At the end of the fifteenth year of Yongli (the seventeenth year of pseudo-Shunzhi), the rushing and howling wind carried the rolling cold current blowing from the Mongolian plateau into the Beijing Division, and the cold wind wrapped in sand pounded on the doors and windows of thousands of households, followed by the goose feather snow day and night, and for a time, the heavy snow immediately swallowed the entire Beijing Division.

After one night, the Beijing division was full of snow, the snow on the ground was trampled by the chariots, horses and pedestrians, and after a night, it was all frozen into ice, slippery, those horse-drawn carriages carrying water, when walking on this road, it was also difficult to walk step by step, I don't know how many people had to eat the bitter water in the well in the courtyard because the waterwheel could not reach.

The eaves and treetops were covered with a thick layer of silver snow, and early in the morning the men began to sweep the snow from the eaves so as not to crush the house. As they worked, they were snorting hot air to resist the cold. This year is colder than usual, and even if there is enough firewood in the stove at home, it can only barely dispel the chill in this layer.

Not to mention the cold weather, the hearts of the people in the imperial city are even colder than the cold winter. The streets and alleys from the Forbidden City to the city are full of news about the Northern Expedition of the Ming Army, all kinds of news, so that the women in the city are even more anxious to pack their luggage, just wait for the court to give an order, just like when they entered the customs, they fled back to the customs tightly.

Although it has been more than ten years since they had no production, they have long been accustomed to this life of not working hard, but for these women, they hope to save their lives and the lives of their children, I don't know how many people are thinking there, they have not returned to Manchuria for more than ten years, whether the old house of Manchuria's hometown is still there, whether the wall has collapsed, whether the roof is leaking, and so on, only the chaos of people's hearts. And when the news of the loss of Taiyuan reached the Jingshi, even the people who originally believed in the imperial court would be there to talk about the war situation and talk about their respective futures.

When the masters are discussing the future there, the minions are also there to discuss the future, for many of their Baoyi slaves, they are eager for the arrival of the Ming army, so as to gain freedom and become new people, but for some of the Baoyi, they are worried about their future and personal wealth.

"How many brothers have already decided?"

Put down the cigarette pouch in his hand Wang Dengku, looking at the other families seated, in addition to Jin Liangyu, who took the lead in planning this matter, there is also Fan Sanba of the Fan family, in the past ten years, Fan Yongdou with his assistance, coerced the authority of the internal affairs government, not only served the Qing court, but also used the privilege to do business for profit, since then embarked on the road of "official business" business, becoming a huge emperor with tens of millions, and also the leader of the eight families. It can be said that among the eight families, the Fan family is the richest, and of course, the Fan family is the most loyal to the Qing court.

Now, as soon as he asked, the others all looked at Fan Sanba's body, and they all looked at him, wanting to hear his decision, after all, as we all know, Fan Sanba is here to represent the Fan family, and among the eight families, the Fan family's industry is the largest, if he agrees, what else do they have to hesitate.

In the eyes of everyone, Fan Sanba didn't speak, he just drank tea, all the big and small things of the Fan family have been presided over by him over the years, but the real head of the family is still his father Fan Yongdou, this family, he can't be in charge.

"The news from Shanxi, everyone knows it, Li Ziyuan has confiscated more than 400 rich households in Jiexiu, Qixian, Taigu and other places, these rich households are no strangers to everyone, and they all bring some relatives, why they were raided, everyone knows that they are the same as us, and they did business together in the past......

Wang Dengku's words were not loud, and even because of his age, his words were slow and a little hoarse, but everyone heard his words and naturally heard what he meant.

"They were raided, if this Jingshi was beaten down, how could a few people think that we would be able to escape the fate of being raided and destroyed?"

Wang Dengku looked at these people coldly, their hesitation made him sneer in his heart, they just thought that this was a change of dynasty, it was not a big deal. But I don't know that for the south, they are all traitors, traitors who need to be responsible for the destruction of the Ming Dynasty by the Manchus, so how can they be let go. What's more, the south also needs their silver, and how much silver can be copied from the eight families? Wang Dengku didn't have a certain number in his heart, but according to his estimate, no matter what else was in the silver cellars of the eight families, it was estimated that there would be no less than 10,000,000 taels of silver.

Eight, which family is not worth tens of millions?

"Let's, let's go like this, but, it's all lost, to, to the outside of the gate, in total, there is always some hope for returning."

"Hope?"

Wang Dengku sneered.

