"Report!"
The horse stopped as it approached the river, and the rider dismounted and ran over.
The person who came was the messenger of the Tiger-Character Flag, who was a rider on the horse team, delivering the message for the Tiger-Character Flag.
However, before the messenger could get closer, he was stopped by the guards following Liu Heng.
"Let him come here." Liu Heng ordered his guard.
The guards then stepped aside and took away the gun from the messenger's waist.
"Master, Director Yang sent a letter from Tianjin Wei." The messenger held a letter in his hands and handed it over.
Liu Heng took the letter and glanced at the paint on it, then tore open the letter and took out the letter paper inside and read it.
After reading the letter, he took out the fire folder, burned the letter in public, and threw the ashes into the river.
Facing everyone's confusion, he smiled and said, "Yang Yuanxin said that the emperor in the capital has passed away."
"It's been so long since the emperor passed away, how could he just send the news back?" Li Shuheng's tone revealed dissatisfaction.
As the director of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau of Tiger Character Banner, he was in Tianjin Wei, and he should have been informed of the news in the capital first. However, almost a month had passed since the emperor's death, and the news was not transmitted back to Lingqiu. Such external news In his eyes, the director of the Intelligence Bureau can be replaced.
"It's indeed a bit bad." Zhao Yutu agreed.
However, he knew that Yang Yuan was the first person to follow Liu Heng. In terms of trust, he was not as good as Yang Yuan, so he did not dare to say it too seriously.
Seeing the expressions of the two people, Liu Heng knew that they had misunderstood, and said, "Yang Yuan's letter said that the new emperor has passed away. I believe it won't be long before the news from the capital reaches Datong."
"The new emperor?"
Li Shuheng and Zhao Yutu were stunned at the same time.
Zhao Yutu frowned and said, "Less than a month after the new emperor ascended the throne, he died again?"
He didn't quite believe the news from Yang Yuan. The key point was that the news was too sensational. It wasn't a change of dynasties. How could the emperors be replaced so frequently? Two emperors died in less than a month.
"This news is true." Liu Heng said solemnly.
He knew that the next step would be Tianqi's ascension to the throne, and the Yuan Dynasty would be changed next year. At that time, the Donglin Party would be in full swing, and other political parties would be liquidated. A few years later, the Eunuch Party would become bigger, and the Donglin Party would be liquidated.
After the death of Tianqi, Chongzhen ascended the throne, and the Donglin Party began to prosper. The eunuch party was liquidated, and the entire Ming Dynasty perished little by little in the party struggle. Until the years of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the party struggle did not stop.
"Today's Ming Dynasty is really troubled." Zhao Yutu said with emotion.
Most of the land in Liaodong was occupied by the Jurchens, and the Ming army in Liaodong was defeated one after another. The court changed two emperors within a month, which did not seem to be a good sign.
Not long after the messenger left, another fast horse galloped from a distance.
"Master, Lao Wu from the cavalry team and Zhang Sancha from the warrior team have returned from the grassland."
The person who came to deliver the letter was someone from the Attendant Department.
"It seems we should go back." Liu Heng smiled and said to Li Shuheng and Zhao Yutu beside him.
……………………
Fan’s study room in Zhangjiakou.
"What's going on with the Tian family? Is there anything unusual?" Fan Yongdou picked up the tureen and took a sip of tea.
Standing in front of him was a young man dressed as a waiter. He said respectfully, "Tian Shenglan hosted a banquet at home for many proprietors of Xuanfu. I have noticed that these proprietors who attended the banquet are all related to the grassland. The businessman I contacted told me that some kind of chamber of commerce was going to be established.”
"Establish a chamber of commerce?" Fan Yongdou frowned and asked immediately, "What's the end? Has a chamber of commerce been established, and who is the president?"
The guy said, "As soon as Tian Shenglan brought up the matter of establishing a chamber of commerce, all the proprietors present left. The first ones to leave were Liang Jiabin and Wang Dayu. In the end, only Huang Yunfa and Chen Liyun remained, staying in the banquet hall. .”
