weaving

Zhangjiakou Fort City, in a side hall in the private house of Shanyou businessman Fan Yongdou, there are all richly dressed storekeepers and bosses of various shops, and they are discussing how to deal with the new Xuanfu Chief Soldier, Yongningbo Zhang Cheng.

But Zhaitang's proposal to seek cooperation with North Road merchants caused a lot of discussion in the hall. Seeing that today's topic seemed to be going astray, Fan Yongdou, the head of the Shanyou Merchants Association, hurriedly said: "With the North Road merchants, It’s okay to cooperate.”

When everyone heard him say that, they all looked at him with incredulous expressions, and only heard Fan Yongdou continue: "It's just that it's not the time to talk about this topic yet. Everything will have to wait until Zhang Cheng is removed, and the situation can be resolved." Let me wait until I can control it before opening this hole again."

Fan Yongdou made a final decision, and everyone stopped arguing with Shanyou, a businessman on the North Road, and today's discussion finally returned to the right track. However, the person who spoke next was not an idler, but one of the eight major merchants in Shanyou Wang Dayu.

It should be said that although the Eight Masters of Shanyou originated in Zhangjiakou and controlled the trade with Mongolians outside the mouth for more than ten years, their roots all originated in Fenzhou, Shanxi.

Among the eight major merchants, Wang Dengku and Wang Dayu were originally one branch, but due to some family grievances in the previous generations, they separated and became two branches of the Wang family.

But those are all the grievances and grievances of the ancestors. In their generation, they have long put aside the grievances of the past. Although they no longer belong to the same family, they are still closer than others, so there is always trouble. There is a lot of business.

For example, Wang Dengku has always been very dissatisfied with Fan Yongdou, especially for Fan Yongdou's business trip to Shenyang City in Liaodong every year.

He had expressed his desire to travel with him many times before, but Fan Yongdou declined for various reasons. However, during the autumn harvest season last year, Fan Yongdou felt the cold before leaving and could not travel far. This is why he seized the opportunity to go to Shenyang Cheng personally met the Qing emperor.

Since returning from this trip to Liaodong, Wang Dengku has become more and more complacent, and he has the intention of taking Fan Yongdou's position as the leader of the meeting.

However, although Wang Dayu has a special connection with Wang Dengku, his temperament is quite different from him. The main battlefield of Wang Dayu's business empire is still in Shanxi, and it radiates to surrounding Datong, Henan, and Gyeonggi.

Zhangjiakou's mutual market trade is just a way for Wang Dayu to make money, so he doesn't have too much extravagance here, as long as he can make money safely.

Wang Dayu looks a little fat, with a bewildering smile on his round face, and a pair of emerald green jade fingers on the thumbs of both hands, exuding an elegant and rich air all over his body. .

His royal family has done a lot of business, such as raw silk, silk, cotton, grain, sugar, tea, medicinal materials, and even iron materials and gunpowder.

Moreover, his branch and the Jiangmen Wang family in Datong Town also belong to the Wang family of Qi County, and they are still relatives. It is also getting bigger and bigger.

Wang Pu, the current General Soldier of Datong, received the full support of Wang Dayu's family in his official career, and Wang Dayu also relied on the support of Wang Zongbing to make his family's business flourish in Datong Town.

With Wang Dayu's status and strength, he can naturally question Fan Yongdou calmly: "Master Fan wants to put Zhang Cheng to death, I am very supportive of this, but there is still a little doubt.

Does Master Fan have any tricks up their sleeves to put Yongningbo, who is in full swing, to death? "

Fan Yongdou was the head of Zhangjiakou Shanxi merchants, so naturally he had some self-restraint. After hearing Wang Dayu's words, he was not angry, but just smiled, picked up the silver chopsticks on the desk, and slowly chewed a dumpling.

However, Fan Sanba, the eldest son of the Fan family beside him stood up with a smile, bowed to Wang Dayu, and said: "Master Wang..."

Wang Dayu glanced at him sideways, and said indifferently, "Let's talk."

In his eyes, Fan Sanba is just a junior, he is not as cautious as Fan Yongdou, and he is more casual in terms of etiquette.

Fan Sanba didn't take it seriously, he said very calmly: "The shopkeepers and proprietors are all uncles and elders of Sanba, and there is a saying 'plan ahead', and all uncles know it.

We all know Zhang Cheng very well. Looking at his work, he can be described as cruel and merciless, and can be described as insatiable. He has long regarded us as a thorn in his side, and he wants to get rid of it quickly.

