My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 101 Hong Chengchou: It’s really hard for me!

Because the emperor hadn't sent anyone to inspect the border town for a long time, why did he suddenly send a marquis, and this marquis was a woman?
Of course they knew about Qin Liangyu, after all, this female general was so famous.

But isn’t Qin Liangyu in Sichuan?
How did he come to the capital for no apparent reason and was even conferred the title of marquis by the emperor?

When did female marquises appear in this world?

The two sat together and pondered for a long time, but couldn't figure out anything.

After a moment, Wang Chengyin suddenly thought of something and asked in a low voice:

"Master Guo, do you think the emperor has found out about what we did and sent someone to investigate us?"

When Guo Zhicong heard this, he shook his head.

"That's impossible. What we do has always been extremely secretive. The Emperor shouldn't be able to find out."

"I suspect the Jiannu are approaching the Jinning defense line recently, so the emperor is afraid and has sent someone to inspect the Xuanfu defense line to reassure you. There's no need to worry too much."

After Guo Zhicong said this, Wang Chengyin nodded thoughtfully.

In his opinion, what they did was perfect and the emperor should not be able to find out.

At this moment, a servant at the door reported:
"My Lords, Fan Yongdou requests an audience."

Fan Yongdou, one of the eight great Shanxi merchants, is the representative of the Fan family whose property was previously confiscated by Zhu Cilang.

When Wang Chengyin heard this, he immediately stood up with a smile and winked at Guo Zhicong who was standing beside him.

Then Guo Zhicong also stood up, and the two smiled at each other, understanding each other tacitly.

According to previous rules, Fan Yongdou should have come to pay "protection fees" today.

A moment later, Fan Yongdou was brought in.

"It's good that both of you are here. It saves me from having to make an extra trip."

Fan Yongdou first smiled and bowed, then took out two envelopes from his arms and handed them to the two people respectively.

The envelope contained nothing else but a silver note worth ten thousand taels of silver.

Ten thousand taels per person!

This is the monthly "protection fee" of the eight imperial merchants, and it has been going on for many years.

Moreover, every general and governor was basically bribed by them.

If someone likes money, give him money; if someone doesn’t like money, give him women; if someone doesn’t like women, give him jewelry, accessories, and antiques.

After all, there is always something you like in this world, right?
As long as there is something you like, they will find a way to get it!
It is through these means that their business has been booming and money has flowed into their pockets like water.

Just as the two of them were secretly delighted, Fan Yongdou spoke again:

"Oh, right, I have one more thing to tell you, my Lords. I may need to ship some goods to Mongolia in the next few days. I hope you can help me."

The so-called transportation of goods to Mongolia was actually the transportation of goods to the Jiannu.

This kind of thing certainly cannot be said openly, so it has to be said that the goods are being transported to Mongolia.

Wang Chengyin and Guo Zhicong had just received the silver, so why wouldn't they agree?
Then he readily agreed:
"It's convenient, of course it is. Don't worry, I will greet my soldiers when the time comes."

After a pause, Wang Chengyin reminded:
"By the way, after this shipment, we'll have to stop for a while because the imperial court has sent people to inspect Xuanfu. You guys need to behave yourself and not make things difficult for us."

When Fan Yongdou heard this, he asked curiously:
"I wonder who is coming this time?"

Wang Chengyin waved his hand, looking indifferent.

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you. She's just a woman!"

A woman?
Fan Yongdou was speechless. He felt that the emperor must have a problem with his brain, otherwise why would he send a woman to inspect Xuanfu?

What can't men do, let a woman do it?
Isn't this the most ridiculous thing in the world?

It seems that the Ming Dynasty is about to fall.
Fan Yongdou shook his head and couldn't help but have more expectations for the Jiannu.

If the Jian Nu could really enter the Central Plains, then his Fan family would have made great contributions, and perhaps he could even become a high-ranking official.
After leaving the governor's office, Fan Yongdou went to other yamen and also delivered a "protection fee".

In short, he visited all the government offices in Xuanfu.

Although this costs a lot of money every month, compared with the money they earn every month, it is just a drop in the bucket.

And if you don't bleed a little, how can these people turn a blind eye?
In just half an hour, he had visited all the government offices in Xuanfu and presented a tribute to each one.

Originally, Fan Yongdou didn't need to show up in person to pay the "protection fee", he just needed to leave it to his servants.

But Fan Yongdou always felt that he could use this matter to make friends with more officials and ensure the normal operation of his personal connections, so he always liked to show up in person.

However, Fan Yongdou probably never thought that at this moment, his hometown in Shanxi had already been raided by Zhu Cilang.
Meanwhile, on the other side.

After traveling for nearly ten days, Duke Yingguo Zhang Zhiji finally arrived outside Ningyuan City.

From a distance, he saw a group of officials waiting outside Ningyuan City, led by Hong Chengchou, the Governor of Ji and Liao.

At the foot of Ningyuan City, Hong Chengchou looked at the troops slowly approaching from a distance, sighed in his heart, and his face was full of fatigue.

