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Chapter 1085 Family interests above all else

Xuanfu Town's Xiaxi Road Branch Guard General Li Jian'e married the eldest sister Lai Tianlu. Logically speaking, he was the eldest brother-in-law of the Lai brothers. Although he was not a blood relative, he was still a community of interests that broke the bones and connected the tendons.

Just a few days after the Zhangjiakou incident, Li Jianhe couldn't bear his wife's cries and begged, so he had to mobilize his troops and go to Zhangjiakou to rectify his brother-in-law's injustice.

But when he led his troops to Xuanping Fort near Wanquan Left Guard City, the garrison suddenly stopped moving forward. Two days later, for unknown reasons, he returned to Chaigou Fort in despair.

From then on, no matter how much his wife cried, he would ignore her. Sometimes he would be annoyed by her crying and would yell and scold her angrily. Gradually, his wife Lai stopped crying.

It turned out that Li Jiane met a messenger from Xuanfu General Liu Guangwu in Xuanping Fort. In the letter, Liu Guangwu bluntly accused the Lai brothers of colluding with profiteers and engaging in enslavement.

It was further stated that Guo Yingxian, the former first general of the General Army, was now leading his elite troops to garrison in the area of ​​Ningyuan Station and Shaling. If Li Jian'e went one mile further, he would be executed for rebellion.

You know, when Li Jianhe sent troops, it was only out of temporary anger, but he had already calmed down all the way to Xuanping Fort. What Li Jianhe was thinking about now was not whether he could rescue the Lai brothers.

What he thinks about the most is his own future, whether he can still secure his position as General of the Lower West Road. Therefore, by stationing troops at Xuanping Fort, he is actually waiting for a piece of news, which can also be said to be a news. Commitment, a reassurance.

The messenger sent by Liu Guangwu was the reassurance he was waiting for, because he brought a promise from Yongningbo and Zhang Cheng. Yongningbo was not interested in the position of General of the Lower West Road. As long as Li Jianhe did not cause trouble, he would still continue. Sit in this position.

It was precisely because of the autograph letter from Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng that Li Jianhe resolutely withdrew his troops back to Chaigou Fort. Guo Yingxian at Ningyuan Station was just a cover for him to agree to withdraw his troops.

…………

Then there is Yang Tianfu, the counselor of Shunsheng Weiguang on the South Road of Xuanfu Town. His third sister is married to Lai Tianshou, the counselor of the middle road. Therefore, he and the Lai family can also be said to be in the same chain of interests.

However, precisely because his surname was Yang, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng took advantage of this reason and easily appeased him with just one move.

In fact, the reason why Yongning Bo and Zhang Cheng plotted against Zhangjiakou was not only because of his hatred for the traitorous behavior of the eight major Shanyou merchants, but also because he wanted to completely control Zhangjiakou, an important place for side trade.

At that time, he was just a guerrilla general. When he had just been ordered to leave the north road of the town, he had arranged for people to settle in Zhangjiakou, hoping to get involved in border trade with Mongolia.

But I never thought that the eight major merchants on Shanyou, relying on their power in Zhangjiakou, would not allow outsiders to interfere with border trade matters, and their attitude was very arrogant, leaving no room for negotiation.

At that time, Zhang Cheng had already had murderous intentions, but since he had just arrived at the North Road, his foundation was not stable, and his strength was not good enough, so he could only tolerate this bad breath for the time being.

However, "it is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge in ten years." Zhang Cheng secretly determined at that time that if there was an opportunity in the future, he would eradicate these eight traitors and traitors. To this end, he had planned for many years and buried a secret in Zhangjiakou. Foreshadowing.

At that time, he only thought about Zhangjiakou and did not have such big ambitions.

However, who can say for sure about ambition?

As his strength continues to increase, his ambition will also continue to expand. Perhaps Zhang Cheng just wanted to enter Zhangjiakou trade to make money, and he was not even firm enough in his idea of ​​​​killing the eight major merchants.

But when he took the position of the chief military officer of Xuanfu Town, was awarded the title of Yongning Bo, and had tens of thousands of powerful troops in the world, his mentality naturally expanded.

Now, what Yongning Bo and Zhang Cheng want is more than just the freedom of border trade in Zhangjiakou!

He now wants control of Zhangjiakou.

What's more, all the family fortune accumulated by the eight businessmen over the years is needed.

He also wants to take the opportunity to eradicate some old-school military leaders in Xuanda San Town to establish his own prestige!
However, establishing prestige does not mean killing indiscriminately, because Yong Ningbo does not want to be enemies with all the old forces in Xuan Da San Town. He does not yet have the power to completely overthrow the old forces.

Taking advantage of this opportunity to arrest profiteers and traitors, we can eliminate some of the old forces that are closely connected with the profiteers. With this thunderous power, we can frighten the remaining military forces of the old Xuanda faction and achieve a relatively stable balance.