It is proof that he is good at opening border trade in Dushikou, North Road. He saw that the business in Zhangjiakou Mutual Market was booming, and he wanted to get involved.

The meaning of cutting off our financial resources is very obvious.Only because there are still some people under his command who are quite capable of fighting, and the imperial court is also employing people, they turn a blind eye to this and ignore it. "

What he said was in the hearts of everyone, everyone nodded in agreement, but no one said anything, they were all waiting for his next words.

Fan Sanba also saw the performance of the crowd, secretly pleased, and then said: "Looking at Zhang Cheng's style, wherever he goes, there is nothing but bloody storms.

Everyone in the Zhang family on the East Road knows that he is the uncle of Zhang Guowei, the deputy general. I also wanted to use the hands of Zhang Guowei to wait for the opportunity to eradicate Zhang Cheng. Let's do it quickly, and even the family of Vice President Zhang was killed by him.

The viciousness of his heart can be seen! "

Fan Sanba paused, not waiting for everyone to say anything, and continued: "There is also the 'Tianbawang' Chen Yuzhu of the East Road, and we spent a lot of money to befriend him. We competed for the benefits of border trade, but we were also eradicated by the "thunder method".

It can be seen from this that the relationship between us and Zhang Cheng has reached the point where there is no turning back, and there is no turning back. "

He glanced at everyone in the hall, and said in a cold and vicious tone: "We and Zhang Cheng, either he dies or I die. This is a life-and-death duel, there is no room for negligence, and there is no room for a second hand. We must act Do your best and fight with it.

Only when Zhang Cheng dies, will we have a way out! "

Wang Dayu rolled his eyes, looked up at Fan Yongdou, and said in a neutral tone: "Master Fan, why don't you ask the emperor of the Qing Dynasty to ban the trade between Manchu and Mongolian ministries and Dushikou?"

Fan Yongdou seemed to have guessed that he would ask this question, he coughed twice before saying: "It's about my life, how can Fan not care.

I have already reported this matter to His Majesty Huang Taiji, but the nearby Mongolian ministries secretly went to Dushi, and His Majesty has been attacking Liaodong in recent years, and there is no way to take care of this side outside the mouth for the time being.

Moreover, the surrounding Mongolian ministries still regard His Majesty as the co-owner, and every time they send troops and efforts, His Majesty is not good at doing too much. "

He went on to say: "Dorgon, Prince Rui of the Qing Dynasty, sent a letter a while ago, asking us to design a plan to get rid of Zhang Cheng, but as long as this matter is successful, we will be doing a great job.

In the future, when the army of the Qing Dynasty enters the customs and takes over the world, the sale of salt and tea and other commercial products, as well as the purchase of various commercial products from the royal family and princes' houses, will all be in my pocket. "

As soon as Fan Yongdou said this, the eyes of everyone in the hall lit up. Under the temptation of huge benefits and money, they had completely lost their rationality, and everyone was looking forward to a bright future.

Tian Shenglan seemed to want to say something, but just as he was about to say something, he caught a glimpse of Wang Dayu also babbling, as if hesitating to speak, and swallowed the words he had reached.

Jin Liangyu has always been very concerned about Tian Shenglan, but when he saw that he was on the verge of speaking, he suddenly kept silent, so he asked in public: "Tian Shenglan seems to be hesitant to speak, but what is the best way, why don't you tell everyone?" listen?"

The Tian family was also a Jinshi family in the previous two generations. Although the family is still mainly engaged in business, they look down on Jin Liangyu and others who are also merchants. On the contrary, they value Fan Yongdou and Wang Dayu.

Especially Wang Dayu, because he is very gentle and elegant in receiving people and things, and has some contacts with officials in Shanxi, especially Futai in Taiyuan Prefecture, as well as prefectural and county officials, and the heads of various academies. Tian Shenglan is also very fond of this. It is admiration.

Now, he was provoked by Jin Liangyu's words, how could he bear it, but the self-restraint of a scholar made him not rush out of anger, I saw that he didn't even look at Jin Liangyu, first he ate a piece of dumpling slowly, and then took a sip of incense tea.

Only then did he raise his head, and after nodding with Fan Yongdou and Wang Dayu, he said slowly, "When dealing with warriors, don't be inferior. The method of fighting and killing is what Zhang Cheng used to do. If you work hard, you are doomed to suffer a big loss.

I should do the opposite, use my strengths to attack the other's weaknesses! "

After Tian Shenglan finished speaking, she asked Fan Yongdou and Wang Dayu: "Master Fan, Master Wang, what do you think about this?"

