Chapter 246 Only when I arrived in Liaodong did I realize how much blood and tears this land had carried!
King Jin was really angry at this time. The face-to-face dialogue with these traitorous businessmen was already disgusting to him. Although he is not usually a good person, and he is not necessarily very kind to the people,
But at least he still remembers his responsibilities. Not only does he train his troops locally, but he also often goes to the border to inspect. Especially in the winter when there is no food or water on the grasslands in the north, the Tatars prefer to go south to knock the pass at this time. And at that time, in order to fulfill his duties faithfully, he had to stay at the border in the cold weather in the north.
He knew the hard times, and so did the soldiers under his command. However, under this situation, these businessmen in Shanxi not only did not help Ming Dynasty defend the country, but instead secretly sold some supplies to the north.
Although they are not important strategic materials, but are daily necessities, this is also an act of collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country. If Chen Han hadn't repeatedly warned them, these people might be the ones who would open border trade in the future. He really wanted to kill these people with one blow. The Shanxi merchants did not expect that the King of Jin would turn against him so quickly. He was fine just now, but once he disagreed with the construction of the factory, he immediately became angry. Only now did they realize that in the eyes of King Jin, they were just pawns to be used. If you want to resist, the consequences will be miserable.
The other princes also had angry faces at this time. Who are you? Prince! Even if he could not participate in local administrative affairs before, he was still a prince and was above the rest. When will I get mixed up with these dirty businessmen?
If Chen Han hadn't said these people were useful this time, they really wouldn't have been able to lower themselves and have anything to do with them. But now, not only do I and others look nice to them, but they also behave like them. But they wanted the benefits without expecting it. Once they were asked to pay something, they would immediately change their appearance, and anyone who saw it would be angry. King Gu even said directly: "It's so shameless. Don't you know what you have done? If we had followed our own temper, you would have died dozens of times.
Now that I'm discussing it with you in a good voice, you guys are showing off, so what? Do you think life is too long? " thump!
thump! ! All Shanxi merchants knelt on the ground. They were all so frightened that they were all covered in sweat. Only now did they know that he was a high-ranking prince. They are just businessmen. If they were ordinary businessmen, these princes might not do anything bad, but what was terrible was that he and others turned out to be the most shameless businessmen who collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country. Just now, they just saw that these princes seemed to want something from them, so they suddenly gained confidence, but they did not expect that these princes would turn against them so quickly. "The common people are guilty!" "The common people know their guilt!!" "The common people are willing to do what the prince says!"
King Jin stood up and looked at these guys, "Maybe Duke Qian still doesn't know how hateful you are, let alone how hard we soldiers at the border are, so he still has some illusions about you.
I think you guys will at least restrain themselves a little for the sake of profit, but Duke Qian really thinks highly of you. You people are the scum who have no profit and cannot afford to die early. Now I don’t want to treat you exactly as Duke Qian said. Starting today, when you go back, you will start building factories for me. Then I will inform officials from the Tax Inspection Department to come to your business and personally check how much national tax you have evaded over the years. I don't know how to check your accounts, but I don't think the people in the Tax Audit Department don't know. " When Shanxi merchants heard about the tax inspection department, they were frightened and turned pale. Which yamen of the imperial court is the most terrifying nowadays, it has to be the Tax Inspection Department. I heard that this yamen is the original Jin Yiwei. Not only do they have superb reconnaissance capabilities, they are also directly controlled by the emperor. They don't even have birds in the local yamen. Nowadays, these people are setting up Baochao Lifting Offices in Shanxi and other places, and it is very convenient to select a few people from them. The Shanxi merchants had long received the news through the semicolons distributed all over the country, saying that the Tax Inspection Department was simply more terrifying than the previous Jin Yiwei. In the past, Jinyiwei only focused on those officials and did not pay much attention to private business people, unless they committed something.
But the tax audit department is different. Their duty is to investigate all matters involving business, especially tax matters, which are their focus. And the tax payment situation of myself and others must be very unqualified.
