The Turning Wheel (5): Not Coincidence, But Inevitability
I stared at him. “Land, you say….”
Despite my overflowing confidence, Xiao He’s reaction was lukewarm at best. He merely furrowed his brow slightly and kept stroking his neatly trimmed beard. Had my explanation been lacking after all? To drive the point home, I picked up a fallen twig from the ground and began drawing on the dirt floor.
“Right now, the Lü clan’s trading is conducted individually in each village. The village women make the goods, Lord Xiahou collects them, we inspect the quality at our house, and then we sell them at the market. The supply line is long and inefficient.”
“……”
“But if we establish a central transfer warehouse—call it a Jeonunchang—in a well-connected location at the heart of Peixian, everything changes.”
I drew one large circle in the center of the dirt. Then I dotted smaller points all around it.
“First, we gather the products from each village in that central location. There, we inspect the quality, sort them, and ship them out to the market.”
I drew straight lines from the scattered points toward the central circle. The shape was unmistakably that of a cartwheel.
“I intend to call this the hub-and-spoke technique.”
“Hub and spoke?”
“Yes. It’s the same structure as a cartwheel. There’s an axle at the center, and the spokes radiate outward from it.”
I tapped the drawing firmly.
“In other words, each village becomes a spoke, and the Jeonunchang serves as the hub. This way, logistics become far more efficient, quality control is simpler, and above all…”
“It would allow for scaling up operations,” Xiao He finished, nodding as if he finally understood. His eyes sparkled. As expected from a genius—one hint and he grasped ten implications.
“Exactly right.”
“Indeed…”
Xiao He stroked his beard, sinking deep into thought. I swallowed hard and waited for his response. After a long moment, he finally spoke.
“Theoretically, it is quite intriguing. However.”
“However?”
“Acquiring the land is impossible.”
“…Pardon?”
His flat refusal made my voice rise without thinking. Xiao He sighed and shook his head.
“All land in Peixian is strictly controlled under the laws of the Qin Dynasty. Any sale requires the county magistrate’s explicit permission.”
He looked me straight in the eye once more.
“Do you truly believe that gentleman would grant permission for a large-scale land transaction to the wife of a mere village chief… and a woman at that?”
It was a brutally realistic observation. I bit down hard on my lower lip. Of course—this was the third century BCE. This wasn’t an era where you could walk into a real estate office, pay a commission, stamp a seal, and walk out with land. Every plot belonged to the emperor, and without the approval of his local representative—the county magistrate—not even a handful of dirt could change hands.
“Moreover…”
Xiao He lowered his voice, glancing around cautiously.
“The current magistrate is, to be frank, a greedy man. If he learns that you, madam, are generating significant profits, he will undoubtedly make troublesome demands. He might ask for a share of the business in exchange for the land, or impose exorbitant taxes.”
“……”
That’s right. There was the magistrate.
That corrupt official. Historically, he was a minor villain who tried to stab Liu Bang in the back and ended up losing his head. Even if I somehow managed to deceive him and purchase the land, Liu Bang would soon become a fugitive. The magistrate would immediately turn his attention to me, “the wife of a traitor,” and find any excuse to confiscate the land I had bought.
“…Then what should we do?”
Even so, I couldn’t give up now. The Okcheon Hub was an essential advancement for our future.
Xiao He quietly scanned our surroundings, then spoke with extreme caution.
“There is one way.”
“One way…?”
I unconsciously leaned forward. Xiao He’s eyes narrowed slightly, and instead of answering, he posed a question.
“Before that, may I ask you one thing?”
“Of course.”
He stared directly into my eyes.
“Madam, when do you believe Lord Ji will return?”
“Pardon?”
…Suddenly?
I couldn’t read his intention. We had been talking about land, and now he was asking about Liu Bang’s return? Still, I couldn’t dodge the question. I took a deep breath and answered as calmly as possible.
“I don’t know. It could be several months, half a year… or perhaps even longer.”
“I see.”
His gaze grew even deeper.
“So you anticipate that it will indeed take longer.”
“……”
“Why do you think so?”
