In the middle of winter, the central and northern parts of Shanxi Province are already covered with thousands of miles of ice and thousands of miles of snow. However, there are still many Shanxi merchants traveling in the wind and snow on official roads everywhere. They all wrap their heads and faces tightly, otherwise

The oncoming cold wind is like a pair of small knives cutting the dough. No matter how thick-skinned you are, you can't stand such cuts!

The five years of Chongzhen, which are about to pass, have been quite good for Shanxi people. Although neighboring Shaanxi and Henan have experienced floods, Shanxi has not encountered major floods, only a few flash floods have occurred in several places.

.

And because the rainfall is not small, the drought that has lasted for many years (Shanxi is not as dry as Shaanxi) has also been alleviated. Most prefectures and counties in Shanxi Province have also ushered in a bumper harvest that has not been seen in many years.

The Shanxi people who made the most profits during the five years of Chongzhen were still those Shanxi merchants who dared to sell any contraband!

However, they have now "returned to righteousness" and no longer smuggle... This is not because the conscience of these dealers has been discovered, but because both inside and outside the Great Wall in Shanxi Town and Datong Town are already the world of the Ming Dynasty.

.

The fiefdoms of Zhu Cixuan, King Xin of the Ming Dynasty, and Orduo, the four noble concubines, are just outside the border wall of Datong. What else can't be sold? Not to mention ironware and gunpowder, even Hongyi cannons can be sold to Xinzhou...

.As long as those Shanxi old pits have the ability to forge cannons!

As for the way to smuggle gunpowder and iron tools to the Jin Dynasty, it has long ceased to exist. Now the north of the Xuanda border wall and the west of Qianli Pine Forest are the Ming Dynasty. The land near the border wall belongs to Datong, and the two armies of Xuanfu and Libian

The territory farther away from the wall belongs to King Xin and the four concubines Orduo. If there are really profiteers who want to make money from Huang Taiji, they will have to pull gunpowder and guns and walk 1,000 times on the territory of King Xin and the four concubines Orduo.

Dori!

But without the chance of intercourse with slaves, we can go out to the grassland, all the way to the north and west to do business! And there are rumors recently that Long Live Lord plans to open Tianjin Commercial Port... In the future, goods from Eastern and Western countries

All can be shipped directly to Tianjin by sea. Caomi from the south also needs to be shipped to Tianjin by sea.

This is another big deal for Shanxi businessmen!

However, no matter how big the business is, the New Year still has to pass!

So when the New Year is approaching, the official roads in Shanxi Province are busy again! Shanxi merchants who return from neighboring provinces to Taigu, Qixian, Pingyao, Jiexiu, Xugou and other prefectures and counties that specialize in Shanxi merchants, or

Either on horseback or in a car, groups of people headed towards their hometowns under the protection of bodyguards.

However, when they passed through Datong Town and the northern part of Taiyuan Prefecture, they also encountered some things that worried them. They suddenly discovered that at various intersections and ferries, "wooden passes" that had just been set up appeared at various places -

—It’s a level built out of wood, with a small fort next to it.

These checkpoints and fortresses don't look like city gates to defend against enemies and captives, because they are very thin and narrow. If you really encounter a strong enemy, you can't defeat it with one blow?

These checkpoints... are they tax cards used to collect taxes?

Businessmen are good at getting close to people to get information, so the soldiers from Shanxi Town or Datong Army guarding every checkpoint have encountered profiteers who came to inquire more than once. However, the information they can provide to these profiteers is very limited.

limited.

"What level is this for? I don't know!"

"Well, I only know that this was built by someone from the Tmall Division in the Royal Horse Guards... They had the imperial edict from Lord Long Live and were willing to pay for it, so of course they built it."

"What does this Tmall Division do? It should raise cats for Lord Wanzai, right? Do you have any good cats? If so, you can sell them to Lord Wanzai..."

"Why do they want to build these levels? Where do you know where to go? Maybe they want Tmall's cats to station here to catch mice?"

These soldiers guarding the card don't know any secrets. They are just following the orders from above... As for the function of the Tmall Division, of course you have to ask Gao Qiqian, the eunuch in charge of the Tmall Division.

Gao Qiqian, who was called "Mr. Cat" behind his back, was appointed as the eunuch in charge of the Tmall Division in the third year of Chongzhen. In fact, it is not surprising that there was a Tmall Division in the Ming Dynasty palace. The Ming Dynasty

The palace was originally an institution like an elephant room or a leopard room.

