Amid everyone's surprise and expectations, Fan Yongdou continued: "Our purpose is not to ruin Zhang Cheng's reputation, nor is it to bring down Zhang Cheng, but to 'kill him with one blow,' to uproot him and eradicate him completely." !”
He put his hands into his arms and groped for a while, and soon took out a few paper stamps, which turned out to be food stamps, cloth stamps, salt stamps, sugar stamps, cigarette stamps, alcohol stamps and other military stamps issued by Zhang Cheng's Yongyi Army.
Since Zhang Cheng started making silver coins, he has suspended the issuance of silver coins, but has increased the number of salt stamps, cigarette stamps, and liquor stamps. These military stamps are no longer distributed as food and pay for sergeants, but as rewards for military merit.
Nowadays, various castles in the North Road and East Road areas have a government-run business called "North Road Trading Company". Its main business is to sell government-run grain, salt and other materials, and to undertake the exchange, storage, and exchange of silver coins. Lending and other financial services.
Of course, there are also other kinds of groceries in the trading company, such as various materials produced by the North Road Yunzhou Craftsman Workshop. The North Road Trading Company is the most abundant, and most other merchants buy wholesale from here.
Now, the military coupons in Fan Yongdou's hand actually cover various types of food, cloth, salt, sugar, tobacco and alcohol. He flicked the stack of military coupons with his fingers and sneered with an extremely cold expression: "Zhang Cheng is a military man after all. Besides fighting and killing, what else does he know?
It is said that before the three armies are moved, food and grass go first. We will disrupt his food and grass foundation and see what he will use to feed his soldiers! "
Kang Gongxu, the head of the Kang family, took the stack of military tickets and looked at them carefully. After a moment, he asked with surprise on his face: "Is this a new version of military tickets?"
Fan Yongdou said with a proud face: "My people bribed his plate maker to get a full set of military stamp templates. Now I have three sets in my hand. We will print them at the same time in Zhangjiakou, Datong, and Shanxi, and directly print his What kind of trading company is buying it short?"
After saying that, he took out several silver coins of different sizes from his pocket and gently tossed them up and down in his hands: "It's just that this silver dollar is difficult to imitate. Fortunately, we still have many imitation early money notes in our hands. You can use it to cash out silver coins and make his finances suffer."
Kang Gongxu handed the military ticket in his hand to his side and opened it to look at. He tapped the table with his hand and said, "Fan Gong's plan of 'removing salary from the bottom of the cauldron' is really brilliant!"
All the businessmen in the hall also looked happy and were talking together. Fan Yongdou's two consecutive moves could be said to have touched the depths of their hearts.
As businessmen, they are definitely not good at training soldiers and fighting. However, they have a natural advantage in terms of economy. Not to mention that everyone here has business houses all over the place. They also have many good friends who can help. After all, No one will say no to making money.
Just like the Kang family in Shanxi, in order to squeeze out their competitors, they gave out more than 60 large gold ingots in succession, until the opponent's pawn shop was forced to close on the spot and left home.
Now, Fan Yongdou has pierced this layer of window paper, and everyone including Kang Gongxu, Qu Shikai and others have a little excitement on their faces. If this fake military ticket run goes smoothly according to their plan, , everyone will naturally make a lot of money from him first.
This kind of commercial competition is their specialty, and everyone is naturally familiar with how to use it, and they even have many hidden tricks at their fingertips.
It is also very in line with the appetite of all the merchants present here without having to face-to-face hacking with Zhang Cheng. In this way, the risk is naturally not high. Even if it fails in the end, no one will suffer any big losses.
Just like Wang Dayu and others, they now have less scruples: "Wonderful...it is indeed a clever plan!"
"Fan Gong is really a treasured sword that never grows old..."
"Haha... Jiang is so old and spicy..."
"That's it... when it comes to conspiracy and tricks... Zhang Cheng is far behind Fan Gong..."
"What are you talking about... Mr. Fan is called 'Superior Intelligence'!"
"Yes...yes...'super smart'..."
"Zhang Cheng also knows how to fight and kill. He is still a baby when it comes to business competition. If he wants to fight against us, he is asking for death!"
"Hmph. With Fan Gong's ingenious plan, we will make all his military notes turn into waste paper like Ming Dynasty treasure notes..."
Amid the overwhelming praise, Fan Yongdou's expression was filled with pride.
He squinted his eyes and listened to the praises in the room. He was intoxicated with himself for a while, and then waved his hands and said: "Okay... okay. Shopkeepers, please don't praise me."
He looked at the shopkeepers and proprietors with excited expressions, and finally rested his eyes on Wang Dayu. His expression turned cold again and said: "Everyone Wang, there is one more thing I need to trouble Brother Dayu."
Seeing that he spoke so politely, Wang Dayu was stunned and said, "Everyone Fan has something to say, but it's okay to say it. Why should you be so polite?"
"Since Brother Dayu said so, let me get straight to the point."
Fan Yongdou stroked the beard on his chin and continued: "The previous two steps can only make Zhang Cheng confused and trap his limbs, so that he no longer has the energy to attack us and others.
