This year, the drought and locusts in the north were serious, and the Ming State was not only unable to provide disaster relief, but also had to deal with the Qing army's attack on Ningjin and the rebellion of thieves in Huguang at the same time, and the money and food could not make ends meet. Shoufu Xue Guoguan strongly opposed the increase in the salary, but there was nothing to be done, and he actually instigated the emperor to borrow money from high-ranking officials and relatives, and he said that since the naturalized uncle lived by borrowing money, why couldn't the emperor borrow money? The emperor believed this set of nonsense, first of all, he targeted Wu Qingbo Li Guorui, and forced people to lend him 400,000 taels of silver, Li Guorui is the nephew of the Empress Dowager Xiaoding, he has always been honest and duty, and he was forced to sell his property in the market, and the emperor thought that Wu Qingbo deliberately did the right thing, and issued an edict to remove the title and continue to chase the comparison, Li Guorui was anxious and afraid, so he simply hanged himself. Borrowing money to force people to die caused public outrage, rumors spread in Beijing, filial piety of the Empress Dowager is the Nine Lotus Bodhisattva, the emperor forced her relatives to death, will definitely harm the children and grandchildren, sure enough, not long after the death of the two years old emperor's fifth son, the emperor regretted it again, and issued an edict to Li Guorui's son to succeed Wu Qingbo, and the money collected was returned.

In order to borrow money, Li Yu was willing to share power with creditors in order to borrow money, and the emperor did not pull out a dime and borrowed, which was not the same as reaching out to grab it, and the rich people were afraid and transferred the money to a safe place to store it. Fengzhou picked up a large amount of silver deposits, immediately issued an additional 1 million taels of silver, and resettled 150,000 displaced people to Tuntian Datong and 50,000 to join the Western Pioneer Group -- Dorji sent a letter saying that the Hami and Turu domains were sparsely populated, but the land was fertile, the climate was mild, and the corn and potato harvests were even better than those in Fengzhou.

The momentum of industrial and commercial development in Fengzhou this year has not decreased, and by the end of September, the tax collection has reached 1 million taels, and it should still be able to collect about 100,000 taels after the winter, and it has solved the problem of displaced people by spending other people's money, and the Prime Minister's Office is still very rich, and the Fengzhou Chamber of Commerce is very uneasy about this - the poorer the Prime Minister's Office, the more stable the position of businessmen, and this has become a general consensus. The Liberal Party proposed in the House of Parliament that the Prime Minister's Office and businessmen jointly raise funds to form the Fengzhou Transportation Co., Ltd. and build two roads to the Turu Domain and the Khalkha River.

In the Grand Commander's Mansion, Ortai, Li Fugui and Batu held an official letter and discussed in a low voice, while the governor Liu Zhilun was closing his eyes and recuperating, only the monitoring eunuch Liu Wenzhong was still talking nonsense - this guy was not only the owner of the Black Eagle Trading Company, but also the steward of the eunuchs in the palace, and he was busy every day, and he had long forgotten his own work, and he didn't know what happened in Shanxi until the Great Commander's Mansion looked for him to unify his voice.

"Our family knows as soon as we guess that it must be Wenchen who has made Shanxi unlikely, and the naturalized uncle must not continue to act, rest assured, those magistrates will definitely not dare to talk nonsense, and our family will play according to your wishes." Liu Wenzhong has recently become popular, and he casually wrote a few letters to Jingshi and pulled more than 500,000 taels of silver deposits for the naturalized silver banknote store under the Black Eagle Trading Company, which is more than the total amount of silver deposits pulled by other silver banknote stores from Jingshi, and became famous in the financial circles of Fengzhou in one fell swoop.

"Hmph, you help the people, the official has nothing to say, what is the explanation for sending troops to the Guannai?" Liu Zhilun opened his eyes and said coldly - the Fengzhou Army Zhou Yuji's troops were stationed in Taiyuan, Zhang Chuanjie's troops were stationed in Yingzhou, and Sun Shoufa's troops were stationed in Zhangjiakou.

"Who said that the naturalized army has entered the customs, why didn't our family see it, Lord Governor, which town is the soldier of which town under the banner of the town, don't talk nonsense," Liu Wenzhong opened his eyes and said nonsense, and then glanced out the window, this time it is time to go to the exchange to see the market of bonds and stocks, and immediately said again, "Let's do it, our family still has urgent matters, so let's go first." ”

"Xuanda Sanzhen is in hand, you must be very proud!" Liu Zhilun said hatefully, and at the same time spat at Liu Wenzhong's back.