Once he is found out, judging from His Majesty's attitude towards those who commit crimes, he is likely to be skinned and cramped. At the thought of this, the Shanxi merchants were so frightened that they knelt on the ground and shook themselves into chaff. When King Jin saw this group of people acting like this, he snorted coldly: "As expected, they are all cheap. If I talk to you properly, you won't take it seriously. You must make me angry.
The conditions are still the same now, but Duke Qian still has some trust in you, but this is absolutely impossible for me here. The Qianguo Gong established a 50-50 split, but in order to punish you, our Western Branch implemented a 70-30 split.
The tax inspection department will check into your business soon and find out what's wrong. If you don't fix it within three months, I will take you outside the city to experience how the soldiers came here in the ice and snow. ! " These Shanxi merchants are all pampered and don't even touch cold water on weekdays. How can they endure the ice and snow outside the Great Wall?
For a moment, they were so frightened that they fell to their knees and kept saying the wrong things. The King of Jin was really very angry with these Shanxi merchants.
It's really just as he said,
If Chen Han hadn't said that these people were useful, he would have killed them long ago. Since these people were so obedient and had some evidence of their crimes in hand, King Jin snorted coldly: "The treaty is still the same as before. But now that you have broken up with each other, I know that in your hearts, you are also extremely angry towards me. But I am not afraid. I am here to tell you something. This time I take control of the Western Branch of the Ming Dynasty Chamber of Commerce and ask you to join. This is nothing more than informing the entire northwest region. All of you more powerful businesses have already joined the Daming branch. If they wait and see, they will not end well. So you must not think that yourselves are so important.
You have some money, you have some local influence, and your fields are indeed criss-crossed.
But if you are unwilling to cooperate with the court, I believe you will become a lost dog immediately if I say one word. That's it, sign the treaty.
Give me a list of all the branches of each of your businesses in the northwest region.
If you have any secrets, you just won’t give me face.
When the time comes, I won’t give you face either. Okay, get out! " The King of Jin really didn't give these Shanxi merchants any face at this time.
But this time, none of the Shanxi merchants showed any anger, but quickly ran away with their tails between their legs.
After the Jin merchants left, the other vassal kings turned back to King Jin and said, "Third brother, you were really overbearing just now. I still want to ask, if it hadn't been for what Mr. Chen said, would you really have dealt with all these people? " King Jin had a cold face: "Although I don't think about making decisions for the people like Bao Longtu in the play, But I still have some idea of where our family came from. After listening to my husband’s class, I realized that although our family has the best in the world, there are still many uncertainties in our minds. If we can't do our best for the Ming Dynasty, how can we expect these bureaucrats? Just like the business people in front of us, they still do one thing overtly and another secretly, especially those who are officials. " After hearing these words, the other princes also nodded: "Third brother, you are right. During these years of experience, I have also seen through these officials who keep saying that they make decisions for the people and make decisions for the people. In fact, deep down they just do it for them. By the way, seeking justice for the common people is just for their own reputation. My husband is more sensible and knows that he still has to face his own family. Since your husband has pointed out a path for us and secured for us the opportunity to make great achievements and avoid being inactive all our lives,
We men also need to know what it means to give up when things get better.
