Inside the Forbidden City, it was already dark.

However, the lights in the Heart Cultivation Hall were bright, and Wei Zhongxian, the commander of the East Factory, and Tian Ergeng, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, all came to the Heart Cultivation Hall at this time.

Zhu Youxiao's expression was a little excited.

"Your Majesty, our Jinyi Wei and Dongchang, after nearly two years of secret investigation, have made it clear to the Jin merchants involved in smuggling." Wei Zhongxian said to Zhu Youxiao, and then handed over a list.

Zhu Youxiao took the list and looked at it, and Wei Zhongxian continued: "There are a total of thirty-two Jin merchants involved in smuggling, of which twenty-four are engaged in the smuggling trade with the Mongols, and eight of them are engaged in the smuggling trade with the Jiannu. ”

"Huh?" Zhu Youxiao looked at the list carefully, and the eight merchants who traded with Jiannu were Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Guest, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yunfa.

Aren't these eight merchants the eight imperial merchants of the Qing Dynasty?

"The eight merchants who started the smuggling trade with Jiannu were all from Shanyou, and they were all doing business in Zhangjiakou. The other 24 smuggling companies that engaged in smuggling transactions with the Mongolian tribes also gathered in the Zhangjiakou area. ”

Zhangjiakou has formed an industry dominated by the grassland economy, and cattle, sheep, camels, horses, and all kinds of fur and other things are gathered in Zhangjiakou for processing.

"These eight merchants are the most hateful!" Zhu Youxiao sighed, which was equivalent to sentencing the eight imperial merchants of the early Qing Dynasty to death.

"Your Majesty, this list is the list of smuggling trade between Qin merchants and the Yarkand Khanate outside the Yumen Pass, with a total of thirteen merchants."

Qin Shang. That is, Shaanxi businessmen.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty. Qin Shang is also a merchant gang with relatively strong capital. According to Song Yingxing's records, the people with strong capital in the Ming Dynasty are probably the three major merchant gangs of Qin, Jin and Hui, which means that the capital of these three major merchant gangs is the most concentrated. But these merchant gangs, compared to the rich merchants and magnates in the Ming Dynasty, are just a more conspicuous group, because they get together and establish guilds or something. So it stands out.

The grain merchants, cloth merchants, mine owners, factory owners, workshop owners, landlords, and coastal maritime merchants in the Ming Dynasty were also very wealthy.

The smuggling trade between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia and the Western Regions has lasted for at least 100 years, and there was no big problem before, but the corners of the country were dug up.

Therefore, those smugglers who traded with the Mongols and the Yarkand Khanate had not yet reached the point of unpardonable sin. Only the eight smugglers in Shanxi were the worst, and it was difficult for the country to make a fortune.

"Do you have the information about these people's household registrations, addresses, and members?" Zhu You asked Wei Zhongxian and Tian Ergeng.

"Got it." The two replied.

"Okay, now that you've mastered it. Next, let's catch them all! Zhu Youxiao finally made a decision. We must wipe out all these smugglers.

However, how to catch it all in one fell swoop is to be considered thoroughly.

The next day, Zhu Youxiao set up a group in the Supreme Command to arrest smuggling merchants, and transferred a division of the Central Army to fully cooperate with Jinyiwei and Dongchang in arresting the Jin and Qin merchants involved in smuggling.

At the same time, another division was dispatched to Shaanxi and Shanxi to guard against possible unrest.

The news of this arrest was tightly sealed, and when the central army arrived in Zhangjiakou, none of the Jin merchants involved in the smuggling had yet to react.

The entire Zhangjiakou was fenced.

None of the 32 businesses involved in the smuggling business were spared on this day. Suddenly, a large number of officers and soldiers rushed into the shop, arrested all the shopkeepers and associates, and sealed up all these shops.

The owners of these businesses were also arrested one by one.

After a while, when the people of Zhangjiakou came back to their senses, they found that most of the businesses in Zhangjiakou had been seized, and only two or three were left that had not been seized.

Originally, the street was still very lively, and there were many shops. But in an instant, most of them were closed. The few remaining firms were all terrified.

"What's going on?" The proprietor of one of the businesses wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and walked out tremblingly, only to find that the outside was full of officers and soldiers in red military uniforms.

"Owner, they won't seal our business name too!" The guy on the side, who was also frightened, asked with a trembling voice.

"Yes, probably not! Look at those officials and soldiers, all of them are named and surnamed, and it seems that there is no us. As the shopkeeper was talking, the proprietor suddenly clapped his hands and shouted, "Oops! I understand. Look at the businesses that have been sealed, aren't they all those who are doing smuggling business to the Mongol tribes and Jiannu! ”

"Really." When the shopkeeper and the guy looked at it, they immediately realized that this was really the case. The shopkeeper said with palpitations: "Fortunately, we are doing serious business, otherwise we would have to fall into it this time!" ”

Zhangjiakou, the northern border trade center, was suddenly served by the imperial court. More than 2,000 people were arrested that day.

All the proprietors, shopkeepers, and associates of the seized firms were arrested, and all the shops, warehouses, and workshops of the firms were sealed.

The border trade of the whole of Zhangjiakou came to a standstill on the same day, and under the blockade of the official army, trade with the Mongols and Jiannu stopped.

The arrests are ongoing and have spread to all parts of Shanxi.

The mansions of the proprietors of those businesses were also seized by Jinyiwei and Dongchang with the Central Army, and these mansions were all very luxurious.

There are all kinds of pavilions, there are many jewels and jades in them, and these very wealthy smugglers like to buy beautiful girls. Large sums of grain and silver were hidden in the cellars by them. Shanxi is located in the Loess Plateau region, and the soil is dry and hard, making it ideal for storing things.

In the hands of these smugglers, there is a large amount of arable land, as well as various workshops, in addition to the production of various goods, there are even workshops for the manufacture of weapons privately.

After some seizure, there was another burst of crying dad and mother.

Zhu Youxiao's action in arresting these smugglers was too covert and too fast, and when arresting these businessmen, he made strict arrangements. So much so that as soon as it was launched, it was all wiped out, so that those smugglers did not react at all.

"The wealth of these Jin merchants is amazing." Tian Ergeng, who personally rushed to Shanxi to direct the raid operation, looked at the list of statistics below in surprise, as well as those things that were still being counted.

The wealth of these Jin merchants is mainly divided into several parts, one is the mansion, and the other is the jewelry, jade, and slaves in the house. The third is a large amount of cultivated land. Fourth, workshops and shops. Fifth, cross-provincial assets such as tea mountains in the south.

For example, in terms of tea, the Jin merchants adopted the model of buying and opening up tea mountains in the south, and then processing the tea into tea bricks, and then transporting them to the north to trade with the Mongols. The same is true for all kinds of other goods. (To be continued......)

PS: I drank a lot of alcohol yesterday, and I couldn't write this morning or afternoon, so I could only sleep. It's a little bit of a state in the evening.,It's started.,It's estimated that there are only two chapters today.。 Also, I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!