Taiheiki

Chapter 80 Business
"One hundred thousand dollars?"

"so much?"

Hearing that Ge had so readily agreed to a one-fifth share, the others were stunned. While human trafficking was a well-known and profitable business in the military market, it wasn't something he'd be willing to give away so much all at once. Could it be that he was coveting the market town Huang Ping mentioned later and wanted to get ahead of the game?

"Brother Ge is really generous. I can't compete with him, so I'll just offer 80,000 coins!" The businessman named Yun who was engaged in the flesh trade laughed, then he raised his head and looked around at everyone, with a look of pride in his eyes.

"Damn, this madam has a really sharp nose. She's on the hook as soon as she smells meat!" The junk collector nearby cursed inwardly, but laughed, "Brother Yun, why are you doing this? We all know your business isn't easy. You've worked so hard to save up some money, and now you're giving out so much all at once. How can you handle it? How about this? Just give me 30,000, and I'll make up the difference of 50,000! I'll give you 80,000!"

"You—" The businessman surnamed Yun couldn't help but hear that the other party was mocking him. He immediately became furious: "Mr. Wang, you are just a junk collector, and you dare to look down on me?"

"How dare I look down on you, Brother Yun!" the second-hand goods merchant said with a smile, "After all, the ancestor of your business is Guan Yiwu, a wise minister of a country, very powerful!"

Everyone burst into laughter when they heard the secondhand goods merchant's words. It turned out that during the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huan of Qi, a virtuous minister, had once opened a state-run brothel and levied a pollen tax to fund state expenditures. This marked the beginning of the later practice of paying pollen fees at the Jiaofang (Chinese Musical House). Therefore, the prostitution industry considered Guan Zhong its ancestor.

"Wang Ce, I'm going to fight you!" The businessman named Yun was so angry that his eyes turned red. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to fight with the other party, but was stopped by the businessman named Ge.

"We're all here to make money, not to get angry. Not to mention we're all from the same hometown. When we're in a foreign land, we should stick together. Why fight over a few words? There will be plenty of opportunities to make money in the future!" The businessman surnamed Ge glanced at the secondhand goods merchant and said, "Wang Ce, you just spoke inappropriately. Apologize to Brother Yun!"

The slave trader surnamed Ge held the highest prestige among the group, and the junk merchants dared not disobey, so they had no choice but to apologize to the Yun merchant. The Ge merchant coughed and said, "How about this? I mentioned the 100,000 coins because I was worried that some of us wouldn't have enough and might miss out on the captain's important mission. Since everyone has enough money, I'll give a little less, 50,000 coins, and we can split the rest. How about that?"

Everyone looked at each other, feeling that although this was not particularly satisfactory, it was acceptable. At this moment, a burst of shouting and killing was heard in the distance, attracting everyone's attention again.

"What's going on? Isn't the fight almost over?"

"Hurry up and take a look. Could it be that there are more thieves coming?"

"Yes, thanks to my ancestors, I'm lucky the money hasn't been paid yet, otherwise I would have lost everything!"

The merchants, terrified, climbed to the heights and scaled the nearby mound. They were surprised to find that the battle was essentially over. The rebel leader and his guards, who had been fighting desperately just moments before, were now dead. A cavalryman held his head on a spear, parading it before the victors. The government troops were pulling exhausted prisoners from the bushes and swamps, stringing them together with ropes, and herding them together. There was no sign of a resurgence in the fighting. Only then did someone realize the shouts and cries of killing were coming from another direction.

"Gongda, Gongda?" The leading merchant, surnamed Ge, saw Huang Ping talking to a few soldiers and hurried over. "What's going on? Where's the fighting going on?"

"They must have encountered reinforcements!" Huang Ping laughed. "The captain had set up ambushes with archers on both sides of the western road to guard against possible reinforcements. He just saw that victory was already secured here, so he rushed over!"

"The thieves have reinforcements?" The businessman surnamed Ge was shocked.

"Yes! Don't you see the mountain over there?" Huang Ping pointed to the west. "Baqiu City is on the mountain. This place by the lake is just a market town. Most of the bandits are besieging Baqiu City. The captain will attack the market town first. If the other bandits discover this, they will of course send troops to help!"

