At dusk, Li Daniu and Wang Wenyan's two servants returned to the warehouse one after another.

Li Daniu has been squatting near the school yard of the patrol camp for the past few days, and the new situation he discovered is that there are many more battalion soldiers with Hebei accents. The bustard near the school also confirmed his judgment of the accent.

The old bustard was very hot with Li Daniu, who had drunk and rewarded the girl with a lot of money, and he talked happily like pouring beans on a bamboo tube.

"Master Li, most of the fathers-in-law in the palace are from Hebei, isn't Admiral Cui's brother also from Hebei? Admiral Cui recruited new pawns, and he picked that place. Oh, these little military masters are very happy, and our girl is a mandarin duck in the photo, and the price is not returned. It's a pity that business was booming in the first two days, and I didn't come in the past few days. ”

After listening to Li Daniu's relay, Zheng Haizhu asked: "What is the market for the private people in the east of the city?" ”

Li Daniu said: "Drink a drink, play the tooth board and sing songs, ordinary appearance, two or three dollars of silver." If so, if it is a fish and water, even if it is not Sister Hong, the pillow will cost seven or eight dollars. ”

Zheng Haizhu frowned: "The patrol camp is also a battalion, and the salary for recruiting troops will not be much higher than that of the border army, right?" The monthly ration of a few taels of silver is very large, and even if you take two taels of silver when you enter Beijing, you will not be so arrogant. ”

She turned to Wang Wenyan's two domestic servants: "You tell Mr. Wang about this verse." ”

The Wang family servant nodded in agreement.

The information they brought was similar to what Zheng Haizhu had predicted.

A few brown-clothed men who committed murder in Fahua Temple but returned from feathers had lunch at a small restaurant near Biaogang Hutong, and continued to wander around Fahua Temple for an hour before heading north and entering a compound deep in Magpie Hutong outside Chongwen Gate.

"Madam, our brothers inquired, and the seller of sauce and vinegar at the entrance of the alley said that the people in that courtyard, the little guys seem to have Shanxi accents, but the young master of the main family does not like pasta, and it is common for the rice shop to send rice to that family. We didn't dare to ask too carefully, so we squatted at the mouth of the alley for a while, and we didn't see the well-dressed young man come out, so we withdrew. ”

Zheng Haizhu said gently: "The ability of the two of you to keep an eye on is enough. You really can't push too hard the first time. ”

She rewarded the Wang family's servants with silver, and asked Li Daniu to take out the map of the Jingshi City Fang given by Wang Wenyan, staring at the area between "Zhengdongfang" and "Chongbeifang", pondering for a while, and letting several of her subordinates come over and listen.

"There are two father-in-law Wei with a head and a face in the palace at the moment. One is Wei Jinzhong, who served the emperor's eldest son, and the other is Wei Dynasty, who served Long Live Lord. The guest mother who made me stumble was originally the opponent of the Wei Dynasty, but just recently, she fell out with the Wei Dynasty and fell in love with Wei Jinzhong. The Wei Dynasty was among the internal officials, and the official rank was not low, and he was disgusted with the new by a nurse, and he couldn't hang up on his face, so he secretly went to the Long Live Lord to pry him out, and he wanted to send the Hakka out of the palace on the grounds that the prince was an adult. ”

The information that Zheng Haizhu said is not all from the perspective of God of a later generation, but also from Wang An's new news.

After the turmoil in Wenhua Hall that day, Wang An took the opportunity to tell Zheng Haizhu to beware of Wei Jinzhong, the new friend of the Hakka family, that is, Wei Zhongxian, and take revenge on her.

