Fang Yuan had explained their respective tasks, Qin Zhan and Jing Jie began to act separately, while Chigutai stayed in the barracks, so that the sergeants of the musket cavalry battalion secretly prepared for a surprise attack.

The next day, Fang Yuan led more than a dozen brocade guards into Taiyuan City, and first found Sun Chuanting to discuss matters in the secret room.

Fang Yuan said straight to the point, "Governor Sun, in fact, on this trip to Shaanxi, His Majesty only gave me 400,000 taels of silver, which was advanced from the imperial silver. ”

Sun Chuanting was taken aback, the cost of moving the division was at least 1.5 million taels, and Fang Yuan could only take out 400,000 taels of silver now, where did the missing silver come from? If the whole army knew that there was no money to settle down, then they must not mutini immediately? Even if he was the governor, he couldn't stop it.

Sun Chuanting grabbed Fang Yuan's collar with a pair of big hands, and said angrily, "Fang Jianjun, you are so bold, you dare to say this kind of outrageous lie, if it causes a mutiny, you can bear the responsibility?" ”

Fang Yuan pushed away his grip and said slowly, "I definitely can't bear it, not only I can't bear it, but Governor Sun can't bear it either." ”

Fang Yuan's words were not false at all, with Chongzhen's temperament, if such an elite division mutinied, Sun Chuanting, as the governor, would also be to blame.

He was deeply frightened, angry and annoyed by Fang Yuan's deception, and pulled out his saber and put it on Fang Yuan's neck, "Fang Yuan! I was miserable by you this time, I can't wait to kill you immediately! ”

Fang Yuan said unhurriedly, "Don't worry about Governor Sun, now we are grasshoppers on a rope, life and death are shared, if you split me, can Governor Sun live?" Now the only way to survive is to find 1 million taels of silver to fill the vacancy of military salary, and everything will be fine. ”

Sun Chuanting put away the knife in a dejected manner, sat back on the chair, and said listlessly, "So far, where can I find 1 million taels?" ”

Fang Yuan said in a deep voice, "Governor Sun is also from Shanxi, and he should know that there are eight Jin merchants in Zhangjiakou Gong City, and he colluded with the Manchu Qing Dynasty to smuggle weapons and grain, and made a lot of money. Should this kind of traitor be killed? ”

Sun Chuanting was stunned, as if he had an understanding, "Kill!" ”

Fang Yuan asked again, "Should the traitor's family property be confiscated?" ”

Sun Chuanting's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "Of course it should!" However, I have long heard that these Jin merchants have good friends with the general soldiers of Xuanfu and Datong Second Military Town, and there are also people in the cabinet scholars, and we go to raid the house and kill people without authorization, I am afraid that it will be difficult for Your Majesty to explain it to the court! ”

Fang Yuan took out a roll of bright yellow edict from his bosom and said loudly, "I have Your Majesty's secret edict here, this time the transfer of the division, everything can be done conveniently, first cut and then played, as long as you can bring this elite army to the capital safely and securely without spending Your Majesty's money, what else is there to explain?" ”

This secret edict was secretly given to Fang Yuan by Emperor Chongzhen before leaving, and only Chongzhen and Fang Yuan knew about the existence of the edict.

Sun Chuanting saw that he actually took out Chongzhen's edict, and when he saw the edict, he was busy kneeling down and saluting Chongzhen's edict, "The minister Sun Chuanting accepted the order." ”

Fang Yuan handed the edict to Sun Chuanting and looked at it carefully, Sun Chuanting read the edict, and at a glance he could see that this was a genuine Chongzhen edict, so he believed it and hurriedly said, "The minister Sun Chuanting received the edict, please give an order to Fang Jianjun." ”

Fang Yuan held Chongzhen's edict in his hand, and said lightly, "Governor Sun doesn't have to worry, this time the slaughter of the Eight Great Jin Merchants doesn't need us to take action, the displaced people of the grain transportation team will go to rob it, and only Governor Sun needs to provide ordnance and equipment, and it will be done with a little armament." ”

Sun Chuanting suddenly realized that Fang Yuan had already made arrangements to order the displaced people to fight the first battle, and the officials and soldiers were behind the formation and provided military support, so that when they arrived at the court, there was room for shirking.

