Smuggling Daming

Wucheng is also the Zhangjiakou of the later generations. This is a very special place. It is one of the gates of the Ming Dynasty to the Mongolian grassland. It is only an administrative division. If it is divided from a military perspective, Zhangjiakou belongs to the Wanquandu Division, which is within the jurisdiction of the Xuanfu.

Originally, borders like Wucheng were generally relatively desolate, especially since the Ming Dynasty implemented a blockade of the grasslands. According to the law, merchants were not allowed to approach here, let alone trade with the Mongolian court through this place.

However, although the laws of Ming Dynasty are strict, as long as there are enough interests, there will be no shortage of bold people in this world.Like Daming's sea ban policy, the border blockade was extremely strict at the beginning, but after so many years, Daming's sea ban has long existed in name only, and the border blockade is naturally the same, especially in the Wucheng area, where Daming and Mongolia The only way to trade, so Wucheng has changed from a military fortress to a prosperous commercial town.

The current guard of Wucheng is named Zhang Zhen. Although this person is not very capable, and he is not even very good at fighting, but like Jiang Bin and others, he has left his name in history. A few years later, Zhang Zhen opened a small city gate on the north wall of Wucheng to facilitate border smuggling caravans. Because this small city gate was as small as a mouth, and it was built by Zhang Zhen, it was It was called Zhangjiakou, and later this name became the synonym for Wucheng, and it completely replaced the original name of Wucheng in later generations.

Wucheng is guarded on the main traffic road between Daming and Mongolia. Every day, a large number of caravans can be seen passing here to shuttle between a large number of Mongolians. Among them, tea, salt, cloth and other commodities of Ming Dynasty need to pass here. In addition, cows, sheepskins and horses on the Mongolian grasslands will also be transported to Daming from here, especially the soda noodles produced in the northwest, most of which need to be transferred from Wucheng to Daming, and later the name Zhangjiakou came into being.The alkali noodles of the Central Plains are also called Koujian.

With the leak of wool textile technology and canning technology some time ago, businessmen of Daming saw the business opportunities and poured into the border of Daming to invest and set up workshops. Wucheng was originally one of the most prosperous border cities of Daming. Here Naturally, there are quite a few businessmen investing in workshops, and all of them have strong backgrounds, otherwise they would not have obtained two new technologies so quickly.The arrival of these people also brought greater popularity to Wucheng, especially after those workshops began to recruit workers everywhere, some poor people around flocked to Wucheng to find work.

However, most of the wool textile and canning workshops in Wucheng are concentrated in the south of the city, and very few people build workshops in the north of the city, because the local local snakes in Wucheng are entrenched in the north of the city.That is to say, the local businessmen who originally relied on smuggling to make a fortune, although there are people behind those workshops, but as the saying goes, a strong dragon does not suppress a local snake, so the people behind those workshops do not want to provoke those original smugglers too much.

Although most of Wucheng is under the jurisdiction of the capital, most of the smugglers entrenched here are Shanxi Shanxi merchants. These Shanxi merchants have accumulated a large amount of wealth by relying on the smuggling business for many years.And most of this wealth is used by them to buy land or store it in cellars. For example, here in Wucheng, almost the entire North City was bought by these Shanxi merchants to build houses, so this place can be said to be like a cloud of luxury houses, each occupying a considerable area. It can be regarded as a rich area in Wucheng.

In addition, it is said that the houses built by these Shanxi merchants in their hometowns are even more luxurious than here. Although they live here most of the time, their hometowns are their faces.So naturally you can't be sloppy.It is also because Shanxi merchants all live in the north of the city, so the land price in the north of the city is extremely high, which is one of the reasons why those newly opened workshops are reluctant to go to the north of the city.

In the most central area of ​​Beicheng District, the largest and most exquisite mansion in the city is built here. The size of the mansion is almost comparable to that of King Zhao's Mansion in Beijing. Even in terms of luxury, it is even higher than King Zhao's Mansion.One must know that Zhou Zhong's Prince Zhao's Mansion used to be Liu Jin's private residence, known as the Nine Thousand Years Mansion, and the luxury of the building was not much more than that of the Forbidden City, but it was here in Wucheng.There is actually a mansion more luxurious than Prince Zhao's Mansion, which shows the strength of the owner of this mansion.

There is a plaque hanging high on the main gate of this huge and luxurious house, and there are two huge words on it - Fan Mansion. Anyone who knows a little about Wucheng knows that the owner of this Fan Mansion is named Fan Yongdou, and his ancestral home is Jiexiu, Shanxi. After several generations of hard work, the Jiexiu Fan family controlled the trade of salt and tea on the grassland with the other seven Jin merchant families. Shang already had a huge ethnic group, and with the addition of Han and Mongolian warriors recruited as guards, he could be said to be the emperor of the Northwest.

