At the foot of Jiuhe River is Tianjinwei, with three pontoon bridges and two passes.
As the place where the emperor passed over, Tianjin became increasingly developed after Yongle moved the capital in the Ming Dynasty. Tianjin was also called the Three Guards of Tianjin because of the establishment of the Three Guards. Yongle moved 15,000 troops here and stationed them here. Together with their family members and military dependents, the desolate Tianjin gradually
prospered.
Canal pier.
July is the busiest time for the canal, but this year the Tianjin pier is particularly deserted. The boatmen on the pier are also sitting feebly in the shade of the trees, waiting for the boats that are not coming.
Merchant ship.
Shunfeng Escort Agency is a time-honored escort agency that has been rooted in Tianjin Wharf for hundreds of years. However, there are also people who are familiar with Tianjin Escort Agency and know that Shunfeng Escort Agency has actually changed its owner more than half a year ago, and the original old owner left a few years ago.
The escort encountered a horse thief and not only lost his life but also lost half of his life. When he came back, the reputation accumulated by the escort agency was all gone. In order to compensate the owner of the goods, the entire escort agency was sold.
It just so happened that this old boss gave birth to a dandy, who had everything he could eat, drink, whore and gamble, but his business as an escort was completely useless. When his old boss fell, the young boss still didn't change his mind at all. In the end, the title deed and signboard of the escort agency's compound were even changed.
All are exported.
The old boss was so angry that he died, and the young boss also disappeared at the Tianjin Pier and was never seen again. Soon after, someone bought the escort agency yard, even wiped the plaque again, and recruited some of the original escorts and guards, etc.
This escort agency was established again.
The new owner said that he was the nephew of the old owner. Hearing about the changes in the family business, he came here to revive the ancestral business.
The new boss, who is in his forties, is also very capable. After arriving, he visited various docks in Tianjin Wei and made friends with both black and white people. He also has good physical skills and is good at using a Xuanhua axe. He is also familiar with it.
Using a large golden ring knife, he quickly made a name for himself in Tianjin Wei.
And successfully received several escorts, successfully completed the mission, and won back some reputation.
Even this owner not only ran a escort agency, but also got involved in several low-level industries such as car and boat shops, and actually managed to make a name for himself.
Originally, all innocent car and boat shops should be killed. It is said that these industries are full of deception, abduction and even extortion. However, this boss Wang is very upright in his work.
Not only are the prices fair and open and transparent, but they also have excellent credit and do what they say they will do. Taking advantage of the turmoil, he took over some shops. The restaurants and teahouses were clean and hygienic, and they never ripped off customers. The hotels were also run in a serious manner.
In today's turbulent situation, the Wang family can still transport salt and grain from Changlu and Huaiyang, get grain from outside the customs, get livestock from outside the country, and even have access to ginseng from Liaodong and medicinal materials from Korea.
.
The goods are delivered to the Wang family, or they travel on their boats, carriages and horses. Whether it is the bandits who dominate the mountains or the pirates who roam the ocean, they all have access to it. Even if they encounter some hungry people and thieves, they
You can also go up to negotiate and buy a way.
Even if there is an accident, whether it is lost goods or people, they will take the initiative to bear the loss and even provide reasonable compensation, which is satisfactory.
In such turbulent times, with such a sign, trading will naturally go against the current.
Even recently, Mr. Wang's family has opened a new gold and silver shop, which not only sells gold and silver jewelry, but also engages in gold and silver exchange, deposits, loans, and exchange businesses.
The banknotes issued by their family can be exchanged for small amounts upon presentation, and large registered bills can be withdrawn at any time by leaving a password and agreeing on the receipt, and can even help with exchanges in other places. In these turbulent years, this
This kind of business is very necessary for many people.
Several merchants in long gowns came from the pier and went straight to Shunfeng Inn.
"Sir, do you want to stay in a hotel or stay in a hotel?"
The top business is eating, and the inn also operates catering, which is even mid- to high-end consumption. Compared with the accommodation business, this top consumption sometimes brings higher profits.
"It's almost dinner time, so let's have a meal first. What dishes are there?"
As soon as the waiter saw the silk gowns of these guests, and their exquisite speech, he knew as soon as he spoke that these guests were not just ordinary guests, but that they were here. He immediately became more enthusiastic and introduced them quickly.
"The chef at Shunfeng Inn is a well-known chef in Tianjin Wei. The kitchen is also fully equipped with all kinds of ingredients. There are also many specialties and there are many guests watching. How about I recommend some dishes to you?
