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

Chapter 529: Three-Party Reunion
As a businessman, pursuing profits is his nature and there is nothing wrong with that.

Zhu Shenzui is also half a businessman. Hengtong is his industry and Kang Youfu is his chief shopkeeper. Judging from the scale of the business, Hengtong is now a leading force among Shanxi merchants. Hengtong brings him huge profits every year. As for smuggling, Hengtong has also done a lot of it, otherwise it would not have developed to this extent in just a few years.

However, businessmen also have things they can and cannot do. Even though Hengtong himself was engaged in smuggling, he never really harmed the interests of the Ming Dynasty.

But merchants like the Fan family in Jiexiu are different. In order to make profits, the Fan family has no bottom line and will do anything, even secretly colluding with the Jian Nu to smuggle grain, medicinal materials, ironware, etc. to Liaodong, damaging the interests of the Ming Dynasty while also making huge wealth for the Fan family.

Let's not talk about other things, just the grain that Yuan Chonghuan sold to Jiannu through Mongolia when he was there. Yuan Chonghuan thought that selling grain to Jiannu could appease Huang Taiji and make him give up the idea of ​​attacking Ming Dynasty, and also bring benefits to his stability of the war situation in Liaodong.

But Yuan Chonghuan never expected that it was precisely because of his brother Yuan Chongyu's collusion with the Fan family that the grain they sold not only solved the food shortage of the Jiannu, enabling the Jiannu to later bypass Shanhaiguan and attack the Great Wall, but also made a huge sum of money from this deal, the amount of which was quite astonishing.

Yuan Chonghuan thought that he was just selling grain at a higher price than the market price, but in fact, the price that Fan family and Yuan Chongyu actually sold was more than ten times the original price. This ridiculously high price was higher than the price that Zhu Shenzhu asked Kang Youfu and the rebels to negotiate. This transaction alone made them a fortune, not to mention their long-term private smuggling profits.

"Nothing happened to the Fan family, but the incident from that year has not been resolved yet. You haven't forgotten it, have you?" Zhu Shenzhui said indifferently.

Zhu Qiuqi nodded repeatedly. Of course he knew about this, because he was the one who went to investigate the Fan family. It had been a while since then, and he thought Zhu Shenzhui had forgotten about the Fan family, but he didn't expect that the old matter would be brought up again today.

"Uncle, are you going to deal with the Fan family? Please let me handle this matter. I promise to do it properly for you. I will do whatever you say!"

"Haha, what if I ask you to wipe out the entire Fan family?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a smile.

Zhu Qiuqi was stunned for a moment. He did not expect that Zhu Shenzhui would ask for such a result. However, the hesitation on his face was only for a moment, and he quickly said firmly: "Don't worry, I will do this job! As long as you say this, I will make sure that no one in the Fan family can escape!"

"really!"

"Of course I take it seriously!" Zhu Qiuqi patted his chest and said, "I've long been unhappy with the Fan family. Keeping such a family is a disaster. What's more, there is what happened in the past. Since the Fan family can do it on the first day of the month, can't we do it on the fifteenth? How can this be justified in the world?"

"But uncle, this is no small matter. I have to let my nephew plan it and give my nephew some time. The Fan family has a lot of influence in Jiexiu. I heard that the Fan family's house covers a large area, and the outer perimeter of the house is built in the style of a fortress. It is not easy to attack it by force. The only feasible way is to find a reason to sneak into the Fan family, and then cooperate with the inside and outside to take it down in one fell swoop!"

Zhu Qiuqi's words made Zhu Shenzhui very satisfied. Moreover, he was called here today to do this matter and also to test his attitude.

Zhu Shenzhui could naturally tell whether Zhu Qiuqi was sincere or not, and based on his understanding of Zhu Qiuqi, he knew that Zhu Qiuqi was a trustworthy person.

Of course, if Zhu Qiuqi refused, Zhu Shencui would not do anything to him. However, Zhu Qiuqi would be Zhu Qiuqi from now on. Considering their common clan and their friendship over the years, Zhu Shencui would never let him interfere in any related matters.

"I have thought about this matter." Zhu Shenzhui nodded with a smile. He stretched out his hand and waved to Zhu Qiuqi. Zhu Qiuqi immediately moved his butt forward and put on a listening attitude.

Then, Zhu Shencui began to speak to him. Zhu Qiuqi's eyes gradually lit up as he listened to Zhu Shencui's instructions. When Zhu Shencui finished speaking, Zhu Qiuqi's expression was filled with excitement, and his head kept nodding like a chicken pecking at rice.

Ten days later, on a government road in Shanxi.

About a hundred people set out from Zhaowuling and headed northwest along the official road.

The team leaders this time were Li Hu and his son Li You. Lu Yishen and Hu Lin did not accompany them, and even Wang Jinwu was not there.

The hundred or so people were dressed as garrison soldiers, carrying official documents issued by the garrison, nominally going to Taiyuan on official business. The cotton armor they wore and the weapons they held were no different from those of ordinary garrison soldiers. The leader Li Hu was dressed as the general flag, Li You and the other two were small flags, and the others were ordinary garrison soldiers.

The journey was safe and sound. Although there were checkpoints by local soldiers and officials in Jingzhou Prefecture, Li Hu was able to make it smoothly thanks to the official documents in his hand. He arrived at Lingshi that day and continued north along the official road, reaching Taiyuan in two days at most.

