When the carriage stopped, Fan Yongdou also put down the letter in his hand, opened the curtain of the carriage and looked out. He saw his carriage arriving outside a dilapidated castle - this castle was called Xinghe City. It was the city of Xinghe Qianhusuo under the former Kaiping garrison under the jurisdiction of the Beiping Dusi. It had long been abandoned by the Ming Dynasty and became the territory occupied by the Uliangha Mongols on the grassland...
No, Fan Yongdou suddenly saw a few people wearing brocade uniforms wandering around the gate of Xinghe City, and then he remembered that Xinghe City had now returned to the Ming Dynasty!
This is really a monster!
The Ming Dynasty, which was obviously extremely weak, suddenly had a young emperor who could fight. With more than 10,000 emperor's servants raised with the land in the capital and the money stolen from the houses, he actually defeated both Hutu Dunhan and Tiancong Khan. Defeated. And they also opened up territory outside the Great Wall... Not only did they regain the land in the three prefectures of Ying, Xing, and Hui that had been lost for who knows how many years, but they also used the help of two Ordos of thousands of households directly under the emperor. In the name of the Communist Party of China, the territory of Kaiping's former Tunwei and Xuandewei was recovered!
Of course, Fan Yongdou didn't think how long the Ming Dynasty's revival could last? The little emperor can fight, but this can't change the declining situation of the Ming Dynasty. And how much financial resources does he have? Can you afford tens of thousands of the emperor's servants? I'm just afraid that 20,000 will be the end.
Relying on this strength, it would be good if the little emperor could maintain a three-legged situation of Beiyuan, Dongjin and Nanming.
The three-legged alliance is definitely the most beneficial to the Fan family in Zhangjiakou.
This time, Fan Yongdou gained quite a lot from his visit to Ma Meng Mountain to meet the Great Khan of Houjin! In addition to receiving a generous reward, Fan Yongdou also successfully opened up a smuggling trade route from Zhangjiakou to Mameng Mountain, bypassing the Ming army-controlled area!
In addition to this trade route, the Fan family also owns a trade route from Zhangjiakou to Tumotechuan, which can also bypass Datong Town, which is firmly controlled by the Ming army, and can even bypass Orduo, a ten thousand household in Uliangha. most areas.
With these two trade routes, the old Fan family will not be afraid of not being able to make war fortune!
If I can still ingratiate myself with Princess Wu Liangha this time... it will be easier to do business among the Ming, Yuan and Jin families in the future!
Just when Fan Yongdou was having some wild thoughts, a familiar voice suddenly came to his ears: "Is it Shopkeeper Fan?"
Fan Yongdou stuck his head out and saw that it was Wang Dengku who was doing business in Beijing.
"It's Shopkeeper Wang!" Fan Yongdou quickly got out of his sedan chair. After coming out, he discovered that there was another team of carriages and horses near his sedan chair and camel team, which seemed to have just arrived. Wang Dengku should have come from there!
"Shopkeeper Fan was also invited by the eldest princess?" Wang Dengku came up and cupped his hands, then asked with a smile.
"Yes," Fan Yongdou smiled, "Is Shopkeeper Wang also a guest of the eldest princess?"
Wang Dengku smiled and nodded: "Not only the two of us, but also Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, Huang Yongfa... They are all famous people both inside and outside the mouth! They came earlier than the two of us, and they all We have already entered the city. Let’s enter the city too, don’t keep the eldest princess waiting.”
Fan Yongdou nodded repeatedly, "They are all acquaintances, they are all our own!"
The trade outside the mouth is not something that the Fan family can take advantage of - the trade outside the mouth is the same as overseas. Without some force, no one can do business well. It is not enough to rely on the Fan family's old number of thugs, so several families have to work together to form a business gang.
Of course, the merchant gangs outside Paokou are not comparable to maritime merchant gangs such as Yiguandang and Haisha Gang in the South China Sea. The latter can really fight with the Ming Navy and win! The former can only deal with some small-scale horse bandits. If it encounters large-scale bandits, it will have to pay protection fees. The grouping of eight families is just a few more bargaining chips with all parties.
Fan Yongdou and Wang Denku were talking and walked towards the south gate of Xinghe City. The gate of Xinghe City is wide open, and the gatekeepers are several Mongolians wearing the official uniforms of Jinyiwei. The reason why they wear the official uniforms of Jinyiwei is to tell everyone that the owner of Wuliangha Wanhu Orduo is the Ming Emperor. !
