Wang Chonggu is a great person. Wang Chonggu was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing (1541). He was appointed as the head of the Criminal Department. Starting from Langzhong, he successively served as the prefect of Anqing and the prefect of Runing.
Later, he was transferred to the deputy envoy of military preparation. At that time, Japanese pirates were the main scourge in coastal areas.
When Wang Chonggu was the deputy envoy of military preparation in Changzhen, he defeated the Japanese pirates in Xiagang. When the Japanese pirates escaped, he led his troops to pursue them all the way to Jingjiang and annihilated them.
After that, he and Yu Dayou went to sea many times to attack Japanese pirates and made great achievements in battle. He was promoted to the rank of Inspector-General of Shaanxi and Chief Envoy of Henan Youbu.
Yang Fan's understanding of Wang Chonggu mainly came from his intelligence collection on the Ordos Department.
It was found that in the 43rd year of Jiajing reign (1564), he served as the censor of Youqiandu and the governor of Ningxia. During his tenure, he has been taking the initiative to attack the Ordos Department. Every battle must be won. It has always prevented the development of the Ordos Department, weakened their strength, and maintained the stability of the border.
In the winter of the same year, the imperial court promoted Wang Chonggu to the right minister of the Ministry of War and the censor of the right capital, governor of Shaanxi, Yanning, and Gansu military affairs. After that, he transferred to the Seven Northern Towns. Merits are recorded at the border. In particular, he served as governor of Xuanda for a long time. Take control of the northern frontier army.
Zhang Shize said: "Everyone in the world knows about his military achievements, but not many people know about his family background. Wang Chonggu was not born into a family of generals. His family is an authentic Shanxi businessman, and many of his family members are operating in Hebian Town. The business related to transporting grain, and he himself had guarded the border town for a long time, was actually launched by his family."
"He is from Puzhou, Shanxi (now Yongji, Shanxi). The salt pond in Yuncheng is not far from them." Zhang Shize emphasized.
"The famous Wang Taibao turned out to be a son of a salt merchant." Yang Fan murmured. Sure enough, these famous people have a huge family behind them.
Zhang Shize said: "The other person is more awesome. Zhang Siwei is the chief assistant of the official, and he is Wang Chonggu's nephew. This kind of ultra-large-scale business is still a hugely profitable industry such as grain and salt. If there are no border officials in the border towns, there will be no official in the center. , there is no one in the court who can back him up. It is impossible for Shanxi merchants to keep eating this big fat piece of meat."
"Zhang Siwei's family is a member of the Shanxi merchants and is also in the salt business. His family is very close to the chief minister Gao Gong. They often send money. They have trained a large number of officials themselves, and they have been secretly funded and bribed by them. , and there are many officials controlling it.”
Yang Fan nodded and said: "In the early days, when the court's finances were still functioning, they relied on grain and salt to make money. Later, after the court's finances failed, they got involved with the border generals and started the business of smuggling out of the country."
Mongolia was short of iron, gunpowder, and all living supplies. The Ming Dynasty was short of horses, and horses were a luxury item during the Ming Dynasty. In addition to being used for cavalry and officers, civilian demand is also very large.
Zhang Shize said: "Any other business group can only sell the materials to them at low prices, and then they take them to Zhangjiakou to trade with the Mongols. They have made most of the profits. This is a piece of fat, and it looks very disappointing. People are jealous.”
Yang Fan said: "As far as I know, they are not just smuggling secretly with the Mongols, they have already reached out to the Jiannu. In recent years, the business with the Eastern Lu has almost caught up with the scale of the transaction with the Northern Lu."
Yang Fan already knew that the participants behind the smuggling in Dongjiang Town were the Xungui Group, the Foreign Relations Group, and the Clan Group. This is Shanxi businessmen rushing to grab food from the bowls of nobles and other powerful forces. Of course Xungui cannot tolerate it.
It’s okay if we can’t make it in Shanxi. Beilu’s business belongs to you, and we accept it. But you are still trying to steal Donglu's business from us. It's really unbearable.
And Donglin now has control of Guan Ning's army, and they are eager to get a piece of the pie.
However, the interest pattern in the north was formed over the past two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty and is not easy to change.
So Donglin started the great shift in the world of power. First, drive Yang Fan to Hetao to fight the Mongols. The threat from Gyeonggi was lifted. Then the nine-border border army was abolished and the teeth in the mouths of Shanxi merchants were pulled out.
The next step is to force the Shanxi merchants to reveal some of the commercial interests of the Northern Lu. The other side began to plan to replace Mao Wenlong and monopolize the interests of Liaodong.
If their plan succeeds and continues like this, Donglin will not only be powerful in the court, but also a local force that everyone must deal with carefully.
Yang Fan thought about it, Dong Lin made enemies everywhere like this, and he looked so ugly. In the past, with Duke Wei as our common enemy, we could still tolerate them. But in this situation, there is no need to tolerate them anymore. It is estimated that many sects and officials have begun to secretly collude to plot a plan to overthrow Donglin.
Now, Dong Lin's rise again has put great pressure on the Jin Party. Now Donglin has replaced Duke Wei's power. It has become a situation where other parties unite to fight against the Donglin Party.
"I have also heard about these eight businessmen. They are said to be Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yunfa. These eight people." Yang Fan said.
The Shanxi Merchant Group, headed by the Eight Great Imperial Merchants, had always had a strong backing in the imperial court. Otherwise, the merchants had a low social status and the smuggling trade was so profitable, so why should they be given the advantage.
The backstage of these Shanxi merchants were Shanxi-born court officials who served as high-ranking officials in the Ming Dynasty, such as Yang Bo, Yang Junmin and his son, Han Xu, etc.
The Jin Party supported by Jin Business Group was the only one that could compete with the Donglin Party supported by Jiangnan Capital in the late Ming Dynasty. Later, the main reason why the Qing troops were able to quickly pacify North China after entering the customs was that members of the Jin Party under the control of the Shanxi Merchant Group collectively defected to the Manchus.
Shanxi merchants had a vicious eye. As early as the Nurhaci period, they secretly issued dragon tickets in Shanxi to raise military supplies for Nurhachi. The so-called dragon ticket means that Nuerhachi borrowed usury from wealthy households in Shanxi to use it to accumulate military power and expand armaments. The dragon ticket is a debt certificate stamped with Nuerhachi's dragon seal.
Yang Fan had collected these information secretly before. I know it in my heart.
They have been secretly collaborating with the enemy for at least a hundred years. From Beilu to Donglu, business is getting bigger and bigger.
Why did the Qing army enter the Pass? North China decided to send a message, while the south had to fight for many years before it was calmed down. It is because the Jin Party and Jian Nu have a long history of contact. The south is the territory of the Donglin Party, and they do not have much cooperation with the Manchus.
This is actually the gentry group in the north, using the Manchu Qing Dynasty to suppress Donglin in the south. Naturally, the forces in the south will not bow their heads and admit defeat. This would be tantamount to handing over future national wealth to the Jin Party. This is something the Donglin Party will never tolerate.
