Chongzhen ten years, the Ming Dynasty was not smooth, Liaodong lost the island, Dongjiang Town only had the last breath, the north was full of famine, millions of people became homeless, the emperor of leap April issued a second edict, and the thieves were more rampant, the south did not hold down Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, Ma Shouying and a gang, Li Zicheng committed Xichuan again, killed the Sichuan general Hou Liangzhu, Hong Chengchou hurriedly took Cao Bianjiao into Sichuan to aid and suppress, the Ming Emperor must have died of worry.

Li Yu finally survived again, and it was easy to do things if he had money, and the 200,000 displaced people who came in one after another did not crush him, and the common people were willing to work if they had something to eat, and the water conservancy projects planned and designed by Wang Zheng and Han Lin for the Heihe, Yinmahe, and Cangtou rivers started at the same time, and Fengzhou's ability to resist drought will certainly be improved. Li Fugui also told Li Yu that the people of Fengzhou have also learned to cheat and play tricks, and the grain stored at home declared to the government is seriously untrue, which is the conclusion he has reached from his long-term observation of pork stalls - the common people almost raise pigs, and they will definitely slaughter pigs when they are short of grain, so the quantity and price of pork on the market will change, but he has not been looking forward to cheap pork, which shows that there is still a large amount of grain in the people.

The ability of the new prime minister to govern Batu is not as good as Li Huai, but he is generous and generous, and dares to let go of power, Zhou Yi and Yun Rong actually provoked the burden of the Prime Minister's Office - Li Jianji left in early August, and before leaving, he repeatedly said to Li Yu that he was absolutely loyal to Fengzhou, and this time he entered the customs mainly to go to Yangzhou, Zhou Su's identity was not enough, and he could not put the rich businessmen in the customs, so he had to personally come forward to pull these people into the Liberal Party, and by the way, let them give some money to invest in the silver banknote bureau, and they will come back in April next year, but they want to leave a place for him.

Zhou Yi took over Li Jianji's class, and took office to grasp the cotton issue, and the Prime Minister's Office issued a call to "go to Hami", and handed over a liter of grain to two acres of land in the Western Regions, and fooled everyone to say that Hami can not only grow cotton, but also gold and jade, and make a fortune when you dig it, and the people are red-eyed, and they enthusiastically sign up to join, and the businessmen have long been ready, pulling up a large group of displaced people to grab the land, Zhou Yi took advantage of the situation to set up the "Western Pioneer Group", and appointed the elder Wang as the commander, Bi Lige as the deputy commander, and Han Dagong as the garrison, Ortai's stupid son Dorji also took care of it - no way, he is the only one in Fengzhou who has planted cotton, although he has planted it to death, but people have experience. In mid-October, the "Western Pioneer Regiment" set out with the slogan of "Emigration to Hamiwei and Pacification of the Turu Domain." These guys don't go to live a life, it's more like going to war, in addition to livestock, farm tools, they also carry war horses, bows and arrows, and firearms, and there are even artillery in the ranks of merchants, and they know what will happen in the future with their butts - Liu Zongzhou and Liu Zhilun were frightened, and advised Li Yu to practice more benevolence and righteousness, and not to kill indiscriminately. Li Yu was very helpless, Fengzhou couldn't support so many people, and people were making a living by themselves, so they couldn't manage it if they wanted to, and then took the Zanhua Military Affairs Office and the Soldiers and Horses Division to Manhan Mountain.

Sun Tingyao was shameless, obviously a civilian official, but he preferred to wear a military uniform, and wore an iron eagle to pretend to be the governor of the capital, and read out the order of the two prefectures, one court and one law division of Fengzhou in the Manhan Mountain Commander's Hall - the military expenses were doubled, the military salary was increased by 50%, and the cavalry, infantry, and artillery of the five associations were all replenished with 500 battalions; Next year, the system of world honors will be implemented, and those who have made great contributions to civil officials will be awarded the fifth-class first-class bakhshi, and the highest can be awarded to the great bakhshi, and those who have made outstanding military merits will be awarded the fifth-class batulu, and the highest can be awarded to the humbatulu, and the serial medals will be awarded by the council, which can be inherited forever and cannot be deprived without a resolution of the council. After Sun Tingyao finished speaking, the officers thundered with joy, they can get titles for their children and grandchildren in the future, and under the guise of being afraid of embarrassment to the court, in fact, they will not change the soup.

