"You mean there's a rebellion in Shandong?" Li Xin, who was on the grassland, was training soldiers and horses, and was capturing the territory of the Zhuosuo Tu League. Soon, through Zhang Yifu's spies, what happened in Shandong was soon revealed. Arriving at Li Xin's desk. "Shandong is too far away from us. Otherwise, we can get in." Shi Yuanzhi stroked his beard and frowned and said, "Kong Youde is a powerful general. If we can recruit him, he will come here." , the strength of our army will increase a lot." "This man is a rebel and will not surrender to us. He wants to surrender to Jiannu," Li Xin said coldly. No one knew better than him that the two traitors who followed Kong Youde in surrender this time were Shang Kexi and Geng Zhongming. If Wu Sangui was added, they would be the three major traitors in the late Ming Dynasty. And this Kong Youde was not a good person either. Because he gave birth to a good daughter named Kong Sizhen, who was a loyal lackey of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Li Xin was very disgusted with this person. The large-scale use of firearms by Jiannu later was also due to Kong Youde. "It's a pity." Shi Yuanzhi was stunned when he heard this, but did not refute. Since Li Xin said that this person is a traitor, then this person is a traitor. "My lord, there is something I say, and my subordinates don't know whether to say it or not." Zhang Yifu said suddenly from the side. "What's wrong?" Li Xin asked in surprise. "My lord, the number of business travelers around us suddenly increased a lot today. My lord, I think this is abnormal." Zhang Yifu took out another note from his arms and handed it over respectfully. Li Xin stretched out his hand to take it, his face suddenly turned gloomy, and he saw that it read "Li Xin is brave, but very careful. He is guarded by hundreds of elite cavalry when he comes in and out. There are more than a thousand cavalry patrolling around the tent day and night. He will come when called." "What's going on? How could someone spy on the military?" Li Xin looked at Zhang Yifu with a fierce look in his eyes and said, "How can others know about the secrets in our military?" It was revealed, but now it is known to others. It is obvious that there are enemy spies nearby. "My lord, this was seized from a spy who often walks nearby. My subordinates also heard that there are many such people, most of whom appear around my tent in the form of business travelers." Zhang Yifu said in a low voice. "Do you know the origins of these people? Are they slaves or the imperial court?" Shi Yuanzhi's eyes showed a hint of panic. If there is such a spy around, it will be the most dangerous thing. Every move of your army will be under the enemy's surveillance. "I'm from Zhangjiakou, from the Fan family." Zhang Yifu said quickly. "The eight major Shanxi merchant families?" Shi Yuanzhi showed a hint of embarrassment on his face. The Shanxi Shang Dynasty had already begun to emerge before the Tang Dynasty. "Tongdian" records: In the Tang Dynasty, there were shops as far north as Fanyang, Taiyuan, and as far west as Liangfu, Sichuan, for business travelers. But compared to Huizhou merchants, they cannot compete with them. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Shanxi began to suffer from successive famines, and people were forced to "take the west exit", that is, to the northwest to make a living and do business. There are two general routes for Shanxi people to take the west entrance, namely starting from central and northern Shanxi, one going west, exiting through Shahukou, and entering the Mongolian grassland; one going east, passing through Datong, exiting through Zhangjiakou, and entering Mongolia. Perhaps they were too eager for wealth, or perhaps the pain of their separated wives and children moved God. Shanxi people finally found the "unbeatable" way to do business in Zhangjiakou. Since Zhangjiakou was an important place for military garrison, the sergeants also needed to eat and clothe themselves, so they became "military merchants" and started supplying military supplies. Driven by the "Kai Zhong System" (a border guarding policy implemented by the Ming Dynasty, as long as you send food to the border guards, you can exchange for the government's salt quotations, and you can use the salt quotas to buy and sell private salt and make profits), Shanxi people took the lead and did not hesitate. Work hard and walk among the mountains. They bought military rations from Henan and