Fan Yongdou, the richest man in Shanxi, was investigated and committed suicide out of fear of crime!
The news was like an earthquake, radiating in all directions from Zhangjiakou along the Fan family's mansion. At the same time, the Fan family's properties in various places were being inspected by the government with great fanfare.
At the same time, a major earthquake also occurred in the local government offices where the Fan family had business. Different numbers of officials were either investigated or transferred, although the government never said that this officialdom had changed.
It has something to do with the Fan family, but anyone who knows something about the Fan family will immediately be able to taste a different flavor from it.
This time, the Fan family is really doomed.
Some people are happy and some are sad about the demise of the Fan family. However, whether these people feel regret or sympathy or take pleasure in the misfortune, it is no longer Fan Yongdou's concern.
Now, he has followed Xu Xianchun towards Tianjin.
Since he, Fan Yongdou, had committed suicide out of fear of crime and escaped the punishment imposed on him by the court, he must never appear in front of anyone, not even in front of his relatives.
Jin Yiwei got a corpse with a similar appearance to him from nowhere, and after Eunuch Xu, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, personally verified the identity, he cremated the corpse directly.
As for Fan Yongdou, he naturally left Zhangjiakou with Xu Xianchun that day. Even if his relatives wanted to know the news that he was not dead, they would have to wait until they arrived in Liaodong one after another.
However, this is not an immediate matter. Xu Xianchun has plans for this. With the cooperation of the Jin Yiwei, at least most of Fan Yongdou's relatives have been saved. As for whether they can reach Liaodong, it depends on their own luck. However,
, even though the Fan family has collapsed, with the remaining money and connections of the Fan family, as long as the Jin Yiwei does not make things difficult for them, this matter should still not go wrong.
"How to get to Liaodong, your people have to figure it out on their own!"
After he got on the ship, Xu Xianchun confessed to Fan Yongdou: "The imperial court's control over our Liaodong Dusi's fleet will become more and more strict. I'm afraid there will be fewer and fewer opportunities for you and me to sail from Tianjin today!"
"Methods are always thought up by people!" Fan Yongdou looked very open-minded: "I can take care of them for a while, but I can't take care of them for the rest of their lives. They should make plans for themselves. Mr. Xu, we are going to Marshal Jiang.
There?"
"Fan Zhen is doing a good job under Marshal Jiang now, and Marshal Jiang appreciates him very much!" Xu Xianchun pondered for a moment: "As his father, you are well-known. If you work in the same yamen as him,
I’m afraid it won’t be of much benefit to Fan Zhen’s future!”
"Hahaha!"
Fan Yongdou laughed, and there was a hint of vicissitudes in his laughter: "Mr. Xu, let me speak frankly. The lives of the Fan family are all given by Marshal Jiang. Whenever Marshal Jiang gives orders, Fan will never do it."
That’s half a nonsense!”
"Then I'll tell the truth!"
Xu Xianchun nodded slowly: "The commander-in-chief wants you to go to Nagasaki and work with the second lady. With your knowledge, you should know where this place is!"
"The largest port in Japan!" Fan Yongdou nodded: "What should I do there?"
"Probably to be the semicolon shopkeeper of Sihai!" Xu Xianchun said: "Do what you are most familiar with and best at. Money, manpower, and even ships are all available. For specific things, after the second lady saw you,
I will talk to you carefully!"
"I'll do what I didn't say!" Fan Yongdou nodded.
"By the way, Fan Zhen will also go to Nagasaki from time to time. When the time comes for you and your son to be reunited, you will go. Once your relatives who are staying in the Ming Dynasty are out of trouble, who can be used and who are easy to use?
I know in my heart that I can call some people to help you when the time comes. The Fan family won’t be able to gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty, but it may not be able to gain a foothold elsewhere.”
After the two talked about these words, Fan Yongdou sighed: "For such a big event, Fan always wants to thank Marshal Jiang in person, but he doesn't know if he will have the opportunity!"
"There should be..." Xu Xianchun said with some hesitation: "I am only responsible for delivering you to the second lady. Whether the second lady will take you to meet the commander is not something I can decide. Liaodong's
You know the situation even if I don’t tell you, it’s very uneven right now. I, Liaodong Dusi, have been preparing for war all day long, and are ready to face the Tatars at any time. If there is a chance, you might as well ask the second lady!"
