The supplies of the imperial court were constantly being transported up the mountain, and the bandits on Monkey Mountain also quieted down.

The water resources of Monkey Mountain are good, and there is a black dragon pond in the back mountain, which can build a dam and put a generator underwater.

This will become Zhou Xian's base.

Moreover, Monkey Mountain is only forty miles away from the border pass, and after the materials and equipment are ready, you can go out of the customs and carry the gold.

Although the thieves have been dispersed, they have not been completely wiped out, coupled with the civil strife in various places, the Ming Dynasty has not really stabilized, and it is necessary to speed up the research and development and manufacturing of firearms.

Especially the Houjin in the Northeast is a big problem.

There are many things in Monkey Mountain, such as dams, water turbines, weapons factories, barracks, etc.

Zhou Xian has been nesting in Monkey Mountain for more than half a year, and he didn't even go back for the New Year.

It wasn't until Xu Guangqi of the Shenji Battalion sent Shuhan, saying that he was going to be transferred to the military department and wanted to meet him before leaving, that Zhou Xian put down what he was doing and came to the steel mill in Datong Mansion.

At this time, Xu Guangqi gathered around the blast furnace, looking at it in a daze, as if he was thinking about something.

Zhou Xian came for a while before he turned around and said lightly: "Do you think that I am leaving, and think that the imperial court is unreliable, so you went to Monkey Mountain to be one of the three kings?" ”

Zhou Xian smiled faintly: "Thanks to the emperor's fancy to me, I gave Princess Changping such a holy grace, how could I have other ideas?" I just want to get a batch of advanced weapons for the imperial court as soon as possible and clear everything for my Ming Dynasty.

Although this place is good, easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is not the best, and the best place is in Jiuyuan. ”

Xu Guangqi was stunned for a moment, and was taken aback: "Jiuyuan? That's the territory of Mongolia, and now that the Tumut Department occupies it, do you want to send troops? ”

Zhou Xian looked at the pot of molten iron in the blast furnace, his eyes shining: "Jiuyuan has belonged to my Ming territory since Yongle, but Yingzong lost it later, and now I send troops to grab it back, which is reasonable!" ”

Xu Guangqi still looked incredulous: "Just with your strength of less than 10,000 horses? No, colt, what do you mean? ”

Zhou Xian took Xu Guangqi to a mansion and said with a smile: "My lord, let's go to the other courtyard first, and talk while drinking." ”

When he came to the courtyard, Zhou Xian cleaned it, and by the way, he asked people to prepare a table of wine and food.

Zhou Xian poured a glass of wine for Xu Guangqi and asked, "Lord Xu, what do you think of me?" ”

Xu Guangqi pondered for a moment and said: "The horse is both civil and military, and he is proficient in Gewu, and he is very kind to the people and his subordinates, and he is the pillar of my Ming Dynasty." After I return to Beijing, I plan to recommend you to Shenyang City to the Holy Lord, and now the people of Shenyang City are panicking, and they are in need of such good talents. ”

Zhou Xian waved his hand: "Although Shenyang is precarious, the situation in the capital has stabilized, and there are many capable people and good generals in the DPRK and China, so you can send one at will." ”

Zhou Xian took a sip of wine and suddenly asked, "Do you know why I want to send troops to Jiuyuan?" As long as this place can restrain the throat of the Qing soldiers going south, we can avoid the situation that our Ming Dynasty is facing internal and external troubles and suffering from the enemy. ”

Xu Guangqi and these people did not know the historical development, and naturally they did not know what situation the land of China would fall into after the Qing army entered the customs.

But Zhou Xian, as a later generation, now that he knows everything, he naturally wants to make arrangements to prevent the Manchu Qing from entering the customs.

Xu Guangqi naturally didn't know what Zhou Xian was thinking, thought about it, and said, "If I don't go back to Beijing to report on work, you won't go out of the customs, how about it?" ”

Not out of the customs? Wouldn't that be a wasted plan?

Zhou Xian shook his head: "No, if you are here, it may be delayed for two years." ”

Xu Guangqi had hesitation in his eyes: "After you leave the customs, what will happen to those industries in Hou'er Mountain?" ”

Zhou Xian sighed: "If you can bring it, if you can't bring it, you can only stay, and let the court take over when the time comes." ”

Xu Guangqi nodded, if there is chaos today, and there are rebels from all walks of life, the biggest thing in the court is that the important ministers support the army and respect themselves, if this is the case, the Ming Dynasty will be over.

After eating and drinking, Xu Guangqi was also relieved and hurriedly returned to Beijing to report on his work.

As for who Chongzhen would send to supervise the army next, Zhou Xian didn't care.

After Xu Guangqi left, Zhou Xian's power in Datong Mansion was even greater.

Since the defeat of the siege of the capital, bandits have been rampant in various places, and the army that escaped before has no good way to go, so they can only fall into the grass and become bandits.

Raiding homes and robbing houses, doing all kinds of evil.

In order to prevent these bandits from invading the steel mill, Zhou Xian not only sent heavy troops, but also asked Tieli to recruit some homeless people as patrols.

The other end.

After Liu Zongmin was defeated from the capital, he gathered the remnants and established himself as king.

He didn't dare to go to the capital anymore, so he burned and looted all the way to Datong Mansion, intending to hide at the border pass.

When he came to Datong Mansion, he heard that the steel mill was rich in materials, and the workers in it all made a lot of silver, and if he could win the steel mill, he would definitely make a windfall.

So, he took his soldiers and generals to the village of Houshan near the steel mill.

It's just that before he started to enter the village, he was beaten by the patrol team formed by Tie Li.

After all, Liu Zongmin is the number one person in the army, and he was inexplicably defeated by a group of villagers, and his face naturally couldn't hang up.

took the horsewhip and whipped the soldiers around him fiercely, and at the same time scolded them for being greedy for life and afraid of death, and they were not even as good as mud legs.

Tie Li originally fought a battle in the capital, but now he has won another one, and his confidence is bursting.

Seeing that Liu Zongmin, the leader of the bandits, actually led people back in person, he didn't care about the injuries on his body, and led people to win again.

However, before the two sides could fight, a swarthy flintlock pistol appeared on the mountain.

Tie Li knew that it was the people on the mountain who heard the movement and came down to support, and his heart couldn't help but be reassured.

"Brothers, the brothers on the mountain have come to support, everyone kill together and catch the bandit leader!"

Everyone was full of confidence and shouted together: "Capture the bandit leader alive!" ”

Liu Zongmin can live to this day, what he is best at is running away, but now that the situation is not good, he can't care about face, so he immediately shouted and ran, and immediately took the lead in escaping.

Seeing this, Tie Li wanted to chase after him, but he was afraid of encountering an ambush, so he could only wait for the army on the mountain to converge and chase together, but when they converged, Liu Zongmin had already run away.

After Liu Zongmin suffered this big loss, he also knew that this patrol was not easy to mess with, so when he passed by the village, he did not dare to alarm anyone.

When Zhou seemed to know that this gang of thieves was actually Liu Zongmin, he also knew that this person was not very human.

So the people of the steel mill and the surrounding villages and towns were ordered to be on higher alert, and at the same time, the patrol time was shortened just in case.