"Sir, the distinguished guest is here!"
Upon hearing this, Fan Yongdou immediately stood up from his chair, with a little surprise, and said to the others: "I was not mistaken. Liaodong suffered a huge loss this time, so they took the initiative to send people over."
When the others heard this, they all stood up excitedly. Among them, Tian Shenglan even said: "Let's go and meet the God of Wealth!"
Fan Yongdou nodded immediately and strode out without saying a word.
The Huang Yunfa servant in the middle of the lobby was dumbfounded again: What should I do?
The person who could be sent here to ask for help must be Huang Yunfa's confidant, and of course he knew who the so-called distinguished guest was.
But the more this happens, the more anxious he becomes!
There are people coming from Liaodong, so it is natural to deliver the goods, but his master is imprisoned in Jinyiwei Prison, how can he do this business?
So, in desperation, he hurriedly took a few steps, jumped out of the door, stood in front of Fan Yongdou, knelt down with a bang, and then begged: "Masters, you haven't discussed how to rescue my master yet!"
Being blocked by him, Fan Yongdou became a little impatient, and immediately said in a cold voice: "Didn't you hear that we were discussing? A distinguished guest has arrived. Even if your master knows about it, he must also understand that distinguished guests come first."
After finishing speaking, he quickly left in a detour without stopping at all.
The others ignored him at all, and all walked around him, quickly following Fan Yongdou and leaving.
Only the kneeling person was left, dumbfounded!
In the front yard of Fan Mansion, there was a group of about ten people, all of whom looked dusty. It was the end of May and I felt it was too hot, so I stood in the shade of a tree, taking off my hats and fanning myself while wiping sweat.
On the melons on their heads, there are clearly money rat tails, and anyone with a little experience can tell that this is definitely not a fresh haircut.
Some of the Fan family's servants came over to fetch water from the well, some were fanning them, and some were pulling cold fruits from the well, and they were all busy serving them.
By the time Fan Yongdou arrived with his people, these Jianlu had already calmed down and were quite happy.
"Ah ah ah, it turns out that my family has arrived. It's a long way to welcome them. Thank you so much!" Fan Yongdou recognized at a glance that the Qing soldier leading the Qing soldiers was Fan Wencheng's housekeeper Fan Pingfu, and immediately greeted him loudly with a smile.
When Fan Pingfu saw him, he also smiled and cupped his fists and said, "Dong Fan's family, Dong Tian's family, Dong Wang's family...so you are all here?"
"Please!" Fan Yongdou quickly extended his hand to signal, and at the same time told Uncle Fan who was following him, "Quickly, bring up all the ice cubes in the cellar."
After a while, Fan Pingfu sat at the main seat in the lobby, accompanied by Fan Wencheng. The other profiteers were still sitting there. Huang Yunfa's servant really didn't have the courage to continue talking in front of the distinguished guests, so he could only accompany Huang Yunfa to the last seat.
Under the command of Uncle Fan, the servants of the Fan family came in with trays of ice cubes, put them down in corners, and then exited.
Feeling the coolness, Fan Pingfu also had a smile on his face. He looked at Fan Yongdou and said: "There is no need to talk about the transaction. The master has a purpose. It is three times your purchase price. Just send it to Liaodong as soon as possible."
After hearing this, everyone was happy and had smiles on their faces.
Among them, Fan Yongdou quickly stopped smiling and said to Fan Pingfu: "There is something that needs to be explained first. The war in the Central Plains of Guan Nei and the two lake basins are also caused by thieves. The price of food has never come down. It just so happens that Songjin The war has lasted for so long, and the cost of the food we finally hoarded is a bit high. But don't worry, all this can be checked in the account books. We Shanxi merchants have always been honest in doing business and will never cheat each other with false prices!"
While he was speaking, everyone else was staring at Fan Pingfu to see his reaction.
After hearing this, Fan Pingfu just smiled and said: "We have been dating for so many years, and my master has great trust in you, so you can rest assured."
Upon hearing this, the seven imperial merchants became obviously more relaxed. It's still a pleasure to do business with Daqing. As long as the goods can be delivered, you can get whatever you say, and there will be no haggling! Such a good customer must be taken care of!
"Let's just settle the sale and purchase. Just send the things to Liaodong as soon as possible!" When Fan Pingfu said this, he suddenly stopped smiling and said, "There is one thing that I want you to inquire about. The court doesn't know. What the hell are you doing? You actually abandoned Ningyuan City, and the people around Ningyuan also evacuated without a trace. Are there any changes in the court of the Ming Dynasty, and how do they deal with Liaodong? "
Upon hearing this, Tian Shenglan rushed to say: "Don't mention it, the changes in the court are so big now!"
When Fan Pingfu heard this, he immediately turned to look at him and asked, "How do you say it?"
The smile on Fan Yongdou's face disappeared. It was obvious that he didn't like Tian Shenglan's talk.
He knew very well that these people were trying to steal his position. However, as long as Fan Wencheng, whom he climbed up to, remains in important positions in Liaodong, it will be useless no matter how well these people perform!