However, it is not a permanent solution. If we want to solve the problem once and for all, we still have to take away Zhang Thief's power to control the army and replace it with one of our own as the chief military officer of the Xuanfu. Only in this way can we sleep peacefully.
After much thought, I feel that Brother Dayu’s relative Wang Zongbing of Datong is a very suitable candidate. If Brother Dayu can convince Wang Zongbing to facilitate this matter, I dare to guarantee that based on the strength of everyone here today, he will be the sponsor. If he is transferred to the position of chief military officer of the Xuanfu, he will be sure of success. "
Fan Yongdou saw the hesitation on Wang Dayu's face, and added with a smile: "Zhang Cheng's Xuanfu soldiers and horses can be regarded as first-class strong soldiers, and they can't be compared with other towns.
However, when you are a soldier, you have to work hard for whoever you are paying for. With financial support like mine, as long as Zhang Cheng is removed, no matter how powerful his troops are, they are leaderless and can still turn out tricks. ?
At that time, we will make more efforts to transfer General Wang to the Xuan Mansion. Qiu Ba, the likes of you, will not surrender obediently with the white money before your eyes. With such a powerful army in hand, General Wang, not to mention Uncle Feng, It is just around the corner to be granted the title of marquis or duke, and to bring glory to the lintel of the Wang family! "
His words made Wang Dayu feel ups and downs in his heart. Who doesn't want to honor his ancestors, and who doesn't want to leave a strong mark on the family tree?
Wang Dayu, who originally didn't want to get too involved in this matter, gradually lost himself under the temptation of Fan Yongdou's words. All he could think about was helping Wang Pu seize the military power in Xuanzhen. With strong troops in hand, he would be granted the title of Marquis and Prime Minister just around the corner. Then he will also be written down in the genealogy book.
However, his desire for profit did not completely wash away his reason. Wang Dayu replied excitedly: "Dayu really admires Fan for being able to put aside his personal thoughts and devote himself wholeheartedly to the plans of our Shanyou family.
As for the matter of my clan, Dayu will keep it in mind and will definitely try his best to promote this matter. If he can bring down Zhang Cheng, a single man, in one fell swoop, he will be able to get along well with me, everyone Fan, and everyone here. It is a great happy event! "
"Hmph. Those people on the North Road who are greedy for profit and have nothing to do with their righteousness are venting their anger with Zhang's nostrils. They try their best to cling to us and regard us as nothing."
Fan Sanbao had a very bad impression of the merchants on the North Road, for no other reason than that he had gone to the North Road to contact the merchants, refused to pay commercial taxes, and boycotted the military stamps, but he did not gain majority support.
Although there are some indifferent merchants, they think that the Fan family in Zhangjiakou is very powerful and has connections in the Xuanfu and even the capital. They must be able to fight against Zhang Cheng, and form a private alliance with them. They never thought that Zhang Cheng's butcher knife does not know the Fan family. In the end, a Didn't survive either.
During this period, Fan Sanba also personally visited Zhang Cheng on North Road. However, they did not allow Zhang Cheng to interfere in Zhangjiakou's border trade under any circumstances, and the two parties eventually broke up on bad terms.
After that, Zhang Cheng secretly opened the Dushi Pass to trade with various tribes of the northern tribes. Although the Shanyou merchants in Zhangjiakou were not happy, they could not do anything about him.
But now the situation has changed. Originally, Zhang Cheng's power was only in the North Road and East Road, and could not threaten their interests in Zhangjiakou, but now it is different. Once Zhang Cheng establishes a firm foothold in Xuanfu, he will inevitably Take action against Shanyou merchants in Zhangjiakou.
It was based on this judgment that the Fan family and his son spared no effort to persuade major merchants to join forces to bring Zhang Cheng down, in order to ensure that Zhangjiakou's smuggling interests would always be owned by Shanyou merchants.
Now, just listen to Fan Sanba continue to say: "When we eradicate Zhang Cheng and welcome General Wang to take control of the Xuan Mansion, we will definitely show some shame to these ungrateful people on the North Road!"
Everyone continued to discuss it until after dark, and then dispersed after dinner.
…………
After bidding farewell to all the shopkeepers and heads of the family, Fan Sanba served his father back to the bedroom. After all, he was getting older, and Fan Yongdou felt very tired after working so hard all day.
At this moment, only the father and son of the Fan family were left in the bedroom. Fan Sanba helped his old father get on the bed, sat on the small stool beside the bed, and asked: "Father, what do you think the chances of winning this time are?"
Fan Yongdou lay on the bed and closed his eyes, as if he was resting and meditating. After a while, he suddenly said: "Zhang Cheng is no better than other generals. He only needs to eat our offerings, but he is They took away all the bones and skin, which would cut off our way of survival.
What's more, news has also come from the Qing Dynasty, asking us to cooperate in getting rid of Zhang Cheng. As long as this is done, my Fan family will have a place in the Qing Dynasty. "
"Father firmly believes that the Qing Dynasty will definitely conquer the Central Plains?"
