Qi Jin's expression was very relaxed, and he didn't seem to feel how serious his behavior was, and Wang Bangping's face on the side was a little pale, and he couldn't help but salute Fan: "Grace, grace, great master." The small ones can't help it, the family has to eat, and they always have to find a way to survive, and those goods are not important......"

Fan Jin called the two aside, and asked Zhang Tiejian to take a jar of wine and three bowls over, sat under the tree, and poured the wine into the bowl, Wang Bangping and Qi Jin both wanted to get started, but were stopped by Fan Jin. After the three bowls of wine were divided, Fan Jin motioned for the two to drink it, the two didn't know what Fan Jin meant, so they had to drink it all, Fan Jin saw that they had drunk wine before asking:

"What do you think of this wine?"

"Good wine! What Master Fan brought was naturally Lao Jun's imperial wine, which was all good wine. To be able to drink this sip is a great creation......"

Wang Bangping was stopped by Fan Jin before he finished speaking, "In Jingshi, this kind of wine is only for the sedan chair driver to drink, and the so-called imperial wine is just a change of seal." The real imperial wine has been sold before it leaves Beijing, that is, at the guerrilla level, there are only a few sips of real imperial wine to drink. I know these things very well, if you want to check it, you can check it, but what is the result of the check? In the future, there will be no more imperial sake in front of the army, and even if this kind of wine is strong but has no aftertaste, there will be no more. When the water is clear, there are no fish, this truth is very clear. I've also worked from the local government, not a nerd who came out on the first day, so you don't have to treat me as a thief. I know that Biansai is hard, even if this kind of coarse brew is a rare thing for Bian Jun's children, saying that this is imperial wine is enough to fool them. ”

Wang Bangping put down the wine bowl, his face flushed slightly, "I heard Brother Qi Xian say that the eldest master is a good person, and I didn't dare to believe it, but when I heard the eldest master say this, I know our difficulties." As soon as I heard you speak, I was a reasonable person, this is the creation under the mark, to catch up with such a reasonable old man as you. Please see that there is an eighty old mother under the mark......"

"I'm not interested in anyone in your family." Fan Jin stopped Wang Bangping's words, "My Shang Fang sword was not brought out for good looks, you also know that if this kind of murder weapon is not sacrificed with blood, it will hinder the master's official luck." So when I bring out this sword, I must kill people, but I won't kill people, and someone must be left to guard the door for the Ming Dynasty. As for who to kill or not, I have the final say. A general sells something to the Beiyu, no matter what you sell, it is enough to behead the military law on the spot, even the governor of Xuanfu can't say that what I did was wrong. So if you want to live now, there is only one way, to be honest with me. I want to know what you sold, who you withheld, and who wants to do you. ”

Wang Bangping looked at Fan Jin, his eyes were already full of fear. This young white-faced scholar looks harmless to humans and animals, but sitting together at this time makes people feel chills all over their bodies, as if they have fallen into an ice cave. The words were understated, and there was still a little smile on his face, but Wang Bangping instinctively felt that if his answer could not satisfy Fan Jin, the bowl of wine he drank just now was his own guillotine wine. Even the evidence of beheading was sent to others with his own hands.

"The old man is gentle...... I don't dare to lie in front of you, and I do business with a few sons. This is not to blame us, it is really too bitter on the side, everyone is working the battlefield, and the picture is to fight for wealth with a knife and a gun. But let's not talk about the dead, and those who survive are far from being rich. worked hard at the border gates, served the officials with fear, and made little money in a year, but there were many places to use the money. Children want to take up jobs, wives and children want to buy jewelry and wear new clothes, families want to marry wives and weapons and armor, and money is used everywhere, and the way to get money is ...... That's it. ”

Places like border gates are both dangerous and opportunity, and as long as there is a way, it is not too difficult to make a fortune. The enemy who fights for life and death on the battlefield, and at the same time his most important customer, may also become a robe and a sibling, this is the current situation at the border of the Ming Dynasty, although absurd but true. There were a large number of Mongols in the border army, such as Ma Fang, who was known as the first fierce general in the Jiajing Dynasty, and the three hundred families were Mongols. He took these 300 Mongols to the Mongolian tribes to burn, kill, loot, smash nests and drive horses, and the cooperation was very pleasant.

Jiajing stopped the sacrifice to the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, and specially requested that the characters be written very small on the chapter, which could not be shared with the Ming Dynasty. In the Longqing period, he became the loyal and obedient king of the imperial court, traded legally with the imperial court, and helped the imperial court guard the border passes. The identities of enemies and friends are changed back and forth, and today's enemies and tomorrow's friends will return to tomorrow and they will become enemy countries again, which is the current situation at the border.

