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She once asked Li Banghua who was the wisest queen in the past.Li Banghua replied that when it comes to empresses from ancient times, there is nothing better than Empress Ma at the founding of the previous dynasty.

Fei Rulan asked again, what words and deeds did Empress Ma have, and Li Banghua told many stories.For example, spinning and weaving in the palace was the move of Empress Ma, and Zhu Yuanzhang had to plow in the spring every year. They set an example to persuade Nongsang.

A beginner in spinning, Fei Rulan's speed is very slow, and occasionally she has to bury her head to check carefully.

Sitting opposite her was Mrs. Liu, who was also spinning, but at a much faster speed.

Fei Rulan praised from the bottom of her heart: "Madam Xu is really virtuous, she spins so well, and I'm afraid she can take care of the family affairs properly."

Mrs. Liu hurriedly said: "My mother has a body of ten thousand gold, and she spins cotton yarn by herself, which is the real virtuous and virtuous."

Asking for some weaving skills, Fei Rulan asked again: "Where did you buy Mrs. Xu's makeup? It smells quite quiet and elegant."

Mrs. Liu replied: "Lanxiu Pavilion, it's a time-honored brand."

"Next time I'll ask someone to buy some." Fei Rulan said with a smile.

One of the duties of being a queen is to summon the minister's wife and appease the female relatives in the minister's family.

Although Mrs. Liu has met the Queen several times, she feels uneasy every time she meets her.She was originally the wife of a scholar in the countryside, and her husband was fond of prostitution and gambling, and even if the funds for prostitution were not enough, he was detained and told her to bring money to a brothel to redeem him.

At that time, I felt that the sky was dark and life was completely hopeless.

Unexpectedly, her husband was suddenly beaten to death by gangsters, and she was picked up by her husband's friend to take care of her.At the beginning, I didn't think too much, after all, I was just a widow, and she was older than Xu Ying.Xu Ying was handsome, full of talent, and knew how to make money in business.

She can only secretly fall in love, even if it's just a crush, she often blames herself for not being a woman, thinking that a widow should not have such thoughts.

But that kind of emotion is really hard to suppress. The more Xu Ying abides by etiquette and takes good care of him, the more intense her secret love becomes.Her mind was full of Xu Ying's image all day long, and when Xu Ying came back a little late after going out, she was worried about what would happen to her, and even had a dream one day that she was doing embarrassing things with Xu Ying.

Lonely men and widows, dry sticks and blazing fire, after all, they have surpassed the code of ethics.

Liu felt that she was very happy. Although she did not hold a wedding, she only reported her marriage to the government, received the marriage certificate and registered as a family.But the little days were ordinary, and the love between the husband and wife was extraordinary, and it was countless times better than before.

Until Zhao Tianwang occupied the whole Jiangxi Province, Xu Ying suddenly said: "I am from Zhao Zongzhen, and I am going to Yangzhou for business. I may be able to go home once a year. Mrs. Lao will take care of the house and take good care of the two children."

Mrs. Liu didn't think much about it at the time, after all, there were many people who took refuge in Zhao Tianwang, thinking that her husband was just one of them.

But Zhao Tianwang became the emperor in Nanjing, and Xu Ying also brought the whole family over.It turned out that her husband's identity was false, and her parents and brothers were also present. That was the first time she met her in-laws.

Even so, Liu has not figured out the situation, because her husband is too low-key, and his presence in the Nanjing court is very low.

Until the queen invites her to dinner, she is amiable to make daily routines with her!

Mrs. Liu was greatly shocked that time, and she didn't recover for several days.Gradually, she got acquainted with the wives of other ministers, and occasionally went out to hang out together.

The most interesting one is Zhang Tieniu's wife, a remarried widow with a strong body.

I heard that Huangjia Town has just been conquered, and His Majesty assigned wives to the soldiers.General Zhang didn't have much pursuit at the time, he just wanted to live a life that would give birth, and he fell in love with the current wife at a glance-because the butt is so good to give birth.

