Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

In Zhangjiakou, the gates of the Fan family, the Jin family and other families were surrounded by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

After the emperor and the prime minister decided on how to deal with the situation, the Yingyang Army, which had been scattered in Shanxi, was mobilized to arrest all the merchants suspected of colluding with the enemy.

The main targets in Zhangjiakou were Fan Yongdou and others. After receiving the order, they did not inform the local authorities at all and directly raided and arrested people.

These people were surrounded while they were still asleep, and then they were captured one by one.

The Jinyiwei, who had already determined the process of confiscating property, also checked the members of these families one by one according to the requirements of the process, and then interrogated them separately.

Soon, the treasuries of these families were dug up one by one. Their accounts in banks and money houses were also questioned and frozen by the Jinyiwei in accordance with the law.

What the people of Zhangjiakou saw was these people being arrested and their belongings being carried out of their homes.

Looking at the dejected Fan Yongdou and others, the people of Zhangjiakou cursed them after learning that they were colluding with the enemy.

They had never dealt with the Jianlu before, but this year the Jianlu marched westward and killed many people on the grassland.

The people of Zhangjiakou were terrified, fearing that the Jianlu would attack them. When they saw that someone in Zhangjiakou was having an affair with the Jianlu, they cursed him.

This is the attitude of the people of Zhangjiakou, but the businessmen of Zhangjiakou have a different attitude towards this.

When Wang Dengku and others were arrested, many people sympathized with him because they thought that Wang Dengku had to trade with Jianlu because he was forced to do so, and he was also opening up new trade channels for Zhangjiakou merchants.

It’s impossible that the merchants in Zhangjiakou would stop trading just because the owner of the grassland changed?
Now, after the imperial court arrested Wang Dengku, they also arrested Fan Yongdou and others, which made them frightened and nervous:

"There is irrefutable evidence of Wang Dengku's dealings with Jianlu. What crime did Fan Yongdou commit?"

"Does anyone know? Why were they arrested?"

Everyone shook their heads, not knowing the specific details.

Compared to the flamboyant Wang Dengku, few people knew what Fan Yongdou did. Many merchants were worried that the Jinyiwei would randomly search their homes and arrest all the merchants in Zhangjiakou.

Someone said:

"I think that after the Jianlu occupy the grassland, the trade in Zhangjiakou will be cut off."

"We businessmen are no longer useful. We will all be slaughtered like pigs."

"Now it's Wang Dengku and Fan Yongdou who have been arrested, but who knows who will be arrested in the future?"

"Let's go now and don't stay here any longer."

I plan to sell this business and leave here as soon as possible.

But some people did not want to leave and said:
"Isn't the imperial court going to set up a Guihua Protectorate? We will eventually take back the grasslands."

"We will still be able to do business then, and Zhangjiakou will be prosperous again sooner or later."

They held on to this thought, so they never left.

Some people even thought of the Daning Protectorate and said:

"I heard that as long as you buy the Dongping Earldom Bonds, you can go to the Daning Protectorate to trade."

"If our Admiral Zhu regains his naturalization, he will definitely be granted the title of Earl. When he issues national debt, we can buy some."

Some people are not optimistic about this, believing that Daning can be recovered, but it is hard to say about naturalization.

After all, the main force of the Jianlu's westward expedition is here, and the Xuanda border army may not be able to defeat them.

Moreover, even if they won, they might not be able to interfere with the trade of Guihua Protectorate. There were many merchants from the capital who went to trade with Daning Protectorate.

The merchants in Zhangjiakou could not compete with the merchants in Beijing. Not to mention that there were imperial merchants in Beijing who had connections with the royal family:

"It would be great if I were in the capital, maybe I could become an imperial merchant."

"The business of Liubiju pickles has increased several times since it became a royal merchant."

"Even if the Jianlu invaded the west, it had little impact on their stock price."

"Who in the north doesn't know Liubiju now?"

The reason why Liubiju was favored when it went public was because the pickle business was regarded as the second salt industry and was allowed to trade with the grasslands.

Logically speaking, the war on the grassland should have had an impact on them, but the stock price of Liubiju has not fallen.

The most important reason is that Liubiju became a supplier to the royal family, and their pickles were often eaten in the palace.

These Zhangjiakou merchants envied the opportunities of the merchants in Beijing. Compared with them who relied entirely on grassland trade, there were too many opportunities in Beijing. Even if there was war in the grassland, it would not affect them at all.

After everyone talked for a while, someone finally revealed more confidential information. A well-informed businessman said:
"I heard that the emperor was very angry about Wang Dengku's collusion with the enemy and asked us Shanxi merchants to bear the military expenses for next year's expedition."

