When Li Zicheng came to the study, He Xiaomi had already made hot tea and stood by the desk.

Li Zicheng ignored He Xiaomi's thoughts, he had already passed the excitement just now, all the way, he was thinking about brass, entered the study, and sat down on the main seat, "Xiaomi, pen and ink are waiting, I want to fly pigeons to pass the book!" ”

"Yes, sir!" He Xiaomi just got up, but returned again, "My lord, I don't need a secret letter this time?" ”

"No," Li Zicheng shook his head, "There is no hostile force between Xining and Kadang Mountain, so there is no need to worry about leaking secrets, and there is no need for secret letters, just to reduce the possibility of being deciphered." ”

"My subordinates understand!" He Xiaomi hurriedly prepared a special pen and paper, and quickly grinded the ink, and waited until the ink was completely black before sending it to Li Zicheng's desk.

Li Zicheng didn't think about it, he directly picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote a few small letters on the white paper: Immediately escort the brass to Xining!

After the ink dried, he threw it to He Xiaomi, "Immediately fly the pigeon to pass the book card to the mountain, do not delay, in addition, notify Lord Liang to come to the official office!" ”

"Yes, sir!" He Xiaomi packed up the message and went out immediately.

Li Zicheng picked up the tea cup and tasted it gently, yes, it was an early sharp tea, I don't know if it was called before the rain or before the Qingming Festival, I just felt that the fragrance was rich and tangy, but the soup was very light after the entrance, it was good to be in a good mood.

When the copper problem was solved, it was possible to manufacture a large number of rifle bullets, and the soldiers trained and fought in battle, so that they had the appearance of the Xining Army, and one of the biggest factors restricting the development of the Xining Army was initially alleviated.

The next problem that Li Zicheng thought of was food.

Last time, Liang Wencheng said that this year's grain harvest in Xining is expected, but that is only an expected harvest, and the grain has not been harvested.

If Xining has a bumper harvest for two consecutive years, plus the grain and salary allocated by the imperial court, Li Zicheng will have some surplus grain in his hands, and the Xining army will have a very large room for the next move, either to march into Longyou or to hold on to Xining, and gradually integrate the entire Xining region into a familiar land.

Of course, from the perspective of expansion, Li Zicheng still hopes to march into Longyou as soon as possible, Xining is too remote, and there is not much room for development, if the Xining army controls more territories in the future, in turn, use the strength of the Xining army, and then completely integrate Xining, it may be more realistic.

Longyou was originally a piece of familiar land, whether it is population or land, after thousands of years of cultivation by various dynasties, it has already become an inseparable piece of land in the central country.

It is a pity that the people of Shaanxi have changed, and Longyou, as a border land, has suffered extremely heavy human disasters.

Almost all the gangs of thieves in Shaanxi will take a fancy to this piece of familiar land, they will come here sooner or later to intervene, or set up a base camp here, or establish a food supply base, there is really no chance, they will also rob a handful, get some food, and then go away, find a piece of uninhabited mountain land to hide for a period of time, and when the grain and grass are exhausted, then come down the mountain, and continue the original business.

Longyou, which did not have a drought, was more seriously affected than the northern Shaanxi Plateau, which had suffered a severe drought for three consecutive years.

The imperial court really couldn't stand it, and sent Cao Wenzhao's army to Longyou to drive away all the thieves entrenched in Longyou, but the people were exploited, plundered, and squeezed, and the depth and scope of the land were far beyond the capacity of this land, and Longyou has become a real rotten land.

This is also the reason why Li Zicheng has always been reluctant to be with the thieves in Shaanxi, and even has the grace to make meritorious contributions to him, and invited Li Zicheng to defect to Gao Yingxiang several times, but he politely refused. These thieves, who only know how to plunder and do not produce, go wherever they go, like locusts entering the country, and plunder the land, causing new and greater calamities.

It's easy to destroy, and it's fascinating, but it's even harder to build a world.

Although Cao Wenzhao's army expelled the gang of thieves, but there was no way and means to rebuild the disaster area, Longyou became a new disaster area, gradually magnifying the extent of the disaster, and creating a new victim, a vicious circle, so that the number of thieves like a snowball is getting bigger and bigger, so that if it goes on, when is the head?

As a result, the number of thieves continues to grow, and the stronger the strength, the stronger the land, just like the desertified land, gradually encroaching and developing to the surrounding areas, and irreversibly.

Li Zicheng is not ready to govern Longyou for the imperial court, since the day when he was dismissed in Ningxia Post Station and his life fell into complete despair, the imperial court has been the opposite of his life.

The imperial court still sends food and salary to Xiningwei, which is not compensation for him, but the stupidity, extreme corruption and stupidity of the imperial court itself.

Li Zicheng wants to march into Longyou, completely for his Xining army, the Xining army wants to expand to the familiar land, Longyou is a necessary place, no matter how difficult, no matter how big the risk is, Longyou must be taken.

Unless he is willing to divide the great northwest and limit himself to the less mature land of Xining.

If it is limited to the Xining area, he is tantamount to waiting for death, the population and food in the Xining area are simply unable to feed an army that is enough to compete with the imperial court, and the periphery of Xining is a nomadic land, and there is no room for development until a large number of people and arable land are mastered.

