Zhu Youzhen looked at the arquebus in front of him and was stunned for a while, then opened his mouth and asked Lu Qi, "What is the price that person offered to the blacksmith shop?" ”

Lu Qi then replied: "The price offered by the man is to imitate the same arquebus, and he is willing to pay 100 good skins, or 60 mink. ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately raised his head and looked at Lu Qi and said, "This price is too expensive, you let people pretend to be the owner of the blacksmith shop and go and contact him." Ask him how much the Rus' will pay him for this arquebus. On this basis, we can cut the price by 10%, and we can also give him a batch of firearms and * first, and give them a tribal to try. ”

Lu Qi couldn't help but be a little stunned, he subconsciously asked, "Gift?" Your Majesty, the arquebuses used by the Rus' are not necessarily better than the guns we make, and with the financial resources of these tribes, the ministers thought that they might not be able to buy a few, and perhaps they would not have to buy the firearms they had given away. ”

Zhu Youzhen had almost figured it out in his heart, and he couldn't help but smile and said, "No, as long as they use our arquebuses, those Rus people probably won't be able to exchange furs with them with firearms." In addition, the price of the living materials they need can also be reduced, and it is also lower than the cost of the goods that the Rus merchants can carry.

If the Rus' could not trade for their furs, they would then have to plunder by force. Do you think these tribes will buy more firearms from us in order to protect their territory? ”

Lu Qi finally reacted, "Your Majesty means to let them go to war with the Rus' people in the east?" ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said, "War? How can several tribes that have not yet been unified go to war with the same country. Although the Rus' people are not highly civilized, they at least have a country as their backing. But with our weapons imported, at least these tribes can resist for a little longer. I don't want an uncertain factor to arise between Da Ming and Hou Jin..."

The relocation of the three feudatories of Shaanxi, the intention of the king of Han and the king of Qin to rebel, the separation of the governor's jurisdiction, and the division of the northern Zhili into three administrative regions of Shuntianfu, Tianjin and Hebei Province, in the process of implementing these policies, finally began to arouse heated discussions in the capital.

In fact, what the gentry and bureaucrats in the capital paid the most attention to was the relocation of the three feudatories and the rebellion of the kings of Han and Qin. The former mainly made them worry about where these clans were going to move and whether they would harm their hometowns. The latter mainly worries them that some clan crime cases attached to the rebellion case will not destroy the provisions of the Ming Dynasty's current criminal law on eight discussions, that is, the unspoken rule that the punishment cannot be punished by a sergeant.

However, the most surprising thing for these gentry and bureaucrats was that no matter how much momentum they created, the senior officials who participated in the discussion of these policies this time actually remained silent one by one, and none of them came forward to clarify whether they had anything to do with the introduction of these policies, and no official was willing to reveal the inside story to them.

Although the public opinion created by these gentry and bureaucrats was huge, because they did not enjoy the support of the middle and lower classes, they had to rest as soon as the heat passed. And the people should not support them, because the sins committed by these clans against ordinary people are simply appalling, and they are very worried that they will fall on their own families.

The ordinary people who felt the same support strongly for the imperial court to punish the criminal clan and seek justice for those victims, and even other imperial court policies promulgated at the same time also received great support from these people.

Throughout the month of May, the cabinet members headed by Huang Liji watched the rising public opinion in the capital Shilin on thin ice, like a big tide coming towards the impact, but this tide finally retreated helplessly and quickly, without bringing them any harm.

Huang Liji and others were certainly relieved, but many people in the DPRK and China were quite disappointed by this. Originally, some people thought that these criticisms of Shilin could at least force one or two ruling officials, or a few new people, to change the more radical reform orientation of the DPRK and China, but they were obviously disappointed.

On the other side, after Shilin's discussion of the imperial court's reform policy faded away, Huang Liji, who was in charge of the overall situation, only had a few comfortable days later, and received a few pieces of music that gave him a headache in early June.

After Huang Liji saw the recitals sent by the governor of Yansui, the governor of Shaanxi, Cui Chengxiu, Hong Chengchou and others, he immediately got up and convened a meeting of cabinet members.

At the cabinet meeting, Huang Liji asked Yao Shiheng to read these recitals to his colleagues, and after Yao Shiheng finished reading, Huang Liji said to his colleagues a little tiredly: "Let's discuss it, see how this matter should be handled, and I can report to Your Majesty." ”

Most of the cabinet members were still in a state of being frightened by the contents of these recitals, and while they were still thinking about the contents of these recitals, Zhang Ruitu had already clenched his fists with both hands, slammed on the table in front of him and said: "How can this be reasonable, this Hong Hengjiu is too lawless. First recruited and rebelled, and then treacherously killed and surrendered the leader of the exiles, and the soldiers under his command still had the behavior of killing good and risking meritorious deeds, we must punish him heavily, otherwise how can we explain to Your Majesty and the people of the world..."

