It seemed that he felt something in his heart, feeling the change in Chongzhen's mood, Zhang Fengyi, who had been reporting with his head bored, paused, looked up at Chongzhen, and Zhou Yanru on the side stood up at this time, took out a fold, raised it above his head, and said: "Emperor Qiqi, this is the report submitted by Xuan Motuo Weichen of Taichang Temple, which is about the situation in Henan." ”

When the eunuch took the fold and presented it to Chongzhen, Zhang Fengyi immediately understood, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, although our plan is perfect, there is still a omission, Henan's troops are weak, only more than 7,000 troops, far from being able to control the south bank of the Yellow River. Moreover, once there is a sudden change in the situation, the rebellious army escapes into Henan by chance, and such a little force cannot be effectively stopped. ”

Seeing Chongzhen's hesitant expression, Zhou Yanru immediately added another handful of ingredients.

"Moreover, the emperor, as far as Weichen knows, Li Zicheng and other thieves who attacked Liaozhou and Yuan's clan developed from Henan and fled into Shanxi. Although there is a big reason for the inaction of Fan Shangxiao, the governor of Henan, and allowing the chaotic army to bewitch the people and develop and grow, it is also because the garrison troops in Henan are too weak. ”

Suddenly, Chongzhen was furious, almost about to slap the table, and said hatefully: "Spread my will, immediately remove Fan Shangxiao from the post of governor of Henan, mention the trial of Jingshi, and the Taichang Temple Qing Xuanmo will temporarily act as the governor of Henan, and lead Zuo Liangyu, Tang Jiuzhou, Li Bei and Deng Xi to Henan in the future to assist Cao Zongbing and others in encircling and suppressing the rebellious army." ”

After a pause, Chongzhen turned to say in a low voice: "At the same time, appoint the eunuchs Chen Dakui, Yan Siyin, and Xie Wenju Sun Maolin as the inner army, and serve as the supervisors of Cao Wenzhao, Zhang Yingchang, Zuo Liangyu, and Deng Xi respectively. ”

Hearing this, the two people who were originally happy in their hearts seemed to have been beaten by frost, and their hearts were cold, and they knew very well the purpose and reason for the emperor's doing, and they didn't believe in those generals at all. What makes the two of them most chilling is not this, but because the eunuchs are once again showing signs of interfering in the court's politics, how can they not make these two court ministers frightened and frightened?

At this time, as if he had thought of something, Chongzhen's words changed sharply, and his tone softened a lot.

"By the way, also, pass the decree, Cao Wenzhao's general army controls the generals of Qin and Jin, wherever Cao Bu passes, the place must accumulate more grain and grass to reward his soldiers and horses, and order Cao Wenzhao to suppress the rebellious army in Shanxi as soon as possible......"

The next day, in Jiangzhou City, in a secret room, there were five people sitting at a round table, three of which were Wang Ziyong, Li Zicheng and Xing Hongwolf. Not long after the five of them sat down, Xing Hongwolf immediately stretched out his hand, pointed to the two people opposite, and introduced them respectively: "Brother Li, this is Han Yun, the head of the Han family, and this is Duan Yuan, the head of the Duan family. ”

"Hehe... In Xia Li Zicheng, I have seen two family owners, and I hope to take care of one or two more in the future! ”

Throughout the process, Li Zicheng has been carefully observing the two.

The two were about the same age, about forty years old, wearing brocade robes and grosgrain and hats peculiar to the rich.

Li Zicheng narrowed slightly, flashing a trace of doubt, he always felt that the outfits of Duan Yuan and Han Yun gave him a strange feeling, unlike the usual rich people or the heads of big families, who looked graceful and luxurious, but these two seemed a little unusual, and they always felt a little out of place with the people around them, which was very inconsistent.

However, seeing Li Zicheng exuding this demeanor, he didn't speak again in a polite sentence, but looked at Han Duan and the two in confusion, and the four people present didn't feel the slightest strangeness, as if they had long been accustomed to it, knowing that Li Zicheng would behave like this.

"Hehe, Brother Li, do you feel that there is something strange about the costumes of the two heads of the Han Duan family, and you always feel that something is wrong there?"

Hearing Wang Ziyong's hearty laughter, the question was even more suspicious, Li Zicheng didn't say anything, just nodded slightly, he believed that since the other party said so, he would definitely explain the reason.

After receiving Li Zicheng's response, Wang Ziyong always had a smile on his face, and then further explained: "Brother Li, you may not know that the two heads of the Han Duan family believe in Catholicism, so their clothing is biased towards those Western missionaries. ”

At this time, Xing Hongwolf also smiled and added: "Not only that! Han Duan's two heads of family are devout Catholics, and the churches in this area of Pingyang Mansion were almost funded by them. Moreover, when the missionary Gao Yizhi was preaching in Shanxi, the two of them helped each other very much, not only by contributing money, but also by helping to promote Catholicism and attract the upper class people in Shanxi to join the Church. ”

However, although Li Zicheng listened to it with a smile and nodded frequently, looking very admiring, he secretly despised it in his heart and admired the shrewdness of the two.

