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

Chapter 540: Cao Wenzhao Suppresses Bandits

The confusion of information made Fan Yongdou unable to determine who was targeting the Fan family, and for a moment he could not determine the origins of the people who caused these consequences.

However, one thing is certain, that is, the group of people who looted and killed the Fan family were definitely not ordinary people. From several survivors, it was learned that these people did not look like bandits, but more like officers and soldiers. Therefore, Fan Yongdou felt that it was very likely that they were the rebel army from Shanxi.

But there was one question he didn't understand. How could the Shanxi rebels be so bold as to come to Zhangyuan Village in Jiexiu, and use this method to deceive Fan Sanbo and finally take over the Fan family compound? Although the Shanxi rebels had been causing trouble everywhere since the Qinwang Mutiny, this was the first time they had carried out such a large-scale and targeted military operation. Moreover, the property they looted from the Fan family was not a small amount. They filled dozens of large carts and disappeared after leaving the Fan family. This was really strange.

As the saying goes, if you don't do bad things, you don't have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door. But Fan Yongdou has done a lot of bad things in recent years. Although he is a Ming Dynasty man, he secretly colluded with the Jiannu. It is no exaggeration to say that he is a traitor and even a traitor to his country.

In addition, since Fan Yongdou took control of the Fan family, the family's wealth has skyrocketed in just over a decade under his control, and its status in Shanxi merchants has continued to improve. The reason for this, in addition to colluding with the Jiannu to make money, is also related to Fan Yongdou's various despicable means in the business world.

Monopolizing trade routes, buying low and selling high, attacking rivals, swallowing up industries... the Fan family did a lot of dirty work in private, which is why the Fan family compound was built like this and hired so many guards. The Fan family had many enemies, and Fan Douyong thought that the most likely possibility was that one of the Fan family's enemies colluded with the Shanxi rebels, and that's why they targeted the Fan family.

Moreover, this enemy knew the Fan family very well, otherwise he would not have deceived Fan Sanbo so easily, and would not have been so vicious. But who is the enemy? Fan Yongdou did not have no targets, but he had too many targets. His own family knew his own business. He had offended so many people over the years, and who knows how many people had been ruined because of the Fan family.

After racking his brains, Fan Yongdou still couldn't decide who was most likely to be the culprit. At this time, because the matter was too big, the Jinyiwei also began to intervene in the investigation. When the Jinyiwei rushed to Zhangyuan Village and took over the case, Fan Yongdou had some hope. After all, he knew the ability of the Jinyiwei. If the Jinyiwei could find out the truth, it would be a good thing for him.

Unfortunately, Fan Yongdou didn't know that the Jinyiwei were among those who robbed the Fan family. Now Zhou Anmin sent people to investigate, how could they find anything? But they still had to do it, and the matter had already spread, and the news had spread to the capital. When Emperor Chongzhen learned that such a big case had occurred in Shanxi, he was very angry and had ordered the Shanxi local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and give an explanation to the Fan family as soon as possible.

It must be said that although the Fan family was seriously injured this time, it was not to the point of collapse. The property of the Fan family's ancestral home was indeed gone, but the Fan family's business in Zhangjiakou was still there, and Fan Yongdou was still alive. The money and connections he had left were still not to be underestimated.

Moreover, the Fan family had such a big event, which also alarmed all the Shanxi merchants. As a member of the Shanxi merchants, other Shanxi merchants were also worried that the Fan family's affairs would fall on their heads. Especially the Zhang and Wang families, who were the most powerful and had the most solid foundations among the Shanxi merchants, felt sad when they learned about the Fan family's misfortune. In order to avoid a similar situation from happening again, the Zhang and Wang families exerted pressure at the same time. The pressure from the court was transferred to Shanxi, and they had to give an explanation to the Fan family no matter what.

After nearly a month of investigation, the Jinyiwei finally came up with the results.

According to the report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the incident at the Fan family was caused by some of the Shanxi rebels who had mutinied before and the rebel Wang Jiayin and others in central and western Shanxi. The reason is very simple, because from all kinds of information, the group that broke into the Fan family compound were not ordinary rebels. No matter their combat effectiveness or ferocity, they were definitely not something that bandits could do. Moreover, there were obvious traces of officers and soldiers fighting when they fought with the Fan family guards. After excluding the possibility of the involvement of local garrison soldiers and border troops, the only result is that this group of people should be one of the rebels who mutinied after serving the king.

In addition, the Jinyiwei received news that Wang Jiayin's rebel army had just been replenished. They didn't know where they got a batch of food at a high price, and they also took out a lot of gold and silver to buy other materials from some merchants. The origin of these properties was very strange, and judging from the time, it just happened to coincide with the incident of the Fan family.

Moreover, when investigating the whereabouts of that group of people, the Jinyiwei also discovered the traces of that group of people after they left the Fan family. From the traces, it can be judged that although that group of people concealed their whereabouts after leaving the Fan family and took a detour to cover up their whereabouts, their final direction was exactly to the west. And isn’t the west where the rebel army led by Wang Jiayin and others is located?

Combining the above information, it was finally judged that this incident was done by the Shanxi rebels and the traitor Wang Jiayin. When the Jinyiwei came up with this result, the court quickly recognized the Jinyiwei's judgment. In fact, the Jinyiwei did not have solid evidence at that time. Everything was just a judgment based on the results of investigations from all aspects. However, under such circumstances, the court no longer cared about evidence, especially since the situation of the Shanxi rebels and Wang Jiayin and other traitors was getting worse. In order to give the Fan family and other Shanxi merchant families a result as soon as possible, it was natural to put the blame on the Shanxi rebels and Wang Jiayin.