"Could it be that the confiscation of property of Fan Yongdou and others is related to this? Did the imperial court want to confiscate all the merchants in Shanxi?"

This made a group of businessmen unable to believe it, and some of them were even frightened, worrying that their homes would be raided.

A businessman shouted in fear:

"We can't let the Jinyiwei act recklessly. Let's go talk to Eunuch Wang."

"All our transactions with the grasslands are conducted through Shuntian Bank. Eunuch Wang cannot just ignore it."

He called on everyone to find the eunuch Wang Chaoyong, the supervisor of Xuan Da, and ask him for information.
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This statement was echoed by many people. They gathered at the Zhangjiakou branch of Shuntian Bank and demanded to see Wang Chaoyong.

The reason these people dared to do so was that the supervisory eunuchs were different from the garrison eunuchs who were in charge of military and political affairs. They could only supervise in the local area, and their main job was to manage the inner court industry and coordinate the relationship between the inner court's dispatched agencies and the local areas.

Zhangjiakou is an important border trade center. Shuntian Bank and Shunning Commercial Bank both have branches here, both of which are supervised by Wang Chaoyong, the former head of Wei Zhongxian.

Wang Chaoyong was in charge of the six Baohe stores before, and was familiar with the job and did it in a very organized way. This was also the reason why he was still valued by the emperor despite being Wei Zhongxian's confidant.

Upon learning that all the big clients of the Zhangjiakou branch wanted to see him, Wang Chaoyong frowned and asked:

"Do you know what it is?"

"Why did you suddenly start making a fuss?"

The eunuch who manages the Zhangjiakou branch said:
"It was the Jinyiwei who caused the trouble. Not only did they arrest Wang Dengku, they also raided the homes of Fan Yongdou and others."

"Merchants in Zhangjiakou have already suffered losses this year, and now they are frightened and gathered together to seek an explanation."

He sounded quite angry and blamed the Jinyiwei for being meddling in other people's affairs.

Because the Jinyiwei asked Shuntian Bank to cooperate when they searched the houses, the accounts of the family members whose houses were searched were frozen and transferred to the stolen goods and fines account.

This makes many merchants feel that it is not safe to keep silver and money in Shuntian Bank, and many people have withdrawn their silver recently.

The branch manager was affected and was extremely angry about this.

I hope Wang Chaoyong can communicate with Jin Yiwei and not affect the business of Shuntian Bank. In the past, Jin Yiwei was absolutely weak against the eunuchs in the inner court, because the eunuchs in the inner court could see the emperor, and Jin Yiwei had to go through them.

But now the Jinyiwei had to submit briefings to the emperor every day, without having to go through the eunuchs. This caused the eunuchs' influence on the Jinyiwei to plummet, and they no longer dared to regard them as tools of their subordinates.

As a former confidant of Wei Zhongxian, Wang Chaoyong dared not break the rules set by the emperor at will. Listening to the young eunuch's complaints, he scolded:
"Just talk about the matter and don't mention anything else."

"Do you have any say in who the imperial court orders the Jinyiwei to search and arrest?"

"Do you think the rules of the inner court are just for show? Do you want to interfere in government affairs?"

When the young lady who was the manager of the Zhangjiakou branch heard this, she was so scared that she knelt down immediately.

The change from garrison eunuch to supervisory eunuch was not just a change of name, but a major change in duties and powers.

In the past, as long as the emperor did not prohibit it, they could interfere in any local affairs and compete with local officials.

Now, there are clear restrictions on what is allowed, and doing something without permission is a violation. There are also many prohibitions, and violations will be punished.

Among these, interfering in local military affairs was the most serious. Anyone who dared to do this would be sent to Nanjing to grow vegetables at the very least, or exiled overseas at the worst.

Therefore, apart from the eunuchs who were stationed overseas and outside the Great Wall, the eunuchs who supervised the interior did not dare to take the initiative to discuss military and political affairs with local officials. They would only talk a little when the local officials invited them.

Wang Chao used this to accuse the young eunuch in charge of the Zhangjiakou branch. It was a very severe reprimand. If he reported it, he could send the young eunuch to Nanjing to grow vegetables.

This forced the young eunuch to kneel down and apologize, asking the king to show mercy.

Wang Chaoyong didn't want to get involved in anything, and seeing that the young eunuch had surrendered, he didn't dare to express his dissatisfaction, so he didn't mention the matter, but asked him:

"You said that a lot of the money deposited in the Zhangjiakou branch was taken away by merchants."

"If our family doesn't care, will they still take the money out?"