Sure enough, it was easy to give birth, and gave birth to four children in one breath.

Now they quarrel when they meet each other. Zhang Tieniu thinks his wife is not good-looking, has no education, and has a domineering personality.Now that the troops are stationed in the north, Zhang Tieniu does not take his wife home, but only lets her take care of the children at home.

Some time ago, his wife cried in front of the queen.It is said that the husband is so prosperous and dislikes the wife who is a mess. After going to the north, he only wrote a letter and returned home half a year. He must have raised a young child outside.

Every time we met to go shopping, it was Zhang Tieniu's wife who was in charge of bargaining, and his face was flushed because of dozens of pennies.

At first, Mrs. Liu felt ashamed, but she gradually got used to it. As long as this woman was present, everyone always laughed happily.

……

Mrs. Liu was spinning yarn with the queen in the house, but her husband was sitting in the courtyard, chatting with the emperor about official business.

Xu Ying ate the pastries brought by Pan Qimei and said: "Cao Fengji established a business in Nanjing, [-]% of the employees are from Taigu, Shanxi, and the rest are recruited locally in Nanjing. At the beginning, let's investigate those Shanxi employees. Many spies were sent to get in touch, but they found nothing, they really thought they were coming to the south to do business."

Zhao Han asked, "Is Xi Zuo a local?"

Xu Ying said: "It's half a local. This guy's ancestral home is in Nanjing, and he has been doing business with his boss in Yangzhou all year round. His boss was killed during the Zaohu uprising. He heard that Nanjing was governed by His Majesty to be stable and prosperous, so he fled back to register. After settling down, I found an errand job for a firm."

"How was he found out?" Zhao Han asked.

Xu Ying said: "Cao Fengji's business partners have checked all of them, as long as they live in the south, including their family members. The youngest son of this guy is only four years old. He went missing for two days at the beginning of the year and reported it to the government. Later, He also said that the child was found. Because he was threatened, he was afraid that something would happen to his family.”

Zhao Han said contemptuously: "Threatening directly with family members is too crude for the puppet's subtlety."

"It's rough, but it's useful, and it's not just to find someone to threaten," Xu Ying said, "I let the woman get in touch with this guy's mother, give some small favors, and talk about everything in a few days. This guy's mother, He also boasted that he had Korean ginseng at home, which was a gift from his son’s boss when he was in business. It was not Korean ginseng, but a Liao ginseng, which may have been stolen.”

Zhao Han came to a sudden: "This person has been to Liaodong before, and worked as a secret agent for the puppet Qing Dynasty."

Xu Ying said: "The minister also sent people to investigate merchants in Yangzhou, Huai'an, Xuzhou and other places, especially those who had done business in Liaodong. Unexpectedly, they really got something. Merchants spread all over the four provinces of Southern Zhili, Northern Zhili, Shandong, and Shanxi in the Ming Dynasty. Among them, Shandong and Shanxi have the most merchants."

"How did the Tartars bribe merchants?" Zhao Han asked.

Xu Ying explained: "When Tartar chieftain Nurhachi captured Liaoyang, he captured a large number of merchants. These merchants thought they would be killed, but not only did they not die, but their property was not lost. But there is one condition, that is, to pass on to the Tartars According to the news, as long as you collude with the Tartars, you can continue to do business in Liaodong in the future. At that time, they all agreed, some really colluded with the Tartars, and a few will not go to Liaodong after returning home.”

Zhao Han nodded: "Continue."

Xu Ying said: "Shanxi merchants mainly trade goods with the Tartars in Datong and Zhangjiakou, and they also take the opportunity to pass on information. Especially the Shanxi merchants in Zhangjiakou were all developed by Huang Taiji later. As for Shandong merchants, they trade grain with the Tartars. The minister also asked a lot of inside information. When Yuan Chonghuan sold rice to the Mongols, one was to exchange for war horses, and the other was to win over the vacillating Mongolian tribes. Huang Taiji was furious and severely criticized the Mongols. The Manchus surrendered the Mongolian tribes , There are three main methods: one is war, the other is marriage, and the third is food."

