The Red Mansions

Chapter 936 Jia Heng: Obviously he can grab it directly, but he still has to pay
亢宅
After all the guests dispersed, the hall fell into a deathly silence for a short while.

Kang Yisheng looked dignified, looked at Kang Zexing at the side, and said solemnly: "Xing'er, pack up tonight, leave Taiyuan early tomorrow morning, and go to Xuanfu."

"Father." Kang Zexing's face changed suddenly, and he said anxiously, "How can things be so urgent?"

Kang Yisheng said in a cold voice: "This Marquis of Yongning has murderous intentions. I'm afraid that people have already started to investigate the business to Liaodong, and it might leak out at some point."

No evidence whatsoever, just a hunch.

Kang Zexing frowned and said, "Didn't father just say that the Marquis of Yongning was just begging for food, and it's not like we don't have the power to fight back."

Kang Yisheng shook his head and said: "Those counterattacks are nothing more than gnawing trees. We and other merchants can't go against the general trend, we can only follow the trend. The Marquis of Yongning has already set his sights on us, so we need to act cautiously now."

In fact, Wang Chengyin's death shocked Kang Yisheng very much. A general with a heavy army in his hand would kill him as soon as he said it.

Coupled with Jia Heng's "black history" of persecuting merchants in Yangzhou, he already felt a sense of murderous intent.

Originally, he wanted to make a fortune from the court, but he had already given up his thoughts at this moment, and planned to avoid his edge, and then plan later.

This is the sense of powerlessness and vigilance of merchants in the face of the handle of the knife. People have to bow their heads under the eaves.

Otherwise, you really have the Mace, and I have the Tianling Gai?
Kang Yisheng's eyes flickered, and he said in a low voice: "As long as the Marquis of Yongning is defeated, we will be safe and sound. After you go to the Xuanfu, contact Brother Ni to observe the trend of the Han-Qing war, and tell Jiang Yan that if my Kang family is killed, we will be safe and sound." , the next one is the Jiang family, let him see what happens to Wang Chengyin."

Kang Yisheng's eldest son is now in Shengjing, Liaodong, and was originally engaged in the business of smuggling grain, silk, salt, and pig iron to Jurchen.

Kang Zexing's face was serious, and he clapped his hands.

Kang Yisheng took a deep breath, Wang Chengyin died too fast, now his small arms can't twist his thighs, so he can only follow the trend.

In the face of absolute strength, intrigues and tricks can't turn the tide, and his Kang family's century-old foundation cannot be destroyed overnight.

But in fact, not only Kang Yisheng, but Kong Wenjun, who had the protection of Qufu Yansheng Gong's lineage, the other families were terrified of it and began to lurk their minions.

In the first round, because Jia Heng came with heavy troops and killed two general officers, Shanxi merchants chose to avoid their edge.

The next day, the morning light shrouded the entire city of Taiyuan again. Jia Heng sent people to deliver the written memorial to rectify Taiyuan soldiers and horses back to the capital, and began to send troops to rectify and eliminate the soldiers in the town.

With Jia Heng's strong rectification of the Taiyuan military town, the entire prefecture city is enveloped in a chilling and awe-inspiring atmosphere.

The cavalry troops of the Beijing camp kept coming and going, and when the generals of Wang Chengyin's party were arrested, the soldiers of the Zhenbing camp were a little panicked.

In the afternoon, news came from the general yamen that the sergeant's three-month salary would be reissued first, and for a while, the panic-stricken soldiers calmed down.

And the money was recovered from the salaries embezzled by Wang Chengyin and the generals, all of which were used by Jia Heng to win people's hearts.

On the second day, Jia Heng went to the camp of the Taiyuan government soldiers, summoned a group of middle and low-ranking generals, and said: "Wang Chengyin was greedy for soldiers' pay and oppressed the soldiers. Real salary, no longer suffer from exploitation and deduction."

The middle and lower ranks of the town army cheered thunderously, and the adverse effects of beheading Wang Chengyin were suppressed to a minimum by Jia Heng.

Afterwards, Song Yuan and Fan Yi led the Jingying Army to start reorganizing the Taiyuan Town Army, weeding out the old and the weak, with a quota of [-], and temporarily reorganizing them into six guards.

It wasn't until noon that Jia Heng returned from the town army barracks under the retinue of the guards of the Jinyi Mansion. As soon as he arrived at the general yamen, the guards of the Jinyi Mansion came to report. Please see Jia Heng.