"What hope? In the eyes of the Ming court, how many of us are fat sheep, but in the eyes of the Qing court, we are not? When they don't have money to pay for their salaries, they will definitely be the first to take us under the knife! To go or not to go, you decide for yourselves! ”

After saying this, Wang Dengku stopped talking, he was not worried that someone would leak out the matter discussed by a few people today, the eight families discussed together in secret, not once or twice, if they didn't even have such a little trust, how could the eight families stand here?

Fat sheep!

Wang Dengku's two words came into his ears, making Fan Sanba's face change slightly, how could he not know that in the eyes of the imperial court, they were fat sheep, but there was always some unwillingness in his heart, after all, in the past ten years, the Fan family has purchased too many family businesses in Beijing, Shanxi, Zhangjiakou and all over the country, and now he abandons these family businesses, how can he be willing to give up.

Even when looking at Wang Dengku and Jin Liangyu, Fan Sanba's heart was even more annoyed, the two of them spent half a year to discount a lot of family businesses, and even he Fan Sanba took the initiative to take over some industries, and thought he had taken advantage of it at the time, but now it seems that people are ready to leave, and even if it weren't for the situation being so tense, they wouldn't necessarily tell the other families.

These two really have a good hand in their calculations!

Thinking about the industries that have been transferred from the hands of the two families in the past six months, Fan Sanba's heart is secretly annoyed, now that he is gone, all those industries have been lost here.

Fan Sanba didn't speak, and the others didn't speak either, they were all hesitating, after all, all of them knew very well that leaving here not only meant that a large number of industries would be left in vain, but also that they were most reluctant to give up their privileges - as imperial merchants, in the past ten years, they not only procured goods for the royal family, but also took advantage of the situation to open up a wide range of financial routes and start trading all over the world. also operated the salt industry in Hedong and Changlu, and monopolized the market for ginseng and other valuable medicinal materials in Ussuri and Suifen in the northeast, which is what they value the most...... They don't pay much attention to it now, after all, before and after the entry of the Qing Dynasty, the eight of them have accumulated wealth beyond the imagination of the world.

But leaving the Qing Dynasty meant that from now on, not only would they have to wander in a foreign land, but they would also lose all their privileges, and everything would start from scratch. Thinking of this, how could they be reluctant, and even while they were reluctant, they were even thinking about whether they could bribe the imperial court in the south to keep their glory and wealth.

This thought was only a fleeting thought, after all, they knew very well that the south might be more willing to raid their homes than bribes, which would wipe out their generations of accumulation.

"The Jin family is definitely leaving, whether you are leaving, or staying, please plan early, according to the current situation, who knows if you can celebrate the New Year?"

After Wang Dengku stopped talking, Jin Liangyu stood up and looked at everyone and said,

"If everyone wants to leave, they must do so as soon as possible, this ship always needs to be arranged......"

When mentioning the ship, Jin Liangyu's heart naturally thought of the third child in Liaodong, if he hadn't planned everything early on, it is estimated that now, the Jin family can only sit in the capital here, like everyone else, waiting for the situation to change.

The third child has a long-term vision than his brothers!

At the same time as this thought flashed in his heart, Jin Liangyu even thought about whether to let the third child take over the family's property in the future.

"If you go to the West, it is estimated that in a year or two, only the third child will be able to deal with Westerners."

Looking at the other people seated, Jin Liangyu even thought that at that time, I am afraid that the eight families will not be able to do without the third child, because none of them understand the West, if this is the case, doesn't this mean that the third child is likely to be a ...... Fan Sanba!

Staring at the thoughtful Fan Sanba, Jin Liangyu knew very well that this Fan Sanba was the leader of the second generation of the eight families, and he was the leader of the second generation of the eight families.

In this way, that Fan Yongdou ......

Thinking of these years, the Fan family has pressed themselves everywhere, Jin Liangyu's heart is a burst of pride, when the time comes, how can those Westerners know what the Fan family is, for Westerners, I am afraid that they only know that it is the third child of the Jin family who comes into contact with them!

Exactly!

After figuring out the links, Jin Liangyu couldn't help but feel a little proud, when he looked at Fan Sanba, he didn't look like he was full of envy like in the past, the Fan family had passed!

Fan Sanba didn't notice Jin Liangyu's gaze, he was still hesitating in his heart, this matter was not something he could do, of course, if it was possible, he didn't know to discuss this matter, but now, he had to think about all kinds of possibilities in the future, no matter what, the Fan family must not become a fat sheep.

After hesitating for a long time, Fan Sanba looked at Wang Dengku and said softly.

"Shibo, this matter is really very important, and the little nephew still has to go back to his father to discuss it before he can make a decision."