Li Fugui shook his head and replied: "The governor is wrong, you know that the officials of Shanxi know that if you don't send troops in, you will definitely be slaughtered as a fat sheep, this is a pot of raw rice, you have to eat if you don't want to eat, and there will be a lot of trouble in the future!" If you can ask the imperial court to take over Shanxi, we can't ask for it. ”

Liu Zhilun was silent, and at this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and Yun Rong and Chang Shu led Huang Zongxi and Gu Jiang in.

"Where is Hermes-Epitek, why haven't you seen the Flying Tiger Rider?" Chang Shu asked when he entered the door, he and Yun Rong had been preparing for the government affairs school these days, and when they heard that Li Yu was back, they immediately rushed over with Huang Zongxi and Gu Jiang.

"Hermes-Epitek took the family to Baoketu," Batu replied with a wry smile, Li Yu stopped working again, and claimed that he wanted to rest for a month, and others had nothing to do with him, Batu turned his face to Huang Zongxi and Gu Jiang and said, "Taichong, Zhongqing, you have worked hard to organize the government affairs school during this time!" ”

"Zhongqing hated the Qing Kingdom, and admired Wen Tianxiang's protégé Wang Yanwu, so he changed his name to Yanwu Ningren, and called him Gu Yanwu in the future," Chang Shu waved his hand, and pointed to Batu and said to Liu Zhilun, "Master, your character was obtained by you, and your knowledge is great, so let's just give Batu a word." ”

Batu immediately begged Liu Zhilun, everyone else has words, he, a person who reads Chinese books, no longer takes words and has no face, Liu Zhilun is thoughtful - Wang Yanwu followed Wen Tianxiang to resist Meng Yuan, and after the defeat, he returned to his hometown to keep filial piety and write books, and refused to go out to a different dynasty for the rest of his life, Gu Jiang suddenly changed his name and changed his name, do you have any ideas? Hearing Batu call him, he thought for a while and said: "If you want to learn to read, you should learn it, so let's call it Xizhi." ”

Batu clapped his hands, everyone talked for a while, Ortai called Zhang Zhiyao, and said to Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu: "Taichong and Ning people are all great talents, and they should indeed meet the commander, so don't wait for him to come back, I will ask Guancheng to accompany you to Baoketu." ”

Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu glanced at each other and nodded together in agreement.

At the foot of Daqing Mountain, a red deer drinking water by the puddle suddenly raised its head, seemed to realize the danger, and immediately ran to the nearby woods, but a step too late, several hounds came out of nowhere to block the way, and the red deer had nowhere to hide, and quickly swept across the grassland to flee into the distance, and behind it was a large group of children on horseback to chase - the proud Mongols had no habit of hunting, and whether they could catch their prey depended on their own riding and shooting skills, and the children also inherited this tradition.

"Zorictu, release the arrows!"

"Ada Hai, speed up the horse and catch up!"

The guards shouted and urged, and Li Jin, who rushed to the front, shot an arrow, but it was shot on the ass of the red deer, and the red deer fled faster after eating pain. Li Meng slapped his horse and raised his bow forward to shoot hard, the red deer was hit by another arrow in the neck, and his body was shaky, Li Meng immediately re-mounted the arrow, but there was a sound behind him, and the red deer was shot and fell, and was immediately held down by the rushing hounds. Li Meng looked back and saw that Li Jin was proudly raising a short gun to show off, and a group of children were shouting and screaming excitedly.

"Zorictu, you, you fool!" Li Meng was a little angry, but he was surprised in his heart where did Li Jin get this short gun, and he didn't see him hanging the fire rope?

"That's right, we're competing in cavalry shooting, and we didn't say we can use firearms." Gui Tu and Wu Tai behind Li Meng were also very unconvinced.

"But I didn't say you couldn't use a firecracker," the lark immediately defended his half-brother.

"Brother Zhuoliktu is the smartest, anyway, he knocked down the deer." Liu Chengzu, the son of the little living Buddha Zhana Bazar and Liu Xingzuo, admired Li Jin the most, and naturally spoke to Li Jin.

Li Yu in the distance shook his head slightly, and called the quarreling children back - there is a bit of disharmony in the family, Li Jin and Li Meng's little brothers have a delicate relationship, Zhanabazar and Liu Chengzu know how to follow people when they are only five years old, and they always revolve around Li Jin on a pony, and their daughter Skylark commands the hounds and is obviously helping her brother of the same mother, and Li Meng only has two new brothers Wutai and Guitu, and they have almost become alone. Several righteous sons are also excessive, except for Kong Guoer and Cha Gui who are cheering for Li Meng, the others are cheering for Li Jin, and Hadari also lent his good horse to Li Jin. The children had a small hill at a young age, but Ulan, Wu Langha, and Su Tai turned a blind eye and chatted energetically with a group of businessmen who came to join in the fun.

