Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 214 Analysis and Decision

Zhu Shenzhui interrupted them with a cough and started asking about the caravan's situation from its departure to the accident and then its arrival at the tribe, in order to dispel the awkward and dull atmosphere between the two of them.

As Zhu Shenzhui asked, Ma Shizhou came back to his senses and realized that his blunt answer just now seemed a bit too much. He then carefully reported the entire itinerary to Zhu Shenzhui. After Zhu Shenzhui listened carefully, he did not find any problems. Everything was done according to the procedure and there was no difference from when he went to the grassland.

Then he asked some other questions, including the situation of each person in the caravan, and Ma Shizhou also answered them. After asking, Zhu Shenzui still couldn't find the problem. It could be basically judged that this matter had nothing to do with the caravan. But he encountered such a situation again, especially the origin and behavior of this group of Mongols were strange, which was far from as simple as it seemed.

After asking the questions, Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and asked the two of them to go down and rest. Kang Youfu and Ma Shizhou stood up and said goodbye to Zhu Shenzhui. When leaving, Kang Youfu seemed to have something to say, but he opened his mouth but didn't say it. He bowed and went out with Ma Shizhou.

After they left, Zhu Shenzhui frowned and pondered over this matter. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this matter was too strange. It was not only what Kang Youfu and Ma Shizhou had said before, but also something hidden behind the surface. Although he couldn't see through the fog at once, Zhu Shenzhui always felt that it was not that simple.

Intuitively, Zhu Shenzhu agreed with Kang Youfu's view that these Mongols were not simple and came to him with a premeditated purpose. Their purpose was not to rob goods, but to kill people and directly destroy the goods if they could not rob them.

This approach is too targeted and unreasonable, which is the main reason why Zhu Shenzhui was alert. So where did these Mongols come from? Who is behind them? And how did they know the route and time of Ma Shizhou and his party? It is impossible for them to wait foolishly on the barren grassland? If there is no reliable information, how could they intercept the caravan by such a coincidence?
The more Zhu Shenzhu pondered, the more he felt suspicious. His Hengtong Trading Company had been developing steadily and rapidly since its establishment. But even so, Zhu Shenzhu had never neglected any aspect of the process. Whether it was the Ming Dynasty or the Mongolian side, he had connections and channels on both sides. He thought about it and didn't know who was deliberately targeting his caravan.

"The Mongols? Ashe Temur's enemy tribe? Or are they leaders of other tribes who are jealous of Ashe Temur's tribe because it has grown stronger through cooperation with them?" Zhu Shenzhui guessed silently, but he rejected the idea as soon as it came to his mind. This possibility is not impossible, but it is not very likely.

Zhu Shenzhu was very familiar with the situation of Ashe Temur's tribe. As far as he knew, Ashe Temur did not have any hostile tribes. Although there were minor conflicts among the tribes in the Tumed grassland, the overall relationship was still good, and there were intermarriages between the tribes. The leaders of the tribes were actually relatives. Especially with the development of trade in the past year, these tribes had also gained a lot of benefits and had become closer to each other.

Moreover, Ashi Temur was the commander of the Right Wing of Mongolia and had the title of Jinong. He was one of the tribes directly under the Mongolian Khan Ligdan Khan. It was impossible for ordinary tribes to provoke Ashi Temur.

In addition, once such a thing is done, it will violate the rules of the Mongolians on the grassland, and whether the consequences can be borne must also be considered.

It is even more impossible to be jealous, the effort and benefits are not proportional at all. In addition, if it was done by other tribes, how did these people know the whereabouts of Ma Shizhou and others? This is also a problem.

But if they were not Mongols, who were they? People from the Ming Dynasty? Or were they border troops disguised as Mongols? This was a possibility. The Ming Dynasty and the Mongols had been at war for more than 200 years, and there had been cases of Mongols and border troops entering and leaving the Great Wall to rob each other. If these people were border troops, it would not be difficult to notice their whereabouts since Ma Shizhou and others left the Great Wall from the border.

Tracking and then setting up an ambush at a suitable place in advance is possible, but why do this?

If they were seeking wealth, that wouldn't make sense. If they were seeking wealth, why would they set fire to the supplies? If they weren't seeking wealth, they wanted to destroy the caravan, but they took the initiative to withdraw after suffering losses. This doesn't make sense.

Furthermore, when they encountered each other, Ma Shizhou and his men had already entered the grassland for three days, and had traveled a long way north during these three days. If it were the Ming border troops, they would have taken action long ago, and would never have waited until this time, let alone gone so deep into the grassland.

You have to know that the border troops can only operate in the area of ​​dozens of miles north of the Great Wall at most. Once they go too deep and are discovered by the Mongols, it will be difficult to escape.