"Where is the second young lady now?" Fan Yongdou's eyes lit up slightly.
"I don't know!" Xu Xianchun shook his head: "However, I do know where she will appear soon. We are going to the place where she is about to appear and wait for her arrival!"
…
Ryukyu, Naha Port.
Shuri Castle is the most prosperous area in Ryukyu. Most of the wealthy families from all over Ryukyu gather here. As the outer port of Shuri Castle, Naha Port has always been the most prosperous port in Ryukyu.
In its heyday, the Naha Port not only hosted local merchant ships from the Ryukyus, but also had ships from all over the world calling in from north to south. However, due to the poor geographical environment and the rise of Japan, after the opening of Nagasaki, the Naha Port gradually lost its reputation.
The original prosperity is no longer what it used to be.
At the military station near the port, two samurai from the Shimazu family were patrolling the port with a group of soldiers. There were not many ships arriving in the port these days. For these samurai, there was not much oil and water, which made them
During the patrol, I kept looking towards the sea frequently, hoping to see a ship entering the port.
By the way, naturally, after the power of the Shimazu family began to occupy Shuri, the current Ryukyu royal family is just a decoration. After several negotiations that cost a lot of lives, although the current Shimazu family is not fully involved
Ryukyu affairs, but money-related matters such as trade and finance and taxation, are tightly controlled by the Shimadzu family.
"Murayama-kun, a ship is really coming!"
A warrior suddenly pointed to the sea in surprise: "You are right, today is indeed a good day, one ship, two ships, this is a fleet, ah!"
"What a good day!" The samurai Murayama who was called looked at the silhouette of the ship slowly appearing from a distance, and couldn't help but smile: "This is the first fleet of this year, Yoshino-kun,
What are you still hesitating about? Immediately disperse these untouchables gathered here, and I will inform Mr. Huashan!"
There was a lot of excitement in the port. Even Jiang Yanran, who was far away on the sea, could see this through the telescope.
"Anton!"
She shouted to her side: "Why didn't I see their fort? It's impossible that a port as big as Naha doesn't even have a fort. There are just some soldiers with long guns running around. What are they doing, singing?"
Woolen cloth?"
"Why does this poor place need a fort?"
Anton had a weird look on his face: "What can be here? It's just a group of fishermen. It would be nice to have a place to stop the boat for supplies. Who should we guard against?"
"No matter how poor you are, there are still people who are poorer than them!" Jiang Yanran said angrily: "Can you guarantee that no crazy poor people will rush to Ryukyu to kill, set fire to, and rob women?"
"We don't do these things anyway!"
Anton muttered: "There's not much oil and water. It might not be easy to fight once we get ashore. After all, the Ryukyu Kingdom is so big and has thousands of soldiers. Who can take advantage of them when they're full?"
As he spoke, the ship had slowly approached the port. No ship came to guide him, and no one was on guard with a knife or a gun. All Jiang Yanran saw was a group of people standing on the edge of the pier, waving to them happily.
.
"wrong!"
Jiang Yanran saw the faces and clothes of those on the dock and couldn't help but frowned: "It seems to me that the people on the shore are all Japanese!"
She looked at her men fiercely: "Anton, tell me the truth, did you read the chart wrongly? We are still wandering around the country of Japan. This is not Naha!"
"Sister, are you joking? Can this kind of thing be wrong?"
Anton glanced at Jiang Yanran aggrievedly: "I guarantee with my life that we are definitely not in the wrong place!"
The cable was thrown to the shore, the ship slowly anchored, and a springboard was set up from the ship to the pier. Jiang Yanran led one of her men to the pier with some doubts and some caution.
"Welcome to Naha, the Shimadzu family welcomes friends from far away!"
A samurai with a typical Japanese Tsukiyo haircut raised his head and looked at the people coming off the boat. When he saw the leader, Jiang Yanran, the samurai's voice paused.
"People from the Ming Dynasty?" The welcoming words in his mouth turned into the Ming Dynasty dialect.
"Hey, that's good. You can actually speak Ming dialect!" Jiang Yanran's eyes lit up, but she was gently reminded by Anton beside her: "Sister, there are many people in Ryukyu who know Ming dialect!"
"Why don't you welcome us with this expression?" Jiang Yanran felt a little unhappy when she saw the expression of the warrior opposite.
