At the end of June, the first batch of brass was transported from Kadang Mountain to Xining, and Li Zicheng immediately asked the craftsmen to come to accept it, although the quality of brass was not as good as that of red copper, fortunately it could be used as a rifle bullet, and his slightly hanging heart finally fell completely back into his chest.

Brass is actually only eighty catties, but the brass needed for a bullet, but only about one or two, these brass are enough to make thousands of bullets, this is the first batch, brass smelting with experimental nature, once successful, the next will be mass production, according to the information from Kadangshan, the second batch of brass has been smelting, if it can be successful, it will arrive in Xining in a few days.

Li Zicheng asked the craftsmen to concentrate their efforts and work overtime to produce bullets, even if the craftsmen who produce rifles are withdrawn, they must ensure the speed of bullet production.

On 1 July, the 700th household of the Song Wenbu set out from Xining, and the whole army headed west, and he will change the defense of the Triangle City and Kadang City, while the 400th households stationed in the Triangle City and the 500th households in Kadang City will immediately return to Xining.

Due to the serious shortage of bullets in the rifle now, Song Wenbu did not have bullets, but only carried a Xining rifle with him, Li Zicheng told Song Wen that when the craftsman's workshop made enough bullets, he would immediately escort them to the past to continue training the gunners.

The Song Wen Department is in the critical period of training, but it has not formed combat effectiveness, and can only defend the city for the time being, while the 500th Zhou Bin Department has already had actual combat experience in Kadang City, and will be one of the main forces of this Eastern Crusade.

Li Jibu has not yet been equipped with rifles, nor has it completed the expansion of the army, so far there are only 500 soldiers, compared to the fifth or 600th households, the 400th households are still at the level of the Ming army, so they will not participate in the Eastern Expedition, but stay in Xining to defend the city, wait for the craftsmen in the city to make rifles, will gradually begin to use rifles to train soldiers, defend the city and train soldiers, is Li Jibu's current military task.

In Xining City, there is no panic on the surface, but people close to Xining's military and political dignitaries already know that they are secretly busy.

Liang Wencheng organized manpower to step up the collection of agricultural taxes from all over the country, and now there is only one agricultural tax: grain, and the collected grain is directly loaded and transported to Sanchuan Prefecture.

At the same time, the civil officials of Gansu and Sanchuan Prefecture are also racing against time to collect agricultural taxes, and all the grain is also concentrated in Sanchuan Prefecture.

In Li Zicheng's plan to expand eastward, Sanchuan Prefecture will temporarily be used as a food supply base in the rear until the situation in Longyou is stabilized.

The Xining army rangers who are active in Longyou are constantly sending all kinds of useful and useless information to Xining through various channels, and the brief message is generally a flying pigeon to pass the book, which can be delivered in one day, and if it is a message that needs to be expressed in detail, it is through the fast ride, sent across the Yellow River by special personnel, and then sent by Li Guo to send cavalry to Xining.

Li Zicheng has been sorting out the information from Longyou recently, and even the Xining Girls' School, which he usually cares about the most, has been closed for three days, and he doesn't know when classes will resume.

His brows stretched, Gao Guiying's heart relaxed, and seeing Li Zicheng busy everywhere in the city, as if her energy was inexhaustible, she secretly laughed, thinking that Mu Sirong had made a great contribution, and used her weak body in exchange for Li Zicheng's mental cheer.

In the afternoon of this day, Li Zicheng had just left home and went to the study of the Central Government, and several women got together, Gao Guiying asked Xiaomei and Xiaolan to clean up the dishes, but said to Song Yulian: "Lian'er, Zicheng has been busy these days, and she doesn't even go to the school, and the sisters have nothing to do....... I can't accompany Miss Mu, it's rare to be busy with official business, I haven't assigned homework these days, I have some free time, just let Lian'er lead it around casually, you will have to pass through the door sooner or later. ”

Mu Sirong's little face turned red in an instant, what's wrong with the eldest lady? I have lived in the Li family for a long time, it seems that these houses are already familiar, besides, this is an official office, and it is not the private property of the Li family, what's the use of knowing so much?

As for the Li family's inventory, why do you want to know it yourself? Even if he passes through the door in the future, he is also the eldest lady in charge, what does it have to do with him? Could it be that the eldest lady wants to take a look at the Li family's inventory for herself and live more frugally in the future?

It's not right, although I live in Li's house, my father gives me food and clothing, and I don't eat and drink in Li's house for nothing.

The eldest lady, and several other ladies are good to themselves, but the eldest lady's mind ......

She was originally idle, even in the academy, and she was also a supernumerary student, and she didn't sign a contract with adults, so she didn't have much pressure on her studies.

It's good to go out and go around, firstly, Gao Guiying is the eldest lady, and she can't help but listen to her words, and secondly, she will always have to pass through the door in the future, and after passing the door, the food and clothing can no longer be provided by Daddy, and when she enters the door of the Li family, she may not be so luxurious.

Mu Sirong agreed shyly, and went out with Song Yulian.

With Song Yulian, there is no such shameful feeling, remembering the last time Gao Guiying repeatedly signaled to her, she felt naked and exposed to the sun, and that time fortunately, the adult's personal soldier He Xiaomi came......

Sun Mengjie saw that Mu Sirong was far away, hurriedly got up and closed the courtyard door, and then latched it again, before turning back and sitting down at the square table again.

