Neither Liu Jinge nor Yuan Xiang used the word "report" in the end, because Yuan Xiang suspected that he had misheard, and Liu Jinge thought that Yuan Xiang must have heard it wrong.

"Today, I'm here to report to you." After Deng Ming walked into the meeting, he pushed the chair given to him aside, stood behind the table and said to the councillors present.

Today, the entire venue was arranged according to Deng Ming's request, with the parliamentarians sitting in the middle, the podium facing the parliamentarians' seats, and the officials attending the meeting sitting on both sides. However, there are still people who are clever enough to set up a chair for Deng Ming.

"Why don't I report to the Senate?" Before starting the report, Deng Ming first raised this question with everyone, and he knew very well that these imperial parliamentarians present here were obedient to the orders of the Senate.

There were whispers in the venue, and no soldiers came up to maintain order.

"They all sit in the senator's seat because of my gift." Deng Ming said his reasons out loud. Although this sentence came from a young man in his early twenties, everyone present was deeply convinced, including the officials who were in attendance. Even a top leader in Chengdu like Liu Jinge is also very clear that his rights and status come from Deng Ming: "I can give the position of a senator to whoever I want, and take it away if I want, and the relationship between me and the senator is like that of a shopkeeper and a buddy, and the shopkeeper has no reason to explain and report to the buddy." ”

After a pause, Deng Ming continued to the Imperial Councillors in front of him, he knew that many of the members of the Imperial Council had only entered this venue under the operation of the Senate, but even so, the Imperial Parliament and the people had closer ties, and many of them were the leaders of his pavilion, including teachers, pavilion scholars, chamber of commerce owners, and some who became councilors simply because they were helpful.

"You are the representatives elected by the Metropolitan Government Tong Xiucai - Tong Xiucai provided the Metropolitan Government with officers and soldiers, and supplied our army's food and salary. Just now I made an analogy, that is, the government of the capital is compared to a trading house, then Tong Xiucai is a shareholder, I am the shopkeeper, and you are the person sent by the shareholder to check the accounts. I respect you because I respect your fellow talents behind you, and you are their representatives, so I stand here and report my work to you with sincere fear. Then you will tell the shareholders of Tongxiucai whether it is profitable, how profitable, and how these dividends will be distributed. ”

"Now I'll start reporting." Deng Ming didn't give everyone much time to digest, lowered his head and began to read the paperwork in his hand.

Compared to the one given to Wen Anzhi, Deng Ming's report to the Imperial Assembly was much more detailed, the number of fallen soldiers, and how their bodies were arranged; the cost of this battle, and what benefits were obtained in the end; Even Deng Ming made no secret of his reckless identity, telling the council members bluntly that it was an imposter, and explaining to the council why he had planned such an operation.

There are also tens of thousands of taels of war compensation belonging to Chengdu every year, which will be tens of millions of yuan in military compensation every year if converted into IOUs, which can greatly help Chengdu's economic development. Deng Ming went one step further, not only accepting the conversion of jewelry, but also allowing the occupying army and Yang Zai to use the money to buy jadeite, coral, precious stones, pearls, etc. locally and ship them back to Sichuan, which are not of high value in Myanmar, but as long as they are processed in Chengdu, the price can be expected to rise several times, dozens of times.

"Maybe we need to sell raw materials to the Qing court at the beginning, but after the market is opened, sooner or later we will have to process it ourselves, and jewelry processing can bring more jobs to the capital, so that more people can live in the capital instead of thinking about going to remote places all day to open up wasteland." Deng Ming also hopes to speed up the urbanization of Chengdu, so that more workers will bring greater mobilization capacity to western Sichuan, and military training and education will be easier to arrange: "Like salt making, jewelry cannot be used directly for warfare, but the capital can get rich tax revenues from it." The carving and polishing of jadeite, coral, and pearls stimulated tool-making in the capital, and these techniques may have helped the capital's military industry as well. ”

Regardless of whether it can really be helpful technically, Deng Ming feels that as long as there is a tax, he will not lose money.

None of the imperial parliamentarians expected that Deng Ming would report to them so seriously, and many people listened to them with relish. When he heard about the plan to import raw materials for processing and then sell them to the Qing-controlled areas, one lawmaker couldn't help but ask, "What if they don't buy it?" ”

The voice of this question was not small, Deng Ming stopped the report, raised his head and was about to answer, but the questioner was already drowned in a reprimand:

"We have Imperial troops!"

"Are you a vegetarian when you are in the Imperial Army?"

Deng Ming was very satisfied with the answers of the other legislators, and continued his report.

In addition to luxury goods, Deng Ming also seized thousands of firearms, many of which were obtained from Bai Wen's players. This weapon was considered unsuitable for field warfare by Xiying, and Deng Ming also felt that the rate of fire and safety of the arquebus were really poor, and there were indeed big problems. In order to make it easier to carry, Deng Ming dismantled the thousands of guns, brought back only the barrels and metal parts, and planned to sell them to the gun shop in Chengdu at a scrap price -- Deng Ming further raised the bounty and asked the gun shop to develop a flintlock ignition device that did not require open flames as soon as possible. He had long pointed the way for the gunsmith industry to start with flint, but until now there had been no design that could guarantee a firing rate of more than 50 percent.