Qian Qianyi and Li Tianjing also couldn't bear Hong Chengchou's backlash and wanton killing, and thought that Hong Chengchou should be given a certain punishment. Seeing that there were three people in a row who all supported the punishment of Hong Chengchou, Guo Yunhou finally couldn't help but interject and said: "What a few people said may be very reasonable, but we sit and comment peacefully in the Jingshi, and we may not be able to understand the environment when Hong Hengjiu gave such an order, maybe he had to do it at that time?" Shouldn't we know more about the situation and then make a judgment? ”

Zhang Ruitu suddenly said dissatisfiedly: "We really don't know much about the situation in Shaanxi, but don't the governor of Yansui and the governor of Shaanxi still know the local situation?" Moreover, even if he first appeased and then repented of attacking, he was forced to do so. Allowing his army to slaughter good people may just be a lax restriction.

However, he had already captured Chengcheng and defeated the exile army, so why did he immediately behead the captured leaders for public display, instead of waiting for the fall of the imperial court? ”

Guo Yun was stunned before he reluctantly defended: "Didn't Hong Hengjiu also explain in the recital, it's not that he is arbitrary, it's really that these homeless leaders are cunning and changeable, and their temperament is capricious.

Today, they are willing to be cared for, but because they are forced by the situation, they do not really want to surrender. Once the tiger is released and returned to the mountain, I am afraid that these people will still become a scourge in the future. Shaanxi has been hit by disasters year after year, and the local people can be said to have no savings, and once any disaster occurs, the local government cannot cope with it, and as long as these people instigate, it will be the time when the chaos in Shaanxi will arise again.

I think Hong Hyung-koo's response is not too out of line. And didn't Cui Du Yushi also say that the local gentry didn't think it was a bad thing, but thought he was doing a good job? ”

Zhang Ruitu couldn't help sneering: "Cui Chengxiu's words, do you also believe it?" ”

Guo Yunhou was speechless for a moment, and the atmosphere at the meeting looked a little tense. It was precisely because of the death of several old friends one after another, Xu Guangqi, who was in a trance, didn't want to let several colleagues continue to quarrel over this matter, so he couldn't help but speak.

"I don't think there's any point in continuing to argue, this has already happened, and the most important thing now is not to hold Hong Hengjiu responsible, but how to appease the displaced people in Shaanxi. lest they hurt their kind and cause trouble again. In my opinion, it is better to write down the opinions of both parties together, and then hand them over to Your Majesty together with these movements, and wait for the holy judgment. ”

The conference room was quiet for a moment, and Guo Yunhou was the first to raise his hand and say, "I agree with Xu Shangshu's opinion. With him taking the lead, others also raised their left hands one after another.

Huang Liji looked around and saw that everyone raised their hands, so he also raised his hands and said, "Then do it, Yao Shiheng, you copy down the two proposals of the cabinet, and I will take them to ask to see Your Majesty." Your Majesty seems to have left the palace early in the morning today? ”

Huang Liji turned to Xu Guangqi and asked, Xu Guangqi showed a little sad expression and replied: "Yes, today is the first seven days of Academician Li, and Your Majesty said that a memorial service will be held in the Royal Academy of Sciences to commemorate the three academicians who died last month. Now that this is over, I will go with you to the Academy of Sciences to meet Your Majesty, and by the way, I will participate in the memorial service in memory of the three friends..."

On the lawn in front of a chapel in the northeast corner of the Academy of Sciences, Zhu Youzhen was reading a eulogy commemorating Li Zhizao, Jin Nige, and Deng Yuhan. In mid-to-late May, the Academy of Sciences and the Society of Jesus lost three important figures in a row. The Jesuit missionaries were certainly sad, and Chongzhen's heart was equally uncomfortable.

Li Zhizao's father and son were the main assistants who helped Xu Guangqi manage the Academy of Sciences, and with the death of Li Zhizao, even his son had to resign and return to his hometown to guard filial piety, and the work of the Academy of Sciences was obviously going to be chaotic for a while.

As a leading figure of the Jesuit missionaries in China, since he went to Beijing, he has put great thought into the translation affairs arranged by Chongzhen and the preparation for the establishment of the Academy of Sciences, and has not been entangled in the missionary business, providing Chongzhen with a lot of help.

As for Deng Yuhan, his status in Chongzhen's heart is even more important. In fact, the loss of this missionary is what makes Chongzhen feel the most painful. For only this missionary, in medicine, natural sciences, and materialism, was able to communicate with him without any scruples, without the slightest fear of Catholic doctrine.

“… The collision of civilizations and civilizations, and the exchange of ideas and ideas, is a process in which all rivers are embraced and mountains gather fine dust. The reason why the Chinese civilization has stood firm for thousands of years is that we have never been complacent, the Han Dynasty entered the Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty bordered the Beihai, and the Song Dynasty crossed the ocean, taking the cultures of neighboring countries into our Chinese civilization.

Now there are Mr. Jinnige, Mr. Deng Yuhan, etc., all of whom have come from thousands of miles to rush through the dangers of the ocean and reach this side of the world. They have opened our eyes by bringing us knowledge, culture, and ideas from the other side of the world. It also lets us know that this world is not the only one that exists in China, but that there is another civilization thousands of miles away.

We should remember the contribution that these two gentlemen have made to our country, and we should also remember that we are not unique in this world. We need to always open our eyes and look into the distance, to set foot in places we have never been, to understand the customs and customs that we have never seen, to appreciate the civilization that is different from ours.

Only in this way can Chinese civilization move from greatness to greatness, and we can always stand at the top of the world..."