In Zhangjiakou Fort City, in a side hall of the private residence of Shanyou businessman Fan Yongdou, all the storekeepers and owners of various shops in gorgeous clothes were sitting. They were discussing how to deal with the new Xuanfu commander-in-chief, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng.
But Zhaitang's proposal to seek cooperation with North Road merchants triggered a discussion in the hall. Seeing that today's topic seemed to be going astray, Fan Yongdou, the leader of the Shanyou Businessmen's Association, hurriedly said: "We will cooperate with Bei Road merchants." Cooperation is not a bad idea.”
When everyone heard what he said, they all looked at him with incredulous expressions. Fan Yongdou continued: "It's just that it's not the time to talk about this topic yet. Everything has to wait until Zhang Cheng is eliminated and the situation can be resolved." Let me wait until I have control before I can open this hole again."
Fan Yongdou made the final decision, and everyone stopped arguing with the North Road merchant Shanyou. Today's discussion finally returned to the right track. However, the person who spoke next was no ordinary person, but one of the eight major merchants in Shanyou. Wang Dayu.
It should be said that although the eight Shanyou families originated in Zhangjiakou and controlled trade with the Mongolians outside the mouth for more than ten years, their roots originated in Fenzhou, Shanxi.
Among the eight major merchants, Wang Dengku and Wang Dayu were actually originally one branch. However, due to some family grievances in the previous generations, they separated and became two branches of the Wang family.
But those are the grievances and grudges of their ancestors. By their generation, they have long put aside the grievances and grudges of the past. Although they no longer belong to the same family, they are still closer to others than others, so they always have something to deal with when encountering problems. There is a measure of business.
For example, Wang Dengku has always been very dissatisfied with Fan Yongdou, especially the fact that Fan Yongdou goes to Shenyang City in Liaodong every year to trade.
He had expressed his intention to go with him many times before, but was declined by Fan Yongdou for various reasons. However, during the autumn harvest season last year, Fan Yongdou caught a cold wind before leaving and was unable to travel far. This gave him the opportunity to go to Shenyang. Cheng met the Qing emperor in person.
Since returning from his trip to Liaodong, Wang Dengku has become more and more proud, and he obviously has the intention to replace Fan Yongdou as the leader of the meeting.
However, although Wang Dayu has a special connection with Wang Dengku, his temperament is quite different from him. The main battlefield of Wang Dayu's business empire is still in Shanxi, and it also radiates to surrounding Datong, Henan, and Gyeonggi.
The mutual market trade in Zhangjiakou is just a way for Wang Dayu to make money, so he doesn't have too many extravagant expectations here, as long as he can make money steadily.
Wang Dayu is slightly fat, with a round face that always has a confusing smile. There are a pair of emerald green jade fingers on the thumbs of both hands, and he exudes an aura of elegance and wealth. .
His Wang family's business is very large, such as raw silk, satin, cotton, grain, sugar, tea, medicinal materials and other industries, and even has some connections in iron materials and gunpowder. The family's wealth is more than millions?
Moreover, his branch and the general Wang family of Datong Town also belong to the Wang family of Qi County, so they are still relatives. The Wang family has been doing business as its main business for generations, and later relied on the hereditary general relationship to cover up the business. It’s also getting bigger and bigger.
The current Datong Commander-in-Chief Wang Pu received strong support from the Wang Dayu family in his official career, and Wang Dayu also relied on Wang Commander-in-Chief's support to make the family business prosperous in Datong Town.
With Wang Dayu's status and strength, he can naturally question Fan Yongdou calmly: "Fans want to kill Zhang Cheng, I support this, but I still have a little doubt.
Does Fan have any tricks up his sleeve that can put Uncle Yongning to death when he is at the height of his power? "
Fan Yongdou was the leader of Shanxi merchants in Zhangjiakou, so he naturally had some self-cultivation. After hearing Wang Dayu's words, he was not angry. He just smiled, picked up the silver chopsticks on the table, picked up a dumpling and chewed it slowly.
But next to him, Fan Sanba, the eldest son of the Fan family, stood up with a smile, bowed his hands to Wang Dayu, and said, "Everyone Wang..."
Wang Dayu glanced at him sideways and said nonchalantly: "Go ahead."
In his eyes, Fan Sanba was just a junior, not as cautious as he was with Fan Yongdou, and was much more casual in terms of etiquette.
Fan Sanba didn't take it seriously. He said very calmly: "All the big shopkeepers and proprietors are Sanba's uncles and elders. There is a saying called 'preparing for a rainy day', and all uncles know it.
