It was nearly July, and most of Shaanxi had a year of locust drought. However, today is not as good as before. Because the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce has been purchasing locusts since last year, so any county town with Shuofang Chamber of Commerce has been catching locusts since April, since April, there have been continuous arrests and locusts for sale. There are farmers, gangsters, and locust catch teams organized by powerful households.

Therefore, many places in Shaanxi are still suffering from locust plagues, but the situation has been mostly better than in previous years. The Duck Army of Shenmufugu County is also fat and greedy. Many diners who tasted the roast duck last year are eager to see it, waiting for the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce to start selling this Duck that can strengthen aphrodisiac and nourish yin.

After a lot of money, the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce spent a lot of money to buy locusts. In the end, it only relied on selling locusts and ducks, but it also had a lot of surplus.

In the main account of Shuofang Chamber of Commerce in Shenmu County, Li Laogen called the plan. By now, Shuofang Chamber of Commerce has become a giant, especially after Fan Xiu'an incorporated it with Suide Chamber of Commerce, it was the largest chamber of commerce on the ground in Shaanxi.

In the past year, the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce has followed the Shuofang Army to receive the wealth and assets of many powerful households, and its industries are almost all over Shaanxi. There are many people who are secretly coveting and jealous of them.

The summer grain was about to be collected, and several major shopkeepers of the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce gathered together. Finally, they handed over the account books they were responsible for and then handed over to Fan Xiu'an. Fan Xiu'an did not make any excuses in front of Li Laogen and others. Everyone was the first to follow the Great Protector. Among the various factions under the Great Protector, they should work together to avoid being careless.

After reading the account book, Fan Xiu'an put it in the box and then said to Li Laogen and the others, "Now, the 35th Battalion Fortress under Yansui Town has replenished thousands of soldiers and horses. I met the Dadu Protector a few days ago. The Dadu Protector said that it would take much more than the remaining money on the books this year to purchase grain. I sent people to Huguang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to inquire. This year, their weather is still good, and the food price will not be very high."

"The grain purchase cannot be delayed. All your warehouses must draw some capable guys to go south to buy grain, and then go with the people from the escort agency."

Nowadays, there was no such thing as an escort agency. Big merchants who could do business through the state and the government had private military guards. It is said that foreign businessmen outside the pass were dangerous. In fact, if merchants in the mainland of the Ming Dynasty passed through the province, the risks on this road were no less than that of the pass.

Gao Jin supported the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce. First, the Chamber of Commerce operated its business and his money bag. Second, the Chamber of Commerce expanded, which was equivalent to expanding its power to various places. In the warehouses of Shuofang Chamber of Commerce, there were Jinyiwei, a Jinyiwei, a subsidiary of Shen Lian, developed a spy network in the local area.

Now that the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce has become a general trend in Shaanxi, Gao Jin will naturally not let the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce have separate force, and the Shuofang army cannot protect the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce on the surface, so Gao Jin opened a Shunfeng Escort Agency, which is specifically responsible for helping the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce with escorts and guards.

The reason why Fan Xiu'an's purchase of summer grain this time was that he was instructed by Gao Jin to go to Huguang, Zhejiang and other places to purchase grain in a large scale, and then asked the new army of the 35th Battalion Fort under Yansui Town to escort the caravans to purchase grain in the name of the escort bureau, and wipe out bandits along the way to train.

"Shi Fan, we are with the people from the escort agency, who is the main thing on this road?"

Those who can be in this room are all core figures of the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce. Everyone knows that the Protector is determined to be the world, and they also know that the Shunfeng Escort Agency is just to cover up the Shuofang army.

"Our people only care about purchasing grain, and don't need to worry too much about the rest."

Fan Xiu'an knew that although everyone was a foreign businessman and businessman with blood on his hands, they did not like to use force. After all, merchants were concerned about harmony and wealth. There were many bandits in the mainland of the Ming Dynasty, especially in Huguang. Even if all the thieves were killed this year and they would leave next time, they didn't know where the thieves would emerge.

Li Laogen and the others didn't say anything. Now they understood the meaning of the Protector. This purchase of grain is not a cover, but training is also important. After all, even if the Mongolian tribes surrender on the grassland, they would be disrespectful. It was not the Shuofang Army that was close to the Protector, so most of the Protectors were fighting for the first time to deal with the credit.

"I remember to tell those guys that if you do this trip, you will have the opportunity to be a shopkeeper in the future."

After Fan Xiu'an said this, he left with the stack of accounts. Although the majority of the Protectors delegated power to the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce and allowed them to do it, this did not mean that they could do it arbitrarily. Fan Xiu'an knew in his heart that the Jinyiwei arranged by Chen Lian in the major warehouses of the Chamber of Commerce may not be just external, let alone who knows whether Chen Lian has arranged any hidden lines.

Not long after, Fan Xiu'an arrived at Gao's mansion. Gao Jin was in Shenmu County these days. After the summer grain was collected, he would bring troops to inspect the troops on the grassland, and at the same time he would hunt and perform martial arts. In addition, he would arrange for his generals to change defenses.

In the study, Gao Jin spent some time, carefully reading the account book, and said to Fan Xiu'an, "Thank you for the hard work in the past two years, Brother Fan."

Fan Xiu'an undoubtedly spent a lot of effort on the growth of the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce. He even threw the entire Fan family industry into it. From the perspective of businessmen's profit, Fan Xiu'an was doing a loss-making business.

"The great patriarch is so serious. This is what the subordinates should do, and it is not hard to say."