However, compared to the previous situation, the Fan family and the other seven Shanxi merchants are now facing a huge dilemma. The main reason why they were able to control the trade between Daming and Mongolia in the past was because of Daming's trade blockade on the grassland. However, Fan and others bought the border generals with money, so that their caravans could enter and leave the grassland smoothly, but other caravans were blocked by the imperial court's blockade order, so under this monopoly, Fan and others People naturally earned huge amounts of wealth, and it is indeed true to call it an incomparably rich country.

Only with the spread of wool spinning and canning technology, Zhou Zhong persuaded the cabinet to abolish the trade ban on Mongolia. As a result, all caravans can enter the grassland freely, although most of these caravans are aimed at Wool and meat, but what they used to trade was salt and tea that were urgently needed on the grassland. As a result, the salt and tea in the hands of Shanxi merchants could not be sold. After all, the grassland has a limited ability to digest commodities. If someone sells an extra catty of salt, it is equivalent to having an extra catty of salt in the hands of Shanxi merchants.

In the hall of Fan's mansion, eight people sat facing each other around a table. Among them, Fan Yongdou, the family member of Fan's family, sat on the main seat, and on both sides were the other seven merchants who were listed as the eight major Shanxi merchants with him. Today they The reason why they gathered together was to discuss how to deal with the situation in front of them?

"Everyone, the imperial court has lifted the trade ban. Now anyone can bring goods in and out of the grassland. The salt and tea in our hands are no longer exclusive businesses on the grassland, and those herdsmen are more willing to use worthless wool. In exchange for salt and tea with mutton, the transaction volume of our Fan family has dropped by half this month, and it is estimated that it will drop even more next month. I can only go back to my hometown to farm!" Fan Yongdou glanced at the seven people in front of him, and said with a deep expression.

Fan Yongdou is just 40 years old this year. He has big ears and brows, and a pair of small eyes. He looks like he is smiling at any time, but when he is angry, this natural smiling face will turn into a sinister smile, which makes people feel uneasy. When I saw it, I felt chills in my heart.

"Master Fan, your family's business has only shrunk by half, which is not bad. For example, Wang's business is all with those tribes that are closer to Ming Dynasty. As a result, the newcomers swarmed into the grassland. Those tribes that were traded with me were captured, and as a result, the business of our Wang family has plummeted this month, and all the salt and tea are stored in the warehouse, and if they can’t be sold, I’m afraid they will lose money!” Sitting on the right side of Fan Yongdou The middle-aged fat man also complained that this fat man's surname is Wang, and his name is Wang Dengku. He is the second person among the eight Shanxi merchants. .

"Wang Er, don't complain, our family has suffered a lot this time. Master Fan called everyone here today to discuss a countermeasure. Is there any use in crying poor?" A young man with greasy hair and pink face suddenly spoke with disdain, and looked at Wang Dengku with disdain.

Wang Dengku's nickname is Wang Er at home, and there is a big brother on top, but it is said that he killed his big brother by means of not so bright, so he can take the position of the head of the Wang family, and Wang Dengku himself is not bright about this paragraph. His history is very taboo, and he even deceives others by telling others that he has no eldest brother, and that he has always been the eldest in the family, and it is precisely because of this that he hates others to call him Wang Er.

"Hey! Wang Xiaoniang, it's none of your business for me to cry and be poor. Don't think that you can ignore me if you marry the daughter of the Liang family. Let me tell you, even if you are tied up with the Liang family, I will still treat you Fucked!" Wang Dengku was stabbed in the sore spot by this young man, and immediately slapped the table and pointed at him and cursed, his red eyes looking desperate.

The young man on the opposite side is also surnamed Wang, named Wang Dayu, and is also one of the eight major Shanxi merchants. Because he is so smeared like a woman, he is called Wang Xiaoniang. The two families often fight in business, so the two usually only need to see each other. When you see the other party, you will inevitably quarrel with each other.

"Oh! Brother Wang is so angry. My son-in-law just said a few words of truth. Why did you scold our Liang family?" Just as Wang Dengku finished speaking, a middle-aged man sitting next to Wang Dayu Immediately chimed in, this is Liang Jiabin, Wang Dayu's father-in-law, their Liang family and Wang Dengku also had a business dispute, and the enmity between the two families was also very deep, so their Liang family married Wang Dayu's family Afterwards, he was already slightly stronger than Wang Dengku in terms of strength, so he was not afraid of the opponent.

ps: The Eight Shanxi Merchants are real figures in history, and their names are also real, but they are only figures decades later, and they are also big traitors who led the Qing army into the customs. It can be said that the demise of Ming Dynasty is inseparable from them The relationship between them, especially Fan Yongdou, provided a large amount of food and weapons and armor for the Manchu Qing. Later, when the Manchu Qing was established, the eight of them were granted the title of Imperial Merchants, and shared weal and woe with the Manchu Qing. In order to let everyone remember these eight traitors, Lao Yu moved them to appear in the Zhengde period in advance, hereby explain.