Shanxi because of the geographical environment of the mountains and little land, agriculture is not very good, but the business is very developed, coupled with Shanxi and close to the border of the Great Wall, because of the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia continuous war and conflict, merchants from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty often bear a part of the procurement and trafficking of military materials.

This is the earliest strategy set by Lao Zhu back then, and the reason why he did this is in addition to the reasons mentioned above, there is also a reason that Lao Zhu plans to use the merchants to make up for the lack of military spending.

The local government is also out of this consideration, in order to solve the shortage of taxes, there is a lot of support for merchants, coupled with the needs of the military, but also to give merchants a lot of policy convenience, among which the opening of the law is this way.

Judging from this historical reason, Shanxi's merchants are inextricably linked with the local government and even the military, especially those large merchants, who have one or another connection behind them.

Liu Shancheng is such a big businessman, the Liu family has been operating in Binh Duong for many years, and it has been counted for several generations.

The Liu family was originally just an ordinary merchant, and they made their fortune in the Jiajing period.

In the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing, Altan Khan led his army to invade Datong, bribing Yan Songzi, Yan Shifan, and serving as the chief soldier of Xuanda, Qiu Luan, who was afraid and helpless, tried to bribe Altan Khan with a lot of money, so that he could move Kota Sai and not commit Datong.

At that time, the head of the Liu family seized this opportunity and took the initiative to help Qiu Luan raise funds, and also donated most of the family funds, thus building a relationship.

In order to reward the Liu family for helping each other in distress, Altan Khan moved to Gubeikou, entered Tongzhou and forced Jiajing to pay tribute to the market, Jiajing ordered Qiu Luan to preside over the opening of the horse market, with the emperor's will, Qiu Luan reciprocated the actual operation of the horse market to the head of the Liu family to take care of, and at the same time acquiesced to the convenience of the Liu family and Mongolia mutual market transactions.

Although the actual existence of this horse market was not long, it was ordered to close by Jiajing not long because of the lack of results.

But the Liu family took this opportunity not only to open up the channels in the officialdom, but also to set up a relationship with the Mongols in the north.

After Qiu Luan's death, the Liu family took other connections, and after more than ten years of painstaking operation, it became a well-known big merchant in Pingyang Prefecture from the original small business.

Although the current Liu family is not as brilliant as the earliest Liu family, and Liu Shancheng, the head of the Liu family, does not have the courage and vision of the ancestors, but as a keeper, Liu Shancheng is still qualified, and the Liu family is still a member of the entire Shanxi businessmen.

The Liu family has been operating in Shanxi for many years and has deep roots, and there are many relationships between the government, the military and even other parties. The Liu family is not an ordinary merchant, such a big merchant is not something that ordinary clans can touch, let alone these low-level clans, even if the prefect of Pingyang wants to move the Liu family, he has to weigh it.

Just now, Zhu Shencone drew a cake of 1,000 taels for the three of them, and the size of this cake almost made the honest Zhu Minqi excited. But when they heard that Zhu Shencheng's target was Liu Shancheng and Liu's family, the hearts of the three of them suddenly sank again, and they all looked sad for a while.

"Hehe, why is it all like this? Hearing Liu Shancheng, how many of you are afraid? Looking at their appearance, Zhu Shencone asked with a smile.

"I'm afraid of hair! Will my dignified clan be afraid of Liu Shancheng? What kind of thing is he, Liu Shancheng, isn't he just a mere merchant? Zhu Qiuqi said with a stalk on his neck, but after saying this, he said a little weakly: "But uncle, although our clan identity is noble, you also know what is going on, Liu Shancheng is nothing, but if he moves and involves other people, I am afraid it will be a little troublesome." ”

"Xiao Eighteen's words are reasonable, Liu Shancheng is not afraid, but after all, the Liu family has been in business for many years, and they have connections in the local and border gates, and once it makes a big fuss, it will not be a small trouble." Zhu Minfeng was also worried.

Zhu Min stopped talking and looked hesitant. He was excited about two hundred and fifty taels just now, but now that he came back to his senses and heard that the target was Liu Shancheng, it was equivalent to sweating profusely on his front foot and pouring cold water on his back foot.

He is an honest man, but an honest man does not mean that he is stupid.

Of course, Zhu Minqi knew Liu Shancheng's status and wealth in Pingyang, and he also understood that there were intricate relationships behind the Liu family.

But at the same time, Zhu Minqi was thinking about his ethereal two hundred and fifty taels of silver, he knew too well how big the Liu family's property was, just as Zhu Shencone said just now, the Liu family, which has a mere one thousand taels of family assets and a huge fortune, is nothing at all, if he can really succeed, let alone divide two hundred and five, it is possible to get a few two hundred and five.

