Chapter 292: The benefits of supporting the country, intentional or unintentional

"Sir General, allow the villain to spread the glory of God in your territory!"

After meeting Li Meng, the priest Federer respectfully asked that among the people around Li Meng, the priest had a similar position as an advisor. Western missionaries came to the East to preach and entered the upper class to rely on incomplete theological theories, but on advanced knowledge of physics, chemistry, and astronomy. The same is true for this priest. Li Meng often asked some knowledge questions.

Therefore, the treatment of the old priest is quite good. At least this black priest robe is a very exquisite product, and it looks quite solemn when worn.

When Li Meng heard the priest ask this, he always felt a little regretful, such as why the other party didn’t use a translator to talk to him, such as “desired lord” or something. But it’s ridiculous to think about it, this may be a hint of childishness in his heart.

The preaching thing is simple to say, but Li Meng is deeply alert to this matter. In modern times, he joined the army and worked in the escort company after he was discharged from the army. He had few opportunities to study and study. His real insights were all what he saw and heard in the media during the training of the army and his work.

Among these things, there is still some emphasis or precautions on the spread of religion. What Li Meng remembers deeply is a joke. A well-known religious person from Africa said that when white colonists came to Africa, they had a Bible and we had land. Then the white man said, close his eyes and pray, and after opening his eyes, he found that we had a Bible and the white man had land.

There are also the various struggles between the kings and nobles of Europe and the church, which is ridiculous. The five thousand years of Chinese history is very sloppy, but the history of foreign countries is more profound and extensive.

There are frequent disasters and the surroundings are not stable. Although Li Meng holds a large army, he does not want any unstable factors in his territory.

There is often no reason to say with these believers. If you are really fanatical at that time, it is hard to say whether you still have the general of yourself or not.

Of course, this old priest may not have that much energy, and his mind may be kind-hearted. Although there are prodigal ambitions in this era and clergy who stand before the conquerors, some are just simple believers who travel across the ocean and across thousands of miles to the East, just to spread their own beliefs, there is still something worthy of admiration.

Looking at the old priest opposite, Li Meng, who was sitting on the chair, shook his head with a smile on his face and said:

"no!"

Of course, Father Federer was full of disappointment, but the old priest didn't say much. The territory and army scale controlled by Li Meng were already equivalent to the level of the Grand Duke in Europe. It was obvious that the high-ranking nobles of such a level could not be convinced by him in this one time.

The old priest stayed in the Li Family Manor for almost a year. During this period, he had been cultivating his body and living in simplicity. However, he was also observing everything around him. In his opinion, the army and civil affairs under Li Meng were different from other places in the Ming Dynasty.

Federer can't explain clearly where these differences are, but we can still find that these differences are not so Eastern, relatively closer to Europe, such as the infantry forces of Spain and France.

There is also a folk proverb in Yangzhou City, "Yangzhou salt, Fang family". These simple words reflect the glory of his family. The Fang family is passed down from wealth. Compared with other salt merchants, they know how to measure things and do things. They are not arrogant because of wealth. Therefore, many years of storms and waves have been supported, and they are doing things getting bigger and bigger.

The Fang family has had a tradition of supporting poor scholars to study for imperial examinations throughout the years. After these literati became officials, they also needed money to maintain decent status. However, the Fang family also provided a large amount of money from the poor, and the officials who benefited were naturally inclined to the Fang family to give the Fang family various conveniences.

The Fang family knew very well that the word "rich" alone could not keep the family business for a long time. Only by colluding with the government can we become bigger and safer.

During the Chongzhen dynasty, in addition to those literati who were close relatives with the Fang family, there were several officials from the Fang family who were officials outside. One of them was already the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing, another was the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel of the Capital, and some were the magistrates of Ningguo Prefecture in Nanzhili. As for the sixth and seventh ranks, there were even more officials.

With these people as aid, the Fang family's business is naturally getting bigger and bigger, and its power is also expanding abnormally. When the Yangzhou Prefecture prefecture saw the head of the Fang family, that is, the "Fang Yuanwai", he would always be respected by his juniors and call him "Shunweng". As for those salt merchants, they regarded Fang Yuanwai as the leader, obeyed every step, and dared not violate it.

