Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 230
What did Shanxi Merchants rely on?The opening of China and France in the Ming Dynasty gave them an opportunity to develop. Since the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, countless Shanxi bank accounts have taken root across the country, but their most important capital accumulation was at the end of the Ming Dynasty!
Shanxi merchants did business outside the mouth, and trafficked the ironware, grain, cloth and medicinal materials inherited from Donglu Jurchen to Liaodong, and then brought Mongolian horses, cattle and sheep, Liaodong medicinal materials, Dongzhu and other special products back to the pass. Before the customs, Huang Taiji had entered the customs five times to conquer Ming Dynasty, and the huge amount of goods and goods looted each time was handed over to the Shanxi merchants. Because of this kind of incense, the Qing army looked at the Shanxi merchants differently after entering the customs. The red-top businessman does not know how many there are.

In fact, although Shanxi merchants have made money in national calamity, their transactions are considered fair. Ironware certainly strengthened the combat effectiveness of Liaodong Jurchen, but Mongolian horses, Liaodong horses, and leather saddles did not strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Ming army. Shang disclosed Ming's inside information to Jurchen, but if the imperial court was really shrewd, why couldn't they get the same information from Jurchen?After all, it was still a problem with the system. Daming these days has been so corrupted that it is difficult to move forward.

Fortunately, Shanxi merchants are now beneficial to Song Qingshu. Since they can deal with the bloody spoils, it is not a problem to snatch them by themselves. Anyway, the business roads are blocked these days, and Cao Sanxi and the four merchants are also idle when they are idle. , After chasing them back to Dai County, Song Qingshu simply bought some goods by himself and asked them to go out of the mouth to test the water first.

This time, Xinding’s war has attracted the attention of the entire Shanxi three towns. Even the horse market at the border gate was closed. The Mongols outside the gate were just waiting for the winter. , and soap, cloth and other supplies slipped out of the pass, but it seemed to have given them a savior. With old connections, various Mongolian tribes competed to trade with Cao Sanxi. There were thousands of horses, and it happened that Song Qingshu lacked the transportation capacity, so Scarface ordered all the horses to be brought here.

However Song Qingshu didn’t know the mentality of Gezuo Fifth Battalion. Everyone needs to make friends, and the begging army needs allies even more. He has to show his bossy demeanor and tell the five younger brothers to follow Lao Tzu and have meat to eat. Anyway, he has a stable source As soon as he gritted his teeth, Song Qingshu simply transferred the horse to them again.

Although it can be regarded as a low-priced sale, the 20 horses are almost 200 taels, which dropped half of the top of the account at once, and according to Cao Sanxi's estimation, the property looted in Xinzhou this time was operated If it's a good one, I'm afraid I'll make a profit of no less than [-] million taels if I sell it!
This is the first time that Song Qingshu has obtained such a large sum of money. These days, the actual cash collection of the Ming Dynasty treasury is only about 400 million taels a year. After learning this amount, Song Qingshu's jaw dropped from joy.

At the end of August, the war that shocked Shanxi came to an end, burning nearly 10 taels of money. Early the next morning, Luo Rucai left the camp without even saying hello. Half a sack of food, wrapped in several layers of cloth, trembling like penguins, marched westward.

Although this Luo Rucai is quite unbearable, he is not stupid. Lubanzhai was taken when the peasant army counterattacked. To the south, the Taiyuan government army is gathering troops. Naturally, he can't go. Go west through Yunzhong Mountain and return to Luliang The mountain range area is the key area for the Shanxi Peasant Army's activities. Without the support of the Gezuo Fifth Battalion, he can coordinate with other battalions there, without worrying about being encircled and suppressed by the government.

And the Fifth Battalion of Gezuo completely broke up with Cao Cao. Cao Cao went east, and they went west. They went straight to the place where Zhoushan was raided by Cao Wenzhao again, and then turned to Liaozhou and Qinzhou. This is Taihang Mountain The area is also the area where the peasant army on the southern front focuses its activities.

In fact, Gezuo Fifth Battalion still wanted to follow Song Qingshu north to Dai County, but now Song Qingshu himself is hiding carefully. If there are almost [-] peasant troops in the small Dai County, he must reveal his secrets. Besides, Gezuo Fifth Battalion Although he is inclined to Song Qingshu, he is not under his control, as long as he separates the relationship between Ge Zuo and Cao Cao, so that he has a good impression of him.

But before Laohui and they left, Song Qingshu still promised that he would help them deal with any spoils they got in the future and transport them to Dai County!With this promise, when they returned home, Ge Liyan and the others still happily rode the Mongolian horses they had just acquired, and headed south with a lot of grain.

It turned upside down, and half of Xinzhou was destroyed, but now it is empty.

At the beginning of September, Xu Dingguo, who was still waiting to be dealt with by the court, was unwilling to wait for his death, and took away nearly half of the soldiers and horses in Taiyuan Mansion. Even the guards who were only in charge of farming were forced into the army. Guan gathered more than 2 horses and rushed to Xinzhou in a hurry. Although it was looted by the peasant army, it was still an important stronghold for the imperial court to rule the Xinding Basin. It had to be taken back no matter what. The vanguard of the army went out of Lianglingguan and arrived at Niuweizhuang, Xinzhou. More than a hundred cavalry galloped down from the north.

"What? Xinzhou has been taken back!"

