it. In the case of such an advantage as my Ming Dynasty, I want to follow the story of the Song and Jin Dynasty and seek peace with the Qing court, isn't it inferiority and self-contempt, and it is a joke? ! Your Majesty, please forgive your minister's bluntness, I hope Your Majesty will get rid of the villain who is treacherous and traitorous, revitalize the dynasty, raise troops and military exercises, and fight a decisive battle with the Qing court to the end! Although the minister is foolish, he is also willing to follow Yue Wumu that day, raise troops to the Northern Expedition, and lead it as a precursor, although he died in battle, and the horse leather shrouded body, he has no regrets! ”

After Lu Xiangsheng finished speaking, he knelt on the ground, kowtowing on the hard bluestone slab, and the sound of banging made people palpitate.

"Aiqing doesn't have to be like this, get up quickly!"

Lu Xiangsheng stood up, his forehead was already swollen, dripping with blood, stained with sand and dust, and the blood that dripped from time to time swept across his upright face, making him look quite terrifying.

Seeing Lu Xiangsheng so down-to-earth to reveal his heart, Emperor Chongzhen was excited and ashamed, and he said: "Jiandou's loyal and patriotic heart, I know, I have such a loyal and good general as Jiandou, which is really appreciative to me." I already knew in my heart that this matter of peace would be over. ”

"My emperor is like a stream, and he is not deceived by the little traitor, and the ministers are very comforted. Having such a benevolent, righteous and wise king as Your Majesty is really a blessing for my great Ming. Weichen is the military and civilian people of the Ming Dynasty and congratulates the emperor. ”

Seeing that the emperor had obviously been persuaded by himself, Lu Xiangsheng's face showed a look of relief, and he praised a few words in succession.

At this time, the accompanying eunuch on the side hurriedly handed over a silk handkerchief and asked him to wipe the blood stains on his forehead and face.

It was only at this moment that Chongzhen seemed to suddenly remember, he turned his head to look at Li Xiao, who was standing calmly and calmly on his face, and his face showed inexplicable guilt.

Lu Xiangsheng noticed the emperor's eyes, and his face suddenly swelled with anger, he turned sideways sharply and glared fiercely at Li Xiao, who was standing silently next to him.

Li Xiao didn't look at him, he tilted his head slightly, and his empty eyes seemed to be looking straight at a very distant place.

"Li Xiao, you thief, when I Lu was in Henan that day, I valued you so much, and regarded you as my own brother, I never thought that you were so strong and capable of fighting, but you were a traitor to the country and a traitor to the monarch's father, which really made Lu's teeth cold!"

Lu Xiangsheng's low angry scolding, like a sharp knife, stabbed directly into Li Xiao's chest.

Li Xiao slowly turned his head and met Lu Xiangsheng's sharp and angry eyes, but there was infinite sadness in his eyes.

Coming from the next generation, of course he knows the ultimate fate of Lu Xiangsheng, who blindly fights the main battle, but now, of course, he can't say it to him.

In the end, after a long silence, a paragraph came out of Li Xiao's mouth.

"Lord Lu, if the thieves in the country and the Qing captives outside the country are as unbearable as you say, why did I sink to this point. If I could save the country and the people with just a lot of blood, I would have already revived and revitalized the Ming Dynasty. However, Lord Lu, what Ben Bo wants to say to you is that in this world, there is nothing easier than death, and there is nothing more useless than death. “

Li Xiao's words were cold and seemed to be emotionless at all.

Without waiting for Lu Xiangsheng to reply, Li Xiaofu turned around and bowed to Chongzhen: "Weichen has no talent to learn, and the proposed peace policy is difficult to adopt because it is dirty and difficult to adopt, so please ask Your Majesty to choose another good policy, and Weichen will resign." “

Chongzhen was silent for a long time before he whispered: "Okay, Li Xiao, you should go back to Shandong first." “

Li Xiao answered, turned and left.

No one noticed that this young Chi Feng Bo actually burst into tears the moment he stepped away.

He held back his tears and kept a calm look on his face, and followed the eunuch who led the way out of the palace.

After leaving the Forbidden City, Li Xiao and a group of escort cavalry simply packed their luggage and left Beijing on horseback.

When leaving the capital, Li Xiao looked back on the official road, staring at the towering city of Beijing for a long time.

Leaving this time, Li Xiao felt in his heart, but he didn't want to come back to the capital.

I had a heart for the bright moon, but the bright moon shone on the ditch.

Li Xiao, who was extremely disappointed in the court and the emperor, only wanted to think about what he wanted to do now was how to grow and develop his own strength in this increasingly turbulent and chaotic world.

This is the most fundamental way to survive in this chaotic world of blood and fire.

After Li Xiao left Beijing, he did not return directly to Shandong, but went to his stronghold in Xuanfu Town, Jintangcheng.

Li Xiao went to Jintang City, in addition to inspecting the scale of production and trade in Jintang City, another point was to fulfill the promise he made with Ingmar that day and marry her in style.

Li Xiao and others set out from Jingshi and marched all the way, but in seven days, they arrived at Jintang City on Xuanfu North Road.

Li Xiao saw from a distance that a large number of caravans of all sizes were flowing outside Jintang City.