This is the purpose and effect Zhang Cheng wants to achieve!
After all, although the Yongyi Army is already the most powerful army in the Ming Dynasty, its two ultimate opponents, the bandits and thieves, are now booming. Zhang Cheng does not want his side to fall into chaos and lose the ability to dominate the world in the future. .

Therefore, in his established strategy, in addition to capturing and controlling Zhangjiakou, taking the opportunity to eradicate the Lai brothers, and then controlling the Upper West Road and the Middle Road, he did not want to kill all the remaining generals guarding the remaining routes.

Because once he really does this, not only the old-school military forces in the three towns of Xuanda will become his mortal enemies, but even the senior ministers in the imperial court and the current Emperor Chongzhen will not let him go.

Zhang Cheng is not afraid of breaking away from the system and developing on his own. With his current strength, it is not impossible to forcibly separate more than half of Xuanda's land and form his own power.

But if he really did that, he would lose the system's channel for blood transfusion. Although this kind of blood transfusion is insignificant to the Yongyi Army, it is still better than nothing.

The biggest problem is that once he truly establishes himself as king, he will lose his reputation as a righteous person. Although this righteous name is just a bright coat on the surface, it does not actually bring Zhang Cheng any visible influence. the benefits of.

But it is a banner, and Zhang Cheng is more able to rally the people of the world by holding this banner!

Zhang Cheng did not want to become a traitor or a traitor in the history books of later generations, so Zhang Cheng was destined to carry this flag that represented the righteousness of the orthodox dynasty until the end.

Since Zhang Cheng does not intend to discard this flag, which represents the righteousness and honor, he cannot kill too much in the Xuanda area. Therefore, in addition to uprooting the Lai family, the remaining officials and generals will naturally not been greatly affected.

Long before the anti-rape operation in Zhangjiakou began, Zhang Cheng had already exchanged letters with General Yang Tianfu of Shunsheng Weiguang on the South Road.

In order to further win over Yang Tianfu, Zhang Cheng even proposed the idea of ​​having his second wife recognize Yang Tianfu as his adopted brother on the grounds that his second wife, Yang Liying, was originally from northern Henan and had no relatives in Xuanfu to rely on.

At that time, Zhang Cheng had also been promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, and his career was at its peak. How could Yang Tianfu refuse his offer of an olive branch?
In this way, Yang Tianfu's incarnation changed and he naturally became the cheap uncle of Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng. In this way, Lai Tianshou was Yang Tianfu's third brother-in-law, and Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng was Yang Tianfu's godbrother-in-law. .

Now, both sides were relatives of Yang Tianfu, so he had to carefully consider which side he wanted to help.

In fact, Yang Tianfu's inner thoughts were the same as those of Xiaxi Road General Li Jian'e. Although Lai Tianshou was his brother-in-law, in the face of life and death decisions, what did relatives mean?

In their eyes, it is natural that family interests are above all else!
Zhang Cheng just wrote a few letters, and after some kind words to appease him, Yang Tianfu, a cheap uncle, got off the donkey along the slope and stood still in the east city of Shunsheng River to wait and see what happened.Of course, Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng also made a promise to Yang Tianfu. Although Lai Tianshou would definitely die, the third sister of the Yang family, as Lai Tianshou's wife, and his biological children could survive.

Since the lives of his sister and nephew were not in danger, Yang Tianfu naturally had no reason to fight.

In fact, even if Zhang Cheng did not spare the lives of the third sister of the Yang family and her children, Yang Tianfu might not dare to lead his army to fight against Zhang Cheng. But this is the point of Zhang Cheng's arrogance, he will never accomplish anything.

As the saying goes, "Leave a thin line between life and death, so we can meet again in the future"!
…………

On March [-], soldiers from the Qinglong and White Tiger Battalions of the Ming Dynasty's Yongyi Army appeared outside Yuci, Qingyuan, Xugou, Taigu, Pingyao, Jiexiu and other counties. The army was mighty, majestic and heavily armored.

At the beginning of Chenshi, Jiexiu County, Fan Mansion Courtyard.

The huge courtyard group with several entrances and exits no longer has the strict rules of the past. People are coming and going, making it extremely noisy, as if a disaster is imminent.

The entire courtyard seemed very dull. No matter the Fan family members or the servants in the mansion, everyone looked anxious and uneasy. They whispered to each other from time to time and had private discussions.

Some people are even packing up the valuables in the house, big and small, while the smarter ones quietly send their wives and children back to their parents' homes, and even pack up the valuable items in the house and send them away quietly.

But they themselves continued to stay in the house to listen for news, and as soon as something bad happened, they immediately ran away.

In the meeting hall of the central hall of Fan Mansion, the faces of the five clan elders with white beards were full of sadness, and they couldn't help but sigh. The one sitting in the middle had a deep groove on his face, and every move he made was like a trembling old man. look.

Although it was already the season when the spring breeze brought warmth to Tusu, he still wore a thick fur coat and wrapped his body tightly, leaving only an old and depressed face outside.