Shandong and transported them over the mountains in small wheelbarrows to Zhangjiakou in exchange for salt coupons. In this way, Shanxi merchants gradually changed from small wheelbarrows to oxen and horse-drawn carriages, from one to many, and then to a fleet of vehicles. Selling salt allowed Shanxi merchants to earn a lot of wealth. Some Shanxi merchants used Zhangjiakou as their base, traveling back and forth inside and outside the customs, engaging in trading activities, transporting materials to the Manchu regime, and even delivering documents and information. According to "Records of the Qing Dynasty", in the third year of Tianming's reign, there were 16 people from Shandong, Shanxi, Hedong, Hexi, Suzhou and Hangzhou who were trading in Fushun. "Historical brother Hachi" paid generous fees and wrote seven words of hatred. "Return". Shanxi merchants' trading activities inside and outside the customs gave great material support to the Hou Jin regime, and the Hou Jin regime also treated Shanxi merchants with courtesy and attention. Shanxi merchants played a cooperative role in strengthening the Qing rulers' rule over the Mongolian region. The most powerful among them belong to eight people: Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Fan Yongdou, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yunfa. They also belong to eight major families, among which the most prominent one is the Fan family. These people came to Li Xin¡¯s camp at this time. They obviously learned about Li Xin¡¯s campaign on the grassland. In addition, Li Xin came from later generations and knew about Shang.Although merchants were ordered not to enter in the middle of the camp, merchants were not allowed to enter around the camp. What I didn't expect was that these merchants were not so brave and actually monitored Li Xin's movements. This made Li Xin Very angry. It can be seen that these guys were probably ordered by Jiannu to monitor Li Xin's every move and then send this information out. "These guys deserve to die." Gao Meng was in charge of Li Xin's Guards. He didn't expect that Li Xin's every move was under the surveillance of the enemy. This was his dereliction of duty. "My lord, these eight families are the most powerful people among the Shanxi merchants. The entire Shanxi merchants may have controlled half of the financial power of the Ming Dynasty at this moment. They are rich." Zhang Yifu reminded cautiously. What can you do with money? Money can make the devil turn around, the Shanxi merchants are rich, and more importantly, he can not only have illicit relationships with slaves, but also cultivate a large number of loyal lackeys within the Ming Dynasty. These people will speak for the Shanxi merchants, otherwise In other words, for so many years, Shanxi merchants betrayed the interests of the Ming Dynasty, but Chongzhen had no idea that it had a lot to do with a group of people in the imperial court. "Shanxi merchants, if I capture Shanxi one day, I will definitely kill these Shanxi merchants." Li Xin said through gritted teeth. It is understandable that businessmen are chasing profits, but selling out national interests for money is undoubtedly shameful. However, Shanxi merchants have been doing it with gusto, maybe for more than ten years, maybe for more than a hundred years Well, these Shanxi merchants are doing the same thing, how could Li Xin collude with these people. Shi Yuanzhi and others shuddered, feeling a hint of murderous intent in Li Xin's tone. I couldn't help but feel a little sad for these Shanxi merchants in Zhangjiakou. "Jutu, are those Mongolian soldiers obedient?" Li Xin suddenly asked quietly. "My lord, if they disobey, their relatives will die. How can they be disobedient?" Jutu said proudly. "Well, tonight, you gather them together and we go do something big." Li Xin said gloomily. "My lord, you?" Shi Yuanzhi was smart enough to figure out what Li Xin wanted to do. He said with an extremely frightened expression: "My lord is a man of great wealth. You should not act rashly. It's better to find another person to do the job." "No need. I'm not worried if someone else goes." Li Xin waved his hand and said, "This operation, I'm afraid it's going to be a fight, and it's not for ordinary people to make the decision. " "I wonder how many people the lord will lead?" Shi Yuan asked softly when he saw that he couldn't persuade Li Xin. "Our army has 20,000 soldiers and horses, but if we have more than 20,000 soldiers and are fighting