"Then what fortress your club wants to build on Ocean Island?" Huang Fei asked.

Li Mingxun smiled, took out a simple design drawing from his arms, and spread it on the table. Huang Fei looked carefully, but his face changed slightly. On the drawings, the whole picture of the Ocean Island has been marked. The main body of the fortress is a four-angle bastion located deep in Taiping Bay. There are more than a dozen artillery attached to it to defend the port. At the commanding heights of the Ocean Island, there is a small round fort for defense behind the side of the Basin. There is a large fort on one side to block the port. The port occupies most of the Taiping Bay. It can be determined from the size of its dock that this port can support a large fleet to fight.

In addition to all such defensive facilities, military camps, school grounds, training grounds and other facilities, this is no longer a simple fortress. Such a large-scale fortress cannot be established overnight, and the money spent is even more calculating. Such a fortress is enough to prove the ambition of the community. As long as the community has a foothold, it will never leave again.

"Sir Zeng, look..." Huang Fei was a little confused for a moment.

Zeng Ying said without hesitation: "Yes."

Huang Fei coughed awkwardly, and he thought for a while and said, "If you have such a big construction, you should make good arrangements. At least you should arrange a safe person to stay on the island."

Faced with such a fortress, Huang Fei felt that there were few people under his command. Li Mingxun smiled and said, "The general of the military camp in Lord Zeng has just been promoted to General Qian. If Lord Zeng gives kindness, it would be in line with the identity of the Marine Island Guardian."

"This is simple. It's just that Lord Li, this fortress is not built now, right?" Zeng Ying asked.

Li Mingxun does not deny that the ocean island is located east of the Liaodong Peninsula, hundreds of miles away from Dengzhou. The bricks, limes and manpower needed to build the fortress must be allocated from Dengzhou, not to mention the need for bulk goods such as wood. Such a large batch of materials must be transported before it can be convenient after the south wind blows. The club also needs time to purchase these materials in the Denglai area.

"It's better to wait until April to make a big move." Li Mingxun said with a smile.

"There are still some time. General Huang, take advantage of this period of time to arrange the island's troops and prepare in advance." Zeng Ying said to Huang Fei.

After hearing this, Huang Fei nodded slightly, and suddenly saw the smiley expression on Zeng Ying's face. He suddenly realized that Zeng Ying had something to say to Li Mingxun in private and figured it out. Huang Fei quickly got up, said goodbye and left, and gave up his study.

After Huang Fei left the study, the place was quiet for a long time. Li Mingxun did not speak, but waited quietly for Zeng Ying. He knew that the governor must have something to say when he left alone. After a long time, Zeng Ying's slightly hoarse voice sounded: "Mingxun, in your eyes, is the court so unbearable?"

Li Mingxun had a seemingly non-sighted smile on his face, and there was no response. Zeng Ying said: "It is hard for me to understand how an overseas Chinese businessman had the courage and courage to refuse the favorable conditions offered by the Ming Dynasty. It was not until your fleet arrived in Denglai that I understood a little, but what I don't understand is why you have no confidence in the court. I have heard from my husband Wang that if the emperor moved the capital, you will never be slaughtered. Is it really that way?"

"After all, I can't escape it." Li Mingxun sighed. He didn't want to over-discuss the gains and losses of this dynasty with any Ming official, but now Zeng Ying talks about this, Li Mingxun has to respond positively: "In fact, my prediction of the situation is worse than you think. From the planning of the Ocean Island Fortress, you should see that the Ming Dynasty collapsed in an instant and its situation cannot be violated."

Li Mingxun stood up and said, "You know, in my heart, the Ming Dynasty is already a sunken ship. The keel of this ship is covered with siltfish, vassals, gentry, and wards. They have deep roots. They draw influence from the court without any effort and destroy the foundation of the court. But it is too late. If the siltfish are not removed, the broken ship will be broken by external forces. The siltfish will collapse on its own. I don't want to be buried for this. Therefore, I arranged the club in this position and be close to the Ming Dynasty."

"Don't you also agree that you have the same roots and roots as the people of the Ming Dynasty and that we belong to the same civilization? Why can't you..." Zeng Ying asked eagerly.

