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

Chapter 532 Fan Sanbo

Zhangyuan Village.

The Zhangyuan Village today is completely different from the Zhangyuan Village a hundred years ago. Ever since the Jiexiu Fan family moved from Jiexiu City to Zhangyuan Village, Zhangyuan Village has become the Fan family's territory.

Over the past hundred years, the original residents of Zhangyuan Village have long become vassals of the Fan family. The entire Zhangyuan Village, from top to bottom, can be said to be dependent on the Fan family. Although the name of the village has not been changed, the Fan family is the real master of Zhangyuan Village. In this place, the influence of the Fan family is greater than that of the government. To the villagers of Zhangyuan Village, a word from Fan Yongdou, the head of the Fan family, is no different from the emperor's edict.

The original core area of ​​Zhangyuan Village is now the location of the Fan Family Compound. The entire Fan Family Compound covers a vast area, with more than 200 houses alone. These houses form courtyards of varying sizes, which in turn make up the entire Fan Family Compound. The small courtyards are connected by passages or arches, and with the high walls and towers, it is no different from a solid city.

There are dozens of Fan family members in the ancestral home, plus hundreds of servants, nearly a hundred guards, and so on. These people alone add up to nearly three hundred people.

These are only the people living in the Fan family compound. In addition to the villagers, Zhangyuan Village surrounding the Fan family compound also has servants and tenants who depend on the Fan family for their livelihood. All these people add up to more than 500.

Because of business reasons, Fan Yongdou and his two sons often live in a new house in Zhangjiakou and spend very little time in their ancestral home each year.

Fan Yongdou's mother died of illness when he was ten years old, and his father later remarried. When he was in his twenties, Fan Yongdou's father also died, and Fan Yongdou became the head of the Fan family. Fan Yongdou was a man with a good business sense. The Fan family had been engaged in business for generations, and made their fortune by smuggling salt and Mongolians from the grasslands.

Soon after Fan Yongdou became the head of the family, he not only expanded the business scope of the Fan family, but also managed the family business in an orderly manner, allowing the Fan family's industry to develop rapidly in a few years.

In the Battle of Sarhu, the Ming army suffered a crushing defeat. As a businessman, Fan Yongdou keenly sensed the business opportunities in Liaodong. He risked his life to go to Liaodong in person, paid a small price to get in touch with Nurhaci, and thus shifted the focus of Fan's family's business from the original Mongols to Liaodong.

Over the past ten years, the Fan family accumulated huge wealth by relying on private trade with the Jiannu and large-scale smuggling. Especially after Yuan Chonghuan took office in Liaodong, Fan Yongdou pulled in Yuan Chonghuan's younger brother Yuan Chongyu. The two unscrupulous businessmen hit it off and started to work closely together. Relying on Yuan Chonghuan's power in Liaodong, their business became bigger and bigger. It was precisely because of their existence that the Ming army was unable to completely blockade the Jiannu, and allowed Huang Taiji to have enough energy to bypass the Great Wall and approach the capital after surviving the food crisis.

For Fan Yongdou, patriotism is worthless, only real money is real. He is a businessman through and through, and he is a man who dares to do anything in pursuit of wealth. After Yuan Chonghuan's death, Yuan Chongyu fled and disappeared. Now the smuggling trade in Liaodong has basically fallen into Fan Yongdou's hands. In his view, the life and death of Yuan Chonghuan and his brothers is no longer important. Since he has completely replaced Yuan Chongyu, Fan Yongdou has become a guest of Huang Taiji.

Except for Fan Yongdou's stepmother, the Fan family members living in the ancestral house of the Fan family in Zhangyuan Village are usually headed by Fan Yongdou's son Fan Sanbo. Fan Sanbo is Fan Yongdou's third son. Although he is young, he is capable, and he is steady and reliable, which has won Fan Yongdou's trust.

Fan Yongdou's other two sons are in Zhangjiakou helping Fan Yongdou run his business. The reason why Fan Sanbo was placed in Zhangyuan Village is not because he is not valued. On the contrary, in Fan Yongdou's heart, Fan Sanbo is almost the next generation of heirs trained by Fan Yongdou. The identity of the head of the ancestral home has a high status in the clan. This is enough to show the importance of Fan Sanbo.

In addition to the stepmother and Fan Sanbo, there are also Fan Yongdou's grandchildren and unmarried daughters, and some people from the second and third branches of the Fan family also live in the Fan family compound. Although in terms of seniority, Fan Yongdou's stepmother is the most senior and has the most noble status, in fact, the old lady (actually not very old, the stepmother is just over 40) has no real power at all. She is well fed and well fed every day, and recites scriptures and worships Buddha on weekdays. The ancestral home is all managed by Fan Sanbo.

On this day, Fan Sando was talking to the housekeeper at home, with several account books beside him.

The main business of the Fan family is naturally the business in Zhangjiakou, and the biggest income comes from Liaodong. However, in addition to these, the Fan family also has its own shops and other businesses, which are usually managed by Fan Sanbo. He and the housekeeper talked about these businesses.

As they were chatting, a servant suddenly came to report that a group of outsiders had come to Zhangyuan Village. The villagers went forward to inquire and learned that the people who came were the new Shanxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, who was preparing to go to Taiyuan Prefecture to take office. When he passed by Zhangyuan Village, he learned that the Fan family was here, so he came to visit them specially.

