Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 343 Nothing but profit
After talking about Zhangjiakou, Zhou Anmin told Zhu Shenzhui another story.

A few days ago, Jinyiwei commander Tian Ergeng sent someone to Weiyuanwei to deliver a letter to Zhou Anmin.

"Commander Tian?"

Zhou Anmin nodded and told Zhu Shenzhui that not only Tian Ergeng, but also Wei Liangqing had written to him not long ago. In the letter, he said that he had not seen Brother Zhou for some time and missed him very much. He heard that Zhou Anmin had worked hard for border trade in the past year and had made remarkable achievements. Wei Liangqing was very happy in the capital. His uncle, Eunuch Wei, admired Zhou Anmin's ability very much. As a brother, Wei Liangqing hoped that Zhou Anmin could make further progress. Now was the time when the capital needed people. He privately asked Wei Zhongxian for help and contacted Tian Ergeng, intending to transfer Zhou Anmin to the capital.

As for his official title, Zhou Anmin is currently a captain of the fifth rank of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. After entering Beijing, he can directly serve as a commander.

The deputy commander is of the fourth rank, two levels higher than Zhou Anmin's current fifth rank of captain. Moreover, the capital is the headquarters of the Jinyiwei. Apart from the commander-in-chief and the deputy commander, the next highest official of the Jinyiwei is the deputy commander.

If Zhou Anmin is a local powerful figure and belongs to the middle level of Jinyiwei, then once he goes to Beijing to serve as a deputy commander, it is equivalent to entering the senior level of Jinyiwei. The power of the two cannot be compared at all. There are only four deputy commanders in the entire Jinyiwei.

"Does Tian Ergeng's letter mean that you will be transferred to Beijing?" Zhu Shenzhui asked, putting down the wine cup in his hand.

Zhou Anmin said, "The two letters arrived just a few days apart. I know Wei Liangqing very well. If he wanted me to go to the capital to meet him, it might be his idea, but I'm afraid it was Tian Ergeng who wanted me to be transferred to the capital."

"Brother-in-law, are you saying...?"

Zhou Anmin nodded silently and sighed, "Money can make people happy. Your brother-in-law, I have made a lot of money in the past year in Weiyuan Guard. Others may not know, but you should know. Although most of the wealth was sent to the capital, a lot was left. I have met Tian Ergeng twice and have dealt with him. He is extremely greedy and will naturally not let me stay here for long."

"If it weren't for the fact that Wei Liangqing and I are brothers, someone else would have used force on me. Now, under the pretext of a job transfer, I was allowed to hand over my duties here and come to the capital, and I was promoted. This is already a rare opportunity..."

Zhou Anmin's words made Zhu Shenzhu frown. Zhou Anmin was right. Perhaps this was exactly what Tian Ergeng was thinking.

Since the border trade, Zhou Anmin has been the actual person in charge on the Ming side. The amount of money and goods traded in the border trade between the two sides over the past year is a huge amount, especially on the Ming side. With the large influx of goods from the grassland, the daily trading profits here in Weiyuanwei are extremely considerable.

Although most of the money earned was given to Emperor Tianqi and Wei Zhongxian, some of it was privately divided by Weiyuan Guard. Zhou Anmin was never a stingy person. Before the border trade started, Zhu Shenzhu had communicated with him privately. In addition to handing over the money earned, Zhou Anmin never treated his subordinates unfairly.

In other words, not only Zhou Anmin, but also the Dongchang men in Weiyuanwei, officers of all levels of Jinyiwei, and even the guards and border troops from top to bottom got a lot of benefits. As for Zhou Anmin himself, it goes without saying that they would naturally not treat themselves badly.

Although Zhou Anmin's backer was also Wei Zhongxian, he was different from Tian Ergeng. Tian Ergeng had now worshipped Wei Zhongxian as his adoptive father, and rumors in the capital classified the backbone of the eunuch party, especially Wei Zhongxian's several adopted sons, who were the backbone of the eunuch party.

Among them, there were five civil officials known as the "Five Tigers", and five military officials known as the "Five Tigers", and under them were the "Ten Dogs", "Ten Children", "Forty Grandchildren", and so on.

The leader of the Five Tigers of the civil officials was Cui Chengxiu, and the leader of the Five Biao who were as famous as the Five Tigers was Tian Ergeng. From this, we can see Tian Ergeng's status in the eunuch party headed by Wei Zhongxian. If Tian Ergeng was a little afraid of people like Zhou Anmin when he just defected to Wei Zhongxian, and even tried to please him, now that his power is stable, he doesn't take Zhou Anmin seriously at all.

If it weren't for Wei Liangqing, it would be normal for Tian Ergeng to directly transfer Zhou Anmin with a document and send his people to take over the border trade of Weiyuanwei. But it was precisely because Zhou Anmin and Wei Liangqing had a close relationship and the two sides had long called each other brothers. Considering this, Tian Ergeng still used a tactful method. He took away the benefits of Weiyuanwei and promoted Zhou Anmin at the same time, giving him a position of commander, so that he could give Wei Liangqing an explanation.

Zhou Anmin even suspected that Wei Liangqing's letter to him was instigated by Tian Ergeng. Zhou Anmin knew Wei Liangqing very well. He knew that although Wei Liangqing was Wei Zhongxian's nephew, he was not a man without ambitions, and even greed was not a big deal. Wei Liangqing was born in poverty. Before he came to Beijing, he was just a farmer with his feet on the loess and his back to the sky. After arriving in the capital, he became a hot figure because of Wei Zhongxian. However, Wei Liangqing was honest and sincere. He did not have much desire for power. He lived in a big house on weekdays, with servants and maids around him, eating delicacies from mountains and seas, wearing silk and satin, and had no shortage of money. Such a life was very satisfying for him.