Just yesterday, he had commanded a counterattack, finally broke through the siege of the Jiannu, and delivered a batch of food and fodder to Jinzhou City.

These food supplies should be enough for Zu Dashou to sustain for three months.

According to his original plan, as long as the logistics, food and military pay could keep up, he could defeat the Jiannu.

After all, the logistics of the Jiannu were not as good as those of the Ming Dynasty. As long as the two sides continued to be deadlocked, the Jiannu would not be able to hold on for long.

But he didn't expect that less than a month after he arrived in Ningyuan, the emperor sent the Duke of Ying.

It goes without saying that the Duke of Ying was here to urge him to rescue Jinzhou City. This was not good news for Hong Chengchou, because judging from the current situation, the Ming army was unable to defeat the Jiannu, and a forced attack would only backfire.

By then, they would be unable to retreat or attack, and would be dragged down by the Jiannu.

Moreover, the military salaries in Liaodong have not been paid for three months.

After three months without pay, the Han army could still barely maintain military discipline, but the Mongols who surrendered to the Ming Dynasty were a little out of control.

After all, they do things for money. Who would listen to you if you don’t have money?
Now there is another person to supervise the battle, and Hong Chengchou doesn’t know what to do.

Ugh!
It's so hard for me!

Hong Chengchou couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

He, the Governor of Ji and Liao, looks quite impressive, commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, but only he himself knows how difficult his life is!

But seeing the Duke of England's team getting closer, he forced a smile and quickly walked towards them.

At the same time, the British Duke Zhang Zhiji also got off his horse on the other side.

It has to be said that the ten-day journey was extremely miserable for him. As the most distinguished nobleman in the Ming Dynasty, he had always lived a life of luxury and had not ridden a horse for a long time.

As a result, he couldn't stand riding for such a long time this time.

Moreover, in order to save his face, the Duke of England could not come in a sedan chair.

After all, he is the most meritorious person in the Ming Dynasty!

If people knew that he couldn't even ride a horse, wouldn't he be completely embarrassed?

"Duke Ying, I apologize for not coming to greet you in person!"

At this moment, Hong Chengchou stepped forward and hurriedly bowed.

Other officers also hurriedly bowed and greeted him.

They may not have seen the Duke of Yingguo, but they all knew the title of the first nobleman of the Ming Dynasty.

Facing the compliments from everyone, Zhang Zhiji also responded:
"Generals, you have all worked hard. There is no need to be so polite."

Suddenly, a general who looked like a Mongolian in the crowd shouted in broken Chinese:
"Duke of England, did you bring any money with you this time? We are already three months' wages behind us!"

Before Zhang Zhiji could say anything, Hong Chengchou's face turned ugly.

Obviously, he did not expect that these Mongolian officers would embarrass him at this time.

Hong Chengchou immediately turned around and scolded:

"Shut up!"

When the Mongolian heard this, he immediately shut his mouth and stopped talking. It was obvious that he was still a little afraid of Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou quickly looked at Ying Gongdao:
"Don't worry, Duke Ying. It's my fault for not disciplining my subordinates well."

"Don't say that,"

Zhang Zhiji waved his hand.

"Serving as a soldier and receiving pay is a matter of course. Why is there anything wrong with saying such a thing? Besides, it was indeed the Ming Dynasty that wronged you in the past."

Hearing this, Hong Chengchou was speechless for a moment. He didn't understand what this meant.

But he understood the next second!

Zhang Zhiji just waved his hand, and dozens of carriages following the team suddenly drove over.

The carriage was carrying boxes of things.

Immediately afterwards, the boxes on dozens of carriages were opened at the same time, and then dozens of boxes full of silver appeared in front of everyone.

The silver shone so brightly in the sunlight that it was impossible to open one's eyes.

For a moment, all the generals, including Hong Chengchou, were stunned.

Zhang Zhiji smiled and said:

"Everyone, this duke has come here to give you some silver. Here are two million taels of silver, all for you."

"After paying off the previously owed military pay, the remaining amount will be your reward."

"And His Majesty has said that he will never owe Liaodong any more military pay, and that food and fodder will be fully distributed."

Hearing this, Hong Chengchou's heart suddenly started beating wildly.

The impact of these two million taels of silver is really too great.

For a moment, the other officers present also began to get excited.

It was at this time that Hong Chengchou finally calmed down.

In his opinion, as long as there is money, everything else will be easy.

Then he hurriedly said:
"Duke of England, please come into the city for a chat."

Zhang Zhiji nodded and followed him into the city.

Hong Chengchou then ordered his personal soldiers to move all the silver to the warehouse, count it, and then pay everyone's military pay.

After entering the city, the generals were still excited about the two million taels of silver, but Hong Chengchou had already arrived at a study with the Duke of Ying.

This is because what Zhang Zhiji brought was a secret decree, not an explicit decree, so it needed to be shown to Hong Chengchou separately.

(End of this chapter)