Chapter 24 Expansion

  Lu's family is really finished!

  Lu Fu-yuan made a big mistake. He took the Chahar people for Tumed and did business with robbers, of course he had to take risks.

  "Do you know how much a Chahar horse sells for?"

  Dai Tang stretched out five fingers and said: "Fifty taels of silver! And they are all old, weak and crippled horses!"

  The Great Ming only had war in Liaodong, and the demand for war horses was not great. Only particularly high-quality war horses could be sold for 35 taels of silver. If it were old, weak, or crippled horses that could only be used to pull carts and carry goods, they would cost around 10 taels of silver. These prices were still referring to the horse prices in Xuanfu.

  "The Chahar people are treating the Great Ming as a fat sheep to be slaughtered!" Zhai Zhe was somewhat indignant.

  Di Tang clapped his hands and laughed loudly, saying: "Lu Fu has tied himself up in a cocoon! The horse market is booming, with at least 2-3 thousand horses sold, and as many as 5 thousand! The Lu family is not far from bankruptcy!"

  Di Zhe sighed inwardly, Lin Dan's actions would deter anyone from doing business with him in the future. Taking advantage of his power to bully others and seeking only short-term gains would ultimately cut off the financial resources of the Chahar tribe.

  "Doesn't the imperial court care? Why should we reward the Lu family like this?"

  Di Tang sneered and said, "Do you think the officials of the imperial court are kind people? Lu Fu took down this city with a reward of at least 10,000 taels of silver. But now he wants to regret it, yet he can't. The great Ming dynasty and the Chahar people making such a big deal about the city's reward, if he messed it up, the king would crush him like crushing an ant."

  "If the reward of the city cannot satisfy the Chahar people, and the Mongolian army is summoned to attack the border, even the king will not be able to bear it!"

  Dai Tang was particularly excited tonight, a departure from his usual habit of being cautious with his words. Dai Zhe felt that the amount he spoke tonight could have lasted him seven or eight days normally.

  "We don't have to go back to Xuanzhen Town!" Zhai Zhe stretched out his hands and pressed his temples, his brain had been aching for the past few days as he couldn't think of any good solution, but unexpectedly things took a turn for the better.

  "No need to return! The people brought by Xiao Zhiyan don't have to be handed over to the Jurchen either!" Di Tang also didn't want to hand over all the power in his hands.

  Until noon, Di Zhe finally came out of the study room, feeling much more relaxed, but not as excited as his brother.

  The news of Jizong's family spread quickly, and within two or three days, even the beggars on the street corners looked at the tightly closed doors of Lu's business with sympathetic eyes.

  It is said that Lu Fuyou is looking for Wang Kun to think of a way, but it seems to have no effect. Because the cavalry of Xuanfu came to Zhangjiakou and took away two sons of Lu Fuyou. Now almost all shops are far away from the Lu family, lest they get into trouble.

  Xuanfu has several officials who almost follow Lu Fuyou every day, urging him to prepare for the market reward. Half of the guards in the business have already escaped, and most of the apprentices have been with the Lu family since childhood, which is still intact.

  Di Zhe once met Lu Fuyou on the street, and within a few days, his hair turned white and his face was haggard.

  It is said that Lin Danhan's initial asking price was 5,000 horses in the city, and this deficit would not be made up even if the Lu family were to be stripped bare. After haggling over the price, with the Battle of Guihua City imminent, Lin Danhan did not want to drag things out for too long, and finally agreed on a deal for 2,500 horses in the style of the Ming dynasty.

  So many horses entering the market will inevitably suppress the horse prices in Xuanfu Prefecture, not to mention losing money, Lu Fuyou can't even sell them smoothly.

  Generations of accumulation, lost in one morning.

  In the second year of Chongzhen's reign, it was a autumn with many incidents, and the news in the collection was one more shocking than the other.

  In the end, it was Fan Yongdou, the boss of Dashenggui, who finally came forward to help Lu Fuyou, buying out several shops and inns in the best location in Zhangjiakou Town, as well as purchasing 200 inferior horses at market price.

  Although it was also taking advantage of someone's misfortune, anyone who could lend a helping hand at this time would have brought tears to Lu Fuyou's eyes.

  The change of ownership in Zhangjiakou's central business district has officially announced the change of the controller. This place has finally entered the era of Fan Yongdou. Zhangjiakou is now dominated by eight major business groups, and other businesses have to survive under their fingers, which is the benefit of adventure.

  "Fan Yongdou has finally achieved his dream!"

  From the moment he last had tea with him, Di Zhe knew Fan Yongdou's mind. Dominating the East Mouth was probably his long-held dream.

  Duoyan's horse thieves temporarily escaped the crisis, but Di Zhe's sense of urgency in his heart had become stronger. From the moment Fan Yong let him hand over Xiao Zhongyan and Meng Kang to E Ruo, he had already made up his mind to get rid of his family and survive on his own.

