The food problem has been solved, but there are other problems, such as silver, copper and iron, and the problem of multi-ethnic mixing in the Xining area, all of which restrict the development of the Xining army.

In addition to the Horror Sect, Li Zicheng does not necessarily have to eliminate foreign races, at least he is unwilling to use bloodshed.

However, these alien races, because they have their own religions, are very independent, and if they cannot be erased, the various toasts are like parasites, collecting the people's rents without compensation and consuming the social wealth created by the people, but they cannot bring any benefits to the development of the Xining army, especially for his plans, which obviously hinders them.

The serfdom system represented by Tusi was actually the temporary means of jurisdiction of the Ming court over these frontier lands, and it was an expedient measure to compromise with the slave system, but the current Xining army was about to face the powerful Ming court, and if it could not integrate internally, it would be difficult to concentrate all its forces to deal with the potential strong enemy of the imperial court.

Before formally breaking with the imperial court, Li Zicheng had to accumulate enough strength for the Xining army to at least control the direction of Xining's development.

If he could choose, Li Zicheng would prefer to integrate the entire Xining region first, and then concentrate on confronting the imperial court, but Xining is too small and too poor, even if the land can be fully developed, there is only a population of more than 100,000 people, and there is almost no independent commercial circulation, how can it confront the imperial court that is mature in all aspects and extremely large?

The victory or defeat of the war does not depend on one or two new weapons, but on the overall strength, food production capacity, population number, commercial prosperity, self-repair ability, food and military supply capacity, etc., from these aspects, Xining and the imperial court are too different, even if Xining is fully integrated, it is difficult to resist the imperial court, not to mention that in the process of integration of Xining, the imperial court may send a large army to suppress at any time, and the weak Xining army will be nipped in the bud.

War never cares about fair duels!

Only by expanding the control of the Xining Army and mastering more social resources can the gap with the imperial court be narrowed, just as Liang Wencheng expected, the expansion of the Xining Army is certain, but the timing must be seized!

Li Zicheng met Liang Wencheng's gaze, smiled faintly, and said, "What does Wencheng think?" ”

"At present, the Xining Army has sufficient food, and the rangers have penetrated deep into Longyou, and it is self-contained, the next goal of the Xining Army, but Longyou?"

"Longyou is indeed the next target, but the time is not yet ripe, I just collect information from all aspects first," from the moment the ranger was stationed in Longyou, Li Zicheng's eyes were fixed on this piece of cooked land across the river, "The grain that Wencheng said is sufficient, but the harvest is expected, and it is not harvested into the warehouse, if it encounters storm weather, or unexpected disasters, there are still many variables." ”

Liang Wencheng nodded slightly, but he knew that Li Zicheng would have more reasons for a while, with his understanding of Li Zicheng, he would never just consider this kind of unlikely thing, wealth has always been in danger!

"In addition, the Xining army is scattered in the triangle city, Kadang city, Ganzhou, Xining city, plus Sanchuan Prefecture and Jishi County along the Yellow River, but four hundred households, more than 3,000 soldiers, except for the army left in Xining, the actual soldiers who can be used, at most 2,500 people, with such a small number of troops, even if they can take advantage of the chaos to take Longyou, it will be difficult to resist the army of the imperial court in the future, we are different from the nature of the thieves in Shaanxi, once captured, it must be occupied for a long time, otherwise, in addition to destroying the local agricultural environment, attacking Longyou will destroy the local agricultural environment, Leaving soldiers and civilians dead and wounded in vain has no real benefit, nor does it improve our strength. ”

"What does that mean, is it to give up Longyou temporarily?"

"No, Longyou is the only place for the expansion of the Xining army, and Longyou has long been sinicized, and the cultivated land is familiar, and it is extremely convenient to cultivate, but it was destroyed by thieves in Shaanxi, if it can occupy Longyou, the strength of the Xining army will be at least doubled."

"If the army of the imperial court comes......"

"I just said the unfavorable side of the Xining army, in fact, if the imperial army comes to conquer, it will not be so terrible," Li Zicheng smiled faintly at Liang Wencheng, and said: "Once you march into Longyou, you must be ready to break with the imperial court, at that time, the front line of our army's defense will be the first line of Longshan, and there are very few passages in Longshan, which will be much more convenient than defending the Yellow River crossing in a large area now, and it will be easier for the soldiers to concentrate on one or two points." ”

"Zicheng, so what are we going to do now? How exactly do you plan to do that? ”

"Haha, blame me for not making it clear," Li Zicheng laughed and said, "Longyou must go, but you need to accumulate strength and wait for the right time." ”

Liang Wencheng also smiled, "I understand, at least wait until after the winter wheat is harvested." ”

"Maybe, if we attack Longyou too early and destroy the farmland and crops in Longyou, even if we can occupy Longyou, how will we feed the local people in the future? Moreover, we also need this batch of winter wheat as military rations. ”

Liang Wencheng arched his hand, "I understand, after I go back, I will devote myself to the grain, let the winter wheat be stored as soon as possible, and make a good guarantee for the eastward march of the army." ”

"Wen Cheng has worked hard," Li Zicheng returned the salute, "To a certain extent, Wen Cheng has become arable land and grain, but he has worked harder than me!" ”

Sending Liang Wencheng away, Li Zicheng sat quietly in the study alone, but what he was thinking about was the next move of the Xining Army.

