"Mercenaries?"

In the imperial study, Xiao Ming slammed the fold in his hand on the table. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Five days have passed since the Battle of Busan, and the forces of the Wa State have been completely defeated back to the mainland by the Great Chongqing State, but what he didn't expect was that Western mercenaries appeared this time.

"According to the news in the battle report, this batch of mercenaries is indeed stronger than the Japanese soldiers, but fortunately their number is not large, otherwise it will be difficult to handle Ye Qingyun's eight thousand people." Niu Ben faced a heavy face, "But it's a pity that some of the mercenaries escaped, and probably took our shells with them." ”

Xiao Ming frowned, this is a very helpless thing, it is inevitable that weapons and equipment will be obtained by the enemy in war, unless these weapons are not used.

It's just that he's not very worried, as long as his industrial capacity in the Great Chongqing Country will continue to increase, soon they will no longer be able to imitate the weapons of the Great Chongqing Kingdom, because their industry will not be able to make these weapons and equipment.

"Hmph, these Western bandits are starting to get scared, and their plot can't succeed here." Xiao Ming sneered.

If it weren't for him in this country, the British strategy would have been successful long ago, and the Great Yu Kingdom would probably be ruled by the barbarians, so that it would continue to decline in terms of science and technology.

But now he has broken all their conspiracy.

Niu Ben heard this and said: "Your Majesty, these Western countries are really excessive, and they have repeatedly interfered in the wars between Dayu and other countries. ”

"It's natural, and the elimination of the Merchant Council is their biggest failure here." Xiao Ming said categorically.

According to the information provided by the secret guards, now that the war in the territory of Chu has begun, the merchant council has controlled most of the new army to violently attack the city controlled by Li Chuyuan, and now Suzhou and its nearby cities have all been lost.

This information surprised him a little, and he was worried that it was not the Cao family's successive victories, but the amazing support of the southern merchants, wealthy clans, and common people for the merchant council.

Although the firearms of the new army were superior to Li Chuyuan, the support they received was also superior to that of Li Chuyuan, which shows that the south had accepted the merchant council from top to bottom.

And because the royal family of the Great Chongqing Kingdom has done little to the south in recent years, and the south does not have much recognition of the imperial court, this is the real problem at the moment.

It can be said that after three hundred years of rule, the old system of the Great Chongqing State can no longer maintain the country, and it has reached the level of not breaking or standing at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

During these years, he completed a radical transformation in the north and reunited the people, while the south also began to experiment under the control of the merchant council.

"The emperor means that the merchant council is not only controlled by the Cao family?" Niu Ben asked.

"Of course not, in addition to France, now the British have also come in, and the secret guards also found that Cao Zhengyang seems to be a member of a British secret society, and this secret society has also absorbed a lot of southern wealthy families and tycoons, who have played a huge role in the establishment of the merchant council, and there seem to be people in Qingzhou who are bewitched by them." Xiao Ming narrowed his eyes, revealing a dangerous glow.

Niu Ben was a little incomprehensible, he said: "Your Majesty, this is unlikely, how can they have such an ability?" ”

Xiao Ming is from the modern era, and he naturally has more knowledge than people in this era, and when the secret guards investigated this secret society, he suddenly remembered a similar society in contemporary times.

Legend has it that this society is extremely powerful, the world's top talents and magnates are its members, and the operation of the world is the confrontation and cooperation between their members.

He only listened to this rumor for fun, after all, it was too nonsense.

But in this world it was different, because this secret society was most active in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, and he could not help but be on guard.

After all, according to the information provided by the Dutch, the French Revolution had the presence of this secret society.

"That's because you don't know much about the West." Xiao Ming didn't want to intensify this matter too much now, he said: "In addition to the garrisons stationed in Kwantung, Goryeo, and the garrisons that cannot be mobilized, how many troops can we mobilize now?"

After a deep groan, Niu Ben said, "About sixty thousand people." ”

"Sixty thousand?" Xiao Ming pondered for a moment, and he said: "The change of equipment of the army this time is given to these troops first, if Li Chuyuan can't hold on, we can only send troops." ”

Niu Ben nodded excitedly, after returning from the Kanto region, he went to the military workshop to visit the new rifles, these breech-loading rifles have a fast rate of fire, great power, and can shoot in any position, once equipped with the army, the combat mode of the army of the Great Yu Kingdom will undergo a third change.

And this change will lay the foundation for the future of the army of the Great Chongqing State.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Niu Ben nodded excitedly.

After explaining Niu Ben's affairs, Xiao Ming looked at the map on the wall, and now the territory of Dayu includes Bashu, north of the Yangtze River to the Great Wall, the entire Kanto and Goryeo regions, and he has almost expanded the territory of Dayu by half in nearly eight years.

It's just that this is far from enough for him, Tubo is still an unstable factor in the southwest, the Yunnan generation is still under the control of the Annan Kingdom, and the barbarians north of the Great Wall are still waiting for opportunities, and from time to time they raid the borders.

And the Wa kingdom across the sea is not a good country now, let alone Tsarist Russia, which is now expanding its sphere of influence to the east.

Looking at it, Xiao Ming suddenly felt a little dizzy, and the Great Chongqing Kingdom was really in an era of many disasters and difficulties.

Seeming to feel Xiao Ming's doubts, Niu Ben said: "Don't worry, the emperor, this foreign enemy must be eliminated one by one, in the opinion of the old minister, the most important thing at present is the Wa Kingdom and Jiangnan, the population and land of the Wa State are better than Goryeo, it is a good dumping market for the Dayu State, and if you get the south, the government treasury is sufficient." ”

"This is also what I want, so you are in charge of Jiangnan, and this Wa Kingdom will be handled by me personally." Xiao Ming groaned.

The two were talking, when Qian Dafu suddenly appeared at the door of the imperial study and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the Instrument Department has sent a novelty." ”

Xiao Ming seemed to think of something, and he said, "But something with two wheels? ”

"That's right, it's two wheels, and there's a handle." Qian Dafu didn't understand what it was.

Xiao Ming laughed, "This is a bicycle, it seems that the improvement of the type and accuracy of the lathe has allowed Qingzhou to produce a lot of things." ”

"Bike!" Qian Dafu and Niu Ben were a little surprised, and they followed Xiao Ming out.

The three of them arrived at the square in front of the Zhengda Guangming Palace, and at this time, the people from the Instrument Division were waiting for them, and in front of them was something that Xiao Ming was familiar with - bicycles.

"Your Majesty, what's the use of this thing?" Niu Ben asked.

Xiao Ming smiled and didn't speak, he took the bicycle from the craftsman's hand, skillfully got on the car and pedaled, and rode far away.

Niu Ben and Qian Dafu were dumbfounded.