Liu Wanshi listened with surprise on his face. After listening to Su Duxiu's words, he kept applauding and said: "Wonderful, the master's vision is indeed extraordinary. No wonder the poem the master composed last night was so majestic and majestic..."
When Mu Linfeng heard Liu Wanshi mentioning last night's words again, he couldn't help but feel ashamed and said, "Mr. Liu was so complimentary!"
Liu Wanshi said repeatedly: "Where, where, the master is too humble!"
Su Duxiu nodded when he heard this and said: "Brother Liu is right, the master doesn't need to be humble!"
Mu Linfeng could only say: "Okay!" He quickly changed the subject and asked Su Duxiu: "Now that we have taken action in Huai'an and Fengyang counties, what do you think we should do next, Mr. Su?"
Su Duxiu smiled when he heard this and said, "Master is being humble again. Hasn't Master already thought about it?"
Mu Linfeng asked curiously: "Ah? I've thought about it?"
Su Duxiu smiled and said: "Exactly, doesn't the master want to contact the imperial court through Zhou Yanru to buy firearms from us?"
Mu Linfeng sighed after hearing this: "It's a pity that Zhou Yanru has gone somewhere!"
Su Duxiu pondered for a while, and then said: "Since there is no Zhou Yanru, the master might as well contact the court directly. In this regard, he can ask Shi Kefa and Wang Zhizhen for help. After all, they have been officials in the court for many years.
After all, I am much more familiar with the imperial court’s connections than my master!”
Mu Linfeng nodded when he heard this and said: "Even so, if the imperial court doesn't want to buy it, then Linfeng can't buy it with the imperial court behind closed doors, right?"
Su Duxiu smiled and said: "Master must have a way!"
Mu Linfeng saw that Su Duxiu kept giving him high hats, so he couldn't ask Su Duxiu directly what he was thinking about, so he had to think for a while, and then said: "Okay, let's do it this way. We can say that Li Zicheng's firearm was originally given to us by us.
It belongs to the imperial court, but Li Zi's troops were robbed on the way. We originally wanted to provide the imperial court with firearms to help the imperial court eliminate the intruders. However, we have insufficient production funds and cannot produce anymore. So we ask the imperial court to allocate funds to allow us to continue production?
"
Liu Wanshi said from the side: "We are obviously rebels, how could we be so kind as to send firearms to the court? The people in the court are not fools!"
Su Duxiu clapped his hands and said: "This is a good idea. The main purpose of this is not to tell the court how loyal we are to the court, but to tell the court that we have firearms and can buy them as long as we have money!"
Mu Linfeng laughed when he heard this and said: "Yes, Mr. Su understands Linfeng, and Linfeng official means... Besides, we just sent troops to Xuzhou on New Year's Eve, and if we show our courtesy today, the imperial court will naturally understand what it means!"
Su Duxiu couldn't help but nodded when he heard the words, and Liu Wanshi smiled and said: "So this is the truth. Liu has learned the lesson. The master slapped someone and gave him a piece of candied date..."
Mu Linfeng and Su Duxiu both laughed when they heard this.
At this time, Fang proudly entered the study and said to Mu Linfeng: "Mu Shuai, I have some good news for you. There is news about Fang Jiahang!"
Liu Wanshi hummed from the side: "Is there any news about this guy? Did he spend all the 10,000 taels he defrauded, so he is planning to come back and ask for money again?"
Mu Linfeng coughed a few times and signaled Liu Wanshi not to talk nonsense, then asked Fang proudly: "Mr. Fang, where is Fang Jiahang now? How can I tell you?"
Fang proudly handed a letter to Mu Linfeng. Mu Linfeng took a casual look at it and then asked Fang proudly, "I won't read the letter. Mr. Fang should just say it directly!"
Fang proudly said immediately: "Oh, that's the case. Fang Jiahang said that he contacted more than a dozen old shipbuilding experts in his hometown in eastern Zhejiang. As soon as the Chinese New Year is over, he will come to Yangzhou as soon as possible..."
Mu Linfeng smiled and said, "Okay! Fang Jiahang really lived up to my expectations!"
But I heard Fang proudly continue: "But Fang Jiahang also said that in addition to eastern Zhejiang, there are also a group of people in the hands of Zheng Zhilong from Fujian. If you want to call them over, you may have to poach them with high salaries. The ten thousand taels of silver he brought are used
There are not many left, so..."
Liu Wanshi sneered from the side and said: "Look, look, the fox's tail is finally exposed, isn't it? Any high-paying poaching, I think these ten thousand taels are all in vain..."
Mu Linfeng couldn't help frowning when he heard this. After all, these ten thousand taels are not a small amount. Ten thousand taels of silver allows a person to visit the brothels every day and eat delicacies from the mountains and seas every day. It can be used for at least a year.
Su Duxiu couldn't help but ponder for a long time after hearing the words, looking at Mu Linfeng, waiting for Mu Linfeng's reply.
Mu Linfeng was silent for a while, and then asked Fang proudly: "How much does Fang Jiahang want this time?"
Fang Jiahangdao: "Fifty thousand taels!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Wanshi immediately laughed and said: "This Fang Jiahang thinks he is a thing too much. He opened his mouth and asked for fifty thousand taels..."