Sun Chuanting still had concerns about Fang Yuan's plan, and asked hesitantly, "Then the general soldiers of Xuanfu and Datong will ignore it?" ”

Fang Yuan said in a low voice, "Datong General Jiang Ting, I didn't have conclusive evidence of his collaboration with the enemy, I only need Shanxi Governor Cai Maode to cooperate with us, and under the pretext of rescuing Kaifeng, all the officers of more than 1,000 households in Datong Military Town were summoned to Taiyuan Mansion to close the gate for discussion, and it dragged on for five or six days, and Zhangjiakou Gong City had already been captured. ”

"As for Wang Chengyin, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, colluding with Fan Yongdou to smuggle food and weapons, the crime has been demonstrated, so there is no need to be polite, Zhou Yuji, the chief soldier of Shanxi, and I will immediately go to Xuanfu Town to dismiss Wang Chengyin from his position as chief soldier and escort him back to the capital for trial. But...... In order to prevent Wang Chengyin from jumping over the wall in a hurry and fighting to the death, he asked Governor Sun to lead 90,000 elite troops to move to Xuanfu as a deterrent. ”

Sun Chuanting has completely sorted out Fang Yuan's overall plan at this time, and it is clear that he is using his elite army to pull the tiger skin and sing a big opera, but he is thoughtful and interlocking, and he has completely blocked all the ways of life of the eight major Jin merchants, just waiting to close the door and beat the dog, destroy the family and steal the money.

When the matter was urgent, Fang Yuan raised his edict and asked Sun Chuanting, making him immediately state, "Fang's little plan, what does Governor Sun think?" ”

Sun Chuanting knew that he was led into the pit by Fang Yuan this time, and got on Fang Yuan's thief ship, and now he had to agree if he didn't agree. Otherwise, if there is a mutiny in the army, then the game will be completely over.

Sun Chuanting slapped the table hard and said, "It's done!" Just act according to Fang Jianjun's plan! ”

Fang Yuanjian persuaded Sun Chuanting, he was happy with the past, and hurriedly took Sun Chuanting to find Cai Maode, the governor of Shanxi, and Zhou Yuji, the general soldier of Shanxi, to continue to discuss military and political affairs.

In order to fulfill the friendship of the landlord, Cai Maode and Zhou Yuji led Fang Yuan and the two out of the city and went to the Fahua Temple forty miles away, where they could not only worship the Buddha and pray, but also discuss military and political affairs.

Fahua Temple is one of the famous temples of Taiyuan Prefecture, for the expansion of the Northern Qi Dynasty, the most famous in the temple is the relics pagoda, and the West Mountain Giant Buddha is second only to the Leshan Giant Buddha in the country.

However, the Giant Buddha has been burned down in the war, leaving only a lone relic stupa.

After the four of them stood in front of the relics pagoda, prayed for the Ming Dynasty and the people of Shanxi, they went directly to the topic.

Because the power of the Eight Jin Merchants in Shanxi is deep-rooted, they have long infiltrated the yamen of Shanxi's state capital, and there must be a lot of eyes and ears.

Fang Yuan took out Chongzhen's edict straight to the point, and read it to Cai Maode and Zhou Yuji.

Cai Maode and Zhou Yuji were both loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and in the process of Li Zicheng's attack on Shanxi, they were all killed and martyred. Zhou Yuji was the chief soldier promoted by Chongzhen, and he immediately expressed his attitude towards Chongzhen's edict and was willing to obey the edict.

Fang Yuan simply explained the fact that the Eight Great Jin Merchants colluded with the Manchu Qing Dynasty to become traitors, and said the plan to take the opportunity to slaughter the Eight Great Jin Merchants and confiscate their family wealth.

Cai Maode and Zhou Yuji were all taken aback, their faces changed greatly, they didn't expect Fang Yuan to act so ruthlessly, most of the armaments, food, and even cloth in Taiyuan Mansion were purchased from the Eight Great Jin Merchants, if the Eight Great Jin Merchants were slaughtered, the consequences would be really unpredictable.

Cai Maode said hesitantly, "Fang Jian Jun, don't underestimate the power of the Eight Great Jin Merchants, and slaughter the Eight Great Jin Merchants in a hurry, I am afraid that it will cause turmoil in Shanxi, and the morale of the army and the people will be unstable!" ”

Zhou Yuji also said, "At least the horses of the Jin army were purchased by the eight Jin merchants from outside the customs; Also, the eight Jin merchants had a great friendship with the Manchus, so they were slaughtered, I am afraid that it will attract military retaliation from the Manchus! ”

Fang Yuan saw that the two of them had scruples, and said for the two of them, "Governor Cai, to govern the troubled times, we must use heavy punishments, without Zhang Butcher, we will eat hairy pigs?" Joke! ”

"After the slaughter of the Eight Great Jin Merchants, I will be punished and preached to all the Jin Merchants in Gongshi and Shanxi, these Eight Jin Merchants colluded with the Manchu Qing Dynasty to be traitors, as long as they do business honestly, they can keep their wealth."