"Dong Xingguo suddenly appeared in the court two months ago. He is extremely powerful. He is probably no different from the Nine Thousand Years old back then!" Tian Shenglan spoke very quickly with a flattering smile on his face. "Many people in the imperial court The impeachment of important ministers not only had no impact on Duke Xingguo, but also caused them to lose their official positions or go to jail. The first assistant Zhou Yanru, the Minister of War Chen Xinjia, the Minister of Personnel..."
Hearing this, Fan Pingfu was not surprised at all. Fan Wencheng had already told him something before coming. The sudden changes in Guanning in the Ming Dynasty must be caused by major changes in the court. The main purpose of his coming here is to understand these changes.
However, he never expected that the changes in the Ming Dynasty's court would be so drastic. Who is this Duke Xingguo?
"... All the people he recommended to the emperor were reused. And the degree of reuse is simply enviable! He was originally just a prefect of Changsha, but because of his recommendation, he became a minister of the cabinet! Originally, he was just an outside minister. In the middle, steal the lucrative position of Tianguan..."
The more Fan Pingfu listened, the more shocked he became. Through his daily dealings with these Shanxi businessmen, he knew that although their words might be a little exaggerated, they were by no means outrageous. And the things about this Duke Xingguo are so outrageous, it can only show that these outrageous things really happen.
To a certain extent, Duke Xingguo was simply the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty. This is simply unimaginable!
Thinking of this, Fan Pingfu couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "What is the origin of this Duke Xingguo?"
Hearing this question, Tian Shenglan, who was talking endlessly, got stuck in his neck. He turned to look at the others, then shook his head and said: "We have all inquired, but no one knows the origin of this Duke Xingguo, it's like he appeared out of nowhere!"
When Fan Pingfu heard this, he was a little surprised and asked: "Then where is he from and what did he do to be reused by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty? You always know, right?"
Fan Yongdou obviously didn't want to let Tian Shenglan do the talking all the time, so he took over the topic and said: "We have indeed inquired carefully, but we really don't know where he is from. According to some people who have been in contact with Xing Guogong, the accent is a bit strange, and it is definitely not Those from the capital don’t seem to be from the north.”
He didn't even know where the person was. Fan Pingfu was really surprised and couldn't help but said: "It can't be that it fell from the sky, right?"
"Don't tell me, this Duke Xingguo really looks like he fell from the sky." Wang Dengku couldn't help but said after hearing this, "No one knows where he comes from, he seems to be alone. But as soon as he appeared, the emperor used him It’s said that Princess Kunxing is still by his side. With this attitude, if Duke Xingguo wasn’t such a rare commodity, would the emperor have used him so highly and tied him up with his daughter?”
Others listened and agreed, and then gave examples of the unusual features of Duke Xingguo. In short, they said that Fan Pingfu was dumbfounded. He had never heard of such a person in his whole life!
After coming back to his senses, he quickly stretched out his hand and said, "Forget it, let's not ask about his origins. Otherwise, you can just say that he is a star from the sky who has descended to earth."
After a pause, Fan Pingfu immediately demanded: "Focus on the matters related to Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty court today!"
When Fan Yongdou heard this, he quickly explained the imperial government's policy towards the Liao Dynasty, and finally said: "...now the original magistrate of Changli County and the current governor of Shanyong are almost naked on the Great Wall along Ji Town, rushing to repair fortifications. . I suggest that the Liaodong side should take action early, otherwise, once the construction is completed, it will be a bit difficult for the Qing army to enter the pass."
Hearing this, Fan Pingfu was naturally the most concerned.
No need to ask for the name of the original Changli County Magistrate. He must have been the Changli County Magistrate in the third year of Chongzhen's reign. He actually became the governor of Shanyong, in charge of the Great Wall defense line in the capital area, and used the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong. This made He became a little nervous and quickly asked about the specific situation.
After asking, Fan Pingfu couldn't sit still, frowned and said: "The Ming Dynasty spent so much money to build the Great Wall defense line, obviously to stop the Qing army from outside the pass!"
Having said this, he looked at Fan Yongdou and said: "The Qing Dynasty is still resting and recuperating. If they want to enter the pass, it should be at least September. If Governor Shanyong moves quickly, the Qing Dynasty will be afraid of sending troops. It’s fixed.”
When Fan Yongdou heard this, he knew that although the Qing Dynasty had won a great victory in the Battle of Songjin, the losses were probably a bit heavy. This made him secretly happy. He liked this situation the best. Because this means that Liaodong will rely more on Shanxi merchants like them.
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Fan Pingfu say to him again: "But it's okay. At most, the Qing army can just go a little further away and enter the pass from Shanxi."
As soon as he heard this, Fan Yongdou didn't like it a little. If the Qing soldiers entered the customs from here, they would probably attract the attention of the court and make it difficult for them to do business.
Just when he was about to say something, Uncle Fan hurried in again.