Mu Linfeng couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when he heard this. Fang proudly said: "If the master is in trouble, I will repair the book and return to Fang Jiahang!"
Mu Linfeng said quickly: "There's no rush...Okay, I'll give it to him. As long as he can really find someone for me, I'll get rid of the fifty thousand taels!"
Liu Wanshi was about to speak when he heard this, but he heard Mu Linfeng say: "But this time, please ask Mr. Fang to give it to him personally and tell him that Mu is waiting for him in Yangzhou with good news. He must not let me down."
!”
Hearing this, Fang Aoao naturally understood what Mu Linfeng meant and immediately said: "Fang understands!"
Mu Linfeng then said proudly: "Then Mr. Fang goes to the iron factory, asks Mr. Wu Xingwu to get the money, and then sets off directly to find Fang Jiahang!"
Fang proudly said immediately: "Okay, this time when Fang goes there, he will bring someone back with Fang Jiahang. Even if he is really cheated, Fang will definitely bring Fang Ahang back and give the owner an answer."
Mu Linfeng came over and nodded, saying, "Well, that's all Mr. Fang's hard work!"
After taking Fang Ziguo away, Liu Wanshi was about to speak, but Mu Linfeng knew what Liu Wanshi was going to say, and quickly stopped him: "Mr. Liu, there is no need to say more. You don't trust people you employ, and you don't use people you doubt. Since we have already spent ten thousand taels,
, why not spend another 50,000 taels to buy peace of mind, besides, Mr. Fang will go there in person this time, I believe he will not return without success!"
Su Duxiu nodded at the side and said: "Su still said the same thing, Fang Jiahang will not lie to us!"
Liu Wanshi sighed after hearing this and said: "What else can I do, I can only pray that he is really not a film!"
Mu Linfeng smiled slightly when he heard this, and immediately asked people to invite Shi Kefa and Wang Zhizhen. After the two arrived at Mu Mansion and were invited to the study by the servants, Su Duxiu and Liu Wanshi resigned together.
Mu Linfeng immediately asked his servants to serve tea to Shi Kefa and Wang Zhizhen. Then Shi Kefa and Wang Zhizhen held their hands and said, "I wonder why Mu Shuai came to us?"
Mu Linfeng laughed and said: "Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year and I have to bother you two adults. I'm really sorry!"
Wang Zhizhen and Shi Kefa quickly raised their hands and said, "Mu Shuai is so polite!"
Mu Linfeng smiled slightly and said: "But there is nothing we can do about it... I believe that the two adults should also know about Xuzhou's affairs!"
Hearing this, Shi Kefa quickly raised his hands and said, "Shi Mou just heard about it!"
Mu Linfeng nodded and said: "Well, now Mu wants to ask two adults to write books for your friends in the court. The main purpose is to tell them that Li Zicheng robbed a batch of firearms from us before. This batch of firearms was originally intended to be given to the court.
It was used indiscriminately, but was hijacked by Li Zicheng. Mu originally wanted to make another batch and send it to the court, but there was a shortage of silver, so he hoped that the court would..."
Shi Kefa heard this and immediately said: "Mu Shuai means that he wants the court to also buy our firearms?"
Mu Linfeng nodded repeatedly and said: "That's right. Nowadays, firearms production requires silver, and running a shipyard also requires silver. Everything requires silver. We have no choice but to ask the court to borrow money!"
Wang Zhizhen said from the side: "This might as well be a bad idea, you might as well give it a try!"
Mu Linfeng stood up quickly, handed Shi Kefa and Wang Zhizhen papers and pens respectively, and asked them to repair their books now.
Shi Kefa and Wang Zhizhen picked up the pen and thought for a long time before finally starting to write. Shi Kefa wrote more than ten letters in a row, but Wang Zhizhen only wrote two.
Mu Lifeng took it and took a look. The two letters from Wang Zhizhen were addressed to Yang Sichang and Xiong Wencan respectively. Mu Lifeng naturally knew about Yang Sichang and Xiong Wencan. Yang Sichang was an important member of the Ministry of War during the Chongzhen period. He was later promoted to the Minister of Rites and still controlled the Ministry of War.
affairs, and once the Qing army went straight to the inland, the matter
Later Chongzhen went on a killing spree, killing thirty-six people including the director, sub-supervisors, governors, general soldiers, and deputy generals. However, Yang Sichang, who insisted on making peace, was not demoted, and later fought with Zhang Xianzhong.
Zhang Xianzhong was defeated, but later it was also because of Zhang Xianzhong that Yang Sichang finally committed suicide out of fear of crime.
And this Xiong Wencan actually has no merit. His only two achievements are to recruit two people. One is recruiting Zheng Zhilong in Fujian, and then recruiting Zhang Xianzhong in the southwest. Like Yang Sichang, he also died because of Zhang Xianzhong.
But the difference is that Yang Sichang committed suicide, while Xiong Wencan was killed by Zhang Xianzhong.
The list in the letter written by Shi Kefa basically consisted of military generals, including Fu Zonglong, Yang Wenyue, Zheng Chongjian, Wang Qionian, etc., none of whom Mu Linfeng knew.