Chapter Sixty-Seven: Zhangjiakou

The eunuch hesitated for a moment before saying, “Your Majesty, why not open a branch shop in Shanxi? I have heard that there are many wealthy men there.”

The emperor looked puzzled. “Why are there so many rich men in Shanxi? Do they mine coal there?”

The eunuch replied, “There are said to be some coal mines, but the richest men are not the mine owners. They are the merchants of Shanxi, the ones who trade beyond the passes. I hear they are very wealthy indeed.”

So they were in foreign trade. That explained the money. Still, the emperor thought for a moment and then said, “Investigate whether they have transported prohibited goods when trading with the Mongols. Also, absolutely no trade with the northern invaders. That is the line we do not cross. Look into it and report back to me.”

After leaving, the eunuch at once summoned the vice commander of the Imperial Guard, Xu Xianchun. As soon as Xu Xianchun entered, he dropped to his knees and began kowtowing. The eunuch waved a hand and told him to rise, but Xu Xianchun did not stand until he had finished his nine bows. Only then did he get up and ask cautiously, “Father, what orders do you have for your son?”

The eunuch looked at him with satisfaction. “His Majesty has entrusted me with a matter. I think it would be more suitable for you and Tian Ergeng to handle it. I wanted to ask your opinion first.”

Xu Xianchun immediately knelt again. “Whatever Father orders, your son will carry it out to the letter. Please grant me the chance to serve. There is no need to trouble Brother Tian with this.”

The eunuch gave a thin smile. “Let me say this first: I will not mind if you happen to take a little grease here and there. But the matter must be done properly. No framing the innocent, and no letting the guilty slip away. If I learn that you have done anything behind my back that goes against the emperor’s will, you know my methods. You have seen what Sun Yunhe looks like now.”

At that, Xu Xianchun’s lower body tightened. He kowtowed again and again, repeatedly insisting that he would never dare. Sun Yunhe had also once been a member of the Imperial Guard. Last time the eunuch had sent him to handle a matter, but in the course of the investigation he had indulged in wine, women, and pleasure, and even brazenly extorted local officials to pay for his brothel debts. Though in the end the matter was completed perfectly, when the eunuch learned of it he said, “I do not care what mischief you make after the fact, but before the matter is even done you are already whoring, and making others pay for it. Where, then, do you place the emperor’s command?” And so he was castrated, becoming Eunuch Sun.

“Rise,” the eunuch said. “If you do the emperor’s business well, there will naturally be rich rewards. Take your men to Shanxi and investigate those merchants who trade beyond the passes. See whether they have carried prohibited goods out of the frontier, and whether they have done business with the northern invaders. I want facts. I do not need you to manufacture them. Do you understand?”

Xu Xianchun said, “Father, your son will certainly investigate everything thoroughly. I will wrong no good man and spare no bad one. Please rest assured.”

The eunuch smiled. “You do remember the emperor’s words quite clearly. I hope you will remember them just as clearly when you act. Go on. Take more men, and make sure the matter is handled properly.”

After Xu Xianchun came out, he immediately gathered several trusted subordinates from the Imperial Guard and gave them their instructions. One of his men, the captain Wu Mengming, stepped forward carefully and said, “Sir, the merchants who trade beyond the frontier all go through horse markets. Right now there are horse markets at Dingsheng Fort in Datong, Zhangjiakou Fort in Xuanfu, Xinping Fort in Datong, and Shuichuanying Fort in Shanxi. We will have to investigate them separately.”

Xu Xianchun said, “Then we divide the work. Wan Song, you go to Dingsheng Fort. I will take men to Zhangjiakou Fort. Liu Chunchen, you go to Xinping Fort. Zhang Sili, you go to Shuichuanying Fort. Each of you take thirty men. As for how to investigate, let us hear your ideas first.”

At once, everyone began to offer suggestions. Some said they should simply arrest the merchants and question them. Some said they should disguise themselves as merchants and make a trip beyond the frontier, then they would know whether anyone was carrying prohibited goods. Others suggested bribing the merchants’ servants who traveled beyond the passes.

Xu Xianchun summed up, “Arresting merchants and interrogating them directly will absolutely not do. Unless you first obtain evidence, then you may interrogate them however you like. If we are to disguise ourselves as merchants, first we must find merchant houses in the capital that have actually traveled beyond the passes before, and have them lead the way. Otherwise people will easily notice something strange. As for bribing and tempting the servants, that is worth trying as well. Think first about how each of you will proceed, then prepare accordingly. We must obtain solid evidence. The factory eunuch will not believe confessions extracted by torture alone.”

They all answered together. Xu Xianchun took Wu Mengming and thirty others and went to Zhangjiakou Fort, where the greatest horse market in the empire was held.

Zhangjiakou Fort belonged to the Xuanfu garrison of the capital region, five li from the Great Wall. In the forty-first year of Wanli, a fortress was built on the frontier wall specifically for the horse market, called Laiyuan Fort. Laiyuan Fort was also known as the Upper Fort, while Zhangjiakou Fort was called the Lower Fort, commonly referred to as the fort town. All goods leaving the Xuanfu garrison for beyond the frontier had to be shipped out through Zhangjiakou Fort.

When Xu Xianchun first arrived, the sight before him left him stunned. He had imagined that a place called Zhangjiakou Fort could hardly be very prosperous, but what he saw was a gathering of all manner of merchandise, carts, houses, horses, camels, sheep, cloth, silk, tiles, pottery, and every sort of article one might imagine. Performers of tricks and games, jugglers, coin-spinners, and all such arts were in full display. The streets were packed with people coming and going, and its prosperity was hardly inferior even to Chessboard Street in the capital.

Before entering the fort, the Imperial Guards had already split into three groups and taken lodgings in different inns. Xu Xianchun led a few men to stroll the streets first, hoping to find some clues. In his mind, the best method would be to pose as merchants and make a trip beyond the frontier. That way, they could learn whether the goods they carried were prohibited and whether they were trading with the northern invaders. But he felt that method was too troublesome, so he intended to take another route: bribing the merchants’ servants.

But how was one to bribe the servants? It was not as if he could casually stop some servant on the road and ask, “Would you be willing to work for the Imperial Guard?” That obviously would not do. Yet he and his men were all military households; they had no experience as merchants at all, and were utterly at a loss.

The group wandered about like headless flies, crashing this way and that, without the slightest opening. By noon, they found a tavern and sat down to appease their stomachs first.

The waiter came forward and asked, “What would the guests like to eat? Our shop has...”

Xu Xianchun impatiently waved him off. “Bring out a few of your signature dishes. No wine. Say nothing else.”

As the group was eating with their heads down, they suddenly heard a man at the neighboring table say, “Brother Wang, I looked carefully. It really is fine rosewood. At such a cheap price, once this chance passes, there will be no other.”

Another man was silent for a moment, then said, “I do believe it is rosewood. The Fan family shop would not sell counterfeit goods. It is only that I feel somewhat uneasy.”

The first man said no more. He merely sighed, then lifted his cup. “Come then, drink.”

Wu Mengming, seated beside Xu Xianchun, suddenly brightened and glanced at him, only to see that he was thoroughly absorbed in the delicious food before him. Wu Mengming could not help but let out a soft sigh. This superior of his was good in every way, except that his mind was not especially nimble.