Nowadays, there are not many Tmall stores that raise cats. Maybe I like cats today!

The real mission of the Tmall Division is actually to deal with the rats... They were ordered to go to Beijing Imperial City, Nanhaizi Palace, Xuanfu Imperial City, Zhangqian Army Nanhaizi Camp, Zhangqian Army Bashang Camp, Zhangqian

Cats are raised in the Military Xuanfu Camp, Dianqian Military Beijing Camp, Shipping Warehouse, Taicang and other places.

I don’t raise any Persian cats, just ordinary mice-catching cats!

In addition to raising cats, this Tmall company also manages rat traps and rat poison - the rat poison is actually crane-top red, mixed with rice to trick little mice into eating it!

In addition, the Tmall Division also established a specialized rat exterminator army...recruiting some expert rat-catchers from the private sector and training a group of eunuchs specifically responsible for eradicating rats lurking around the royal family.

In the fourth year of Chongzhen and the upcoming fifth year of Chongzhen, Tmall Division really made "great achievements" and eliminated countless rats!

In the autumn of the fifth year of Chongzhen, the Tmall Division actually received an order from the long-lived master who was out begging for food, asking them to go to Shanxi to eliminate rats, and set up checkpoints at the transportation arteries in Datong and northern Taiyuan, and also allocated them from the internal transportation warehouse.

He raised a large sum of money as funds and gave orders to Datong Commander-in-Chief Man Gui and Shanxi Commander-in-Chief Zhang Honggong to mobilize their troops to cooperate.

In addition, Datong Governor Yang He and Shanxi Governor Geng Ruqi also received orders from Zhu Youjian, asking them to provide convenience for Tmall Division's checkpoints.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian also told Geng Ruqi, Yang He, Man Gui and Zhang Honggong in the edict that the checkpoints of Tmall Division are definitely not used to collect taxes... As for how these checkpoints are used, Zhu Youjian

It was not mentioned in the edict.

Plague is a highly infectious disease with an extremely high case fatality rate! There is almost no cure, and the only way is to blockade the affected area.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian could only act in the name of suppressing bandits, and he must not let people know that he came for the plague... and the plague has not happened yet!

At least Zhu Youjian hasn't received the report yet - he only found out about this in the second half of the sixth year of Chongzhen in his previous life.

However, Zhu Youjian did not know how to prevent and treat severe infectious diseases such as the plague. He knew that Zhu Cixi opened the door to the colonial era of the Ming Dynasty - the biggest threat to colonists around the world was infectious diseases!

Infectious diseases not only cause serious casualties among colonial people, but also kill colonists in droves.

In the 17th century, there were only two ways to combat infectious diseases: one was to improve hygiene; the other was to isolate people in time when an infectious disease broke out.

The colonists who were fooled by Zhu Cixiang also died in batches, including even the sons and grandsons of Emperor Chongzhen!

Therefore, Zhu Youjian also learned many ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases, especially the plague!

"Long live my lord, I have already asked people to set up checkpoints at various important crossings in the northern part of Taiyuan Prefecture and Datong Prefecture..."

In the palace of Prince Zhao of the Ming Dynasty in Zhangde Mansion, Zhu Youjian, who had come all the way from Xuzhou, was listening to the report of "Mother Cat" Gao Qiqian in the Chengyun Hall of the palace.

"Gao Qiqian," Zhu Youjian's eyes swept around the Chengyun Hall. They were all his confidants, so he said again, "When you were in Taiyuan and Datong, did you hear that there was a plague somewhere?"

"Plague?" Gao Qiqian was startled, "No...Long live Lord, please don't scare me!"

Zhu Youjian glanced at "Mr. Cat" and whispered: "Gao Qiqian, you are a smart person...you should know why Tmall Company was established, right?"

"Long live my lord..." Gao Qiqian was confused, "How do you know..."

Zhu Youjian waved his hand, "I don't know! But someone has to do it... not only to prevent plague, but also to prevent smallpox, malaria, and all kinds of other extraordinary diseases.

Trouble! These are the tasks of Tmall Division. What I did in Taiyuan and Datong was to practice and see if Tmall Division could block the movement of people from Taiyuan and Datong when the plague broke out.
Chapter completed!