After entering the inn, Duan Zongkui hadn't had time to wash up when someone knocked on the door.

The person who came was a Han Chinese, although he also shaved his head, this person Duan Zongkui had some impressions, he should be a subordinate in Fan Wencheng's mansion, but his identity was definitely not ordinary.

The person who came didn't say much, said a location, left a letter and left, after all, people like Duan Zongkui need to be low-key and cautious when they come to Shenyang, and they need to wear a hat when they go out, so as not to let people see that he has not shaved his hair.

Duan Zongkui washed up a little, quickly opened the letter, and after reading it in a hurry, burned the letter with a fire fold, put on a hat, left the inn, and headed towards a certain restaurant.

A private room on the third floor of the restaurant, Fan Wencheng is waiting here, every time he sees Duan Zongkui, he takes this way, it should be said that this is the way the Han people meet, the Manchurians don't have such a habit, the Manchurians are so lively, the more people, the better.

After all, Fan Wencheng is Han Chinese, and he scoffs at some of the habits of the Manchus, but he can't show them.

When Duan Zongkui entered the private room, Fan Wencheng slowly greeted him with a smile on his face.

The etiquette of the Great Qing Dynasty is completely different from that of the Ming Dynasty, the Han people saw the Manchurians, especially the Manchu nobles, that was to kneel and salute, and the vast majority of the Han people were slaves of the Manchus, although Huang Taiji had been rectified several times, and the Manchus were not allowed to dispose of and slaughter Han slaves at will, but the status of the Han people in the Great Qing Dynasty was very low, even if it was a powerful minister like Fan Wencheng, when he saw many princes, county kings, Baylor and Beizi of the Great Qing Dynasty, he also had to greet respectfully, and even kneel.

Fan Wencheng did not accept such etiquette in his heart, after all, he was a talent of the Ming Dynasty, and he once had a fame, according to his identity. Unless he saw the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, there is basically no need to kneel the rest of the time, but unfortunately it is not possible in the Qing Dynasty.

Do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself, when facing the Han people, Fan Wencheng is generally very polite, and the Han people in the Great Qing Dynasty have a very hard life. There is no status, and the Han people try not to torture and insult each other as much as possible.

So when facing Duan Zongkui, Fan Wencheng was more polite, in fact, he also knew that Duan Zongkui lived in Daming and could not accept these etiquettes of the Great Qing Kingdom.

The food and drinks on the table have already been prepared.

After Fan Wencheng sat down, he beckoned Duan Zongkui, who was still standing, to sit down.

"Zong Kui, don't be polite in front of me, you just arrived in Shenyang. It's very hard, and I should let you rest before negotiating, but time is pressing, and you must have seen the situation in western Liaoning when you passed through Jinzhou and other places. ”

After Duan Zongkui sat down, he looked at Fan Wencheng and nodded with a habitual smile on his face.

"I heard that a lot of things have happened in the Ming Dynasty recently, but some of the news is not particularly accurate."

Fan Wencheng is very direct. At the beginning, it stops here. Looking at Duan Zongkui, he didn't even mention the matter of pouring wine.

Duan Zongkui stood up, picked up the wine jug, walked to Fan Wencheng's side, and spoke after pouring a glass of wine.

"Master Fan is so hardworking, I really admire it. Don't get tired of your body, give an adult a toast below, and wish you a high level of prosperity and good health. ”

Fan Wencheng pointed at Duan Zongkui with his finger and smiled.

"Zong Kui. is worthy of being an excellent businessman, with your ability, you can't eat anywhere, if I introduce you to the emperor, you will definitely be appreciated. ”

"It's not good to be down, I'm still dedicated to serving Lord Fan, I'm a layman below, all I see in my eyes is silver, and I don't want to worry about other things."

Fan Wencheng nodded, in the process of dealing with Duan Zongkui, he had also made special observations, and found that Duan Zongkui's main energy was indeed in business, and he was not very interested in other things, Duan Zongkui's temper and temperament reassured Fan Wencheng, if Duan Zongkui's ambition was too great, according to his ability, maybe he would really be appreciated by Huang Taiji, and at that time, Duan Zongkui was likely to become one of his opponents Fan Wencheng.

Fan Wencheng was still anxious, and after drinking a glass of wine, he mentioned the matter of the Ming Dynasty again.

Duan Zongkui didn't waste any time, and began to tell in detail about the many things that had happened in Daming recently.

As Duan Zongkui spoke, Fan Wencheng's expression began to become excited, and when Duan Zongkui was halfway through speaking, Fan Wencheng instructed the officials waiting outside the private room to bring the map and paper, pen and inkstone, and began to make marks on the map, and at the same time began to write down what he thought was the most important.

Duan Zongkui spoke for most of the hour, during which Fan Wencheng did not speak.

After Duan Zongkui finished speaking, Fan Wencheng ordered him to eat something, and he fell into deep thought.

Duan Zongkui was not polite, and began to eat in large gulps, he was indeed a little hungry.

Seeing that Duan Zongkui had almost eaten, Fan Wencheng spoke.

"Zong Kui, there are three questions, you can help explain them in detail, of course, according to your own understanding."

