Jinzhong Basin, east by Taihang Mountain, west of Luliang Mountain, north from Huangzhai Shiling Pass, south to Jiexiu Mianshan Town, east and west sides of the fault cliff and the mountains are connected, the basin is north-east-south-west distribution. The Jinzhong Basin is about 150 kilometers long and 30~40 kilometers wide, including the entire middle reaches of the Fen River, with an area of 5,000 square kilometers. The eight traitors and Jin merchants were concentrated in Yuci, Taigu, Pingyao, Jiexiu, Pingyang and other places in the Jinzhong Basin.

The head of the eight traitors and Jin merchants is to belong to Shanxi Jiexiu Fan Yongdou. As early as the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the Fan family did business in Zhangjiakou and Mongolia, and after seven generations, Fan Yongdou became a wealthy merchant of the Han nationality who traded with Manchu and Mongolia in Zhangjiakou area.

After the old slaves unified the Northeast, they set the entry into the Central Plains as the basic national policy of the Later Jin. In order to achieve this grand goal, it was necessary to accumulate military strength, and the expansion of armaments would require a large amount of military expenditure, and the treasury of the Later Jin regime, which had been fighting for many years, was empty and could not afford the huge military expenditure.

The old slaves engaged in destruction in the land of Liaodong, did not engage in construction, and grabbed a piece of land when they occupied a place, and the Tartars did not know anything about farming and striking iron except for fighting and hunting. Later, the Ming Dynasty imposed a strict economic blockade on Liaodong, and the Liaodong region was severely plagued by the Tartars, and the Later Jin regime quickly fell into a situation of lack of food and clothing.

Several traitor Jin merchants, such as the Fan family, who often traveled between the Central Plains and the grassland, saw the business opportunities. In the name of Shang, he secretly contacted the Houjin, organized caravans to trek through mountains and rivers to trade with the Houjin regime, and provided various war materials such as grain and iron for the Houjin Tartars.

During the most economically difficult period in the Later Jin ruling area, the price of rice was as high as 80 taels of stone, and cloth was also 221 horses. Based in Zhangjiakou, the eight traitors and Jin merchants collected goods from all over the country, and then traveled back and forth to inside and outside the customs to engage in trade activities. A large number of basic daily necessities such as food, clothing, and cooking utensils were delivered to the Later Jin regime.

The old slaves did not treat them badly, exchanging ginseng, deer antlers, animal skins and other valuables to each other, and selling and looting valuables on behalf of the Jurchens, so that these eight profit-seeking traitors and Jin merchants earned amazing wealth.

After the death of the old slave, Huang Taiji also continued to vigorously support these traitors and Jin merchants, and adopted various preferential policies to attract them to do business in Liaodong. While providing them with convenience, they used the commodities transported by the Jin merchants to reserve military strategic materials, and also developed some of them to spy on the military and economic intelligence of the Ming Dynasty to understand and master every move of the Ming Dynasty.

With the help of several traitors and Jin merchants, the Later Jin regime was equipped with a well-armed Eight Banners army, and the grain and grass were very well prepared. All the gunpowder, eighty percent of the grain, and more than sixty percent of the iron needed for Huang Taiji's war machine came from these traitors and Jin merchants.

The Jin merchants played a very important role in the process of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's destruction of the Ming Dynasty, and without the financial resources of the Jin merchants, there would be no Manchu army. These traitors and Jin merchants played an important role in the Manchu Dynasty's victory over the Ming Dynasty and the seizure of the Han family, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the Jin merchants were the gravediggers of the Ming Dynasty.

Shanxi Jiexiu, known as the thoroughfare of Shaanxi and Jin since ancient times, is an important transportation hub in the hinterland of the Sanjin Dynasty. There are four main streets in the city, all of which are lined with shops, as well as many money houses and pawnshops, which are very lively.

The Fan family's house is in the southwest corner. It occupies many streets and alleys, and the Fan Mansion compound is magnificent. Front yard, back yard, east yard, west yard, main yard, partial courtyard, cross yard, study yard, walled courtyard, and many gardens, covering an area of dozens of acres. After several generations of operation, the Fan family has been deeply rooted in the local area, and most of the Fan's clansmen are military generals and officials in Jiexiu City.

Go down to the border towns, and the generals of all the armies will be large and small. The pavilion elders who went up to the imperial cabinet and the eunuchs in the palace all accepted the benefits of the Fan family to some extent. More than ninety percent of the civil officials and military generals in the northern border towns, and nine percent of the generals and ruffians in the border towns are all in collusion with the traitors and Jin merchants of the Fan family.

The traitors led by the Fan family are the eight families of the Jin merchants. They occupied the two dry wharves of Kill Hukou and Zhangjiakou, and wantonly delivered grain, iron and various strategic materials to the Mongolian tribes in the steppe and the Tartars in Liaodong, and also provided them with military materials such as armor and weapons.

Even the daimyo royal families in Shanxi, including the King of Jin, the King of Dai and the King of Gu, also have a broken relationship with the traitors and Jin merchants such as the Fan family, and they share a lot of profits every year. If it weren't for this, how could Fan and several other traitors and Jin merchants be able to transport a large number of military supplies such as grain and iron out of the customs in a grand manner.

Therefore, Fan's is very open in the whole Ming Dynasty, and it is even more prosperous in Shanxi, very domineering. After several generations of operation, coupled with the smuggling of slaves and funding Dongyu in recent years, the Fan family has earned a wealth like a sea of gold and silver. There is a Fan family street in Zhangyuan Village, which is nearly 100 meters long, and there is a courtyard in its western section, which is said to be "Little Jinluan Palace", and you can imagine how rich the Fan family is.

In the study room of the Fan Mansion compound, there were several people sitting in the room. Sitting at the top, an old man with an angular square face, he didn't look good-looking, but his eyes were bright, and occasionally flashed a trace of essence. This person is none other than Fan Yongdou, the head of the Fan family.

Sitting in the lower position, a slightly chubby middle-aged man looks like he is kind and wealthy, but at first glance he is very shrewd and capable. He is the son of Fan Yongdou, Fan Sanba. The other people in the room are several big shopkeepers of the Fan family, and they also have a lot of say in the Fan family.

Fan Sanba diligently poured a cup of tea for his father, and then frowned and said: "Now the business of our Xigang has deteriorated, since Houjin was destroyed by that Far East, the trade of the Xikou dry wharf has almost come to a standstill in recent years, and now it can only be maintained by Dongkou and Guihua City. Dad, it seems that the business outside the mouth can't be mentioned, we have to make plans early.

Since the Far East occupied Liaodong, several of our Western Gang families have sent people to contact us several times, but they have not received a satisfactory answer. It is said that today's Far East is far from being comparable to the gold after that year, it is very rich, and it does not need our financial support at all, and Liaodong is extremely strictly controlled, and we have sent many people, but until now they are like stones sinking into the sea, and no news has been sent back. ”

A big shopkeeper of Fan's next to him also said in a deep voice: "Of course they won't do business with us anymore, now many goods in the Far East are extremely popular in Jiangnan and Beijing, and many merchants in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Henan and Shandong have made a fortune by relying on the goods of the Far East, and now they are all sold to our Shanxi." We have asked people to talk to a few merchants who distribute Far Eastern goods, hoping to represent Far Eastern goods in Shanxi, but so far we have not received a reply from Far East. ”

"Then let's just find some officials in various places, put on a few more excerpts, and then find a few cabinet elders, and hand the excerpts to the emperor, saying that the Far East has ill intentions and has different intentions for plotting against the Central Plains, and completely cut off their trade routes in Daming." (To be continued......)