Liu Bei: My younger brother is a deity.

Late October.

The two provinces of You and Bing in the Han Dynasty finally regained some stability.

Meanwhile, Tan Shihuai attacked the Japanese in the east, capturing over a thousand families. He relocated them all to the Qin River, where they were made to fish for food to make up for the food shortage among the Xianbei people.

[PS: This "Wa" refers to the Yemaek people who lived in northern Korea and eastern Northeast China, not the Japanese islands of Wa (Japan). At that time, the Xianbei people did not have the ability to fight across the sea.]

After a major battle, both the Han and Xianbei seemed to be licking their wounds and were temporarily at peace.

Since Liu Bei and Liu Quan were recommended for the positions of "filial piety and incorruptibility" and "outstanding talent," the Liu family of Zhuo County has become increasingly powerful, reaching a level above the powerful and influential, but not quite a noble family.

As long as a family produces one or two thousand bushels of grain, they can immediately rise to the status of a prominent family.

No, in a barren place like Youzhou, a family can become a prominent family with just a thousand bushels of grain.

The Liu family's business also took this opportunity to expand.

Under Liu Quan's mediation, the inexpensive Lousang paper finally left Youzhou and was sold throughout the country.

With the craftsmen's skills maturing and Liu Quan further improving the process, Liu's workshop was able to produce paper for writing at increasingly lower costs.

A convoy traveling from Xuzhou to Zhuoxian is slowly making its way along the road.

Mi An knelt in a carriage. Inside the carriage was a small table with four kinds of paper on it.

Mi Zhu knelt opposite his father, looking down at the four kinds of papers on the table.

Mi An said, "These four types of paper are straw paper, bark paper, Xuan paper, and letter paper."

"Toilet paper is used for toileting."

"The paper is delicate and flexible, and can be used for calligraphy and painting."

"Xuan paper is as white as jade, fine and smooth, and can also be used for calligraphy and painting, but it is more expensive than bark paper."

"Finally, this stationery, tsk tsk!" Mi An clicked his tongue and gently stroked the paper with his hand. "Its surface is as smooth as a membrane, as firm and pure as jade; it can already be called a work of art."

Mi Zhu looked at the paper on the table and said, "This Lousang paper is indeed exquisite, and I've heard it's very inexpensive. I wonder how they make it?"

Mi An shook his head. "Zhu'er, it's fine for us father and son to discuss this privately. But if we go to Lousang Village, you absolutely mustn't mention it, otherwise people will think we went there to steal their skills!"

Mi Zhu hurriedly replied, "I understand, I was just saying it casually."

He then added, "This Lousang paper is so exquisite and so cheap that I'm afraid the business of Caihou paper will be impacted in the future, and the Dong family in Luoyang will probably be unhappy about it."

Mi An sneered, twirling the piece of paper in his hand, and said, "The Dong family? They've dominated the Caihou paper business in Luoyang for several years just because they're related to the imperial family."

"Originally, everyone in this business did their own thing, and no one bothered anyone else. But the Dong family, relying on Empress Dowager Dong in the palace, squeezed out one family and drove out another, and managed to monopolize the business."

"Now that Lou Sang paper has arrived, cheap and of good quality, haha, it's only right that it deserves this retribution."

Mi Zhu sensed the pleasure in his father's words, smiled, and didn't respond.

The Dong family mentioned by Mi An was originally a powerful and influential family in Hejian County. They were quite wealthy and respected.

It was only because the current emperor, Liu Hong, had jumped from the position of Marquis of Jieduting to enter the palace and succeed to the throne that his birth mother, Lady Dong, followed him into the palace. She was first granted the title of Noble Lady Shenyuan, and later directly honored as Empress Xiaoren.

The Dong family thus went from being a powerful clan to becoming a maternal relative.

All the brothers and uncles from the Hejian branch of the family, as well as any relatives or friends, flocked to Luoyang. Some were granted titles of nobility, and others were appointed generals.