With the gradual maturity of Li Jiajun's intelligence agency, most of the foreign missionaries such as Gao Yizhi were all under house arrest in the Zhongnanshan base area, either teaching the languages of Western countries, or teaching advanced natural sciences in the West, or developing firearms.

All the good foreign missionaries who are mixed in the Ming Dynasty not only have a certain official position in the court, but also have a close relationship with those court officials in the court, such as Xu Guangqi, a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion and a scholar of the Ministry of Rites, and a second assistant to the cabinet, Yang Tingyun and Li Zhizao, who are also court officials, are known as the pillars of Catholicism in the Ming Dynasty. The reason why Catholicism spread rapidly and developed in the upper echelons of the elite was inseparable from the help of the three people.

After thinking about it carefully and scrutinizing it a little, Li Zicheng doubted the motives of Han Yun and Duan Yuan, did they really believe in Catholicism so much?

When these thoughts appeared in Li Zicheng's mind, Duan Yuan and Han Yun waved their hands again and again, hurriedly excused themselves, and Duan Yuan said even more modestly: "The two leaders have praised falsely, we and the other two are just doing their best, or Father Gao's behavior is touching, as soon as they arrive in Shanxi, they will spread clothes and apply medicine to relieve the people of Li." Compared to what Father Gao did, what the two of us did seemed to be a meager effort, and it was nothing. ”

"Hey... Master Duan, be too humble! Xing Hongwolf smiled, interjected at the right time, and then said: "The head of the Duan family, the head of the Han family, as far as I know, whether it is the silver taels for building the church, or all the expenses of the Catholic missionaries in Shanxi, almost seven or eight out of ten are funded by the two of them, and they also help introduce the elites and other high-level people in Shanxi, so dedicated, how can this be regarded as a modest effort?" ”

Looking at the two of you who said to me, Li Zicheng secretly pursed his lips, he despised Han Duan and the two of them, what do you believe in Catholicism? It's just a knot, so that the big officials of the court can climb the relationship.

If they really have a good heart and want to save the world, why don't Han Duan and the others lower the price of food under control, so that the people can afford to eat food and temporarily survive natural disasters? Moreover, if the silver taels used for the construction of churches were given to the people, how many people would be able to be saved?

Therefore, although Li Zicheng was smiling at this time, he minimized his impression of the two, and just smiled from time to time, echoed a few words, and made false promises.

After some greetings, Han Yun, who barely spoke, let out a long sigh and suddenly said, "The three leaders, I have something to ask the Duan family master for something, and I hope the three leaders can help each other?" ”

"Oh... Han Family Master, what is it that makes you and Duan Family Master so concerned? You might as well talk about it, let Zai Xia, Brother Li, and Xing Hongwolf listen to it and see if they can help? ”

Hearing this, they did not get a positive reply from Wang Ziyong, the leader of the 36th Battalion General Alliance, Han Duan and the others did not have any disappointment, but their faces were happy, as if Wang Ziyong and the three of them would definitely agree to their request.

"Wang Mengzhu, two leaders, here's the thing, in the past two years, since the second year of Chongzhen, the imperial court has recompiled and revised the calendar, and has successively summoned foreign missionaries from all over the country. However, what is strange is that these foreign missionaries are like evaporating from the world, and suddenly there is no whereabouts and no news. ”

Han Yun said, and Duan Yuan immediately answered and added further.

Moreover, the three leaders did not know, not only those foreign missionaries disappeared without a trace, but also all those who compiled the calendar disappeared for no reason, making the compilation of the calendar of the imperial court also stagnant and unsustainable. Like Xu Zhengming, the nephew of Xu Guangqi and Xu University, he also suddenly disappeared on the way to pick up Father John Tang in Shaanxi, without any news. ”

What's even more bizarre is that I don't know where else is down, but the churches in various places in Shanxi are also empty, and the foreign missionaries inside have all disappeared overnight. Moreover, the exotic utensils and hardcover books brought by the foreigners were also stolen. ”

......

