Mao Wenlong is dead!

His funeral was held with great grief, and eight soldiers in ceremonial robes carried the crystal coffin. The funeral procession almost included the core of the power of the Ming Dynasty. Li Xiao personally delivered a eulogy and expressed his condolences to the family of Mao Wenlong's family.

On the way to Xishan, Jingshi was crowded with people watching the excitement. The well-informed people of the capital have never seen such a thing.

The day after Mao Wenlong's death, Mao Chengzuo also died. Died in the Shuntianfu prison, died silently.

No one cares about the life or death of the second generation of officials, and the Mao family has no time to dispose of the body. Only two stewards came, and they were carried away in a thin-skinned coffin, and it is said that they were sent to the Zuojiazhuang farm. It seems that the Mao family also hates this guy and believes that the disaster of the Mao family is completely brought by him.

As for the goldfish-eyed, the brother howled in the cage for three days. Before throwing him into the cage, Junko gave him a quilt thoughtfully, so that he didn't freeze to death. But then the guy was so hungry that he began to dig out the cotton in the quilt and eat it.

The quilt was not eaten after all, because he had no water. After three days of wailing, the person was basically silent. Perhaps while he was still alive, the crows had begun to peck at his corpse. In the winter, it is not easy to have something to eat.

For two months, he was constantly pecked by crows. When the cage was lowered back to the ground, a tattered corpse appeared in front of the people. The body was packed into a sack and sent directly to Zuojiazhuang Huaren Field, where he and his master Mao Chengzuo ended up together.

The death of these people is just an episode in Daming. Taizu said that the earth will turn the same way if there is no one.

Under the continuous birth of science and technology, the Ming Empire embarked on a thriving development path. The people of Guanzhong and Shanxi have been freed from food and clothing. And the people of Liaodong, Shandong, and Hebei have been riding on the road to a well-off life.

In many places in Liaodong, Hebei and Shandong, electric lights are no longer a rare thing. The most prosperous Jinzhou, Tianjin and Beijing already have street lights on the streets. You don't have to worry about walking at night on a dark day, no matter how late it is, the street is always bright. It is much more convenient for people who walk at night, especially those who work night shifts in major factories, and give absolute praise to street lights.

In many places, telephone poles more than three feet high have begun to be erected on official roads. Sun Chengzong and Zhang Huangyan didn't understand what this meant, but when the military situation in Xi'an that day was on the desk, Sun Chengzong and Zhang Huangyan were surprised to find it. Li Xiao only used dots and strokes, and he was able to compose so many meanings.

Under the vigorous promotion of the government, this thing was soon fully spread in the land of China. After catching a few shots of stealing wires, no one dared to use wires again. In less than half a year, all provincial capitals in the country were connected to telegraphs.

In the sound of dripping and clicking, the communication of the Ming Empire was spreading at an unprecedented speed.

In the past, it took more than three months for ordinary official documents issued by Guangzhou to be transferred to the capital. Even if it is 500 miles expedited, it will take a month and a half to get to the capital. Now, Sun Chengzong if he wants. He can know the price of vegetables in the Guangzhou vegetable market tonight.

The acceleration of information transmission has also allowed the central government to expand again. The local governors used to have some discretionary power in the past due to the time difference, but now they ...... Sun Chengzong's telegram is comparable to a holy decree.

On the river near Jinling, a bridge across the Yangtze River is being built. After the bridge is repaired, trains can run on it.

If the bridge in Jinling is successful, Jiangcheng will also build a bridge. The Yangtze River is no longer a moat, and the materials in the south of the Yangtze River and the materials in the north no longer need to be ferried by boats and bridges.

Southerners go to the north to visit relatives, and taking a boat will not be the first choice. Buy a train ticket and take the train from Guangzhou to the capital.

By the time of the Chinese New Year, Li Xiao's body had recovered well. He decided to go to the northwest to see the defense of the northwest on the spot. Now in the northwest are the 1st Cavalry Division, the 3rd Division, and the 4th Division, three fully equipped main divisions. It can be said that half of the strength of the Ming Army is here.

Li Xiao not only wanted to defend the northwest, but he also wanted to advance into the Western Regions. Include the entire Western Regions in your hands! Since Jungar has provoked border troubles, it is not possible not to pay the price.

Just before Li Xiao went to the northwest, Man Ye came back.

Two months ago, Man Ye raided Xining with his 1st Cavalry Division.

In fact, it didn't matter how the man fought, after the Tibetan leader heard the news of the westward march of the first cavalry division, he immediately ran away with the people and the treasure that could be taken. Their countermeasures made Li Xiao and Man Ye very helpless!