Special food bar,
Shrimp with pepper and vinegar, roasted sheep head and hooves, goose meat, salted drum and mustard sheep tripe plate, garlic and vinegar white blood soup, spicy vinegar kidneys, steamed fresh fish, five-flavor steamed noodles, lamb crystal horns, three delicacies soup, minced pepper
How about mutton, mung bean chess noodles, garlic cheese, bean soup, bubble tea, and perfumed rice?”
When the customer heard the menu, he smiled and said, "You really want to kill our pigs."
"I don't dare. These are our store's specialty delicacies. They used to be served as royal dishes in the palace. To be honest with you, our chef's ancestor was indeed an imperial cook in the palace."
"Hahaha, then I want a private room on the second floor. I have all the dishes you mentioned, and I want a bottle of good wine. I want Shaoxing Zhuangyuan Red, preferably 20 years old, and then I want the 18-year-old Nuerhong."
The guy's eyes couldn't help but widen a bit when he heard this.
But the guest said, "Go ahead and remember to tell your shopkeeper that you can't fool us. We are old wine bugs. You can tell whether the vintage of this Shaoxing wine is correct or not by tasting it."
The waiter nodded excitedly and quickly left.
In a flash, he ran to find Wang Dong's house, "My boss, my boss, someone from my hometown is here. I ordered a jar of Zhuangyuan Red from 20 years old and a daughter's red from 18 years old."
Boss Wang was reading the letter, and when he heard it, he just said, "What happens next?"
"It's true that he's coming from my hometown. I told him a code word later. I'm waiting for you to go. I've arranged you to stay in the Tianzi box in Bingziyuan."
Bingziyuan is a quieter courtyard of Shunfeng Inn. The Tianzi room is the upper room and a large suite. It has a bedroom, a living room and a side room. The furniture inside is both tasteful and unobtrusive.
, always just right, low-key and meaningful.
Compared with ordinary large car shops, the furnishings here are better, and even the bedding is of top quality, and is replaced and cleaned every day.
Of course, the consumption here is also very high.
Boss Wang came over with the shopkeeper and waiter.
"Hello, gentlemen, Mr. Wang is the owner of a small account."
A group of people sitting and drinking tea in the hall also stood up after hearing the sound. The leader, a middle-aged man, held up his hands and said, "The king of heaven will conquer the tigers of the earth!"
Boss Wang smiled and continued, "The pagoda suppresses the river demon!"
"The high hills caused by earthquakes create a stream of mountains and rivers that will last forever!"
"The door faces the sea, and the three rivers merge and flow for thousands of years!" The guest continued, "Huang County businessman Lu Wenxiu!"
Boss Wang glanced at the people in the room, and Lu Wenxiu said, "They are all from my hometown, my brothers."
"It's the first time we meet. I'm rude but I still look at Haihan. How is the family? How is the old patriarch?"
"It's all good, it's all good. I'm here to sell some tobacco, and I'm bringing some copper coins with me." Lu Wenxiu is actually from Dengzhou. He is a senior spy affiliated with Chen Qianfu of the Imperial Camp General Staff Army, operating in Beijing.
Tianjin area.
Covering himself as a businessman, he appeared to be a cigarette dealer smuggling cut tobacco, but secretly he also sold some fake copper coins.
This identity is actually very useful. Nowadays, many people smoke tobacco in the Beijing and Tianjin areas and consume a lot of it. However, the imperial court has severely banned it. However, this stuff is highly profitable and there are many people who deliberately smuggle it. Those who engage in this kind of smuggling business must have
Dealing with the black and white is inherently a good channel for transmitting information.
As for the casting of private money, starting from the middle Ming Dynasty, because the money minted by the court became less and less and the demand among the people was great, private coining became widespread, and the profits were still high.
Zhu Yihai integrated and established the mint of the Shaotian Dynasty in the south, which minted both silver coins and copper coins, and of course some hole-shaped copper coins.
At the same time as the circulating currency of this dynasty was minted, several workshops were secretly set up to mint counterfeit money. There were fake Chongzhen Tongbao, fake Shunzhi Tongbao, and even fake Jiajing Wanli year gold-backed money.
These privately minted counterfeit copper coins are available in various styles, but the materials used are severely cut corners. The purpose of their casting is to circulate in the clearance control areas, disrupt their economy, and at the same time make a lot of profits.
The profit from counterfeit money is extremely high, and you can even double your profit.
The Shunzhi Tongbao issued by the Qing Dynasty at this time was basically an imitation of the Ming Dynasty style. Even the back was a bare plate with no words except for the four characters Shunzhi Tongbao on one side.
