This time, there are distinguished guests from Liaodong here. When Fan Yongdou saw it, he couldn't help but frowned and asked: "Didn't you see that he was entertaining guests? If there is anything, can't you report it later?"
In the past, when distinguished guests from Liaodong came to visit, he had made an explanation in advance: As long as a distinguished guest from Liaodong arrived, no matter what time it was, no matter what he was doing, he had to be informed immediately.
In addition, the Fan family's rules are still very strict. Otherwise, bothering him regardless of the importance or occasion would not be like the family tradition of a wealthy family?
The other family members couldn't help but gloat a little when they saw this. It would be best to show the bad side of your Fan family in front of the distinguished guests from Liaodong. I wonder if this Fifth Uncle Fan would retreat in embarrassment after being scolded by his master?
Only Huang Yunfa's servant was a little nervous. Could it be that there was news from the capital?
What they didn't expect was that Uncle Fan didn't retreat at all. Instead, he reported to Fan Yongdou with a nervous expression: "Master, just now the Baigan Army and part of the Beijing Camp came into the city..."
"What?" Upon hearing this, the others did not respond, but Fan Pingfu stood up in shock, then turned his head and glanced at Fan Yongdou and others, and asked sternly, "Has someone tipped off the news?"
If it were an ordinary Jianlu, he wouldn't be so nervous. However, Fan Pingfu was one of Fan Wencheng's men, an outright traitor, and was on the court's reward list. If caught by the court, the consequences would be very serious.
The seven imperial merchants in the lobby were actually nervous, and all of them stood up. Hearing Fan Pingfu's question, Fan Yongdou quickly replied: "It's impossible, it's absolutely impossible for someone to tip off the news!"
"Yes, you just arrived. Can the Baigan Army and the Beijing Camp fly? That they arrived at Zhangjiakou from the Capital so quickly? It must be a coincidence!"
"Yes, it must be a coincidence, we happened to meet him!"
"If you think about it, what are we doing? How can we inform the public? Don't we want to get rich? No, no, no, we don't want to live. What we do is beheading!"
"..."
Hearing the denials from these Shanxi merchants, Fan Pingfu also came to his senses and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. No matter from which aspect, it is impossible for these Shanxi merchants to inform the government. On the contrary, they are definitely trying every possible means to cover up these things!
Uncle Fan, who was standing in the middle of the lobby, was a little dumbfounded looking at all this. He didn't expect that just one sentence he told would cause such a big reaction from all the gentlemen!
At this time, seeing the opportunity, he quickly interrupted and continued to report: "The villain has inquired and said that he came here on the order of Duke Xing to strengthen the Great Wall defense line on the Xuanda line to prevent the build-up of captives... The Qing army detoured come over!"
Hearing this, Fan Yongdou and others were relieved, but in the blink of an eye they became nervous again.
This incident happened so suddenly that the Baigan Army and the Beijing Camp were sent to Zhangjiakou to assist in the defense. Although, considering the current situation, this matter is considered reasonable. After all, there had been one time before when the Qing army entered the customs from Xuanda.
Therefore, if defenses are not strengthened here and the Qing army enters the pass from Xuanda, the defense line from Ji Town to Shanhaiguan will be in vain.
However, although this situation is understandable, Fan Yongdou and others are extremely reluctant!
For nothing else, just because once these foreign troops arrive in Zhangjiakou, how can they quietly transport things outside the customs? If we go to bribe the generals of the Baigan Army and the Beijing Camp, let alone the question of whether they can be bribed, even if they can be bribed, they will definitely have to pay a lot of money!
As a result, these Qing imperial merchants immediately began to worry.
"What happened? There was no news in advance. Otherwise, we would have shipped the goods out of customs first. Now that it's fine, what should we do?"
"That's right, if there is some news in the court, we can even pay some money to make them fight each other and make this matter a secret!"
"Well, it goes without saying that the court now is filled with the words of Duke Xingguo. This must be his intention. Who dares to object? It's not like before, whenever there is an issue, we will argue for a long time, and we can respond in time!"
"..."
Listening to their words, Fan Pingfu also became nervous. Although I came here this time to inquire about the affairs of the Ming Dynasty, the food supplies for these Shanxi merchants were still the most important.
The Battle of Songjin lasted for nearly half a year and had already exhausted the Qing Dynasty's foundation. Without their food supplies, it would be impossible for the Qing Dynasty to take a good rest until around October!
Actually, generally speaking, autumn and winter are not suitable for sending troops. After all, in the coldest month of winter, the Qing army was also a human being and would be affected. But why does it always happen in autumn and winter when entering the customs? It’s because at this time, the grain of the Ming Dynasty has been harvested, and the grain transported from the north is also likely to arrive in the Tongzhou area, so you can grab the grain after entering!
However, without these grains from Shanxi merchants, many things in the Qing Dynasty would be difficult to handle.
Thinking of this, Fan Pingfu quickly looked at Fan Yongdou and others and asked: "This matter is of great importance. You must think of a way to transport food supplies to Liaodong as soon as possible! How much money has been spent on this matter, Master?" I won’t care!”