It's a land of chaos, it's hard to tell right from wrong, and it's hard and impractical to have a black and white line in a place like this. To sum up all the behaviors, it is actually one sentence: I want to live. That's it.

The border armies traded with the tribes, selling all the iron and weapons that the imperial court ordered to prohibit the export of them, or raising their hands in exchange for bribes for caravans engaged in such trade, and no one cared whether these iron tools would become arrows to shoot themselves in the autumn. At its worst, the border army herded sheep for the Mongols, and the Mongols guarded the beacon for the border army.

During the Jiajing period, the general army of Datong strictly forbade his subordinates to trade with the Mongols, and demanded a complete ban on the border army from trading with the Mongols, which led to a mutiny. The officers and soldiers, who were deprived of their business qualifications, chose to cut off the heads of the general army, and contacted the Mongol army as Austrian reinforcements, and raised a counter-flag to express to the imperial court the urgent need for commercial activities at the border gates.

In the Longqing period, although the existence of the horse market formalized the smuggling trade as much as possible and kept it under control, the smuggling trade was not banned. At present, ironware, feathers, and lacquer are prohibited items from appearing in the horse market. Sometimes, if there was a famine in Mongolia, the imperial court would ban the sale of grain, and create unrest in the steppes through trade wars.

For policymakers, such orders are seen as far-sighted and strategic. However, at the implementation level, it is nothing more than pointing out the direction of smugglers and telling them what they should sell to make a profit.

Horses, cattle and sheep returned from Mongolian friendship can be sold at a high price in the interior, and Mongolian horses are an excellent commodity in the border army. A successful transaction is enough to change the life of an ordinary person, because he knows that this kind of business is full of dangers, and there are still bold businessmen who break through the door.

At present, there is no such thing as going to the west exit, and killing the tiger is still an important border area, not a trade route, but there are many people who do similar business. It is basically a dream to smuggle out of the customs under the nose of the border army, and even if the force of the border army is not enough to deal with the northern captives, it is still more than enough to pack up the caravan. Those who can do this kind of business are either connected in the border army, or there are big people behind the scenes who let the border army not move, and then there is the border army itself.

From the earliest single-handed, scattered operation, to the current scale, in the Mongolian tribe to get the details of the required materials, and then organize the transfer of materials to transport out, until the transaction is completed to share the profits. Within the border army, a number of groups have been formed as a result of this kind of transaction, each with its own way and its own backers. Wang Bangping was the leader of one of the small groups, and he relied on his convenience as a general to organize caravan trade profits.

This kind of business is fraught with danger, and the system of horse thieves, comrades, and imperial court patrols can have a fatal effect on this trade and its practitioners. Wang Bangping is a standard capsized ship this time, not only the cargo is lost, but even his life is difficult to preserve.

The goods he traded included a large quantity of silk, plus more than 100 pairs of armor, 5,000 carved arrows, and 200 fine steel knives. Except for silk, these materials were forbidden, and those armors even included more than 20 collars of iron armor, which was enough to behead several times in terms of guilt. What's even worse is that it was not the horse thieves on the grassland who seized these goods, but the patrols of the imperial court.

Wang Bangping is not a bastard, and he also knows the truth of eating alone and not getting fat when doing business, and the yamen that should be dealt with has never been neglected, such as the staff around Zhang Jiayin, the governor of Xuanfu, and the general soldiers of Xuanfu can share the profits from his trade, and generally will not trouble him. But this time it was the pacesetter rangers under the Governor of Xuanda who detained the goods, so there was no way to do it.

The governor of Xuanda originally controlled all the military attaches on the defense line of Xuanfu Datong, not to mention that the place where the goods were detained was outside the fortress, and it did not involve the issue of jurisdiction. It is impossible to say that smuggling can be done, and it is naturally an extremely difficult situation to be caught by the people of the immediate boss. Wang Bangping spent a lot of money to settle the matter, and would rather accept his fate and lose money, and the response he got was that this matter would be handed over to the patrol to deal with. Referring to Shang Fang's sword specially pointed out by the governor when he issued an order in Yanghe, Wang Bangping had a hunch that he might have hit the muzzle of the gun this time, and he was likely to be thrown out by Zheng Luo as a scapegoat to give Shang Fang's sword a blade.

Based on the need for survival, Wang Bangping naturally hollowed out his mind to drill into the camp, and Fan Jin and his party had such a big momentum that they couldn't hide their course of action. He deliberately rushed over, just to buy a life in front of Fan Jin. In order to survive, he is ready to go bankrupt, all he wants is not to die, as long as he agrees to this condition, he is willing to be dismissed or confiscated.