The young eunuch kneeling on the ground said cautiously:
"In my opinion, they will not only take the silver, but they may also leave."

"Now the border areas are occupied by the Jianlu, and the imperial court is cracking down on merchants who have dealings with the Jianlu. They are so frightened that they may change their jobs and stop coming to Zhangjiakou."

Wang Chaoyong nodded after hearing this, thinking that this made sense.

Since the Jianlu's westward expedition, trade in Zhangjiakou has been bad. If some people had not hoped that peace would return to the grassland, they would have left long ago.

Now the imperial court is cracking down on merchants who have colluded with the enemy, and many people have been implicated. The remaining people will leave for the sake of safety.

If all these people leave, how can the inner court maintain its income in Zhangjiakou?

The imperial court might not care about this, but Wang Chaoyong did, because he was able to become the eunuch supervising Xuan Da because of his management ability.

If he can't help the emperor earn enough money, I'm afraid this position will soon be taken over by someone else. Many eunuchs who came from the palace are now waiting for promotion!
So the dynasty used the Dao:
"Now that they are here, let them all come over!"

"It just so happens that the Emperor has given me instructions for something, and he wants to use them."

Ask someone to summon all these merchants and question them harshly:
"Do you know about Fan Yongdou and his gang's collusion with the enemy?"

"Why was it reported by Shanxi businessmen in the mainland, and not by you?"

This question stunned the businessmen who heard it. Only now did they know that the reason Fan Yongdou and others were arrested was because they were reported by Shanxi businessmen in the mainland.

They were very puzzled for a moment, wondering what these people were trying to do.
Soon, Wang Chao used the following words to make them understand why the Shanxi merchants in the mainland reported them, the border trade merchants.

I only heard Wang Chao say:

"You all know about the establishment of the Guihua Protectorate. In view of the long distance outside the Great Wall, the emperor intends to send some trustworthy merchants to accompany the army to help the army purchase supplies and deal with the spoils of war."

"If you are interested, you can donate a title and file the tax return first."

"As long as you are loyal and pay taxes, you may be allowed to accompany the army and become a military merchant."

The news was so sudden that after Wang Chaoyong told the businessmen, they still found it hard to believe it.

Anyone who has ever come into contact with the military would have no idea how profitable it is to handle the spoils of war.

Even purchasing military supplies can be profitable as long as one can establish connections with the military.

In the past, they had tried their best but could not find a way out. But now, here in Dynasty, they have got the opportunity.

As a result, a number of merchants promised to donate their titles and declare taxes, intending to seize this opportunity. Those who were closely connected with Shuntian Bank usually transferred their accounts from Shuntian Bank, and they were really confident in taxation.

Some people suddenly realized:

"It turns out that Fan Yongdou and his group were reported because they were businessmen from the mainland who wanted to come here."

"Eunuch Wang, we are not in cahoots with the enemy, you must protect us!"

They all turned to Wang Chaoyong for help, realizing the dangers inherent in this opportunity.

Military trade is big business, and they can be considered wealthy in the frontier, but compared with the big businessmen in the interior, they are nothing.

Especially families like the Zhang, Wang, and Ma families, which have produced prime ministers and grand secretaries, and are related to the current prime minister.

Compared with these real wealthy families, they are just local rich people in the frontier and are not worth mentioning at all.

If these families move into Zhangjiakou in large numbers, their businesses will be taken over and their lives may even be in danger.

Fan Yongdou and others are good examples. After being caught by these wealthy families, they reported them to the Jinyiwei for seizure.

Now the only ones who can protect them are those sent by the inner court of the dynasty.

None of those doing trade on the border dares to say that they are completely innocent and will not be reported.

Wang Chaoyong understood this, so he threatened these people openly.

Seeing that these people finally understood the situation and knew the danger they were in, Wang Chao laughed and said:

"It would be good if you could understand who is protecting you!"

"If the emperor hadn't conquered the Mongols in the past two years, how could you have made so much money?"

"Don't be like Wang Dengku and Fan Yongdou, who made money from the imperial court but were greedy and betrayed their own people, colluding with the Jianlu to become traitors."

After warning these people, Wang Chao looked at their expressions and said:

"To tell you the truth, the Imperial Household Supervisor Wang Zhangyin has received instructions from the Emperor to have Shunning Trading Company and other royal trading companies find more merchants to cooperate with and do trade with the army."

"If your status is high enough and your tax record is good enough, you may be able to cooperate with Shunning Commercial Bank and become a royal cooperative merchant."

"This is a true imperial merchant, you must all seize the opportunity!" (End of this chapter)