In the middle of winter, the central and northern parts of Shanxi Province are already covered in ice and snow. However, there are still many Shanxi merchants traveling on official roads everywhere despite the wind and snow. They all wrapped their heads and faces tightly, otherwise the oncoming cold wind would be like knives cutting the skin. No matter how thick-skinned they are, they can't stand such cuts!
The five years of Chongzhen that are about to pass are quite good for Shanxi people. Although neighboring Shaanxi and Henan experienced floods, Shanxi did not encounter major floods, only a few flash floods occurred in several places.
And because the rainfall is not small, the drought that has lasted for many years (Shanxi is not as dry as Shaanxi) has also been alleviated. Most prefectures and counties in Shanxi Province also ushered in bumper harvests unprecedented in many years.
And the Shanxi people who made the most profits during the five years of Chongzhen were still those Shanxi merchants who dared to sell any contraband!
But now they have "returned their evil ways" and no longer smuggle... This is not because the conscience of these dealers has been discovered, but because both inside and outside the Great Wall in Shanxi Town and Datong Town are already the world of the Ming Dynasty .
The fiefdoms of the Ming Dynasty King Zhu Cixuan and the four noble concubines Orduo are just outside the border wall of Datong. What else can't be sold? Not to mention ironware and gunpowder, even Hongyi cannons can be sold to Xinzhou...as long as those Shanxi old pits have the ability to cast the cannons!
As for the way to smuggle gunpowder and iron tools to the backward gold, it has long ceased to exist. Now the north of the Xuanda border wall and the west of Qianli Pine Forest are the Ming Dynasty. The territory close to the border wall belongs to the Datong and Xuanfu armies. The territory far away from the border wall belongs to the Palace of Prince Xin and the four noble concubines Orduo. . If there was really a profiteer who wanted to make money from Huang Taiji, he would have to walk more than 1,000 miles on the territory of King Xin and the four noble concubines Orduo with guns and gunpowder!
But without the opportunity to be a slave, you can go out to the grasslands and do business all the way north and west! And there are rumors recently that Long Live Lord plans to open a commercial port in Tianjin... In the future, goods from various countries in the East and West can be shipped directly to Tianjin by sea, and rice from the south will also be transported to Tianjin by sea.
This is another big deal for Shanxi businessmen!
But no matter how big the deal is, the New Year still has to pass!
So as the New Year approaches, the official roads in Shanxi Province become busy again! Shanxi merchants who returned from neighboring provinces to Taigu, Qixian, Pingyao, Jiexiu, and Xugou, the prefectures and counties specializing in Shanxi merchants, were either riding horses or riding in cars, and were escorted by bodyguards in groups. Go to their respective hometowns.
However, when they passed through Datong Town and the northern part of Taiyuan Prefecture, they also encountered something that worried them. They suddenly found that at various intersections and ferries, newly built "wooden passes" appeared at various intersections and ferries - checkpoints made of wood, with small fortresses beside the checkpoints.
These checkpoints and forts don't look like city gates to defend against enemies and captives, because they are very thin and small. If they really encounter a strong enemy, wouldn't they be defeated in one blow?
These checkpoints... are they tax cards used to collect taxes?
Businessmen are good at getting close to people to get information, so the soldiers from Shanxi Town or Datong Army who guarded each checkpoint encountered profiteers who came to inquire more than once. However, the information they can provide to these profiteers is very limited.
"What level is this for? I don't know!"
"Well, I only know that this was built by someone from the Tmall Division in the Royal Horse Guards... They had the imperial edict from Lord Long Live and were willing to pay for it, so of course they built it."
"What does this Tmall Division do? It should be raising cats for Lord Long Live, right? Do you have any good cats? If so, you can sell them to Lord Long Live..."
"Why do they want to build these levels? How can I know where to go? Maybe they want the cats from Tmall to station here to catch mice?"
These soldiers guarding the card don't know any secrets. They are just following the orders from above... As for the function of the Tmall Division, of course you have to ask Gao Qiqian, the eunuch in charge of the Tmall Division.
Gao Qiqian, who was called "Mr. Cat" behind his back, was appointed as the eunuch in charge of the Tmall Division in the third year of Chongzhen's reign - in fact, it is not surprising that there was a Tmall Division in the Ming Dynasty palace. The palace was originally an institution like an elephant room or a leopard room.