Fang Yuanwai has three sons, two daughters. Both of them married high-ranking officials in Nanjing. Although the salt merchant has a low status, so many trusted children in the family who are officials naturally become noble. His three sons, the youngest son, worked in the Yangzhou government office, and the other two sons are both as supervisors and are in charge of the salt industry at home.

The sons are also quite like fathers and are called "three heroes in one family" by idle people who are good at it.

Since the salt merchant surnamed Chen was searched, the door of the Fang family was closed, and the three sons gathered in the mansion all day long to discuss with their father.

In the center of Fang Mansion, a building was built in an imitation of the farmyard, which was quite leisurely. In the middle, the residence of Fang Zhishun, the clan leader Fang Yuan. At this time, there was no one else around except for the two servants who were serving each other in person.

"Dad, Liu Bantou of Yangzhou Prefecture went to the cell in person this morning. Chen Wu hanged himself for fear of crime. There will be no problem."

The three sons of the Fang family were all sitting in the lower head. These three were also well-known outside, and they were all middle-aged with families, but they were all cautious in front of their father.

The person who reported that Chen Wu committed suicide was the second son of the Fang family. Everyone in the room understood that Chen Wu's suicide was of course suicide. After Fang Lao Er finished speaking, he stared at Fang Yuanwai on the head with fear and waited for his father's reaction. When he heard the suicide, Fang Yuanwai nodded, but his face did not relieve at all, but his eyes turned to Fang Laosan.

Fang Laosan quickly stood up and said:

"My father, three servants, nine horses, and the guards of the governor and the prefect, rushed all the way, and there would be no delays when you arrived in Jiaozhou. It would definitely be delivered to Shandong General Li Meng as quickly as possible."

Hearing this, Fang Yuanwai obviously felt relieved, and then he said angrily with an angry face:

"Damn it, bastard, why are you so bold? If this matter is involved with our Fang family, it is the crime of raiding the family!"

He was anxious and couldn't help coughing. His white beard trembled. Boss Fang stood up hesitantly and walked behind him to help Fang Yuanwai beat his back. When Fang Yuanwai was angry, he started to scold:

"Our Fang family has been passed down for so many years. What does it rely on today's family business? It depends on doing business in a solid manner and following the rules. It will never get involved in things that are harmful to nature. What kind of courage do you bastards have you eaten? You actually went..."

Speaking of this, the Fang official was not vague at all. He immediately realized that he was excited. He picked up the tea bowl and drank a sip of tea to moisten his throat. The eyes of several sons of the Fang family were still the words that Fang Laosan thought were better to speak, so he spoke with courage:

"My father, this matter is because Chen Wu has come to contact him. He can't speak at the moment. The second brother just encouraged him a few words. No matter how things are, it can't involve our family. Why do you have to be so angry? It's not worth it if you get angry."

Hearing his younger brother speak, Fang Laoer also spoke:

"Those Shandong soldiers were pinching the Huaibei area, and our family's salt could not be transported to Henan. Some buyers in Shanxi and Beizhili were already unstable. What's more, our Fang family would have to pay 200,000 taels if they didn't come with some real things, so the Shandong people would be even more ruthless!"

Boss Fang was behind him and said:

"Second, the third brother is right. Our slaves came from the north. Their Shandong salt vendors were escorted by Li Meng's soldiers. They were very arrogant and robbed a lot of our territory. Dad, I think there are not enough people this time. I will find more horse thieves next time, but I can't eat his tiny thousands of people. I cut off one of his hands and make him hurt. See if he is Li Meng dares to come!!"

With a "bang", Fang Yuanwai threw the teacup in his hand to the ground, but he stopped coughing. He sent the tea table heavily and shouted angrily:

"Absurd, absurd, confused, confused!!"

Foreign Minister Fang took a few breaths, calmed down, and trembledly raised his hand and pointed at the son who was silent but a little dissatisfied, and said:

"More than three thousand horse thieves besieged him, one thousand Huaibei army, but what happened? Three people died and more than a dozen of them were injured. They were all injured by themselves. How many of his Chen Wu's confidants died? How many of those horse thieves died? How much did they talk about the pain? I thought you were sensible and could take on things outside, but I didn't expect that they would still be so frivolous. No matter how Li Meng pinched us, as long as we do business, we would make a profit, and make more money. If you act like you like this, Li Meng would be ruthless and send troops to kill them, it would be a disaster for destroying the family and destroying the clan."