The Mongolian gatekeeper checked the invitations of Fan Yongdou and Wang Dengku, and then let them go. Only the two of them were allowed in, blocking the accompanying guards.
Of course, the two of them had no objections. They ordered their guards to wait outside, and then entered Xinghe City together.
There are almost no houses in Xinghe City. Within a circle of earth walls, there is a large piece of flat land - there were originally buildings and offices here, but after the Ming Dynasty left and the Mongols entered, in order to facilitate the nomadic tribes to station in the city regularly (usually (for winter), the Mongols simply bulldozed all the houses in the city to make it easier to raise livestock and build yurts.
When Fan Yongdou and Wang Dengku entered the city, many yurts had been set up in the city, and the air was still filled with the stench of livestock dung. There were no trees on the Mongolian grasslands, so there was no firewood available. Cow dung was a common fuel used by the Mongolians. , just this smell...
Fan Yongdou smelled the pungent smell and thought to himself: Princess Wuliangha has been smelling of cow dung since she was a child. She probably can't even wash it off. The little emperor can actually sleep with her in his arms. Isn't he afraid of the smell?
Thinking about this treasonous issue, Fan Yongdou and Wang Denku had already arrived outside a large golden-domed tent. Guarding outside the tent were several Mongolian warriors wearing iron armor, who should be the eldest princess's bodyguards. They stopped Fan and Wang, checked their invitations, and then searched their bodies before letting them into the tent. One of the Mongolians, who should be the leader, also told them that Her Royal Highness the Princess was worshiping Buddha and could not see them for the time being. However, the young manager Zaisang was in the tent and told them to go and see them quickly.
The two entered the big tent and found that a banquet had been set up inside. Mongolian maids in colorful clothes were serving plates of mutton, cheese, bread, Shao Daozi wine, and other Mongolian delicacies. Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, Huang Yongfa and others who arrived earlier than Fan and Wang had already sat down cross-legged behind the low tables, and the chief seats in the big tent were Sitting there was a Mongolian nobleman who looked a little too young. He had gorgeous robes, a tall figure, and a bold attitude. He was talking to a few profiteers in fluent Mongolian.
Jin Liangyu, who had the closest relationship with Fan Yongdou, took the initiative to introduce the two parties: "Master, I would like to introduce you to you. These two are Fan Yongdou from the Fan family in Zhangjiakou and Wang Dengku from Wang Dengku in Beijing... They are both A big businessman who is famous both internally and externally!
Shopkeeper Fan and Shopkeeper Wang, this young man is Zaisang, the young manager of Orduo in Wuliangha Wanhu, and he is the cousin of the eldest princess. "
"Greetings to the young steward!"
"Kowtow to the young steward!"
Fan Yongdou and Wang Dengku quickly kowtowed to the little manager.
"Get up, get up..." The Mongolian nobleman known as the little steward nodded with a smile, "Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, you are here just in time. I have something to ask you, and everyone here."
"Excuse me, young steward!"
"We will tell you everything we know..."
"Yeah......"
The eight profiteers all behaved very cooperatively.
The young manager smiled and said: "Okay, then I'll ask...do you keep in touch with Daikin?"
What's the meaning?
The eight profiteers were stunned for a moment.
"No, it's nothing..."
"Little manager, how dare we have an affair with a Jurchen!"
"Don't get me wrong, don't get me wrong..." the young manager waved his hand, "I am not an official of the Ming Dynasty, and Wuliangha Wanhu and Duoyan Wanhu did not prohibit caravans from entering and exiting the Jianzhou border. .....I just have a relative who was captured by Da Jin, and I want to spend money to redeem him. If you have connections, I will definitely put in a good word for you in front of the princess."
The little steward spoke sincerely, and even called Jianzhou Jurchens the Great Gold. Moreover, the two thousand households under the jurisdiction of Princess Wuliangha did not adopt a trade blockade policy.
Fan Yongdou thought this was an opportunity to please the cousin of the eldest princess, so he smiled and said: "Little manager, the little one does have some connections... The little one is related to Fan Wencheng, a popular figure next to the Great Khan of the Jin Kingdom!"
After his statement, other profiteers present also expressed that they had some contacts with the Jianzhou Jurchens and could help.
The young steward smiled and nodded, and when he spoke again, he actually spoke in Chinese: "You all turned out to be traitorous businessmen. You can't run away now. I've arrested all the people who came here!"
