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

Chapter 373 The truth behind it
During the smuggling process, Zhu Shenzhu had to open up all the links, whether it was the local garrisons or the border guards. It would be impossible to have unimpeded access without giving benefits.

No one is a saint, and no one is nobler than anyone else. Moreover, many problems in the Ming Dynasty are there, especially the many problems in the army, including the most important military pay, etc. If a general cannot solve these problems, how can he continue to lead his troops to fight?
Even when the Ming Dynasty and the Mongols were at war every other day, the secret smuggling by the Ming army in the nine borders had never been stopped. It had become a tacit understanding and unwritten rule.

But now the Later Jin and the Mongols are different. The Later Jin has become a huge threat to the Ming Dynasty. Sun Chengzong finally blocked the Later Jin through various means, and pressed forward step by step with defense as offense, making the Later Jin miserable. But at this time, as a frontline general, he secretly traded with the Later Jin and smuggled, regardless of the overall situation. This is really too much.

Just like Mao Wenlong from Pi Island mentioned by Zhou Anmin, Mao Wenlong also engaged in smuggling, but his smuggling targets were mostly North Korea and Japan. In addition, as he was stationed in Pi Island, which was an important trade transit point, Mao Wenlong was mostly engaged in collecting "tolls" to obtain a stable income.

Of course, it is difficult to say whether Mao Wenlong smuggled with the Later Jin in private. Zhu Shenzui felt that this situation must have occurred, but it should not be too large. After all, Mao Wenlong and the Later Jin had a deep hatred and he would definitely not devote all his strength to the enemy. However, in business operations, he relaxed a little according to the actual situation and made a lot of money from the hands of the Jiannu. This was inevitable.

But compared with Mao Wenlong, Yuan Chongyu's operation was completely different. The Later Jin and the Jiannu were his main trading partners. When the court completely blocked the Later Jin, a large amount of materials flowed into the Later Jin from his hands, which was tantamount to completely aiding the enemy.

Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzhui frowned, and thought of the Jiexiu Fan family. Judging from the time of the previous incident, it was just when Yuan Chonghuan arrived in Liaodong. Could it be that the attack on the grassland that year was related to Yuan Chonghuan? But thinking carefully, it didn't make sense. He and Yuan Chonghuan had never known each other, and the two sides had never crossed paths. At that time, Yuan Chonghuan had just arrived in Liaodong and was not yet the commander of Ningyuan. How could he have noticed the situation in Shanxi?

So, this is what the Jiexiu Fan family did? But why did the Jiexiu Fan family do this? Zhu Shenzhui was silent for a while. He thought for a long time and suddenly an idea flashed through his mind, as if he had thought of something.

"Brother-in-law, can you check whether Yuan Chongyu and the Fan family cooperated with each other. Was it Yuan Chongyu who approached the Fan family or the Fan family who approached Yuan Chongyu?"

Zhou Anmin was slightly stunned, and asked thoughtfully: "What do you mean...?"

Zhu Shenzhui nodded and said seriously, "If my guess is correct, it should be the Fan family who took the initiative to find Yuan Chongyu. Before cooperating with Yuan Chongyu, the Jiexiu Fan family had already secretly communicated with the Liaodong Jiannu. The reason why they found Yuan Chongyu to cooperate with them was nothing more than that the Fan family wanted to find a partner with sufficient background and control in the Ming Dynasty. After considering this person, Yuan Chongyu is the most suitable one."

"That makes sense!" Zhou Anmin nodded. As a Jinyiwei, he was not lacking in sensitivity, and he had a lot of brains to analyze problems. Zhu Shenzhu's words immediately reminded him that if Zhu Shenzhu's guess was true, then the Jiexiu Fan family was not simple at all.

Perhaps the Jiexiu Fan family had had an affair with the Jiannu long ago, and had been transporting a large amount of supplies for the Jiannu to make huge profits. After Sun Chengzong arrived in Liaodong, the Ming Dynasty changed its strategic deployment in Liaodong and adopted a strategy of dual blockade of military and economic forces, making life more difficult for the Jiannu in Liaodong.

Under such circumstances, it was very difficult for the Jiexiu Fan family to continue to transport materials to the Jiannu. Once they were discovered, they would be in big trouble. Therefore, the Jiexiu Fan family had to find a reliable partner, and this partner had to help them open up trade routes and bypass the blockade of the Ming Dynasty.

There were not many such people. Sun Chengzong was of course the first choice, but Sun Chengzong would definitely not do so. His purpose in coming to Liaodong was to solve the Jiannu problem. Completely eliminating the Jiannu in Liaodong was the only thing Sun Chengzong had to do. As for the rest, he didn't care at all. Otherwise, with his identity and status, how could he possibly lead the army in Ji and Liao? Wouldn't it be better to stay in the capital and be his imperial teacher and university scholar, or be a cabinet minister? Why did he have to go to Liaodong to suffer such hardships at such an old age?

Since Sun Chengzong was not possible, they could only settle for the second best. After much selection, the most suitable person was Yuan Chonghuan. However, Yuan Chonghuan was a proud person and naturally looked down on ordinary businessmen. Moreover, he was keen on power and was thinking about how to get promoted in Liaodong. It was not easy to persuade Yuan Chonghuan to cooperate.

But soon the Jiexiu Fan family noticed another person, Yuan Chonghuan's younger brother Yuan Chongyu. As a businessman, Yuan Chongyu didn't have so many concerns. He had been doing business for many years but had always been doing small business. Now that his brother Yuan Chonghuan had finally become a high-ranking official with military power, he wanted to take this opportunity to become a big shot. Soon after arriving in Liaodong, Yuan Chongyu began to try smuggling and trading salt on a small scale, and made a lot of money after a few times.

