Chapter 55 Huang Taiji's Goods

Wu Sinan came to Xuanfu to take office, and before he entered the city, local officials of all sizes were already waiting outside the city, of course, in addition to officials, there were also those rich businessmen and tycoons. For this kind of entertainment, Lord Wu did not refuse to come, arranged for his family to live in the governor's yamen, and then went to Xuanya Pavilion, the largest restaurant in Xuanfu City, with everyone.

Today's Xuan Ya Pavilion has been wrapped, and officials, rich people, and stars generally invite Wu Sinan to the upstairs private room. Xuanfu is an important place in a border town, but there is a saying that wealth is in danger, so there are really a lot of people who come here to do business in the border area. Among them, eight wealthy businessmen are the most dazzling, their names are Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Guest, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yunfa. Look at the leaders of those three people, even those general soldiers, generals, prefects and so on have to give three points of thin noodles.

Wu Sinan's memory is very good, and he wrote down almost everyone's names while talking and laughing. After greetings, Xiao Er began to serve food, and there were all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and seas. However, Lord Wu has also eaten and seen it, and he will not take these dishes seriously.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors, more than a dozen bewitching women walked in from outside the private room, and these women seemed to be very familiar with the dignitaries and nobles in the house, and greeted each other one by one. But soon, Lord Beifu called Wu Sinan and asked Lord Wu to choose.

Lord Wu is a romantic seed, and often goes to the land of fireworks, and his name is called a private visit to the livelihood of folk women. Now that everyone has sent the beauty in front of him, how could Lord Wu refuse to let people go thousands of miles away, and quickly chose two to sit on his side, and when he finished choosing, the others dared to call their good friends to sit together.

Soon, the topic on the wine table became Fenghua Xueyue, Lord Wu was proficient in this, and he talked eloquently, and the atmosphere was not ordinarily harmonious.

Time passed slowly, seeing that the hour was not early, the prefect said that he had already prepared a wing room for the adults in Xuanya Pavilion, and the adults could stay here tonight and talk about the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting with the two beauties around him. Wu Sinan politely refused, but the reason for his refusal did not make anyone question it. His reason is very simple, the wife at home is a famous tigress, and when she plays outside, she will be jealous and make some unpleasant trouble, if you dare not return at night, it is estimated that after you go home the next morning, you will not want to live. Forget about staying here, let's drink a little less wine another day, and when it's still early, it's too late to discuss qin, chess, calligraphy and painting with the two beauties.

Wu Sinan openly expressed his fear of guilt, so that everyone looked up to the sky and snorted, and no one would persuade him again. However, there are some people who are in sympathy with him, and they are spitting out bitter water, and they have drunk a lot of wine anyway, and since the governor dares to admit that he is afraid of the inside, of course the others are not afraid to show it.

After drinking for a while, Wu Sinan said goodbye and returned home, and the officials and businessmen sent Lord Wu downstairs like a moon.

Wu Sinan returned to the governor's yamen, but he did not go to the room of the eldest lady or the second lady tonight, but only asked his subordinates to take him to the study to rest. Lying on the couch in the study, Wu Sinan began to ponder the purpose of Yue Su asking him to come to Xuanfu as a governor. It can be said that Wu Sinan has been thinking about this problem all the way, but he has never come up with it. Although I saw the faces of the officials and businessmen here in Xuanfu today, it is not like this in the world, and Lord Yue let him come, it will definitely not be because of this.

"Tartar is from Zhangjiakou, Zhangjiakou is under the control of Xuanfu, I heard that the governor of Xuanfu was transferred to Liaodong, and now Lord Yue asked me to take over. What is the purpose of Lord Yue, the Lord has always been resolute in doing things, if he knew that there were officials and generals who escaped from the battle, with his own person, he had already taken matters into his own hands and went to kill people, no matter how he said, it would not be my turn to do this. If I am asked to lead the army to fight and rectify the border defense, I can't get on a horse, I can't draw a bow, and I don't know anything about fighting. ”

Just as Wu Sinan was pondering, someone outside the door said, "May I ask my lord, have you slept?" ”

"Haven't slept yet? What's the matter? Wu Sinan said.