However, Jia Heng's words through Jiang Yan, Fan Hongqing and others had been conveyed to the ears of many merchants, which to some extent still played a certain role in confusing.

In the yamen of the general army, in the festival hall——

Jia Heng sat down, picked up the teacup at the side, and looked at the merchants. His eyes fell on the face of the old man next to Jiang Yan, and he knew that he was the head of the Kang family.

"Master Hou, I heard that there is a shortage of food in the army, and I am willing to pool 300 million shi to relieve the military supply." Kang Yisheng said with a smile on his face.

Jiang Yan on the side explained: "Master Hou, according to the price of grain in Shenjing last year, it will be sold to the imperial court for one stone and one tael of silver."

Jia Heng nodded and said: "The land in the south of the Yangtze River costs eight coins and one stone. The imperial court bought a huge amount of rice this time. You are all righteous merchants. Now the country is sending troops to the north, and it is time for you to donate to the country. .”

After he killed Wang Chengyin yesterday, these merchants were not hard-headed people. They had already felt the chill and started to hibernate, but it was of no use.

Shanxi merchants are determined, even if Huang Taiji comes, he can't stop him.

When Kang Yisheng heard the words, his heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged, and he said, "The Marquis of Yongning is right, I'll sell it to the imperial court for eight renminbi a stone."

All the merchants around heard the words, their faces were gloomy, but they dared not speak out.

There is not much money to be made with eight coins. They are working so hard, are they doing things for the court?
Still donate?What did the court give them?Yangzhou salt merchants also have the title of participating in politics and councilors. Since Shanxi merchants withdrew from Jianghuai, what has the imperial court given them?
Jia Heng calmed down a little, and said: "Since that's the case, first buy 100 million stones and send them to Datong, and the Marquis will go to the border town at a later date."

It is not yet the time to wipe out all Shanxi merchants, not only because of the perception of the people in the world, but also for other reasons.

Kang Yisheng clapped his hands in agreement, secretly heaving a sigh of relief, and said, "Your Majesty came all the way from Shenjing, and I will prepare a small banquet for you to wash away the dust."

If they want food now, they can give it, but when things go wrong, it's time for them to fight back.

Jia Heng said in a deep voice: "No need, this Marquis still needs to rectify the army, the soldiers are very fast, and you should speed up the preparation of the army rations, so as not to delay the military aircraft."

When Kang Yisheng heard the words, his expression was respectful, and he clapped his hands in agreement.

All the merchants present felt the dominance and strength, but they could only submit, but their teeth were itching with hatred.

After all the merchants left, Gu Binghe seemed to remind him: "General, there are many court officials behind these merchants to support them. The officials think that if they don't make extra money, they can't be forced too much."

Jia Heng said in a deep voice: "Then I want to see which adult in the court will support those merchants with courage."

The Jinyi Mansion has launched an investigation into the smuggling activities of these merchants, and in Datong, Sun Shaozu is fighting fiercely with the Qiao family and the Fan family, and the time to close the net is not far away.

Gu Binghe didn't dare to say more, his face was expressionless, thinking about the boy's intentions.

Is this intentional to force Shanxi merchants?

A group of merchants came out of the Zongbing Yamen, their faces were ugly, and their hearts were bleeding.

Eight coins and one stone, and they still have to lose money.

"Too much deceit!" Fan Hongqing got into the carriage, patted the armrest, and shouted angrily in a low voice.

On the other side, Kang Yisheng's face was also pale.

Eight coins and one stone is really cheap, so they won't make money at all?Strong buy and strong sell!
But at this moment, the situation is stronger than people, but it cannot happen.

A group of merchants headed towards Kang's house in a mighty manner.

Kang's house
Sitting in the hall, Kang Yisheng said with a gloomy face, "Everyone has also seen that this Marquis of Yongning is extremely powerful, and he is not easy to push through."

Fan Hongqing said in a deep voice: "He acted so recklessly, can the Beijing Central Censor impeach him for being arrogant and domineering, killing generals without authorization, and oppressing gentry?"

The Shanxi merchants also funded some scholars, and the money cleared the way, and there were some mouthpieces in the court that could speak for them.

Hou Qinyi asked expectantly: "What do Lord Jiang and Lord Luo say?"

The two had received some bribes from Shanxi merchants at the beginning. In fact, even the governor Gu Binghe had also accepted banquets from Shanxi merchants.