His voice was low and heavy. His eyes, too, seemed to probe me like an interrogation.
Is this the intuition of Xiao He, the renowned minister who stood shoulder to shoulder with Zhuge Liang…?
Of course I couldn’t speak the historical truth. Saying, “Because Chen Sheng and Wu Guang will start a rebellion next July,” would only get me labeled as a madwoman. But I couldn’t lie and lose his trust either. Suppressing the tremor in my voice, I chose my words carefully.
“…It’s a feeling.”
“A feeling?”
“Yes.”
I held his gaze without retreating.
“They are escorting thirty convicts. The only ones guarding my husband are Lord Lu and a handful of soldiers. Considering this freezing weather and the long journey to Mount Li… I simply cannot shake this ominous premonition.”
“Indeed.”
Xiao He nodded with an unreadable expression. Yet he still didn’t seem entirely convinced. The atmosphere suggested more sharp questions were coming, so I decided to seize the initiative.
“Yes, everything I’ve said is nothing more than a woman’s intuition. A vague, baseless anxiety. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“……”
“However, there is one thing I can tell you.”
“What is it?”
I lowered my voice further.
“The world right now is in the calm before the storm.”
Xiao He’s eyes sharpened. I met his gaze and continued.
“The politics of Qin are in chaos. The eunuch Zhao Gao controls the court, the Second Emperor is lost in luxury, and the people groan under harsh laws and forced labor. At this rate… something will happen soon.”
“…!”
Only then did Xiao He’s eyes widen in shock. He clearly hadn’t expected the names “Zhao Gao” or the word “politics” to come from my mouth.
He must be bewildered. The country bumpkin wife he thought was merely clever is now discussing the state of the empire.
Swallowing the bitter smile that threatened to escape, I delivered my conclusion.
“I don’t know the specifics. But when that ‘something’ occurs, we must be prepared.”
“Prepared…”
“We must gather money, expand our network, and collect information. Only then can we move when that ‘something’ erupts.”
I stared straight into Xiao He’s eyes.
“Lord Xiao. I trust my husband. That man will definitely return. That’s why I want to create a better environment for him by the time he does. I want to prepare a stage so that he can move freely and pursue his dreams. I want to lay down a ‘foothold’ in advance.”
“……”
A long silence followed. Xiao He swallowed dryly and continued fiddling with his beard. I waited quietly. He was a bureaucrat—cautious and calculating. He moved by logic, not emotion. But at the same time, he was a genius who could read the currents of a chaotic age. He would surely understand the sincerity behind my words and the value of my “feeling.”
How much time passed? I wasn’t sure.
“I understand.”
Finally, Xiao He nodded slowly. A subtle smile played at the corners of his mouth.
“Then I shall trust this intuition of yours, madam.”
And so the real discussion began.
“From now on, the names I mention are the influential figures of Peixian. Landowners, merchants, former officials… all of them possess considerable wealth and influence within the county.”
His voice grew sharper.
“And every one of them harbors resentment toward the current magistrate.”
Xiao He raised one finger.
“First, Lord Wang. A landowner. A longtime native of Peixian. Not long ago, he refused a bribe demanded by the magistrate and had part of his land confiscated.”
A second finger rose.
“Next is Lord Li. A merchant. He deals in salt and iron, but the magistrate’s relative interfered in his business and seized all the profits.”
A third finger.
“Lastly, Lord Zhang. A former official. An upright man, he attempted to report the magistrate’s corruption to higher authorities, only to be dismissed on false charges and even beaten with the rod.”
Xiao He glanced around once more before stepping closer to me. His voice dropped to a near whisper.
“All of them resent the magistrate to the marrow of their bones. Yet outwardly they can do nothing. Defying him would mean the extermination of their entire clans. So they simply hold their breath and wait for the right moment.”
“…Ah.”
Only then did I fully grasp Xiao He’s intention. I quickly scanned our surroundings, then looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
“You’re saying we should borrow their strength.”
“Correct. And…”
“And bind them together as one.”
“…Yes. Precisely.”
