Since Jian Nu completely defeated Lin Dan Khan and completely occupied and controlled the Hetao area, the mutual and border trade in Zhangjiakou Fort has not declined but increased, becoming more prosperous than before.
It was originally a secretive "small market", but now it dares to open it openly. Every day, groups of Mongolians come to Shangbao to trade, and large vehicles keep coming and going.
At this time, bursts of noise could be heard from time to time in a house on Zhangjiakou Fort East Street.
This large mansion may seem ordinary from the outside, but there is something special inside. The three entrances and exits are all gorgeously decorated, including Jingdezhen’s red sacrifice, Beijing’s line show, and Suzhou’s goldware. It seems like everything is free of charge.
visible.
There are also fire-walled walls that make the entire mansion feel as warm as spring. It is comparable to the air conditioners and heaters of later generations, and is even more environmentally friendly.
In a side hall of this mansion, a banquet was being held, with a dense crowd of maids and women waiting on the side.
All the guests present here are also sitting on Huanghuali official hat chairs, and the eight-legged round stools are also made of Huanghuali, with Bozhou Yijin silk upholstered on them.
With this magnificence, not to mention the local garrison generals, but also the court officials in the capital, and even the court elders would probably be willing to submit to him.
In the front seat of the side hall, there was a slightly old businessman sitting. His face, which was full of ravines, reflected the vicissitudes of life.
His shaky demeanor and wrinkled face can still be seen from the old square face with sharp edges, which is a typical Shanxi appearance.
The furs produced on Beilu have long been famous, and are even heard of in Xiaotong and all over Shanxi.
"Come on, come on, shopkeepers, let's eat some dumplings first."
The armor and weapons are generally not available in the North Route Army, especially our firearms, which are popular items in the local white markets of Zhang Cheng, Xiao Tong, and Shanxi.
The person who spoke was none other than a Shanxi businessman engaged in border trade in Zhangjiakou, named Ji Wenjia, and the person whom the old man had just called Yunfa's brother was another Shanxi businessman Huang Yunfa.
I sighed after saying that, and then continued: "It's a pity that the little bad situation in Jinzhou City this time was completely disrupted by that bastard Ji Wen."
But Ji Wenjia still subconsciously tightened the fur scarf under the tight fit, and when he looked over, he saw that it was a white fox fur.
But everyone here today may be in trouble!"
Yes, during the years when Beilu was under the Xuanfu administration, although the merchants paid some business taxes, their business became more and more prosperous. You see, we lived a very prosperous life.
Looking at the people here today, few of them are wearing mink coats. Even the purple and gold mink coat worn by the young master Fan Baba does not have the North Road Merchant Gang logo printed on it.
We usually don't live very extravagantly in there, and sometimes we even look a little shabby. We all wear thick special leather jackets. Even when we go to restaurants, we tend to be overly laid out and even order one dish less.
If there were a few goods produced on Beilu outside his home, he would be embarrassed to tell anyone about it, so as not to make others laugh.
Although Jin Liangyu was smiling when he said those words, my blistered eyes were filled with murderous intent.
It is said that Jin Liangyu is older than others, and my Fan family is the first old merchant to retreat to Zhangjiakou. In terms of wealth alone, we are also one of the seven among those merchants.
You can always do anything, just sit there and wait for death!"
Among the merchants who have been engaged in mutual trade in Zhangjiakou all year round, they are headed by Jin Liangyu, Fan Yongdou, Ji Wenjia, Wang Xiaoyu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yunfa. We are all from Fenzhou Prefecture in Shanzuo.
In later years, Ji Wenjia also personally escorted caravans and later went to Guangning or Shenyang City in Liaodong to trade with slave chiefs in person.
Shopkeeper Tian was waiting to reply, but he heard Jin Liangyu say: "Shenglan, you know, you are the model for making military tickets, or I am contributing to you, how can I abandon you and other brothers at this moment? So I thought, You have to be alone."
The man sitting at the bottom, who is called Brother Fan, looks like an old man. He is none other than Jin Liangyu, the leader of Shanxi Shanxi merchants in Zhangjiakou.
The large side hall was full of people of all kinds, but almost everyone looked respectful to me.
A shopkeeper who looked about seventy years old grabbed his mink hat and kneaded it in his hands. I said with a ferocious expression: "My surname is Zhang to give you a way to survive. According to you, it's like this 'The first is to do, the seventh is to rest'..."
The products produced by Beilu may not be the most gorgeous and exquisite, but they are superior in quality, stingy and durable in comparison.
"Yes. How did you win?"
But once you enter the inner house, it's the same thing. The only thing is that there are fire walls everywhere, and it is even more magnificent. Even the cars and sedans are out of place.
