Under the gaze of Emperor Chongzhen's murderous eyes, the Ministry of Industry Shangshu wanted to say a word in his heart: "This qiē is not all caused by the opening of the emperor's Chrysostom......

However, this kind of thinking is just a thought, and no matter how bold it is to the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Industry will not dare to say it.

However, Emperor Chongzhen's question had to be answered. Otherwise, just one charge of bullying the king is enough to bear it......

After some hesitation and contemplation, the Ministry of Industry Shangshu had to answer in a low tone: "Your Majesty, it's not that the old minister is inactive, it's really that the old minister is powerless, and there is no way to complete the important task that His Majesty handed over to the Ministry of Industry......"

"A few months ago, in order to support the Haw Par Army against the Mongol cavalry, the imperial court directly sent ninety percent of the craftsmen in the capital, and all the best craftsmen, to Datong to help the Haw Par Army build firearms to resist the ......invasion of the Later Jin and Mongol provinces in Shanxi Province."

"Now, even if Lao Chen turns over the entire capital, he can find less than 2,000 craftsmen at most. What's more, these two thousand craftsmen are all ordinary craftsmen with ordinary skills......"

"For them, being able to build firearms is already a great luxury......

"In such a situation, ordering them to build firearms is not fast at all. Therefore, building 10,000 or 20,000 grenades in a month is already the limit of the Ministry of Industry... Even if you give the old minister great ability, it is impossible for the old minister to conjure a grenade out of thin air. ”

Under the vague reminder of the Ministry of Works, Emperor Chongzhen finally remembered that a few months ago, in the face of the invasion of the Mongol cavalry, he opened his Chrysostom. A decree issued.

Of course. As an emperor who could not predict the future. When the decree was given and the decision was made. Chongzhen would not have thought that a group of craftsmen with low status and who consume a lot of silver in the imperial court every year would have such a big effect.

However, by the time he realized the role of the craftsman, it was too late.

In order to reduce the burden on the imperial court, the imperial court not only gave the best craftsmen in the capital to the Haw Par Army. also sent their families over together. Under such circumstances, no matter how great the imperial court is, there is no way to bring back the craftsmen who have settled in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces......

"Regret...... I regretted it very much...... "This is the first thought in Emperor Chongzhen's heart at this moment."

At the same time, the hope that had just been rekindled by a series of simplicity proposed by the military department was once again shattered by this cruel fact......

At this time, the military department Shangshu, who was pinned on by Emperor Chongzhen, spoke again.

"Your Majesty, the old minister thought. The concern of the Ministry of Industry is not a problem at all...... There are no craftsmen in the capital. We can transfer from Shandong, from Henan...... The only difference is that it takes a little longer to build these firearms. ”

"However, what the old minister wants to say is that the longer the encirclement and suppression of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces drags on, the more beneficial it will be to us......"

"Although the imperial court has postponed the launch of attacks on the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, this does not mean that it has completed the assembly, and the attacking troops gathered around the two provinces of Shanxi have just been stationed in place waiting for military orders, and they will not act ......."

"We can order these garrisons to further strengthen the blockade of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces while we are waiting......"

"During the lockdown, neither grain, nor cloth, nor salt, which the people had to eat, could flow into the two provinces. Under such circumstances, the longer we blockade, the less food and salt will be available in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces...... Without food and salt, will the common people and tens of thousands of soldiers of the Tiger and Leopard Army still follow Wei Zheng to fight against the imperial court? ”

After Sun Chengzong's original report on the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, all the courtiers in the hall knew in their hearts: with the number of tuntian fields and salt reserves in the two provinces, at least for a short time, Wei Zheng did not need to worry about these two things.

There is no shortage of food and salt, and there is no way to talk about the turmoil in the hearts of the people and the army that the secretary of the military department has just mentioned.

However, in order to rekindle the hope of Emperor Chongzhen, and also to give himself more hope for the future. In the face of the idea that the military department was close to self-deception, no one broke it.

As for Emperor Chongzhen, who had a dignified face and was already a little at a loss, when he saw dozens of civil and military ministers in the main hall, they all agreed with this idea...... Having lost hope, he rekindled hope.

Then, he decided loudly to everyone: "Since this is the case, I have decided to do what the military department Shangshu said...... In order to exterminate the Tiger and Leopard Army in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, the cabinet and the other five ministries must unconditionally cooperate with the military department...... If I find out that anyone is doing anything about this matter related to the national fortunes of the Ming Dynasty, I don't mind destroying his nine clans......"

After the imperial decree was issued, Shandong and Henan provinces began to send craftsmen from all over the country to the capital.