"It's Wu Tong who is back." The servant said.

Scholar Wu Tong, when Wu Sinan was walking halfway, asked him to go to the Xuanfu area first to inquire about the situation there. The so-called knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent will not be defeated in a hundred battles, as a feudal official, it should be even more so. He asked Wu Tong to go to Xuanfu in advance, just to find out what the official reputation of the officials in Xuanfu is, which one is corrupt, which one is upright, and what is the local customs? The most important thing is that what happened here when the Tartars were on the path to Xuanfu?

Now as soon as he heard that Wu Tong was back, Wu Sinan immediately sat up and ordered Wu Tong to come in.

After Wu Tong entered the door, before he could ask An to see him, Wu Sinan said: "You kid hurry up, hurry up and tell me, I've been here for so long, and I've heard something." ”

"Back to the master's words, the little one first inquired about the official voice of the officials here among the people, and listened to the people that the officials here are not bad, and they have not done anything mean to the people, but they have been with the businessmen for a long time. Because of its proximity to Zhangjiakou, there were often merchants who went out to do business with the Tartars, and it was just a small profit, and those who did big business at that time had to deal with the magistrates. What is the situation in the military camp, the small one did not inquire, but on the side of Zhangjiakou, I heard that it was slaughtered by the Tartars, the soldiers and horses were killed and wounded, and there seemed to be tens of thousands of dead soldiers. Later, when Lord Yue came to Beijing to take office, he passed through Xuanfu, and officials of Xuanfu came to greet him, but Lord Yue did not be polite to them, but went directly to Zhangjiakou to inspect. When Mr. Yue arrived in Zhangjiakou, he didn't seem to say anything, didn't do anything, only stayed for one night, and then left for Beijing the next day. That is, a few days after Lord Yue arrived in Beijing, the imperial court issued a decree to transfer the former governor of Xuanfu to Liaodong to take office, and transferred the Lord here. Wu Tong inquired about the situation and went through it.

Sinan listened, nodded, and said: "It seems that the matter is in Zhangjiakou, otherwise Lord Yue came to Xuanfu and didn't even enter the city, so he went there, and when he turned back to Beijing, he transferred the governor here, not for Zhangjiakou, but for what." Zhangjiakou is the mouth of the border town, and there are only military generals guarding there, and when the Xuanfu officials took over today, the deputy general who guarded Zhangjiakou also came. I remember that the name seems to be called Tian Xiu. It seems that I have to go to see this Zhangjiakou in person, otherwise, how can I guess Lord Yue's intentions. Speaking of this, Wu Sinan looked at Wu Tong and said, "You are also tired, go down and rest." ”

"Yes, sir."

After Wu Tong retreated, Wu Sinan lay down on the couch again, "Zhangjiakou, Tian Xiu, it seems that your luck is really bad, let Lord Yue keep an eye on you." Well, use your head to exchange my black yarn. ”

While thinking about it, Wu Sinan had a smile on his face, because he didn't drink less, and soon fell asleep. Early the next morning, before Wu Sinan got up, there was a messenger, and a person who claimed to be Fan Yongdou came to the door to ask for a meeting, and he also brought many gifts.

At the banquet yesterday, Wu Sinan remembered this name and knew that it was a rich Jin businessman, so he immediately met him.

As a qualified businessman, after entering the door, Fan Yongdou just greeted him, said some flattering polite words, and left a gift list before leaving, superfluous words, as if asking adults to take care of him, but there was no word. didn't ask Wu Sinan to help do anything.

In fact, it's just a matter of courtesy, and there is really no need to say superfluous words, everyone understands what it means. Wu Sinan looked at the gift list, it was indeed very heavy, at least three thousand taels. Eating other people's mouths is short, and taking other people's hands is short, this is counted, Wu Sinan is actually quite honest, although sometimes he also takes advantage of the public, and he has never accepted such a huge bribe at that time.

