On December 15, Datong General Wang Pu walked into the Duke of Jin with great concern and met Li Zhi sitting in the main seat in the third hall.

"Wang Pu, I haven't seen you for more than two years in a blink of an eye!"

Wang Pu looked at Li Zhi and felt that he hadn't seen him for more than two years. Li Zhi had a more majestic look on his face. The so-called "those who live in the best for a long time will have majesticity. Now Li Zhi is a prince in Tianjin and Shandong, and is completely different from the general like Wang Pu who sleeps in the open and runs behind the thieves.

Wang Pu bowed and said, "I haven't seen each other for two years. Duke of Tianjin is already the leader of Shandong and Tianjin. It's really a thousand miles a day."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Wang Pu, do you know why I came to you?"

Li Zhi came to Wang Pu, preparing to win over Wang Pu as an insider and break through the fortress of Shanxi merchants from within.

Li Xing and Han Jinxin encountered difficulties in Shanxi, so they returned to Tianjin to ask for help from Li Zhi. Li Zhi sent hundreds of people to Shanxi to review Shanxi merchants, but they could not find any evidence that the eight Shanxi merchants colluded with enemies. The Shanxi merchants' accounts were very beautiful, and all the goods recorded on paper were bought from Mongolia, so there was no problem.

This ability to make false accounts has been available since ancient times.

The old friend who was in charge of the eight Shanxi merchants disappeared overnight and went out to do business. The remaining guys were all doing legal Mongolian businesses, or the grassroots guys who were doing odd jobs, and they were completely unaware of the matters of communicating with the Qing Dynasty.

Li Zhi felt the urgency of time - if the inspection in Shanxi was delayed for too long and could not be found, the civil servants who took Shanxi merchants' bank in the court would attack collectively, forcing the emperor to stop Li Zhi's inspection and let Li Zhi return from Shanxi.

So Li Zhi found Wang Pu. Li Zhi and Wang Pu fought against the Tartars together, and they had reliable mutual trust.

Hearing Li Zhi's words, Wang Pu pondered silently, but was unwilling to answer this sentence.

In fact, with Wang Pu's intelligence, of course I know why Li Zhi is looking for him now.

The Wang family where Wang Pu, the general of Datong, is located, is itself one of the eight Shanxi merchants who are in the enemy.

Wang Pu and his father Wang Wei were almost hereditary generals of Datong and were the local emperors in Datong. Although his father and son did not go to business, the rest of his family were all merchants, and they were headed by Wang Dengku, a three-bedroom family. They were called the Taiyuan Wang family, and their business scale was second only to the Jiexiu Fan family.

The Wang family had a lot of business with the Tartars a few years ago. However, the Wang family had a more political sense than the other seven families. After the Jinzhou War, the Wang family saw the Qing Dynasty gradually decline, and it was like washing hands. It is said that they rarely traded with the Tartars in Shenyang in recent years.

Wang Pu is not stupid. He knows that Li Zhi is looking for him at this time, so he must have wanted him to help him solve the problem of Shanxi merchants.

However, as one of the eight Shanxi merchants who communicated with the Qing Dynasty, if Wang Pu wanted to sell the other seven Shanxi merchants, Li Zhi needed to give some bargaining chips.

Wang Pu pondered for a moment and bowed and asked, "If I cooperate with Duke Jin, can Duke Jin let the Wang family go?"

Li Zhi thought for a while and said, "The Wang family made a lot of money in business with the Tartars a few years ago. Even if it is conservatively estimated, I think at least half of the Wang family's property is earned from the Tartars."

Li Zhi said lightly: "If you cooperate with me, then I will just talk to the Wang family. I will not kill the Wang family and only search half of the Wang family's property."

When Wang Pu heard Li Zhi's words, a few drops of cold sweat appeared on his head. After thinking about it, Wang Pu said, "Can the transaction between the Wang family and Mongolia be done in the future?"

Li Zhi smiled.