In this way, Emperor Chongzhen directly issued an order, asking Shanxi to wipe out Wang Jiayin, Gao Yingxiang and other rebels as soon as possible, and at the same time transferred Cao Wenzhao, deputy general of Yansui East Road, to lead his troops to suppress the rebellion.

Cao Wenzhao was from Datong, Shanxi. In his early years, he served in the army in Liaodong and followed Xiong Tingbi, Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan. He was promoted to guerrilla general due to his merits.

Last year, Huang Taiji led his troops to bypass Shanhaiguan, enter the Great Wall, and reach the capital. Cao Wenzhao's troops were also a member of the army to defend the king. At that time, he led the Liao army under Yuan Chonghuan and Zu Dashou to protect the capital.

Later, Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned, and Zu Dashou led the Guanning Army back to Liaodong in anger. Later, because of Yuan Chonghuan's letter, he returned to the capital again to serve the king. At that time, Cao Wenzhao did not do much as a general, but just acted according to the command of his superiors.

However, after Sun Chengzong was reinstated and took over the Liao army, he rearranged the Liao army. Cao Wenzhao began to lead an army alone. Although he was still under the command of Zu Dashou, he had much more independence than before. After Man Gui died in battle, Sun Chengzong saw that the situation was not good, so he adjusted his tactics in Tongzhou and adopted the method of attacking the enemy by surprise and besieging Wei to save Zhao. He mobilized other troops to start attacking Huang Taiji's rear, and at the same time ordered the Ming army in Shanhaiguan to attack westward to force Huang Taiji to return.

Sun Chengzong's tactics soon took effect. Huang Taiji, fearing that his retreat would be cut off, abandoned the capital and began to return. Then the two sides fought fiercely in Zunhua, Jizhou and Qian'an. At that time, Cao Wenzhao, as a member of the Ming army heading north, followed Ma Shilong in this battle and made great contributions.

After the war, Emperor Chongzhen decided to weaken Zu Dashou's military power because of the previous incident, in order to avoid the situation where the Guanning Army became too powerful. As a result, Cao Wenzhao came into the sight of Emperor Chongzhen, and Emperor Chongzhen transferred Cao Wenzhao and his 3,000 Liao troops from the Guanning Army. At that time, there was a rebellion in Shaanxi, and various righteous armies led by Wang Jiayin emerged one after another like mushrooms after rain. In order to solve the problem of rebellion in Shaanxi, Emperor Chongzhen appointed Cao Wenzhao as the deputy general of Yansui East Road to suppress it, and Cao Wenzhao left the Liao Army.

Cao Wenzhao arrived in Shaanxi two months ago. After arriving in Shaanxi, he began to suppress bandits and achieved considerable results in just two months.

Cao Wenzhao was a fierce general, known for his ferocity and bravery. The 3,000 Liao soldiers under his command were also elite. Although the number of rebels far exceeded that of the Ming army, these rebels were not strong at all. They could still fight against the local garrison soldiers, but they were no match for Cao Wenzhao's troops.

You have to know that the Liao army is the elite of the elite of the Ming border army, and has been fighting the Jiannu in Liaodong for many years. Cao Wenzhao dared not even touch the Jiannu, and in his eyes, those rebellious peasants were nothing to worry about.

In no time, Cao Wenzhao, who arrived in Shaanxi, defeated several rebel forces in succession. Due to his ruthless methods, Cao Wenzhao did not need to take prisoners in every battle, especially to the rebel leaders, and countless rebels died at his hands.

In just two months, Cao Wenzhao's reputation soared, and the various rebel armies were terrified of him, and he was even called "Cao the King of Hell".

After wiping out the Yansui East Road, Cao Wenzhao was about to lead his troops south to wipe out the remaining rebel troops in Shaanxi in one go when he suddenly received an imperial edict from the court. Emperor Chongzhen ordered Cao Wenzhao to enter Shanxi to suppress the bandits and solve the problem of Wang Jiayin and others in Shanxi.

After receiving the imperial edict, Cao Wenzhao led his troops eastward and soon entered Shanxi, where he defeated Wang Jiayin's troops in Hequ. When the news reached the capital, Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed. He issued an imperial decree to promote Cao Wenzhao to the commander-in-chief of Lintao and asked Cao Wenzhao to completely eliminate the bandit problem in Shanxi.

Just as Cao Wenzhao was leading his troops to fight against the rebels and winning victory after victory, Wang Hai finally arrived in Pingyang from Mongolia.

This time he came back because Zhu Shenzhui wrote to him and asked him to come back because of his marriage with Qiaoer.

However, the letter did not mention this matter, but only asked Wang Hai to return to Daming. After receiving the letter, Wang Hai did not delay, settled the affairs of the tribe, said goodbye to Tana and Tengger, and returned with the caravan returning to Daming.

After returning to Pingyang, Wang Hai went straight to Zhu Shenzui's mansion.

Looking at the familiar courtyard, Wang Hai was filled with emotion. He had lived here for several years, which could be said to be the happiest and most stable period of his life since he was old enough to understand things. Wang Hai, who had been a slave since childhood, had experienced a life that ordinary people did not have. It was not until he met Zhu Shenzhu that he realized that there were such happy days in this world.

The days in Pingyang are unforgettable for Wang Hai. During this period, Zhu Shenzui treated Wang Hai like his own son and taught him carefully, which led to his current achievements.

In Wang Hai's heart, Zhu Shenzui is not only his master, but also his father and the best and dearest elder to him in the world.

Pushing open the gate and looking at the courtyard that was the same as he remembered, as well as the inconspicuous main house and wing rooms, Wang Hai couldn't help but smile. He was finally back.

(End of this chapter)