Although they usually didn't have any disputes over business matters, they were tightly bound together by their friendship with each other. Jin Liangyu was the first among them because of his childish and ruthless behavior.
Not only did it cause no harm, but it gave Ji Wen an excuse to attack you and others!"
Pursuing the goods produced on Beilu has become a fashion and trend in Zhangcheng, Xiaotong, and even in few places in Shanxi.
At the same time, in order to highlight the quality of Beilu Merchant's goods, a unified Beilu Merchant Gang logo was also laid on all products processed by Beilu merchants.
After Wang Dengku said that, he stared fiercely at the elegant middle-aged man who had just spoken, and said: "Shopkeeper Tian is talking like this now, but do you want to be alone?"
The old man surnamed Fan coughed a few times before saying with some difficulty: "I'm old, I'm old. That man is really good at taking care of himself."
"snort."
Before the integration of the North Road by Xuanfu, all the merchants on the North Road have not yet joined the North Road Business Gang. We use special logos on the North Road and can be twisted into a rope to compete with the merchants in the area. .
"Wang Dengku, he wants to die himself, so don't drag us down."
It's just that this murderous god on the North Road actually became your commander-in-chief Zhang Cheng, and was even awarded the title of Yong Ningbo. The little general Zhenshuo is naturally even more majestic.
Jin Liangyu stopped everyone's discussion, and then said: "You and others are all the people of the Xiaoming Dynasty. Now that Wang Shi has a small victory over the Qing Dynasty in Liaodong, you should be angry.
Even Jin Liangyu, Fan Yongdou and others spared no effort to buy the firearms from the soldiers of the North Road at low prices. However, the military regulations of the North Road were very strict, so even at low prices, they still managed to get a few truly usable North Road guns.
There was also a person sitting next to me. He was in his prime and looked shrewd, but he was the young master of the Fan family - Fan Baba.
"The most irritating thing is that this Xuanfu was the first to achieve success, and was even awarded the title of earl for this achievement!"
Even though my eyes look dull with old age, my clear eyeballs will often flash with a glimmer of light, letting people know that I am complicated.
It ranges from white sugar, fine salt, glass, furs, etc. from a wealthy family to pots, pans, bricks, tiles, cotton cloth and other items from a wealthy family.
"Cough cough cough..."
When I said that, I actually raised my left hand and made a slashing motion under the mink hat, and said: "If you do it to me, it will be over once and for all. What do you think?"
"If you can defeat me on the battlefield, get rid of me in another way!" Is that the consistent style of slave thieves?
Everyone in the hall immediately started making noises and discussions, and they were even more sad about Master Xiao Ming's victory. There was also a hint of excitement and joy, and a few people even gnashed their teeth, and their resentment was palpable.
But before I caught the cold last year, not only was the important task of escorting the caravan taken away by Fan Yongdou, my body was also the same as before, and Fan Baba rarely took care of the business at home.
After Xiaojia ate a few rice dumplings, the atmosphere in the hall became quieter. Everyone knew that Jin Liangyu had spent a little effort to invite four small merchants from Zhangjiakou, and even a few of them had rushed from Shanxi.
The host who comes here only comes to eat a few glutinous rice balls.
Not to mention that Zhangjiakou is a border fortress, even small merchants in Zhencheng, Xiaotong, Shanxi and other places dare to ignore Jin Liangyu. After all, many of our goods need to be channeled through the Fan family.
But a month later, the Emperor of the Little Qing Dynasty sent us a message asking us to purchase the guns and cannons used by the Yongyi Army on the North Road.
Judging from what he has done in recent years, he has been decisive in killing, and there are few men under his command. If you succeed in the assassination, you will be burned.
I looked at the person who just spoke and continued: "Brother Yunfa is in his prime. Last year, he went to Shengjing with Shopkeeper Wang, and he also paid a visit to His Majesty the Xiaoqing Emperor. So Zhangjiakou still had to rely on them."
Of course, there were a few old men in gorgeous clothes on my right and left, but their expressions were quite strange. They seemed very insulting to the old man, but they didn't seem to be convinced at all.
Moreover, they would also try to frame Xuanfu so that they would lose the trust of Emperor Chongzhen of the Xiao Ming Dynasty. At worst, they could alienate the relationship between Xuanfu and Chongzhen and make Chongzhen trust Xuanfu again.
Following my call, the four Shanzuo businessmen each used their own skills to flood the entire Zhangcheng area with fake military invoices. Even in Xiaotong and Shanxi, the trend of flooding gradually stopped.
Jin Liangyu has been gradually getting into business since before he contracted the cold syndrome last year. His son Fan Baba is rarely in charge of the family business, while I rarely stay in front of the scenes and control the small affairs.