He paused and said again:

"From today, our Fang family will take as much as the public tent. He will let him do whatever the Huaibei Army wants to do. In any case, these Shandong barbarians cannot find reasons to cause trouble..."

The third brother of the Fang family was working in the government. When he heard what Fang Yuanwai said, he was a little dissatisfied and couldn't help but speak:

"In this Nanzhili area, it was his turn to be a general from another province, who was arrogant and domineering. Could it be that there is no king's law??"

As soon as he said this, Fang Yuanwai glared at his eyes and cursed:

"A bastard, look at the literature and newspapers. There are a few military generals who talk about the king's laws in the lower world today!!!"

The old official, the head of the family set the tone, and the three sons had no objections, but they were not a little aggrieved, because they encouraged Chen Wu to buy horse thieves and set up a plan to siege and kill the soldiers of Jiaozhou camp. With the eyes and ears of Fang Jun, how could he not know until after the failure? It was obvious that he had acquiesced to the action that day and was happy to see the result.

But I didn't expect that the combat power of the Jiaozhou Camp Huaibei Army was too extraordinary, which made everyone unable to deal with it. Now I have cut off all the possibility of leading the matter to the Fang family, but I was still scolded by the old man, and my three sons were really dissatisfied.

However, the family, this little conflict did not affect the overall situation. After a while, Mr. Fang shouted that the servants came in and changed the tea. The father and son relaxed, and then he said:

"Dad, Liancheng from Uncle San's family came back a few days ago. We are busy with the accounts of Shanxi last year. We mentioned something, saying that Goldman Sachs and Pan family are very close to the Tartars outside the pass, and they really made a fortune in buying and selling iron and salt goods. It is said that many of the gold and silver that were looted in Northern Zhili and Shandong last year were flown into his family. We can't get involved in this transaction, but I heard that Goldman Sachs and Pan family are gambling, and some transactions would rather lose money than do it!"

"What are you betting on?"

Fang Laosan asked below. Boss Fang's words were considered to be turning the topic away, and the people in the room were obviously interested. Boss Fang couldn't help but lower his voice:

"Everyone guessed that Goldman Sachs and the Pan family decided to bet on the world. When the Tartars entered the Central Plains, they were the heroes of the dragon, and then they would be the Imperial Merchants, and then they would not be rich and prosperous, and they would have everything!"

Although they are all their own family members, when it comes to such taboo topics, the group of people lowered their voices. The man in Fang Laosan's house had a different mentality. He couldn't help but sneer at this:

"It's really lard that is so heartbroken. The Ming Dynasty has been strongly defeated. What can the Tartars do!"

"Since the rise of the Tartars, do you think he has been defeated? The land outside the pass is almost completely lost. Look at our Ming Dynasty, internal and external troubles, natural and man-made disasters. Last year, the Taurus soldiers entered the pass and saw that the imperial army was a coward. Isn't it... Isn't it that Li Meng won the battle?"

The tendency of the eldest son Fang was already quite obvious. The aristocratic families generally had a tradition of betting on multiple sides. For example, during the founding of the Ming Dynasty and during the Jingnan period in the early Ming Dynasty, many noble families were in contact with Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang. Many of the children in the clan served in these three parties. During the Jingnan period, Zhu Di, the Chengzu and Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Yunwen, also had children from the same family as enemies.

This kind of fence-bearing or speculative behavior is a wisdom passed down from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Many aristocratic families do not have the so-called nation or country in the eyes. For them, the most important thing is the continuation and survival of their own families, which is the highest goal.

Now, there are three forces in the world. The Ming Dynasty court, the Shaanxi rioters led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, and the foreign Tartars. Those with vision have already begun to bet or plan for their own families. However, unlike the previous dynasty, the tribes led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, the hatred of the civilians who went bankrupt or even couldn't survive was irreconcilable for the gentry and landlords, and were completely opposed to the wealthy families of aristocratic families, and naturally the wealthy families would not fund their enemies.

Therefore, although the Tartars outside this pass were sneered by everyone as barbarians, many people started to contact each other in advance. Although the Fang family still has a shallow foundation, they are also a wealthy businessman in the world, so naturally they have to consider this.