Such a target is exactly the best partner of Jiexiu Fan family. How could Jiexiu Fan family miss this opportunity? Without much effort, Jiexiu Fan family and Yuan Chongyu hit it off and the two sides began to cooperate. With Yuan Chonghuan as an umbrella, their business became bigger and bigger, and they also made countless money from it.

These are all Zhu Shenzhui's guesses, but the credibility of this guess is very high. What Zhou Anmin has to do is to continue to verify whether the Jiexiu Fan family has cooperated with the Jiannu a long time ago, and this cooperation has gradually grown after Yuan Chonghuan's rise in Liaodong. Once this is confirmed, Zhu Shenzhui's judgment is correct. Zhou Anmin understood Zhu Shenzhui's thoughts and immediately said that he would continue to send people to investigate. Now the Jinyiwei in Shanxi are all Zhou Anmin's subordinates. It should not be difficult to investigate these issues, it just takes some time.

"Brother, if it is confirmed, do you want me to take action?" Zhou Anmin asked, raising his hand and making a gesture.

"No need. Check it out first and don't act rashly for now. If it's really as you imagined, don't forget that the Jiexiu Fan family has the Yuan brothers behind them."

"That's true..." Zhou Anmin nodded. Yuan Chongyu was okay, but Yuan Chonghuan was different.

After the great victory at Ningyuan, Yuan Chonghuan became famous and was now a popular figure in the court. In addition, news came a few days ago that the court had appointed Yuan Chonghuan as the governor of Liaodong. Yuan Chonghuan was now a high-ranking official.

After Sun Chengzong left office, Gao Di took over as the governor of Liaodong, but Gao Di's actual power was not as great as that of Sun Chengzong. It was similar to Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen. After Sun Chengzong left office, Yuan Chonghuan, as the successor trained by Sun Chengzong, naturally gained the support of the Liaodong military. In addition, Yuan Chonghuan had a good relationship with the Liaodong generals, and he firmly controlled most of the military power in Liaodong.

It is said that Gao Di is not doing well as the governor of Liaodong now, and Yuan Chonghuan has become the governor of Liaodong, which makes him a potential rival to Gao Di. After the Ningyuan victory, Gao Di resigned on the grounds that he was not suitable for the position of governor of Liaodong. Yuan Chonghuan is eyeing the position of governor of Liaodong. If things go wrong, Yuan Chonghuan may take another step and replace Gao Di in a short time.

In this situation, offending Yuan Chongyu was equivalent to offending Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan was not a magnanimous person. Moreover, as Yuan Chonghuan wrote a letter suggesting building a shrine for Wei Zhongxian in Liaodong, everyone in the world knew that Yuan Chonghuan was a favorite of Eunuch Wei.

Therefore, if he wanted to take action, he had to have a perfect plan. Zhu Shenzhui didn't want to provoke Yuan Chonghuan now, not to mention his sensitive identity. If he angered Yuan Chonghuan, this guy would pounce on him like a mad dog and dig out all of Zhu Shenzhui's secrets, which would be a waste of time and effort.

"Let's leave it at that for now. If all else fails, we can deal with the Fan family first. If they can do it on the first day, we can also do it on the fifteenth. Let's think of other ways. If we don't have to take action in Ming Dynasty, we can take action outside the Great Wall." Zhou Anmin suggested.

Zhu Shenzhu nodded silently, thinking the same thing. Although there was no complete evidence, he was now certain that it was the Jiexiu Fan family that attacked him. No matter how well a fox hides, its tail will eventually show up. The reason why the Fan family did this was probably related to the Jiannu and Ligdan Khan, in addition to his previous judgment.

Lin Dan Khan and Nurhaci had always been at odds with each other, and the two sides were even mortal enemies. In order to win over Lin Dan Khan, the Ming Dynasty also reached an agreement with Lin Dan Khan and formed a strategic alliance. At that time, the Ashi Temur tribe was a direct subordinate of Lin Dan Khan. After Zhu Shenzhui married Tana, it brought a lot of benefits to the tribe, and the tribe also grew stronger.

The strength of Ashil Timur's tribe also increased the power of Ligdan Khan. Since the Jiexiu Fan family and the Jiannu were in the same group, they naturally knew this. In order to strike at Ligdan Khan and weaken his power at the same time, they played tricks. On the one hand, they attacked Zhu Shenzhui's caravan, and on the other hand, they instigated internal fighting within Ashil Timur's tribe. As long as one of the two was accomplished, Ashil Timur's tribe would inevitably be seriously damaged, and Ligdan Khan would also suffer heavy losses, thus allowing the Jiannu to profit.

If this guess is correct, then all the answers will be explained, and we can completely figure out who is the real mastermind behind what happened back then.

Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzui couldn't help but sneer. What a great Jiexiu Fan family, they hid so deeply and almost made me fall into trouble. If it weren't for my good luck and preparation, if they succeeded, not only would the entire tribe be destroyed, but even Tana and his son would have died on the spot. How could he not avenge such a great hatred?

The killing intent flashed in Zhu Shenzhui's eyes. Zhu Shenzhui made up his mind. Now that he couldn't deal with the old slave, nor could he deal with Yuan Chonghuan, could he not deal with the Fan family of Jiexiu? Wait and see! If the horse king didn't show his power, he didn't know how many eyes he had.

(End of this chapter)