"I heard that I will be going to Zhencheng to take up my post in the near future. We have to think of a way. If I can make my commander-in-chief stable, I'm afraid we will have bad days!"
Just before I talked for a while, I felt a little tired and short of breath. It could not be that I had not recovered from the cold. Even if the walls around the seven walls of the hall were thick firewalls, there were a few rough copper plates outside the corners.
, also burning with red charcoal wood.
That is also the reason why I live in seclusion at the head of Shanxi merchants. Even though I have lived in Zhangjiakou for a long time and often returned to my old house in Jiexiu, Shanxi, it has not affected my reputation among Shanxi merchants at all.
Although Wang Dengku felt that what I said was unreasonable, he didn't care about it. He saw me saying angrily: "Excuse? I didn't realize that I was afraid until then. Was it too late?"
At that time, another businessman sitting on the right suddenly said: "Brother Jianbin's concerns are justified.
When all the shopkeepers heard what I said, they started to flatter me: "Fan Laozhen has a wide circle of friends. It is difficult to recruit the junior masters outside the Jade Emperor Temple!"
In early April of the 17th year of Chongzhen, it was the two of us who followed the caravan to Shenyang, Liaodong, and delivered a small amount of grain, refined iron, gunpowder and other military supplies to the slave chief Huang Taiji, in exchange for a small amount of bloody weapons. Gold and silver treasures.
Jin Liangyu greeted everyone tremblingly, changed the slightly pleasant topic just now, and missed the opportunity to add something: "Those vegetarian ingredients were prepared by the junior masters of the Jade Emperor Temple in advance to eliminate disasters and bring blessings. "
"Not only that, that Demon King has been promoted to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of Xuanzang Town."
"Master Wang's victory is a small bad thing."
Half a moment ago, another businessman on the upper left side said: "If you follow Mr. Fan's opinion, what should you do now?
What's more, I have a wide circle of friends. In the Xiaoming Dynasty, I went down to the court elders, eight ministers, ministers and other officials in the capital, and up to the local governors, soldiers, military affairs, food, road inspectors, and other generals. There are no supporters or leaders.
I then said to everyone in a sinister voice: "You must forget, ever since we decided to make fake military tickets, we have been at odds with the Xuanfu's killing power!"
The man called Brother Yunfa just laughed a few times, "Hey hey hey..." but did not answer the question.
Just like an old fox, even if he looks so good on the surface, if anyone wants to plot against me, he will know when he will fall into trouble.
A middle-aged man who looked gentle and elegant glanced at Wang Dengku, but continued to say to everyone: "In just eight years, the Xuanfu has climbed from being the chief general of a town to the chief soldier of a town. He is by no means a mediocre person.
You said, we may not be able to cooperate with you. Wouldn’t it be better for our family to make a fortune together?”
Those Shanxi businessmen are also two-faced.
Before I finished speaking, I looked at the people above me with a smile, and the hall fell silent again for a while.
Jin Liangyu's old eyes were narrowed into slits, and he scanned everyone first. My clear, blistered eyes emitted an icy cold light like poisonous snakes, and he said sadly: "Every shopkeeper should have heard about the Liaodong skirmish." , Master Xiao Ming won the battle."
Today, Jin Liangyu once again called everyone together to disassociate himself from Yongning Bo Xuan Mansion's appointment as Chief Ji Wen!
The last time, Ji Wenjia personally took action and summoned Shanxi businessmen in Zhangjiakou to create fake military coupons. The purpose was not to destroy the economy of the North Road so that the Xuanfu could provide for its elite troops.
In the Xiaoqing Dynasty, Jin Liangyu was also a little popular, ranging from Emperor Huang Taiji to Prince Li Daishan, Prince Rui Shaoergun, Prince Zheng Jierharang and other princely banner holders, and then to Manchu and Mongolian banners Gushan Ezhen They all appreciated it.
I heard a vulgar voice say: "Brother Fan, you have always been the leader of Zhangjiakou's merchants. You have gone to Shengjing, Liaodong to see the emperor of the Qing Dynasty in person on rare occasions. You are deeply appreciated. Naturally, you and others will only follow my brother's lead."
"well!"
…………
Such a person had good fortunes on both sides of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and because the border trade business in Zhangjiakou was booming, he also served as the young leader of the local merchant house in Zhangjiakou, so he had great prestige.
As soon as my words came out of my mouth, there was a big commotion in the hall. Everyone was talking and arguing.
On the other hand, a slightly stout man with a yellow beard next to me said: "It is thanks to Brother Fan that I have been able to meet His Majesty the Emperor of the Little Qing Kingdom seven times."