However, the amount of money minted after the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs was limited. There was actually a huge demand for copper coins for small transactions in the north. Private minting was rampant in the market. Bad coins drove away good coins. Better coins were collected by the people and they were unwilling to use them. The market
It's full of bad coins.
This situation is essentially a huge loss of official currency. The more they mint, the less it will enter circulation and will only be collected and locked up by the people. Even these copper coins with high copper content may be destroyed by private minters.
Private coins with lower copper content were minted to earn 10% profit.
The imperial court was cut off by private minters. The more it was cast, the more severe it was.
Now Zhu Yihai is also cutting Tatar leeks, sending large amounts of privately minted counterfeit money to the Qing-controlled areas for circulation, and even secretly recycling Tatar official money.
Selling cigarettes and making private money are all transactions that involve the entire chain of interests. Behind Lu Wenxiu is the Ming Dynasty, which is naturally very powerful, so it is easy to win over many related people from the black and white circles to join the cooperation and let them come on board together.
After making money, he began to obtain the required information from them, and even asked them to help deliver the information, and even became a member of the intelligence line.
In contrast, Shunfeng Wang Dongjia is actually a high-level spy, but he is affiliated with Jinyiwei. Using the two lines of Jinyiwei and Dongchang, he quickly developed a large industry in Tianjin.
As a secret intelligence base, etc.
Lu Wenxiu and him are not on the same line, but they will cooperate if necessary.
If senior spies from the two intelligence lines of the factory guard and the imperial camp met directly, it must be something urgent, otherwise they would not have met so easily.
"We have obtained some information that Dorgon is dead, and his death was very strange. Now there is news that Dodo and Azig were also killed. We cannot confirm the news yet, but the news is of great importance.
So now I hope you can help me find out the authenticity of these messages as soon as possible and then pass them back to Shandong." Lu Wenxiu said directly.
Wang Guofan also said bluntly, "The news I have now is that Azig and his son were arrested by Daishan, Jierhalang was arrested, and Duduo seemed to have suddenly contracted smallpox and is now isolated in Tongzhou, but I heard that the illness
It’s very serious and I may not be able to survive for a few days.”
"Also, Hauge has already entered Beijing, but there is news that Hauge killed the imprisoned Azig, so now he is also imprisoned by the two regents."
"We really don't know about Hauge. We need to spread the word immediately."
Wang Guofan said, "I have another news, but the credibility is not high. It is said, it is said that the Tatar Queen Mother Bumbutai secretly summoned Duduo to the palace for a private meeting, and the two had an affair in the imperial garden. As a result,
Daishan, Jierhalang and others personally caught him on the spot, and then they executed Duduo in public and imprisoned the Queen Mother. This news is too outrageous and has very low credibility. It is probably fake news."
Lu Xiufu was also shocked, "This is too bizarre. It's just a rumor made up by the public."
Tianjin is close to Beijing, and there is a lot of information here. But after all, it involves important figures such as the cause of Dorgon's death, Duduo, Azig, Hauge and even the Empress Dowager. It is difficult to distinguish whether the information is true or false.
"Let's check one by one. There will always be a reason for everything." Lu Wenxiu and Wang Guofan carefully exchanged the latest information in their hands, and then decided to pass the information back to Denglai first, while continuing to investigate separately.
"No matter what happens this time, it seems that Dorgon will definitely die and cannot die again, and the Duduo Azig brothers, Daishan, and Jierhalang will definitely have an internal fight, and even Hauge will have an internal fight this time.
I will also join in, the fun is yet to come!”
Wang Guofan also nodded. He has been searching for the real cause of Dorgon's death. His death was too sudden, and he already had some other news saying that Dorgon was killed.
"Distribute all the information we have in Beijing, Tianjin and other places. The wider the distribution, the better. Since the water is already so muddy, let's make it muddier, which will make it easier to fish in troubled waters!"
Lu Wenxiu also thinks this method is good.
Fishing in troubled waters, naturally the muddier the water, the better.
Even releasing this information deliberately can help to observe the reaction of the Tatars and infer the information they really want.
"Now the Tatars are seeking their own death. At this time, they dare to engage in such internal strife."
"Do you think we should directly send troops to attack Beijing and Tianjin?"
Wang Guofan smiled and stroked his beard, "We are just collecting intelligence, passing on news, inciting local officials and gentry to rebel, and recruiting some strong and powerful men. As for the rest, it is not up to us to decide."
"Yes." Lu Wenxiu asked, "Tu Guobao has been causing quite a stir in Hebei recently. Even Hong Chengchou had him captured and successfully sent to Denglai. Has he moved closer to this direction recently?"