However, after arriving at Lingshi, Li Hu did not take a short rest and then continue on his way as he did in the previous days. Instead, he walked about twenty miles north from Lingshi and came to a village.

This village is very small, less than half the size of Wangjia Village. It used to be a hundred-household residence, but over the years this hundred-household residence has been abandoned. The military households living here either fled or moved to other hundred-household residences, and the entire village is empty.

More than a year ago, this abandoned village was chosen by Hengtong because it was not too far from the official road and Taiyuan Prefecture, so it was used as a foothold for transporting supplies. However, these days, Hengtong’s people received an order from above and did not know where to withdraw, and the entire village was vacated.

After the people from Hengtong left, a few people came and settled down in the village within two days. After settling down, they did not do anything else but just stayed in the village, as if they were waiting for someone.

One day, when Li Hu and his men were about to arrive at the village entrance, a man suddenly appeared from the side. This man was dressed in shorts and no one knew where he had been hiding before. Even Li Hu didn't notice him until he showed up.

"Is that Master Tiger?" the man asked hurriedly as he showed up.

Li Hu raised his hand to stop his subordinates' actions. Fortunately, the boy spoke early. If he had been later, his brothers would have had more holes in his body. Seeing several strong bows pointing at him, and the arrows shining coldly in the sunlight, the man was startled and hurriedly explained: "Master Hu! Brother is one of us! I am Lu An, a captain under Boss Liu!"

Li Hu looked at the other party coldly. Although he stopped his men's actions, he did not let them put away the bows.

Lu An wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, and quickly took out a badge from his arms and handed it over. Li Hu did not dismount, but stood at a distance from Lu An, motioning him to throw the badge over. Lu An immediately threw the badge over. Li Hu grabbed it and took a closer look. After seeing the words on the badge clearly, he relaxed and waved his hand behind him, and then put down the bows that were pointing at Lu An.

"Where is Mr. Liu?" Li Hu threw the badge back to Lu An and asked directly.

"Master Tiger, Boss Liu is waiting for you and your brothers in the village."

"Lead the way!"

"Yes!"

Lu An nodded in response, and walked towards the village with Li Hu and others. At this time, the villagers had heard the movement at the entrance of the village, and several men came out from the house where they were hiding. Although he was wearing civilian clothes, he was burly and carried a knife, so he was not an ordinary citizen.

The leader of this group of people was a man in his thirties, of average height and plain appearance. When he saw Lu An and Li Hu and his party entering the village, he winked at everyone around him and put on a vigilant attitude. They only breathed a sigh of relief when Lu An saw him and hurriedly trotted forward to tell them that it was Li Hu they were waiting for.

"But Brother Li is here in person? Brother Liu Bo has been waiting for a long time."

Hearing this, Li Hu got off his horse, walked over with big strides, and bowed to Liu Bo.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, Brother Liu."

"I can't say I've been waiting for a long time. I just arrived two days earlier than Brother Li. Did you have a smooth journey, Brother Li?"

"Have a safe trip." Li Hu said, and at the same time looked at Liu Bo's brothers. Liu Bo understood and said, "They are all my old brothers, a total of five people, and there is another one guarding the back of the village. Brother Li and the brothers have worked hard on the journey, how about taking a rest for a while?"

"Haha, since you are here, just follow Brother Liu's arrangements."

"please!"

"please!"

The two men exchanged a few words of greeting tacitly. Then Li Hu asked Li You to lead the team to settle the people in the village. Several of Liu Bo's people helped with the arrangements. The accommodation in the village had already been prepared. Then Li Hu followed Liu Bo to a small courtyard in the village alone.

When they arrived at the gate of the courtyard, Li Hu asked with a tentative look. Liu Bo nodded and then pushed the door open. After entering, he saw a man standing in front of the house. He was dressed similarly to Liu Bo and the others.

"Eighteenth Master!" Upon seeing this man, Li Hu hurriedly stepped forward to salute. Zhu Qiuqi didn't wait for him to complete the salute and hurried forward to stop him.

"Captain Li?"

"It's down!"

"Okay! Okay!" Zhu Qiuqi nodded with a smile: "I originally thought I would have to wait another two days, but I didn't expect Captain Li to come so soon."

"Sixth Master has made all the arrangements, so the journey will be smooth and quick. I am sorry to have troubled Eighteenth Master to wait for so long."

"Hahaha, you are just brothers, come on, let's go inside and talk, Lao Liu, come together!"

"Thank you, Mr. Eighteenth Master." Liu Bo nodded with a smile, and the three of them entered the house together. There was not much furniture in the house, it was very simple. Apart from a bed, there was a table and two benches. Everyone did not say hello and sat down directly on the benches. Zhu Qiuqi picked up the teapot on the table and poured a cup of tea for each of them.

Zhu Qiuqi came here with Liu Bo two days ago. Liu Bo is Zhou Anmin's confidant and one of his most capable subordinates. The task he has done this time is not small. Regardless of success or failure, the local area will inevitably be shocked after the news gets out. The Jinyiwei came forward to help solve this problem, and the intelligence from Jiexiu also needs to be transmitted by the Jinyiwei to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

So this time there were three parties involved, Zhu Qiuqi, Jinyiwei and the guards. It seemed that these three parties had nothing to do with each other, but in fact they were all arranged by Zhu Shenzhu. Zhu Qiuqi was the actual person in charge, Li Hu was responsible for the military, and Jinyiwei was responsible for intelligence and post-event cleanup, none of which could be missing.

(End of this chapter)