Since Xining can't hold it, let's go directly to Lhasa. If the 1st Cavalry Division dared to go to Lhasa, they would dare to flee deeper into the plateau. Anyway, whether it is a Han or a Mongolian, if you go to the plateau, you will have qi diseases. Even horses from the interior will have qi diseases when they reach the plateau.

This is God's natural barrier for the Tibetans, and it is with this barrier. In the Han and Tang dynasties, where the Han people were the most glorious, there was no way to take Tibet. The Central Plains has not yet accounted for all the flowers and mountains, who is willing to waste the boss's strength and work hard to seize the barren land on the plateau.

It is precisely because it is not cost-effective that Tibetans have nothing to fear.

Of course, the angry Man Ye wanted to express his anger, as soon as he was angry, Xining City would no longer exist. All the residents, from the eighty-year-old man, to the milk doll in his arms. The man simply came to the roll and steamed buns!

After taking away Renman, he was still unwilling, so he simply didn't do anything. Everything in Xining City will be smashed if it can't be taken away, burned if it can't be smashed, and blown up if it can't be burned. Anyway, when Man Ye left Xining, Xining, which was second only to Lhasa on the plateau, had become a pile of ruins.

"If there is anything unhappy, the Tibetans flee from the wind, which means that you are full of majesty. The entire city of Xining was packed and brought back by you, and now they are all waiting in Gansu to divide the land as farmers. What's not to be satisfied with? Could it be that you have a crush on a Tibetan princess or something, and they ran away and didn't succeed? Tell my brother that the lama who wrote a letter to the Tibetans must be obediently washed and sent to us. Li Xiao smiled at the full eyebrows.

"Don't spoil people! Also Tibetan women, Tubo people take two baths in their lives. The taste is fresher than this mutton. If you don't believe it, I'll get two of you to smell it, and keep your mutton to eat comfortably. Man Gui didn't care about taking out the mutton from the hot pot, dipping it in the seasoning and eating it "let's chirp" and "let's chirp".

"Thanks!" Li Xiao shook his head decisively, Man Ye would do this if he said so. For him, it's no problem to squat in the pit while shabu mutton. Li Xiao is sure that he doesn't have this ability.

Tibetans don't take a bath, in fact, there is nothing they can do. The climate on the plateau is a fatal illness if you get a cold. Taking a shower is risking your life, and no one wants to do that.

The two brothers smiled, picked up their wine glasses, touched them, and toasted.

"I didn't get much back this time, but I got a lot of gold back. When I entered the Taal Temple, I was shocked. The monk who dared to love Tibet was so rich, and the gold almost dazzled my eyes. Thinking that you were short of money, you moved back. ”

"The matter of gold is a trivial matter, this time against the Tibetans, do you think we can go deep into the plateau and occupy the entire plateau?"

"It's hard to say! It's not easy to get a gas disease, and when you get to Xining, you will have a headache, you can't breathe, and you don't have much strength in your body. Besides, the land in that place is too barren, and the grain produced by one acre of land in a year is not enough for one person to eat. Qinghai is a better place, and there are some places where wheat can be grown.

I heard the captive Tibetans say that they should go up the plateau. The land there can only be grown with barley, and it does not produce much barley in a year. We want that place, hehe! A year's deficit can make you take all your pants as a pawn.

And the people in that place are savage, and you can't hold back any bullets without stationing some soldiers. This time I hit Xining, and it was very cold. The barrels of many guns could not be shot, and the shells of mortars could not be put in.

Fortunately, the Tibetans ran away, and if the Tibetans didn't run, even if they won, the casualties would be not small. ”

"Isn't there a revolver!"

"Not to mention the revolver, one gun has six rounds, and two guns plus one is only twelve. Truth be told, that's really how powerful a pistol bullet is. As long as you don't hit the vital point, one or two shots will not kill people at all. The last time I fought the Mongols, I found that the magazines of the fallen soldiers were empty.

The cavalry of the two armies hedged, where was there still time to load the bullets. If the saber is not drawn out in time, our soldiers can only be cut by the Mongols before their eyes. The speed of the cavalry hedge is blessed, and a single sword can cut a person into two pieces. ”

"Deliberately! Who told you that it wasn't Ao Ye. Li Xiao reluctantly put down his chopsticks, and it looked like he was going to bleed heavily again this time.