We all know Zhang Cheng very well. Looking at his actions, he can be described as ruthless and ruthless. He can even be described as greedy. He has long regarded us as a thorn in his side and wants to get rid of him quickly.
This is evidenced by the fact that he opened border trade at Dushikou on the North Road. He saw that the business in Zhangjiakou Mutual Market was booming and wanted to get involved. After being rejected by Jia Yan, he opened the Dushikou Mutual Market and traded privately with the Mongols.
The intention to cut off our financial path is very obvious. Just because there were some men under his command who were quite capable of fighting, and the imperial court was in the process of employing people, they turned a blind eye to this and turned a blind eye. "
His words were spoken in the hearts of everyone. Everyone nodded in agreement, but no one said a word. They were all waiting for his next words.
Fan Sanba also saw the performance of everyone, and was secretly happy, and then said: "Looking at Zhang Cheng's style, wherever he goes, there is bloodshed.
Everyone present in the Zhang family on the east road knows that he is the uncle of Deputy Commander Zhang Guowei. We originally wanted to use Deputy Commander Zhang's help to get rid of Zhang Cheng, but before we thought, he was killed first. He acted quickly, and even Deputy General Zhang and his family were killed by him.
The viciousness of his heart is evident! "
Fan Sanba paused, and without waiting for anyone to say anything, he continued: "There is the 'Tianbawang' Chen Yuzhu of the East Road. We just spent a lot of money to make friends with him. Our original intention was to use him to contain Zhang Cheng so that he would be unable to fight with him. We competed for the benefits of border trade, but we were uprooted with "thunder means".
It can be seen that between us and Zhang Cheng, we have reached the point where there is no turning back. There is no way back. "
He glanced at the people in the hall and said word by word with a cold and vicious tone: "Between us and Zhang Cheng, either he dies or I die. This is a life-and-death duel. There is no room for negligence or any back-up. We must take action." Try your best to fight it.
Only if Zhang Cheng dies will we have a chance to survive! "
Wang Dayu rolled his eyes, looked at Fan Yongdou who was looking up, and said calmly: "Fan, why don't you ask the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty to ban the trade between Manchu and Mongolian tribes and Dushikou?"
Fan Yongdou seemed to have guessed that he would ask this question. He coughed twice before saying: "It is about our survival, how could Fan not care about it.
I have already reported this matter to His Majesty Huang Taiji, but the nearby Mongolian tribes secretly went to Dushi, and His Majesty has been attacking Liaodong in recent years, so I am unable to take care of it for the time being.
Moreover, the surrounding Mongolian tribes still regard His Majesty as their co-leader, and every time they send out troops and provide strength, His Majesty cannot do too much in this matter. "
He continued: "Prince Dorgon of the Qing Dynasty sent letters from time to time, asking us to design a plan to get rid of Zhang Cheng, but if this is successful, it will be a great achievement for us.
In the future, when the Qing army enters the customs and conquers the world, the sale of salt, tea and other commercial goods, as well as the purchase of various commercial goods for the royal family and princes' houses, will all fall into our pockets. "
As soon as Fan Yongdou said this, the eyes of everyone in the hall shone. Under the temptation of huge interests and money, they had completely lost their reason. Everyone was looking forward to a bright future.
Tian Shenglan seemed to want to say something more, but just as he was about to speak, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Wang Dayu, who was also squeaking his mouth, as if he was hesitant to speak, and he swallowed back the words he had already spoken.
Jin Liangyu had always paid close attention to Tian Shenglan. When he saw that he was talking but suddenly silent, he asked in public: "Shopkeeper Tian seems to be hesitant to speak, but if you have any good ideas, why don't you tell everyone?" Listen?"
The Tian family was also a family that produced Jinshi in the first two generations. Although the family was still mainly engaged in business, they looked down upon Jin Liangyu and others who were also businessmen. On the contrary, they valued Fan Yongdou, Wang Dayu and others.
Especially Wang Dayu, because he always treats people very politely, and has some contacts with Shanxi, especially Futai and other officials of Taiyuan Prefecture, as well as prefectural and county magistrates, and the heads of various academies. Tian Shenglan is also very fond of this. It's admiration.
Now, how could he endure being provoked by Jin Liangyu's words, but the scholar's self-cultivation prevented him from speaking hastily out of anger. He didn't even look at Jin Liangyu, but first slowly ate a piece of dumplings, and then took a sip of coriander. Ming.
Only then did he raise his head, and after nodding with Fan Yongdou and Wang Dayu, he slowly said: "When dealing with warriors, you must not fall behind. The method of beating and killing is what Zhang Cheng is used to. If you work hard, you are destined to suffer big losses.