Fan Jin listened to the introduction and didn't say a word, and only after Wang Bangping finished speaking did he ask: "Is such a large amount a habit all along, or is it a temporary demand this time?" ”

Wang Bangping was stunned for a moment, looking at Fan Jin's expression, it didn't seem to be pursuing the crime, but it seemed to be scrutinizing something, and he didn't dare to hide it. "Back to the old man, business is not so easy to do, those Beiyu are poor ghosts, otherwise they wouldn't think of robbing our money and food. Especially after the opening of the horse market, the big tribes who have friendship with Alta can trade in the horse market, and they don't want our goods. Most of the people who sit with us are small tribes, and their own strength is limited, so they can't take out too many goods to deliver with us, and this is the first time in recent years that a big business like this has been done. We are also a group of people who have pooled the capital to purchase so many goods...... Forget it, it's always your own life that suffers, and you shouldn't make this fortune. ”

Fan Jin ignored his words and continued to ask, "Are you the only one who got this news?" ”

"The eldest lord is Shengming, and the injustice is here. The news spread in the Xuan army, and there were not a hundred or eighty people who knew it, and the people who did this business were not only the ones who marked this team. The old man didn't know that it took that effort to transfer the goods at that time, and the cost was two percent higher than usual. If it weren't for the extraordinarily high price given on the other side, I wouldn't want to do it. As a result, I didn't know how to offend Zheng Junmen, and I put a bunch of people and didn't catch them, but only caught the next one. Speaking of which, this is really a great injustice! ”

Qi Jin glanced at him, "Big brother, don't say that you are wronged." Doing smuggling business is not on the table, not to mention selling armor and arrows, but fortunately it is not selling firearms, otherwise even the younger brother will not be able to excuse you. No matter how difficult it is for you, you shouldn't do this business, and if you marry a few less wives, you won't be so sad. ”

Fan Jin smiled and said: "I didn't expect Wang Shenrong to be a rich seed, men will inevitably have nine chromoses, this is nothing." Let me ask you, are these the same goods that are sold to Mongolia on weekdays? ”

Wang Bangping shook his head and said, "No." Beilu also knows that there are limits to what we can do, and there are armor arrows to buy, but the quantity is very small, and they can't afford to buy more, and we won't sell them. It is mainly silk and satin cloth, grain and tea, and then there are medicinal materials. Although they also have medicinal herbs, they are not as good as ours. ”

"What about the other than that?"

"That's the Iron ...... Ironware. Wang Bangping's voice was slightly lower.

Fan Jin shook his head and said, "I'm not talking about iron, but ...... Woman. If you sell young women, you will be able to make a fortune. ”

Wang Bangping shook his head like a rattle when he heard this, and said with a white face: "Master, you are wronged!" Which one killed so wronged by the standard, please call him out, see if the standard does not tear him alive! Although the mark is not as good as Qi Dashuai, he also eats court meals, how can he do that lack of virtue? I used those broken copper and iron to exchange a few big girls from the Tartar to come back, but unfortunately I couldn't control myself, and I couldn't use them myself, so I couldn't give them away. If the eldest lord is willing to spare this time, the standard guarantees that the eldest master will come back with a few Mongolian girls next time, and it is guaranteed to be delicious......"

Fan Jin waved his hand to stop him from continuing, glanced at Wang Bangping a few times, and then looked at Qi Jin. Finally, he said: "Wang Bangping, you are lucky, you didn't do anything too bad." But as far as you sell weapons to the northern captives, your sin is unforgivable! ”

His voice was sharp, Wang Bangping's face suddenly turned pale with fright, and as soon as his knees were weak, he knelt on the ground, and kept kowtowing: "Master, be gracious, gracious!" Qi Jin also said: "Master Fan's grace, although Brother Wang has some mistakes, but he is a good hand in fighting, and his conduct is not bad......"

"Listen to what I'm saying. His crime is unforgivable, his feelings are pitiful, for the sake of Qi Shaoshuai's face, this time the official will not pursue the matter. Since Zheng Junmen wants to hand you over to me for disposal, this official is not to blame. ”

Wang Bangping's mood took a roller coaster, and he finally survived the death, his heart was happy, and he couldn't stop kowtowing when he knelt on the ground. Fan Jin pulled him up and said: "Don't thank me, if you want to thank you, thank you for a good Jinlan, otherwise this official will definitely borrow your head and set up a rule at the border!" ”

No matter how straightforward Qi Jin is, he also knows that Fan Jin is making face for himself. There are many models of civil and military friendship in the country, but there is only one literati who are willing to promote military ministers in this way, and with Fan Jin's official status, he can't be guilty of scolding him, a disinterested military minister. The reason why he did this was to simply look up to it, and when he thought of this, Qi Jin's heart was agitated, and he picked up his battle skirt and knelt on the ground and said: "Master Fan gave the mark like this, and the mark is not an ignorant person, this trip to Xuanda The Lord only commands, and the sword mountain and the sea of fire will never give up!" ”