To be honest, Xu Dingguo didn't want to see Qiu Ming's righteous short-bearded face in his heart. Whoever made him insist that he couldn't accept the recruitment, he was deceived by lard, but when he heard the news, Xu Dingguo still Can't help but sit up in shock, and asked in astonishment.

"Where are the thieves from Xinzhou?"

"Master Hui Zongbing, the bandits washed Xinzhou, and fought on their own because of the uneven distribution of spoils, and then one went south, the other went north, and all went into the mountains. There are not many thieves left behind in Xinzhou, so the last general Bravely hid Xinzhou back, and then flew over to meet the commander-in-chief, please support our troops as soon as possible!"

It's a good thing that Xinzhou regained it, but Xu Dingguo sat back on the handsome chair powerlessly. This is good, his last chance of meritorious service is gone, Xinzhou was defeated, more than 7000 sergeants were lost, and the city was not confiscated When he came back, when the news from the imperial court came out, he would just wait to lose his official position and go to prison, maybe how much money he would have to spend to save his life!

But seeing that there were only two or three of his personal soldiers in the handsome tent, apart from the decadent Xu Dingguo, his eyes rolled, Qiu Ming suddenly got up from the ground, sneaked to Xu Dingguo's side, and muttered in a low and hasty voice .

"Master Chief Soldier, the prefect Zhao of Xinzhou disappeared in the chaos!"

"What do you mean?"

Originally upset, when Qiu Ming said this, Xu Dingguo immediately became vigilant, but he saw this guy with an extremely gloomy smile and said: "Regardless of whether the prefect Zhao is dead or not, he can't jump out to defend anything. It was the prefect Zhao at the beginning. Vigorously promote the recruitment! Chief soldier, why don't you push everything to him?"

"This!"

"The final general heard that the rebel army pushed Zhao Zhifu out when he ambush in Lubanzhai that day. Commander-in-Chief, many soldiers have witnessed it with their own eyes, and no one knows the situation around Xinzhou City. The final general also You don't need any merit, the general soldier can continue to march, wipe out a few bandits in the vicinity, and there are also many bones scattered in the four fields of Xinzhou. If you chop off your head, you can use it to repay your merit. The general soldier can do it It is said that the prefect of Zhao colluded with the bandits and sold Xinzhou, which made the officers and soldiers slightly frustrated. The general retreated to Tianmen Pass to ease the situation, and then went out to fight fiercely with the thieves, smashing the thieves' [-] army, and captured a few! Report the head to the top, and the Ministry of War will check It's time to put more money, and when the time comes, I will at most blame the Chief Soldier for a few words."

"What do you think?"

This was all taught by Song Qingshu. After listening to Qiu Ming's endorsement, Xu Dingguo himself was confused. This is not as simple as Qiu Ming said. Zhao Qing's operation was to offend the Lu party, but now that the fire is imminent, who can have so many scruples?

But Xu Dingguo still glanced suspiciously at Qiu Ming, who was laughing and looking more and more wretched, and asked in surprise.

"General Qiu, I have no kindness or virtue with you. Why do you help me like this? What is your purpose?"

"The Chief Soldier is laughing at you!" Rubbing his hands, Qiu Ming's smile became more and more wretched, and he nodded his head and said, "The last general stayed well at Yanmen Pass, but if the General Soldier is changed, the last general may not be able to stay healthy. Please give the general a little more slack in the fingers of the general soldier, secondly, this Zhao has insulted me many times, insulting our frontier army as a ****, making him unlucky, the general will be very happy!"

Now Xu Dingguo is completely relieved, if a guy pops up out of nowhere and wants to conspire with you on such a big matter, it's no wonder he doesn't doubt it!But if there is an interest entanglement, it will be much more credible. After all, it is too early to be unprofitable!Thinking of this, Xu Zongbing didn't put on airs anymore, he immediately stood up with a smile, helped Qiu Ming up, and said with a big smile.

"Listening to Jun's words is better than reading for ten years. Brother Xu, you have really helped my brother and me a lot!"

This Qiu Ming also went on the road, and hastily clenched his fists in shock: "Brother, you are serious, and all of this, younger brother, is also due to your promotion!"

A bank note was stuffed into his hand through Xu Dingguo's support, and he took the time to look at the amount. Xu Zongbing's smile became stronger, and he shouted at the door.

"Come here, prepare a banquet, my brother Qiu has returned from a battle, and I was going to take care of my brother!"

"Thank you, brother, for your praise!"

Although there is no good wine or food in the army, but the two traitors who colluded together enjoyed a good drink. While discussing the details, they laughed obscenely. The laughter was heard by the soldiers outside. The cold hairs on his back grew up.

However, just when Xu Dingguo and Qiu Ming were intertwined, Song Qingshu had already returned to Dai County, and now the corner of Wutai Mountain here finally has the appearance of a home. Mountains and fields are everywhere, and rows of trees divide the mountains and fields It is as beautiful as matts, and the begging army has worked hard for the past few months, and the villages that have formed in the fields have also seen their scale for the first time. You can also see the old and young of the begging army busy taking care of them. Already grown tall, lush crops.

Scarface also took people down the mountain to greet him in person. Looking at his familiar team, Song Qingshu waved his hand full of enthusiasm: "Move!"

Behind him, there were densely packed carts, and countless human tricycles were driven far away. The carts were full of all kinds of materials and goods, and most of the capital of Qingcheng was moved back by Song Qingshu.

This is really a rewarding experience!

(End of this chapter)