"Brother back! You don't do this properly, you know that kind of thing is the most powerful in the hands of our cavalry. If you don't give it to me first, I'll get so much gold from the Tibetans in vain. ”

Li Xiao was even more helpless, taking other people's short hands and eating other people's short mouths. Man Ye got back such a large sum of gold, this small request is not excessive. beckoned to Shun and pulled out the gun from Shunzi's waist.

"This thing! Twenty box guns, the barrel is a little bulky. Inside the front magazine, there were twenty rounds of 9mm pistol rounds. It is bragging to say that an elephant is knocked down with one shot, but there is a problem with the wood of wild boars, bears and savages.

For the sake of the large amount of gold you have brought back, I will give you five hundred sticks. Li Xiao said magnanimously.

"Five hundred!" Man Gui almost jumped up.

"I have more than eighteen thousand men, and you give me five hundred. What do you want me to do? ”

"When this thing is very wasteful, the annual output of Jinzhou Arsenal is only 2,000. If you are given 500 branches, and the remaining four divisions are divided into 1,500 branches for more than 100,000 people, what do you want? ”

"Five hundred is five hundred, that kind of thing called a grenadier, you have to get some more. That thing works well when it's three or four hundred meters away! Man Gui began to bargain, for fear that he would suffer a loss.

Li Xiao found that since he became a division commander. The spirit of Man Gui and Ao Ye's business, that's a roar!

"Okay!"

The box cannon is not produced in high quantities, and the grenadier with a simple structure is different. As long as the gunner is skilled enough, three or four hundred meters away, it can be called the death of the battlefield. Moreover, this thing is easy to carry, which is the ideal fire support for cavalry.

"I've heard you go to the northwest in a few days, what do you say. Going to do something to the Mongols? Transfer Lao Ao, the two of us join forces, and take the Ili River Valley within half a year. Man Gui listened to Li Xiao's next move.

"The Mongols were the first to commit the border and slaughtered our Lanzhou city. There are more than 100,000 military and civilian casualties, and if I don't get back the heads of Baturhun and Geerdan, I can't explain to the Ming fathers.

In addition, although the population of the Western Regions is sparse, the land is also arid and barren. However, there are many minerals in the Western Regions, and some of them are still minerals urgently needed by the Ming Dynasty. Taking the Western Regions should be said to have more advantages than disadvantages. Moreover, through the Western Regions, we can enter Central Asia, and then advance into the Middle East by land.

That place in the Middle East is so important, it's full of oil. That thing is what we need most in the future.

So the first division will not go to the northwest, after the matter in Jiangnan is over. Ao Ye will take a navy ship to India.

I'm going to let them occupy Mumbai and make Mumbai a nail in the wedge into India. As long as the British dare to move, I will be sure to pierce his hands and feet for me. The British are no worse equipped than we are, and India is their colony. The vast majority of the common people will look to the British!

Without a strong force, we can't hold the field! So I'm going to send Lao Ao to India, like a nail, to hold Mumbai firmly. "Man Gui is not an outsider, Li Xiao told his plan and discernment.

"Holy shit! Ao Ye is going to suffer this time. I heard from the captive Mongols that they had been to India, and that there was a hot and dead place in India. When summer is the hottest, I can't wait to get people directly cooked. When Ao Ye comes back from India, he will definitely be as tanned as black charcoal. As soon as he thought of Ao Canghai's appearance, Man Gui couldn't hold back a bad smile.

"If it weren't for Wu Sangui getting a large number of arsenals in India to support the Mongols, I wouldn't want to let Ao Ye go so far. This Wu Sangui should have been slaughtered in the first place, so there would be no such trouble. When he thought of Wu Sangui, Li Xiao hated it so much that his teeth itched.

"Earlier, I saw that this kid was still successful, and he had two brushes in the fight. Unexpectedly, he would defect to the enemy and commit treason. If such a person is caught, he will be cut by a thousand knives. Why don't you pull Wu Xiang out and give you a breath? Man Ye said, and stuffed another piece of mutton into his mouth.

"Forget it! Zu Dashou's face still has to be given, and it just so happens that you are back. Tomorrow and tomorrow, Ge Ritu will come, and you will accompany me to see you. When I was fighting, you also helped me block the wine. This wine jar is too special to drink. If you drink me to death again, the Mongols will hit the Ming court hard even if they don't have a bloody sword. As soon as he thought of the madness of Ge Ritu's drinking, Li Xiao had a little headache.

"Drinking? No problem! That kid Geritu owes me a favor, if I hadn't taken the soldiers deep into the grassland the year before last. I'm afraid he will have to take refuge under the Great Wall again! ”

"I also want him to send troops together to deal with Baturhui."