The two days in Datong were a rare opportunity to rest for everyone who had been working hard for more than ten days in a row. Both the women and Wu Yaoqing and the others got a chance to rest.
I originally planned to stay in Datong for two days, but in the end I had to extend it by one day and it was postponed to three days.
Any further delay would be unjustifiable. The situation in Shaanxi was in full swing, and the court would not allow Feng Ziying to delay like this.
But three days is also extremely compact for Feng Ziying.
In addition to Yang Yuan and Cui Chengxiu, there were quite a few officials, generals, and gentry who were coming to visit. Among them were old friends who had some close friendship when Feng Tang was here, and old friends of Feng Duan and his family who had been with each other for many years.
This does not include the Feng and Duan families who are doing well here and have prominent roles.
Feng Ziying's three direct uncles had to meet each other, and her mother and aunt had also prepared gifts. This also involved a large number of cousins, which made Feng Ziying so dizzy that she couldn't even remember their names. Come here, I only know a lot of Duan Xi and Duan Shou. Below the xi generation is the shou generation. This is the order of the Duan family.
For example, my uncle's eldest son is already in his forties, and his sons are five years older than Feng Ziying. Now they are also the boss of Beixi Road in Datong Town.
I have to say that the reputation of the Duan family is much better than that of the Feng family. The eldest uncle alone has three legitimate sons and ten common sons, while the second uncle also has two legitimate sons and seven common sons, the third uncle has two legitimate sons and five common sons, and the younger uncle has three He has four legitimate sons and four concubines, and Feng Ziying has thirty-four close cousins. It’s scary to think about it.
Of course, not every son is successful. There are only eight or nine who can be brought to Feng Ziying. Among them, there are about four or five who have done something famous in the army, and three or four more. Most of them are engaged in business and industry, but they still have some ability.
Among so many direct cousins, Feng Ziying took a look and found that only one Duan Xitai was really good at it.
He is the eldest son of his second uncle. He is in his mid-thirties. He is the seventh guerrilla from Yunshibao on Weiyuan Road who came to the settlement fort to meet him.
There is also Duan Xibao, the uncle's concubine, who is now a guard at the West Road Zhhu Fort, but he is not very old, not yet thirty.
Feng Ziying didn't care too much about blood connections. They were both descendants of the Duan family, and the most successful Duan Xirong and the other Duan Xisheng were not too far apart in terms of blood.
Their father and their mother are both cousins. For example, Duan Xisheng is his aunt's nephew.
Duan Xirong got to this point not only because of the relationship between the Duan family and the Feng family, but also because of his own efforts. Otherwise, with so many children of the Duan family in the army, why was he the only one to reach the stage of serving as a general?
Based on this alone, Feng Ziying would support Duan Xirong.
Of course, Feng Ziying would not hesitate to support Duan Xitai, Duan Xisheng, Duan Xibao and even Duan Xichang.
Feng Ziying still understands the relationship that blood is thicker than water, including Feng Dui, the only surviving cousin of the Feng family in the army.
This cousin's bloodline is slightly distant. His grandfather and his grandfather are cousins, so at his own level, he is already a bit weak, but he is of the Feng family after all.
Now Feng Duan is also the conductor of Zhenhebao in Datong Middle Road. If he works harder, he can win the defense.
From this point of view, the Feng family's connections in Datong are more reflected in old friends, while the Duan family, as in-laws, are local snakes, but have a strong foundation in the middle and lower levels of the officialdom.
Fortunately, the Feng and Duan families are tightly bound by Feng Tang's marriage to the big and small Duans, and Feng Ziying's current rapid rise has made the Duan family more firmly dependent on her.
Especially in the area of local government, the Feng family originally only infiltrated into the military, but now with Cui Chengxiu's intentional support, the Feng family can also develop in the prefectures and counties below Datong Prefecture.
Although the Duan family is indeed lacking in scholars, it is not necessary to have studied in the imperial examination to become an official. There are also opportunities for donating money. Of course, the level is relatively low.
In addition, like some distant branches and side branches, even if they are given some opportunities to serve as officials, it is enough to make them grateful and devoted.
"Ziying, you are leaving tomorrow, and your uncles have nothing to give you. Feng You is very prudent in his work, and your father's old subordinates are also very helpful. All matters have been handled smoothly, but you have to When I went to Shaanxi, a caravan under me just came back. The situation was very bad. In addition to the rebel army, horse thieves and bandits from all over the country were also in trouble. They encountered no less than five attacks along the way..."
The person talking to Feng Ziying was a lean man in his early forties. It could be seen from his face that he had some resemblance to Feng Ziying's mother. He was Feng Ziying's brother-in-law Duan Dehui.
Among the brothers, this brother is probably the closest to Feng Ziying's mother, because the age difference between the two is the smallest. The eldest brother is more than ten years older than the eldest Duan, while this younger brother is only two years younger than the eldest Duan.
So when Feng Ziying was young, this uncle often came to the house and brought some gifts to Feng Ziying. There was even a pony given to Feng Ziying as a gift for Feng Ziying's eighth birthday, which made Feng Ziying go crazy at that time. She still remembers it to this day. new.
