weaving

Chapter 1046
Since Jiannu completely defeated Lin Danhan and completely occupied and controlled the Hetao area, the mutual market and border trade in Zhangjiakou Fort has not retreated but increased, and it is more prosperous than ever.

It was originally a sneaky "small market", but now it dares to open up blatantly. Every day, groups of Mongolians come to Shangbao for trade, and large vehicles keep coming in and out.

At this time, there were bursts of noise from time to time in a house on Zhangjiakou Fort East Street.

This mansion looks ordinary from the outside, but inside it is full of caves. Three exits and three entrances are all gorgeously decorated. Jingdezhen’s sacrificial red, capital’s thread-sprinkling show, and Suzhou’s gold wares seem to be everywhere without money. visible.

There are also fire-filled walls that make the whole house warm like spring, which can be compared to the air-conditioning and heating of later generations, and it is even more environmentally friendly.

In a side hall of this mansion, a banquet is being held, and a dense number of maidservants are waiting on it.

All the guests present are also sitting on huanghuali official hat chairs, and the same huanghuali eight-legged round stools are also covered with Bozhou Yijin silk.

This style, not to mention the local garrison generals, even the court officials in the capital, or even the court elders of the current court, would be willing to bow down to them.

In the upper seat of the side hall, a slightly old-fashioned businessman was sitting at this time. His face full of ravines was full of wind, frost and vicissitudes.

His trembling demeanor, his wrinkled face can still be seen in the old square face with sharp edges and corners, which is a typical appearance of Shanxi people.

Although his eyes are old and drunk, there will occasionally be a glimmer of light in his cloudy eyeballs, letting people know that he is not simple.

Just like an old fox, even if he looks so ugly on the surface, if anyone wants to plot against him, he won't know when he stumbles.

This not-so-small side hall was full of people of all colors, but almost all of them looked respectful to him.

Of course, there were a few well-dressed old men around him, but their expressions were quite weird, showing great respect for the old man, but also seemed a little bit unconvinced.

I only heard a vulgar voice say: "Brother Fan, you have always been the leader of all the merchants in Zhangjiakou, and you have been to Shengjing in Liaodong to see the emperor of the Qing Dynasty in person, and you are deeply appreciated. Of course, we are the only ones who follow the lead."

"Cough cough cough..."

The old man surnamed Fan coughed a few times before saying with some difficulty: "I'm old, I'm old. This man, it's impossible to refuse to be old."

He looked at the person who spoke just now, and continued: "Brother Yunfa is in his prime. He went to Shengjing with shopkeeper Wang last year, but he also met His Majesty the Qing Emperor. From now on, Zhangjiakou will still rely on you."

The man called Yunfa's younger brother just laughed dryly "Hehehe..." a few times, but didn't answer.

On the contrary, a slightly stout yellow-bearded man next to him said, "It's not because of Brother Fan that Dengku was able to see His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty for the second time."

"Ugh!"

He sighed at this point, and continued: "It's a pity that the good situation in Jinzhou City has been messed up by this bastard Zhang Cheng."

The person who spoke was a Shanxi businessman named Wang Dengku who was engaged in border trade in Zhangjiakou, and the one that the old man called Yunfa's younger brother just now was another Shanxi businessman Huang Yunfa.

At the beginning of September in the 14th year of Chongzhen, it was the two of them who led the caravan to Shenyang, Liaodong, and sent a large amount of food, refined iron, gunpowder and other military supplies to Huang Taiji, the slave chieftain, in exchange for a large amount of bloody gold and silver treasures.

And the unattractive old man who sat at the top and was called Brother Fan was Fan Yongdou, the leader of Shanxi Shanxi Merchants in Zhangjiakou.

There was also a person sitting next to him, who was in his prime and looked shrewd, but he was the eldest son of the Fan family—Fan Sanba.

A few years ago, Fan Yongdou personally escorted a caravan to Guangning or Shenyang City in Liaodong, and personally traded with the slave chieftain.

However, after the occasional cold last year, not only was Wang Dengku snatched away the important task of escorting the caravan, but his physical condition was not as good as before, and Fan Sanba also took care of most of the family business.

After he spoke for a while, he felt a little tired and short of breath. It may be that the wind-cold disease has not recovered. Fire red charcoal wood.

But Fan Yongdou subconsciously tightened the fur apron on his body, and when he looked carefully, he found it was a black fox fur apron, with the unique logo of the North Road Merchant Gang faintly visible on it.