The current head of the Fan family is the profiteer Fan Yongdou. However, in order to seize the initiative in slave smuggling and to curry favor with the slave chief Huang Taiji, he lives in Zhangjiakou all year round and competes with Wang Dengku for the role of the talker of the Eight Families.

As for the affairs of the old house and the head office, they are basically decided by the clan elders and the big shopkeeper. The clan elders manage the clan affairs and the ancestral hall, and the big shopkeeper manages the various commercial affairs of the head office.

But now the news is cut off, the life and death of the family leader Fan Yongdou is unknown, and a large army is pressing down outside the city, claiming to capture the traitorous traitors. Everyone in the clan is in panic. The clan elders also gathered here overnight, but they did not come up with a reason.

The fact that things have developed to this point is completely beyond everyone's expectations.

Didn’t the Yongyi Army go to Henan Province to suppress bandits?
Why did you suddenly come to Jiexiu to arrest the traitors and traitors?

The entire Fan family fully supports Fan Yongdou's border trade business in Zhangjiakou. After all, they can earn a lot of real money. As a family of merchants, how can they refuse?
Although I don't know the situation of Fan Yongdou and his son in Zhangjiakou, since the Yongyi army has arrived outside the city of Jiexiu, claiming to arrest the slave-dealers and profiteers, if the city is not opened, they will attack hard.

How can this be good?

Since the Yongyi Army can come here, not to mention Fan Yongdou and his son, at least the countless goods in the houses, shops and collapsed houses in Taiyuan and Datong have all become the spoils of Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng, right?
There are many shopkeepers and clerks in charge there. They are either tribesmen or fellow villagers. Are they all going to be arrested now?
Could it be that the hard work of the ancestors, generations of people, had accumulated the wealth that we have today, just destroyed in one day, in the hands of myself and others?

How can we face the ancestors of the Fan family?
Fan Yongqin, an old man from a wealthy family sitting in the middle, had a sad smile on his face and was speechless for a long time. Jiexiu is the ancestral home of the Fan family, and the business has been deeply rooted for generations. Even the county magistrate did not dare to underestimate the Fan family.

However, this change was too big now. Although he sent people to send many gold and silver calligraphy and paintings, Mr. Chen of Kezhi County tried every means to evade it, and finally reluctantly promised that he would never open the city and let the Xuanfu troops in.

However, can we really keep out the wolf-like Xuanfu army without opening the door?

It's not like they haven't thought about sending people out of the city to seek help from surrounding counties or even prefectures, but with the cavalry of the Xuanfu Army on all sides, who would dare to go out of the city to die.

Since early morning, when the Yongyi Army appeared outside the city and surrounded the four gates, all kinds of comments have begun to spread in Jiexiu City.

Many people are scolding profiteers for being unjust and engaging in slavery and betraying the country, which is really a disaster for the country and the people. When everyone gets it and punishes them, the implication is that they are directly directed at the Fan family, and this statement is becoming more and more popular.

"I have said before, who is Uncle Yongning? He is a living king of hell. In his eyes, killing someone is just like eating a meal, without even blinking an eye." The next clan elder said angrily, The implication is that he is blaming Fan Yongdou.

As soon as his words came out, they immediately aroused a resonance in the meeting hall. The clan elders could no longer hold back, and one by one they criticized and complained about the family leader Fan Yongdou.

"Okay."

Fan Yongqin, an old man from a wealthy family, finally couldn't bear it anymore. He shouted angrily to stop everyone's accusations, and said angrily: "What's the use of saying such things now?"

The implication is to accuse everyone of "What did you do earlier?"

He continued: "When you made money back then, everyone praised Yongdou. Which company got less dividends at the end of the year? Now that things have been settled, you are complaining and censuring Yongdou here. How happy you are. ?”

"Brother Yongqin, it's not us who blame Yongdou, but now we have to figure out a way to deal with this matter. We can't let everyone in the family pay for it, right?"

"The county magistrate promised me to wait and never open the door to let him enter the city. Do his Xuanfu troops still dare to attack my city in Shanxi?"

As soon as Fan Yongqin's words came out, the meeting hall immediately fell silent, but after a moment, someone questioned: "I'm afraid that Mr. Chen can't withstand the pressure. If he opens the door, we will all be ruined."

"Yes, if you commit slavery and betray the country, you will be executed!"

"Go to the city. We have to go to the city. Now we will gather the servants and assistants, all of whom we have raised for many years, and send them to various city gates to guard them to the death."

"Yes... that's right. As long as they guard a few city gates, even if the Xuanfu army really dares to attack the city, they won't be able to break it for a while. They only need to hold on for three to five days. There are still governors and Jin in Taiyuan. The king is a thousand years old, so he will not turn a blind eye to this."

"There is plenty of food and grass in the city. Let alone three to five days, it is not difficult to guard the city for three to five months!"

(End of this chapter)