"After the slaughter of the eight Jin merchants, short-term turmoil is inevitable, but the market vacuum left behind is a piece of fat that everyone covets. Businessmen are profit-seeking, and as long as they have fifty percent of the profits, they will take risks; As long as there is a ten-percent profit, you dare to trample on all the laws of the Ming Dynasty; As long as there is a triple profit, you dare to risk killing your head. Therefore, Governor Cai does not have to worry about the stability of the military and the people. ”

He painstakingly persuaded and even moved out the revised and revised Theory of Capital, Cai Maode thought about it and looked at the chief soldier Zhou Yuji hesitantly.

Fang Yuan said to Zhou Yuji again, "General Zhou Bing, in the second year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji entered the customs and made a detour to Shanxi to attack the capital; In the seventh year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji invaded from Xuanfu and Datong and plundered Shanxi. At that time, the Jin merchants were slaughtered, why did the Manchus still invade? How much can the slaughter of the Eight Great Jin Merchants have to do with the Manchu invasion? ”

On the contrary, only by slaughtering these eight Jin merchants would the Manchu supply of grain, grass and weapons be cut off and the Manchu invasion would be delayed. Sitting back and watching the eight Jin merchants betray the country and become traitors, they are just drinking to quench their thirst, and they can't exchange for the peace of Shanxi at all. ”

Zhou Yuji nodded again and again when he heard this, and he had nothing to say.

Fang Yuan promised the two, "Governor Cai, General Zhou, this plan to slaughter the Jin merchants still needs the full support of the two of you. After the matter is completed, I will ask Your Majesty to copy the confiscated Jin merchant wealth and allocate 2 million taels for Governor Cai and General Zhou to solve the urgent military, political and people's livelihood matters in Shanxi. ”

Zhou Yuji's eyes lit up, if he could use more than 1 million taels of silver, he would have full confidence in a line of defense against the invasion of thieves, and immediately expressed his attitude, "Okay, I'll follow Fang Jianjun!" ”

Cai Maode saw that Zhou Yuji agreed with Fang Yuan's plan, and it would be useless for him to continue to insist on it alone, but he still asked cautiously, "What does Fang Jianjun want me to do?" ”

Fang Yuan said in a deep voice, "The backstage of the eight Jin merchants is the general army of Xuanfu and Datong Second Military Town, among which the general soldier of Datong Jiang Jian is not aware of his crime, Governor Cai will use the excuse to rescue Kaifeng, and all the officers of more than 1,000 households in Datong Military Town will be summoned to Taiyuan Mansion to discuss matters behind closed doors. ”

"As for Wang Chengyin, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, he dared to pursue the grain transportation team of the imperial court with Fan Yongdou, a Jin merchant, the traitor's whereabouts have been made clear, and I and General Zhou ordered 5,000 soldiers to go to arrest Wang Chengyin and return to Beijing for trial, and General Zhou temporarily took over the military affairs of Xuanfu Military Town."

Zhou Yuji said hesitantly, "What if Wang Chengyin's dog jumps over the wall in a hurry and the Xuanfu military town mutinies?" ”

Fang Yuan Zhengrong said, "Governor Sun still has 90,000 elites who will go with us, if the officers of Xuanfu Military Town are determined to protect Wang Chengyin and want to collude with the Manchus to become traitors, then this cancer can no longer remain, and it must be annihilated." ”

Sun Chuanting and Zhou Yuji all looked at each other, exterminating Xuanfu Town, one of the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty, this disaster was a big deal, when Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, the chief soldier of Dongjiang Town, it was a major crime that Ling Chi was executed, not to mention Xuanfu Town, which was more important than Dongjiang Town?

Fang Yuan smiled and said for the two of them, "I believe that the officers and soldiers of the Xuanfu Military Town are still loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but they have been deceived for a while. I will immediately secretly write to Your Majesty, report in detail the crimes of Wang Chengyin, the chief soldier of the Xuanfu, and ask Your Majesty to make a judgment. With His Majesty's instructions, the two of you won't be worried! ”

As soon as he said this, Sun Chuanting and Zhou Yuji were a little relieved.

Fang Yuan bowed his hands deeply to Cai Maode, Sun Chuanting, and Zhou Yuji, "Please ask the three adults this time." ”

The three of them returned the salute to Fang Yuan, "Be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and have no hesitation!" ”