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Chapter 520 Shanxi Merchants 3
As the representative figure of the Shanxi merchant group in the court, the most successful person has become the chief minister of the cabinet. His name is Zhang Siwei. He was a Jinshi in the 1553nd year of Jiajing (). In the tenth year of Wanli, he succeeded Zhang Juzheng as the chief minister of the cabinet.

Zhang Siwei is a native of Puzhou, Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi. His father is a famous salt merchant, his uncle is a border trade giant, his two younger brothers run banks and silk trading, his father-in-law manages grain in the south, and his maternal grandfather is a timber merchant who works part-time to transport military supplies. Together with his uncle, uncle, and younger brother's father-in-law, they are all well-known wealthy businessmen in Shanxi.

It can be said that in Puzhou and even Pingyang Prefecture, the Zhang family is one of the most wealthy. If you include relatives and in-laws, the Zhang family plays a very important role in Shanxi Province.

In addition to being rich, the Zhang family has a close relationship with the imperial court. Zhang Siwei's uncle was Wang Chonggu, who was the governor of Xuanda, equivalent to the commander of the military region in later generations. Zhang Siwei's younger brother, Yang Bo, was the official minister and was called one of the four talents in the world by Yan Shifan.

It can be seen that Zhang Siwei is not only a second-generation rich man, but also half a second-generation official. After he entered his official career, he was successively valued by Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Shen Shixing, the big bosses in the DPRK. He was very popular in the DPRK. Who would believe it without the help of the family behind him?

Even after Zhang Juzheng's death, Emperor Wanli wanted to completely liquidate him. Zhang Siwei bribed Feng Bao to prevent the liquidation from falling on him. Otherwise, with his frequent tribute and filial behavior to Zhang Juzheng, it would be difficult to escape.

"Wang Zhizhen, do you know who wrote the Ningbo merchant's secret note?" Upon hearing this, the emperor suddenly raised his right hand to stop Wang An's explanation, tilted his head and asked an irrelevant question.

"I don't know..." Wang Zhizhen's face was a little pale, and sweat was oozing from his temples. After hearing this, he quickly left his seat and knelt down.

"I can tell you that it is Shen Yiguan. In order to save his only son who was involved, he exposed all his fellow villagers, including some old friends. Although it was a personal loss, it was beneficial to the country and the people.

Wang Chonggu is your grandfather, and the Wang family and Qian family in Shanxi also come from the same lineage. Now I want to hear the truth. Are the Wang family still involved in border smuggling, and are they still involved with these Shanxi businessmen? "

Seeing Wang Zhizhen's expression, Hong Tao stopped beating around the bush. He first talked about Shen Yiguan's choice, and then asked about the current situation of the Wang family. The voice of the words is very clear, Shen Guanzhen can forgive me, and the Wang family can do the same, but the prerequisite must be to actively approach and provide useful information.

"It is true that my Wang family and the Shanxi Wang family are from the same family. However, since I was demoted, we have stopped contacting each other. Your Majesty, please take a closer look!"

As soon as Wang An mentioned Zhang Siwei, Wang Zhizhen knew that big trouble was coming. Fortunately, the emperor did not secretly suspect him, but asked him face to face, which reassured him a lot.

The main reason why the courtiers jointly brought him down was because he was unwilling to use the power of Jinyiwei to help certain people to provide cover and green light.

Even trafficking in illegal salt and illegally minting copper coins can be tolerated. But as a soldier, I really can't just watch military supplies being sold to the enemy. Every extra stone of goods that comes out of customs may mean the death of one more person in the border army, which is so unethical.

"...Well, since you said no, I'll pretend it's not true for now. But I can't write two characters for "王" in one stroke. Are you familiar with these families?"

He glanced at Wang Chengen from the corner of his eye, and after receiving a nod in reply, Hong Tao temporarily believed Wang Zhizhen's explanation. But believing and having nothing to do are two different things. The information you should provide should not only be no less, but also more than others.

"Wang Dengku is the clan brother of the minister, Fan Wendou is Zhang Sijiao Xuxian's natal brother, and Jin Liangyu is Han Xu's in-law. The other three retainers really don't know." Whether he should continue to hide for the family or tell the truth, Wang Zhizhen didn't need to use Shen Yiguan as an example. I want to understand. Now that the emperor is at the height of his powers and suppressing his courtiers, he has no reason to ruin his great future for others. Even brothers in the clan are the same. Protecting yourself is equivalent to protecting the Wang family. You deserve to be unlucky. Who allows you to do too many immoral things.

"Han Xu...why does it sound familiar to me?"

"Long live my lord, Han Xu is serving as an attendant in the Hanlin Academy." Seeing the emperor looking at him, Wang Chengen immediately gave the answer as expected.

"Oh, yes, I have also heard of his Jingyan. He does have a Shanxi accent." With the specific position, Hong Tao finally met the specific person in his mind. Not only did he remember him, but he also met and talked to him.

"Han Xu and Zhang Siwei are both from Puzhou." Wang An confirmed the emperor's guess.

"Good guy, this is a den of thieves! Wang An, check all the officials in the capital above the fourth rank who are from Shanxi and see who has close contacts with these families, especially the officials from Puzhou and Jiexiu. Be extra careful.

Zhang Ran, secretly dispatch the Siwei Battalion and the Warrior Battalion to the grassland and horse farms in Puzhou and Jiexiu. You decide the number yourself, and it will be used to capture these families. Wang Zhizhen, can Nanjing Jinyiwei be reused? "

As soon as Hong Tao heard that even among the Hanlin Academy officials who could often walk around him were representatives of the Shanxi Merchant Group, Hong Tao immediately became furious. There is no need to delve into whether Han Xu is a member of the Shanxi merchant group. His in-laws are Shanxi merchants, and the family is still in Puzhou. The chance of being able to escape the filth and remain untouched is too low.

In this case, we cannot delay it any longer. Arrangements must be made in advance to ensure that the main figures in the Shanxi Merchant Group and the officials in the DPRK and China who have close contacts with them can be fully arrested without warning.

But it is not enough to deal with the Shanxi Merchant Group alone. The Jiangsu and Zhejiang merchants must also take action together. However, the situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is different from that in Shanxi, and it is impossible to hide too many outsiders.

"... In the ninth year of my stay in Jingyang, I have completed the cleanup of the Jinyi Guards in Nanjing and transferred a large number of key personnel from the capital to the south. The governor Zhou Jiaqing and his subordinates are loyal to your majesty and can shoulder important responsibilities!"

When it comes to Nanjing Jinyiwei, Wang Zhizhen probably knows what to do. Fortunately, he sent his cronies there two years in advance and carefully carried out the purge, otherwise he would have been embarrassed in front of the emperor today.

"One thousand households is a little less... You can send another one thousand households from the capital to secretly go to Tongzhou to transport the Yamen's cargo ship, and wait on the ship after arriving in Hangzhou Bay."

It is said that there are thousands of households, but in fact the establishment of Jinyiwei in Nanjing is much smaller than that in Beijing, and the number of Tiqi that can perform field work will not exceed 500. This manpower is definitely not enough, but there should be many pairs of eyes staring at the naval camp at this time. Once a large number of navy board the ship and go south, they will alert the enemy.

How to do it? They still have to resort to deception, and the navy cannot move, but the ships of the Shipping Yamen are always going north and south. If they build a plank road in the open and covertly visit the warehouse, they will most likely be able to deceive others.

(End of this chapter)