Zhao Han's eyes suddenly brightened: "The puppet Qing Dynasty used food to control the Mongolian tribe?"

Xu Ying said: "Yes, the Mongolian grassland has been suffering from severe drought year after year. They plundered south and could not beat the Ming border army, and they could not get much food, so they used war horses to trade with the puppet Qing Dynasty. Yuan Chonghuan also wanted to use food to win over Mongolia, which played a role. effect, but was stopped by Huang Taiji."

"Liaodong doesn't have enough food for itself, where can we find food to sell to the Mongolian tribe?" Zhao Han was a little puzzled.

Xu Ying said: "Enter the customs to plunder, or buy grain from Ming merchants. If there is not enough food, they force North Korea to sell it. North Korea's grain was originally sold to Dongjiang Town. After Huang Taiji interfered, North Korea no longer gave it to Dongjiang Town. Selling grain, selling all the grain in North Korea to the Puppet Qing Dynasty. At that time, they were all doing business with the Puppet Qing Dynasty. Yuan Chonghuan was like this, Mao Wenlong was like this, and Lu... General Lu (Lu Xiangsheng) was like this. It is not that they are all collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country, but wanting In exchange for a lot of military supplies. General Lu traded with the puppet Qing Dynasty and Mongolia in exchange for war horses."

Zhao Han was silent.

Can this blame the governors and generals on the front line?

Obviously something went wrong with the imperial court. The Ming court was unable to provide the urgently needed military supplies, and had to rely on generals to take risks and trade with the enemy in private to obtain them.

Xu Ying continued: "Now North Korea is intimidated by our army and no longer sells grain to the Puppet Qing. Dorgon could not buy food, so he sent troops to North Korea to plunder twice in a row, which led to the complete break between the Puppet Qing and North Korea. The Puppet Qing You can’t buy grain from North Korea, you can’t enter the customs to plunder, and you can’t buy grain from Datong and Zhangjiakou, because Li Zicheng is also in charge of grain and grass. Therefore, I judged that the Mongolian tribe who surrendered to the puppet Qing Dynasty must be short of food in the past two years, so It was only last year that I took the risk of looting Li Zicheng's territory."

"Those Mongolian tribes seem to have separated from the puppet Qing Dynasty." Zhao Han said happily.

Xu Ying said: "This year the summer grain harvest will be harvested, and some immigrants will migrate northward to Zhili. When the autumn grain harvest is harvested, large-scale immigration will be possible. At that time, troops will be sent to occupy Jizhou, contact some Mongolian tribes in the north, and use food to incite them to rebel at critical times!"

The prefectures and counties near Jizhou, because they are close to the Shanhaiguan Pass, were also the first target of the Manchu Qing crossing the Great Wall to plunder, so the common people had been looted or fled long ago.Before Chongzhen died, there were mostly soldiers and military families, and there were not many real ordinary people left.

Now the population is even rarer, so neither Zhao Han nor Li Zicheng will occupy Jizhou, lest they become targets of looting by the Tartars.

Now it seems that this autumn can go to occupy, and then go north out of the Great Wall to contact the Mongols.

These Mongolians are mothers if they have milk, and it is easy to drag them to beat the Qing Dynasty.As long as the food is traded to them, as long as the Manchu Qing continues to show signs of decline, the Mongolian tribes will rebel sooner or later.

Xu Ying continued: "After the Puppet Qing Dynasty returned to Liaodong, the plague raged in Shandong. Merchants in Shandong, Jiangsu, and Anhui have already cut off contact with the Puppet Qing Dynasty. But according to my estimate, there should be a few more, such as selling a large number of Liao ginseng merchants. The secret work in Nanjing is more or less related to these merchants, I am afraid that there are more than one or two secret works!"

