Soon, teams of Ming army soldiers were everywhere in the Zhangjiakou Fort. They smashed open the door, rushed in with weapons in hand, and shouted loudly, telling everyone in the house to get out immediately.
Of course, some doors have been bolted from the inside. In response to this situation, a Ming army officer shouted loudly: "Listen to the people inside, the imperial court is arresting the imperial prisoner, please open the door immediately. Otherwise, it will be regarded as resisting arrest, and the sword and gun have no eyesight."
Some mansion doors were finally opened after shouting like this. However, some doors are still not open. The officers and soldiers of the Ming army were not polite about this. If they could be knocked away, they would just hit them. If they couldn't be knocked away, they would use the collision wood to knock them away.
For those who took the initiative to open the door, the Ming army soldiers just drove everyone out, and they were generally polite.
But for those who were knocked open the door, they were not so polite. As long as they were men, they were all beaten and then driven out.
As the sky slowly darkened, the action continued. Torches were lit everywhere and the operation was carried out throughout the night. Everyone must rush out of the house and rush to the square of the castle to watch. If there is no one in the house, soldiers will search it again to make sure nothing is missed. It can be said that Zhangjiakou Fort has never been so lively and frightening!
In front of the gate of a mansion, two large stone lions were sitting there with their teeth and claws spread out. The word "Liang Mansion" is written on the plaque at the door.
At the entrance of the mansion, groups of Ming army soldiers were already standing in formation, holding torches. The burning fire made the door of the mansion red. A Ming army commander reported to a Qianhu official: "Sir, it's stuck inside and can't be knocked open."
After hearing this, the Qianhu looked at the words "Liang Mansion" and heard the movement from behind the door. He sneered and said, "You still want to fight to the death?"
"Bah!" he said, and then he immediately ordered: "Archers on the roof, if you see anyone resisting, shoot them!"
"Yes!" the commander-in-chief responded loudly, and then immediately waved his hand, and archers climbed up from the houses on both sides. Meanwhile, the crash continued.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Soon, an archer climbed to the roof. Seeing a group of servants behind the door pushing the door open, they started shooting arrows without hesitation.
"Bang bang bang" the sound of bowstrings sounded, and screams immediately followed.
The Ming army archers obviously did not aim at the vital parts, but only shot and wounded them, leaving them rolling on the ground and screaming.
Just like that, the servants behind the door dispersed in a rush. Immediately, there was a "bang" sound, and the door lost its support behind it and was knocked open by the wood.
Seeing this scene, Qianhu sneered and said: "You are not overestimating your own capabilities!"
The Ming army officers and soldiers who had been waiting for a long time immediately swarmed in, like a torrent rushing in.
In the backyard of the mansion, Liang Jiabin, one of the eight major Shanxi merchants, looked panicked and was busy. He was annoyed by the crying concubines around him, so he stepped forward and kicked them all down one by one. At the same time, he shouted sharply: "Master, I'm not dead yet! If you keep howling, believe it or not, I'll kill you bitches first?"
Immediately, the crying stopped. Because they know that their master is not a man of faith, and he will actually kill someone if he says he will.
Although there was no crying, the noise outside could be heard more clearly. Liang Jiabin was so worried that he tricked him randomly and hurried out of the room. He said to the housekeeper who was waiting at the door: "Quickly, find a place to hide."
The housekeeper saw him, and when he was about to speak, a servant suddenly ran over, very embarrassed, and at the same time shouted: "Master, it's not good, master..."
But when he saw Liang Jiabin, he felt as if someone had strangled his neck, his shouting stopped suddenly, and he looked stunned.
When Liang Binbin saw him and knew why he had such an expression, he immediately shouted sternly: "You are not allowed to call me master, you don't know me, do you understand?"
The servant nodded subconsciously. Just by looking at it, he knew what the master wanted to do?
Liang Jiabin thought of the servant running towards him in fear, so he quickly said, "What's going on? How long can we hold on at the front door?"
As soon as I asked this question, I heard a bunch of footsteps. When I looked up, my legs suddenly went weak, and my face was full of despair.
The soldiers of the Ming army rushed forward and ordered them to get down. At the same time, they asked sternly: "Where is Mr. Liang? Tell me!"
He shouted and asked by name, which made Liang Jiabin, who was already lying on the ground, feel frightened. Could it be that the Ming army was coming for him?