After being integrated by Zhang Cheng, the merchants on North Road have now joined the North Road Merchant Gang. They use their unique signs outside of North Road, and they can also be twisted into one rope to unite and compete with foreign merchants.

At the same time, in order to highlight the quality of North Road merchants, all products processed by North Road merchants are also marked with a unified North Road Merchant Gang logo.

The products produced on the North Road may not be the most gorgeous and exquisite, but they are superior in quality, which is more majestic and durable in comparison.

The furs produced on the North Road have long been famous, and they are even heard of in Datong and Shanxi.

These Shanxi businessmen are also two-faced.

They are usually not very extravagant outside, and sometimes they even look a little shabby, most of them are wearing thick ordinary leather jackets, and they don't even go to restaurants too much, and they don't even order an extra dish.

But once entering the inner house, it's different, not only the walls are surrounded by fire, but also magnificent, even the cars and sedan chairs are very luxurious.

Looking at all the people present today, most of them were wearing mink fur coats. Even the eldest son Fan Sanba wore a purple gold mink fur coat with the logo of the North Road Merchant Gang printed on it.

It has become a fashion and trend in Xuanfu, Datong, and even many places in Shanxi to pursue the products produced on North Road.

From the sugar, fine salt, glass, furs, etc. of the wealthy family, to the spatulas, pans, bricks, tiles, cotton cloth, etc. of the small households.

If anyone's home does not have a few commercial products produced on the North Road, they will be ashamed to say so, so as not to make people laugh.

In particular, the armor ordnance that only exists in the North Route Army, especially their firearms, is a hot item on the black market in Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi.

Even Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku and others spared no effort to buy firearms from the soldiers of the North Road at high prices, but the military regulations of the North Road were extremely strict, and even at high prices they did not confiscate a few truly usable North Road firearms.

But a month ago, His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty sent them a message asking them to purchase the guns used by the Yongyi Army on the North Road.

And try to frame Zhang Cheng and make him lose the trust of Emperor Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty. It is best to drive a wedge between Zhang Cheng and Chongzhen so that Chongzhen no longer trusts Zhang Cheng.

"If you can't defeat him on the battlefield, get rid of him in another way!" Isn't this the usual style of slaves?

…………

"Come, come, shopkeepers, eat some dumplings first."

Fan Yongdou greeted everyone tremblingly, diverted the slightly unpleasant topic just now, and added without losing the opportunity: "These vegetarian ingredients were made by the masters of the Jade Emperor Temple in advance to ward off disasters and bring blessings."

Hearing what he said, all the shopkeepers couldn't help flattering him: "Fan Lao really has a lot of friends, the masters in the Jade Emperor Temple are very difficult to recruit!"

Everyone ate a few glutinous rice balls, and the atmosphere in the hall became quieter. Everyone knew in their hearts that Fan Yongdou made great efforts to invite all the eight major merchants in Zhangjiakou, and even a few rushed here from Shanxi. Dongjia, it's not just for eating a few glutinous rice balls.

Fan Yongdou's old eyes were blinded into a slit, and he scanned the crowd first. In his cloudy blister eyes, there was a cold light like a poisonous snake, and he said gloomily: "All shopkeepers should have heard that this Liaodong War is a big one. Master Ming won the battle."

"Yes. How did you win?"

"The most irritating thing is that Zhang Cheng is the first one, and he was awarded the earl because of it!"

"It's more than that, this demon king has also been promoted to the chief soldier of Xuanzhen."

"I heard that he will go to the town to take up his post in the near future. We have to think of a way. If we can keep him safe as the commander in chief, I'm afraid we won't have a good life!"

All the people in the hall immediately burst into chatter, and they were even more sombering at the victory of the Great Ming Wangshi, without a trace of excitement and joy, and a few people even gritted their teeth, showing resentment beyond words.

"Master Wang's victory is a great thing."

Fan Yongdou stopped everyone's discussion, and then said: "We are all citizens of the Great Tomorrow Dynasty, now Wang Shi has won the Qing Dynasty in Liaodong, of course we should be happy in our hearts.

It's just that the God of Killing on the North Road has become the chief soldier of our Xuanfu, and was awarded the title of Yongningbo. This General Zhenshuo is naturally even more prestigious.

However, everyone present here today, I am afraid that disaster will be imminent! "

When Fan Yongdou said these words, although he was smiling, his blistered eyes were full of murderous intent.

A shopkeeper who looked about 40 years old grabbed his mink fur cap and kept kneading it in his hands. He said with a ferocious expression: "He surnamed Zhang won't give us a way to survive. In my opinion, it's better to 'one no Do it, endlessly'..."