But when the real storm comes, it can play a limited role. These old bureaucrats are more slippery than anyone else.

Kang Yisheng shook his head, and said, "Lord Jiang only has one word, Marquis Yongning is the emperor's favorite minister, and no one is easy to handle."

Everyone's faces were terrified, and they all realized the benefits and harms.

In fact, Jia Heng didn't even realize that this was not the time for him to go to Yangzhou to rectify the salt affairs. At that time, he was just an earl who only quelled the chaos in the Central Plains.

It can be said that, except for waiting for Jia Heng to be defeated, even the chief minister of the cabinet dare not face up to the confrontation.

But it was precisely because of this that the Shanxi merchants were terrified.

Kong Wenjun reminded: "Old Yang Ge's resignation is actually related to this Marquis of Yongning. The battle against the Jurchen is peaceful, and the fight between the court and China is also very fierce. Now the Marquis of Yongning who is in the main battle has the upper hand."

"It seems that we can only wait for his defeat, and then we will settle the account." Hou Qinyi said in a low voice.

Everyone looked at each other, and they all knew each other.

The eight Shanxi merchants originally maintained a close relationship with the Jurchen high-level. Unlike the salt merchants who smuggled through sea trade in a prosperous place like Yangzhou, and there are several who are afraid of the court, the eight Shanxi merchants all have contacts with the Jurchen high-level.

This is because of the harsh business environment in which Shanxi merchants do business. If they do not smuggle to Jurchen, this big business cannot be done.

Kang Yisheng said in a cold voice: "First raise the rice grains, just keep talking, and focus on the outcome of the war. I'll see how he dies!"

Everyone was equally angry and nodded in agreement, obviously disgusted by Jia Heng's behavior of holding his head and forcing him to drink water.

Some haven't said anything yet, but everyone tacitly communicated the information about the officers and soldiers to the top Jurchen officials.

Zongbing Yamen
Jia Heng returned to the hall of the Houzhai, prepared to have dinner, looked at Chen Xiao, and asked, "How is the situation? Have you found out?"

Chen Xiaodao: "I have found out some clues. According to the Jinyi Baihu in Taiyuan Mansion, the Kang family has a good relationship with Jiang Yu, the general soldier of the Xuan Mansion. He may enter Liaodong through the smuggling route of the Xuan Mansion. The person who is responsible for it seems to be Kang. The two brothers of the family."

Jia Heng paused, and said: "This is a key piece of information, can you follow the clues?"

Chen Xiaodao: "They dealt with it very cleanly, and the general didn't have any evidence. I heard it while drinking with Kang Zexing, the second young master of the Kang family. The second young master of the Kang family tested the general to smuggle into Liaodong."

Jia Heng thought for a moment and said, "Send the second young master of the Kang family to arrest him and interrogate him."

Chen Xiaodao: "People have been sent to arrest him, but the people from Kang Zexing have already left Taiyuan Mansion overnight, and Tiqi from Jinyi Mansion is hunting them down. Right now, the head of the Kang family, Kang Yisheng, must be arrested and tortured."

Jia Heng shook his head, his eyes darkened, and said: "The time is not yet ripe, when they raise food and grass, the evidence must be more complete, otherwise it's not just someone talking about it."

It's not that he can't arrest people first, and then find charges for the "factory owner" behavior, but it will damage the prestige of the court, and he still has a faint strategy to use Shanxi merchants to set up a situation deep in his heart.

Since Shanxi Merchants keep in touch with Jurchen, can they use it to mislead Jurchen's decision-making?
To lure Huang Taiji to a certain city... The Hongyi cannon was set up, and his mother was bombarded.

Otherwise, on the grassland, the Hongyi cannon, which weighs a ton at every turn, would not be able to pull it.

"The money for buying rice grains, you want to give to Shanxi merchants?" Chen Xiaoqing asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Give part of the money, and the rest will be owed on credit first, and they can't refuse to give at all, otherwise they will be suspicious and will be lazy in collecting rice." Jia Heng said with sharp eyes and firmness.

Obviously he can grab it directly, but he still has to pay.

Afterwards, the case of Shanxi merchants betraying the country was found out. Who can say that he deliberately made up charges and looked ugly?
Chen Xiao thought for a while, her eyes flickered, and she said in a deep voice, "That's the payment for copying and chasing."