Empress Dowager Dong's elder brother, Dong Chong, rose to the position of Commander of the Imperial Guards and Commander of the Northern Army, wielding considerable power and influence.

Taking advantage of this momentum, the Dong family became arrogant and wanted to extend their reach into the business world of Luoyang.

However, Luoyang was a city full of powerful clans, and the truly lucrative businesses had long been divided up by the major aristocratic families.

After several power struggles, the Dong family realized that their status as maternal relatives was not enough, and the powerful families were not afraid of them at all.

Even Empress Dowager Dong's brother, Dong Chong, was impeached by officials of all ranks in the court for "falsely conveying the Dong family's imperial edicts to make requests" because he was inadvertently used by powerful families to his advantage. He was subsequently imprisoned and executed.

The Dong family then realized just how deep the waters were in Luoyang; if they truly offended all the powerful families, even the emperor couldn't protect them.

So they changed their strategy.

They shifted their focus away from businesses divided up by powerful families and turned to trades with slightly lower profit margins, which led the Dong family to set their sights on Cai Hou paper business.

The business of Caihou paper was originally divided among several merchants in Luoyang, each with a share. The profits were neither large nor small, and the aristocratic families didn't care about it. Moreover, these merchants had connections behind them, so they didn't touch it.

The Dong family didn't care about any of that. They forcefully forced the other party to give up their business and even seized the workshop.

Anyone who dared to object would either face a lawsuit or be expelled from Luoyang under some pretext.

The people behind these businesses felt it wasn't worth offending the Dong family for such a small profit, so they simply backed down.

Over time, the Dong family controlled seven or eight out of ten pieces of the paper market in Luoyang and the surrounding areas.

Today, Lousang paper has emerged with extremely high quality and extremely low price.

Its cost is so low that even if it were transported from Youzhou to Luoyang, the price would not be half that of Dongjia paper, which would surely crush Dongjia paper.

but--

"Father, are we really going to do this business? Aren't we afraid of offending the Dong family?" Mi Zhu asked, somewhat puzzled.

In his view, his family's business was doing well and they didn't need the profits from selling paper, so why should he offend the Dong family, his maternal relatives?

The Mi family had lived in Qu County, Donghai Commandery for generations, and their maritime trade was extremely large (they were most likely beneficiaries of the Maritime Silk Road), making them incredibly wealthy.

At the same time, the Mi family was also involved in various industries such as land reclamation, animal husbandry, winemaking, and textiles.

Over time, they have accumulated a fortune of hundreds of millions, employed tens of thousands of servants, and owned vast fields.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they are as rich as a country.

The meager profits from selling paper were hardly even a bonus for the Mi family.

Mi An shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Although Father disapproved of the Dong family's bullying and monopolistic behavior, he never thought of going against the Dong family."

Mi Zhu was taken aback. "Then this time we'll go to Youzhou..."

"Is this General He's request?" Mi An asked.

"General He? He Jin, the Tiger-General of the Central Army?" Mi Zhu was taken aback again.

"It is this one."

"When did our family get involved with this person?"

"Do you remember last year when your father took you to Luoyang to transport goods, and we made some old acquaintances along the way?"

"Of course I remember. On our way back, we encountered bandits, but luckily the Liu brothers came to our rescue."

"That's right, it was that time that I got in touch with the He family through the introduction of a friend in Luoyang."

Mi Zhu frowned: "But what's the story behind the He family? He Jin is just a relative of the imperial family, and his sister, Madam He, is only a noblewoman now."

Mi An smiled and said earnestly, "Zhu'er, you must have a long-term vision. Consort He is only a consort now, but she will not be a consort forever. The Empress has no children, but Consort He has given the Emperor a son. Moreover, Consort He has a lot of prestige in the palace. It is said that none of the concubines and palace maids in the harem are not afraid of her."

"Father, do you mean... this person is possible?" Mi Zhu pointed to the sky.

"That's right!" Mi An said. "The reason my father sided with He Jin was to gamble on the future."