In the middle of winter and December, the Naturalized and Commander-in-Chief Office held the last meeting of the year, and almost all of the officials who were qualified to discuss politics in the Toyosu Commander's Office, various departments and bureaus, and various prefectures, senior generals in the army, and all the senators came - everyone wanted to hear what the situation was like this year.

Governor Liu Zhilun also came, and glanced at the empty seat with dissatisfaction, the chair only belonged to Li Yu, he had to keep it whether he came or not, and the other three giants Ortai, Li Huai, Li Fugui, Liu Xingzuo, and Batu, the two deputy commanders, could only enjoy the treatment of sitting side by side on Li Yu's left and right, of course, he Liu Zhilun had to be added now.

"Why hasn't Li Hanmin come back yet? Are you planning to stay in Chahan Brain Guard for the rest of your life? Liu Zhilun asked with a straight face.

"There is a new situation in the Hetao, Hudun Tuhan and NX general Ma Shilong have fought unfavorably, and fled to the edge of GS Town, according to the report of the Titang Division, Khalkha's Qiuketu Taiji is rushing to join him with 40,000 people, and the Grand Commander and Deputy Commander Batu are staying at Shenshuitan just in case." Du Hongtai, the commander of Chahan's brain guard, replied.

"The Han is just a rabble, even Ma Shilong can't beat it, what's so scary? He still hid and didn't want to see me! Liu Zhilun was a little annoyed.

Du Hongtai was very embarrassed, Li Yu didn't come back because he was afraid of seeing Liu Zhilun, and Ortai relieved him of the siege: "Lord Liu doesn't have to worry too much, Chahar Khan and Qiuketu Taiji both believe in the Lama Red Sect, they have 100,000 people together, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not fight our idea, the Han people should really guard against him, and the Xuerji Lama also set off for Ordos." ”

Liu Zhilun was silent, the Lama Red Sect and the Lama Yellow Sect believed in Fengzhou are mortal enemies, he knows this, but what is going on is confused, this place is too complicated, whoever is an official here is like sitting on a powder keg.

The meeting began, as usual, presided over by Prime Minister Li Huai, and the changes in the situation inside and outside Toyosu were explained first.

This year, it is rare that there are no major disasters and wars -- the battle with Chahar has been ignored, and the most important grain, iron, and livestock in Fengzhou have grown gratifyingly, with grain production exceeding 800,000 stones, pig iron exceeding 500,000 catties, war horses reaching 80,000, and other livestock 500,000 heads, Fengzhou has implemented inaction on other resources, allowing private individuals to operate freely, and the mining of salt, alkali, copper, lead, coal, sulfur, and nitrate has developed rapidly, and even more than 3,000 taels of silver have been extracted from copper and lead ore, in short, the situation this year is far better than last year. But on the other hand, the population of Fengzhou has grown too fast, has reached 300,000, this does not include the Chahar people in the area of the old capital, according to the minimum standard of three stone grain per capita, Fengzhou has to import at least 200,000 stone grain every year to make up for the shortfall, and cloth, tea is completely dependent on the Ming State, which has to spend silver - Fengzhou has been doing business hard to make money over the years, and at the same time attracting Ming merchants to import silver, but the silver comes in and flows out faster, and the silver in the silver vault is only 300,000 taels, Relying on this silver reserve to support the credit of silver money and cope with trade settlements is very dangerous, and Toyoshu is still in danger, and the slightest carelessness could lead to a total collapse.

The external situation continued to deteriorate, although the Ming State quelled the SD mutiny at the beginning of the year, but the Central Plains region had a sudden change, after the Northwest Liukou Rebellion SX, in November this year, the clever trick to induce the officers and troops to relax, from the Yellow River Michi section of the ice into the HNHN chaos will be the chaos of the world, and the world chaos Fengzhou is difficult to exist alone, Fengzhou should be prepared to deal with the mutation. Liaodong, the Jin army conquered Lushun in July, the Ming lost the last foothold in the land of Liaodong, Dongjiang Town was no longer able to contain the Jin army, and could only survive by trapping a few isolated islands, in August, the Jin army again captured the Shanhaiguan Pass, the Guanning defenders avoided the battle, and let the Jin army harvest the crops outside the city, and the Guanning Jin defense line built by more than 6 million taels of Liao pay every year almost became a laughing stock, in addition to waiting for death to see the meaning of existence, the Jin State firmly grasped the strategic initiative, and did not rule out the possibility of its further westward invasion.

