Chongzhen's estimate of the annual increase in funds, Chongzhen is still conservatively estimated, because the sales of the Royal Cement Factory and the toy store have been increasing, so he really didn't say much. Now asking these two projects every month how much their own money can earn has become one of Chongzhen's great pleasures.

Lu Xiangsheng couldn't tell Chongzhen directly, Tiance Army really can't win, it would be too much to disappoint Chongzhen's excitement.

"Your Majesty, the holder of the Tiance Army is also the benefit of firearms. Without strong firearms, no strong army will help. ”

Chongzhen nodded and said, "I also know that part of the military funds I allocated to you will be used to develop firearms. I have already informed the Ministry of Works, the Ordnance Bureau, and the War Bureau to fully cooperate with Aiqing, and I have also asked the Qintian Supervisor Zheng Tang Ruowang to also participate in this matter. Although Aiqing is giving, she can come to me if she needs it. Aiqing can also recruit talents for his own use, maybe there are sages in the wild. ”

"But Weichen is the governor of Xuanda, and it is not appropriate to stay in Beijing for a long time."

"Governor Xuanda, you are still in charge." Chongzhen thought about it for a while and said: "In Xuanda, the new army can avoid people's eyes and ears, and the soldiers must be recruited first, so that once you have the weapons at hand, you can immediately form an army." In addition, Xuanda's surplus of money and food can also feed your army. This department that studies firearms, I am named the Firearms Bureau, and Aiqing is in charge, and it is managed by John Tang in your absence. ”

Chongzhen still trusts Lu Xiangsheng very much, and he can rest assured that this fund is handled by Lu Xiangsheng. The Tianxiong Army is actually the same as the Guanning Army, almost Lu Xiangsheng's private army, but the Tianxiong Army is on call, and it is not as difficult to deploy as the Guanning Army, so this comparison comes out.

"The minister obeys!" Since Chongzhen's interest was so high, Lu Xiangsheng had to bear it.

Chongzhen saw that Lu Xiangsheng had a bitter face, and comforted: "Aiqing doesn't have to be embarrassed, just do your best, if you can't do anything, I will never blame Aiqing." I also know that the Tiance Army is not easy to deal with, and I will not rashly deal with Wang Yue, this is just a backup means. ”

The military solution is only a backhand left by Chongzhen, and the court can't help but do nothing, what if Wang Yue takes a nap? However, from the current point of view, it is still necessary to coexist peacefully with the starting point city and find a way to solve the political problem.

For local forces that do not listen to the call with heavy troops, the imperial court does not necessarily have to send troops to eradicate them, and they usually focus on entrapment, such as the Guanning army. The main reason is that the starting point city is in Gyeonggi, which makes Chongzhen sensitive.

When Lu Xiangsheng saw Chongzhen say this, he was still a little moved: "Your Majesty Xie is considerate, and the minister will definitely do his best!" ”

Although this is a difficult task, depending on the emperor's trust in himself, Lu Xiangsheng must try his best to do it well, what if there is a miracle?

Lu Xiangsheng said goodbye to Chongzhen, and the first person he saw was Wang Chengen, because the person who handled this fund was Wang Chengen.

Wang Chengen said: "Lord Lu, the emperor has already explained it to our family, let's go to the Firearms Bureau to see how about it?" ”

Chongzhen explained this errand to Wang Chengen in detail, and with Wang Chengen's loyalty to Chongzhen, it is difficult for this military expenditure to be embezzled.

Lu Xiangsheng said politely: "Then there is Prince Lao!" ”

The newly established Firearms Bureau is located in the southwest corner of the inner city, Yuanhongsi Street, three kilometers from the Imperial City. This is the famous Wang Gong factory in history, which used to be a factory for making gunpowder, with a daily output of two tons of gunpowder.

Due to the explosion of Wang Gongchang during the Apocalypse, this place was razed to the ground, and the Emperor of the Apocalypse was frightened, so the production of gunpowder was moved to the outer city, and it was rebuilt here as the site of the War Bureau, and now it is assigned to the Firearms Bureau to develop firearms.

When Lu Xiangsheng and the others entered the Firearms Bureau, they saw Lord Tang Ruowang, the supervisor of Qintian, fighting on a pile of drawings. Yes, Lord John Tang did seem to be fighting, his hair was scattered, his beard was also messy, and he scratched his ears and cheeks from time to time, pulling his hair.

In addition to John Tang, there were other people in the house, who were probably arrested and sent.

Hearing the movement, Tang Ruowang raised his head at this time, and after seeing Wang Chengen, he hurriedly saluted and said, "Xiaguan has seen the prince. ”

Wang Chengen introduced Lu Xiangsheng to him, the two had met, but they had never dealt with each other, especially Tang Ruowang, a Westerner face, of course Lu Xiangsheng was very impressed by him.

Lu Xiangsheng picked up the drawings drawn by Tang Ruowang, glanced at them and said, "This is a fire gun?" ”

This is a blueprint of the fire gun sketched in pencil, the pencil is John Tang's harvest in the starting point city, in addition to the pencil there are erasers, compasses, triangles and other stationery.

Lu Xiangsheng has been fighting for many years, and he also has a deep understanding of firearms, and the firearms of the Tianxiong Army are very high.

Tang Ruowang said: "What Lord Lu said is not bad, it is indeed a fire gun. ”

Lu Xiangsheng put down the drawings and said to Tang Ruowang hopefully: "This official has long heard that Tang Jianzheng is a scholar of heaven and man, and he has a lot of experience in the production of firecracker artillery, I wonder if Tang Jianzheng can make the same firearms as the Tiance Army?" ”

"No, no, no!" John Tang shook his head like a rattle and said, "I swear in the name of God that it is impossible!" ”

Lu Xiangsheng was not discouraged, and asked again: "Does Supervisor Tang know the reason?" ”

John Tang said: "We have no materials, no machines, and no ready-made drawings. The sample called the automatic rifle has also been consulted by the lower officials, and it is impossible to make it with our current conditions. It's not just rifles that we can't make, there are so many things in the starting point that we can't make. ”

He has been studying in the starting point city for a long time, and the more he learns, the more he feels that there is still a lot to learn. In the starting point city, he solved many problems that he couldn't solve before, and he also understood the principles of many things, so he understood that the imperial court couldn't make rifles.

Lu Xiangsheng was also silent when he heard this, and Wang Chengen saw the two chief officers of the Firearms Bureau who had no confidence, and said: "The emperor is waiting for your good news, you must not lose your sharpness." ”

In the past, the imperial court also intended to imitate automatic rifles, but at that time, it was not urgent, so it was gone. Now that Chongzhen has made up his mind, there is no way, then he can only bite the bullet.

With Chen Xinjia, Sun Jinyong, Cao Lizhong and other secret piles in Beijing, and the personnel of the Investigation Bureau in Beijing monitoring, it is not difficult for Wang Yue to learn this news. The secrecy measures of the Ming Dynasty cannot be compared with those of modern countries, especially at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and it was not difficult for even the Manchus to obtain the movements of the Ming court.

However, Wang Yue just smiled, and then felt sorry for Chongzhen's silver, which was really wasted in places that should not be wasted.

However, Wang Yue still took precautionary measures, that is, to strengthen the security of the arsenal and the supervision and ideological work of the workers, so as to prevent some people from attacking their ideas.