  In early May, more and more people entered Zhangjiakou from the grasslands, not Mongolian tribes coming to make purchases, but all were herders fleeing for refuge.

  A great war broke out between Chahar and Tumet!

  Di Zhe and others have been waiting for this moment for a long time.

  He immediately left Jizhong and rushed to the old camp in Shanggu Valley, leading more than 100 horse thieves including Xiao Zhishen to Zhangba Grassland, openly recruiting subordinates.

  "The Tumet people's herders, skilled with bow and horse, can join us. At least you won't starve to death on the grasslands!" The horse thieves spread the message far and wide.

  Di Zhe only accepted Han people, those roadless Tumet tribe's herding slaves, he didn't want Mongolians.

  Not many people were able to escape to Zhangjiakou, after all, this was the rear of Chahar. From the mouths of the herder slaves he recruited, Di Zhe learned that most people were hiding in the deep mountains outside Datong Town and Sha Hu Kou, and many people escaped from there into the Great Ming.

  "We can only recruit three hundred people!" Seeing Xiao Zhi's words, they had already recruited seventy or eighty people in one day, and Di Zhe was somewhat anxious.

  Xiao Zhiyan said seriously: "They can all become very good horse bandits, much better than the good ones in the mountain stronghold!"

  "I can't afford to raise them, with 500 people I'm already almost unable to cope, the merchant will not give us free food and grass!"

  "We can go rob!"

  Di Zhe was so angry and amused at the same time, saying: "Who are you robbing? Are you robbing your own store?"

  From the second day on, Xiao Zhiyan's recruitment requirements became much stricter. Horsemanship was not tested as all the slaves were very skilled in it. Physical strength and archery skills were the most basic requirements, and the younger the age, the better.

  Chahar's army pressed westward, and Zhangjiakou was left unattended. Xiao Zhiyan was busy with the refugees pouring in from all directions, while Fan Yongdou couldn't tolerate the sudden influx of beggars into Zhangjiakou. He found the garrison stationed at Zhangjiakou and began to expel the refugees who had fled there. The herders lost their livestock and couldn't find a place to return to, so they tried every means possible to cross the border and escape into the Ming dynasty.

  Half a month later, after recruiting more than 300 new soldiers, Di Zhe led his troops to leave Zhangba Grassland and return to Duo Yan Grassland.

  The valley can no longer accommodate these people, so Zhai Zhe had to build new earthen houses. Xiao Zhongyan pointed at the busy newcomers with a self-satisfied expression and said: "Most of these people have never killed anyone, but they all know how to hunt!"

  "What's the difference, hunting and killing are two completely different things!" Zhai Zhe thought back to his first time killing someone.

  Xiao Zhiyan said: "Hunting is just like going to war! The Mongolian hero Genghis Khan trained his cavalry through hunting!"

  "They're not soldiers, just horse thieves!"

  "I'm going to turn these bandits into an army!" Xiao Zhi's words were accompanied by him rolling up his sleeves, looking like he was ready for a big fight.

  Di Zhe burst out laughing and said: "You have to teach them how to steal horses and sheep first! Otherwise, they'll all starve to death here!"

  What Zhe said was no joke. Starting in June, he demanded that the grain and fodder from the business increase by a factor of two. The shopkeeper did not dare to make a decision on his own, so he went to ask for instructions from Zhe's hall.

  Di Tang immediately recalled Di Zhe.

  Di Zhe Zheng and Xiao Zhi Yan were busy training new recruits on the Duo Yan grasslands, trying to cultivate them into qualified horse thieves. Upon receiving news from their elder brother, they realized the situation was not good and hastily returned.

  In the study, Di Tang was furious as soon as he saw Di Zhe.

  "What's the point of hiring so many horse thieves?"

  "Protect the safety of the merchant fleet!" Di Zheyi said solemnly.

  "You think it's a war! With Er Zhuo, you have all the information you need!"

  "But!"

  "There's no way, the eight merchant houses can only provide supplies for 200 people at most!" Zhai Tang's face turned stern. Zhai Zhe's expansion of troops made Fan Yongdou and others very dissatisfied. This cavalry belonged to Zhai Zhe's leadership, but in their eyes, it was part of the eight merchant houses, and supplies had always been provided jointly by the eight houses. Zhai Zhe's unnecessary expansion made Fan Yongdou suspicious, and he was still unsure whether this was a plan of the Zhai family or Zhai Zhe's own actions. As the newly appointed head of the Zhangjiakou Merchant Association, he didn't want to be overthrown immediately.

  Out of the elder brother's study, Di Zhe was helpless. It seems that he really had to go and steal horses and sheep. The Chahar tribe guarding the Doyan grassland is now a soft persimmon.

  "Night Clearing" latest chapter is released by Yunqi Book Academy, the fastest and most popular online release site! (This site provides: traditional pagination, waterfall two modes, can be selected in settings)