The combination of risks and benefits made Zhu Minqi very entangled in his heart, he was not only worried about the problem of starting with Liu Shancheng, but also reluctant to Zhu Shencheng's promise of two hundred and five, his hands were clenched for a while, and his face changed uncertainly.

"If there is no risk, where is the benefit? Want to lie at home in peace and wait for pie to fall from the sky? Do you think it's possible? Seeing that the three of them had the idea of retreating, Zhu Shencone sneered: "Do you feel comfortable living a day like this now?" After eating the last meal, watching your children cry when they are hungry? Pulling your face to find someone to laugh at and look for famine? ”

"Clan clan? Hehe, it sounds good, and the grade is not low, but how about the sect is not clear to others, how many of you don't understand? We were born into the clan, and our surname was Zhu as soon as we opened our eyes, and we didn't have a choice for this God's arrangement, but how to live our lives, we still have a chance. Live like this for a lifetime? Maybe there was a famine that day, and all the children starved to death, and this kind of thing is not unprecedented. Why do others treasure the mountains and seas every day? Why do people have so much money? Why are those big turbans and Qiu Bayao proud, and the wives and concubines are full? ”

"Don't talk about those who are big turbans and Qiu Ba, let's just talk about the local mine supervisors and tax supervisors sent by the emperor, these eggless guys are still the house slaves of our Zhu family. But how are these house slaves doing? How much money did you make in private? Don't you know? ”

"Two hundred and fifty taels? Hehe, the fifth, the fifth, just two hundred and fifty taels of silver almost sent you away, but do you know that such a little silver may be a mere meal in the eyes of those house slaves? Don't talk about it, even if it's 2,500 taels, or even 25,000 taels, what's it? ”

"Looking at the Ming Dynasty, this is the world of our Zhu family, but in the end, what benefits did our clans get? Speaking of which, our lineage is still the son-in-law of Emperor Taizu, but now? If you want money or not, you can't do it, you can't do it, you can't do it, you have to restrict even going out of the city, this broken life is enough, haven't you had enough? Don't want to give it a go? ”

"There has always been no shortage of courageous people in this world, and they have all reached this point, there is no chance at all if they don't fight, maybe it's possible to fight. Besides, as long as we go too far, what can we do with our clan identity? ”

The last sentence was categorical and deafening, Zhu Minfeng, Zhu Minqi, and Zhu Qiuqi's uncle and nephew looked uncertain for a while, and their hearts were agitated.

With a "snap", Zhu Qiuqi raised his hand and slapped the table, gritted his teeth and said, "Uncle is right, what are you hesitating about when it has come to this point?" Lao Tzu has long had enough of such days, and now the court owes more and more money, and if it goes on like this, he has to drink the northwest wind. ”

"This world belongs to our old Zhu family, why can even domestic slaves eat and drink spicy food? And a lot of silver? On the contrary, what kind of life is this life for our clans? Yesterday, everyone in the General's Mansion also saw it, for a chicken leg several clans can fight, if it weren't for the hard life of everyone, how could they do such a shameless thing? ”

Zhu Qiuqi's words made Zhu Minfeng and Zhu Minqi feel the same way, they thought of the scene of yesterday's dinner, and also thought of the situation of their own family.

What Zhu Shencone said is not bad at all, and the clan listens to it well, but life is not as good as that of the common people. And I know the situation of my own family, especially Zhu Minqi's family is almost unable to live now, now that winter has come, if there is no more entry, what can be sold at home is almost sold, this year may barely be able to survive, but what about next year?

There are not people in the clan who have not starved to death, and there are several of them alone. Thinking that his family might also end up like this, Zhu Minqi's heart was like a knife.

It's true that he is an honest person, but an honest person does not mean that Zhu Minqi is willing to live such a life, people can do anything if they are in a hurry, in order to survive, what if they go out?

Besides, Zhu Shencone's words spoke to his heart, that is, as long as they didn't go too far, what could they do with them with their clan identity? It's a big deal to degrade the common people and open a clan registration, so what? He Zhu Minqi still wants to be an ordinary person, at least ordinary people can still be free, even if they go to farm or find a coolie job in Pingyang Mansion, they can barely feed a family, it's better than starving to death with the empty name of a clan on their heads, right?

If you retreat again, even if the emperor is angry and sends his family to Fengyang to be raised in captivity, at least he won't have to worry about having nothing to eat in the future. Thinking of this, Zhu Minqi's eyes suddenly lit up, and followed Zhu Qiuqi's second statement.

Zhu Minfeng didn't hesitate for long, and quickly figured it out, gritting his teeth and nodding in agreement.

Damn! Give it a go, the bicycle becomes a motorcycle, fight a fight, and the loess becomes gold. The three poor clansmen, who couldn't get enough to eat, made up their minds in this way.