This is not the case, and that is impossible. So who did it? Zhu Shenzhui thought about it and suddenly thought of a question. If something happened to his caravan, the goods suffered huge losses, and even affected the trade with the grassland in the future, then who would be the winner? According to this judgment, whoever is the ultimate winner is the most suspicious. As a newly rising and popular Ming Dynasty business, once such a thing happened, wouldn't the vested interests be the peers?
Could it be that this was done by other Ming Dynasty companies? If so, some things would make sense. With the continuous development of Hengtong Company, especially the cooperation with the Ashi Timur tribe, a steady stream of materials were transported from Ming Dynasty to the grassland through the trade route, which brought huge benefits to both Zhu Shenzhui and Ashi Timur.

The latter, in particular, survived the severe winter of last year through cooperation, and also annexed several small tribes, which made other tribes develop well while they were struggling. In addition, with the supplies and goods from the Ming Dynasty, the Ashitimur tribe gradually controlled the trade around the Tumed grassland. Now many tribes trade directly with the Ashitimur tribe, so that some Ming Dynasty merchants who originally traded with the Tumed grassland tribe lost their advantage.

Due to the alliance between Zhu Shenzhui's Hengtong Trading Company and the Ashitemur tribe, a monopoly of Ming Dynasty goods gradually formed in the Mongolian Tumed Grassland, which directly damaged the interests of other Ming Dynasty trading companies.

Isn't there an old saying? Taking money from someone is like killing their parents. Merchants are always profit-driven and can do anything for money. If these Mongols were backed by a Ming Dynasty merchant or a person, then this statement might make sense.

First, we can use the connections at the border to find out the whereabouts of Ma Shizhou and his party. It is not difficult on the Ming side. It is enough to know when they will arrive, how many people there are, how much goods they brought, and through which opening in the Great Wall they entered the grassland.

As Ming Dynasty merchants who often travel on the grasslands, the basic situation of how to travel on the grasslands is roughly the same, where they start from, where they are going, and how far they can walk in a day, they can almost figure it out by careful calculation.

What's more, the caravan of Hengtong Trading Company has always had a clear target, and its destination was Ashitemur's tribe. The reason why they took action on the third day after entering the grassland was that this was when the caravan was halfway there, and this area was the best place to attack. There was neither Ashitemur's tribe in front nor the Great Wall in the back. Once they intercepted and killed all the members of the caravan and took away the goods, the bodies would be eaten up by wolves and goshawks on the grassland in a few days, and no trace would be found anymore.

The true origins of the Mongols who attacked the caravan were simple. Perhaps they were Mongolian horse bandits hired by people from other trading companies, or they were guards from other trading companies in disguise. It is even possible that they bribed a few desperate men from the border troops. Either possibility, or a combination of these is possible.

This would explain why the other party, when they had no way to capture Ma Shizhou and others, took the decisive action of setting fire to the goods.

Once the goods were destroyed, not only did Hengtong Trading Company suffer losses, but Ashitemur also lost nearly half of his source of goods. This meant that other trading companies had an opportunity to sell their goods.

The more Zhu Shenzhu thought about it, the more he felt that this was possible, but was it true? Which business had done this to him?
There were numerous trading companies in the Ming Dynasty, especially in Shanxi. There were dozens of trading companies that had direct or indirect trade with the Mongols. It was impossible that these trading companies worked together, right? So which one was it? Or was it a competitor as Zhu Shenzhui guessed? This needed to be confirmed.

Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzhui came up with an idea in his mind. This matter must be investigated, and it must be investigated thoroughly.

But it was impossible to rely on Zhu Shenzhui to investigate. First, he was not a professional, and second, he did not have the energy. However, he naturally had other ways. Don't forget that his brother-in-law Zhou Anmin was not only a Jinyiwei, but also a Qianhu of Jinyiwei Qianhu Suo. Jinyiwei was full of talents. Wouldn't it be a piece of cake to investigate such a case? Zhu Shenzhui decided to let Zhou Anmin investigate this matter.

After thinking this through, Zhu Shenzui felt much clearer, but at the same time, he also felt a little annoyed.

If it was really another business that did this, Zhu Shenzhui would never forgive them. Business matters should be resolved by business means. It doesn't matter if you can't compete with them in business, but if they did something unscrupulous outside of business, don't blame Zhu Shenzhui for being ruthless.

Don't think that Hengtong Commercial Bank is a legitimate commercial bank. There is also the shadow of the government behind it. Don't forget how Zhu Shenzhui accumulated the original capital before Hengtong Commercial Bank was established. He started his business by smuggling salt with people from Wangjia Village. When Zhu Shenzhui and his gang were selling private salt, their hands were stained with blood. It was common for them to chop people's heads with knives. Now Tiger is chanting Buddha. Do you really think he is a vegetarian? You are dreaming!
Zhu Shenzhui is no longer the same person he was before. His real strength is much stronger than when he was selling illegal salt. He has money and connections. No matter if it is Ming or Mongolia, if you mess with Zhu Shenzhui, to put it bluntly, he will use his methods to make it difficult for you to die. By then, the person who made the move will regret coming to this world and will be unable to live or die.

(End of this chapter)