A castle-type mansion covering an area of thousands of acres.
The interior has rockeries, flowing water, carved beams and painted buildings, pavilions, corridors, lotus ponds, gardens and other facilities. It can be described as magnificent and has a bit of the charm of Jiangnan gardens.
This is the headquarters of the Fan family, the largest business family in Shanxi.
Inside Fan Mansion.
Recently, Fan Yongdou's eyelids have been twitching, and he has a vague feeling of uneasiness in his heart, which is getting stronger day by day.
Smashed.
It was a mess.
This time when Hou Jin entered the border, his Fan family and many other businessmen tried their best to assist Hou Jin, but in the end Hou Jin was defeated and returned miserably! All these businessmen were screwed up.
Originally, the plan of Fan Yongdou and other merchants was to take advantage of the empty borders of the Ming Dynasty and most of the elite troops to suppress the bandits in the Central Plains. Later, the Jin Dynasty had the ambition to swallow up the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop and sent an army of more than 200,000 to attack. It was not just to plunder.
Instead of leaving, I want to sit in the Ming Dynasty.
Fan Yongdou and others saw the opportunity.
The opportunity to become a hero of Conglong, the opportunity to create greater wealth for the family, and the opportunity to expand the business and become an imperial merchant.
In order to seize these rare opportunities, Fan Yongdou and others burst out with great enthusiasm, providing people, money and materials. They also used almost all their interpersonal relationships and invested all the resources they could.
I wanted to use this gamble to create a noble family that lasted for more than three hundred years.
As a result, the Jin army failed to live up to expectations and messed up everything. They retreated outside the customs in embarrassment, leaving them and other businessmen passive.
But it doesn't matter! It shouldn't matter.
Even if he falls into a moment of passivity, he will definitely be able to pass this level. Fan Yongdou has this confidence.
"In Shanxi, more than 90% of the pass city defenses and all generals above the hundred-household official level have been bribed and befriended by us, and must obey our arrangements."
"Thirty percent of the civil servants in Shanxi come from our eight major business families, and another 30% have connections through marriage, teachers and students, etc. Although the rest are difficult to win over, they will never dare to go against our eight major businessmen."
"As for the vassal kings, the left-behind eunuchs, etc., they have cooperated with us for many years. Their interests have been tied up, and the relationship has been deeply rooted for a long time. It is impossible for them to suddenly fall out."
"Those who usually don't deal with us, are dissatisfied with us, and often compete with us, have been killed by the Hou Jin Army this time and have already gone to the underworld."
Stable as Mount Tai.
Even though the eight Shanxi merchant families headed by Fan Yongdou have made a big mistake this time, Fan Yongdou firmly believes that they will still be as stable as Mount Tai and will not suffer any blow or revenge.
But since he was confident and had no worries, why after the Jin army was defeated and returned to Liaodong, Fan Yongdou, who had lived in Zhangjiakou for a long time, immediately ordered a move and moved a large amount of property and thousands of clan members back to Liaodong at an extremely fast speed.
Thousands of miles away from my hometown in Jiexiu.
The same is true for the other seven businessmen. They all made the decision to move back to their hometowns, almost giving up Zhangjiakou, an important business base.
So since you are not worried, why do you have to go back to your hometown and let the clansmen stay in the Wubao all day long, not allowed to move outside, try to keep a low profile, and give up a lot of business.
It can only be said that Fan Yongdou has ghosts, guilt, fear, and fear in his heart.
Otherwise, he wouldn't still feel a strong sense of uneasiness after making so many arrangements.
It was not until October 26th that this uneasiness finally turned into reality.
boom!
A cannon shot.
The family's sentry for security sounded.
After a while, a general named Liu Quan'an, covered in blood, entered Fan's house and reported a shocking news to Fan Yongdou:
"Father-in-law, it's over. The Fan family is almost over!"
"The imperial army has entered Shanxi, and they are heading towards the homes of the Fan family and other merchants."
"The Yuanping Fort where my son-in-law is located originally wanted to intercept an army coming towards Jiexiu, but they took out the imperial edict and said they were coming under the emperor's order. My son-in-law still wanted to stop them, so they started killing each other. Soon
Entered the fort."
"My son-in-law had no choice but to ride back alone. Unexpectedly, they were chasing after him and firing arrows constantly. If he hadn't been familiar with the road, he would have been shot dead by them!"
"Run quickly, father-in-law, run quickly! The imperial army is here to kill the nine members of the Fan family this time. If you don't run away, everyone will be dead!"
