On December 15, Wang Pu, the chief soldier of Datong, walked into the Jinguo Mansion with great concern, and saw Li Zhi sitting on the main seat in the third hall. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

"Wang Pu, I haven't seen you for more than two years in a blink of an eye!"

Wang Pu looked at Li Zhi and felt that he hadn't seen him for more than two years, and Li Zhi had a more majestic look on his face. The so-called one who has lived on the top of the man for a long time will be majestic. Now Li Zhi is the same existence as the princes in Tianjin and Shandong, and it is completely different from the general soldiers like Wang Pu who sleep in the open and follow the thieves.

Wang Pu arched his hand and said: "I haven't seen him for two years, and the Duke of Jin is already the head of Shandong and Tianjin, which is really a thousand miles in a 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 win over Wang Pu as an internal response and break through the fortress of Jin Shang from the inside.

Li Xing and Han Jinxin encountered difficulties in Shanxi, and quickly returned to Tianjin to ask Li Zhi for help, which sent several hundred men into Shanxi to examine the Jin merchants, but they could not find any evidence that the eight Jin merchants were collaborating with the enemy. The accounts of the Jin merchants were very beautiful, and all the goods recorded on paper were bought from Mongolia, and there was no problem with them.

This ability to make false accounts has existed since ancient times.

The old man in charge of the eight Jin merchants disappeared overnight, and all of them went out to do business. The rest of the guys are all doing legal Mongolian business, or the most grassroots miscellaneous guys, who don't know anything about communicating with the Manchus.

Li Zhi felt the urgency of time -- if the inspection in Shanxi dragged on for too long and could not find out the results, I was afraid that the civil officials who had taken the money from the Jin merchants in the court would collectively attack and force the Son of Heaven to suspend Li Zhi's inspection and let Li Zhi return from Shanxi.

So Li Zhi found Wang Pu. Li Zhi and Wang Pu have fought Tartars together, and they have reliable mutual trust with each other.

Hearing Li Zhi's words, Wang Pu was silent, but he was unwilling to answer this sentence.

In fact, with Wang Pu's cleverness, of course he knows why Li Zhi is looking for him now.

The Wang family, where Wang Pu, the general soldier of Datong, was located, and was itself one of the eight Jin merchants who collaborated with the enemy.

Wang Pu and his father Wang Wei were almost hereditary Datong commanders, and they were the local emperors of Datong. Although his father and son are not in business, the rest of his family are all businessmen, and they are headed by Wang Dengku, who has three rooms, and is known as the Taiyuan Wang family, and the scale of business is second only to the Jiexiu Fan family.

The Wang family did a lot of business with Tartars a few years ago. But the Wang family is more politically savvy than the other seven families. After the Jinzhou War, the Wang family saw that the Manchu Qing Dynasty was gradually declining, and they had the intention of washing their hands in a golden basin, and it is said that they rarely traded with the Tartars in Shenyang in these years.

Wang Pu is not stupid, knowing that Li Zhi is looking for himself at this time, he must want to let him help him solve the Jin business.

However, as one of the eight Jin merchants who communicated with the Manchu Dynasty, if Wang Pu wanted Wang Pu to sell the other seven Jin merchants, Li Zhi needed to give some bargaining chips.

Wang Pu pondered for a moment, then arched his hand and asked, "If I cooperate with the Duke of Jinguo, can the Duke of Jin let go of the Wang family?" ”

Li Zhi thought for a while and said, "The Wang family made a lot of money by trading with Tartars a few years ago. Even with a conservative estimate, I think at least half of the Wang family's wealth is earned from Tartars. ”

Li Zhi said lightly: "If you cooperate with me, then I will open up to the Wang family, do not kill the people of 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: "After that, will the Wang family and Mongolia still do business?" ”

Li Zhi smiled.

Zheng Kaicheng said with a smile: "Lord Shaobao, as long as the Wang family and Grandpa Guo cooperate, when Grandpa Guo destroys the other seven, the business name in Shanxi is the Wang family." In the future, the trade with Mongolia was almost monopolized by the Taiyuan royal family. Although the Duke of Jin confiscated half of the Wang family's property this time, it is expected that within a few years, the Wang family will be able to earn more money from the Mongolian trade. ”

Wang Pu thought about it and began to ponder the gains and losses.

