Since he came to the Ming Dynasty, the internal constraints have always been with him, and he is Li Xin's number one enemy. From cabinet scholars, such as Liu Yuliang, Yang Sichang, and Zhang Sizhi, to peddlers and pawns, such as Lu Jinji and others, all of them wanted to put Li Xin to death. Li Xin finally realized the difficulties and risks of being an official, although he turned danger into a disaster every time, but there was no time when he was not walking on thin ice on the abyss, and if he made a mistake, he would fall into a situation from which he could never recover.

With this threat from within again and again, a kind of understanding was repeatedly strengthened in Li Xin's mind, the real enemy of the Ming Dynasty was not necessarily the Manchu Jiannu in the north, nor necessarily the Zhang Li thieves who wandered in the hinterland of the Central Plains, the real enemy was inside the Ming court, and the ministers did everything for their own selfish interests, even at the expense of the interests of the court and the nation. If you really want to do something that is beneficial to the world, you must first survive in a complex political environment, not only to survive, but also to obtain power that is difficult for ordinary people to shake, and only in this way can you use iron-fisted means to overcome all difficulties and implement your own governance ideals.

Thinking of this, Li Xin not only sighed, but also said that it was still dictatorship and concentration of power. Absolute power is a double-edged sword for a government, which can overcome all difficulties and do something beneficial to the country and the nation, but it also creates an excellent breeding ground, in which selfish desires thrive like viruses and bacteria. At a certain critical point, when the illness comes, it will be like a landslide, and it will be too late to return.

Let's not talk about it from afar, let's just say that Zhang Juzheng of the Wanli Dynasty, although he is a generation of famous ministers, implements new laws, and works hard, but in the end he dies and his reputation is broken, although there are power struggle factors behind it, but he is extravagant after all......

"General, General?"

It wasn't until Master Guo called a few times from the side that Li Xin was pulled back to reality from his cranky thoughts. He not only sighed again, but with the current environment and people's cognition of the Ming Dynasty, he did some things in the south and north of Huai, but they were also plausible, and in the end, only holding power with one hand was the key and prerequisite for the implementation of the policy plan.

For example, the merchants, who were kind to them, felt that Li Xin was weak and could be bullied, and the fall of Lu Jinji gave the unscrupulous businessmen enough deterrence. This also made Li Xin understand another truth, it is not feasible to blindly please the merchants, and it is necessary to increase the carrot and stick and feed some sweetness, only in this way can these people be submissive.

"The main body of the first phase of the railway has been completed, do you want to inspect it?"

"Oh? How fast is the project? ”

This kind of construction speed is far beyond Li Xin's imagination, the so-called first phase is from Taiyuan City to Xinzhou, the distance is not short. Li Xin came to the map spread out in the study and carefully compared, rubbed his hands and said excitedly: "At this rate, it is not a problem to repair the third bathroom before winter!" ”

"Didn't the general give instructions at the commencement ceremony, striving to connect Taiyuan and Yang and the Acropolis before winter, and all parties are also under pressure to rush the work regardless of the cost."

Master Guo was careful in his words, but Li Xin didn't think deeply about the meaning of his words in his excitement.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go and see! What is the production of railcars? Since the railway track from Taiyuan to Xinzhou has been repaired, it can be put into trial operation for a period of time. ”

"I have already selected a few days, and I still ask the general to decide."

Li Xin waved his hand, "You can settle such small things, there is a principle, sooner rather than later, just choose the first day!" ”

As he spoke, he put on the summer military uniform newly issued by the Three Guards, the style and color were the same as the winter military uniform, but the fabric was changed from cotton to single.

"Go now, if the trial operation is successful, you will be credited!"

Master Guo immediately smiled, this so-called great merit will eventually be reflected in the year-end dividends, and the silver money he receives will also double. Although he held an important position in the trading company, the power of the goods was in the hands of a group formed by several major trading companies, and he could not touch every single account of income and expenditure, and the raw materials to the processing were also completed by the trading company itself, and it was impossible to make some small profits from it by ordinary means.

Li Xin is now almost a word in Shanxi, his status has long been different, and it is impossible for the general to send out a low-key position, and a large number of personal guards are waiting around, and the brigade of people and horses has swept out of Taiyuan City.

This can be bitter for the vendors and pedestrians along the street, because this trip was suddenly improvised, and the street was not cleaned in advance, the people could not avoid it for a while, and the sound of crying and shouting came and went. Niu Dan, the officer of the pro-soldier team, scolded the leaders of the pickets who were responsible for patrolling the streets and maintaining order, blaming them for their ineffective work. It seems that with the gradual increase of status, freedom has gradually left him, as for traveling to clean the street, sometimes it is not all for pomp, compared to the general public as now, clean the street seems to be a good way to avoid this situation.