Buzz~
Liu Quanan's words caused everyone in the Fan family present to get into a mess and burst into tears.
Fan Yongdou, however, was well prepared, as if a big stone fell to the ground, and said calmly: "Let the servants pack up some gold and silver belongings, take Yuanfa, Yuanbao, Yuanle and the others and leave through the tunnel, leaving a trace of blood for the Fan family."
"Master, is there no other way?" The women present cried even harder.
But after a while.
The sound of intensive horse hoofbeats came and surrounded the Fan Mansion.
It was Hong Chengchou and Cao Wenzhao who personally led two thousand elite cavalry to take the lead and not let anyone from the Fan family escape and take away a tael of silver.
"How did it come so fast?"
Fan Yongdou's body went limp and his face turned pale. It was over. The imperial army had arrived too quickly. Even if he wanted to send his young grandsons out through the tunnel, it was impossible.
"People from the Fan family, hurry up and open the door!"
"Your Majesty has decreed that those who have been found to be traitors to Yongdou colluded privately with Jiannu of the Later Jin Dynasty. In order to meet the needs of the later Jin Dynasty, they resold grain, ironware, medicinal materials and other materials in Liaodong, collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country, and aided thieves in their crimes... You and others
People from the Ming Dynasty, descendants of the Han family, during the national war, did not seek to benefit the country or a dime, but valued the trust of the people. They did not care about the survival of the Han people, only cared about the selfishness of the family, and did not care about small profits and forget the great righteousness.
This is too much! Arrest the entire Fan family immediately, confiscate their property, convict them of crimes, punish them severely, and show no mercy!"
Hong Chengchou sent an aide to come forward, took out the imperial edict and read it out. His tone was so stern that every time he said a word, the hearts of the Fan family members in the fort would tremble.
"Why, if you haven't opened the door yet, do you still dare to resist?" the staff member yelled.
After a while, there was still no movement in the Fan family.
"Break through the gate and fight your way in!"
Cao Wenzhao waved his hand and gave the order.
Soon, several professionals brought large bundles of explosives, piled them under the door, and then detonated them, causing the door to open immediately!
"Rush in, and anyone who dares to block it will be killed without mercy!"
Cao Wenzhao gave another order, and two thousand fine cavalry rushed into Fan's house. After killing dozens of young men who blocked the road, the remaining Fan family members did not dare to resist and had to be captured without mercy.
…
In the hall of Fan Mansion.
Seeing Fan Yongdou and others kneeling in the hall, Hong Chengchou suppressed the strong murderous intention in his heart and chatted with these traitors in a friendly manner. The meaning of his words was also very clear, that is, he hoped that they would hand over the Fan family.
of all property.
"As long as you hand it over, I will protect the lives of your entire family and I won't kill anyone."
"It's better to tell where the property is buried. Even if you don't tell it, the soldiers will always find it by digging three feet into the ground."
"Whoever can point out one thing will be counted as one meritorious service. Those who have made more meritorious deeds will be punished less and receive preferential treatment. Those who are stubborn will definitely regret it."
Hong Chengchou used both soft words to seduce and strong threats.
However, at Fan Yongdou's signal, he only revealed three cellars where the property was hidden. Cao Bianjiao immediately led his soldiers down to move it, plus the property copied from each room in Fan's house. After counting, the harvest was as follows:
16,700 taels of gold.
Silver 589,600 taels.
There are some copper coins and light coins, worth about 8,000 taels.
Jewelry and jade, antique calligraphy and painting, and some gold and silver jewelry were valued at 150,000 taels by a professional appraiser in Xujiazhuang.
The total value is equivalent to 1.0816 million taels.
Facing this list of property values, Hong Chengchou, who had never seen so much money before, was quite excited. He was not greedy for money, but money could do things, and he could do many, many things. According to the spoils distribution rules discussed in advance
, under the supervision of the Xujiazhuang notary, he and Cao Wenzhao were able to get a 30% share of this batch of seizures, that is, more than 320,000 taels. If divided by an army of 10,000 people, the average number per person would be
It can be divided into more than thirty taels (not including the value of the house and land).
good.
very good.
Hong Chengchou was already quite satisfied.
"Is that all there is?"
He immediately asked with a straight face: "The Fan family is the richest merchant in Shanxi! The family property is only a little over one million taels. Is this possible? Don't try to fool me. If you have other properties, please tell me about it!"