From the beginning to the end, he only knew that the Ming army was arresting imperial prisoners. Although he felt that he might have a share, people are always lucky and do not think that they are the primary target.
But at this moment, he was a little sure that he was one of the imperial prisoners mentioned by the Ming army.
Just as he was thinking about it, his butler suddenly pointed to another door and said, "Sir, Liang Jiajia ran away from there."
When the leading officer heard this, he immediately waved his hand and said: "Leave a few people to watch, and the others will search with me!"
When Liang Jiabin heard this, he felt relieved and hid for as long as he could.
But at this moment, a woman's shrill voice suddenly sounded from inside the door: "Sir, the one wearing women's clothes is Liang Jiabin!"
When the officer heard this, he immediately stared at Liang Jiabin, with a sneer on his face and said: "I'm surprised too. It's really strange that a big man wears women's clothes!"
While he was talking, he suddenly stepped on the butler's hand lying on the ground and crushed it again: "You are so brave, must he be Thief Liang's best friend?"
However, what answered him was only the scream of the butler.
The officer ignored him, turned to look at the servant, and shouted coldly: "Tell me, who is Liang Jiabin?"
That servant was actually one of Liang Jiabin's closest confidants. Otherwise, he wouldn't be qualified to come to the backyard to report. But at this moment, when he looked at the miserable condition of the butler, without any hesitation, he pointed at Liang Jiabin who was wearing women's clothes and said: "It's him, it's him, he's Liang Jiabin!"
The officer was obviously very cautious, and immediately asked several people to identify him. After the final confirmation, he ordered: "Go and report to the Governor that the imperial convict Liang Jiajin has been captured!"
The residences of the other seven major Shanxi merchants all have the same treatment as Liang Jiajia's residence. The people inside were not driven out, but the Ming army controlled all the gates of the house and searched and detained them on the spot. Their mission is to catch the key criminals designated by the emperor as soon as possible, namely the eight major Shanxi merchants.
About an hour later, news came to Hong Chengchou one after another.
The imperial convict Liang Jiajin, wearing women's clothes, tried to hide and evade, but was captured.
The imperial convict Wang Dengku hid in the latrine. When he was searched by the army, he fell into the latrine and was fished out and captured.
The imperial convict Tian Shenglan was hiding in a secret room and was reported by his subordinates. He was found out and captured.
The imperial convict Jin Liangyu hid on a beam. During the search, he fell off the beam and injured his foot, so he was captured.
There are still four key criminals designated by the emperor, but there is no news yet.
Hong Chengchou was not in a hurry. In such a chaotic situation, being able to catch four at once was beyond expectations. The other people may not be in their own house, or they may be in the house, but they may not be hiding deeply. The time is too short, and it is normal that they are not caught.
The most important things after entering the city are, first, to keep all the food and supplies, and second, to capture the eight leading criminals. Therefore, Hong Chengchou focused more on grain and grass supplies.
Now, he already has many lists of food and supplies in his hands. There are many more, and they are still being counted, and it will probably take several days before all the grain and grass supplies are truly counted.
Looking at the list in his hand, Hong Chengchou couldn't help but marvel. These Shanxi merchants are really rich and can hoard so many supplies. It is estimated that they have collected all the grain and grass supplies from several surrounding provinces.
Looking back, at this time, he also understood why the emperor said that these Shanxi merchants deserved to die. No one would have any objection to confiscating their homes and destroying their clans.
These large amounts of grain and grass supplies were sent to Liaodong, which would intensify the shortage of supplies in the Ming Dynasty, especially in the north where supplies were originally scarce, causing more Ming people to either starve to death or take risks to rebel.
As for Liaodong Jianlu, with so many supplies, not only does it not have to worry about starvation, but it can also strengthen its strength. Looking back, we can deal with Ming Dynasty with stronger military power.
As a result of this coming and going, I don’t know how many people of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, would indirectly die on the captives of these Shanxi merchants.
Judging from their scale, their transactions with the Liaodong Jianlu should have been more than once or twice. Seeing that they have so many supplies, as well as so many ordnance, iron, materials and gunpowder, it is almost all-inclusive. No wonder after so many years of During the war, Jianlu not only did not collapse, but became stronger as the war progressed!
Damn these Shanxi merchants!
