After listening to Sima De's explanation, and then looking at Xia Nan, who was smiling and silent, Lin Weiye knew that this must be what he was talking about, and he just said it through Sima De's mouth, and couldn't help but shake his head: "Throughout the ages, the hearts of politicians are generally black. I really don't want to be a politician, and even if I can think of it, I may not be able to do it - I can't turn a blind eye to the ability in my hands and watch the people suffer. ”

Xia Nan said with a smile: "Everyone has their own strengths, you don't understand politics, but you know how to make steel, you can cast cannons, the Qiong Navy has become the strongest army in the world, you are indispensable, technical talents, you don't have to wade into the muddy waters of politics, just keep your simple nature, this is called not forgetting the original intention." Just leave these dirty things to me. After a pause, he added, "Don't worry too much about the suffering of the people." Mr. Sima also said that the current torture is mainly aimed at those wealthy bureaucrats or relatives of the emperor, but the ordinary people are safe. ”

Lin Weiye nodded: "What you said is reasonable. But when exactly will we enter Beijing? ”

"Wait a few more days." Xia Nan looked at the north, "Let Liu Zongmin offend the officials and nobles in the whole capital, let these people completely break the idea of returning to obedience, and I will go to Beijing to buy people's hearts again......"

As a typical science and engineering man, Lin Weiye is not rich in historical knowledge, but he still knows about the famous "Battle of a Stone", and asked worriedly: "If we let Li Zicheng toss like this, will it attract the covetousness of Huang Taiji......"

"Theoretically not." Xia Nan replied firmly, "Compared with Dolgon, the Huang Taiji who was still built at this time is more rational and sophisticated, and in the absence of pacification in Liaonan, he will not rush into the customs and leave the flank and rear to the enemy." Why did he personally conquer Mobei, defeat Lin Dan Khan, naturalize the Mongols, and get rid of Korea? It's just to have no worries when you go south. Otherwise, when the army arrives in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, the nest is copied, and the trouble will be big. ”

Lin Weiye looked at Sima De on the side and asked vaguely: "Then will 'a piece of stone' reappear?" ”

Xia Nan laughed, in front of Sima De, he was not afraid to say it bluntly, anyway, Sima De didn't know the future history, and most of them would think that he was an unpredictable prophet.

There are conditions for the emergence of the link of "Battle of a Stone": first, Wu Sangui commanded the entire Guanning Army, held the power of Liaodong Town, and made a bad deal with Li Zi, fell to the Qing army, and let the Qing army enter the customs; Second, the Qing army had already conquered the Mongol tribes, Dongjiang Town, and Korea, and there were no fetters, and they only needed to wait for a suitable time to enter the customs. These two conditions are indispensable. The current situation is: Wu Sangui is not the speaker of Guan Ningjun, and the power is still in the hands of Zu Dashou; On the other hand, Liaonan is not peaceful, Dolgon and Haoge are still contained in the area of Jinzhou and Lushunkou, and there are two generals missing, especially the elite of the white flag and the blue flag, and Huang Taiji will definitely not go south to enter the customs in a short time. ”

Lin Weiye thought thoughtfully: "So, until we enter the capital to defeat Li Zicheng, Beizhili is still safe, and will not be attacked by Tartars and rogues?" ”

"This is natural, otherwise how could I send Murong Longcheng to southern Liaoning? It is to solve Li Zicheng without distractions. As soon as Chongzhen died, Li Zicheng's use value was gone, but it became a stumbling block for the Qiong Navy and must be removed. There is still some truth in this sentence, and only by solving the internal struggle can we deal with Huang Taiji wholeheartedly - Li Zicheng and I are not revolutionary comrades, and we cannot join hands to resist the Qing Dynasty. ”

Beijing, Wenfu.

As the head of the ministers, Wen Tiren could not escape Liu Zongmin's clutches, and his name was at the forefront of Liu Zongmin's list. After the "recovery of stolen goods and assistance" began, Liu Zongmin's cronies knocked on his door murderously.

Fortunately, Wen Tiren had already received Xia Nan's letters and warnings, and had been prepared for this scene, but when things really came, he couldn't help but meditate in his heart: Could it be that this Pingnan Marquis is a god descending from heaven and can communicate with ghosts and gods and predict the future? Otherwise, how could he have predicted the means of the Dashun Army to "recover stolen goods and help him", and also made him ready to deal with it in advance?

He is not like some nobles who pick the door, deny it in every way, and do not admit his family background to death, and he is even more reluctant to take out real money and silver to hand over to the other party, but very happily let his family put the silver that has been prepared long ago in a few boxes and carry it up: "Here is 52,700 taels of silver, which is the old man's lifelong savings, and he is now willing to hand it all over to Emperor Dashun to pay for the army!" ”

A general led by him was originally ready for "torture" and brought a full set of torture instruments, but he didn't expect this former court leader to be so bold, he was stunned for a while, and his original rhetoric was blocked in his stomach and couldn't be spoken. It took half a sound to come back to his senses, and while letting the soldiers carry the boxes, he said with a smile: "Sure enough, it's Shoufu, this bearing, tsk, is much stronger than those nobles." Yesterday, Lao Tzu went to Xiangcheng Bofu, the thief, your mother, an earl, actually said that there was no silver, Lao Tzu gave him a small fire, a big plate smashed, tortured all night, and then spit out the silver. But it was too late, the soldiers had already slept with his wives and concubines, and Uncle Xiangcheng himself died of pain. If you are like Lord Wen, how can you end up in such a situation......"

Wen Tiren's heart trembled, Xiangcheng Bo Li Guozhen was also a noble in Chongzhen, and he held an important position in the Beijing camp, but he didn't expect to end up like this, and he couldn't help but feel a little sad at the moment.

After getting the silver, the general was in a good mood and said "bother" and was about to go out. Wen Tiren pretended to stay: "The military master is working hard to raise salaries, it is better to rest in the house and have a few drinks......"

"It's exempt, the chief whistle (Liu Zongmin's old name) is still waiting for the silver to be handed over, so there will be no delay."

After the heavily armed soldiers retreated, Wen Tiren breathed a sigh of relief, only to find that his back was already wet. After closing the door, Fang Zhenghua came out with a probe, patted his chest and said, "Fortunately, Elder Ge was decisive and sent away these evil spirits with silver." I heard that many officials have been tortured in their homes, and if they can't hand over the money, they will be tortured, and life is better than death......"

Huang Long said on the side: "Don't worry, the elder of the pavilion, only tens of thousands of taels of silver, when the lord arrives, he will definitely make up for the elder of the pavilion, as long as it can be bought safe, everything is worth it." ”

Wen Tiren and Fang Zhenghua both knew what Huang Long meant by "peace", and after glancing at each other, Wen Tiren asked his family in a low voice: "Is the situation of the young master good?" ”

The young master is the crown prince Zhu Cihong, in order not to expose his whereabouts, he was hidden in a secret place in the mansion, and the whole mansion is called "young master".

The family bowed down and reported: "The young master's mood has stabilized a lot, and Lang Zhong has also seen it, but he is in a hurry, and there is no big problem." ”

Wen Tiren nodded. Compared with the rogue who was eager for quick success, he did not hesitate to put his chips on Qiong Haijun, which was a big gamble of political fate. As long as Zhu Cihong is handed over to Xia Nan intact, this gamble will be won.