The question of the Son of Heaven of Yongli cannot be avoided, and when Deng Ming asked the parliamentarians to ask questions, someone asked the emperor when he would be able to escape and return to China -- although this parliamentarian was very concerned about the whereabouts of the emperor, it sounded like his feelings were very complicated, and he did not seem to be looking forward to the return of the Emperor Yongli to China. After hearing this question, the venue, which had just been in a lively atmosphere, became silent. A few years ago, these imperial councillors were all auxiliaries or peasants, and they were not good at concealing their true feelings, Deng Ming saw nervousness and worry in the faces of these councilors, because at the beginning of all the decrees in western Sichuan, almost all the same sentence would be the same explanation: The emperor hunts in the south, and the matter is in a hurry......

The subtext of this sentence is that when the emperor returns to China safely, the current Sichuan law will be replaced by the original Ming law, and it is completely unknown whether the economic, tax, political and other rights that the Sichuan people have obtained can continue to be maintained.

Although their personal interests were in danger, the Tongxiucai and imperial councillors in western Sichuan were essentially simple people, and most of them did not dare to let the thought of "the emperor better not come back" come out of their mouths, and even when this thought first appeared, they would desperately blame themselves, thinking that they were guilty.

In the past history, the princes in the position of Deng Ming were still encouraged to be loyal to the monarch and patriotic thoughts. Those usurpers punished those who were disloyal to the emperor not entirely because of hypocrisy, but because they also did not allow such ideas to be questioned. In the end, the princes will be dressed in yellow robes, so that the people's loyalty and patriotism will be perfectly utilized.

"I don't think His Majesty the Emperor will be able to get out of danger anytime soon." Although Deng Ming swore to Wen Anzhi in Fengjie, if the conditions in western Sichuan permitted, he would send troops to King Qin again. But when the Imperial Councillor asked, Deng Ming chose a different answer. He carefully explained the authority of the occupying forces and Yang Zai, and speculated that they would not be very concerned about rescuing the emperor and returning home. If time passes, the occupying forces and Yang Zai become more accustomed to their power and position, and may even create obstacles for the emperor to return to China.

Even an observer official like Liu Jinge, who did not have much loyalty to the Ming Dynasty emperor, was a little restless when listening to Deng Ming's analysis. Because Deng Ming did not show any disdain for this kind of behavior, did not use any derogatory words, but stood on a completely neutral standpoint, and analyzed the possible actions of the occupying forces and Yang Zai from the perspective of the interests of western Sichuan -- this is a complete negation of the idea of loyalty. Although Liu Jinge didn't realize this yet, he already felt uncomfortable.

When Deng Ming told everyone that he had reached these agreements with the occupying forces and Yang Zai on his own initiative, the venue was so quiet that even a needle could be heard clearly when it landed.

"At that time, I was faced with a choice, that is, the question of which should be put in front of the interests of the emperor or the interests of the western Sichuan imperial government. I know that these agreements may not be very beneficial to His Majesty the Emperor's return to China, but they will ensure that the Imperial Government of Western Sichuan will better receive the indemnity, so that the Imperial soldiers will shed less blood under the city of Ava, and Tongxiucai will get more employment opportunities. ”

Deng Ming's words made everyone present feel a tingling sensation, as if something was poking into their lungs. Deng Ming did not say that the emperor was immoral, mediocre, and abandoned the country, so changing the goal of loyalty to the monarch was not an immoral act; Rather, it is a trade-off between loyalty and patriotism, which not only separates the two, but also unabashedly measures them in terms of value and interests.

"In the end, I chose to give priority to the interests of the imperial government and Tong Xiucai." Deng Ming basically finished his report, but he left the choice to the lawmakers opposite: "I was in Myanmar at the time, so I guessed that it would be in line with the wishes of my fellow talents." You are the representatives of the talented people in western Sichuan, and when you go home, ask the opinions of your neighbors and villagers, and then vote on it. If you think we should spend money and shed blood to bring back the Holy One, I will lead the army again. ”

After finishing the report, Deng Ming reiterated the relationship between the House and the Council: "As I said earlier, the Imperial Assembly is the representative of the shareholders, and the Senate is the partner. Why can a guy veto a shareholder's proposal? Because like all trading houses, there are some things that need to be done by experienced shopkeepers and associates. Shareholders can come up with all sorts of ideas, and the treasurer and the associates can judge the viability of those ideas - for example, if the shareholders say that we should buy the stone at a high price and sell it to someone else at a higher price, the buddy can dissuade it, and that is the job of the Senate - but we know that such a deal does not necessarily work. For example, we now buy stones from Burma and try to sell them to the Qing court. So when the Senate vetoes a proposal by the Reichstag, it should give clear reasons for its veto. When the shareholders insist on the original opinion, such as seventy percent of the parliamentarians in favor of it, and after three vetoes and dissuasions, insist on the fourth pass, it should become the policy of the empire - as long as it is not unconstitutional. ”

After saying these words, Deng Ming ended his report and wished everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

On the way back to Yamen, Liu Jinge had been pondering Deng Ming's words, from which he saw Deng Ming's emphasis on the hearts of the people in western Sichuan: "If the Imperial Council is of the same mind as me, the Qingcheng faction will have no choice, right?" They have been scolding Lao Tzu for several years. Well, it's not hard to make the legislators happy, and if you get more immigrants, there will be a lot of bosses who will support me, no matter where he's from. ”

Yuan Xiang, who came from Xuzhou, had a similar impression, and he was determined to make more efforts to allow more new immigrants to choose to settle in Xuzhou. It seems that as long as the parliament of Xuzhou supports him and Yuan, the position of this prefect will be as stable as Mount Tai.