Before Fan and Wang could express their views, Jin Liangyu asked anxiously, "May I ask Shopkeeper Tian, ​​what are my strengths, and what are Zhang Cheng's weaknesses?"

Tian Shenglan and Jin Liangyu had always been at odds, and seeing that he was so dull, he didn't bother to talk to him, so he just ate the dumpling on the case table again.

However, Zhai Tang, who just proposed to cooperate with North Road merchants in order to establish a united front to overthrow Zhang Cheng's rule, said again: "What Zhang Cheng holds is nothing more than the gang of Qiuba under his command and the brute force of the warriors, and I But we are not good at being brave and showing off our strength. This is Zhang Cheng's strong point, and it is our shortcoming.

However, as Brother Shenglan said, making use of strengths and avoiding weaknesses is the way for us to win! "

When he said this, he looked at Jin Liangyu with squinted eyes, and asked, "Does shopkeeper Jin know where our strengths lie?"

Jin Liangyu was able to sit here, naturally he was not a dull person, at this moment he seemed to suddenly realize, and said: "Oh, you are explaining that you can't do it on the surface, we are playing tricks with Zhang Cheng."

"Hahaha……"

After he figured it out, Jin Liangyu couldn't help laughing loudly: "Why don't you say that shopkeepers who have read books like you are amazing, everyone is very clever, and their minds are full of twists and turns. Get in there."

The joke he said was indeed a bit "cold". The atmosphere in the hall, which was originally very unharmonious, immediately became cold, and everyone didn't know what to say.

Fan Sanba has been observing the expressions of the people. He likes to see the Eight Great Families fight with each other. In this way, the Fan family can rest easy and sit on the top spot of Zhangjiakou Shanxi Merchants, and control the trade relationship with the Qing Dynasty outside the mouth. cow ear.

I saw a very veiled smile, and said: "All shopkeepers, what the junior said just now is only one of the reasons why Zhang Cheng must be eliminated."

Although Fan Sanba is the younger generation of everyone, he is also an outstanding figure among the younger generation, so everyone still respects him, not to mention the face of Fan Yongdou, the gold medal father.

Now that he started talking about Zhang Cheng again, he forgot the dispute just now, and everyone pricked up their ears to hear what he had to say again!
"Secondly, the businesses on the North Road have to pay business taxes to their respective guards according to their monthly revenue. Everyone knows that Zhang Cheng's greed and fraud are rare in the world, and his viciousness is unmatched.

If there are those who can evade commercial taxes and refuse to pay, the light ones will not have their property registration confiscated, the serious ones will be imprisoned, and even the men will be sent to the mines to spend the rest of their lives, and the women will be distributed to the gang of Qiu Bawei under his command. A concubine is a slave.

Dare I ask, among all of you present here today, is there anyone who is willing to take out this pocket and give the hard-earned money to that villain Zhang Cheng for no reason? "

Hearing this, even Wang Dayu, who had always been calm, changed a little.

His business is spread all over Shanxi, Datong, Xuanfu, Henan, and Gyeonggi. Although the industry in Zhangjiakou is not large, the income is not small. It can be said that it is a big piece of fat that is easy to chew.

But according to Fan Sanba, after Zhang Cheng gained a firm foothold in the town, a large amount of snowflakes and silver would be handed over for no reason. Just thinking about it makes my heart bleed.

At this moment, he heard Fan Sanba continue to say: "The third thing is that although Zhang Cheng has opened a border market in Dushi, he strictly forbids all businesses to trade with foreign countries without permission. Only in the market he set up can they do business. .

This purchase and sale is completely controlled by him alone. By then, more than half of our profits will be put into Zhang Cheng's pocket.

I don't know this last point, but can you bear it? "

As soon as Fan Sanba's words fell, everyone's expressions changed instantly, and all of them were filled with anger.

Although smuggling outside the Great Wall is not all of them, it is also the most profitable channel for their various firms. Once they all enter the market and conduct centralized transactions, how can they bear it after they have tasted the sweetness?

"Damn it!"

Huang Yunfa blew his beard and cursed angrily: "Even if Zhang Cheng is Uncle Yongning, so what? If he dares to cut off our money, we will fight him."

"Yes. Either the fish dies or the net breaks!"

"That is, 'I am willing to be cut to pieces, dare to pull the emperor off the horse', if he doesn't give us a way to survive, even if we fight to pieces, we have to do him first."

"The big guy has money to contribute money, someone is looking for someone, and he has the strength to contribute. Anyway, let Zhang Cheng know that we are not in Xuan Town for nothing!" (End of this chapter)