Zhao Han's face was gloomy: "Check slowly, don't rush, don't let any one go."

Chapter 476 [Garbage Spy]

Cao Fengji didn't make any big moves until the wheat was harvested in various places, and he didn't even contact Tian Guifei and the prince and daughter directly.

Moreover, it really started to do business, selling wool textiles shipped from the north.

Authentic Northwest products are quite popular in Jiangnan.

Shaanxi and Gansu are the centers of the woolen textile industry, and both belong to Li Zicheng's territory now. It seems that Li Zicheng is also encouraging commercial development, otherwise the goods from Shaanxi and Gansu could not be easily transported to Nanjing.

There are four main types of Shaanxi-Gansu wool textiles: seal, brown, felt, and silk.

If you keep your mouth shut, the hair seal is like a woolen rope.

As for Mao Brown and Mao Xi, both belong to sweaters.The former is rough in workmanship and only worn by the lower class; the latter can be understood as a wool coat, which is slightly more upscale.

In addition, Shanxi belongs to the northern silk weaving center: South Songjiang, North Lu'an, Yitianxia.

The "Lu'an" in this sentence refers specifically to the area around Changzhi, Shanxi, where the raw materials for textile silk come from Langzhong, Sichuan.

Li Zicheng has had a hard time this year, and he can't take it anymore if he wants to rule normally.The refugees in some prefectures and counties were resettled and reclaimed last winter. It is good to have enough food. If they want to pay officials, they have to rely on commercial taxes.

Wool textiles from Shaanxi and Gansu, silk cloth from Lu'an, and salt taxes from the salt ponds in Shanxi and Shaanxi, Li Zicheng relied on these to maintain his rule.

Zhao Han had a bit of a bad taste, so he brought Cao Fengji in for questioning.

Cao Fengji was terrified when he saw the official, and felt that he hadn't exposed anything, so he bit the bullet and was taken away.Unexpectedly, he was taken to see the emperor, and he immediately became excited. It was not only convenient for espionage activities, but also convenient for doing business in Nanjing in the future.

In Cao Fengji's vision, it would be best to wipe out the Manchus within three to five years, and it would be best for his family to be safe, but it would be helpless to die in the chaos.

However, he can no longer be controlled from now on, marry a wife and have children to start a business in Nanjing, and live a peaceful and prosperous life.

"Caomin greets His Majesty!"

Cao Fengji peeked at the emperor's eyes, knelt down and kowtow respectfully.

Zhao Han smiled and said, "Get up, give me your seat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Cao Fengji kowtowed again to thank you.

Zhao Han asked the female officer to bring wool textiles: "Are these your goods?"

Cao Fengji was apprehensive again, and answered cautiously: "Exactly. There are more wool cloth in the northwest, and more cotton cloth in the south of the Yangtze River. Caomin sold the wool cloth to the south, and sold the cotton cloth to the northwest, and made some meager profits from it."

Zhao Han pointed to Mao Brown and said, "This kind of sweater is too rough to touch the neck, and it will be rubbed with red marks in a quarter of an hour."

Cao Fengji said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, although the clothes worn by the brown-haired poor are rough and heavy, they are very warm in winter."

Zhao Han pointed to Mao Xi again and said, "This kind of sweater is okay."

Cao Fengji took the opportunity to say: "If Your Majesty likes it, the Caomin will let people select wool materials and make a gorgeous and warm wool cloak for His Majesty."

"I don't take advantage of merchants," Zhao Han said, "You sell more of this kind of woolen cloth. I plan to design a windbreaker myself and give it to civil servants and generals as a protection against the cold."

What is a windbreaker?

Although Cao Fengji couldn't understand, he still said excitedly: "The grass people must live up to their trust!"

Zhao Han played with the wool again and said, "Can the wool rope be spun thinner? Use selected wool and weave it into yarn. The thinner the better."

Cao Fengji still didn't understand, so he nodded and replied, "If it can be detailed, it must be."