is still the third Li Qin is the most well-behaved, hiding behind himself and holding the book and reading Li Mengyang's poems aloud - "The Yellow River water surrounds the wall of the Han Palace, and there are a few lines of autumn wind and geese on the river; The guest crossed the trench to chase the wild horse, and the general Tao shot the wolf; The yellow dust ancient crossing is flying, and the white moon is in the sky and the battlefield is cold; I heard that Shuo Fang was brave and strategic, but who is Guo Fenyang today. ”

"The second son's magic arrow, fifty or sixty steps to ride and shoot, steady in one arrow, and then shoot and kill, wonderful, the second son is a good strategy!"

"Riding and shooting is not a matter for the second son at all, although the second son is young, but he is talented and smart, Tessie's grandfather clock is so wonderful, it can be disassembled and installed at will, and now it is fired Tessie glass, I think it can always be done."

The businessmen were thick-skinned, talking nonsense with their eyes open, and patting Li Jin's ass.

Li Jin is impatient to read but his hands are very skillful, he likes to fiddle with Taixi's things the most, the clocks at home are well known to him, and he also makes a lot of moving puppets according to the cat and the tiger to send them to people, and is currently known as the first person in Fengzhou clocks, even Shi Lao Liu, such a gun expert often asks him for advice, for such a likable and unprofessional heir, of course the businessmen like it, and they make no secret of their support for Li Jin in front of Wu Langha - the Li family is a little weird, Wu Langha gave birth to the eldest Li Meng and the third Li Qin, but Li Meng is close to Su Tai, is very cold to his mother, Li Qin likes to read, and prefers to be with the learned Ulan, and Ulan is very angry with his second child Li Jin is not attentive to his studies, and the mother and son often quarrel, but Wu Langha, who never reads, and Li Jin, who is full of Tessy skills, are the closest.

Li Yu waved his hand disapprenously, called Li Meng over, took off his bow and arrows and stuffed them into his son's hand with the sack, hugged him and whispered: "Adahai, that arrow is really good, in two years you will be able to put on armor and learn to ride and shoot with Uncle Mozhige." ”

"Daddy, I still want to go to the junior whistle of the Wuxuan Academy!" Li Meng was excited, holding his bow and arrows and said to his father.

Li Yu nodded, walked among the children and picked up Liu Chengzu and the little living Buddha off the horse, and then stretched out his hand to Li Jinyi, Li Jin obediently handed over the short gun - this is a black and shiny short gun less than a foot long, a bit like the Ming army's crutch gun, but there is no hook on the dragon's head, but it is equipped with a hammer, pull the trigger, and the hammer hits the jaws of the medicine pool with a crisp sound and splashes sparks.

"The Great Commander, this kind of Gun Taixi people call it Suifa Gun, do not use the fire rope to ignite the fire pool, but use flint to make fire, the second son is really smart, Father Deng Ruoshui is thorough, and he drew a picture for us casually, it took three months to figure it out, this is the first branch of the trial," Li Mao, the director of the Xuande Iron Works, immediately came over to introduce, and then pulled up the business with a smile on his face, "This kind of gun has a fast rate of fire, the soldiers are safer to use, and they are not afraid of wind and rain, it is much better than the arquebus, the commander, let's change the clothes of the Fengzhou Army, Xuande Iron Works guarantees to do a good job. ”

"This kind of flintlock machine is the most difficult to make, it can't be made without the steel of our railway hall, the commander, the iron cannon of our Bauktu Iron Works is better, and we also learned a kind of mortar from the Taixi people, light and flexible to keep up with the march, the largest can hit twenty pounds of cannon, throw away the tiger squat cannon, and replace it with our mortar cannon." Chen Decai, the director of the Bauktu Iron Works, squeezed forward and shouted.

"Commander, the fortress we build must be strong, Xinghe Iron Factory can pull out iron bars more than a zhang long, and the iron bars in the masonry and mud are the strongest, and the horns on the heads of the thieves can't get in." The only things that Xinghe Iron Factory can take out are iron plows and leather cannons, and the director Chen Shishi is the most anxious, eager to eat fat in one go.

Businessmen rushed together, surrounding Li Yu to pull business, some wanted to make ammunition, some wanted to make grain, some wanted to make quilts, and even the pots and pans used by the army did not let go - the Fengzhou Army's military spending plan for next year will rise to 600,000, and these guys must have heard the rumors.

"You should go to the Terracotta Division and the Ordnance Division, how can I help?" Li Yu walked back to the ground impatiently, and Titangsi reported that the Qing army had reopened the war against Jinzhou and Ningyuan, and now he was okay to poke a hole in the sky, and as soon as his heart relaxed, he ran to Baoketu, intending to rest for a while, but these merchants heard the wind and rushed to him.