When the caravan left Jintang City, most of the caravan vehicles were already loaded with newly produced white, red, black, cyan, purple and other colors of woolen wool, and were tied on four-wheeled carts in layers, piled up like a mountain, and the ox carts or horse-drawn carts carrying goods creaked, and then left the city under the leadership of the caravan leader with a happy face.

Most of these caravans went south along the official road, and some of the caravans turned to the west and should be transported to Datong Shanxi and other places.

In addition to these caravans for purchasing and transporting woolen wool, there were also some caravans, which were loaded with coal, coking coal, sulfur and other materials produced in Jintangcheng, and the long convoy was led by the leader to the south.

The caravans destined for Jintang City were loaded with a variety of goods. There are people who transport tea, grain, pigs, silk, cloth, iron, salt, porcelain, and daily utensils.

Li Xiao saw that most of these caravans were merchants with the banner of the Tiger Army in their own names, and they transported a large number of woolen wool, coking coal, and sulfur produced in Jintangcheng to Tielongcheng and Chifengcheng in Shanxian County, Shandong, and then distributed them to various places and overseas.

The silk, ironware, sea salt, grain and other materials produced by Li Xiao in Shandong were transported north to this golden soup city in large quantities, and distributed locally to Xuanda Shanxi and other places, as well as to the Mongolian tribes.

Seeing this prosperous trade scene, Li Xiao was extremely happy in his heart, and the injustice that had accumulated in the capital had all dissipated.

He knew in his heart that in such a large amount of trade, this golden soup city would reap such amazing wealth every day.

Hmph, the road is not good, take the pole to float in the sea.

Instead of suffering from the crime of infighting under the mediocre emperor, it is better to work hard and fight for a new game!

If he can maintain such a prosperous trade situation and vigorously expand the territories of Dengju, Jeju, and Taiwan, then he will definitely be able to create a new world of rejuvenation for these Han people who struggled to survive in the turbulent times of the late Ming Dynasty.

After entering the city, Li Xiao was pleased to see that more weaving mills and weaving factories had been added to the city, and the number of wool degreasing factories had doubled to six, and even several new weaving and dyeing workshops had been opened to dye wool cloth of various colors. On the streets of the whole Jintang City, pedestrians are in a hurry, there are more and all kinds of workers pulling carts and small cars, busy, hauling goods from one factory to another, the choking smell of wool in the air, and the smell of urine used for degreasing, more and more pungent, the woolen industry of the entire Jintang City has become more and more prosperous, and has become Xuanfu Town, which is the most lively and noisy woolen production base in the entire Ming Empire.

An Qian, the governor of Jintangcheng, introduced to Li Xiao with pride and pride on his face that in addition to the original ten Mongolian tribes that had trade relations with Jintangcheng, there were actually six new Mongolian tribes, namely the Bahrain Division, the Hongji Thorn Division, the Wengniute Division, the Abagar Division, and the Abahanar Division, which joined the trading contingent that provided wool to Jintang City.

In the previous month, judging from the wool trade volume that had just been switched on and off the trade statistics, now in Jintang City, the wool trade volume obtained from this spring trade alone has more than doubled compared with last year, reaching 25 million catties!

As if guessing how Li Xiao was going to ask next, An Qian introduced diligently that now all the spinning frames designed and improved by Li Xiao have been used in Jintang City, each machine has eight to ten vertical spindles, and the loom has also added a shuttle device, although it is still operated by a female worker, but the production speed is more than four or five times that of the original.

Moreover, Jintangcheng has set up many new factories, this production capacity, but now it is not what it used to be, and the current amount of wool can be completely digested. At the same time, due to the opening of a number of dyeing workshops, the woolen woolen products that can be produced have also increased a lot, greatly expanding the share of sales.

An Qian even boasted that even if the amount of wool doubled again, the production scale of this golden soup city would be completely acceptable.

After listening to An Qian's introduction, Li Xiao was very happy, and he immediately made a rough calculation in his heart, if he was on this scale, he would be able to obtain an amazing profit.

If a season is 25 million catties of wool, two seasons a year can harvest at least 50 million catties of wool, that according to 4 catties of wool to produce a pound of wool, a woolen wool is about 5 zhang long, and the weight is about 4 catties, which can produce 3.12 million woolen wool.

Due to the improvement of the production technology and efficiency of woolen wool, and has now been widely sold all over the world, the market has been initially cultivated, and in order to expand the market faster and better, so that more people can accept the warm and soft new type of cloth of woolen wool, the wholesale price of Jintangcheng has decreased, from the original 5 taels per horse, has been reduced to the wholesale price of 4 taels per horse. In this way, it can be calculated that if all these woolen wool are sold, the total sales volume will be 12.5 million taels, and the net profit will be nearly 10 million taels per year!

Li Xiao sighed in his heart, relying on this wool industry alone, he was enough to support all the expenses of the Tiger Army, and there was a considerable amount of remaining funds for further expansion of the army and the development of newly expanded land.

That's the power of commerce and trade.

From a global perspective, in this turbulent Age of Discovery, in fact, all wars and strife were in the service of trade. From this point of view, in this era, whoever can dominate commerce and trade will dominate the world.

Therefore, in the original history, Britain, which was originally confined to a remote island, was eventually able to develop into an empire with more than half of the global GDP share and a prosperous society and a strong military.

In Jintang City, after Li Xiao rested for a few days, he sent an envoy to the Tumut Ministry to ask for a meeting with Tumuthan Dapur, preparing to marry the princess Ingmar.