At this moment, Li Daniu listened to this section and muttered: "So, could it be this Wei Jinzhong's thug who lied that he was sent by the Wei Dynasty?" ”

Zheng Haizhu shook his head and said, "It seems that now, it won't." Wei Jinzhong is from Hebei, how can he use a small guy in Shanxi? Even if you recruit a small guy in Shanxi, where did the young master in the house come from? What's more, for these high-ranking fathers-in-law, most of the other houses outside the palace are near Jinggongfang in the north, because it is convenient to go to the various departments and supervision bureaus in the inner court. ”

Zheng Haizhu paused and pointed to the map: "Magpie Hutong is in the south, and it is too far to go to the four divisions, eight bureaus and twelve prisons in the north of the imperial city." However, coincidentally, outside this Chongwen Gate is precisely where the Shanxi Hall is located. Mr. Wang told me that in recent years, the Jin merchants have been very bold and have paid a high price to grab this piece of feng shui treasure land from the hands of the Hui merchants. ”

Wang Wenyan's domestic servant, who is also from Huizhou, nodded when he heard it: "Yes, yes, remember, our master said that the person who built the Shanxi Guild Hall is surnamed Fan, called Fan, and Fan ......."

Another servant continued: "It's called Fan Yongdou." ”

Zheng Haizhu's hand froze.

Fan Yongdou......

The Fan family, one of the eight famous Jin merchants, together with seven other Jin merchants, put their own interests first in Zhangjiakou, a large wharf connecting Mongolia, Manchuria, and Han at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, in order to thank these "traitors at the end of the Ming Dynasty", the ruler specially issued an edict saying: The kings of Jindi, Jin, Fan, Wang, Liang, Tian, Zhai, and Huang, since the Longxing Liaozuo of this dynasty, sent people to the city to change people, all of whom were the masters of these eight families, and were named the eight imperial merchants who were subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Among them, Fan Yongdou was appointed by the Aixin Jueluo family to preside over the trade affairs of the empire.

"Madam, isn't the one who drugged the baby of Liu Qiao's Liu Dudu family also Shanxi Langzhong?" Li Daniu said with a reminding tone.

"That's right," Zheng Haizhu looked away from the map and turned to Wang Wenyan's two servants, "You all go and report to Mr. Wang what you have learned today." In the next few days, I asked Mr. Wang to change his two faces, and still went to Magpie Hutong to stare at it to see how the young master who loved rice was so quiet. On my side, I will ask Liu Du to supervise someone to check whether the owner of the house is a father-in-law or a Jin merchant. ”

……

At sunset, Fan Wencheng lifted the curtain and looked at the carriage when it passed by the South Patrol Hall.

He remembered Fushun a few years ago, and remembered the sound of soldiers and screams coming from the direction of the Temple of Literature when he was reading at night.

That night, the killing of the Jurchens disguised as merchants by the Fushun defenders was only a prelude to the hearty victory of the Ming army the next day.

Fan Wencheng clearly remembered that after another twelve hours, outside Fushun City, the Ming army with different origins and different numbers began to celebrate after counting the heads of the Tartars and recording their military exploits.

No, he shouldn't use the title "Tartar" anymore.

Because, the Tartar, has become his master.

Fan Wencheng's gaze on the Beijing streetscape began to lose focus.

If he hadn't lost in the field in Shenyang not long after, how could he Fan Wencheng, a descendant of Fan Zhongyan, a famous minister of the Great Song Dynasty, have voted for Houjin?

Under the bewitchment of those hidden solicitors of Houjin, Fan Wencheng, who made his choice impulsively, never regretted his choice when he came to Nurhachi and Huang Taiji.

What about the Han people, and what about the descendants of the virtuous ministers of the Han people.

The Ming Empire can't give him the glory and wealth, and the Ming lord of the foreign race can give it to him.

Isn't it all the word "Ming"?

Since ancient times, scholars have learned literature and martial arts, and they are sold in the emperor's house, regardless of whether it is the emperor of the Han people or the emperor of the Jurchens.

The corners of Fan Wencheng's mouth floated with a smile that I didn't know whether it was sarcasm or excitement.

He lowered the curtain, took off the soft jacket on his body, and changed it into the cloth clothes and trousers common to the pawns of the peddlers in the capital.

The carriage turned past the Fahua Temple, and Fan Wencheng got out of the car, lowered his head, and walked into the alley quickly.

"Your Highness, the ten thousand taels of silver from Jindi have entered Beijing. The master of the four Baylors said that they were all for His Highness to reward people. Fan Wencheng said to the man who was sipping blue snow tea.

Zhu Qianju smiled: "You set aside a thousand taels first, and you also have to reward people, don't you?" Besides, my men often borrow your courtyard to live, and bother you to eat. ”