Zhao Han ordered: "It's so thin that it's only two or three cents of the woolen rope. If you can spin such thin woolen yarn, I'll let the government buy as much as you can bring."

"I'll send my men back to the north immediately!" Cao Fengji was overjoyed, he felt that he was about to get rich.

Zhao Han didn't care about this. It was a spy. Apart from engaging in countermeasures and arresting other secret operators, he could also use this person to develop the northern wool textile industry.Let him send someone to deliver the news to stimulate the development of wool textiles in advance. In the future, the unification of the north will be able to pick the fruits, and it can also win over Mongolian herdsmen through wool textiles.

In the Ming Dynasty, the wool textile industry in Northwest China made great progress, but due to the quality of wool, it was basically difficult to be elegant, and cashmere was still accepted by the rich.

However, cashmere production is too low, and goats are rarely raised in the northwest and grasslands!

Zhao Han decided to vigorously guide and promote it. The worst ones were made into felt, the better ones were made into carpets, the better ones were made into brown cloth, and the better ones were made into windbreakers and woolen yarn.

Although Zhao Han doesn't know how to knit sweaters, he has already made wool. What is the difficulty in knitting sweaters?

This is not a trivial matter, and it has a lot to do with politics.

As long as the wool textile industry can flourish, the economy of the Northwest can be developed, the Northwest can be more stable, and many grassland herdsmen can be bound.

Zhao Han had to do it himself, otherwise the windbreaker would be difficult to promote.

And if the emperor wears a windbreaker and makes several appearances in public, it is guaranteed that dignitaries will follow suit!The queen wore a knitted sweater, met with the wives of officials several times, and personally taught those officials and wives to knit sweaters, and it would be popular in Nanjing within a year or two at most.

Then, it gradually spread across the country.

Zhu Yuanzhang has done many such things. He set an example and changed the tea-tasting habit in China for hundreds of years by himself.Stop the establishment of royal tea gardens, prohibit group tea from paying tribute, change tribute to cheap loose tea, and change brewed tea to brewed tea.As a result, China's tea industry flourished, and tea went from the rich to the common people.

Cao Fengji bid farewell to the emperor and returned to the street, feeling like a dream.

His meticulous work in the Qing Dynasty was appreciated by the emperor, and he personally placed an order for him, saying that he could eat as many goods as he brought.

Royal merchant!

Cao Fengji suddenly had the urge to go back and surrender, and become a real imperial merchant ever since.But he was afraid that the emperor would be furious and snap his head off, and he was also afraid that Man Qing's ghost would linger and kill him quietly in the middle of the night.

Damn those Tartars, they have delayed their own future!

Seeing a great opportunity but not being able to seize it, Cao Fengji hated Man Qing deeply.As for the family members who stayed in Liaodong, he deliberately ignored them. Anyway, he was still very young, and he would definitely have another son and a half daughter.

Cao Fengji went home in a sedan chair, thinking of ways all the way.

He wants to find out all the secret works hidden in Nanjing, and then surrender himself to the emperor to arrest people.In this way, he can not only make himself safer, but also make great contributions to the Nanjing court.

It is not easy to operate. Although he is a master, he only knows two other masters.One is his clerk, and the other is a Shanxi merchant in Yangzhou, who usually sends the clerk to Yangzhou to spread the news.

Alas, take your time, don't be in a hurry.

This is not a spy during World War II. It is so far away from Liaodong, and even the delivery of important news is based on the month as the unit of measurement, let alone more complicated operations.

Back at the residence, Cao Fengji recorded that the Emperor Datong wanted to buy those supplies.

This information will definitely be sent out, including the price of food in Nanjing, as well as the transfer of various large-scale materials.In addition, knowledge and public opinion must also be passed on, ranging from academic trends in Nanjing to trivial family affairs of important ministers in Nanjing-you can learn about it from scholars through the Wenhui.

Very rough espionage technology, only know how to keep a running account, not know how to summarize and refine, and the intelligence system is also extremely simple.