Chen Qiudie looked left and right, and finally couldn't help it, "Sister Ying'er, Sister Jie'er, looking at Miss Mu's walking posture, it seems to have changed, do you say that the adults have succeeded?" ”

Sun Mengjie smiled, covered her mouth with her arm, and said coquettishly: "Sister Die'er, Miss Mu has always been the closest to you, when you have free time, you ask her!" ”

Gao Guiying picked up the tea in front of her, but she didn't sip it, and said slowly: "No, this kind of thing...... If you let Zicheng know that you are probing him behind your back, you just wait to kneel on the washboard, besides, Miss Mu has not passed the door after all, and her face is thin-skinned, if you ask, she may make trouble...... If Miss Mu has three longs and two shorts, you ...... Just wait to be driven to the fruit building by Zicheng! ”

Chen Qiudie was so frightened that she stuck out her tongue, just to not go to the fruit building, her mother sent her to the adult's bedside early, and now this is ......

She hurriedly closed the small mouth she had just opened, kept the conversation, and finally said, "Look at how busy the adults have been recently...... That spiritual head, was that Miss Mu tell him something? ”

"I'm afraid only Mr. himself knows," Sun Mengjie shook her head, "However, Mr. has been busy with official business recently, and it seems that he has nothing to do with Miss Mu!" ”

Gao Guiying took a sip of tea, put down the tea cup gently, and said: "Did Miss Mu say anything, or did anything, Zicheng has a scale in her heart, you just live your own life, don't talk nonsense, make Zicheng upset!" If you are upset, I will punish you here...... In the future, just remember to give them a chance to stay together, and let Zicheng deal with the rest! ”

Li Zicheng seemed to sense something, only felt that the roots of his ears were a little hot, he twisted them lightly with his fingers, sat down at the desk, pondered for a moment, and said: "Xiaomi, immediately let the soldiers go to the order, and the distilled spirits, glass, and perfumes in stock will be taken off immediately, all in exchange for cash!" ”

"Yes, sir!" He Xiaomi didn't ask much, agreed, and hurried away.

Li Zicheng leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and went through the recent affairs in his mind before he opened his eyes and muttered: "Red Stone Cliff, just wait for your next batch of brass!" ”

On July 8, Li Ji and Zhou Bin returned to Xining successively, and Zhou Bin came back with brass, which was hundreds of catties this time.

If all of these were converted into bullets, how many would there be? Li Zicheng was overjoyed, he did not delay for a moment, and immediately sent these brass to the craftsman's workshop.

With brass as a guarantee, Li Zicheng got rid of the last worry, and accelerated the military deployment, Liu Yunshui's four hundred household auxiliaries, escorting a large amount of grain and grass, rushed to Sanchuan Mansion first, and joined the Ma Youshui Department stationed in Sanchuan Mansion.

Li Zicheng also asked them to bring Ma Youshui a long letter written by himself, so that Ma Youshui's department could make some preparations and be ready to cross the river at any time, and Li Guobu, who was stationed in Xiaojishi Mountain, should also move closer to Sanchuan Mansion.

On the morning of July 15, the Mandate of Heaven Metropolitan Governor's Mansion was officially opened, and the yamen was the original Xining Wei Guanya.

Li Zicheng appointed himself as the governor of the capital, and the governor's office set up a civil department and a military affairs department, with Liang Wencheng and Shen Dao serving as civil envoys and military envoys respectively.

The Mandate of Heaven Governor's Mansion was under the control of God, commanding all military and political affairs in Xining Mansion, Sanchuan Prefecture, and Gansu Town, and the Xining Army was renamed the "Mandate of Heaven Army" and used a new military flag, and the Mandate of Heaven cavalry was all equipped with spears and bright light armor, while the Mandate of Heaven infantry were all issued with rifles and wore new camouflage uniforms.

The Mandate of Heaven immediately issued a programmatic document, stating that the "Land Law" and the "Law of Industry and Commerce" would be implemented wherever the Mandate of Heaven army went, encouraging the people to believe in God, encouraging the people to set up industrial and commercial enterprises, establishing new-style schools, and popularizing agriculture on a large scale.

The Mandate of Heaven adheres to God's will and takes it as its mission to save the people, so that all the people under its rule will have food, clothing, housing, and land, and will not take a stitch from the people.

Subsequently, the 1,000th household Liu Yunshui Department and the 5,000th Zhou Bin Division, representing the Mandate of Heaven cavalry and the Mandate of Heaven infantry respectively, marched through several major streets in Xining City under the newly issued Kyushu military flag to be inspected by the people.

As soon as the march ended, Zhou Binbu did not return to the barracks, but drove directly to the Guanting ferry of the Yellow River east of Sanchuan Prefecture, and the 4,000th Li Ji Department took over the city defense of Xining.

The Mandate of Heaven army marched in Xining City, causing widespread discussion among the people, neat military appearance, majestic horses, nine-star military flags, strict military discipline, and "all the people have food, clothing, housing, and land for farming", "do not take a stitch from the people", ""land law", "industry and commerce law"...... Everything made the people feel that there were too many differences between the Heavenly Mandate Army and the Ming Army they had seen before......

Li Zicheng didn't have time to pay attention to public opinion, so he handed over this issue to Li Ji, and asked the soldiers to pretend to be ordinary people to see what real reactions the people had.

In the afternoon of the same day, Li Zicheng sent a message to Ma Youshui and Li Guo of Sanchuan Prefecture, ordering them to cross the river immediately, seize the ferry on the opposite bank, and meet the follow-up army to cross the river.