Zheng Kaicheng smiled and said, "Sir Young Guard, as long as the Wang family cooperates with the Duke of the Kingdom and destroys the other seven families, the business in Shanxi will be dominated by the Wang family. In the future, the trade with Mongolia will be almost monopolized by the Wang family in Taiyuan. Although Duke of Jin confiscated half of the Wang family's property this time, it is expected that the Wang family will be able to make more money from the Mongolian trade in a few years."

Wang Pu thought about it and began to think about the gains and losses.

Zheng Kaicheng looked at Li Zhi, and Li Zhi nodded.

Zheng Kaicheng smiled and said, "Sir Young Guardian, if the Wang family chooses to cooperate this time, the Wang family can open the business to Tianjin and Shandong in the future. The Wang family's business in Tianjin and Shandong will be protected by the Duke of Tianjin."

When Wang Pu heard the last sentence, he was a little moved.

Wang Pu has been entangled with bandits in Henan in the past two years, and he felt more and more that the Ming Dynasty was in danger. Shaanxi to the west of Shanxi was full of bandits, and Henan to the right of Shanxi was even more intriguing. Looking up, only Tianjin and Shandong were prosperous in the Ming Dynasty. If you could do business to Tianjin, the property safety of the Wang family would be guaranteed.

The three holes of cunning rabbits are in this world of war, and the Wang family certainly understands this principle.

If Li Zhi had suspected that Li Zhi was hostile to the gentry and was worried that Li Zhi would kill the Wang family who was delivered to him as a fat pig, then with Li Zhi's promise today, the Wang family could safely trade in Tianjin and Shandong. Keeping the money and property in Tianjin protected by the Hu Ben Army is as safe as depositing it in a safe.

In this chaotic world, Li Zhi's promise is actually a big deal.

Wang Pu gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, Duke Jin, the Wang family has done it!"

Zheng Kaicheng looked at Li Zhi and asked Wang Pu: "Sir Young Master, can you make the decision at home?"

Wang Pu did not answer this question, but bowed and said, "Duke Jin Guo, including hundreds of business partners, are all in Guihua City. If Duke Jin Guo wants to seize the evidence that Shanxi merchants collude with the enemy, send troops to Guihua City."

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On December 29, Jin Liangyu, the head of the Jin family, stood on the wall of Guihua City, looking at the east direction.

These days Li Xing went out to investigate Shanxi merchants four times in Shanxi, and found the merchants in Shanxi all the troubles. Li Xing had the emperor's imperial edict and the Duke of Jin Li Zhi as his backer, so he did nothing to do. After a month of investigation, he could not find any problems, but Li Xing was furious and arrested two shopkeepers of the Jin family to torture.

Jin Liangyu didn't dare to stay in Zhangjiakou anymore, and fled to Guihua City under the pretext of going to Mongolia to do business.

Guihua City was built in the sixth year of Longqing and is the largest city on the Mongolian grassland. In the fifth year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji burned Guihua City by fire when he attacked Lin Danhan, but a few years later, the Chahar tribe rebuilt the city. Because it is close to Datong, Zhangjiakou and other important trade locations, Guihua City has always been a trade center on the Mongolian grassland.

There are hundreds of Shanxi merchants in the city now, which is the key to Li Zhi's investigation into the case of Shanxi merchants colluding with enemies.

The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and Jin Liangyu missed her family a little. I don’t know what kind of lively scene it is now in the Jin family base camp in Taigu.

Jin Liangyu thought about it, but was suddenly interrupted by a rush of horse hooves.

He looked up and saw several Mongolian scouts from Guihua City who seemed to have seen a ghost and fled into the city in panic. Not long after, the trumpet at the top of the city sounded, and all six gates of Guihua City were closed.

Jin Liangyu's heart skipped a beat and she looked at the grassland to the east.

Not long after, a large number of cavalry armed to the teeth appeared on the grassland in the distance. The cavalry rode a tall horse one in ten miles, wearing smooth and shiny armor, and holding a musket in their hands. A large flag of the word "Li" was flying high among the five thousand cavalrymen.

In the middle of the cavalry, there were more than a dozen cannons dragged by horses.

Li Zhi came to Guihua City!

Jin Liangyu opened her eyes wide, as if she was struck by lightning.
Chapter completed!