"After all, this is the capital of the Tatars. It is heavily guarded. Tu Guobao did not dare to come over, but he did send people to pick up the people a few times and get some information back."
Tu Guobao, the governor of Tianjin, actually does not dare to go near Tianjin at all. He seems to have wandered to the Baiyangdian area recently.
After chatting for a while, Lu Wenxiu and the others were about to leave. Wang Guofan said with a smile, "You have ordered a table of delicious dishes. They are all our signature dishes. How can you leave without trying them? You must taste them well."
“It’s easy to get irritated if you just come in and order food and then leave without eating.”
Lu Wenxiu nodded, "Indeed, if you don't eat, you won't get it for free, but you will have to give us a cheaper price when you settle the bill later!"
"I'll treat you to this meal."
"That's fine. How can we give you a meal? Then you can just submit the bill to the Huaifengtou Gang."
"That's okay." Wang Guofan didn't argue much, it was just a meal. He knew the Huai Feng Tou Gang, which was the grain gang on the canal.
There are one hundred and twenty-eight gangs in the grain transportation gang, and they all run through the canal to transport grain all year round. Because they run through the canal all year round, there will inevitably be fights. Therefore, over the years, grain transportation gangs from various places have formed gangs.
, called Liang Gang, also called Caobang.
They often have some strongholds at various docks in the canal. Over time, these grain gangs are not just local organizations for simple water transportation, but also secretly run some other smuggling operations, and even other things.
.
In the end, the Caoding children and even some idle members of society were recruited to form some organizations that were neither gray nor white.
Anyway, the activities are held at the docks along the canal, and they are basically organized by local residents.
The Huaifengtou Gang is a grain gang belonging to the original Nanzhili. The entire Nanzhili is divided into more than fifty grain gangs to transport grain, with a total of more than 5,000 water boats. It is extremely powerful among the grain gangs. Among them, only Lufeng
There are sixteen gangs in the Huaisi area.
In addition to the Huai Feng Tou Gang, there is also the Huai Feng Second Gang.
The Huaifengtou Gang is mainly composed of people from Suzhou. Their gang leader has a good relationship with Lu Xiufu. They are now engaged in private money and tobacco business together. He has even been recruited by Lu Xiufu into the Military Intelligence Department of the Imperial Camp General Staff, and his account is against him.
That's an excellent cover.
“Let’s serve!”
Chef Shunfeng's ancestor had indeed been the royal chef in the palace, and his skills were unparalleled. The dishes were served one after another. Lu Xiufu was very satisfied with what he ate. In the end, he felt a little embarrassed, so he sent someone to Huaifengtou Gang's restaurant.
, invited their gang leader Zhao Huairen over.
“This steamed goose is really good.”
“This roast duck is also amazing!”
“I think this Nanjing salted duck is also very authentic!”
Several people let go and ate, enjoying themselves greatly.
Zhao Huairen, the leader of the Huaifengtou Gang, came over and politely offered to pay for the wine. In the end, he even offered to pay the bill. Although this guy was very polite and even polite when eating, everyone knows that the canal is not easy to run, and the grain is even more difficult to transport. The annual grain harvest
Transportation is a matter of wealth and life, and nothing can go wrong.
Therefore, the government also tried to win over these Caoding who specialized in water transportation, and even gradually formed such a unique Cao Gang.
Huaifengtou opened a church at Tianjin Wei Pier. In addition to being responsible for the annual grain transportation in Fengyang, they also ran many other private businesses to support these brothers and their families.
Doing business, nursing homes, and even occasional smuggling are already considered the second main business. I don't even mind occasionally participating in kidnappings, robberies, and the like.
The world is in chaos, and life is even more difficult.
Lu Xiuwen took the initiative to seek cooperation with them, privately minting copper coins, selling tobacco, private salt and even arms. The two parties cooperated very happily, and finally introduced him to the imperial camp of the Ming Dynasty in the south to work. Zhao Huaiyi did not refuse, there must be a backer in troubled times, and now
The name of Ming Dynasty has become stronger again. As a fellow Ming Taizu, he is naturally happy to defect to it.
In the future, if you serve the dragon with merit, it will be better than rushing to the boat to pull fiber or even smuggling and kidnapping.
After leaving the door of Shunfeng Inn, Lu Xiuwen handed the packed leftovers to Zhao Huaiyi, "Arrange a boat for me to go to Beijing immediately."
"I will personally drive a boat to accompany you." Zhao Huaiyi did not hesitate at all.
"Okay, bring more brothers who have passed the letter."
"Don't worry, the brothers in my gang are all good brothers who are willing to risk their lives."