The officials and troops of the imperial court scattered around the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi immediately blocked the major transportation arteries connecting the two provinces. Under the circumstance that Emperor Chongzhen threatened to exterminate the nine tribes, in addition to the Yellow River waterway, which was still unimpeded, the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi could already be said to have completely severed ties with other provinces in the Central Plains and became an isolated island in the Central Plains.

However, what the imperial court did not expect was that the series of actions of the imperial court against the Tiger and Leopard Army and Shanxi provinces not only did not make the people of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces unstable and into chaos. On the contrary, it gave Wei Zheng a chance to eliminate dissidents and completely turn Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces into his base areas.

The whole court knew that it was impossible to unrest the hearts of the people in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces by blockade alone. Therefore, while the imperial court blockaded the two provinces, a large number of secret orders also entered the hands of all the gentry and landlords related to the imperial court in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.

As for their mission: to spread rumors in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, to raise the price of grain and salt, and to give ordinary people the feeling that the Tiger and Leopard Army is about to be unable to survive. Thus, step by step, we will achieve the goal of shaking the hearts of the people and the army in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.

As soon as the Holy Decree of the Imperial Court to further strengthen the blockade of the two provinces of Shanxi had just been issued, the intelligence officers of the Tiger and Leopard Army hidden in the capital quickly sent the news to the Governor's Mansion of Shanxi and to Wei Zheng.

After reading the information, Zhou Shuyuan first spoke: "Dashuai, it seems that now it seems that after the fiasco in Laizhou Bay, the imperial court already knows that it is afraid...... Strictly order the armies around the two provinces of Shanxi to strengthen the blockade of our two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, and prohibit the unauthorized attack on us without an order from the imperial court, which is their fear of us......"

"In the eyes of the lower officials, the reason why the imperial court issued this holy decree is that they are worried that the army they have worked so hard to assemble will lose tens of thousands of people again for no reason under our attack......

Wei Zheng nodded in agreement: "The military advisor is right, among all the armies of the imperial court, except for the border army, the other commanders are not taken seriously. ”

"So, when we broke with the imperial court, Ben Shuai said it. For our Tiger and Leopard Army, what we are most worried about is not the attack of the imperial army, but the blockade of our Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces by the imperial court......"

After speaking, Wei Zheng directly asked Zhou Shuyuan in front of him: "Military Division, counting from the day we broke with the imperial court, the imperial court's blockade of us has been almost ten days...... In these 10 days, has there been any change in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces......"

"Ben Shuai doesn't believe that more than 10 million people and thousands of civil and military officials in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces support Ben Shuai and want to go all the way with Ben Shuai and continue to confront ......the imperial court."

Speaking of business, Zhou Shuyuan's face immediately became stern.

Under Wei Zheng's gaze, he replied in as calm a tone as possible: "Dashuai, the lower official is preparing to report these things to you......"

"The intelligence agents scattered in the two provinces have already reported to the lower officials that quite a number of officials and gentry in the two provinces have begun to hold secret meetings. There are also some local officials who are responding to the call of the imperial court and have begun to secretly train the army, and when the time comes, they will join forces with the imperial court officials and troops who are attacking us to attack us inside and outside to eliminate our ......."

"How many people are there...... Wei Zheng frowned and asked in a deep voice......

Zhou Shuyuan did not answer immediately, but fell into deep thought.

After taking a deep breath, he replied to Wei Zheng: "In terms of ordinary officials and merchants, because there are too many people, the lower officials have not let people count. However, on the official side, because it involves our rule and political power in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, the lower officials have already made the statistics clear......"

"According to statistics, these officials are middle-level officials who do not have much ability, and are not valued by the Governor's Office, and basically have no possibility of promotion. These people included two prefects and eight prefectural orders...... In addition, there are many former court officials who have ceased to be officials......"

"Maybe the imperial court promised them some heavy benefits, these officials, who usually seem very pedantic, dare to use the recruitment of family members as a cover in private, train soldiers, and do something unfavorable to our tiger and leopard army......"

"According to preliminary statistics, among these trained soldiers, there are four or five hundred people in the large scale, and more than 100 people in the small scale, all of which add up to 3,000 people......

In addition, these officials are basically scattered around Jinan. The lower officials suspect that these private activities were all organized by Wu Baotian, the governor of Shanxi......"

Hearing this, a trace of murderous aura quickly emanated from Wei Zheng's body.

Zhou Shuyuan, who was sitting in front of him, seemed to realize something, and asked tentatively: "Dashuai, do you want to treat them?" ”

Speaking of which, Zhou Shuyuan directly made a neck wiping action to Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng shook his head and replied, "It's not like this yet...... Even if these people offend Ben Shuai, they will not die for their crimes. However, in Ben Shuai's view, this action of the imperial court not only did not cause any trouble to Ben Shuai, but also helped Ben Shuai a lot and provided Ben Shuai with an opportunity to eliminate dissidents. (To be continued......)