In the following period, the competition between the various forces gradually became clear. With Li Zicheng's expansion in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Gao Jie, who had been watching the wind on the south bank of the Yangtze River, finally made up his mind and surrendered to Li Yan. For Gao Jie, he has no choice, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng have begun to cooperate, which he can see, so he can only surrender to Li Yan.

After Zhang Xianzhong drove Zuo Mengeng away, he did not send back the troops he transferred from the south, but stayed near Changsha. may have been troubled by Zuo Mengeng, and found that the security factor of his capital was too low, and more troops were needed to protect the safety of him, the emperor of the Great West.

As for the contest between Zuo Mengeng and Zheng Zhilong, it is estimated that it will continue to see-saw. Although Zuo Mengeng was outnumbered, he was hit by Zhang Xianzhong and Zheng Zhilong. And although Zheng Zhilong is considered a local snake, his descendants are fighting on land, and their strength is greatly reduced. And the local army in Fujian is no different from other places, and its combat effectiveness cannot be exterminated even by the larger bandits, let alone Zuo Menggeng, who has tens of thousands of people.

For Gao Jie's subordinates, Li Yan did not train them, but asked these people to cross the river first, and then decide how to settle them. After all, these people are habitual bandits who have been doing evil for several years, and Li Yan doesn't want these people to spoil the atmosphere in his army. But these are those who took the initiative to throw themselves into the city, and they can't all be pushed out, so they can only be circled for the time being. As for letting them go home, they must also take their time, otherwise the thousands of old bandits going out will also be a big challenge to social stability.

However, there was also a good thing, and after repeated experimentation, the missionaries and craftsmen were finally able to burn glass with good transparency. However, there is still a distance from the telescope lens, first of all, there are a lot of bubbles in the thick glass, which is far from the conditions for making lenses.

Li Yan was not in a hurry, but just asked the craftsmen to continue to find a way to solve it. However, John Tang and others were anxious to leave Kaifeng and continue their missionary work. As Li Yan's territory expanded, there were more missionaries gathered here, but it seemed that there were some of them who were not of the same faction, and there were fierce disputes. However, there were soldiers and craftsmen there, and they did not have a chance to do so.

Li Yan had no interest in paying attention to the sectarian dispute among the missionaries. He said to John Tang: "Mr. John Tang, your task is not yet complete. Remember our agreement? I want the lenses for a telescope, and you haven't made it yet. And, I wish your lenses were a little better, at least to make them look less blurry. ”

The telescope bought from Ho Jing Ao can only see clearly in the middle part of the lens, and the surrounding part is a blurry color, which makes people dizzy to look at. That's why Li Yan made this request.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, we did our best." John Tang explained helplessly: "At this level, it is already the best we can do." As for the blur you are talking about, that's chromatic aberration, it's the same with all telescopes, there's nothing we can do about it. Unless the telescope is made big enough and long enough. In that case, it is not suitable for the generals. ”

Li Yan said casually: "Then teach your knowledge to the craftsmen, so that they are more capable of solving problems, instead of just counting on you." ”

"Your Majesty," John Tang said excitedly, "Many of them can't even write their own names, this is a waste of time." ”

"You only discipline, but you have to give up the literati style of chewing words, simple and accurate. As for their literacy problems, we will solve them. Li Yan still insisted.

Tang Ruowang was silent for a while, and then asked weakly: "When the glass has no bubbles, can we leave?" ”

Li Yan shook his head and said, "There is still polishing and focusing, and these tasks need to be done." As I said, I want lenses for telescopes. ”

Tang Ruowang really didn't know what to say, he knew that Li Yan was not easy to fool, but he didn't expect Li Yan to know things like focal length, it seems that if they don't complete the task, they really can't leave.

After that, Li Yan went to the gunpowder shop to check the improvement of the rocket. After the cavalry returned, they gave a detailed report on the situation in the steppe and were very satisfied with the effectiveness of the rockets. However, for the range of 400 steps, it is considered that it is still relatively short and needs to be further improved. There is also the way to ignite the fire, which also needs to be more concise.

Faced with the problem of the troops' reaction, Wang Renhui had a good idea and explained: "The firing range can be increased, but the ignition method is not easy to change. This rocket is a delicate thing, especially the tail spout and tail fin, and there must not be a slight mistake, otherwise the rocket will turn over in the air. Only by igniting the false lead with an open flame is the safest and most reliable way. ”

Li Yan also knew the truth, so he nodded and said, "Well, I know." Then you should focus on increasing the range, the rockets are effective against cavalry, and they can also show their strength against the enemy's infantry formation. However, the production is too small, and hundreds of them will be used in one salvo, so it is not possible to produce enough of them. ”

"The manpower is already being increased, but the rocket requirements are too delicate, the three tail fins on the same one must be the same weight, and the clay vent must be opened just right, so you can only do it slowly, not in a hurry."

Li Yan had no choice but to take his time. Firearms, in particular, are equally dangerous to the enemy and to themselves, and their quality must not be questionable.

However, he was somewhat dissatisfied with the attitude of the merchants towards the silver coins.

This time, the horses were purchased from the merchants, and all of them were paid for in silver coins. With the exception of his merchant system, no other merchant was reluctant to accept silver coins. They could guess from the fineness that the silver coin was not pure silver, and although the silver coin was beautifully worked, in their opinion, no matter how beautiful it was, it was not worth one-ten-thousandth of the pure silver.

However, Li Yan did not give the merchants a chance to choose, whether they wanted to or not, they only had silver coins. They were also informed that only silver coins could be put into circulation, and not silver ingots of different color, weight, and shape. As soon as he did this, the enthusiasm of the border merchants was hit at once, and he even said that he would not change horses for Kannai in the future.

Regarding the threat of these border merchants, Li Yan was no longer too worried at this time. With the end of this grassland operation, the Qing State did not pursue his cavalry relentlessly, and so far has not attacked along the Great Wall, indicating that the Qing State's spirit is not too high, and it does not dare to run rampant as the Ming Dynasty.

This state of affairs continued for a while, and sooner or later the Mongol tribes would abandon the Qing state. And these border businessmen can only do business in peace, and there is not much room for them to move. Moreover, on this trip to the steppe, the caravan under his command also participated, preparing for future trade with the Mongol tribes. There is nothing wrong with these merchants abandoning the market, and his trading house is just going to take over.

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