"So, is that a win or a loss?" The businessman surnamed Ge's face suddenly turned pale. "What if we lose?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said? The captain has set an ambush! An ambush?" Huang Ping laughed proudly. "You've hunted before, haven't you? Wild boars, leopards, bears, tigers, rhinos, no matter how powerful the beast is, once it falls into the hunter's ambush, there is only one way out: death. Since the captain has set an ambush, it doesn't matter if the enemy's reinforcements don't come. If they do, we will lose!"

"Yes, yes!" The merchant, surnamed Ge, gave a forced smile, skeptical of Huang Ping's words. But just two quarters of an hour later, the messenger confirmed Huang Ping's accuracy. The government troops had won a resounding victory. The leader of the bandit reinforcements was killed by the first volley of crossbow arrows fired from the thicket lining the road. Like most ancient armies without a commander, the bandits immediately fell into chaos. Like headless flies, the men fled for whatever they felt was safe, quickly exhausting their strength. Then, at the command of the Fifth Deng, the horn was blown, and government soldiers emerged from the brush, cutting the enemy into pieces. After a brief hand-to-hand fight, the survivors dropped their weapons, knelt on their knees, and begged for mercy.

----------------------

"Three hundred, at least three hundred captives!" Beside the fire, the merchant surnamed Ge's face flushed red, whether from the alcohol or the excitement. "It's a long line of them, all strong young men. I looked carefully, and many of them had nothing but scratches from branches. They surrendered just like that. And I heard that the government troops who set up the ambush only had two hundred people, but they captured three hundred alive. That Captain Wei is really capable!"

"This is called the Art of War! The Art of War! Do you understand?" The merchant surnamed Yun said proudly, "Do you know? Captain Wei is from Yecheng, Hebei. His ancestor was Wei Shang, a famous general during the reign of Emperor Wen. This is the Art of War passed down from generation to generation in our family! He was able to kill Zhang Bolu back then, so dealing with these barbarians shouldn't be a piece of cake!"

"Wei Shang, the famous general during the reign of Emperor Wen? I only know that Captain Wei was from Yecheng, Hebei, but I don't know this. Where did you hear that?" someone asked doubtfully.

"Of course it has a history!" The merchant surnamed Yun showed a look of disdain on his face. "How else could this military strategy have fallen from the sky? This military strategy, like the Book of Documents, the Spring and Autumn Annals, and the Book of Changes, is a family-inherited knowledge. Unless you're a family child or a disciple, who would be willing to teach you for free? You've probably heard the saying that leaving a child a basket full of gold is not as good as a single classic, right?"

A look of sudden enlightenment crossed everyone's faces. These merchants had seen the world. Where Wei Xiaowei's military strategy came from was unknown, but at that time, the classics were passed down from generation to generation. Those who mastered a single classic rose to high office, rising to prominence and becoming officials, often reaching the rank of 2,000 shi (two thousand stone). They had witnessed countless instances of young men flocking to their homes, paying tuition and accompanied by servants, to study, often forming large market towns. In the Eastern Han, knowledge was closely tied to family. While the educated could be poor (even children from large families fell on hard times), there were no lowly people. The reverse was not necessarily true. Merchants like these had wealth ranging from millions to hundreds of thousands of taels, making them wealthy by the standards of the time. However, their social status was modest; it was difficult for their families to raise a county clerk, let alone a palace official or a filial and honest official. The saying, "Leaving your son a basket full of gold is not as good as a single classic" truly captured their hearts. "Alas, we go out to eat and sleep in the open air, and work hard to earn money. Even if we have concubines in our homes wearing fine clothes and horses eating grain, what good is it? We are still not as good as this Su Shi!"

"Yes, by reciting the words of the sages, one can become a noble and thank the emperor. How can this be compared to gold, silver, dogs and horses?"

"Of course. Didn't Old Yun just say that? Leaving your son a basket full of gold is not as good as leaving him one copy of the Scriptures! Mastering the Five Classics will earn you the title of Doctor of the Five Classics, and your descendants will benefit from it for generations to come. Gold only attracts robbers. Have you ever seen a robber steal a copy of the Scriptures?"

"That's right. It's a pity that my two bastards want to sleep as soon as they pick up their books. They are so stupid. Otherwise, I would send them to study under Master Huang even if it cost a lot of money!"

"Nonsense! If Mr. Huang likes you, who here wouldn't want to send their child to him? He's the direct descendant of Shangshu Ouyang! If he could become Mr. Huang's disciple, his ancestral graves would be filled with pride!"

"Actually, there is a way. If your own child isn't able to succeed, you can go look in your own clan to see if there are any children who are gifted but come from poor families. You can give them some money to support their education. If they can achieve something, it will be beneficial!"