Li Yu told the officers very seriously not to be overjoyed, because the current situation is grim, and the Zanhua Military Affairs Department has drawn up two operational plans inside and outside the Guan, which must be kept secret at present, and that from now on, all units and garrisons of the battalion must reformulate their training plans, familiarize themselves with the new tactics and new equipment as soon as possible, and make good preparations for fighting in the two battlefields inside and outside the Guanguan.

"Our generation is born in troubled times and cannot escape, so we will finish all the battles that should be fought, drain all the blood that should be shed, and create a peaceful and prosperous era for future generations." Li Yu finally said.

"Willing to serve Fengzhou" all the officers stood up and shouted, the westward march was successful, the influx of displaced people, nearly a million lives on their shoulders, in order to ensure the long-term peace and stability of Fengzhou, it is inevitable to solve the problem of the Qing and Ming countries, whether they want to or not.

Li Yu was busy in the Manhan Mountains until the heavy snow before returning to naturalization, this year's winter was particularly cold, but the large and small factories and workshops in Fengzhou did not dare to stop working, and the food and housing of the new immigrants could only let them continue to work, which was no way, and it was necessary to improve their lives step by step. Approaching the end of the year, three important figures died of illness one after another - Yang Dazhi, the former governor of the Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Zhao Sheng, the former governor of the Treasury Department, and the former chairman of the House of Representatives, Yang Dazhi is the veteran of the founding of Fengzhou, and also a great contributor to planting potatoes and corn. In view of the great contribution made by the three old men, the Commander's Office approved that their names be engraved on the stone tablet of the Barbarian Mountain Tomb, along with many martyrs who died in battle, and the Council posthumously awarded them the title of Baksh of the third class. The funeral of the three old men was very grand, almost all the naturalized military, political, and business dignitaries came, and the cavalry association Ji Da was the saddest person, a few days of hard work, his father Dabu, father-in-law Zhao Sheng died one after another, his voice was also hoarse, Li Yu was speechless to comfort him, and pulled Zhao Ji and Su He and Ji Da brothers together to carry the coffin of the old man Dabu for the funeral.

In the eleventh year of Chongzhen in a blink of an eye, at the end of February, Yang Sichang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, sent a secret letter to Li Yu - the emperor intended to negotiate peace with Dongyu, hoping that Li Yu could use the previous relationship to promote the elimination of war between the two countries and achieve peace. Li Yu wanted to send someone to Liaodong to contact, Li Fugui immediately poured cold water on him, the peace negotiations between the Ming and Qing dynasties would not be simple, since the emperor was interested, then he must have greeted the governor of Liaodong, let Wenchen worry about it, Fengzhou is in a sensitive situation, and before the imperial court expresses its attitude, it must not be rashly involved. Immediately after the urgent report sent by Shengjing Titang, the Qing Emperor decided to go to the imperial palace to conquer Khalkha in March, Li Yu was furious, and the Qing State was going to turn his face against Khalkha, Fengzhou must not ignore it, and the meeting of the General Consulate's Office was immediately held.

There have been some changes in the composition of the personnel of the General Office, including Li Yu, Li Fugui, and Zhao Ji, the personnel of the Prime Minister's Office include Batu, Yun Rong, Zhou Xuan, Shen Shoulian, Sun Tingyao, and Chang Shu, and the personnel of the Council include Speaker Omulun, the premiers of the two parties, Yang Tingfang and Wang Fang, the Grand Law Division, Ortai and Liu Tianren, the Military Affairs Department of Zanhua, Du Wenhuan, and the Governor of the Naturalized Prefecture Buyantu, and other 16 people, including Li Huai, the former prime minister, and Cai Ruxun, the prefect of the Naturalized Governor, and the commander of Xinghewei, and the Liberal Party Premier Li Jianji, who entered the customs and was represented by Yang Tingfang. Liu Zhilun, Governor of Naturalization, Ma Shiying, Secretary of the General Consulate, and Du Hongtai, Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, attended the meeting as observers.

Ma Shiying first read out Yang Sichang's secret letter, Liu Zhilun was startled at first, but quickly calmed down: "It's okay, this battle can't be fought anymore." ”

"I'm sure that the peace negotiation can't be reached, and the war is not a bottomless pit until now, but everyone likes it, only when there is a war can there be official promotion and money to be made, if it stops, I don't know how many heads will fall to the ground just by reimbursing the military expenses," Du Wenhuan sneered and continued gloatingly, "They can fight if they want, they can fight for as long as they want, we don't care, Khalkha is what we should consider." ”

Du Wenhuan ordered someone to hang the map on the wall, and said very proudly: "We have been preparing for war, this map is still drawn by our people, Gekuri stayed in Khalkha for three months last year, assisted Namur and Itak in training Khalkha youth, and stored 5,000 stone of grain and a large number of ordnance in Salenor Lake, enough to fight for a month." The Khalkha land is vast, sparsely populated, full of wilderness, sand, Shuo Lei, Gunbu as long as the two treasures will escape, the Qing army has no way to take them, this kind of battle we consume one stone of grain, the Qing country has to consume at least ten stone of grain, the more people and horses, the greater the consumption, the Qing army labor expedition can not last long, with our assistance the Khalkha people won. ”

"Does the Zanhua Military Affairs Department have a plan to send troops?" Batu asked.