Jia Heng's face was indifferent, and he said in a low voice: "There are almost a million goods, and you can give them to Shanxi merchants first, which is meant to appease them. Give these merchants a lot of money..."

Said, shook his head.

Under Chen Xiao's eyebrows, she looked at the boy strangely, feeling that Jia Heng had something to say.

"There is also Jiang Yu who needs to be on guard." Jia Heng's face was a bit dignified, his eyes were quiet, and he said in a deep voice: "Let the Jinyi Mansion send a letter to Prince Teng who is in the Xuan Mansion, and keep an eye on Jiang Yu."

Wang Ziteng is currently in Xuanfu as a general dispatched by the Beiping Battalion to jointly control the military power of Xuanfu, which is actually Li Zan's counterbalance strategy.

Chen Ling looked at the boy with concern, and asked, "Are you leaving tomorrow?"

Jia Heng said: "The military situation is like fire, and soldiers are expensive and fast. I left Qi Jianhui here to wait for Wei Qi, Marquis of Runan, and lead the cavalry to Datong."

This time it was Weiqi, Marquis of Runan, and Cai Quan, who was holding the Hongyi cannon, who led the infantry from the Beijing battalion. An old martial arts officer came here, originally with the intention of supervising the army.

Of course, other founding dignitaries such as Shi Guangzhu, Chen Ruiwen, the military aircraft driver, and Mu Sheng, the son of the king of Dongping County who volunteered, Jia Heng did not agree to come to the Northern Expedition.

Chen Xiaoqing looked at the young man, lightly pursed her unpainted lips, and said softly: "Then be careful, I'll hurry over after I finish cooking here."

Jia Heng looked at the map and said in a low voice: "I have just thought about it carefully. Shanxi merchants should not smuggle in Taiyuan. I think you will follow me to Datong first. Sun Shaozu of Datong should be collecting information on their smuggling. Taiyuan's handling is very clean."

Chen Xiao: "..."

Can't leave her like that?Where to go?

Well, probably not.

Jia Heng explained: "Because it is too far away from the border, the generals involved in smuggling in the border town should be in Xuanfu, Ping'an Prefecture, and Datong. This is just a place where Shanxi merchants inquire about the provincial government and make friends with officials. There should be nothing to find out. clue."

In fact, this is indeed the case. Taiyuan is the place where the vassal officials of Jin Province gather.

It is impossible to bribe a group of civil and military officials who can't pee in the pot. This is simply unrealistic, otherwise officials would have reported it to the public.

Moreover, Wang Chengyin really didn't like the profit of smuggling, and he accepted bribes from Shanxi merchants more to provide convenience on the official side.

The hardest-hit areas for smuggling should be Datong, Xuanfu, Pingan Prefecture and other commercial routes, such as the commercial route of Pingan Prefecture that Jia She used to smuggle at the beginning.

Chen Xiao's frowning eyebrows stretched out, her clear eyes suddenly looked at the young man, and said, "What should we do here?"

Jia Heng looked solemn, and said: "Let the Tiqi and detectives from Jinyi Mansion monitor the Shanxi Merchants. After I meet Uncle Lin, let's go to Datong."

Shanxi merchants are different from salt merchants. Salt merchants only seek money, while Shanxi merchants sell their country.

Chen Xiao nodded, looked at the map, and asked, "How about the grassland?"

"From Datong to enter the grassland, I hope E Zhe can stand it. If he can't stand it, not only Datong, but also Ping'an Prefecture is in danger. Jurchen can bypass Datong and attack Ping'an Prefecture. This is the outpost of Taiyuan Town. Divide the troops." Jia Heng's eyes were aggressive, as if he had penetrated the fog of war and saw the changes in the future war.

This is the famous general's sense of war, or this is the emptiness of the big man. If he and Huang Taiji live in a different place, he will make a fuss from these places.

The terrain of Ping'an Prefecture is dangerous, remote from the Great Wall, connected to the desert outside, with Juyan on its back and Yanjing on its back;The mountains and rivers are surrounded by water, and the four fortresses are solid. The ancient pier is garrisoned in the wild, and the circle is protected, and a big fortress in the northwest is solidified.

Just as Gu Zuyu said in "The Minutes of Reading History and Fangyu": "From the Honghe River to the west and the vast desert to the north, the vassal guard of the Zhuangyan Gate is the lips and teeth in the clouds. Standing tall in the north, it is also the giant defense of the whole Jin Dynasty."

