Chapter 1592: The People Behind Shanxi Merchants
"Okay, let me just say, why Jin merchants have colluded with Jiannu for so many years, but there has never been an accident. It turns out that there are so many people standing behind them!" Shen Long stared at the information, his eyes were full of anger.
Shanxi merchants collected food, ironware, salt, and even information needed to build slaves from Daming and sold them to Jiannu, in exchange for the wealth they plundered Daming from Jiannu, as well as Liaodong specialties such as ginseng and Dongzhu. It is double the huge profits once in a while, but this kind of business model is not something everyone can do.
First of all, grain, ironware, and salt are all regulated commodities. Maybe no one asks how many carts a store can buy, but the amount needed to build a slave is large enough to cause turmoil in the Ming Dynasty. Are the local officials blind? Anyone with a little brain should be able to guess the doorway here, right?
Not to mention the intelligence. It is said that when Yang Gao’s army set off in Sarhu, Nurhachi got important information such as their detailed marching route and troop distribution; The people in the entire capital knew about it, and Jianu got the news from here.
But these words can only deceive those ignorant common people. You must know that the gossip of the common people will be embellished. The same news will eventually evolve into thousands of versions among the common people. Find the right one? It wasn't because Shanxi merchants cooperated with Jiannu spies to get reliable information from the Ministry of War or Yang Gaozhong's army, so they dared to use troops against the Ming army's plan.
"Your Majesty, it's not an exaggeration to cut these people into pieces!" Lu Wenzhao said with red eyes, gnashing his teeth. If it weren't for these people, how could he have lost so many comrades? That was the lives of tens of thousands of Ming soldiers! He was sold to Jiannu by this Shanxi merchant! How can he not be angry?
"Okay, the task of arresting Fan Yongdou and the others will be entrusted to you. At that time, I will allow you to execute the execution yourself!" Shen Long had long known the names of the eight imperial merchants, and he could not be more clear about the sins of Fan Yongdou and others, but he had previously I didn't know that so many court officials were also involved in this matter.
"Hehe, this is the official of my Ming Dynasty!" Shen Long sneered again, "Look at them, eating the Minzhi Minyou provided by the people of the Ming Dynasty, and then giving the Minzhi Minyou of the people of the Ming Dynasty to Jiannu, so that Jiannu can eat the food of Daming, Carrying the weapons of the Ming Dynasty to plunder the people of the Ming Dynasty! Then they make a fortune? What a good idea!"
These people are not just taking kickbacks from Shanxi merchants. After Jiannu breaks through the customs, they burn, kill and loot. Many lands have lost their owners. They can take the opportunity to annex the land again. Even if the local people survived the war , and have to be eaten by them until there is not even a scum left.
"Your Majesty, since Zhang Siwei and Wang Chonggu in the reign of Lord Wanli, the family of Jin merchants has paid great attention to reading. They either devote themselves to providing for the promising descendants of the family to study for Jinshi, or build academies and subsidize poor scholars to study, etc. After passing the Jinshi examination and entering the imperial court, they will help these people get promoted and occupy important positions." Cao Huachun also showed his own investigation results, "The wealth of Shanxi merchants is as rich as the enemy's country. They are willing to pay, what else? What's wrong with it?"
"In the beginning, they relied on the legacy of Zhang Siwei and Wang Chonggu, and later, these scholars who were related to Shanxi merchants naturally hugged each other. They may not be as conspicuous as the Donglin Party, the Chu Party, and the Zhejiang Party. After years of operation, the strength should not be underestimated." Zhang Siwei is the chief assistant after Zhang Juzheng, and Wang Chonggu declared the Minister of the Military Department of the three sides of Shanxi. With such two big men in the court, it is inevitable for these children of Shanxi merchants to be promoted .
Moreover, Zhang Siwei and Wang Chonggu are from Puzhou, and Puzhou is close to the Yanchi Lake in Yuncheng. Naturally, they can share more than half of the profit from the salt pond; City salt accumulates capital,
Then use the border trade to expand the benefits, and this has made the Shanxi merchants rich in the world.
After all, if you want to do border trade, you have to have a bad relationship with the officials at the border gates. If you want to do this, you have to find a backer. Is there any backer stronger than the three-sided governor of Xuanda Shanxi?
After Zhang Siwei and Wang Chonggu resigned, Shanxi merchants had accumulated enough wealth to allow them to support more agents and continue to occupy this interest, and their greed made them not satisfied with just fighting with Jiannu and Mongol Tatars. After all, as long as it is a business model prohibited by law, it often means high profits. Then they colluded with Jiannu and committed so many crimes.
Zhang Siwei and Wang Chonggu are definitely capable people, but it's a pity that they only cared about their own family's interests, but they didn't expect to plant such a big hidden danger for Daming; no, they might not know it, but they certainly wouldn't care, anyway. It seems to them that even the change of dynasty will not shake the wealth of their family. After all, no matter who is the emperor, don't Confucians have to help govern the country?
In fact, this is not only the case with Shanxi merchants, but also the Huizhou merchants who colluded with Japanese pirates back then? Although we have not yet entered the capitalist society, the saying that capital has no borders can still be used here. As long as there are interests, these wealthy businessmen will not hesitate to betray Daming. What does it have to do with us if Daming is good? I just want to make my own money!
But they forgot that their interests are based on the blood and tears of countless people of Ming Dynasty. If they live well, the people of Ming Dynasty will not live well! The people of Ming Dynasty are having a hard time, and the emperor Shen Long is not safe, so for the sake of the people of Ming Dynasty and for yourself to be able to secure the throne, I ask you people to die.
"Have you all been staring at these people?" Shen Long didn't want to let any one go.
"I've already sent people to watch it. Don't worry, Your Majesty, none of them will be able to escape!" Cao Huachun said in a shrill voice, this time it was the joint action of Dongchang and Jinyiwei.
"That's good, don't let the news out; at the court meeting tomorrow, I will have a good talk with the Chinese and military officials of the court, and see who will come out to speak for these traitorous businessmen!" Shen Long planned Leaving aside the fact that he already knew that those bigwigs belonged to the Shanxi Merchants Department, he had a sarcastic smile on his face, "I want to see what high-sounding reasons they will come up with!"
"Weichen/servant complies with the order." Lu Wenzhao and Cao Huachun took orders at the same time. They both calculated the family property of the Shanxi merchants in their hearts. Maybe this time the harvest is better than the previous few times!