abroad, naturally we cannot send out large groups easily. I will just lead a thousand personal guards and set off." Li Xin said without thinking, "Order Jiang Yi to come back. He will be in charge of the military affairs for the time being, and you can take charge of the civil affairs. "I just need to follow my orders." Shi Yuanzhi nodded. "Zhang Yifu, have you been to Zhangjiakou?" Li Xin asked, glancing at Zhang Yifu. "I have been there before." Zhang Yifu said with a rare solemn look on his face: "Zhangjiakou was not originally called Zhangjiakou, it was called Baozili. It is the common name of Zhangjiakou Fort. It was built in the fourth year of Xuande. Zhangjiakou is an important place for military strategists, especially In recent years, three thousand troops of the Ming Dynasty's border troops have been stationed here, all of them elite. There is a Great Wall outside Zhangjiakou, with a total length of 900 miles. Among them, the Great Wall in the west of Qiaoxi is 70 miles long, all built along the mountain. It is built with local materials and mortar joints. In the north of Zhangjiakou, there are majestic Taiping Mountains in the east and west. The terrain is very dangerous. The city is three feet and two feet high in the southeast. The city gate, the east gate is called Yongzhen, and the south gate is called Chengen. Zhangjiakou Fort is the fortress of Xuanfu Town on the Great Wall defense line. It has always played an important role in preventing the invasion of the Mongolian army. It has never been lost in the war, so it is called "Wucheng". "" and became the most powerful in northern Xinjiang. During the Longqing and Wanli years, the situation underwent major changes. The war between the imperial court and the Mongolian Anda tribe turned into friendship and "tea-horse trade" was realized. The function of Zhangjiakou Fort also changed accordingly, from a simple The military castle evolved into a border city with trade functions. It was also because of this that Shanxi merchants could settle down here, which was extremely safe. More importantly, there was Xuanfu, a few dozen miles south of Zhangjiakou. Some people in Xuanfu said that there were There are hundreds of thousands of troops, but my subordinates can only observe the elite Ming army of about 80,000, including tens of thousands of cavalry. It will take only a few hours for the Xuanfu troops to reach Zhangjiakou." It was obvious that Zhang Yifu had a sharp vision. I saw Li Xin's plan, which was to rush into Zhangjiakou and teach the Fan family and even the entire eight major families a harsh lesson. But from what he saw and heard in Zhangjiakou, he believed that it was impossible for Li Xin to capture Zhangjiakou, so he dissuaded him. "Who is the current commander-in-chief of Xuanfu?" Li Xin thought for a moment and asked again. "It's Hou Shilu, and the governor is Shen Qi." Zhang Yifu said quickly: "Hou Shilu is the best in the world.??General, his son Hou Gongji is now the deputy general of Xuanfu. " "It seems that Zhangjiakou is not as difficult to fight as usual!" "Li Xin frowned, but he never thought that Zhangjiakou was so important. The Ming Dynasty sent tens of thousands of elites to garrison here. But what is strange is that in Zhangjiakou, the Fan family and other eight aristocratic families betrayed the interests of the imperial court. Not only did they send some prohibited items outside the customs, but they also sent information to Jiannu. He didn't believe that Hou Shilu and others didn't know what was going on here. But even in this situation, these people were unwilling to take action against the eight families. , on the one hand, it may be because these have benefited from the eight major Shanxi merchants, or perhaps Hou Shilu and others are also involved in it. No matter what it is, if Li Xin forcibly attacks Zhangjiakou, he will face Fan The eight aristocratic families led by Jia Jia are facing endless revenge. ¡°My lord, it is definitely not possible to attack Zhangjiakou with our current strength, but it is not difficult to teach those eight aristocratic families a lesson. "Shi Yuanzhi said quickly: "Now that we have blocked the passage of these eight aristocratic families to establish slaves, on the one hand, the lord can have people levy heavy taxes, and the two can temporarily have good relations with these families. This is also good. Or there is another way, which is to act as a middleman and buy things from guys like Zhangjiakou, so that they may go to Jiannu. "