We should do the opposite and use our strengths to attack the other's weaknesses! "
After Tian Shenglan finished speaking, he asked Fan Yongdou and Wang Dayu: "Master Fan and Master Wang, what do you think of this?"
Before Fan and Wang could express their opinions, Jin Liangyu asked urgently with a pale face: "May I ask Shopkeeper Tian, what is my strength and what is Zhang Cheng's weakness?"
Tian Shenglan and Jin Liangyu had always been at odds with each other. Seeing that Jin Liangyu was so ignorant, he was too lazy to pay attention to him, so he continued to eat the dumplings on the table.
However, Zhai Tang, who had just proposed to cooperate with the North Road merchants to seek to establish a united front to overthrow Zhang Cheng's rule, once again said: "What Zhang Cheng has is nothing more than the gang of Qiu Ba under his command and the bravery of the warriors, and I But they are not good at holding on to courage and showing off their strength. This is Zhang Cheng's strength, and this is our shortcoming.
However, as Brother Shenglan said, the only way to win is to make use of our strengths and avoid our weaknesses! "
When he said this, he looked at Jin Liangyu with squinted eyes and asked, "Does Shopkeeper Jin know where my strengths are?"
Jin Liangyu can sit here, so he is certainly not a dull person. At this moment, he seemed to suddenly realize it, and said: "Oh, you guys can't do it on the surface, we are playing dirty tricks with Zhang Cheng."
"Hahaha……"
After thinking about it, Jin Liangyu couldn't help laughing loudly: "How can I say that shopkeepers like you who have read books are so powerful? They are all very smart and their minds are full of twists and turns. I really don't know when we will be taken over. Go around and get in."
The joke he told was indeed a bit "cold". The atmosphere in the hall, which was originally very unharmonious, immediately became cold again. No one knew what to say.
Fan Sanba has been observing everyone's expressions. He likes to see the eight families fighting with each other. In this way, the Fan family can sit back and relax as the number one Shanxi merchant in Zhangjiakou and control the trade with the Qing Dynasty. Bull ears.
I saw a very cryptic smile and said: "Dear shopkeepers, what I just said is just one of the reasons why Zhang Cheng must be eliminated."
Although Fan Sanba is everyone's junior, he is also an outstanding leader among the younger generation, so everyone still respects him, not to mention the face of Fan Yongdou, a gold medal father.
Now that I heard him talking about Zhang Cheng again, I forgot about the argument just now, and everyone pricked up their ears to hear what he had to say!
"Secondly, all the businesses on the North Road must pay business taxes to their respective health departments based on their monthly revenue. Everyone knows that Zhang Cheng's greed and corruption are rare in the world, and his viciousness is unparalleled.
If someone can evade business taxes and refuse to pay them, his property may be confiscated, or he may be imprisoned. What's more, the men may be sent to the mines to spend the rest of their lives, while the women may be given to Qiu Bawei, his gang. Concubine is a slave.
I dare to ask who among you here today is willing to dig into your pocket and give your hard-earned money to that villain Zhang Cheng for no reason? "
When he heard this, even the usually calm Wang Dayu's expression changed a little.
His business is spread all over Shanxi, Datong, Xuanfu, Henan, and Gyeonggi Province. Although his property in Zhangjiakou is not large, the profit is not small. It can be said that it is a big piece of fat that is easy to chew.
But according to Fan Sanba, after Zhang Cheng established a firm foothold in the town, he would hand over a lot of snowflakes and silver for no reason. The thought of this made his heart bleed.
At this moment, he heard Fan Sanba continue to say: "Thirdly, although Zhang Cheng opened a border market in Dushi, he strictly prohibited all firms from privately trading with foreign countries. Businesses can only be done in the market he established. .
This purchase and sale is completely controlled by him. By then, most of our profits will probably go into Zhang Cheng's pocket.
I wonder if you can tolerate this last point? "
As soon as Fan Sanba finished speaking, everyone's expressions changed instantly, and everyone had angry expressions.
Although smuggling outside the Great Wall is not everything they do, it is also the most profitable way for their various businesses. Once they all enter the market and trade in a unified manner, how can they endure it after they have already tasted the benefits?
"Damn it!"
Huang Yunfa blew his beard and cursed angrily: "Even if Zhang Cheng is Uncle Yongning, so what? If he dares to cut off our wealth, we will fight with him."
"Yes. Either the fish dies or the net breaks!"
"That is, 'I dare to take down the emperor even if I am willing to die'. If he doesn't leave us a way to survive, we have to kill him first even if we risk our lives."
"If you have money to contribute, if someone is looking for someone, and if you have the ability to contribute, you should let Zhang Cheng know that we are not in Xuanzhen for nothing!" (End of Chapter)