"Uncle, do you still have business to go to Shaanxi?" Feng Ziying frowned. Of course he knew that the situation in Shaanxi was not good, but the Duan family still had business to go to Shaanxi, so it felt like they were desperate for money.
"Haha, is it possible that the business has stopped just because the world is not peaceful?" Duan Dehui laughed, his mustache rising and falling, and the fierce look on his face was revealed, "Your uncle's family has dozens of people, and you still have two people." A cousin is not yet married, and three sisters are not yet married, so this is free of money?"
Feng Ziying couldn't laugh or cry. Did the Duan family still lack this little money?
The Duan family has one of the three major horse farms in Datong - Duan's horse farm, which ranks first in scale in Shanxi. In addition to supplying military horses from Datong Town every year, it also supplies military horses from Shanxi Town, not to mention civilian draft horses and pack horses. Although this is the asset of the entire Duan family, Duan Dehui, as the four legitimate sons, also has 10% of the shares.
In addition, Duan Dehui owns a car park, which mainly makes horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts. The quality is excellent and the reputation is outstanding. This is also a long-term business. The business in Datong and its surrounding areas is not a monopoly, but it still holds a considerable share.
The other is the grain business.
Feng Ziying knew that the grain business was a joint venture between her third uncle and her younger uncle, and that she only started to expand it after her father became the commander-in-chief of Yulin Town.
It turned out that it was just a small business in the local area. After my father became the commander-in-chief of Yulin, the Duan family's grain business began to extend to Yulin. It seems that after my father left, this connection with the Duan family was not broken.
"The price of food in northern Shaanxi has skyrocketed. There is no reason not to do this business. The army in Yulin Town is also in short supply of food now, but it is still acceptable, but the local area is quite tight. Now from Shuozhou, once you cross the Yellow River, the price of food has at least doubled. More than double, and it requires an old relationship. The pressure is tight, and we can’t just cut off this relationship, otherwise it will be difficult to do business during the good harvest season next year.”
Duan Dehui did not hide anything in front of his nephew. These business news were kept secret from the outside world, but they did not mean much to Feng Ziying.
And all because Feng Tang and Feng Ziying reminded the Duan family to start collecting grain as soon as possible from the year before last, brothers Duan Deguang and Duan Dehui collected and stored grain in advance, and continuously brought in grain from various places, at least nearly a year earlier than other grain merchants in Shanxi. Years, this profit can be imagined.
"Yulin Town is also short of food?" Feng Ziying couldn't help but frown again.
"Haha, in this situation, where is there no shortage? Shanxi is also short of food. The price of food has more than doubled than last year and more than tripled than the year before. Every household is hoarding food. If there is no shortage, then there is no shortage. There is no shortage. There is such a shortage in Shaanxi. Look at the big grain gentry. Which granary has a shortage of grain? It can range from a few hundred dan to a thousand or even tens of thousands of dan..."
Duan Dehui's words left Feng Ziying speechless.
This is normal.
The shortage of food depends on where it is. Ordinary people and poor people will always be in short supply.
Wealthy households have no shortage of food at any time, and even if they do, it is only in relatively good years.
Maybe they were hoping for a bad harvest so they could make a fortune.
"Uncle is not the one who hoards food. It's all thanks to you that he stocked up on food in advance. He made preparations in advance. However, he has cooperated with several prefectures and counties in Jiazhou, Mizhi, Suide, Qingjian, and Yanchuan. The grain merchants have already made an agreement, so this grain has to be sent, otherwise how will we do business in the future?" Duan Dehui felt that his nephew was not satisfied, and explained with a smile: "And the grain merchants that my uncle chose to cooperate with are relatively well-behaved. But it’s definitely not possible to prevent them from raising prices to make money, so we can just make our own money.”
Feng Ziying couldn't say much.
Buying low and selling high is the law of business. My uncle and the others stocked up on grain in advance. Now the price of grain has risen. Shaanxi is the most short of grain and the price of grain has risen the highest. And he had made an agreement with others before, so he naturally had to fulfill the agreement. This is understandable.
"Since my uncle said so, I won't say any more. Just be careful, but the civil unrest in Shaanxi is getting stronger day by day, so your caravan must be more careful." Feng Ziying could only remind him.
"Well, we all know this, so we will hand over at Qikou Ferry and stop crossing the river to go there." Duan Dehui was still very cautious, "But it is said that there are rebels at Qikou Ferry, so I They are all still a little worried.”
Qikou Ferry is not the main ferry on the Yellow River between Shanxi and Shaanxi, but its location is very good. It is located between Linxian, Shaanxi and Wubao, Shaanxi. The main reason for choosing here is to cross the river to Wubao County.
"There are rebels in Wubao too?" Feng Ziying was surprised. He originally planned to cross the river from the Xikou Ferry, but it was too far north. After crossing the river, he reached Fugu, which belonged to the Yulin Town Defense Zone. It was safe, but it was difficult. Knowing the specific situation of Yan'an Prefecture, he also planned to cross the river from Qikou to Wubao.