Fan Xiu'an said with a smile that there are no Confucian officials under the command of the Great Protector. The officials and civil servants of the former Qin Wangfu in Shuofang were just doing some work as swordsmen. They did not have the trust of the Great Protector. In the future, he would still have the opportunity to gain the top five positions among the New Dynasties' civil servants.

"We will do it every year in the future. In the past two years, the escort agency will focus on training troops. When the trade routes stabilize, the chamber of commerce will focus on the chamber of commerce. At that time, you have to spend more time selecting talents from the chamber of commerce. Remember to be better than insignificant. When the chamber of commerce and escort agencies expand outward, the focus will be from near to far, with Shanxi as the first priority, followed by Ningxia, Gansu."

Gao Jin put down his account book. The army was the most expensive. He could support nearly 60,000 troops at present. It was because he accepted the forces of the Du family and Luotuo City that he could suppress all the local tyrants in Shaanxi. Moreover, Wei Zhongxian and the prince were helping the aid of the aid in the capital. Even the eunuchs in Shaanxi dared not compete with him for the interests of monopoly coal management.

However, such a large-scale expansion of strength has reached a bottleneck. The 60,000 war soldiers alone swallowed up as much as one million taels of silver every year. This has not counted the loss of food and grass for weapons and armor and horses. It is also a blessing that the power of the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce has expanded accordingly. In addition, he monopolized trade with Mongolian tribes and coal management in Shaanxi, so he could support such military consumption, and at the same time, he could still have a surplus on the books.

Now the Ming Dynasty is still bleeding in Liaodong. Gao Jin doesn't know how long the rabbit skin he is wearing can cover it, but for at most ten years, he will definitely be in a campaign to attack the Ming Dynasty, because by then, the group of forces under his command, named Shuofang, which had already formed under his command, would be eager to replace the Ming Dynasty and push him to the supreme position.

"Yes, Protector."

Fan Xiu'an was overjoyed after hearing this, and his eyes showed ambition. He had been to the south. Although it was the richest place in the entire Ming Dynasty, it was also a place where military preparations were abolished and the people were weak. As for Shandong, Hebei and other places in the heart of the Central Plains, it had long been ruined by the vassal kings. As long as the majority of the Protectors controlled Shan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia, they had 100,000 elite soldiers in their hands, it was enough to sweep the world.

"You can take this account book and check it out, remember not to spread it."

Gao Jin looked at Fan Xiu'an, and found the account book from his desk and threw it to Fan Xiu'an. The one he felt most at ease in the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce was Fan Xiu'an and Li Laogen. However, due to his vision, Li Laogen's status is now at its limit. However, Fan Xiu'an has always been entrusted with important responsibilities by him and has high hopes.

However, Fan Xiu'an was limited in his energy and could not do everything in full. For example, he did not notice the big rats hidden in the dark in the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce in time.

Looking through the account book, Fan Xiu'an quickly turned heavy, then sweated on his forehead, and then he wanted to apologize to Gao Jin, "Major Protector, I..."

"Brother Fan, I asked you to read this account book to know that I have consistently trusted you with Brother Fan."

Gao Jin held Fan Xiu'an and did not let him kneel down, but signaled him to continue sitting and said, "The Shuofang Chamber of Commerce is now in a complicated way, so you can't cover everything. It is normal for the Chamber of Commerce to produce some bold people."

Seeing Gao Jin's expression on his face was not as fake, Fan Xiu'an felt relieved. It was because the actual income and expenditure of the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce verified in the account book had a difference of nearly 80,000 taels.

"Brother Fan, I decided to set up an audit department alone to secretly investigate and calculate all accounts and transactions of Shuofang Chamber of Commerce, but this audit department is only responsible to you and me."

"Thank you, Protector."

Fan Xiu'an thanked in a deep voice. The Audit Office's Major Protector could be in his hands and didn't have to know himself. Faced with such trust, Fan Xiu'an naturally felt grateful. When he got the list from the end of the account book, his face was full of cruelty.

"You can do these people, but let them know that my Shuofang's money is not that easy to get!"

Gao Jin looked at Fan Xiu'an. The power of the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce has developed too fast in the past two years, and it is inevitable that it will be mixed with fish and dragons, and it is also just taking this opportunity to rectify the matter. He handed it over to Fan Xiu'an to deal with it, but he didn't want everyone in the Chamber of Commerce to be in danger. Fan Xiu'an's actions are all self-inspection within the Chamber of Commerce, which is different from asking Shen Lian to take people.

Fan Xiu'an took the account book and the list and left with murderous intent. He has always been a cruel person. Those on the list must die. He will never allow something wrong in the Shuofang Chamber of Commerce to drag down the great cause of the Great Protector.

"Major Protector, is it inappropriate for the Audit Department to inform Mr. Fan in this way?"

After Fan Xiu'an left, Gao entered the back of the screen in the study. Shen Lian walked out and hesitated and said, although this audit department was not established by him, when the audit department checked the accounts, his Jinyiwei made a lot of efforts.

"Shi Fan and I have known each other for many years, and I can trust him."

Gao Jin patted Shen Lian on the shoulder and said, "Is there any news in the capital?"

"There is something unusual in the palace in the capital, and the prince's reign has recently been there."

"What kind of abnormal movement?"

"It's not clear yet. The prince has not been summoned by the emperor for nearly half a month."

Shen Lian talked about the news that Shan Ying passed on from the capital, and his face was a little solemn. Everyone knew that the current Emperor Wanli did not like the Great Protector, and even was a little afraid. There was something strange in the palace now, so it was hard to say what would happen.

"Immediately send someone to the capital to tell Shan Ying, letting him think about it and persuade the prince to transfer me to the capital on the grounds that the Liaodong incident is urgent."
Chapter completed!