After Fang Da finished speaking, his father and brother did not refute, but instead thought about it. Fang Laoer stroked his beard and pondered:

"Our family's salt has been sold in Shanxi for many years. Goldman Sachs sold salt to Tartars together, but it's not our family's salt. If we don't let Liancheng contact..."

Fang Laosan has a long time in the officialdom, and he still has a problem with his position. He always disagrees with it and can't help but say coldly:

"We go to our family and just pick up some cold rice. Goldman Sachs is in Changlu, in Shaanxi, and even in Sichuan, he can buy salt. At worst, he doesn't do this business with our Fang family."

The boss of the Fang family was about to retort, but the old man Fang, who had been frowning, kept listening, patted his eldest son sideways and said:

"Boss, you sit down first. What the third brother said makes sense. I can't explain anything at the moment. Our Fang family can't get any benefits if we do it. Instead, we will be regarded as a sucker!"

Although the three sons of the Fang family are all legitimate brothers, they also want to be competitive in front of their fathers. After all, with such a big foundation in the Fang family, who will be the patriarch in the future will be a big deal.

Seeing his elder brother and third brother talking, Fang Lao Er couldn't help but feel anxious. At this time, the scene became a little quiet and said:

"If you want to spend money, should you spend the money on Daming himself? Isn't this insurance?"

"Second brother, do we spend less money on these officials? If we spend money, these officials will not let them remember our goodness. Instead, the bigger the appetite, the more natural it will be."

After being snatched by his elder brother, Fang Lao Er suddenly became a little anxious and said loudly:

"It would be better to give money to the Tartars than to Li Meng. Didn't this barbarian defeat the Tartars in Qihe County?"

When talking about Shandong General Li Meng, he was still gritting his teeth, but at this time he suddenly mentioned betting on Li Meng. Everyone in the room was stunned. Boss Fang laughed loudly, and Fang Lao San couldn't help laughing. Boss Fang sneered:

"There are so many dukes, marquises and counts in the world, and the vassal princes and nobles, but they choose him as the general of Shandong. Why do you have to do this wrong? With the money of our Fang family, you will support another general... and another governor, what's the difficulty of the general coming out... Why bother to find this humble military household..."

While talking and laughing, Fang Lao Er also realized the problem of his words. He blushed and stammered and did not make a sound. However, Old Master Fang sat upright, squinted his eyes, and his expression became extremely serious.

The brothers were still laughing at each other and arguing with each other. I don’t know who noticed Mr. Fang’s expression. The few people stopped talking and waited for the old man’s decision attentively. Mr. Fang and the third brother of the Fang family looked at each other in surprise, thinking, Is there any reason for the second brother’s idea just now?

Not long after, Old Master Fang opened his eyes and his divine light was shining. If he looked at him, he would not think that this was an old man over 60 years old. Then he heard the old man say slowly:

"This bet..."

Accompanying your wife, filial to your elders, and waiting for the birth of your children is a standard family joy. Li Meng stayed happily in the Li family manor.

Jiaozhou City is becoming increasingly deserted, the old camp's troops are constantly moving forward, and the Qingzhou army's troops are gradually rotating. Only the horse team and the personal barracks are driving together with Li Meng, and there are also veterans from the battalion stationed next to the Lijia Manor.

From the Jiaozhou garrison to the Shandong general, Li Meng's role has changed and the central position has also changed. A city like Jiaozhou can no longer meet the needs. Li Meng was a passerby in this era and was not very nostalgic about it.

Most of the military families in Lingshan Guard and Fengmeng Town are going to move to Jinan City. There are much fertile fields around it than Jiaozhou. Jinan is also a famous city in the world. The various facilities inside and outside the city are much better than Jiaozhou.

In the future, Jiaozhou will only exist as a transit station near Lingshan Salt Field and Lingshan Private Port, and several large warehouses of Lingshan Trading Company and Bamin Trading Company are also set up here.

Li Meng was very satisfied with the Qingzhou army who had switched defenses to Jiaozhou. In the past, Ma Gang guarded Qingzhou, and Zhao Neng guarded Dengzhou. This time, after the expansion of the army and changed defenses, Li Meng turned the two of them upside down. Ma Gang guarded Dengzhou to separate the generals, while Zhao Neng guarded Qingzhou Prefecture.
To be continued...