Mr. Yu of the Western Branch of the Ming Dynasty Chamber of Commerce pointed out such a good way, and now we will go for it boldly. Don't worry, Third Brother, after you have rectified these businessmen in Shanxi and Shaanxi, we will not lose your prestige when we return to Lanzhou and Ningxia. " King Jin then smiled slightly: "These are father and son soldiers going into battle, brothers fighting tigers. Since Sir believes in us princes, we cannot let Sir down. We also have to save some face for ourselves and don't let those officials look down upon us. " These words made all the feudal kings feel angry. …… It was late October, and there was heavy snow outside the customs. It was covered with snow. As a southerner, Chen Han has never seen the ice and snow in the north. Not to mention the severe cold in North Korea. He was wearing a mink fur coat and was wrapped tightly. Riding on a horse and listening to the crunching sound of the horse's hooves in the snow also feels very fresh. In the freezing cold wind, King Zhu Di of Yan, King Zhu Zhi of Liao, and King Zhu Quan of Ning were accompanying Chen Han to Shanhaiguan, Liaodong. It is an important pass of the Great Wall and an important pass to prevent the Jurchens and Mongols from invading southward. Chen Han's mood changed from the freshness when he arrived in Liaodong half a month ago to an extremely heavy mood. It's not because he is now in Liaodong and is being oppressed by the severe cold. It's because this place carries so many grievances and grievances between the Han people and the Jurchens. This land is so vast that standing here is like a grain of sand falling into the desert, looking so insignificant.
Only when you reach this northeastern land can you feel the endlessness, not only in the sea, but also in the plains. Although you may not be able to step on the black earth under your feet. But the rich history is overwhelming. Chen Han's mood was always depressed. Without him, it is because this land was not only ravaged by the Jurchens, but also was ravaged by the Japanese slaves and Rakshasa people in turn hundreds of years later. The people here live in dire straits. They have to endure the test of severe cold and the butcher's knife of the invaders. The people here are determined and hardworking, but their fate is so unfair. They have been repeatedly violated, and they can only endure it silently. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, they contributed huge efforts to the development of the entire country. They contribute resources, they contribute capabilities, they contribute land, Everyone knows that the black soil is so fertile. Everyone knows how widely oil fields and iron ore are distributed here. This is the concentration of so-called resource-based cities.
But how many people look back on their history and see how bloody and tragic they have been through it. When you step on this land, you can seem to hear the screams of those who were massacred. King Zhu Di of Yan, King Zhu Zhi of Liao, and King Zhu Quan of Ning saw that Chen Han's expression was not very good, so they thought it was because Chen Han had lived in the south for a long time and was not accustomed to the northern weather. Arrive in front of Shanhaiguan. The peaks here are steep, and they are already close to the outside of the pass. Before they reach the pass, the general soldiers of Liaodong come to greet them. King Zhu Zhi of the Liao Dynasty was ordered to guard this place, which can be regarded as conscientious. Coupled with the battle of Yuerhai and the blessing of the three guards of Duoyan who surrendered,
Today, Liaodong's military strength is strong. So when King Ning of Liao and others heard that Li's North Korea was actually colluding with the Jurchens and preparing to go south for a major invasion, they were very surprised. I don’t know what these guys are thinking. Don’t they know that the Ming Dynasty is even more powerful now than before? Especially the musketeers who have been added one after another this year have increased their combat power. Some time ago, we encountered a small group of Jurchens and Mongols going south to plunder, but before they could get close to the city wall, the soldiers above the city wall held fire blunderbuss and started shooting at them. Although the reloading time of the fire gun is relatively long, its power is stronger than that of the bow and arrow, and it is even much less difficult to use. The cultivation of archers requires huge time and resource costs. But the musketeer is different. You don't need to go through a particularly long period of training to become a qualified musketeer. So the Jurchens and those who occasionally wanted to go south from here to enter the customs were discovered by the Mongols.
Even if they attack by force, they will not be able to damage the pass's skin at all. Chen Han, King Zhu Di of Yan, King Zhu Zhi of Liao, and King Zhu Quan of Ning soon arrived in front of Shanhaiguan. They followed the Liaodong General Soldier to the pass. We are about to enter the pass before our eyes. You can see that there are clusters of peaks here and the slopes are steep. The King of Liao stopped walking by pressing the bridle and pointed forward, "Sir, look, we have arrived at the Nine Gates." Chen Han looked up and saw a huge Guancheng between two mountains, lying on a stone-paved river beach, with both ends connected to the cliffs. Nine huge arched water gates stand majestically, lined up in a row, dominating the canyon between the two mountains... (End of this chapter)