What preparations do you need to make before entering Longyou? Is it necessary to implement sinicization in the entire Xining area? Can force be used?

It's easy to say that the Turen and Hui people are good, but behind the Tibetans, after all, there are the neighboring Uszangdu Division, Duogandu Division, and even the Mongols will be involved, and even the Ming Dynasty is not even, and has already acquiesced to the management and ruling power of the Mongols over these regions.

If there is a big fight, not to mention the victory, will the court be on its side? In case of a two-front battle, how long can the Xining army last?

Li Zicheng shook his head, it is better to be careful, it is better to use the method of "boiling frogs in warm water", at least in the face of the strong pressure of the imperial court, you can't provoke a full-scale war with the Tibetans, this kind of war is meaningless, even if the war is won, the Xining army will not enter the Wusi Zangdu Division and the Duogandu Division for the time being, this kind of place with high mountains and rivers is far away, there is no arable land at all, it is difficult for the Han people to survive for a long time, and it should be a good choice to maintain the current situation.

Another important question is when to enter Longyou.

At present, Longyou is in chaos, but after the Xining army is stationed, the food problem must be solved, and the people are the most realistic.

However, it can't be delayed for too long, if Longyou, with the assistance of the imperial court, has passed this most difficult moment, and the people have solved the problem of food and clothing, then who is willing to risk killing their heads and follow the Xining army to rebel?

When Li Zicheng was pondering, He Xiaoxiao suddenly came to report: "My lord, Bishop Tang has come to ask for a meeting!" ”

"John Tang?" Li Zicheng said in his heart, I only returned to Xining last night, and his information was very well-informed, so he came over so quickly, and said, "Let him come in!" ”

"Yes, sir!" He Xiaomi agreed and retreated, and Tang Ruowang then entered the study, carrying a wooden box in his right hand, about half a foot square, and he bowed his hand: "I heard that the lord returned to Xining victoriously, so I will rush to congratulate the lord!" ”

"Hexi doesn't have to, sit down," Li Zicheng pointed to the other side, "Your Excellency, just give me the gift you brought!" ”

"How do you know that this is my congratulatory gift to you?" Tang Ruowang put the wooden box on the ground, opened the pull spring, took out an object from it, and placed it on the table, "My lord's instructions, I finally live up to my mission!" ”

"Microscope?" Li Zicheng was overjoyed, he once asked John Tang to make a microscope, but the magnification of the microscope made last time was too low, and he couldn't see the bacteria clearly, could it be that he made improvements this time and increased the magnification? "Bishop Tang, can you see germs now?"

"My lord, Hook is right, bacteria really exist," John Tong adjusted the microscope, "The microscope can clearly prove the existence of bacteria." ”

"Then I'm going to use Daming's first microscope to see what bacteria look like." Li Zicheng got up and assisted John Tang in debugging the microscope.

After more than a moment of busyness, the microscope was finally adjusted, and John Tang took a leaf, put it on the stage, and aimed his right eye at the eyepiece, "My lord, it's amazing, the bacteria have really appeared!" ”

"Really? Let me see. Li Zicheng dragged Tang Ruowang away, aimed his right eye at the eyepiece, closed his left eyepiece, and sure enough, he saw countless "little insects" the size of rice grains crawling on the leaves, these "little insects" have different shapes, some have a pair of antennae, some have long legs, and some are gnawing on leaves with their buttocks......

"Ah, Mr. Tang, you are so great!" Li Zicheng held out a thumbs up, "I can make good on my promise to my students." ”

"Great talent is great!" John Tang also gave Li Zicheng a thumbs up, "Unconsciously, I have added one or two thousand believers to God, and if this continues, in my lifetime, there may be tens of thousands of people who believe in God!" ”

"Haha, I am the honorary bishop of Xining Catholic Church, and it is also right to spread God's will," Li Zicheng did not look back, his right eye kept staring at the stage, "The key is that Bishop Tang can create things that shock the people of the Ming Dynasty, so that the Han people will believe in the existence of God, and the appearance of this microscope may be able to increase a few believers." ”

"I'll leave everything to you, sir!" Tang Ruowang followed the example of the Han people and arched his hand to Li Zicheng.

"Bishop Tang is not polite, it is my duty to spread God's will," Li Zicheng said, as he shoved his fingers onto the stage, wanting to see the bacteria on his fingers, so as to prove the existence of bacteria and raise the students' awareness of hygiene.

But it was pitch black in the eyepieces, and nothing could be seen.

John Tang laughed and said, "My lord, the things that are placed on the stage must be transparent or translucent, otherwise, if the light on the stage is blocked, how can you still see it?" ”

"Oh, I see!" Li Zicheng asked John Tang about the use of the telescope, and only after he was fully proficient did he let John Tang go back.