Thinking about these things, Hong Chengchou stood up from his seat and said to the factory guard leader who was waiting beside him: "Go, interrogate them immediately, ask for the details of these imperial prisoners, and explain their accomplices."
Interrogating prisoners is the specialty of factory guards. The purpose of their coming together was not only to confiscate the homes of Shanxi merchants and exterminate their clans, but their more important duty was to interrogate these Shanxi merchants.
Therefore, after hearing Hong Chengchou's agreement, they immediately accepted the order excitedly and then descended from the arrow tower.
As for Hong Chengchou himself, he walked to the window and saw the Zhangjiakou Fort illuminated red by torches. He looked at countless figures with cold eyes.
Everyone in this fort must have fallen in the eyes of money. In their eyes, there is no sense of sageness or shame at all!
The people in this fort actually deserve to be killed more than those thieves!
At least there are many bandits who really have no choice but to rebel because they can no longer survive.
However, the people in this fort, for their own selfishness and money, have killed countless wives and families!
Hong Chengchou thought about the red circles marked by the emperor on the map at Yumajian Yamen. It could be said that almost all the mansions near the border in Shanxi were in ruins.
This time, the emperor's powerful troops entered the country quietly and were arrested for the crime of treason. It's time to retaliate!
Therefore, Hong Chengchou didn't pay attention to the faint crying at all. He turned back to the arrow tower and went to rest by himself.
At dawn the next day, the emperor's powerful team began to change the guard. The results of the night were also presented to Hong Chengchou.
Not to mention the reports of more grain and grass supplies, the four major Shanxi merchants who had been captured were basically recruited under the "entertainment" of the factory guards. There are also confessions from their confidants. It is a complete chain of evidence, not just the confession of a single person.
These Shanxi merchants have already had a relationship with the Liaodong Jianlu since the wild boar skin period. It was Fan Yongdou who took the lead in doing business with Jianlu. Because Jianlu was generous and profitable, their transactions with them became larger and larger, with more and more types. It can be said that most of their wealth was accumulated through smuggling with Jianlu.
No surprise, they also confessed that they were the ones who fell in love with the scholar Chen Xinjia, used money to pave the way, and supported Chen Xinjia all the way to the position of governor of Xuanfu. Then, he bribed Yang Sichang, who was the governor of Xuanda at the time, to become the protective umbrella of Shanxi merchants. Later, through Yang Sichang, he recommended Chen Xinjia as the governor of Xuanda.
In addition, there are many officials in the DPRK and China who accept bribes from them. However, there are not as many as Yang Sichang.
Looking at these confessions, Hong Chengchou felt that these Shanxi merchants used the large amount of money in their hands to create a very large network. There are people from them all in the officialdom and in the army. Especially under the jurisdiction of Governor Xuanda, all the generals from all places belong to them.
Among these confessions, what surprised Hong Chengchou the most was a piece of news about Lu Xiangsheng.
During Lu Xiangsheng's tenure as the governor of Xuanda, oil and salt were not brought in, and armaments were reorganized, which hindered the smuggling plans of these Shanxi merchants. Especially because of the grain policy, rich people like them were required to pay more for grain, which made them feel even worse.
Therefore, after they failed to overthrow Lu Xiangsheng in the officialdom, they used underhanded tactics and sent people to Lu Xiangsheng's hometown and secretly killed Lu Xiangsheng's father. Under Ding's worries, Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to resign from his post as Governor of Xuanda, thus giving Chen Xinjia the opportunity to take over as Governor of Xuanda.
Seeing this, Hong Chengchou was very angry. These Shanxi merchants will do anything for what they see as money, and they can use any means to the point of being crazy.
After reading the confession, Hong Chengchou had the confession immediately sent back to the capital. At the same time, he ordered that the remaining four Shanxi merchants must be found, especially that Fan Yongdou, who was the leader, must be found, and he must not be allowed to escape.
As a result, the soldiers of the Emperor's powerful army immediately began to take action.
On the one hand, they dug three feet into the mansions of the four major Shanxi merchants and continued to search to see if there were any undiscovered secret rooms or secret passages; on the other hand, they began to identify each other and investigate the people who had been driven out. Everyone, and a reward was offered. As long as he is not the main culprit and identifies the four major Shanxi merchants, he will be exempted from guilt.
In this way, it is really rewarding.
Call Tianshuo
I was called to work a little overtime tonight, so the update is late.