"That's natural, we will go all out!" Fan Yongdou quickly assured after hearing this.
Then, he immediately turned to look at Uncle Fan Wu and told him seriously: "Go and inquire about the news immediately to see what the specific assistance is like? Who is the leading general and how are they responsible for each city gate? The original Liao Where is the responsibility of the defense?”
"Yes, yes!" Uncle Fan naturally knew that the matter was serious, so he quickly agreed and ran out in a hurry.
As soon as he left, Wang Dengku said worriedly: "It's okay for the Beijing camp, but why did the white-pole army come to interfere with the side affairs? I'm afraid it's a bit difficult to handle, right?"
"Yes, we haven't had any contact with each other before!" Tian Shenglan also frowned and echoed, "And the most important thing is that whoever comes to the Baigan Army must be Qin Liangyu's brother, nephew, or something like that, who is the same as Da It’s probably not easy to give gifts to someone who has a grudge!”
After hearing this, Liang Jiabin quickly reminded them: "Don't forget, today's Beijing camp is not the same as before. Duke Cheng Guo was killed by nine tribes. The new generals of Beijing camp are all people of Duke Xing Guo. , I’m afraid it’s not easy to give gifts, right?”
Listening to what they said, Fan Pingfu felt extremely stressed.
It's not like he had never been to Zhangjiakou before. Even when Lu Xiangsheng, the main war faction against the Qing Dynasty, was the governor of Xuanda, he never felt such great pressure when he came here. If according to what they said, there is really no way to bribe the new generals, then it would be a big problem!
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Fan Yongdou say to him: "This matter is indeed a bit troublesome. If it doesn't go well, we may need some cooperation from the Qing Dynasty, or maybe the Qing army will come to collect the goods themselves?"
"We can't say it until the end. It's too far and too much trouble!" Fan Pingfu shook his head after hearing this and said, "When the army moves, food and grass go first. Even if you have food and grass here, you still need some for such a long journey from Liaodong. Is it for grain? And now the grain harvest in Liaodong has not been harvested yet, so it is difficult to move. If the Qing army comes less, I'm afraid it won't work, right?"
After hearing this, Fan Yongdou understood that what he said made sense, and couldn't help but frown and think of a solution.
After a while, he raised his head and said to Fan Pingfu: "Should we wait until there is detailed information? As long as the original Liao Shouwei is still in charge of a city gate, then this matter will be easier to handle. If it is from the Beijing camp, People are responsible for guarding the city gate. If the general is difficult to bribe, the captain responsible for guarding the city can always use money to smash it. How much money do they have to be soldiers all year round? They can definitely use money to smash open the city gate! "
"Yes, yes, it's not like I haven't encountered this kind of thing before!" After hearing this, Wang Dayu quickly agreed, "But money can help the spirit, it just takes more time."
Others also echoed and comforted this distinguished guest from Liaodong.
Fan Pingfu was relieved after hearing this. Although I am not very willing to delay for ten days and a half, it is still within the acceptable range. It is much better than other things.
However, at this moment, hurried footsteps were heard outside, and the figure of Uncle Fan appeared at the door again.
When Fan Yongdou saw it, he couldn't help but be a little surprised. Then he lowered his face and asked: "Why so fast? What I want is the specific situation, not just who is the leader!"
When he finished speaking, Uncle Fan, who had already entered the lobby, said with a panicked expression: "Master, you can't go out, the city is under martial law!"
"..." Upon hearing this, all the people in the lobby were dumbfounded.
Fan Yongdou came to his senses first, stood up immediately and asked again: "What's going on? Didn't the army come here? Why is martial law imposed?"
Fan Pingfu felt a little bad, so he stood up and immediately asked: "Can you tell me why the martial law is enforced?"
"I didn't tell you. The streets are full of white-pole soldiers, and they are very fierce. If you ask them what they are saying, even the jabbering ones can't understand it!" After hearing this, Uncle Fan replied helplessly.
When everyone heard this, they were speechless again. This white pole army is the chieftain soldier. Their officers may know Mandarin, but it is really difficult for ordinary soldiers to speak Mandarin. Even if he knew Mandarin, his tacky accent would be completely incomprehensible to them.
What should I do now? Not being able to figure out the situation is like a dog biting a hedgehog, with nowhere to bite!
Seeing how helpless they were, Fan Pingfu got a little angry and said, "Aren't you usually quite prudent in doing things? Why are you so unreliable this time? There was no reaction at all for such a big matter in advance?"
Upon hearing this, Fan Yongdou replied with a grimace: "It's all the fault of Duke Xingguo. He rose too fast and acted domineeringly. No one could control him. And who would have thought that all of a sudden, he would send troops to run away." Are you coming to Zhangjiakou? In the past, even if there was a military mobilization, it would be reported to the local government in advance, so we could know it in advance!"
As soon as he said this, he suddenly noticed something and was stunned!