"No more, really no more. The villain is running a small business with small profits. He will earn a profit this year and lose it next year. It is already very good to be able to save a million taels of family capital."
Fan Yongdou knelt down and explained.
"It seems you won't confess without being punished!"
Cao Wenzhao's nephew Cao Bianjiao said fiercely: "Come here! If you give the Fan family a stick, there will always be someone who can't bear to confess."
"Excuse me, I have really explained everything!"
"The Fan family only has so much wealth, and the rest has been spent."
"Even if we are tortured to death, we will not be able to get more gold and silver."
Fan Yongdou and others were crying and shouting.
"How dare you resist even when death is imminent, and hide your property so that your clan can make a comeback in the future? Do you still dare to have such delusions? Beat! Beat them hard until they give up their delusions!" Cao Bianjiao said angrily.
"General Cao does not need to be angry, and there is no need to torture them."
The appraiser from Xujiazhuang said: "Wait for one more day, wait until our technical team arrives tomorrow, and then appreciate the desperation of these Fan family members. Their hidden property is trying to escape."
Hear this.
Cao Bianjiao calmed down some of his anger and accepted the appraiser's suggestion.
Below, Fan Yongdou and the few other people who knew where the treasure was hidden curled their lips in disdain and wanted to make them despair? Haha, as long as they don't tell them, these imperial soldiers will dig ten feet of ground, let alone three feet.
You can never find the hiding place of other treasures even if you have 30 feet or 30 feet. The wisdom of the ancestors of the Fan family in hiding treasures will never be matched by you people.
…
The next morning.
Xujiazhuang's technical team has arrived.
There were only five of them in their group, and they brought with them a set of equipment weighing about 80 kilograms. After some assembly and debugging, they
Then a technician took a small tablet-like device and scanned the ground of Fan Mansion.
If you look carefully at the name on the device, it turns out to be a civilian phased array radar!
In the ground scanning mode, you can clearly see everything within fifty meters underground.
In modern society, the price of such a radar is only 100,000 yuan, which can be said to have completely become a cabbage.
Soon, the technical team gained something.
Three underground cavities were discovered one after another, all located thirty meters underground, and there were strong metal reflection echoes.
"Dig! Start digging!"
"Start digging from this place and dig down about a hundred feet."
"Okay, I found it. I found all the places where the treasure was hidden, and I didn't miss a single place!"
In the afternoon.
After thousands of soldiers worked hard to excavate, the treasure house in the three cellars of the Fan family was rebuilt.
Then, including Hong Chengchou, Cao Wenzhao, and Cao Bianjiao, all the soldiers opened their eyes and saw the world.
The first cellar contains golden winter melons, which are known as ghosts. Each one weighs nearly a thousand kilograms, and there are 58 in total.
The second cellar stores all silver winter melons, which are said to be useless. Each one weighs over a thousand kilograms, with a total of 293 melons.
The third cellar stores all golden nanmu columns, but when the surface of the wood is peeled off, what is exposed inside is all pure purple-red copper. Each one weighs about 5,000 kilograms, and there are 512 columns in total.
Adding up the value of these gold, silver and copper, Xujiazhuang's appraiser is temporarily unable to give an accurate figure, but can only estimate that it is no less than 21.5 million taels.
boom!
Hong Chengchou was stunned.
Cao Bianjiao felt like his head was exploding.
The nearly 10,000 soldiers, who had been digging hundreds of feet of ground for most of the day, showed ecstasy on their faces and let out a roar that shook the sky.
Got rich.
Now I really made a fortune!
The property worth approximately 22.5 million taels has been calculated.
The Fan family owns dozens of houses, hundreds of shops, and tens of thousands of acres of land.
There are also more than 1,800 members of the Fan family, who can also be sold to Xujiazhuang as lifelong mining slaves for 10 to 30 silver dollars each.
Even if they were to distribute 30% of the on-site seizure share first, they would still be able to get nearly 7 million taels, with an average of 700 taels per person. This is a dizzying number.
And such scenes are taking place in Pingyao, Taiyuan, Yuci, Pingyang, Taigu, Qixian and other places in Shanxi. Countless soldiers and generals of the imperial court are laughing so hard that they can't see their eyes at this moment.
As for the traitorous businessmen like Fan Yongdou, their faces were full of defeat and despair at this moment. They were hit extremely hard. They spat out a mouthful of old blood and instantly became more than ten years old. They kept mumbling: "How is this possible? How is this possible?