"Of course, we can send three cavalry associations and one artillery association into the Xilamulun River to force the Qing army to retreat, but it is easy to friction with the Qing army, and it must be the result of losing both." Du Wenhuan replied.

"It's better not to fight, we can't afford to fight this year, and besides, we still have to do business with Qingguo." Zhou Yu hurriedly interjected.

Everyone agreed, the current situation of Fengzhou to aid Khalkha is okay, but the strength of the war with the Qing State is not good, Chang Shu thought for a while and said: "The Qing State is doing something to our allies, this is a provocation and a temptation, we can't help but react, and also do it to their vassals, such as Hulunbuir and Sauron, which are also sparsely populated, and are not sensitive areas of the Qing State, so the troops do not need too much, it is enough to make a gesture, and I think the Qing State will also not dare to go to war with us." ”

Ortai and Li Fugui nodded at the same time, and Ortai said: "We must show our determination and strength to our allies, we can send a liaison first, but we must try to avoid a head-on conflict with the Qing army." ”

"You can't go, the naturalization of the Huimeng is the top priority of the year, and the Oirats and Tibetan lamas should be on the way." Li Fugui reminded Li Yu.

Li Yu stood in front of the map and thought for a while, then turned around and ordered: "Order Terrig to command the right battalion of Mengke's cavalry and the left battalion of Darhan's Chahar cavalry to enter Khalkha in concealment, and contact Tushetu Khan. Sending letters to Namur, Shuolei, and Gunbu, cleaning up the grasslands, guerrilla enemy attacks, and forcing the Qing army to retreat is a great achievement, and Fengzhou will always be the strong backing of Khalkha; I sent a letter to the Qing court in Shengjing, Khalkha is my ally of Fengzhou, and I hope that the Qing Kingdom will remain calm, and in exchange, Fengzhou is willing to help the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty reconcile and eliminate the war. ”

Everyone discussed for a while, sending five or six thousand troops can still bear it, there should be no big problem in this battle, but I feel that Jin Guohan is messed up after becoming the emperor, and the Manchurians don't know how to do business, and the poor place of Khalkha has nothing but livestock, what's the use of getting it?

The snow began to melt, the common people took advantage of the last opportunity to collect ice and snow, piled up their own water cellars, and the people of the Department of Industry and Construction, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry were also seizing the time to inspect the water conservancy facilities, and the first batch of guests in Fengzhou arrived - Zhang Daojun and Wang Guoliang actually dragged more than 200 people, almost all the gentry with heads and faces in the state capitals of Shanxi, these people entered Fengzhou as if they were going home, and were welcomed by the villagers along the way, and the liberal party bigwigs Yang Tingfang and Wang re-personally took them into the Fengzhou Chamber of Commerce, including Li Fugui, Han Lin, Bai Xianzhi and other Shanxi Fengzhou military, political, and business dignitaries came to visit in an endless stream, and they also held a meeting of fellow villagers, which was attended by a large number of people, and the scene was very grand, and Wu Langha, the leader of the Liberal Party, also attended the meeting. Zhang Daojun made an important speech at the meeting - Fengzhou people and Shanxi people are one family, Shanxi people have helped Fengzhou people build a strong Fengzhou, Fengzhou people should also help Shanxi people to rebuild a new Shanxi, and put forward the following suggestions, first, the two sides should strengthen communication and coordination on major domestic and foreign issues; Second, we will jointly promote people-to-people exchanges and trade exchanges, and oppose any act that hinders free trade; Thirdly, the Shanxi gentry joined the Liberal Party and sent representatives to the Fengzhou Council at the appropriate time. Wu Langha fully affirmed Zhang Daojun's suggestion, welcomed the Shanxi gentry on behalf of the Liberal Party, and appointed Zhang Daojun as the leader of party affairs.

"What the hell are you going to do?" Li Yu was angry and found Zhang Daojun.

"Ask your wife to go, she understands things better than you." Zhang Daojun smiled and left.

