The people of the capital suddenly found that there were some small changes in the capital that had been quiet for a long time.

First of all, there is an additional yamen called the Civil Weapons Bureau, this yamen occupies a huge area, and it is heavily guarded, it can be said that it is three steps, one sentry, five steps and one post, and there is no chance to get close on weekdays, let alone what it is doing inside.

The second is that the Ordnance Bureau, which has been located in the capital for hundreds of years, has actually moved again after experiencing a relocation.

The location of this move is undoubtedly more remote, and the city is still being built, which means that it is planning to build an urn city for the Ordnance Bureau.

This kind of scene made the people in the capital feel a little strange, but because the news of the imperial court was strictly blocked, no one knew why, so after a few days of random speculation, the matter was over.

And Lao Zhu in the palace, in addition to dealing with government affairs, will inquire about the research and development progress of the Ordnance Bureau when he has time.

After the mass production of the Minne rifle, Da Ming and Jiannu went on offense and defense.

It's just that Jiannu occupies so many cities in the Ming Dynasty, if they hold on to the city, it will take at least three years for the Ming Dynasty to completely take down the Jiannu.

But if he could have made the explosive shell he had said, the situation would have been very different.

There were those shells, even if they were not many, enough to open a fortified city.

It's just that although Bi Maokang has a full set of knowledge, after all, the supporting productivity can't keep up, so Bi Maokang was not in a hurry to develop it as soon as possible during this time, but first set the regulations for standardized production to the Ordnance Bureau.

Let R&D and production perform their respective duties, and the entire Ordnance Bureau is slowly on the right track.

Today, before Lao Zhu asked about the progress of the Ordnance Bureau on a daily basis, Wang Chengen came to report with a happy face: "Your Majesty, there is good news from the Ordnance Bureau, saying that the thing called ethanol has been made, and it is estimated that it will not take long to develop thunder mercury." ”

"That's a good thing."

Lao Zhu said that it was a good thing, but his expression was not too surprised.

Because he knows how the ethanol thing is made, and this thing is actually alcohol, purified from wine.

But the crux of the matter is that wine is made from grain.

In the case of Daming, the most lacking thing is food, and it's okay to use a little bit for Bi Maokang to do experiments, but if you want to mass produce, there is no door.

Now that the Minne rifle is enough, Lao Zhu doesn't want to take food from the people in order to update firearms and equipment.

So this thing can only be shelved for the time being.

Of course, in addition to this, it is not without good news, Bi Maokang in order to develop ethanol, to create supporting things.

For example, highly transparent glass looks as crystal clear.

The cost of this thing is low, it is not difficult to make, and there are many uses, and it can directly spread this process to the people when you turn back, and after a long time, this kind of glass can be popularized in Daming.

And Lao Zhu also specially asked Tang Ruowang to ask, according to Tang Ruowang, although the West has had glass for a long time, but limited to the process, Western glass has color, like this pure transparent glass, has not yet appeared.

Therefore, in addition to civilian use, these glasses can also be sold overseas to add one more commodity to Daming.

Lao Zhu saw a note in a book that called science and technology as a whole, and Lao Zhu felt that it was true.

Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing, in addition to studying firearms and industry, have actually made a lot of things similar to glass.

Although in the eyes of the two, these things cannot be used as weapons and cannot improve people's livelihood, although they are a little strange, they are useless, so they don't take it to heart at all.

But Lao Zhu doesn't think so, with Zheng Zhilong, he has a channel to sell overseas, and when this thing can be produced on a small scale, then in the future, these are all high-end goods of the Ming Dynasty, and it is not easy to buy them with money.

Da Ming will make a fortune in the future, in addition to those basic items in the past, but also rely on these technologies to develop things.

After all, compared with things like silk cloth and tea, the profits of derivatives developed by these technologies are certainly not of the same magnitude.

Therefore, Lao Zhu attaches great importance to these derivatives developed by Bi Maokang and the others, and often asks the Ordnance Bureau to draw some people out, make some samples, and then send them to Zheng Zhilong, so that he can evaluate the market value of those things overseas.

Then let the Civil Weapons Bureau divide into several separate departments to specialize in the manufacture of these things.

After all, Lao Zhu's subordinates are in charge of an entire country, and it is relatively simple to do whatever he wants.

Compared with Lao Zhu, Li Zicheng's life is not easy now.

He originally besieged Kaifeng, but now he directly withdrew his troops from Kaifeng to Luoyang and began to hold Luoyang.

After all, the people who were beaten in Kaifeng were about to die, there was no food to eat, no one to ask for people, and Daming had just won Jiannu, which showed that Daming still had combat power.

After the previous plan was laid, he went straight to Beijing, and now it has come to naught.

Therefore, Li Zicheng, who couldn't hold on, directly withdrew to Luoyang under the advice of his advisers.