Li Huai finally waved his fist and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the changes in the external situation have wiped out the achievements of our hard work for a year, survival is still the biggest problem we face, it is difficult to say how it will be next year, but it will definitely not be as lucky as this year, my Fengzhou military and civilians must cheer up and prepare to meet any challenge." ”

"Willing to serve Fengzhou" Jin Sheng and the Fengzhou officials waved their fists and shouted, but Liu Zhilun turned pale - this is the cruel reality, you can turn a blind eye in Beijing, you must accept the challenge here, otherwise it is a dead end, but how did Fengzhou soar from 200,000 to 300,000?

Liu Zhilun settled down, his eyes were fixed on Ma Shiying, this guy is the most shameless, anyone dares to be an official, Fengzhou newly set up a political secretary, and invited him to be the governor, he was as excited as if he had been beaten with chicken blood, and he worked harder than anyone else, and I had never heard that he had such a good character before.

"Ma Shiying, this official asks you, how can there be such a large population in Guihua Town, is there someone who has entered the customs to coerce the people? You answered truthfully. Liu Zhilun put up a stand and asked.

"The fart is coercing the population, and the people who leave the customs can't get rid of it." Ma Shiying has stayed outside the customs for a long time and learned to speak foul language, this governor always treats him as a prisoner, he doesn't need to be polite, he ssigns his fingers to Liu Zhilun - there are nearly 40,000 Ordos people who return to Shun, more than 10,000 Datong officers and families who go out of the customs, and more than 10,000 farmers and craftsmen brought out of the customs by the merchants, along with their families, there are more than 60,000 people, and there are many SX people and SX people in Fengzhou, and they will recruit a group of relatives and fellow villagers when they stand on their feet, especially here there are more men and fewer women, There is a famine in the Guannai and a few buckets of rice can buy a yellow flower girl, and those who can't marry a wife simply ask someone to buy a wife in the Guannai, and now there are human traffickers who specialize in this business, and often the front foot of the woman comes, and the back foot comes with a large family, these black black households have been concealed or underreported by the guards, how to say that there are 30,000 or 40,000 people, they come to kill and do not leave, I don't know how to deal with these people.

"Arrest the traffickers and punish them severely!" Liu Zhilun was so angry that he stood up and yelled.

Bai Yuzhu waved his hand vigorously and said: "It's useless, we have caught and arrested, beaten and beaten, and some have been punished as coolies, but they are still repeatedly banned, people are willing to fight and suffer, and the villagers also say good things about human traffickers, we can't always be wicked people, it's not a bastard of the court, if there is a bowl of rice and a ghost, we are willing to sell our daughter outside the customs." ”

Liu Zhilun was deflated all of a sudden, sat down and stopped talking, Li Huai waved his hand and said, "Continue the meeting, and we'll talk about these things later." ”

Du Wenhuan, the chief of praise, then explained the current military situation: the imperial court did something stupid when the SD was quelled, and after conquering Dengzhou in February, it should recruit Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming in time, these two were born as miners in Liaodong, and defected to Mao Wenlong in the first year of the Apocalypse, and fought a bloody war with the Jin army for ten years. After the death of Mao Wenlong, they took refuge in Sun Yuanhua, and the seekers were just stealing their lives, the imperial court not only drove them out of Dengzhou, but also sent Dongjiang Town Water Division to intercept and kill, obviously to kill them all, forcing the two to take refuge in the enemy, Jin Guo got these two Dongjiang Town to rest, Lushun is just a beginning, and several isolated islands entrenched in Dongjiang Town will be lost sooner or later. So where is the next target for Jin Jun to free his hands? Guanning Jin defense line city is tall and strong, and a large number of Ming troops gathered, the Jin army can not afford the price of a strong attack, the use of various breaks, encirclement points to send reinforcements, and gradually encroach on the method is more realistic, their target of attack should be Jizhen, where the defenders are not enough food, the border fort is broken, absolutely can not carry the Jin army, break the border wall and kill the Beijing division or even SD while plundering to feed the war, while annihilating the Ming army to consume the Ming national strength, this is definitely the best choice for the Jin army.