Li Zicheng's stunned face was sneering, but he wanted to laugh, and said secretly in his heart: "To tell you the truth, those things were all sent by the uncle, if you find something, the uncle still needs to do this business?" Hey... Don't think about the foreign missionaries coming back, they are being squeezed by me and give all their worth. ”

Listening to Han Yun and Duan Yuan's narration, Xing Hongwolf was stunned, and couldn't help but sneer: "That, the two family heads, won't you?" ”

However, seeing the two of them smiling bitterly, there seemed to be a trace of dissatisfaction with Xing Hongwolf's doubts, the latter laughed dryly and quickly explained: "Hehe... The two heads of the family, don't get me wrong, what I mean is that I still have some understanding of those missionaries, those foreigners are just people who look very different from the Central Plains, and what they learn and talk is different from ours, except for those strange utensils and books carried across the ocean, there is nothing, how can someone kidnap them. Moreover, according to the two heads of the family, this incident should have happened for a long time, if it was really kidnapped, not to mention who to ask for ransom, it has dragged on for so long......"

Xing Hongwolf's words came to an abrupt end, but Han Duan's hearts sank, and they heard the sound outside the strings, the meaning behind it, not to mention that the kidnapping of foreign missionaries is very strange, but after delaying for so long, it should also encounter an accident.

In an instant, the air in the chamber seemed to freeze and became very heavy.

After a short silence, Duan Yuan and Han Yun glanced at each other, with a look of loss in their eyes, but they still pretended to be calm, Duan Yuan looked at the three of them again, and said in a sincere and solemn tone: "Three leaders, to be honest, I have had the same guess as the head of the Han family, maybe those foreign missionaries are long gone." The reason why I mentioned this matter to the three chiefs was only to hold on to the last glimmer of hope, and I hoped that the three chiefs would help each other to inquire about the news of those priests, and if we could find or any news, we would definitely repay each other with a heavy gift. ”

However, Wang Ziyong did not immediately give an affirmative answer, but looked at Li Zicheng and Xing Hongwolf, and after getting the two of them to nod their heads, he replied this time: "Okay, Han family master, Duan family master, this matter is on the three of me." It is certainly unlikely that we will search with all our might, but we will try our best to find them, and as for whether we can find them, whether we can find them, whether we can hear from them, there is no guarantee. ”

"Hehe... Then thank you to the three leaders! ”

Duan Yuan smiled freely, as if the heavy color just now had never been before. The two of them even stood up and bowed down to show their solemnity.

Seeing the appearance of Han Duan and the two, Li Zicheng, Wang Ziyong, and Xing Hongwolf reacted differently, although their faces were also moved by the benevolence and righteousness of the two, but their hearts were more determined to guess before, whether it was to join Catholicism or find those foreign missionaries, it was just a means of businessmen, and they wanted to climb to the top of the Beijing Division.

At this time, after Duan Yuan and Han Yun sat down, Duan Yuan took out a jade pendant from his arms, handed it to Li Zicheng, and said loudly: "General Li Chuang, listen to the chief general of the Wang League, you have the intention of doing business with our Han Duan family, with this special jade pendant, as long as it is in Shanxi, no matter which Han Duan two grain stores, you can buy the corresponding grain." Moreover, the purchased food can be transported to the designated place. ”

"It's no wonder that the Han Duan family eats so openly in black and white, just by being able to buy food and transport it to the designated location, it can make all the rebel armies cooperate with each other."

When Li Zicheng thought like this in his heart, he also took the jade pendant, played with it in his hand and looked at it, and said jokingly: "Hehe... The head of the Han family, the head of the Duan family, having said that, although we haven't met before, we have done business more than once, and the two of you have made a lot of money from me! ”

As soon as these words came out, the other four people were stunned and looked puzzled, but Han Yun was the first to react, and said with a smile: "When Leader Li said this, it is really the same thing, every time the Li family army captures a city, it not only generously helps the people, but never touches those merchants who do their duty. If there was an urgent need for food, it was to trade fairly with the grain merchants in the city with silver. ”

After Han Yun's reminder and detailed explanation, the others also reacted, and understood what Li Zicheng meant, and they all smiled knowingly, and there was a wordless consensus.

You are responsible for robbing the money of the government, robbing the house, as long as we can ensure the safety of our Han Duan family, we can turn the silver in your hands into food.

Li Zicheng put the jade pendant into his arms, and changed his words: "By the way, the head of the Han family, the head of the Duan family, and Li have one more thing to ask for, and I hope the two of you can agree." ”

Han Yun and Duan Yuan were stunned for a moment, their faces were puzzled, and at the same time they looked at Wang Ziyong and Xing Hongwolf suspiciously, as if to say, the two leaders, didn't they only talk about trading grain today, how could they ask such a question?

Obviously, Wang Ziyong and Xing Hongwolf didn't know what Li Zicheng was selling, so they could only shake their heads helplessly in response.

This just happened for a moment, Han Duan and the two nodded hurriedly, Duan Yuan looked even more stunned, and said solemnly: "Chief Li, let's talk about something first, and see if the two of us can do it, can we?" ”