Li Mingxun did not let him finish speaking, and he immediately said: "At the level of nation and civilization, I and the community agree with the Ming Dynasty, but now the community is unable to prevent the burial of this corrupt empire from falling! When I have the ability, I will not protect those worms. Now there are Donglu, and the community and the court can stand together, but what about Donglu?"

Without the external threat of Donglu, the society and the Ming Dynasty were enemies. Li Mingxun would not say this sentence, but Zeng Ying had already understood it in her heart.

"Do you know why I support your immigration policy openly and secretly?" Zeng Ying asked.

Li Mingxun coughed lightly and explained it simply. He said, "Because you know that this is the only purpose of the community's willingness to send troops. Without immigrants, there would be no Dongfan Yiyou and you to work together with the captives. Of course, you must have a deeper consideration."

"Actually, my purpose is very simple. The more Ming people there are in your club, the more ties the club will have with the Ming Dynasty. It will be chaotic if you cut off the rules. This time, the Donglu attacks the border, and your imperial guards' purpose is only for immigration. Next time, the Donglu attacks Shandong again. Even if you don't need to immigrate, the Dongfen army will still appear in Shandong." Zeng Ying said lightly.

Li Mingxun understood the truth. Immigrants from Shandong will soon occupy the majority of the clubs in various strongholds, and the talents among them will also occupy important positions and have more say. When the Donglu invades again, Shandong immigrants who cannot sit idly by the suffering of their hometown will definitely put pressure on the clubs to send troops. Under the current system of the clubs, the pressure will be more obvious.

However, Lee Mingxun did not think this was a bad thing, and he was happy to see this situation. From the beginning, the community was not transferred by his personal will.

"You are right, but at that time, the community wanted to protect our civilization. There were compatriots of the same culture and race in China, not a decadent dynasty and the powerful people who care about their lives and death. This could not change the contradiction between the community and the Ming Dynasty." Li Mingxun said without hesitation.

Zeng Ying didn't seem to want to argue with him in this regard. He said: "Mingxun, please think about it with your conscience. When you have a conflict with your community when you have solemn power, how will you make a choice, especially when you firmly believe that you are right?"

Li Mingxun was stunned. In fact, this was not an idea, but had become a reality. If everything was in accordance with his own will, the club would not be enemies with the Spanish, but would deal with various forces and accumulate strength. However, when most of the top leaders of the club had blood feuds with the Spanish, this was impossible. Li Mingxun could only succumb to the will of most people in the club. He had thought more than once that without the enemy of Spain, there was no need to invest resources on a large scale in the navy. The same resources in the army may affect the situation in the mainland.

"What is really terrible is that your club has a bond with the Ming Dynasty, but you don't. This will make you think about the problem from an overly rational and even cold-blooded perspective, and you cannot empathize with the will of your club." Zeng Ying's voice hit Li Mingxun's heart, making his heart unable to calm down for a long time.

After a long time, Li Mingxun laughed. He suddenly realized something that not all the officials of the Ming Dynasty were pedantic. The Lord Zeng Ying in front of him could consider the issue from an objective perspective, but his purpose was not for his own good, but for his loyal Zhu Mingtianxia.

Li Mingxun also realized this. After all, he was young and had limited knowledge and would definitely not be able to debate. He was the governor who was well versed in politics. He simply acted like a bachelor: "Mr. Zeng, Mr. Zeng, you made me faint. Tell me straight. Do you have any plans?"

"You are not married yet, Mingxun." Zeng Ying's face was full of smiles, and she pointed out the window. At some point, there was a shadow there. Zeng Ying said again: "My granddaughter is the pearl in my hand..."

Li Mingxun raised his hand and stopped Zeng Ying. He recalled everything that happened during this period, from Zeng Ying becoming more and more affectionate to him, to the girl who pretended to be a man and had no reason to be malicious when she entered the door, and to Zeng Ying's words just now, he suddenly realized a problem, and he seemed to have fallen into Zeng Ying's trap.

"If I don't agree, are you going to make things difficult for me on the issue of Ocean Island Fortress?" Li Mingxun skipped a long period of thinking and asked directly.

Zeng Ying, who has always shown herself as a steady and upright person, said: "It's not just an ocean island, but also an immigrant."

