On December 15th, Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong, walked into the Duke's Mansion of Jin with concern and saw Li Zhi sitting on the main throne in the three halls.
"Wang Pu, I haven't seen him for more than two years in the blink of an eye!"
Wang Pu looked at Li Zhi and felt that Li Zhi, whom he had not seen for more than two years, had a majestic look on his face. As the saying goes, those who have lived among people for a long time must be majestic. Now Li Zhi is the same as a prince in Tianjin and Shandong.
It is completely different from a general soldier like Wang Pu who sleeps in the open and follows the intruders.
Wang Pu cupped his hands and said, "I haven't seen you for two years. The Duke of Jin is already the leader of Shandong and Tianjin. He is really making great progress with each passing day."
Li Zhi smiled and said, "Wang Pu, do you know why I came to you?"
Li Zhi came to Wang Pu in order to recruit Wang Pu as an internal agent and break through the fortress of Shanxi merchants from the inside.
Li Xing and Han Jinxin encountered difficulties in Shanxi, and quickly returned to Tianjin to ask for help from Li Zhi - Li Zhi sent hundreds of people into Shanxi to examine Shanxi merchants, but no evidence was found that eight Shanxi merchants were collaborating with the enemy. The Shanxi merchants
The accounts were done very beautifully. All the goods recorded on the paper were purchased from Mongolia, and no problems could be found.
This ability to make false accounts has been around since ancient times.
The old clerks in charge of eight Shanxi merchants disappeared overnight, and they all went out to do business. The remaining clerks were all engaged in legal Mongolian business, or they were the lowest-level handymen who had no understanding of communication.
I don't know anything about it at all.
Li Zhi felt that time was pressing - if the inspection in Shanxi was delayed for too long and no results were found, I was afraid that the court had taken the money from Shanxi merchants and the civil servants would collectively revolt and force the emperor to suspend Li Zhi's inspection and ask Li Zhi to return from Shanxi.
Return.
So Li Zhi asked Wang Pu. Li Zhi and Wang Pu had fought together against the Tatars, and they had reliable mutual trust.
Hearing Li Zhi's words, Wang Pu was silent, but was unwilling to answer this sentence.
In fact, with Wang Pu's intelligence, he certainly knew why Li Zhi was looking for him now.
The Wang family of Datong General Wang Pu was one of the eight Shanxi merchants who collaborated with the enemy.
Wang Pu and his father Wang Wei are almost hereditary generals of Datong, and are the local emperors of Datong. Although his father and son are not engaged in business, the rest of his family are all businessmen, and headed by Wang Dengku of the third room, they are known as
It belongs to the Wang family in Taiyuan, and its business scale is second only to the Jiexiu Fan family.
The Wang family had done a lot of business with the Tatars in the past few years. However, the Wang family had more political sense than the other seven families. After the Jinzhou War, the Wang family saw that the Manchu Qing Dynasty was gradually declining, and they wanted to wash their hands with the golden basin. It is said that they rarely fought with the Tatars in these years.
Tatars in Shenyang do business.
Wang Pu was not stupid. He knew that Li Zhi was looking for him at this time, and he must have wanted him to help him deal with the Shanxi merchants.
However, as one of the eight Shanxi merchants who communicated with the Qing Dynasty, Wang Pu wanted to sell the other seven Shanxi merchants, so Li Zhi needed to give him some bargaining chips.
Wang Pu pondered for a moment, then raised his hands and asked: "If I cooperate with the Duke of Jin, can the Duke of Jin let the Wang family go?"
Li Zhi thought for a while and said: "The Wang family made a lot of money from doing business with the Tatars in the past few years. Even if it is a conservative estimate, I think at least half of the Wang family's family property was earned from the Tatars."
Li Zhi said calmly: "If you cooperate with me, then I will be lenient to the Wang family. I will not kill the Wang family and only confiscate half of the Wang family's property."
When Wang Pu heard Li Zhi's words, a few drops of cold sweat broke out on his head. After thinking about it, Wang Pu said: "Then, can the business between the Wang family and Mongolia be done in the future?"
Li Zhi smiled.
