Seeing that Ceng Shengwu had agreed, Zhang Cheng smiled and said, "That would be great. Lord Ceng, please call Commander Ma and Deputy Commander over for a discussion tomorrow. We'll arrest them then!"
"Okay!" Ceng Shengwu nodded and agreed.
Speaking of Datong, all the officials in Daming knew that it was an important town in the Nine Borders. It was known as the head of the Nine Borders. Some even said that Datong's army was the best in the world.
In fact, Datong had always been the most important place in the Nine Borders, whether it was its geographical location or its army.
In recent years, Ji Province and Liaodong had grown a little because of the barbarians in the east.
The Great Harmony established one Zongbing, four Deputy Zongbing, under the jurisdiction of thirteen garrison posts, eight hundred and twenty-three forts, and three hundred and seven piers.
Datong was divided into four roads and nine roads. On paper, it had 143,672 soldiers and more than 50,000 warhorses.
After deducting the deserters and false soldiers, there was about 80% left. This was already the best place in the world.
This was the result after Long Qing's arrival. In the past, it would only have been worse.
Because it was a guard post, most of the soldiers were garrison soldiers. Although they were soldiers on paper, they were not even fully equipped with armor. It was already good enough to have a knife.
Their daily task was to farm, and the food they grew was not theirs.
Soldiers and horses were the minority. Most of them were the personal guards of the officers.
After the war in the northwest, the rewards given by the court were not discounted at all. This caused the consumption in Datong City to soar in a short time. Fortunately, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was prepared and began to sell goods from Jiangnan in Datong City.
These days, there were wives everywhere in and out of Datong City. It was obvious that many veterans had money and the first thing they did was to settle down.
The matchmaker's business was good, and wedding goods were in high demand. This made the Jin merchants anxious.
Originally, the northwest was a poor place. There were only two ways to make money. One was through salt, and the other was through trade with Wala.
In trade, salt was the most important, so those who controlled salt basically controlled the northwest's economy.
Of the four major salt merchants in the northwest, Zhang Wang and Li Fan controlled the lifeline of the entire northwest. However, this situation was completely reversed after the bloodbath in Yangzhou.
Li Zhonghang of the Li family became the director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and led the Ministry of Internal Affairs back to the northwest.
After all, he had the backing of the royal family.
If Li Zhonghang or the Ministry of Internal Affairs wanted everyone to cut off their source of income, maybe the Jin Enterprise Association would boycott them, especially in business. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was looking for money. Especially after the appearance of wool, the Shanxi merchants in the northwest were going crazy.
Jin merchants had traveled extensively and had seen many things. Jiangnan silk and Songjiang cloth, those were huge businesses!
Wool was a good material for keeping warm and cold. There was no need to worry about sales in the north. How could the Shanxi merchants not want it?
However, the appearance of the business license caused countless businessmen to curse.
However, the Zhang family, the Wang family, and the Fan family didn't scold them. They even helped Li Zhonghang to stabilize the situation. After all, Li Zhonghang had promised to give them the business licenses.
At the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Li Zhonghang knocked on the documents on the table with a serious expression. In fact, he was having a headache these days.
Out of the ten business licenses, five were from the Honours, one from the Zhang family, one from the Wang family, and one from the Fan family.
He still had two business licenses. This was the autonomy given to him by the Emperor. He could give it to whoever he wanted.
However, Li Zhonghang wished he didn't have this autonomy. There was no way he could distribute the business licenses!
"Father, what are you hesitating for?"
Li Xi couldn't help but say. "The Emperor gave us two business licenses. It's not too much for the Li family to take one, right?
Leave this matter to your son. I'll make sure it's done beautifully. "
Li Zhonghang looked at his son and sighed helplessly.
In fact, how could he not be tempted?
Of course, he was tempted. However, this business license wasn't something that anyone could get. There was no need to pay. No one was short of money.
The key was to see what the Emperor wanted. Who knew if these two business licenses were a test given by the Emperor?
Who knew if the Emperor would be unhappy if he kept one business license for himself?
Once something happened in the future, this would be a place that people would attack. After thinking for a while, Li Zhonghang made up his mind. He shook his head and said, "No, we can't keep these two business licenses for the Li family."
Seeing that Li Xi was about to say something, Li Zhonghang said directly, "Have you been doing well these days?"
"All the childes in Shanxi are fawning on you. Are you stupid?
You haven't forgotten how all this came about, have you?
Don't you know what to do if you want to keep all this? "
After a few questions, Li Xi suddenly calmed down. He sat on the chair with a wry smile. "But, but!"
Li Zhonghang waved his hand and said, "I can't bear to give up such a big business. Otherwise, I wouldn't have hesitated for so long.
However, you have to give it up. If you don't give it up, you can't get it. Remember what I said. The more money you face, the more you have to be at ease. "
Li Xi stood up and bowed to Li Zhonghang. "I've learned my lesson!"
Li Zhonghang nodded. "Have a seat!"
After sitting down again, Li Zhonghang asked tentatively, "Who should we give the remaining two families?"
"In addition to the Zhang family, the Wang family and the Fan family, the Ma family is left!"
Li Zhonghang sighed. "I haven't thought about the rest yet. Although there are a lot of requests, I'm not sure!"
Li Xi nodded at the mention of the Ma Family. The Ma Family was an existence that everyone in the northwest region knew about.
In the northwest, the most famous Jin merchants, the Zhang family and the Wang family, were both officials and businessmen. The second generation of the Wang family, Wang Chonggu, served as the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War in the 20th year of Jiajing, while the first generation of the Zhang family was Zhang Yunling.
The second generation, Zhang Siwei, served as the Cabinet Chief, and his younger brother, Zhang Sijiao, was also a big salt merchant.
While the Zhang family and the Wang family were connected by marriage, they were also connected by marriage with the family of Ma Ziqiang, the Grand Secretary of the Shaanxi Province. Ma Ziqiang's brother, Ma Zixiu, was also a big businessman.
The Ma family referred to Ma Ziqiang's family. When Ma Ziqiang was the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, the Ma family grew rapidly.
The speed of their growth was very fast. Although they were not as good as the four big families of Jin merchants, they were not far behind.
"Father, the Ma family also sent someone over a few days ago. Why don't we give the last spot to the Ma family?" Li Xi looked at his father and carefully probed.
Looking at his son, Li Zhonghang sighed. This son of his was really untalented. Like father, like son, like son!
Young and inexperienced could be trained, but if one's foresight was not good, then it was really not good!
What was the Ma family?
It was the family of Ma Lu, the commander-in-chief of the Datong Prefecture. After the northwest war, Ma Lu was conferred the title of Huairen County Magistrate.