Faced with Fan Sanba's inquiry, Fan Yongdou smiled and said with disdain: "Although the Ming Dynasty was great, it was already dying. From the cabinet in Beijing to the officials and generals in the provinces, although they were full of benevolence, justice and morality, no one was. Sincerely loyal to Emperor Zhu Ming.
He doesn't want to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, and he doesn't want to protect the country and the people. He spends his days in intrigues and scheming with his friends. He works hard to make money. He runs away when thieves come and throws himself in.
On the other hand, the Qing Dynasty was in a state of revitalization. From the king Huang Taiji to the princes of the Manchu dynasty, down to the officials and generals, they all took credit for killing the enemy and expanding the territory. Government orders came day and night, and no one dared to delay.
As the saying goes, "All people unite and work together to cut off the metal." Don't you see tens of thousands of Qing warriors working in the important areas of our capital, as if they are in a deserted land? I think sooner or later this morning he will replace Zhu Ming and become the common master of the world! "
"But father, didn't we achieve a great victory in the Liaodong campaign at the end of last year?"
"snort."
A trace of anger suddenly appeared on Fan Yongdou's face, and he said angrily: "The entire bureaucracy is rotten to the core from top to bottom, what can we expect him to do?
Just like a person who is about to die, he will come back to his glory. According to me, one or two victories will not help. As long as these officials and generals who are greedy for money and afraid of death are still there, the chaotic situation will never be changed. "
"Does father think Li Chuang can succeed?"
"Rogue thieves are just thieves after all. They only know how to destroy and not produce. Even if they are rampant for a while, they will never achieve great things. Just like the Huang Chao in the late Tang Dynasty, which wiped out most of the Tang Dynasty, but what happened in the end!"
Fan Sanba nodded, and finally asked: "Father, if we help Wang Pu become the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, will he become the second Zhang Cheng?"
"Hahaha……"
Fan Yongdou's eyes were full of evil and sinister, and he said with a sneer on his face: "After we defeat the traitor Zhang Cheng, we will also get rid of several of his direct descendants in the army.
At that time, Wang Pu came to Xuanfu alone to serve as the commander-in-chief. We took the opportunity to place a few stewards in the caravan guard, as well as the obedient guards and Qianhu, into important positions in the army.
If something happens in the future, if you raise your arms, what kind of knowledge do those Qiu Ba have? They are a bunch of mud-legged people who say "if you have breasts, you are a mother", why don't they just follow the paychecks? "
"High, really high!"
Fan Sanba's eyes were full of excitement and he continued: "At that time, the Xuanfu will be named Fan."
…………
While a group of Shanxi businessmen were implementing their conspiracy in full swing, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng was accompanying guests from Liaodong on the way to the north.
Although they were not in a hurry, they did not delay. When they arrived at Longmen Guards, they caught up with the wind and sand, so they stayed in the city to rest early. It was here that they received another message from the imperial court to dispatch troops to Henan to help suppress the intruders.
Time moves forward slightly.
In the middle of the first lunar month, Chenliu, Henan.
"Kill the cattle and sheep, prepare wine, and open the city gate to welcome King Chuang. King Chuang comes and refuses to pay for food!"
Amidst the thundering songs, countless hungry people swarmed forward. They dispersed the officers and soldiers, opened the city gate, and the mighty intruders and thieves from outside the city came in one after another...
Under the first moon, the wilderness outside Yuzhou City was also filled with an overwhelming flow of hungry people.
"Eat his mother, wear his mother, if you don't have enough food and clothing, there will be a King of Chuang. If you don't do the job, don't pay the food, everyone will have a happy time!"
In the sound of folk songs that resounded in the sky, the hungry people were in front, the bandits were behind, and the endless band of bandits were ready to attack the city.
Looking at the hungry people and thieves outside the city, the guards in the city sighed. The bandits were strong, and there were also hungry people in the city who were ready to attack. Can the city still be defended?
He whispered to his subordinates: "Although I know that the state treats me well, my life is more important, so I'd better open the door secretly and surrender!"
In less than a month, more than ten cities around Kaifeng Mansion, such as Xuzhou, Tongxu, Weishi, Weichuan, Yanling, Linying, Changge, Xinzheng, and Sishui, were all in the same situation, and they were all lost one by one. , Kaifeng finally became an isolated city.
The hungry people acted as internal agents for the thieves and played an extremely important role!
Henan suffered from successive years of drought and locust plagues. Many people were displaced, and the government failed to provide relief. The violence accumulated in the people's hearts turned into resentment and hatred towards the government. They needed to vent, so they chose to help the thieves capture the city.
This situation swept almost the entire Henan Province. The bandits were everywhere, and every city was captured on the same day, or within one or two days. With the hungry people responding in large numbers, Li Zicheng, Luo Rucai and two bandits captured more than ten cities in a row without any trouble. The power of blowing dust.
Henan was shocked, and the capital was shocked.
A letter calling for troops to be mobilized to aid Henan was sent out of Beijing along with the express horse, speeding to various places!
(End of chapter)