When he said this, he raised his right hand and made a chopping motion on the mink fur hat, and said again: "If you do him, it's all over. What do you think?"

"Jin Liangyu, you want to kill yourself, so don't get us involved."

A middle-aged man who looked gentle and elegant, didn't even look at Jin Liangyu, but continued to say to everyone: "That Zhang Cheng has climbed from a small general manager to a general manager in a town in only a few years. , is by no means a mediocre person.

Looking at what he has done in recent years, he has killed decisively, and there are many tigers and wolves under his command. If you fail to assassinate, you will be burned.

Instead of getting any benefits, it gave Zhang Cheng an excuse to attack us! "

"Humph."

Although Jin Liangyu felt that what he said was quite reasonable, but he couldn't bear face. He said angrily, "Excuse? Only now I know I'm afraid, isn't it too late?"

He then said to the crowd in a sullen voice: "Don't forget, ever since we decided to make fake military tickets, we have been at odds with Zhang Cheng, a murderous talent!"

After Jin Liangyu finished speaking, he stared fiercely at the elegant middle-aged man who spoke just now, and said, "Shopkeeper Tian is talking like this now, but is it impossible to be alone?"

Shopkeeper Tian was about to reply, but he heard Fan Yongdou say: "I know Shenglan, the model for us to make military tickets is still his contribution to us, how can he abandon me and other brothers at this moment, think To be on your own."

After he finished speaking, he looked at the people next to him with a smile, and the hall fell silent for a while.

After a while, another businessman on the lower right side said: "According to Mr. Fan, what should we do now? We can't do nothing, just sit here and wait for death!"

At this time, another businessman sitting on the left suddenly said: "Brother Guest's worry is not unreasonable. However, under the rule of Zhang Cheng in the past few years, although the merchants have paid some business taxes, the business has become more and more prosperous. , I can see that they live a very nourishing life.

I said, we may not be unable to cooperate with them, wouldn't it be better for everyone to make a fortune together! "

As soon as his words came out, there was a small commotion in the hall, and everyone talked and argued.

Since Fan Yongdou contracted the cold last year, he has gradually started to retire, and his son Fan Sanba is mostly in charge of the family business, while he mostly stays behind the scenes and controls the overall situation.

Needless to say, Fan Yongdou was older than everyone else, and his Fan family was the first old merchant to enter Zhangjiakou. In terms of wealth alone, he was also one of the best among the merchants.

What's more, he also had a wide range of contacts. In the Ming Dynasty, he went to the elders of the imperial court, the ministers of the six ministers and other Beijing officials, and went down to the officials of the local governor, military, military, grain, road and procuratorate, as well as those military generals such as the chief soldier and the deputy general. It has many supporters and followers.

In the Qing Dynasty, Fan Yongdou was also very popular, from the emperor Huang Taiji, down to Prince Li Daishan, Prince Rui Dorgon, Prince Zheng Jierhalang and other prince banner owners, and then to the Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia Gushan Ezhen They all appreciate it.

Such a person who had a good fortune in both Ming and Qing Dynasties, and because of the flourishing border trade business in Zhangjiakou, he also served as the head of the local business association in Zhangjiakou for many years, so he is naturally prestige.

Not to mention a border fort in Zhangjiakou, even the big merchants in Zhencheng, Datong, Shanxi and other places dare not ignore Fan Yongdou, after all, many of their goods need to rely on Fan's channels outside the mouth.

This is also the reason why he lived in seclusion as the head of Shanxi merchants. Even though he lived in Zhangjiakou Fort for a long time and rarely returned to the old house in Jiexiu, Shanxi, this did not affect his promise among Shanxi merchants in the slightest.

The previous time, it was Fan Yongdou who personally went out and summoned Shanxi businessmen in Zhangjiakou to manufacture fake military tickets. The purpose was to destroy the economy of Beilu and make Zhang Cheng unable to support his elite troops.

Among the merchants engaged in mutual market trade in Zhangjiakou all the year round, Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yunfa were all headed by eight people, all of whom were from Fenzhou Prefecture, Shanyou.

Although there are some disputes due to business matters, they are tightly bound by the bond of fellowship to the outside world. Fan Yongdou is the top of the crowd because of his sophistication and ruthlessness.

Under his call, the eight Shanyou merchants used their own skills, causing fake military tickets to flood the entire Xuanfu area, even in Datong and Shanxi.

And today, Fan Yongdou called everyone together again, and he is also inseparable from Yongningbo Zhang Cheng's appointment as the general of the Xuanfu!

(End of this chapter)