At this moment, the two were so stunned that their mouths hung open. If this object were used for siege warfare, even the city walls of Shuntian Prefecture would not be able to withstand the attack of a single Stinger.
"Alright, return trip."
Rosen's purpose this time was to display his strength.
When Wu Chengji and Zhao Qian returned to the ground, they were still in a state of disarray.
"You two, tell me, if I were to claim land and be crowned king, could the Great Ming stop me?" Rosen asked.
Wu Chengji shook his head, his mind in a daze.
Today, here, both of their Worldviews had been completely overturned.
Rosen handed each of them a walkie-talkie.
"This is a walkie-talkie, capable of transmitting sound over a thousand li. As long as you are within Kaiyuan County, you can all communicate through the walkie-talkie." Rosen then demonstrated the walkie-talkie's functions.
The two were once again so shocked that their mouths hung open.
"For now, I don't need you to do anything. You manage Kaiyuan County well for me, and at the same time, cooperate with some of my arrangements and deployments. You can communicate any matters through the walkie-talkie."
Rosen sent the two back to Kaiyuan County. They had arrived full of excitement, but returned utterly distraught.
Both of them considered one possibility: Rosen truly had the ability to overthrow the Great Ming.
This made their emotions very complicated.
So, after returning to the Yamen, the two still huddled together.
"My Lord Wu, what do you think we should do about this matter? Should we inform our superiors?"
Wu Chengji glanced at Zhao Qian: "Do you think we might still be under the surveillance of Grandpa Rosen right now?"
"Ah, this...?"
Zhao Qian immediately looked up at the sky, then shivered in fright.
Although there was nothing in the sky, given everything they had seen today, it was hard to guarantee that there weren't other miraculous methods they didn't know about.
"I'll just ask you one question."
"Please speak, My Lord Wu."
"Are you willing to die for the Great Ming?"
"This..." Zhao Qian thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"If we choose to expose Grandpa Rosen, I don't know if he'll be suppressed, but I know that both of us will surely die, and we'll implicate our entire family, young and old," Wu Chengji said gravely. "Following Grandpa Rosen, perhaps you and I can still gain merit by joining a new dynasty. On one side, there's a chance for great wealth and honor; on the other, certain death. You choose."
"This subordinate understands."
Rosen also did not fully trust the two, leaving a Shadow Clone to monitor them.
Their reactions were still within his expectations.
And with their cooperation, Rosen and Luo Mingyue's plan proceeded even more smoothly.
Rosen sealed off the entire Kaiyuan County. What outsiders could know when they came to Kaiyuan County was only what Rosen allowed them to know.
Similarly, the information that the people of Kaiyuan County could know was also what Rosen needed them to know.
At the same time, Kaiyuan County established over a dozen factories and hundreds of workshops.
Large numbers of Kaiyuan County's residents began working in factories and workshops.
This led to another problem: no one was farming anymore.
More accurately, the tenant farmers stopped farming.
They all ran off to work in factories and workshops.
After all, farming barely provided enough to eat, but factory work allowed them to live very comfortably.
Working in a factory, one could earn at least a string of cash a month.
However, an entire family toiling in the fields year-round couldn't save even a single tael of silver. The disparity was unimaginable.
Agriculture was the Great Ming's pillar industry, so land in the Ming Dynasty was strictly controlled. If land was left uncultivated, it would be confiscated by the state.
Therefore, many landlords had their land forcibly taken by the Yamen because no one was cultivating it.
At this moment, in Chen Family Village, landlord Chen Youcai's face was ashen, because four hundred mu of his family's six hundred mu of land had been confiscated this year!
This was his Chen family's hard-earned property accumulated over generations, and now it was taken by the government. How could he endure it?
He hadn't considered using connections, but the people in the County Yamen took money but didn't do anything.
The common people do not contend with officials. He was like a mute eating bitter herbs, unable to express his suffering. The key was that the County Yamen was acting so, even appealing to the prefecture would be useless; they were legally and legitimately taking the land, not seizing it.
So he vented all his resentment on the factories and workshops.
At this moment, over a dozen people had gathered at his home. They were all landlords whose land had been confiscated.
"Old Chen, you called us here, saying you have a way to make those tenant farmers return to the fields. What is it?"
"Since our tenant farmers have all been snatched by those factories, what do you think will happen to those tenant farmers if the factories are gone?"
"But how is that possible? I heard that the watch workshop is selling like crazy outside; a single watch costs three hundred taels, and you can't even necessarily buy one. Those workshops are making a fortune every day. The workshop owner won't listen to us and close the workshop, will he?"
"If he's unwilling to close it, then we'll help him close it," Chen Youcai said.
"What method do you have?"
"I heard that there are Water Bandits active on the North Mang River. If the Water Bandits burn down the entire industrial zone, do you think those peasants will have no choice but to come back?"
"Old Chen, can you contact the Water Bandits of the North Mang River?"
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