When the scorching sun was in the sky, out of Taiyuan City, the dryness and high temperature immediately came to the face, and the group was like entering the steamer oven, sweating like an injection, and the heat was endless. The dry earth had long since lost a trace of moisture, and the horses' hooves had kicked up a cloud of dust. The artemisia grass on the side of the road has long since dried up and died for many days, leaving only patches of yellow-green dry grass stalks, which seem to be a voice accusing the cruelty of the thief.

Li Xinxin's head sank suddenly, he couldn't even live on the grass, let alone the crops? As far as the eye can see, the wheat fields are indeed a scene of withering and desolation, which is clearly a dead harvest! As far as the eye could see, there were patches of wheat fields in front of him, and his face was already hard to see.

In this case, the people did not report it, and if they hadn't gone out of the city to inspect the railroad tracks in person, I am afraid they would have been kept in the dark! Reporting good news but not bad news is a virtue in ancient and modern times. In fact, he really blamed the people of Taiyuan Mansion, Tian Fuzhen saw that he had been worried about the businessmen's strike, and it was useless to talk about this matter, so he suppressed it first. After the strike was over, he didn't know that before he could tell him about it, he saw it first.

Li Xin slowed down his horse, pointed to the dead wheat field in front of him, and asked Master Guo.

"Isn't there a fire water lifter? The wheat field is dead and the harvest is gone, so why not replant the jade wheat? ”

Master Guo had already seen Li Xin's gloomy face, and hurriedly explained: "The firepower water lifter is a good thing, but it still can't supply the wheat field, and it still dies, so I had to withdraw it all and supply it to the jade wheat field with all my might." It's not that these fields are not replanted, but they can't wait for the autumn harvest if they are replanted, and the seeds are wasted in vain, so there is no way to abandon the waste! ”

"How's Yumai doing?"

Li Xin, out of the habitual thinking of his previous life, focused too much on industry and commerce during this period of time, and neglected his agricultural instincts. But in this era when agriculture is dominant, it is precisely agriculture that cannot be ignored. In the agricultural civilization that depends on the weather for food, a major drought and no rain means that the harvest will be lost, and the failure of the harvest means that a large number of people will face the danger of running out of grain because their grain stocks are exhausted and the new grain cannot be helped.

"The reduction is certain, but there will always be a harvest in the fall."

The four words always lingered in Li Xin's mind, "Famine is coming......

A large part of the scourge of thieves in the Ming Dynasty came from famine, and Shanxi must not follow in the footsteps of Shaanxi. Suddenly, because the good mood brought about by the completion of the first phase of the railway track was completely crushed by the ruthless reality, he no longer had the intention to inspect it, but instead investigated the situation of the harvest and how much food was still in the homes of the nearby people.

But looking at it all the way, it made Li Xinxin tremble. After the scourge of thieves passed, many people returned to their hometowns one after another, and received enough grain from the government dominated by the Three Guards to eat the wheat harvest season, but now the wheat harvest is gone, and a few old farmers suddenly saw that a big official came to their families, and they were very frightened.

There were a few stunned young people who spoke straight.

"The eldest lord appreciates some food, the food at home has seen the bottom, after June, I'm afraid the good days will come to an end again, in previous years, I could still escape the famine, but now where is I fleeing to, where is there Shanxi Taiping?"

Immediately, an old man rebuked the young offspring of the family.

"Is it rude in front of the eldest master, are you tired of being crooked? Hurry up and ask the sin to ......"

Under the circumstance that Li Xin repeatedly said that it had nothing to do with it, an old man took out a cloth bag from under the box and opened it layer by layer, and it was a grain stamp jointly issued by the General Military Mansion and the Taiyuan Mansion.

"There is still some grain in the rice tank, these grain stamps are exchanged for grain, and they can deal with the autumn harvest if they are tight, don't listen to his nonsense!"

Looking at the old man's rough and dark hands carefully holding the grain stamps, Li Xin's heart was mixed, happy that the grain stamps had finally won the trust of the people, but he knew the truth, in order to stabilize the hearts of the people, Tian Fuzhen and Gao Shiming both advocated the issuance of an additional batch of grain stamps, if the wheat was harvested, it would not be a problem, but now...

To put it bluntly, the food stamps issued do not have enough grain to redeem all of them, and if there is a dispute at this time, the consequences will be unimaginable.

When he returned to the Taiyuan City Barracks, the first thing Li Xin did was to call Tian Fuzhen and Gao Shiming to count how many food stamps had been issued by Taiyuan Mansion and how much grain was stored in the treasury.

Gao Shiming spread his hands, "I can only ask the court for help and send relief food." ”

At this time, Chaozhong's eyeliner sent another important news. Hong Chengchou was officially reinstated as the governor of Xuanda. Moreover, it was rumored that he was seeking to bring the infantry battalion and cavalry battalion of the Three Guards stranded in Xuanfu under his command, and he also lobbied several cabinet scholars and eunuchs who were celebrants.