Du Wenhuan glanced at Liu Zhilun, and continued: "Then how should I deal with Fengzhou? There is only one way, in the name of suppressing thieves, we will fight wherever the thieves go, and our army will fight the thieves all the way south to Huguang. Huguang's fertile land and numerous rivers have replaced Suhu Lake as an important place for domestic grain in the Ming Dynasty, controlling Huguang's grain, and all the problems of Fengzhou have been solved. Don't worry too much about the Jin army, the battle between Kuku and Tun has already hurt them, and then you have to weigh it carefully if you want to go on an expedition, and then there is the imperial court, although it is a little bit of a bag, but it can help us attract the attention of the Jin army, Zhili and SD are better than us in their eyes. After the Yellow River broke in June last year, we should have taken advantage of the chaos to enter the HN but dragged it out until the winter of this year to cross the river, and fortunately encountered a group of waste, only to avoid the catastrophe, the rogue is like a locust, after eating a piece of land to think about the next piece of land, go all the way to erosion, and exterminate this ugly kind of Shuntian Yingmin. Our army is mighty and invincible, and it is easy to beat the Liukou, as long as the trade route to Huguang is opened, there will be grain in hand, and then the world can let me gallop on iron horses. ”

"The old handsome is mighty, long live the Fengzhou Army, go south, go south, we are willing to pay." Li Jianji, Sun Tingyao, and Shen Shoulian stood up first and applauded, and a group of officers followed suit, and the cries of "go south, go south" rang out.

"Down with the Ming traitorous party! Down with the Kim Bandits! Wang Fang and Zhang Mengcun took the lead in chanting, and then Zhao Sheng, Gu Keli and other officials from the homeless people responded in groups.

Liu Zhilun's face turned blue with anger, and he pointed at Du Wenhuan and said in a deep voice: "Du Wenhuan, what are you going to do, do you want to rebel?" ”

"Of course I won't rebel, the Du family has been loyal and loyal to the emperor for generations, isn't it to repay the emperor for fighting thieves? I'm afraid that the imperial court will still ask me to enter Fengzhou in the future to suppress the Kou," Du Wenhuan replied with a smile, and casually pointed at Wang Fang and Zhang Mengcun and the gang, "They will not rebel, and the elimination of the traitorous party is also loyal to the emperor." ”

Liu Zhilun sneered a few times, and was about to leave his seat, but Ortai grabbed him, slapped the table and shouted: "Enough, what do you want to do?" I thought that no one would be able to control you if the commander was not there, and we were in the great politics of Fengzhou, and it was not the turn of the military affairs office to give me advice, so I would sit back. ”

Ortai was angry, Du Wenhuan and the others didn't dare to be disobedient, and they each returned to their original places and sat down. Liu Xingzuo, who had been silent, spoke at this time: "I will talk about it later, let's think about next year first, I have a hunch, the Jin army is very likely to invade the west again, you don't know Zhushen, they regard the oath as big as the sky, Xuanfu promised to open the horse market last year, and transferred Chahar's New Year's coins to them, but this year they didn't do a single one, they will never swallow this breath, Xuanfu will definitely have a war, Fengzhou has to be involved, now we have to think clearly how to deal with it." ”

"I've been thinking about this matter all the time, the Ming Kingdom can not take the oath seriously, but in our Zhushen's opinion, this is an insult, Xinghewei must strengthen precautions, there are too many altars and jars here, and you can't leave if you want to, only the enemy is outside the country." Asari nodded as well.

Li Huai frowned and asked, "Xinghewei has been repairing the fortress, can this new thing stop the Jin army's attack?" ”

"Of course I can" Han Lin had been whispering to Na Mu'er, and then he immediately stood up and patted his chest and said, "I have built a group of fortresses in the Butong River and Weining Haizi, and each of the three fortresses echoes each other, this kind of fortress is four feet high, made of bluestone and extremely strong, with guns and crossbows, even if the Jin army bombards it with Hongyi cannons, it will not be able to break through without a month's effort." ”

Xing and Wei Tongzhi Hui Dengxiang proudly unfolded a map of the fortress, and explained to the officials who came around, this kind of fortress is different from the city tower of the Ming Kingdom, the periphery is polyprismatic and taller, the wall can be set up with guns, the wall also has many narrow perforations, four lower semicircular platforms stretch out of the outer wall several zhang away, and the main body of the fortress can form a cross fire, and can cover up and down, the whole fortress does not leave any dead angle for the attacker, there is a wide trench more than a zhang deep outside the fortress, there is an open space in the middle of the fortress, Houses and wells can temporarily accommodate thousands of people and animals.

Everyone listened to the smacking of their tongues, and even Liu Zhilun and Jin Sheng and others were amazed, and proposed to build a few in naturalization, but Zhao Ji said disapprovingly: "This thing is good, but it has to be piled up with money, and it can only be used for defense, there are a few on the border, we started with cavalry, and attack is the right move." ”

"That's true, we must not wait to be beaten like the Ming army, using the fortress as the support to attack is the right move, give me some troops, and add some firearms to the fortress, and I Xinghewei can block the attack of the Jin State." Liu Xingzuo nodded and said.

