"Damn it!"
Jiang Xiang gritted his teeth and suppressed his anger.
In the past two years, the Mongolian Khalkha tribe has also smelled the Manchu Qing's move to enter the customs, and they are eager to try, constantly wanting to invade the south.
And Datong is on the front line in Shanxi.
The frontier army is different from the internal army. The trend of fleeing here is very strong.
For example, Zhang Xianzhong.
Except for the hinterland in the south, the other three sides are grasslands. Once you kill a few people and run away, you will immediately lose sight of them.
In this way, once the general is unable to seek benefits, no one can imagine that he would like to eat goat milk on the grassland for several years.
Moreover, because it was a local battle and the customs of hundreds of years, the army had great hatred for the Tatars.
Deducting money and food will inevitably lead to a significant reduction in combat power. Once the war goes unfavorably, his prestige as a commander will definitely be ruined.
The most important thing is that after deducting military rations, he will get less money.
"When I was in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court deducted military pay, money and food. Now in the Qing Dynasty, the military pay is still insufficient."
Jiang Xiang couldn't help shouting: "Didn't this tmd Manqing come here in vain?"
Thinking of this, Jiang Xiang felt like he was holding his breath and felt extremely uncomfortable.
Suddenly, he turned his head and asked the attentive butler: "I heard that Mrs. Fan's birthday was very grand. How much money was spent?"
"I heard it's no less than fifty thousand taels."
The housekeeper thought for a while and said.
"This is our military pay for one season!"
Jiang Xiang couldn't help but sigh, feeling extremely envious in his heart.
The Fan family is so rich.
In a blink of an eye, it was evening.
Suddenly, a servant sent a message: "Sir, there is a southerner who said he was your friend from three years ago and wants to see him."
"A southerner, a friend from three years ago?"
Jiang Xiang was stunned, then looked solemn: "Let him come in through the small door in the backyard. Remember, don't tell anyone about this."
…
Jiexiu, the old house of the Fan family.
The newly renovated house covers an area of hundreds of acres, with pavilions, rockeries and waterways. It is luxurious and luxurious, almost no less than a palace.
Two years ago, Fan Yongdou, the leader of the imperial merchants of the Qing Dynasty, spent a huge sum of one hundred thousand taels to build the most luxurious house in Shanxi.
This move made the Fan family become the top businessman in Shanxi and their reputation became even stronger.
This birthday banquet focused the attention of the entire Shanxi Province.
The governor, chief envoy, inspector, etc. almost all came to congratulate him, which can be said to have given the Fan family face.
Of course, it can also be said that it is the face of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Fan Yongdou is in his fifties. He greets guests at the gate in high spirits, with a humble attitude and generous clothes.
Not only the dignitaries, but also ordinary people and neighbors, the Fan family showed great pride and hosted a hundred tables of banquets to entertain the villagers for free.
For a time, firecrackers went off everywhere, congratulations were heard endlessly, and the entire Jiexiu was immersed in the excitement.
"Hmph!" At this time, a passing scholar glanced at his house angrily, and sneered in his heart: "Slaves in the house of slaves will not end well sooner or later."
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but stroke his chest and forcibly suppress his excitement.
Making trouble at this time will do no good to you at all.
"However, when I go to the south to participate in Enke and become a Jinshi, I will definitely report it to the emperor. Emperor merchants like you will confiscate your family and exterminate your clan."
With that said, he resolutely headed south to study.
"Brother Fan, is this a bit ostentatious?"
Wang Dengku, a member of the Wang family of the Eight Imperial Merchants, turned his head and said to Fan Yongdou, who was smiling.
"This is the time to show off."
Fan Yongdou shook his head and said, "I will talk to you in detail when we get back to the house."
With that said, Wang Dengku had no choice but to enter.
The other major imperial merchants were not far behind and sent a large number of expensive treasures.
Coupled with the large Shanxi merchant group, the gifts alone are enough to cover all expenses and even make a slight surplus.
After all, he was the first imperial merchant of the Qing Dynasty and was in charge of Zhangjiakou's trade with Mongolia.
In addition to running the Hedong and Changlu salt industries, he also monopolized the market for ginseng and other valuable medicinal materials in Wusuli, Suifen and other places in the northeast. As a result, he was also known as a "ginseng merchant" among the people, and his family capital was millions of taels.
At the culmination of the birthday banquet, there was a reward from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Beijing - a jade sculpture of longevity peach from Emperor Shunzhi.
This made everyone pay homage and the birthday banquet reached its climax.
In the afternoon, the birthday banquet ended and the other guests dispersed, except for the eight royal merchants who gathered together.
Eight people, Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang and Huang Yunfa, sat opposite each other.
The so-called imperial merchants were responsible for the procurement work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and had monopoly and privileges on certain businesses.
"Everyone, we are taking advantage of my mother's birthday party to discuss two main things."
As the leader of the imperial merchants, Fan Yongdou was the first to speak, with a serious face.
"The first thing is to go to the imperial court."
"Now that the war is intensifying, the court's expenses have increased greatly. The regent is worried about insufficient expenditure, and he does not want to increase taxes again and cause the Chongzhen incident."
"Do you have to donate money again?" Wang Dengku's expression changed and he said, "Business is hard to do now, where can I donate money?"
Several other people also started crying, and all of them looked ugly.
"Don't worry, it's not just you."
Fan Yongdou drank a cup of tea calmly and said calmly: "The imperial court's intention is very clear, that is, let us lead the entire Shanxi merchants to donate money and food."
"At that time, those people's money and food will be the main ones, and we may even make some profit."
At this moment, everyone suddenly realized.
The amount on the donation list can be tampered with. If the time comes to move it a little, it will not only be a proxy, but it can even earn a reputation for loyalty.
"Let's decide on these three levels: 20,000, 10,000, and 5,000. Let's add them up."
Fan Yongdou showed a smile: "This matter is also a way for us to determine our status among Shanxi merchants. We must not be careless."
"fair and just--"
Shanxi merchants were married to each other and had deep ties with each other. Especially when they went deep into Mongolia, they collaborated a lot.
"The other thing lies in Jiangnan!"
Fan Yongdou sighed, his expression serious.
"But Shaanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants?"
Everyone was puzzled. The Ming court was far away from them, so how could they interfere with them.
Wang Dengku then spoke, attracting everyone's attention:
"Recently, Shaanxi businessmen are getting farther and farther away from us. The land of Shaanxi cannot accommodate us at all. Moreover, their wealth is getting stronger day by day. I heard that they have also taken over the well salt from Sichuan, and their influence has extended to the south of the Yangtze River."
Fan Yongdou nodded and said: "In the past, Shaanxi and Shanxi regarded our Shanxi merchants as the most respected. Now, the power of Shaanxi merchants has increased and they have begun to compete with us for business."
"Yeah, their iron pots are cheaper!"
"The price of horses has also been raised higher. Isn't this condoning the Tatars?"
"They also stole our salt sales business..."
The royal merchants nodded one after another, indignant.
"I have already reported to the Ming Dynasty that Shaanxi merchants will help the Shang Dynasty to do evil and put an end to Shaanxi merchants' operations in the north."
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
I accidentally fell asleep. Damn, I'm sorry.
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