But this time, Lord Wu didn't even say "thank you", so he accepted all the orders, and didn't even send Fan Yongdou out, as if all this was due. Soon after Fan Yongdou left, someone came to the door again, and the person who came was Tian Shenglan, who, like Fan Yongdou, entered the door to greet and flatter, and then left the gift list and left. The amount of the gift is also around three thousand taels, and Lord Wu is still the same, not polite at all, he accepts all the orders.

The gift-giver seems to have been discussed, this one is gone, and the next one will come to the door in less than a moment, and this batch of dials will be from early morning to the afternoon sunset. Wu Sinan couldn't remember how many people came, and most of the gifts were around three thousand taels. After all, I'm sorry for your identity as the governor, and I'm sending too much, but also because I have nothing to ask for at the moment, and it's inconvenient to feed too much at one time. Moreover, it is not only those businessmen who come to give gifts, but officials at all levels also come to the door one after another to send filial piety. However, the time of their gifts was staggered with that of these merchants, who concentrated in the morning and officials in the afternoon.

On this day, although Lord Wu didn't personally go out to greet and send him off no matter who came, he was really tired just sitting in the flower hall. I don't know how many times I have said the polite words like a wheel, and even the time for lunch is not easy to squeeze out, let alone take a nap. If this is someone else, it is estimated that he will be happy to die, but Lord Wu feels that it is really difficult to use. To put it mildly, he didn't dare to collect these things, he didn't dare to collect them, he understood that if he dared to keep these things, his head would have to be given to Lord Yue.

After a busy day, I wanted to have a meal with my wife in the evening, but as soon as I sat down, I was counted down by Jiang Xuanna and Liu Siting, saying that when he came to Xuanfu, he had changed and dared to accept bribes. Wu Sinan hurriedly explained, saying that he was also forced to be helpless, Lord Yue asked me to come, there must be another deep meaning, if I don't fight with them first, the future work will not progress. But don't worry, you two, I will keep a solid record of these things, and tomorrow I will ask someone to send the list to the house of Lord Yue in Beijing.

After hearing these words, the two ladies were relieved, and the three of them had a peaceful meal. Wu Sinan also did what he said, and immediately asked people to submit the written list, write it into a letter, and send his confidants to Beijing.

In a large mansion in Xuanfu City, it is full of friends at the moment, and they are staggered. The people present were all present to give gifts to Lord Wu today, and the chief soldiers of the Xuanfu, the prefects, and the local wealthy businessmen and magnates were also all present.

There is only one topic that these people are talking about now, and that is the new governor, Lord Wu. At first, everyone didn't know what Lord Wu's intention was, everyone was careful and vigilant, yesterday's banquet was actually the meaning of exploring Wu Sinan, seeing that it was not the master of oil and salt, he gave a gift today, and now the gift has been received, which is naturally reassuring.

As for why the original governor was transferred away and replaced by Wu Sinan, in fact, if you think about it carefully, you can figure it out. Tartars went out of Zhangjiakou under Xuanfu, captured Zhangjiakou in only one day, and left, if the court did not get angry, then it would be a hell. Someone has to carry this black cauldron, Tian Xiu went there and pressed his guilt down, but the pass of the Great Wall will be broken in one day, and if other people don't pursue it, can Yue shave his head or not, he has to find someone.

As Lord Yue, it seems that it is too bad to embarrass a lieutenant general, and it seems that it is not the same thing to embarrass the governor of Xuanda, so you can only choose one from the governor or governor. Whoever is picked, it is who is unlucky. It may be that Lord Yue saw that the governor was not pleasing to his eyes, so he was transferred away, and turned around to replace it, which must mean that the Xuanfu must be strengthened to prepare for it, so as not to have the same situation as last time.