Hearing what the servant said, Fan Sanbo hurriedly asked how many people came. The servant replied that there were fifteen people in total. In addition to the newly arrived Shanxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, there was also a Jinyiwei general accompanied by five garrison soldiers. The rest were the servants of that lord. The group took three cars and just arrived at the village entrance.

Hearing this answer, Fan Sanbo had no doubts. Since the governor of Shanxi had been replaced by three people, the position of Censor was indeed vacant, and the former Censor and current governor Song Tongyin was temporarily in charge.

However, the power of the Censor is important, and he is one of the three local officials. The court will naturally appoint someone separately. It is almost time. Now that the new Censor has come to Shanxi, it is not uncommon for him to stop by Fan's house when he passes by Zhangyuan Village on his way to Taiyuan.

As a merchant family, Fan Sanbo knew too well what kind of people these officials were. Officials in the world were basically the same. They were righteous and moral, but in fact they were greedier than anyone else. The Fan family was a famous Shanxi merchant, and Zhangyuan Village was the ancestral home of the Fan family. Since the new censor passed by Zhangyuan Village, it was impossible for him not to cause trouble for the Fan family. As the saying goes, there is no cat that doesn't steal fish? The higher the official, the bigger the appetite. What kind of visit is it? It's clearly an excuse. It's obvious that they are here to extort money. Fan Sanbo knew this very well.

However, Fan Sanbo would not refuse such a situation, nor would he offend the other party for nothing. After all, the Fan family was the Fan family of Jiexiu, and the Fan family was also the people of the Ming Dynasty. Although merchants were rich, they did not have a high social status in the Ming Dynasty. The Fan family did not have a strong background like the Zhang family and the Wang family. When facing ordinary officials, they could ignore the big figures such as the ministers who went abroad, but Fan Sanbo did not dare to offend the high-ranking officials of the level of the provincial governor.

Moreover, the other party did not bring many people, only fifteen in total, and it was normal for them to be escorted by Jinyiwei and guards. The Provincial Surveillance Commissioner was not a small official. Now that the rebels in the west were making a big fuss, it was natural for an official of this level to bring these people with him.

When a guest came, and such a guest at that, Fan Sanbo naturally had to go to greet him. He immediately sent the housekeeper away and asked him to make preparations. He changed his clothes and walked out with his people. When he left the courtyard, he looked forward and saw three carriages had entered the village and were heading towards the Fan family courtyard. They were not far away.

"I wonder which gentleman has arrived. I'm Fan Sanbo, and I'd like to pay my respects to him." When the carriage approached, Fan Sanbo stepped forward quickly, bowed and asked at the same time.

As soon as he finished speaking, a man got off the first car. He was dressed in the uniform of the Jinyiwei and had an embroidered spring sword on his waist. He walked over in a few steps.

When they got closer, the Jinyiwei general flag took out a waist badge and waved it in front of Fan Sanbo. Then he looked at Fan Sanbo and asked, "Your name is Fan Sanbo?"

"That's right."

"Who are you, Fan Yongdou?"

"That's my father. I'm the third child in my family. My father and two elder brothers are not here. They are out on business and haven't returned yet." Fan Sanbo answered respectfully. He saw clearly just now that the other party's Jinyiwei badge was real. The Fan family was not an ordinary business family. They had close ties with the government and naturally knew people from the Shanxi Jinyiwei. So he could recognize the identity of the other party's badge at a glance.

"Fan Yongdou is not here?" Liu Bo frowned slightly, seeming very surprised. Then he looked at Fan Sando again, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Sir, although my father is not at home, he has told me before he left that I will take charge of the Fan family affairs here. Sir, you have come from afar, I wonder if you are here to look for my father at my Fan family..."

"Wait!" Liu Bo turned around and left without waiting for Fan Sanbo to finish his words. Fan Sanbo was slightly stunned, and saw Liu Bo quickly returned to the carriage he had just got off. He seemed to say something to the carriage with the curtain lowered, and stretched out his hand to point at him.

If Fan Sanbo guessed correctly, the person sitting there was the real boss, the new Censor whose name was still unknown.

After a moment, Liu Bo reached out and lifted the curtain, only to see a square-faced man with slightly gray hair, a short beard and of medium build getting off the car.

Although this man was wearing an ordinary Taoist robe, the fabric was made of the finest lake silk, and he had a fine white jade pendant tied around his waist. It was obvious from his demeanor that he was not an ordinary person. His every move was dignified, and there was a hint of nobility in his gestures.

When he saw this man, Fan Sanbo's eyes suddenly lit up. He was immediately sure that this man was the newly appointed Censor. Although his face was unfamiliar and he had never seen him before, his demeanor could not be faked. If he was not from a large family or had been in a high position for a long time, ordinary people would never be able to impersonate him.

Zhu Qiuqi got out of the car and looked towards Fan Sanba, finally his eyes fell on him.

At this time, Fan Sanba hurriedly stepped forward to pay his respects. Before he could speak, Zhu Qiuqi asked, "Are you Fan Sanba? Fan Yongdou's son?"

"I am... I am..." Just now when facing Liu Bo, Fan Sanba could still call himself "I", but now when he was answering Zhu Qiuqi, he felt it was inappropriate as soon as he opened his mouth, and directly changed his title from "I" to "I", and at the same time bowed deeply to Zhu Qiuqi.

(End of this chapter)