Moreover, in the history of parallel time and space, Huang Taiji used the siege of Shuozhou to attract the Xuan Daming army, adopting the tactic of "siege the city and fight for aid".

As for the battlefield on the Eastern Front, there is a minister of the Ministry of War in charge, so don't worry too much.

Seeing that Chen Xiao was also looking at the map and thinking, Jia Heng approached, took Chen Xiao's slender hand, sat down, picked up the chopsticks and handed them over, saying, "It's time to eat, don't think about it."

In the evening, the guards of the Jinyi Mansion under the eaves reported that Lin Ruhai had entered Taiyuan City and was heading towards the Zongbing Yamen.

Jia Heng put down the book in his hand, looked at a thousand households in brocade clothes, and said: "Continue to pursue the collection, ask the family members of the general, and copy all the property."

As he said that, he looked at Chen Xiao who was at the side, and said, "Let's go, let's meet."

official office, hall

Lin Ruhai had been sitting and waiting for a while, listening to Fan Yi's narration of Jia Heng's coming to Taiyuan Mansion, nodded and said: "I went to Linfen to inquire about the local government's grain prices and warehouse storage. The Kang family has a lot of warehouses in Linfen. Grain is a business, and it is said that every year in summer and autumn, rice and grain are collected from Bashu and Shanxi, and one stone is only seven renminbi."

At this time, Jia Heng came from the outside and said, "Uncle, you are here."

Lin Ruhai looked up at the person who came, with surprise on his face, and said, "Zi Yu."

Jia Heng said: "Uncle came just in time. I was talking about how the rice grains were being transported. Uncle came. I just bought 300 million shi grains from Shanxi merchants."

Lin Ruhai nodded, and said in surprise: "300 million shi, so much? By the way, the king of Qi County has already escorted a batch of food and grass. With the Beijing army behind, it should arrive in seven or eight days."

The pawns in the Jingying camp were relatively fast, but they were still inevitably dragged down by the speed of the convoy.

"I bought it for eight yuan and one stone, and my uncle will accept it first." Jia Heng said with a smile.

Lin Ruhai nodded, and asked, "Eight qian, it's almost one or two qian in the market, how can the merchants in Jin be willing?"

Merchants can't get up early without profit, and instead of taking the opportunity to drive up prices, they are threatened to give up profits.

Jia Heng said coldly: "What if you are not willing? I am the knife and the other is the fish."

Lin Ruhai: "..."

"Ziyu, these merchants will hold a grudge, and they will stir up rumors and troubles in the court, and the courtiers will criticize them." Lin Ruhai reminded.

Such rampant and unscrupulous local officials must have officials to impeach and oppress the gentry and plunder the people's wealth.

Jia Heng shook his head and said: "Shanxi merchants are not salt merchants, and Shanxi is not Jiangnan. The foundation of Shanxi merchants lies in the frontier generals. Since the bad things of King Zhao during the Longzhi period, Jin merchants have already become rootless duckweeds, so there is nothing to worry about."

Because of this, Shanxi merchants will actively betray the country, because they are political orphans in the court.

When Lin Ruhai heard Jia Heng's words, his complexion paused, and his heart suddenly came to a realization.

Jia Heng said: "Uncle, tomorrow I will lead [-] cavalry troops to Datong, and leave [-] cavalry troops here to rectify the Taiyuan town army, and wait for the infantry to come. Uncle receives rice and grain from Shanxi merchants and sends money and grain to the front line. Uncle How do you feel?"

Lin Ruhai nodded, and said, "This time, the household department means to pay on credit first, and then pay back the money after the subsequent money is deposited."

"In the past two days, the Taiyuan army generals were greedy for soldiers' salaries, and recovered part of the money, which was about a million taels. My uncle first used it to deal with the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce, so as to encourage it to actively transport grain." Jia Heng reminded.

If all the credits are owed by white bills, Shanxi merchants are not fools. They will definitely not actively provide food and grass, and deliberately delay the delay, which will cause the front-line generals to be unstable.

The payment still has to pay a part.

When Lin Ruhai heard the words, his eyes showed appreciation, and he said, "Ziyu is thoughtful, that's why."

The son-in-law in front of him is really perfect in every aspect, and he seems to have a plan in his chest.

In fact, this is also the reason why Emperor Chongping trusted him so much.

(End of this chapter)