Since it's for this, it's okay, the big guy is naturally good, how to make money, how to make money, strengthen the armament, that's the matter of the governor and the chief soldier, you two study it yourself, it's none of our business.

The big guy was relieved, and of course he had a good time, and he basically came to be satisfied.

This house belonged to the big businessman Fan Yongdou, and the other guests left, but seven of them did not leave as if they were sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai platform. Which seven are they, naturally Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Guest, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yunfa.

The eight of them re-set up the banquet in Fan Yongdou's study, sat in a circle, and did not need to be served. The eyes of the big guys were all focused on Fan Yongdou, as if Fan Yongdou was their leader.

"Ahem...... Fan Yongdou coughed twice and said: "Everyone, you have also read the letter from the Great Khan, and we also have a clear division of labor with each other, and we will prepare what we need to prepare." How's your preparation now? ”

"The 20,000 sets of armor and 20,000 weapons on my side are ready." Wang Dengku was the first to say.

"The 20,000 sets of armor and 20,000 weapons on my side have also been prepared." Jin Liangyu followed and said.

"The two of you are fine, one in Xuanfu to get the goods, one in Datong to get the goods, a few of us will be in trouble, to Henan, Shandong, Huguang to get the goods, although there is money to do things, but the distance is there, it will take a while. But Brother Fan, don't worry about me, the Henan Prison Army has already received the money, and the required weapons and armor will be delivered one after another. "It was Wang Dayu who spoke this time.

"Me too." Liang said: "The Shandong Supervision Army has also collected my silver, and now a batch of armor and weapons has been shipped, with 5,000 sets, and the rest will be shipped in batches." ”

"Just like me here, the Huguang Supervision Army has also received my silver, and the armor and weapons I need will be delivered in the near future." Tian Shenglan said.

"I have a hundred cannons here, and I originally planned to go to the south to buy Hongyi cannons, but it took too long, so I had to prepare them at the nearest provincial overseers. Now it's fifty. Tian Shenglan said.

"I'm preparing for 500,000 stone of grain here, but this year, grain is the most sought-after, first I found the Li family in Huguang, but the Li family is now running grain for the imperial court, and they are still collecting grain everywhere. I had no choice but to find someone else to buy it, but the current price of food is too expensive, plus the cost of travel, it has increased several times. However, I still raised 300,000 stones, and the remaining 200,000 is estimated to be able to raise it in a short. Zhai Tang said.

"It's all the same. There is a shortage of grain in the north now, and Sichuan has let the Liukou toss, and the food is not enough, and the Li family in Huguang is collecting grain, and I have to go to Nanzhili to collect the 500,000 yuan. Fortunately, the hard work paid off, and I finally got it, and it didn't take long for the 500,000 stone grain to be delivered. This time it was Huang Yunfa who spoke.

"Good. As long as the things that the Great Khan needs are settled, then it is okay, so many things, the Great Khan will also be considerate of us, and it will be ready within a year and a half. The one million stone of grain I want to raise here, to be honest, I haven't done it all. In these years, grain is more difficult to get than armor and weapons, especially now that Shanxi is also in a famine, and it is difficult for the whole north to buy grain, who doesn't want the grain in hand to sell at a high price. Compared with the Li family, our strength is still much worse. I am also buying grain from Jiangnan, and I just got a letter back, saying that I have already done 600,000 stones, and I am slowly sending them, and the remaining 400,000 yuan will take a while. Fan Yongdou also reported his work.

It turned out that Huang Taiji wanted to expand the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty, which required a lot of armor and weapons. The Jurchens also had no technology, and they couldn't smelt iron, let alone build weapons and armor. For a long time, the equipment of the Jurchens was bought from the Central Plains, and the most relied on them were Fan Yongdou and other eight people. If history still follows the original trajectory, then Fan Yongdou and the Eight are the famous eight imperial merchants during the Qing Dynasty. This can be regarded as the Jurchens' reward for them.