It's just that after staying in Henan for so long, Li Zicheng's grain and grass have begun to be in short supply, and the already panicked army is in a more difficult situation at this time.

In Luoyang City, the original Fu Wangfu Mansion has been occupied by Li Zicheng.

In a side courtyard, Li Zicheng's adviser Li Yan was dressed in a green shirt and sat alone in the room and poured himself a drink.

His room was empty except for a whole book and a few simple tables and chairs in the back.

At this time, in front of Li Yan, there was only one wine jug, plus a plate of fennel beans, simple and simple.

It's just strange that he was the only one in the room, but there were two wine glasses on the table.

Li Yan didn't care about the cup opposite, but poured wine into the cup in front of him by himself, and then drank it all, slowly savoring the taste of the wine in this cup.

And just as Li Yan finished drinking the third glass of wine, a person suddenly walked in from outside the courtyard.

This man has a small mouth and thin lips, wide cheekbones, and is dressed in plain clothes, about fifty years old, dressed as a scribe.

The First Cause of All Worlds

After he just entered the room, before he could speak, he heard Li Yan sitting on the chair speak: "Brother Juming came later than I expected." ”

"Huh?"

The person who came was Niu Jinxing, another strategist under Li Zicheng's command, who was originally about to accuse him for his uninvited arrival, but he couldn't help but be stunned when he heard Li Yan's words at this moment.

But after a while, he regained his smile and walked over directly, "It's worthy of Li Yan, you can even guess when I came to you." ”

To be honest, Niu Jinxing's mind is not open-minded, so although he is also a strategist under Li Zicheng, the relationship between Niu Jinxing and Li Yan is not good.

In the past, Niu Jinxing didn't want to try his best to trap Li Yan, so he had already raised his noble hand, let alone took the initiative to see Li Yan.

But at this moment, it is different, Li Zicheng, who originally had unparalleled momentum, suddenly fell into an embarrassment after Daming adjusted his strategy, and even as wise men, they could see that the army had obviously begun to decline, and if it was not done well, it would encounter a life and death crisis.

At this time, Niu Jinxing was also ready to give up his personal grievances and came to discuss countermeasures with Li Yan.

It's just that he didn't expect that Li Yan had already calculated that he was coming, looking at the two wine glasses in front of Li Yan, Niu Jinxing sat down directly, first unceremoniously poured himself a glass of wine, and then refilled a glass for Li Yan.

"Since Brother Li guessed that I would come today, he must have guessed the reason why I came to you today, right?"

"I know a little bit about it."

Li Yan drank the wine, then twisted a fennel bean, put it in his mouth, frowned and tasted it carefully, and after waiting for a long time, he swallowed the fennel bean slowly, and then slowly said: "But what does Brother Juming want to do, but this matter is ...... I can't help it. ”

The original overwhelming army began to become difficult to move an inch, and now not only are there Ming troops set up nets on all sides, but even food and grass are gone.

The reason why Niu Jinxing came to him was nothing more than to change this situation and seek a way to break the situation.

But what can he do, the imperial court already occupies the righteousness, and the reason why Li Zicheng can rise is nothing more than because of the corruption of the dynasty, the corruption of officials, and the occurrence of natural disasters, which led to the people's misery, so Li Zicheng can rise with the trend.

But now the imperial court has suddenly changed, not only cutting the officials of the imperial court by more than half in one go, but also directly exempting the people from paying taxes for a year.

In addition, in areas where the famine was severe, the imperial court also sent special personnel to provide disaster relief, and in the original Ming Dynasty, there was not enough food at all, let alone disaster relief.

However, Li Yan learned by chance that the imperial court had completely opened the sea ban for the first time, and now the grain transported from overseas was transported to the capital by boat, and then transferred from the capital to various places to relieve the disaster.

Who the hell can handle this.

Although the idea he gave Li Zicheng was to exempt him from paying for three years, he also played this slogan, compared with the imperial court, they were exempted from paying for three years, which seemed to be a very advantageous.

But the problem is that they are thieves, the court is an official, if the people can't survive, their slogan of exempting them from taxation for three years will naturally make the people welcome each other and win a lot of support.

But now the imperial court is also exempted, compared with the imperial court, even if the imperial court is only exempted for one year, their promises are not even a fart for the people.

After all, who wants to be a thief if they can live well.

What's more, the Ming court won another battle, and it was the emperor's personal expedition, so that the emperor's momentum was naturally unmatched, and the people were naturally even more optimistic about them.

As for the thieves, if they don't have the support of the people, then they are just a group of thieves, and no matter how strong their ability is, it will be difficult to succeed.

Therefore, although Li Yanxin knew Niu Jinxing's intention, there was nothing he could do to solve it.