Zheng Kaicheng looked at Li Zhi, and Li Zhi nodded.

Zheng Kaicheng said with a smile: "Lord Shaobao, if the Wang family chooses to cooperate this time, the Wang family can open their business in Tianjin and Shandong in the future." The Wang family's business in Tianjin and Shandong will be protected by the Duke of Jin. ”

Hearing this last sentence, Wang Pu was a little moved.

Wang Pu has been entangled with thieves in Henan for the past two years, and he feels more and more that the Ming Dynasty is not safe. Shaanxi to the west of Shanxi is full of thieves, and Henan to the right of Shanxi is even more boiling. As far as the eye can see, only Tianjin and Shandong are thriving places in the Ming Dynasty. If the business can be done in Tianjin, the property safety of the Wang family will be guaranteed.

The three holes of the cunning rabbit, in this fiery world, of course the Wang family understands this truth.

If Li Zhi was still suspected of being hostile to the gentry and worried that Li Zhi would kill the Wang family who was sent to the door as a fat pig, then with Li Zhi's promise today, the Wang family can do business in Tianjin and Shandong with confidence. Keeping the silver and property in Tianjin, which was protected by the Tiger Army, was as safe as depositing it in a safe.

In this troubled world, Li Zhi's promise is actually a big thing.

Wang Puyi gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, Duke Jinguo, the Wang family has done it!" ”

Zheng Kaicheng looked at Li Zhi and asked Wang Pu, "Lord Shaobao, are you the master at home?" ”

Wang Pu didn't answer this question, but arched his hand and said: "Jin Guogong, hundreds of business men, including the Wang family, are all in Naturalization City, if Jin Guogong wants to seize the evidence of Jin Shang's collaboration with the enemy, then send troops to Naturalize City." ”

####

On December 29, Jin Liangyu, the head of the Jin family, stood on the wall of Guihua City, looking in the direction of the east.

These days, Li Xing went out in Shanxi to censor the Jin merchants, and investigated the merchants in Shanxi. Li Xing has the holy decree of the Son of Heaven in his hands, and Li Zhi, the Duke of Jinguo, as his backer, and he has no scruples about doing things. After investigating the Jin family for a month, he couldn't find any problems, and Li Xing was angry and arrested the two shopkeepers of the Jin family to torture them.

Jin Liangyu didn't dare to stay in Zhangjiakou anymore, and fled to Guihua City under the pretext of going to Mongolia to do business.

Naturalized City was built in the sixth year of Longqing and is the largest city in the Mongolian steppe. In the fifth year of Chongzhen's reign, Emperor Taiji attacked Lin Dan Khan and burned down the city of Guihua, but a few years later the Chahar Department rebuilt the city. Because of its proximity to important trade places such as Datong and Zhangjiakou, Guihua City has always been a trading center on the Mongolian steppe.

Now there are hundreds of Jin merchants in the city, which is the key to Li Zhiqing's investigation of the Jin merchants' collaboration with the enemy.

The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and Jin Liangyu misses his family a little. I don't know what kind of lively scene is now in the Jin family's base camp in Taigu.

Jin Liangyu thought about it, and was a little fascinated, but was suddenly interrupted by a rapid sound of horses' hooves.

He looked up and saw several Mongolian scouts from the Naturalized City who had fled into the city in a panic as if they had seen a ghost. Then, not long after, the trumpet sounded at the head of the city, and all six gates of the city of naturalization were closed.

Jin Liangyu sighed in his heart, and looked at the grassland in the east.

Not long after, in the steppe in the distance, a large area of cavalry armed to the teeth appeared. The cavalrymen rode on tall horses, dressed in smooth, shiny full-body armor, and held a firearm in their hands. In the middle of the 5,000 cavalry, a large banner with the word "Li" fluttered high.

In the middle of the cavalry, there were more than a dozen cannons drawn by horses.

Li Zhi has come to Guihua City!

Jin Liangyu's eyes widened, as if he had been struck by lightning.