Huang Taiji wrote a letter to Fan Yongdou, hoping that the eight of them could help purchase 100,000 sets of weapons and armor, 100 cannons, and 2 million stones of grain. Huang Taiji bought goods from them, and they had always been real money and silver, and there was no arrears, so Fan Yongdou and they also liked to do business with the Jurchens.

However, how could they, a group of merchants whose conscience was clouded by copper oil, not think about it, and sell their weapons to the Tartars, who would use these weapons to cut down their Han compatriots. Now that there is a famine in the north of the Ming Dynasty, there is not enough food for them, so they have to transport the grain to Liaodong and give it to the Tartars. If there is one grain less grain in the Central Plains, the people of the Central Plains will have to eat one less grain.

In fact, two million stone of grain is not a lot, even during the great drought, the rice merchants still have grain in their hands. It's just that they want to wait for the price and sell, how can they sell easily, after all, retail will make more money than wholesale to Fan Yongdou. And Fan Yongdou and them can be regarded as having spent a lot of money to get these. This is the gap in strength, Li Yuanchen also collects grain, at that time, the Li family wanted to buy grain, and there were really not many people who dared not to buy it. Even if you make less money, you have to sell it to the Li family. This is completely different from the price sold to the Jin merchants.

After everyone reported the current acquisition, Fan Yongdou continued: "Looking at it now, this Wu Sinan is not a ruthless corner, a roadblock, we don't have to take him seriously." His arrival, as those people said, wants to strengthen the armament of the border army, and it has nothing to do with us. Although this Wu Sinan used to be the governor of Fujian, and he was Yue Su's subordinate for a few days, he was not Yue Su after all. Everyone loves money, and this Lord Wu is no exception. We don't need to give him gifts on the pole now, the current gift is enough, if there are too many gifts, he will still wonder. Just do the same with them. Speaking of this, Fan Yongdou changed his words and said: "Brother Wang, Brother Jin, you two are the first to get the moon near the water, and the armor and weapons are all taken nearby, in a few days, I plan to ship them outside the customs, and your things will be transported to Zhangjiakou." The goods are also delivered according to the old rules, and whoever is responsible for escorting the transportation will be responsible for leading the team. If you need manpower, each family will work together. ”

"Don't worry, most of the goods have been shipped to the shops in Zhangjiakou, and the rest can be delivered in the next two days." Wang Dayu and Jin Liangyu said.

These Wang Ba calves planned to ship from Zhangjiakou to Liaodong and sell strategic materials to Huang Taiji. As for Lord Wu, in the early morning of the next day, he led the escort army and set off for Zhangjiakou to inspect.

Since Lord Yue lived in Zhangjiakou for a day, he replaced the governor of Xuanfu with himself, and there must be something wrong with Zhangjiakou.

The deputy general, Tian Xiu, gave Wu Sinan a gift yesterday, and now he is still living in Xuanfu City and has not returned. Early in the morning, there was news from the General Military Mansion that the governor was going to Zhangjiakou to inspect and asked him to accompany him quickly.

Along the way, Wu Sinan asked how the battle was fought when the Tartars arrived in Zhangjiakou, how many officers and soldiers died, and whether the Tartars were strong.

Tian Xiu boasted that the combat power of the Tartar was in the sky and on the earth, and it was a few points more powerful than the Jade Emperor's heavenly soldiers and generals. In his mouth, the Tartars drove the people to attack the city, and while they let the people go to the city, they rushed to the city, as if destroying the withering and decaying, and killed the Ming army to the point that it was impossible to defeat the army. Fortunately, his martial arts were strong, so he barely managed to break out of the encirclement, escaped from the north gate, and escaped a catastrophe. In this battle, the Ming army suffered more than 10,000 casualties, which was really miserable.

Wu Sinan is not very good at fighting, what Tian Xiu says, he will listen to now, finally came to Zhangjiakou City, opened the curtain of the carriage, looked at the famous Great Wall Pass, and didn't seem to feel anything strange, so he was pulled in by the carriage.

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