"Are you really ......?" Song Yingsheng was so surprised that he was interrupted by Li Zicheng before he finished speaking.

"Shhhh Mr. Song, this is not the place to speak, there will be an opportunity to speak in the future, let's go to the village to rest. Moreover, many matters in the Qu Wushan base area will have to rely on Your Excellency to help take care of them in the future. After Li Zicheng finished speaking with a smile, he turned sideways and made a gesture of invitation with his right hand.

Under a hundred turns and thousands of times, Song Yingsheng thought a lot, before coming, when he paused in Zhongnan Mountain, he saw the scenes, which was too impressive, the people and the soldiers got along very well, even the officials there did not have any shelves, they were approachable, and they were polite to the people.

After some inquiry, I learned from my third brother Song Yingxing that the official system implemented in the village of Zhongnanshan was the same as the point put forward by Li Zicheng at the Jinling Conference, and the people not only had the power to supervise, but also decided the appointment, dismissal, and promotion of officials.

After all, if the satisfaction of the people does not exceed 50%, they cannot stay in office and are in danger of being recalled; If the satisfaction rate does not exceed 70%, you will not be promoted.

The most important thing is that the administrative and criminal laws are separated, and officials only have administrative power to manage the daily affairs of the base areas, but they do not have the power to adjudicate, adjudicate, and arrest people. In this way, those officials cannot threaten the safety and personal rights of the people.

As he walked, these thoughts flashed through Song Yingsheng's mind, and he politely asked Li Zicheng if Qu Wushan was like Zhongnan Mountain, and also implemented such an official assessment and official governance system.

When he received an affirmative reply, Song Yingsheng was so excited that he couldn't restrain himself, and suddenly an inexplicable energy suddenly appeared in his chest, and he immediately promised Li Zicheng that he would definitely take care of the Qu Wushan base in an orderly manner, and the extraction and matching of various substances would be appropriate.

......

At night, in Li Zicheng's thatched hut, Ma Xin sat opposite, and the former asked even more puzzled: "Ma Xin, didn't I let you stay in Nanjing?" Responsible for recruiting all kinds of talents, breaking into the interior of the Restoration Society, contacting those literati and artists with new ideas, and secretly getting them to various bases, how did you come here? ”

Ma Xin smiled "hehe", as if he didn't hear the reproach in his words, and replied with a hippie smile: "Boss, our secret base in Nanjing has just started, and it has not yet taken shape, and we can't carry out the task of infiltration. However, you can rest assured that the secret stronghold is being built, and according to your orders, more than a dozen houses have been purchased around the Li Mansion under various names, and an underground passage has been built. With the Li Mansion as the center, those houses are secretly connected, so that they can easily contact those like-minded people in the future. ”

Li Zicheng groaned for a moment, nodded approvingly, and then said in a deep voice again: "Then why did you run here again?" ”

"Boss, it's like this, Li went to the capital and prepared to establish an intelligence network there. The Jungnan Mountain Base Area moved again and began to establish new bases in the nearby mountains. As a result, there were almost no people to escort Mr. Song to Qu Wu Mountain. ”

"You also know that from Zhongnan Mountain to here, there are many dangers, and Mr. Song has brought so much food. Even if you only go into the wilderness and don't enter the city, there is a high possibility that you will encounter other rebel forces. At this time, grain is comparable to gold, and if it is targeted by any bandit, it is very likely that food will be lost and people will die. Therefore, when no one could be sent, I automatically asked Ying to escort Mr. Song over. ”

Hearing this, Li Zicheng's gloomy expression eased a lot, and he just wanted to say something, but he saw Ma Xin say like a treasure: "Hehe... Boss, let me tell you good news, the brothers in the Taihua Mountain base area have sent a sulfur mine near Chengcheng, although the reserves are not much, but there are tens of thousands of catties. ”

Hearing this, all the unhappiness in Li Zicheng's mind disappeared, and he was overjoyed, and couldn't help but confirm: "Really? Is the source reliable or unreliable? ”

"Of course it's true, very reliable! And the boss, Mr. Song took those foreigners to the sulfur mine in Chengcheng to secretly explore. Otherwise, I wouldn't have said that, the approximate reserves of that sulphur mine. Ma Xin nodded heavily and replied in the affirmative.

As if a thousand pounds of heavy stones had been put down in his chest, Li Zichang breathed a sigh of relief. All along, sulfur was a disease that weighed on his heart.

With his current thinking and historical education, even if he was once a little hooligan who did not learn and did not know how to do it, Li Zicheng also knew the importance of firearms, which was almost the key to deciding a war.

However, in this era, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, firearms had been greatly developed, and the Ming army paid special attention to firearms. Therefore, the imperial court was particularly strict in controlling gunpowder. As one of the raw materials of gunpowder, sulfur not only has a small output and uneven distribution, but also is the key monitoring object of the imperial court.

Therefore, it is very difficult to obtain gunpowder, and it is even more difficult to obtain sulfur in batches, which is completely contrary to the idea of preparing to secretly develop firearms on a large scale! Iron tools are readily available, and firearms can be made. But without gunpowder, everything is in vain!

Now it's different, with the sulfur mines in Chengcheng, Li Zicheng has the confidence to use firearms on a large scale.

This is an era of chaos, this is an era when the people are not making a living, and the appalling cannibalism is not uncommon, as common as eating. This was also a period when corrupt officials were in power, and the people's grievances had long been boiling, and there were rebellious people everywhere.

Therefore, Li Zicheng did not take the Ming Dynasty in his eyes, and the Ming army was not his most powerful opponent. Emperor Chongzhen's various behaviors are basically the rhythm of death. The fall of the Ming Dynasty was a matter of time before it was a matter of time.

And the real opponent of his Li Zicheng, the biggest threat, comes from the Northeast, the Manchurian Tartars.

Before overthrowing the Ming court, he Li Zicheng was accumulating strength, secretly developing his sphere of influence, and stockpiling some powerful firearms. Once the Ming court is overthrown, the world is occupied, and the Qing army is faced, all those firearms will be taken out, and they will definitely be able to beat Meng!

No matter how good the cavalry is, so what? In the face of intensive fire from birds, artillery bombardment is incessant, that is a paper tiger, no different from paper paste.

For a while, thinking of this, Li Zicheng was distracted, and there was a smile on the corner of his mouth, and he wanted to laugh, but was woken up by Ma Xin.

"Boss, what's wrong with you? What are you thinking? Will you say yes or not? ”

Li Zicheng became an agitated spirit, then came to his senses, and subconsciously replied: "I'm fine, I didn't think about anything, what did you just say?" What to say yes or no? ”

At this moment, Ma Xin looked bitter and said again depressedly: "Boss, why don't you send another person to be in charge of Nanjing's secret contact point, and continue to let me follow you, go south to north, conquer the world, and establish one new base after another." ”

"No, I don't agree." Li Zicheng's expression was constricted, and he immediately vetoed it, as if he felt that he was too stiff to speak, and his expression softened a little, and explained: "Ma Xin, new base areas have been established one by one, and you also know that now is the time to employ people, and there is the most shortage of manpower. The secret stronghold of Nanjing is very important, and it is related to the rise and fall of each base area. If I don't send a confidant over to fight in Nanjing, my heart will always hang and I can't let go. ”

"Well, I know that too, and it's a matter of words."

Ma Xin agreed, a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes, and his expression was a little gloomy.