In the middle of March, Bishop Long Huamin of the Diocese of Mingguo arrived with more than a dozen Taixi, and he repeatedly apologized to Li Yu for not sending people to Fengzhou until now because the efficiency of the Holy See was too slow, delaying the acceptance of the gospel of the Lord by the believers in Fengzhou.

"This is Father Saviceni of the Jesus Church, who has been a missionary in Fujian and Zhejiang, you can call him by his Chinese name - Deng Ruoshui." Long Huamin pulled a middle-aged man with a stout figure and a full beard to introduce Li Yu.

Deng Ruoshui's trip was not easy, although Long Huamin, Tang Ruowang, Gao Yizhi and others went to the Holy See and the Church of Jesus, asking to send capable people to Fengzhou to preach, but the Holy See was very hesitant, Fengzhou belongs to the land of barbarians, hundreds of years ago their iron cavalry once swept Europa, I heard that those barbarians believe in Lamaism, Long Huamin is not successful in the Chinese diocese, he can have the ability to cut out a piece from the territory of Lamaism? The Holy See hesitated, Gao Yizhi's letter arrived again, he vouched for his loyalty to the Lord, the number of religious believers in Fengzhou was 100,000, and there were 30,000 baptized, they took the initiative to build churches, study the Bible, and were eager to hear the gospel of the Lord, the young leader of Fengzhou was kind and simple, full of respect for the Lord, not only let his wife and son be baptized, but also persuaded the lama to show great tolerance, the people of Fengzhou are so religious, shouldn't they be redeemed just because they live in the land of barbarians? The Holy See was a little tempted, and then Deng Ruoshui stood up and took the initiative to ask to go to Fengzhou to preach - this is a person of extremely firm faith, born in a wealthy merchant family in the Netherlands, received a good education, but devoted himself to the arduous missionary cause of the Jesus Church, and had successful missionary experience in North Africa and the Far East, he was completely trustworthy, so Deng Ruoshui set off for China again, and wandered for nearly two years before arriving in Macao.

"It's a pity that Father Gao Yizhi is not in good health, otherwise he would definitely come, but he said in his letter that he hopes to create a school with you like Father Julio's "Western Studies", but there is a shortage of books and teachers, so I will try my best to meet all this, bring a thousand books, and recruit some teachers in Macau." Deng Ruoshui said.

"Thank you so much," Li Yu held Deng Ruoshui's hand tightly, turned his face to the group of Taixi people and said, "Gentlemen, welcome to Fengzhou and go to see your new home, you must like it." ”

Wang Zheng, Han Lin, Ma Guangyuan and others accompanied the guests into the carriage, and tens of thousands of congregants welcomed them, and the cheers of "praise to Jehovah" came and went, Deng Ruoshui was so excited that his eyes were full of tears.

The church in the east of the naturalized city has been completed, Wang Zheng's Western Academy and Han Lin's Industrial and Commercial Academy are located here, the two academies add up to more than 300 disciples, the Western Academy has opened three subjects of literature (rhetoric), science (philosophy), and Taoism (theology), and the Industrial and Commercial Academy has opened four subjects: arithmetic, gewu, water law, and mining and metallurgy, but the teaching is very rough - the teaching plan is now compiled and learned, the teachers are temporarily visited, and the children are basically self-taught.

"Is this the church, O my lord?" Long Huamin exclaimed at the five- or six-zhang tall behemoth in front of him, Ma Guangyuan's face turned red all of a sudden, he instigated him to build the church into a fortress, but Long Huamin immediately laughed again, "But, I like it very much." ”

In front of the church, there were two academy disciples, Wu Langha and Ma sister-in-law also brought a group of children, and Li Yu's five-year-old son Li Qin grinned and sang in unison with his friends, "Jehovah loves the world, and the world praises Jehovah......"

"He's Simon? What a lovely child, the Lord will definitely bless him," Long Huamin hugged Xiao Li Qin excitedly, turned his face to Deng Ruoshui and said, "The people here are simple and kind, it is the best place to preach, let them spread the gospel of the Lord." ”

In the north of the naturalization city, Li Yu stared at the gunbu and Shuolei in front of him, as soon as the Qing army entered Khalkha, they took a family to run to naturalization, and a large group of Khalkha nobles and lamas followed behind.

"I answer, we are not afraid of war, but the Naturalization Association is more important, we can't delay, don't worry, we will hand over the tribe to Lord Namur to take care of, can you still trust him!" Shuo Lei cheekily explained.

"Of course I don't blame you," Li Yu waved his hand indifferently, and then whispered to Gunbu, "What about your little living Buddha, I want to see him." ”