There was a sound of footsteps outside the door, it should be Liang Wencheng coming.

Li Zicheng summoned Liang Wencheng this time, not only for food, there should be no problem with food, if there was an unexpected disaster, Liang Wencheng should have taken the initiative to report to him a long time ago.

"My lord, Lord Liang has arrived!" He Xiaomi pushed the door in.

"Zicheng," Liang Wencheng then entered the study, saluted Li Zicheng, and sat down on the chair opposite, "Zicheng is looking for me at this time, but for Longyou?" ”

"Wencheng is worthy of being a roundworm in my belly," Li Zicheng got up and returned the salute, and said with a smile: "Longyou is in my bag sooner or later, I said earlier, as long as the time is ripe, the Xining army will definitely march east to Longyou." ”

Liang Wencheng put the tea cup sent by He Xiaomi to his right hand, and then raised his eyes, "Zicheng said, is the time ripe now?" ”

"It should be almost," Li Zicheng looked at Liang Wencheng's tanned face, and estimated that he was out of the city again, "I was most worried about two things, one is red copper, and the other is grain, now that the red copper is basically solved, it depends on whether the food you prepare is enough!" ”

Liang Wencheng's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said eloquently: "Zicheng, now that the winter wheat is almost harvested, Xining Mansion has begun to collect grain, and I have just returned to the city, and the grain harvest is also a foregone conclusion, especially the 'three farmers in the Americas' that Zicheng people got from Jiangnan, and the yield per mu is even more amazing......"

Although it is estimated that it is a bumper harvest situation, but from Liang Wencheng's mouth, Li Zicheng is more relieved, saying that if the people and soldiers can't fill their bellies, and even animals are not as good, then how can Xining, as well as Longyou, who is about to go on an expedition, be stable?

The food problem has also been solved, and the next step is to wait for the red copper to be transported to Xining.

"Okay, good, Wencheng has worked hard and tanned! For this credit, I don't know what reward Wencheng wants? Is it a woman or a woman? ”

"Zicheng joked, cultivating grassland and collecting grain is the responsibility of his subordinates!" Liang Wencheng arched his hand, smiled, and said, "When is Zicheng going to start the army?" ”

"Wait for the red copper to be shipped back to Xining, the craftsman workshop will make more rifle bullets, and wait for your grain to be completely collected," Li Zicheng thought for a moment, and then said: "It is estimated that it will be until July, when the winter wheat of the people of Longyou should have already been harvested." ”

"Zicheng is fully prepared, his subordinates are very much in favor, after marching into Longyou, it is likely to face the army of the imperial court," Liang Wencheng frowned lightly, and said: "If you take too much care of the people and their food, then the military action will be restrained in the south......

"Wencheng, now is an extraordinary period, the people of Longyou have gone through the war, there is almost no overnight food in their hands, if this year's harvest can't be reached, how will they live? Even if we occupy Longyou, how can we ensure the stability of Longyou? Li Zicheng shook his head lightly and sighed.

For Shaanxi, for the Ming court, Longyou is just a border land, although the land, the people have been skilled, but basically stay in the initial stage of farming, and the Ming mainland, especially the rich land in the south of the Yangtze River, at least 50 years of difference level, as long as Longyou belongs to the Ming Dynasty, the people have a hard life is nothing.

But the Xining army is a conqueror, and when its strength on the surface is very different from that of the imperial court, if it can't bring tangible benefits to the people, how can these people risk killing their heads and follow the Xining army to live?

The key to Longyou's stability is grain.

Liang Wencheng nodded slightly, and said for a long time: "Zicheng, what preparations do you and we have to make?" ”

"There is too much work to prepare, for your Xining Mansion, the first thing is to prepare enough food and grass for the soldiers, and after the main force of the Xining Army advances eastward, you must guard Xining, and you must not lose this fundamental land."

"This is natural," Liang Wencheng knew that he was going to stay in Xining again, he was slightly disappointed, he was born as a soldier, but he couldn't gallop with Li Zicheng, but he was used to staying behind, "I don't know which army Zicheng left to garrison Xining this time?" ”

"The four hundredth household, Li Jibu!"

Liang Wencheng raised his eyes, revealing a look of surprise, "Li Ji? Isn't he in Triangle? Is it difficult to give up Triangle City for a while? ”

"Give up? If I abandon the Triangle City, the northwest direction of Xining will completely lose its barrier, and the foundation will be unstable, how can I feel at ease to go east? The Xining area has finally 'returned to farming', and most of the Hui and Tu people have entered the Han nationality, so how can I give up Xining? Li Zicheng chuckled and said: "Wencheng don't have to worry, this time I will go to Longyou, I only use the first, second, fifth, and sixth # four hundred households, a total of more than 5,600 soldiers, Wencheng only needs to prepare enough food for them!" ”

"I understand, from today onwards, I will prepare grain and grass for the army of the Eastern Expedition," Liang Wencheng calculated, the remaining three hundred households, Qin Danian was stationed in Gansu, Li Ji was stationed in Xining, then Song Wen should be stationed in the Triangle City, however, the main problem now is no longer grain and grass, "Zicheng, once we occupy Longyou, we may have to face the army of the imperial court!" ”