"No, no, no, our Shimadzu family welcomes all friends who come to Naha, whether it is for supplies or business, we welcome them!"
Only then did Jiang Yanran smile: "That's ridiculous. Are you from the Shimazu family? I heard about your Shimazu family in Nagasaki. They are awesome. I didn't expect to see you here."
!”
"Miss, are you from Nagasaki?"
The smile on the samurai's face became sincere: "I wonder what goods were brought from Nagasaki this time?"
"There are a lot of goods!" Jiang Yanran replied nonchalantly: "Let's replenish supplies first. As for whether we can do business here, let's see the situation here!"
"If you want to do business, you must come to our Shimadzu family!" The samurai smiled even more: "No matter what you need to buy or sell, Miss, the Shimadzu family will definitely satisfy you!"
The approaching ships made everyone on the pier speechless, and their attitude towards Jiang Yanran became more and more polite.
There was a whole fleet, as many as seven or eight ships, led by a Nanman gunboat. A fleet of this size had not appeared in Naha Port for many years.
The only thing that is a bit annoying is that this fleet is actually flying under the banner of the Ming Dynasty.
Jiang Yanran undoubtedly talked to the little warrior leader in front of her and ordered her men to deal with him, but she led the people around the dock curiously.
There were actually a lot of people on the pier, but except for the Japanese, the local people didn't dare to come near. When they even wanted to get close to Jiang Yanran and her party, several Japanese would immediately yell at them loudly.
, this made Jiang Yanran slightly disliked.
The pier is not small, but there are not many ships. After a while, Jiang Yanran lost interest. She became interested in the city on the other side of the port. If nothing else, it is the largest city in Ryukyu.
The palace of the Ryukyu King should also be in this city.
"Oh, of course you can visit the city, but you have to pay the city fee, and you must be accompanied by my Shimazu family samurai throughout the whole journey!"
The samurai leader replied seriously: "If you contact other people without the permission of the Shimadzu family, it will be seen as disrespecting the Shimadzu family, which will make us very unhappy!"
"Is there still such a rule?"
Jiang Yanran was very unhappy: "This should not be the place of the Japanese country. This should be the place where I, the King of Ryukyu, canonized in the Ming Dynasty!"
"Everything you said is correct, but right now our Shimazu family is helping the King of Ryukyu to govern this place!" The samurai leader smiled hypocritically: "If the young lady wants to go to the city to play, I will make arrangements for the young lady. However, this requires
Just wait till tomorrow!”
At night, everyone in Jiang Yanran returned to their boat. They did not dare to spend the night outside in a place like this.
What they didn't know was that even though they hadn't entered the city yet, the news of their appearance at Naha Port had already reached the city and reached the ears of the person Jiang Yanran wanted to see.
In the Ryukyu Palace, Ryukyu King Shang Zhen was a little distracted after hearing the secret report from his subordinates.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this is really the flag of the Ming Dynasty. I have seen it myself. Some ships have the flag of 'Four Seas', and some have the flag of 'Jiang'. Aren't you always asking for help from the Ming Dynasty and begging the Ming Dynasty to send troops to expel it?"
Are these Japanese people? This is a good time to send the news back to the Ming Dynasty!"
"You just said it was a fleet, not a ship?"
The King of Ryukyu's eyes seemed to be a little brighter: "How long has it been since we had a ship from the Ming Dynasty here?"
"Many years, Your Majesty!"
"Yes, it has been many years since these Japanese Japanese from the Shimazu family came to our place, and we have become increasingly depressed. Now even the entrance and exit gates of our Ryukyu Kingdom are controlled by these Japanese. These Japanese really deserve to die!"
"When will they leave?"
He suddenly said: "Stop sending people to do things like the past, quietly approaching each other. This will only make the Japanese find reasons to kill our loyal and brave people. Go ask the Japanese. If they don't leave tomorrow, I will
Meet them personally!”
"Your Majesty..." His subordinates hesitated: "I'm afraid the Japanese won't agree. They won't let you come into contact with the Ming people at all!"
"They don't need to agree!" The King of Ryukyu shook his head slightly: "Just make sure they won't leave. The Japanese won't let me contact the Ming Dynasty people, so just let the Ming Dynasty people contact us. Let the news out and say that I, the Ryukyu royal family, want to purchase in large quantities.
Those Ming people should be tempted by the treasures of the Ming Dynasty..."