"The first question, what is the purpose of the adjustment of the Ming cabinet."

Duan Zongkui secretly admired that Fan Wencheng was really able to grasp the most critical issue, you must know that this problem involves the stability of the Ming Dynasty, and it also involves what kind of countermeasures Houjin will take next.

"The news I got from the capital that the adjustment of the imperial cabinet is mainly aimed at the crown prince Taibao and the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, Zheng Xunrui, it is said that the emperor wants to use the Donglin Party to deal with Zheng Xunrui."

A glimmer of light flashed in Fan Wencheng's eyes, and he didn't care about Duan Zongkui's tone.

"Do you mean to say that Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty is not at ease with Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun?"

"That's what I heard below."

Fan Wencheng had a smile on his face, stood up, walked in front of Duan Zongkui, and patted Duan Zongkui on the shoulder.

"Hehe, very good, Emperor Chongzhen began to guard against Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun, and you have your credit for this."

"Don't dare to be greedy for merit, this is all the good of Master Fan."

"The second question, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, they marched in the direction of Shanxi and Huguang respectively, what do you think their purpose is, let me put it this way, do they want to occupy Henan, Shaanxi, Huguang and even Sichuan and other places, and fight against the Ming court."

Duan Zongkui pondered for a moment.

"There is such a thought, especially Li Zicheng, after the capture of Kaifeng Fucheng, the adults in the court are expected to march to the south, who knows that Li Zicheng did not make such a choice, but to attack in the direction of Shanxi, which makes the adults in the court very worried, Li Zicheng is obviously thinking of making a big fuss in the Central Plains, and even looking forward to occupying more territory in the Central Plains, as for Zhang Xianzhong, the relationship with Li Zicheng is said to be very bad, leaving Henan and entering Huguang, I am afraid that he is also thinking about occupying Huguang and other places, Doing it against the imperial court. ”

"Well, it makes sense, it seems that Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others have changed their minds, and they are afraid that they are no longer rogues, and they will not wander around and loot like before."

When he said this, Fan Wencheng couldn't hold back the smile on his face.

"The third question is, what is Zheng Xunrui's attitude towards Emperor Chongzhen and the Ming court."

"This, I don't know it very well, but I just heard the adults in the court say that there was an edict from the Ministry of Officials to adjust some officials of Nanzhili, but Lord Zheng Xunrui did not completely handle it according to the meaning of the Ministry of War, I thought that the emperor would be angry, but in the end it was over."

Fan Wencheng's expression changed slightly, and it was obvious that he was contemplative again.

Two hours later, Duan Zongkui left the restaurant, and there were three more people around him, and these three people were about a meter away from him, and they followed him back to the inn, and when he went upstairs to rest, the three of them also stayed at the inn.

After returning to the room and closing the door, Duan Zongkui's face changed rapidly, and his smile disappeared.

Duan Zongkui is by no means unconcerned about anything, he has already regarded himself as Zheng Xunrui's person, the important situation in the capital, and the important information of Houjin, he reported to Zheng Xunrui, as an excellent businessman, Duan Zongkui will also analyze many situations, he has long been aware that Zheng Xunrui and the emperor have formed a confrontational situation, but both sides are unwilling to tear their faces, his business has long extended to Nanzhili and Zhejiang Shandong and other places, compared to Nanzhili and Beizhili, Duan Zongkui found, The wealth of Southern Zhili exceeded that of Northern Zhili by at least dozens of times, and the strength of the Zheng family army was also incomparable to that of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, there are already people in the court who are privately discussing this issue, Zheng Xunrui has such a strong strength, every move is enough to shake the court, if Zheng Xunrui really wants to rebel, I am afraid that no one will be able to stop him, and there will be no fewer scholars who are willing to rely on Zheng Xunrui, even if it is Zheng Xunrui's opponent Donglin Party, once Zheng Xunrui gains enough power, I am afraid that he will also take refuge.

After analyzing all aspects of the matter, Duan Zongkui made up his mind to be absolutely loyal to Zheng Xunrui.

Duan Zongkui from the perspective of commerce and trade, believes that Zheng Xunrui will eventually unify the Ming Dynasty, whether it is the Houjin Tartar or the Liukou, they will eventually be completely wiped out by the Zheng family's army, as for the emperor, there will be nothing to be done at that time, and Duan Zongkui also believes that only by making Zheng Xunrui the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, a powerful Ming Dynasty will appear again.

Fan Wencheng's thoughts, Duan Zongkui understood, because Houjin was also staring at the Great Tomorrow, and also wanted to enter the Central Plains, Fan Wencheng thought that there was a huge contradiction between the Ming Emperor and Zheng Xunrui, and it must be a large-scale fight to the back, both sides were defeated, and the Liukou made chaos from it, so the Central Plains would fall into huge chaos, and at this time the opportunity for Houjin would come, as long as Houjin could seize this opportunity, he would be able to successfully overthrow the Ming Dynasty and enter the Central Plains.

If he didn't know Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun, Duan Zongkui would also think so, but unfortunately Zheng Xunrui's ability was not something that Fan Wencheng and others could think of, even the Emperor Taiji of Houjin couldn't think of it. (To be continued......)