With Wei Liangqing's identity, if he wanted to occupy an important position in the eunuch party, he could not compare with Tian Ergeng, even Cui Chengxiu could not compare with him. You have to know that he was Wei Zhongxian's only nephew.

Wei Zhongxian was a eunuch and would never have a son in his life. Wei Liangqing was his nephew, and in fact, there was no difference between him and his son. The continuation of the Wei family bloodline lay in Wei Liangqing. If Wei Liangqing wanted to be an official, let alone a mere commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, even if he wanted to be a minister of one of the six ministries or even a grand secretary in the cabinet, Wei Zhongxian would find a way to satisfy his wish without hesitation.

But in fact, Wei Liangqing still has no real job, just a few honorary positions of decent rank. Because Wei Liangqing knows very well that the wealth and glory he has now is beyond his dreams. For a farmer who can only farm and can't read or write, it is enough for him to have such a good life today. As for any official position or power, it is enough for him to have his uncle Wei Zhongxian. He does not ask for anything else.

It was for this reason that Wei Zhongxian treated his nephew better than Wei Liangqing. Wei Liangqing usually did not ask Wei Zhongxian for anything, but once he asked, there was nothing Wei Zhongxian could not satisfy. The same was true for the eunuch party. Wei Zhongxian's godsons all understood this and usually tried their best to please Wei Liangqing, because they all knew that sometimes one word from Wei Liangqing could have a greater effect than ten or a hundred words from themselves in front of Wei Zhongxian.

"Brother-in-law, what do you think about this matter?" Zhu Shenzhui asked seriously.

Zhou Anmin sighed, raised his hand and took a sip of wine, saying: "We can't stay here at Weiyuanwei any longer. Since Tian Ergeng intends to intervene in this matter, if we offend him, there will be many troubles in the future."

"But if I'm not here, the border trade will definitely be taken over by Tian Ergeng's people. This will cause some trouble for you, little brother."

Zhu Shenzhu agreed with Zhou Anmin's statement. The reason why the border trade was so prosperous was not only the attitude of the Ming Dynasty, but more importantly, it was because Zhou Anmin was in charge. To put it bluntly, the border trade between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia was actually Zhu Shenzhu's business. The Mongolian side was the Tenger tribe, and the Ming side was Zhou Anmin. Both sides were their own people, and Zhu Shenzhu was actually the manipulator behind both sides.

Because of this, the so-called border trade was Zhu Shenzhui's transfer of money from one hand to the other, using the channels of both sides to make profits. Although Emperor Tianqi and Wei Zhongxian got a lot of benefits, and the East Factory and Jinyiwei also got a lot of benefits, in fact, they did not get as much as Zhu Shenzhui, and the real big money went into Zhu Shenzhui's pocket.

But once Zhou Anmin was no longer in Weiyuanwei, and Tian Ergeng's people took over the Ming side, it would inevitably affect Zhu Shenzhui's operations. Apart from other things, without Zhou Anmin's care, Zhu Shenzhui would not be able to do many things so conveniently. Not to mention the reduction in profits from border trade, the mobilization and storage of many materials would not be as convenient as they are now.

"As for going to Beijing..." Zhou Anmin shook his head again: "The capital is not a good place to go right now. I remember you told me before that if you can stay in a certain place, don't go to Beijing. The waters in the capital are too deep. People like me who don't have any foundation should stay as far away as possible."

At this point, Zhou Anmin laughed and said, "At first I thought your statement was a bit alarmist, but in the past two years I have seen clearly that this is indeed the case in the capital, especially now that Eunuch Wei and the Donglin Party are fighting each other. Tian Ergeng is now in charge of the Jinyiwei and is even more of Eunuch Wei's vanguard, contributing a lot in the fight."

"If I stay in the local area, I can avoid some of it, but once I go to the capital, I will be in a vortex, especially if I go to the capital to serve as a commander. Once I sit in this position, I will have no control over my own behavior."

"Little brother, my eyes can see other things clearly, but I can see this clearly." Zhou Anmin raised his hand and pointed at his eyes, laughing: "Let the dragons and tigers in the capital fight, I don't want to get involved in this matter. Since Tian Ergeng has taken a fancy to my current position, why not give it to him? At worst, I can just pat my butt and go back to my position as a Jinyi Qianhu. Isn't it free and easy?"

Zhou Anmin glanced at Zhu Shenzhui and said with some guilt: "That's all. I can't help you much in the future. You should also make arrangements for Kang Youfu. When Tian Ergeng's people come, you have to be careful about many things. Don't show it to avoid getting into trouble."

"As for the border trade, we can only rely on God's will to operate it in the future. It's hard to say now, so we'll just take it one step at a time."

Zhu Shenzhui nodded silently. What Zhou Anmin said was exactly what he was thinking. He absolutely could not go to the capital. Once he entered the capital, Zhou Anmin would be forced to do what he wanted. The two parties were fighting, which was extremely dangerous. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui knew better than anyone what would happen to Wei Zhongxian in the future. If he was caught in this vortex, he might be crushed to pieces. How could he let Zhou Anmin take such a risk?
(End of this chapter)