Now Li Mingxun fully understood that this was definitely not Zeng Ying's plan alone. You should know that after the Battle of Boji Mountain, Wang Chengen, the observer, was not in the new military camp. I think these two must have conspired. The plan of the conspiracy was very simple. These ministers who were loyal to the Ming Dynasty and the Emperor of the Zhu family have confirmed one thing. They can no longer persuade themselves to become the vassal of the Ming Dynasty from the perspective of moral interests, so they have become the way to save the country in a curve, that is, to tie themselves and the Ming Dynasty as much as possible, support immigration, and support the Ocean Island Fortress. Until now, they want to become Zeng Ying's grandson-in-law. When Zeng Ying is loyal to the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't he become the son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty? Isn't it worthy of doing something for his father-in-law?

Once the community and the Ming Dynasty become a community of interests and have emotional entanglements, when it comes to critical moments, it will be really messy.

"My Zeng Ying's granddaughter is worthy of your identity," Zeng Ying said with a smile.

Li Mingxun waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No, no, no, I don't mean that. I am just a little confused. You asked me to consider it, take aside, take aside."

When Zeng Ying kept Li Mingxun, he thought a lot. No matter what conspiracy is, Li Mingxun has a way to deal with it, but he had no expectation at all to entangle the interests of his personal marriage and society. Now he can only sigh that only scholars can play with this omnipotent and sound.

Li Mingxun retreated in a hurry. When he walked out of the study, he walked out of the government office. However, he never thought that a shout from behind him, a cold light flashed, and a sharp sword attacked Li Mingxun's chest. Although Li Mingxun's kung fu was not good, fortunately, he had seen a formation in recent years. His body slightly deflected to avoid this attack. Wu Mu was on the side, but the knife was not out of the sheath, and he had already pounced on him, and his fist wearing iron gloves hit the attacker.

Fortunately, there were several maid guards beside the girl, one by one, rushing up to resist. When Li Mingxun ordered Wu Mu to stop, Wu Mu had already chopped down the three of them with the back of the knife. Wu Mu was so brave that the girl was so scared that she retreated repeatedly, her sword was lost, her hair was dispersed, and her beauty was lost.

"You are the shameless Dongfan Yiren Li Mingxun!" the girl asked loudly.

Li Mingxun frowned slightly. When I arrived in Denglai, I hadn't even seen a few female creatures before, so why was it shameless? Wu Mu also shouted for his master's dissatisfaction, "Where did the wild girl come from? I'm talking nonsense here, ruining my master's reputation."

The girl shouted, "What's wrong with his reputation? It was because this guy saw me at the lantern festival that day, and he repeatedly asked his grandfather for marriage, and continued to threaten the enemy and disaster relief. He was shameless!"

Several maids also came forward and criticized them one after another. After hearing these words, Li Mingxun understood that it must be Zeng Ying's trick. It was the old man who wanted to marry his granddaughter to him so that he could engage in political marriage, but he turned against him and said that he was coveting the beauty of the woman and asked Zeng Ying for marriage. If he did not agree, he would lead the army back to the army and stop supplying food to the refugee camp. This was his fault and it was difficult to defend.

No wonder the woman was bad for her as soon as she met her. It turned out that Zeng Ying was doing something bad behind her back. This guy put the blame on others to save her granddaughter from attacking her. On the other hand, if this matter is done, wouldn’t it mean that she had to fight against the Ming Dynasty and provide disaster relief for the Ming Dynasty?

"Mr. Zeng, what a good method. Today I, Li Mingxun, have learned it!" Li Mingxun's face turned red, and he didn't defend himself, slapped the dust on his body and turned away.

"Stop this girl, you ruin my reputation and bully my grandfather, how can you let you leave like this!" The girl screamed, picked up the sword on the ground and chased her out.

"Little girl, it's not your business. Don't be tempted here. I'm a lot of adults, so I won't care about you about what happened just now. If you dare..., how could you poke my ass?" Li Mingxun's voice sounded from outside the yamen, getting farther and farther away.

"Mr. Zeng, this time you sacrificed your granddaughter for the Ming Dynasty. After you go back, the old slave will definitely report to the emperor." Wang Chengen said at some point when he appeared beside Zeng Ying.
Chapter completed!