Li Yu has 5,000 acres of land in Baoketu, which is the result of his accumulated military exploits over the years, of which more than 3,000 acres of land near the Kundulun River are entrusted to Yang Tingfang's farm, and more than 1,000 acres under Daqing Mountain have become pastures and hunting grounds.

"Fengzhou will not launch a big war in the short term, and it is impossible to change clothes on a large scale, so you have to think of other ways to make money." Li Yu returned to his manor, sat down in the lobby, and said to the merchants who came in behind his buttocks, and the merchants immediately mourned, especially the directors of the three major iron factories were fierce - there are many coal and iron ore in Fengzhou, and they are not buried deep and easy to mine, and the large and small iron factories have increased the output of pig iron to six or seven million catties in one go, far exceeding demand, and the army is simply unable to live without fighting, Li Yu was annoyed when he heard it, and waved his hand and asked: "I know that you must have passed, let's say it bluntly, what are you going to ask me to do?" ”

"Do the business of the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom!" The businessmen glanced at each other, replied in unison, and then talked about the reason - Fengzhou does not fight, but the Ming State has a war to fight, and the war needs weapons and ordnance, we only sell weapons to the Qing State but not to the Ming State, which is not fair, and we respect the emperor of the Ming State, and we can't watch the Ming army suffer a loss, so both sides should be sold.

The businessmen came prepared, and drafted a recital in Li Yu's tone - the Ming Dynasty was full of internal and external troubles, and now there is a drought and locust plague, the lord is worried about the humiliation of the ministers, and the ministers do not dare to forget the holy Longen, although the naturalization is difficult to keep food and clothing in the bitter cold land, they still save money and food to help the internal 50,000 taels of silver banknotes, and the saint but all the silver money purchased and naturalized, such as horses and camels, military weapons, etc., are all unimpeded, and the minister's power is not caught, but the heart of the loyal monarch can be learned.

These guys are baiting again, this is how Qing Guo took the bait, this time they want to catch a bigger fish, forget it, as long as they don't let me pay-Li Yu casually drew a charge on the manuscript, and then asked the merchants to take it back to Liu Wenzhong's father-in-law, the merchants cheered, praising the commander for observing public opinion, these guys really don't treat themselves as outsiders, eat a big meal of game in the manor, and then wander around for a while before dispersing.

After sending the merchants away, Li Yu took the opportunity to lead the children into the mountains to play openly for several days, until the weather turned cold before going back. The children carried the prey all the way back to the manor, Li Yu held Liu Chengzu in his arms, rode a little living Buddha around his neck, and held a little lark in his hand, and shouted when he entered the yard, and the housekeeper Wang Ershun hurriedly went up to pick up the little living Buddha and Liu Chengzu, and told Li Yu that there were guests at home.

Li Yu took off his felt hat and fanned the wind and walked into the lobby, Li Huai and Zhang Zhiyao were accompanying the two young scholars, but it seemed that the conversation was not pleasant, Li Huai saw Li Yu come in, and immediately introduced the guests - Huang Zongxi, a scholar from Yuyao, Zhejiang, the word Taichong, Gu Yanwu, a scholar from Kunshan, and a native of Ning.

Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu stood up and saluted while looking at Li Yu - this person is so tall, but he is dressed like a soldier and has short hair on his head.

After Li Yu returned the salute, he beckoned the guests to sit down, opened the letters of recommendation from Yun Rong and Chang Shu casually, and looked at the guests while reading the letters-the two young men were handsome and elegant, fair-skinned, they should be from a wealthy family, and the fox fur collar on the brocade robe was very valuable at a glance, and this kind of person might not be able to keep it.

"When there is chaos and unrest today, what are the plans for the future of the naturalized uncle? Are you interested in entering the Atlas? After entering the customs, do you want to enter Huaxia or Yidi? As soon as Huang Zongxi sat down, he went straight to the point and asked questions continuously.

Li Yu was a little unhappy, pondered for a moment and said: "'Shuntian should respond to the people, advance with the times' is Fengzhou's future plan, we don't care about Huaxia and Yidi, how can we achieve the people's wealth and the country's wealth, the people's strength and the country's strength, we can do it, I can also tell you, Fengzhou must meet two conditions to enter the customs, the first is to solve the problem of Huayi's integration, and the second can be supported by the people in the customs." ”

"I would like to add that we cannot tolerate the excessive expansion of the Qing State's strength, and if the Ming army cannot hold the border wall, we must also enter the customs." Li Huai said with a gloomy face.