"The Chen family has always had a good relationship with our Fan family. Why did they side with the Tian family this time?" Butler Fan asked doubtfully.
Fan Yongdou took a sip of tea and said, "He should be trying to find out what is going on with the chamber of commerce proposed by Tian Shenglan. Liang Jiabin and the others all know that they will not cooperate with the Tian family. A man as smart as Chen Liyun will not be stupid enough to stand with Tian Shenglan." Let’s make enemies of my Fan family together.”
"I'm afraid that smart people have too many thoughts." Butler Fan whispered.
Fan Yongdou paused for a moment with the hand holding the lid of the cup to stir the tea, then turned to look at Butler Fan and said, "Are you saying that Chen Liyun also has the idea of establishing a chamber of commerce?"
"Whether he has this intention or not, Master, we must be on guard." Butler Fan reminded.
Fan Yongdou hesitated for a moment and then said, "Well, what you said makes sense. Later, arrange for someone to go to the Chen family and warn him not to let him get too close to the Tian family."
"Yes." Butler Fan agreed.
"Is there anything else going on with the Tian family?" Fan Yongdou asked the man in front of him.
The guy thought for a while, then finally shook his head and said, "No, I only found this out, but..."
There was a hint of hesitation on his face.
"But what?" Fan Yongdou asked.
The waiter said, "After all the guests left that day, Tian Shenglan smashed several cups angrily. Later, I don't know what she said to Huang Yunfa and Chen Liyun. In the end, she actually sent them outside the Tian family gate with a smile."
Fan Yongdou frowned.
Butler Fan beside him whispered, "Could it be that the three of them had some private agreement?"
"Do you know the Dongshan Chamber of Commerce in Lingqiu Iron Field with Tiger Character Flag?" Fan Yongdou suddenly asked.
Butler Fan thought for a moment and said, "Originally, there was a Dongshan Association in Lingqiu, and the president was Xu Youcai from the Xu family. Later, Liu Heng from Tiger Character Banner established a Dongshan Chamber of Commerce, and attracted many ironworks owners to join the chamber of commerce, and used Some despicable tricks caused all the iron furnaces of the Xu family to explode, and then they annexed the Xu family iron field in one fell swoop, completely defeating the Dongshan Association, thus making the Dongshan Chamber of Commerce the only one in Lingqiu."
"You are right." Fan Yongdou said, "Tian Shenglan has been to Lingqiu, and the idea of establishing a chamber of commerce may have been given to him by the man from Tiger Character Flag."
Butler Fan said cautiously, "What do you mean, Master, is Tian Shenglan helping Huzi Banner to establish a chamber of commerce? This... is unlikely!"
"That's not necessarily the case." Fan Yongdou said, "Liu Heng of Tiger Character Banner has the means and ability. If he is really allowed to establish a chamber of commerce in Xuanfu, he will become a formidable enemy to our Fan family. However, Tian Shenglan is not willing to The person who is inferior to others is likely to want to establish a chamber of commerce himself.”
Butler Fan said tentatively, "So Chen Liyun and Huang Yunfa stayed behind to agree to Tian Shenglan's establishment of a chamber of commerce?"
"Tian Shenglan gave me a reminder. Our family can't afford the business on the grassland for the time being. It's better to set up a chamber of commerce and attract all the Shanxi merchants who are smuggling to the north to our side. By then we will have enough goods. Once transported to the grassland, in the future, even if the Tiger-Character Flag gets through the connections of Shitu Khan, it will not be able to compete with our Fan family. Those northern captives will only see benefits and no friendship in their eyes."
The more he spoke, the brighter Fan Yongdou's eyes became.
He had never thought about establishing a chamber of commerce before, but now after Tian Shenglan reminded him, he felt that this matter had great potential. Maybe the Fan family could take this opportunity to become the leader of Shanxi merchants in the future.