Nowadays, there are many Tmall stores that raise cats. Maybe I like cats today!
The real mission of the Tmall Division is actually to deal with the rats... They were ordered to attack the Imperial City in Beijing, the Nanhaizi Palace, the Xuanfu Imperial City, the Nanhaizi Camp of the Zhangqian Army, the Bashang Camp of the Zhangqian Army, and Zhangqian Cats are raised in the Military Xuanfu Camp, Dianqian Military Beijing Camp, Shipping Warehouse, Taicang and other places.
I don’t raise any Persian cats, just ordinary mice-catching cats!
In addition to raising cats, this Tmall company also manages mouse traps and mouse poison—rat poison is actually crane-top red, mixed with rice to trick little mice into eating it!
In addition, Tmall Division also established a special rat exterminator army...recruited some civilian rat catching experts and trained a group of eunuchs to eliminate rats lurking around the royal family.
In the fourth year of Chongzhen and the upcoming fifth year of Chongzhen, Tmall Division really made "great achievements" and eliminated countless rats!
In the autumn of the fifth year of Chongzhen, the Tmall Division actually received an order from the long-lived master who was out begging for food, asking them to go to Shanxi to eliminate rats, and set up checkpoints at the transportation arteries in northern Datong and Taiyuan, and also allocated them from the internal transportation warehouse. He raised a large sum of money as funds, and also gave orders to Datong Commander-in-Chief Man Gui and Shanxi Commander-in-Chief Zhang Honggong to mobilize their troops to cooperate.
In addition, Datong Governor Yang He and Shanxi Governor Geng Ruqi also received orders from Zhu Youjian, asking them to provide convenience for Tmall Division's checkpoints.
Moreover, Zhu Youjian also told Geng Ruqi, Yang He, Man Gui and Zhang Honggong in the edict that the checkpoints of this Tmall Division are definitely not used to collect taxes... As for how these checkpoints are used, Zhu Youjian It was not mentioned in the edict.
Plague is a highly infectious disease with extremely high case fatality rate! There is almost no cure, and the only solution is to blockade the affected area.
Therefore, Zhu Youjian could only act in the name of suppressing bandits, and he must not let people know that he came for the plague... and the plague has not happened yet!
At least Zhu Youjian hasn't received the report yet - he only found out about this in the second half of the sixth year of Chongzhen in his previous life.
However, Zhu Youjian did not know how to prevent and treat severe infectious diseases such as the plague. He knew that Zhu Cixi opened the door to the colonial era of the Ming Dynasty - the biggest threat to colonists around the world was infectious diseases!
Infectious diseases not only caused serious casualties among colonial people, but also caused the colonists to die in droves.
In the 17th century, there were only two ways to combat infectious diseases. One was to improve hygiene; the other was to isolate people in time when an infectious disease broke out.
The colonists who were fooled by Zhu Cixiang also died in batches, including even the sons and grandsons of Emperor Chongzhen!
Therefore, Zhu Youjian also learned many ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases, especially the plague!
"Long live my lord, I have already asked people to set up checkpoints at key crossings in the northern part of Taiyuan Prefecture and Datong Prefecture..."
In the Ming Dynasty Prince Zhao's Mansion in Zhangde Mansion, Zhu Youjian, who had come all the way from Xuzhou, was listening to the report of "Mother Cat" Gao Qiqian in the Chengyun Hall of the Prince's Mansion.
"Gao Qiqian," Zhu Youjian's eyes swept around the Chengyun Hall. They were all his confidants, and then he said, "When you were in Taiyuan and Datong, did you hear that there was a plague somewhere?"
"Plague?" Gao Qiqian was startled, "No...Long live Lord, please don't scare me!"
Zhu Youjian glanced at "Mr. Cat" and whispered: "Gao Qiqian, you are a smart person...you should know why Tmall Company was established, right?"
"Long live my lord..." Gao Qiqian was confused, "How do you know..."
Zhu Youjian waved his hand, "I don't know! But someone has to do this... not only to prevent plague, but also to prevent smallpox, malaria, and all kinds of other extraordinary diseases. Trouble! These are the jobs of the Tmall Division. What I did in Taiyuan and Datong was to practice and see if the Tmall Division could block the flow of people from Taiyuan and Datong when the plague broke out. "