"That's right!" Someone slapped his knee. "It's nothing more than buying one less concubine! We don't ask him for anything else, just that he take care of our children when he becomes successful."

"Yes, I'll go and find out when I get back this time!"

While these merchants were carefully planning for the future of their families, Wei Cong was worried about another thing - his fleet had not yet arrived at the dock of the market town, and all the supplies for his small expeditionary force were on it. If those were lost, the two victories won today would be completely worth the loss.

"What's up with that guy Yang Zheng?" Wei Cong paced back and forth in the room anxiously: "Whether it's good or bad, there must be some news!"

"My dear! We've already sent out four or five small boats to search. They're all locals, so don't worry!" Zhao Yannian whispered, "You're the commander of an army, and your life depends on it. Please have some food first, and don't let your health get hurt!"

"Forget it!" Wei Cong waved his hand and returned to sit at the table. Zhao Yannian saw this and waved outside. A moment later, a servant brought in a bowl of soup noodles. Wei Cong took two bites and asked, "How are the soldiers? Do they have food? Are the injured being taken care of?"

"Don't worry, my lord!" Zhao Yannian said with a smile. "We found over 2,000 dan of millet and 500 to 600 head of livestock in the enemy's camp, enough to last the army a month. Several wealthy families in the market town also sent us cattle, wine, and rations. Furthermore, the merchants accompanying the army should also have a good supply of rations."

"Well, that's good!" Hearing that they didn't have to worry about military rations for the time being, Wei Cong's expression softened slightly. "Yannian, you and I will go to patrol the camp later. We are in enemy territory right now, surrounded by enemies. We must not slack off for even a moment!"

"Don't worry, my lord. I understand!"

Wei Cong ate a few bites, changed into his armor, and left the tent with Zhao Yannian. It was already late, and the night wind, mixed with the fresh scent of mountain pine resin, blew towards them. Wei Cong couldn't help but shiver. He pulled his cloak tighter, straightened his back, and walked towards the camp gate. Since most of the tents were still on the boats, the soldiers had to gather around piles of bonfires, warming themselves by the fire while eating. Whenever Wei Cong approached a bonfire, the veterans stood up and saluted the general who had just led them to victory. Wei Cong would wave in greeting, and sometimes he would stop and call out the veterans' names, or even pat them on the shoulder and tell a few jokes. Whenever this happened, the old soldiers' faces would turn red with excitement, and the new recruits next to them would look at him with envy and admiration. When Wei Cong left, the new recruits would rush up and ask about Wei Cong, and the old soldiers would proudly keep the secret and praise Wei Cong to the skies.

As the campfire dwindled, Wei Cong reached the edge of the camp. Due to time constraints, the edge of the camp was no longer bordered by ramparts or trenches, but by swamps. Moonlight cast a silvery white on the swamp, casting the distant hills and woods even darker. Wei Cong turned around and suddenly realized how dim the campfires were against the vast night.

"Yannian, do you think we have too few people?" Wei Cong whispered.

"Ah?" Zhao Yannian showed a puzzled expression. Obviously, he didn't quite understand why his boss suddenly asked this question.

"Look, the darkness outside is endless, and there are countless enemies hidden inside. Compared to that, the fires in our camp are really too few!"

Zhao Yannian thought for a moment and then replied, "My dear, when you brought us to Wancheng, there were only nine of us: you, me, Wang Shou, Wang Ge, Diwudeng, Wen Sheng, Chen Qi, Liu Jiu, and Li He. Now we have eight hundred people here alone!"

"Hahaha!" Wei Cong laughed. "Yes, it's true that we're still weak now, but it won't be like this forever!" He waved his arms, drawing a large circle. "Yannian, one day, I'll have 100,000 infantry and cavalry under your command!"

"That's great!" Zhao Yannian's eyes sparkled. "If that's the case, I'll definitely conquer all of Chu for you!"

Ba Qiu mountain city.

"Maybe we should get him a coffin!" Luo Hong sighed as he looked at the body wrapped in white linen, which was being gradually buried by the broken soil at the bottom of the pit. "Even a thinner pine coffin will do! He was a captain after all. Burying him wrapped in linen after his death is a bit too crude, isn't it?"

"There's not enough wood in the city to make arrow shields. Doors, beds, and tables have all been stripped from people's homes. We can't even take care of the living, so how could there be any extra for the dead?"

(End of this chapter)