Lu Zhou had no expression on his face and asked, "So, the Li family is here to persuade you to surrender?"

Li Tian was stunned for a while, then nodded: "Master, it's not impossible to understand this.

The main reason is that I really can’t stay here any longer. The young master is a smart man, and it’s really impossible to live such a miserable life!”

Lu Zhou nodded: "Okay, but this matter is very important, so just give me five days, no, ten days to think about it!"

"Young Master is joking. Ten days is too long. Let's take three days. After three days, Li will take everyone and prepare to leave."

Li Tian quickly stopped talking, looking anxious, fearing that he might be too late to catch up with the good gift.

Huang Taiji will proclaim himself emperor next year.

Now is a critical period for the development of Jianzhou. The participation of Han officials during this period can be said to have injected fresh vitality into Houjin.

This was the foundation stone for Huang Taiji to become emperor.

"After all, Mr. Hu outside doesn't have such patience."

Li Tian added another sentence.

This time, it was somewhat threatening.

"Okay, just three days, three days. After three days, I will give you a satisfactory answer!"

Seeing that there was no room for compromise, Lu Zhou nodded.

Li Tian left with satisfaction, taking his two Tatar soldiers and Li Fei away. When the group walked out of the door, Lu Zhou let Lu Da and others who were buried behind the tent come in.

"Mr. Li just said that he has no ill intentions towards the Lu family. What do you think?"

Lu Zhou asked Wula and Lu Da.

The conversation between Lu Zhou and Li Tian just now was incomprehensible to them behind the tent. They only knew that their master had a very powerful background and came from the legendary Ming Dynasty.

But they don't understand or care about many other things. They only care about Zhuangzi's survival situation.

Lu Da scratched his head first: "I don't know, I just feel a little weird."

But Ula was a little distracted: "Master, you beat his own son, no matter what, this is still a knot..."

Lu Zhou nodded, very satisfied with Ula's answer. Regardless of whether Li Tian was sincere or not, he still beat his son after all, and he always had a bond with the Li family.

Li Tian is too kind.

And with Li Fei as a person, he can do anything in the future.

But these are not important, because Lu Zhou has no intention of being a loser.

Thinking that his nominal father was fighting for the Ming Dynasty to the last moment, but Li Tian was secretly looking for a new master, he couldn't help but feel angry!

So he waved his hand and let a few people leave, telling them to pay more attention to Zhuangzi during this period.

Lu Zhou started rummaging around in the tent. After a while, he finally stepped on something in a corner.

He used his hands to dig out a box buried shallowly in the ground. There weren't many things inside. It was just a fish-dragon suit. There was no embroidered spring knife, but there was an extremely delicate dagger.

"It seems that this old Lu's identity is indeed true."

After all, he is still the biological father of this body.

After a long silence.

Lu Zhou bowed to his robe: "Father, today, I am going to clean up your subordinates for you..."

...

At this time, in the far south.

Shuntian Mansion, Forbidden City.

Chongzhen was sitting beside a pile of documents, discussing matters with the previous ministers.

"Judging from the recent news, the civil unrest and counterinsurgency in the five places in the Central Plains have become much clearer."

"Yes, Lu Xiangsheng has been the governor of five provinces, and the Central Plains is no longer a mess; Hong Chengchou is in the northwest. With the cooperation of the two parties, there have been some small victories..."

"All this must be attributed to His Majesty. He just issued the edict to punish me the month before last, and within a month, the news about Xiao Sheng was sent back."

But very quickly.

The man closed his mouth again.

This matter needs to be spoken with caution.

He punished himself only after the imperial mausoleum was destroyed. So, is it really the emperor's fault?

Moreover, everyone in the court was deeply worried about the destruction of the imperial mausoleum.

Didn't you see that the white scarf on the emperor's body hasn't been taken off yet?

It's best not to mention this matter again.

Several ministers continued to discuss in low voices.

Finally, someone couldn't help but speak out: "Yes, the war situation is clear, but the year is approaching, the silver ring is insufficient, and the generals of the various armies cannot keep up with the logistics. There are many things in short supply, especially iron."

Chongzhen caught this sentence and put down the document in his hand: "Lack of iron? I will produce iron every year next year and sell it overseas. There will still be surplus. How can there be a shortage of iron?"

The minister was slightly stunned, then took a step forward and explained: "Back to Your Majesty, according to my understanding, the main reason is that the nine sides require a large amount of iron, and in addition to the casting of firearms, the cannon requires a large amount of high-quality iron.

Moreover, this year, refugees in several places in the Central Plains have gone on rampage, and many mines have been destroyed by bandits, causing iron prices to rise."

"With the price of iron rising, can the government-owned enterprises not be self-sufficient?"

The minister replied: "The Ministry of Industry said it is not possible. In recent years, we have relied on private supplements."

Chongzhen was stunned for a moment.

There were hundreds of thousands of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty.

When did armaments become so depleted?

After looking around, I found that the people from the Ministry of Industry were not here either.

"Call the Minister of Works to come see me."

Chongzhen ordered a boy to pass on his orders, and then waved his hand to let a few people retreat for the time being.

The hall became quiet for a while.

Right now.

There were footsteps again outside the hall.

The great eunuch Wang Chengen took a secret letter and handed it over in an upright manner.

"The remnants of Shi Bi'er were unable to recover. The secret sentries far away in Kucheng were wiped out in the chaos. And there is another strange snowfall this year. All the secret sentries outside the pass may not be able to survive."

After saying that, Wang Chengen added another sentence: "I'm afraid Lu Junchen, a member of the Qianhu Family of Jinyi Guards, won't be able to survive."

"It's a pity that the news over there is completely cut off."

Chongzhen put down the papers, unconsciously raised his forehead, and said to himself: "Actually, the pressure in the DPRK is so great, sometimes seeing these barbarians living in such misery can relieve their mood."

When Wang Chengen heard this, his heart moved: "Your Majesty, if you want to hear it, there is news about the flood in southwestern Cochin."

"Oh? They also suffered a disaster?"

Chongzhen took pleasure in his misfortune.

But suddenly, there was silence again.

A great country actually wants to compare with the border barbarians...

After sighing for a while, he remembered something and then asked: "So, does Lu Junchen have any descendants?"

Wang Chengen shook his head: "Your Majesty, the book is empty, there is no more..."

"Are you sure it's gone?"

"there is none left."

Chongzhen nodded: "All of the Lu family are talented people. They have been working for my Zhu family since they became ancestors. By this generation, they have finally become completely extinct."

"Let's do this, pass on my will and make Uncle Yuan Zhengzheng..."

...

After Wang Chengen finished writing, he took the edict and went to the Ministry of Rites to go through the formalities.

The Minister of Rites looked at the edict and was shocked: "This thousand-year-old family in Jinyi will be granted the title of uncle directly?"

"It's just a formality. The Lu family is completely extinct. There are no bodies left and no need to bury them. Now we just need something to cheer up the front army..."

"Um!"

The Minister of Rites nodded and breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that the deal was not a loss.

...

The Ming Dynasty is no more than dusk.

But on the vast plains.
To be continued...