Zheng Kaicheng smiled and said: "Master Shaobao, as long as the Wang family cooperates with the Duke of Guo, and the Duke of Guo destroys the other seven, the Wang family will be the only one in Shanxi. From now on, the trade with Mongolia will be almost monopolized by the Wang family in Taiyuan.
.Although the Duke of Jin confiscated half of the Wang family's property this time, it is expected that the Wang family will be able to earn more from the Mongolian trade in a few years."
Wang Pu thought for a while and began to ponder the pros and cons.
Zheng Kaicheng looked at Li Zhi, who nodded.
Zheng Kaicheng smiled again and said: "Master Shaobao, if the Wang family chooses to cooperate this time, the Wang family can open businesses in Tianjin and Shandong in the future. The Wang family's business in Tianjin and Shandong will be protected by the Duke of Jin."
After hearing this last sentence, Wang Pu was a little moved.
Wang Pu has been entangled with bandits in Henan for the past two years, and he feels more and more that the Ming Dynasty is in danger. Shaanxi to the west of Shanxi is full of bandits, and Henan to the right of Shanxi is even more uproar. Looking up, only Tianjin and Shandong are prosperous places in the Ming Dynasty. If
If we can do business in Tianjin, the property security of the Wang family will be guaranteed.
In this war-torn world, the Wang family certainly understands this principle.
If you had previously suspected that Li Zhi was hostile to the gentry and were worried that Li Zhi would kill the Wang family as fat pigs, then with Li Zhi's promise today, the Wang family can safely do business in Tianjin and Shandong and keep their money and property in Huben.
Tianjin, protected by the military, is as safe as a safe.
In these troubled times, Li Zhi's promise is actually a big deal.
Wang Pu gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, Lord Jin, the Wang family has done it!"
Zheng Kaicheng looked at Li Zhi and asked Wang Pu: "Master Shaobao, do you have the final say at home?"
Wang Pu did not answer this question, but raised his hand and said: "The Duke of Jin, hundreds of merchants including the Wang family, are all in Guihua City. If the Duke of Jin wants to seize evidence of Shanxi merchants collaborating with the enemy, he will
Send troops to Guihua City."
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On December 29th, Jin Liangyu, the head of the Jin family, stood on the wall of Guihua City, looking in the east direction.
These days, Li Xing was going around Shanxi to inspect Shanxi merchants, and the Shanxi merchants were in a state of panic. Li Xing had the emperor's imperial edict in hand, and he had the Duke of Jin, Li Zhi, as his backer, so he did things without any scruples.
After a month of checking at Jin's house and finding nothing wrong, Li Xing was so angry that he arrested two shopkeepers of Jin's house and tortured them.
Jin Liangyu did not dare to stay in Zhangjiakou any longer, so he fled to Guihua City on the pretext of doing business in Mongolia.
Guihua City was built in the sixth year of Longqing and is the largest city on the Mongolian grassland. In the fifth year of Chongzhen Emperor Taiji burned down Guihua City when he attacked Lin Dan Khan, but a few years later the Chahar tribe rebuilt the city. Because of its close proximity
Datong, Zhangjiakou and other important trading places, Guihua City has always been the trade center on the Mongolian grassland.
Now there are hundreds of Shanxi merchants in the city, who are the key to Li Zhi's investigation into the case of Shanxi merchants collaborating with the enemy.
The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and Jin Liangyu misses his family a little. He wonders what kind of lively scene is going on in the Jin family's base camp in Taigu.
Jin Liangyu was thinking about it, feeling a little fascinated, but was suddenly interrupted by the rapid sound of horse hooves.
He looked up and saw several Mongolian scouts from Guihua City fleeing into the city in a panic as if they had seen a ghost. Then not long after, the horn at the top of the city sounded, and the six gates of Guihua City
All closed.
Jin Liangyu's heart skipped a beat and he stared at the grassland to the east.
Not long after, a large group of cavalry armed to the teeth appeared on the grassland in the distance. Those cavalry were riding tall horses that were only one out of ten, wearing smooth and shiny full-body plate armor, and holding a blazing gun in their hands. The five cavalrymen
In the middle of the thousand cavalry, a large flag with the word "李" flying high.
Among the cavalry, there were more than a dozen cannons pulled by horses.
Li Zhi has come to Guihua City!
Jin Liangyu opened his eyes wide, as if he had been struck by lightning.