Ortai briefly discussed a few words with Li Huai and Li Fugui, and said to Liu Xingzuo: "The Great Commander's Mansion can allocate some more military funds for you, and the troops cannot be taken out for the time being, but you only need to block the first round of attacks of the Jin army, and you can arrive with the main force of the battalion for five days at most." ”

"Deputy Commander, Xinghe Iron Factory can provide you with guns, Wang Zheng and they have made a new type of Hongyi cannon, which is light and practical and the price is surprisingly low, armor, bows and crossbows, swords and spears can also be made, it doesn't matter if you don't have enough money, my money can lend you money." Li Jianji hurriedly squeezed over and said, the Xinghe Iron Factory opened by the Jin merchants has just started, and it needs a big order too much.

Li Huai saw that the time was not early, and announced that the meeting would be adjourned temporarily, and it would be held again tomorrow, and everyone left in groups of three or five. Liu Zhilun refused to leave, and together with Jin Sheng, he blocked Liu Xingzuo, Ortai, Li Huai, and Li Fugui to ask for clarification - Du Wenhuan's words were secretly murderous, and they were responded to by some Fengzhou officials, this matter is not trivial, and it must not be sloppy.

"Lord Liu, the old man is a martial artist, say casually that you don't have to care, Fengzhou's decree is like a mountain, without the order of the Great Commander's Mansion, no one can transfer a single soldier, no one will be able to transfer a single soldier, no accident will happen, we promise in the name of the Great Commander's Mansion that we will never betray the Ming Dynasty, you can rest assured of this." Ortai replied indifferently, and was also very dissatisfied with Du Wenhuan in his heart.

"It's the General Army's Mansion!" Liu Zhilun immediately corrected, the Fengzhou people stubbornly insisted on the title of "Great Commander's Mansion" has always made him angry, he said solemnly, "Naturalization exists against Ming words and deeds is not overnight, and now it appears in your political meeting, this official is telling you, if you have the intention to rebel, kill me first, otherwise you must severely punish Du Wenhuan and others." ”

"Big deal, Du Wenhuan is not a vulgar martial artist, with his talent to learn the imperial examination, this person came to you without authorization, his intentions are unpredictable, the court will not pursue it, but you can't take it lightly, don't hurt yourself in the end!" Jin Sheng also said with a sneer.

Ortai frowned and was about to respond, but Na Mu'er pulled Han Lin in - Na Mu'er went to Beijing for a trip, met Xu Guangqi for the last time, and waited until the teacher died of illness and finished the funeral, and only came back not long after.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Brother Yu is going back to his hometown in Jiangzhou, and he can't stay no matter how much he persuades him." Na Mu'er seemed very disappointed, Han Lin's talent is obvious to all, the Great Commander's Office has considered changing the Department of Industry and Commerce to the Department of Commerce, and set up the Department of Industry and Construction from it, asking him to be the governor, and at the same time in charge of the Western Department of Fengzhou Academy, in addition, Na Mu'er also brought back hundreds of books from Jingshi, and also wanted to ask him to study and compile together, but he didn't expect Han Lin to be homesick.

"Gentlemen, Yugong is grateful for his love, and he was lucky to do something small, although he has the heart to accompany you, he has no choice but to leave home for a long time, and he is very worried about his home, so he is here to resign, don't blame you!" Han Lin said apologetically, Liu Xingzuo already knew that he wanted to go home, and smiled and waved his hand in agreement.

"Yugong can't say that, everyone has homesickness, delaying you in Fengzhou for nearly two years, we should thank you!" Ortai held Han Lin's hand tightly, looked at him with blank eyes and asked, "Yugong, are you still coming back?" ”

"This mountain, this water, this person is nostalgic, maybe I'll be back next fall." Han Lin replied with a smile, everyone was happy, pulled him to sit down, Han Lin suggested that Wang Zheng be transferred back, the old gentleman is old, and it is always inappropriate to run around for a long time, it is better to hand over the matter of the Industrial Construction Division and the presiding over the Western School to him, Ortai immediately clapped his hands and said okay.

Everyone talked for a while, Liu Zhilun pulled out Du Wenhuan's matter again, Han Lin was a little embarrassed and got up to leave, Liu Xingzuo grabbed him and said: "Yugong, you have shed blood and sweat with us, we don't treat you as an outsider, you also talk about your views." ”

"Yu Gong was born and is familiar with the situation of naturalization, and this official also wants to hear your opinion." Liu Zhilun also said that he had only heard of Han Lin, but he had never dealt with him, but this person was born in the imperial examination and should be able to support him.