Xiao He smiled faintly and nodded. That smile carried a thick layer of certainty—So this woman truly understands.
I nodded back, lost in thought.
Bind them together…
That meant forming an alliance. Gathering those who shared a common enemy in the magistrate under a single banner. And using me—Liu Bang’s wife—and my business as the focal point to unite that force.
“But…”
I voiced the question that had been nagging at me.
“Lord Xiao, why do you wish to oppose the magistrate?”
I had more than enough reasons to treat him as an enemy. According to the flow of history, Liu Bang would become a fugitive, and the magistrate would immediately begin harassing me, the fugitive’s wife. In the original history, Lü Zhi endured every kind of humiliation from him while left alone in Peixian.
And then Liu Bang returns and cuts off the magistrate’s head.
But Xiao He was different. He was the magistrate’s right-hand man—the chief clerk. There was no need for him to walk such a dangerous tightrope.
Of course, he might have reached the conclusion that the magistrate must be removed for Liu Bang’s sake after believing my vague predictions…
But the level of detail he provided about these individuals was too precise. It was as if he had been waiting for this very moment for a long time.
“Oppose… is that how it seems?”
“Yes. You have no reason to pick a fight with the magistrate, do you?”
“……”
Xiao He stared at me silently for a moment. Again, a trace of surprise flickered across his face. Then his lips moved.
“It’s a feeling.”
“A… feeling?”
Those were my lines.
Xiao He smiled gently and continued.
“Yes. Call it my intuition regarding Lord Ji’s future.”
He said nothing more. Instead, he took a step back and turned to look at the distant figure of Liu Bang, now no more than a tiny dot on the horizon.
“One thing is certain. No matter what happens, I am on the side of both Lord Ji and you, madam. So if you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask.”
A calm, steadfast promise. And within it, an unwavering sincerity. I found myself unable to speak.
As expected, Xiao He saw through everything. That the Qin Dynasty would collapse. That Peixian would not escape the coming turmoil. And that the current greedy magistrate was not the kind of vessel capable of surviving the era of war that lay ahead.
That was why he had chosen. Not the rotten rope of the magistrate, but the sturdy rope that was Liu Bang. Even though Liu Bang had no money or powerful backers, Xiao He had chosen as his lord a friend whose character was genuine.
So perhaps there really is no such thing as coincidence.
In history, Liu Bang’s elevation sometimes felt like installing a puppet leader. The magistrate, sensing danger from the people’s fervor, ordered Xiao He and Cao Shen to bring Liu Bang, only to be betrayed in turn. But the man before me now was different.
Xiao He believed in Liu Bang. He believed in his capacity, his potential, his future. He had been weaving this grand design, preparing the ground for Liu Bang’s return.
And the same must be true for Lady Cao, Fan Kuai, and Cao Shen.
The heavenly luck that had saved him in every moment of crisis was not simply the will of heaven. It was inevitability, not coincidence. It was the karmic result of the personal virtue—인덕—that Liu Bang himself had cultivated.
“Yes. Then I’ll begin by approaching Lord Wang first. Since he’s a landowner, it should be easier to discuss the land issue with him.”
I looked at Xiao He with a much lighter heart. He nodded, seemingly satisfied.
“A wise decision. Lord Wang’s anger must be at its peak since his land was taken not long ago. If you make good use of that fury, madam, he will surely become a powerful ally.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll buy that anger at a very high price.”
Just as this grand historical pact was about to be sealed—
“Madam! Madam!”
A clear, energetic voice interrupted from afar. It was Lady Cao. I saw Liu Fei standing hesitantly beside her; they must have been saying their farewells to Liu Bang in the distance.
“It’s almost time to start selling the fermented liquor! The customers are already waiting!”
“Ah…”
The scene of treasonous plotting instantly transformed into the fierce battlefield of daily life. Well, before I was a revolutionary, I was a small business owner.
I’ll have to meet Lord Wang after I’ve sold all the liquor.
I waved at Lady Cao and called back, “I’ll be right there!” Then I turned to Xiao He again. Seeing my slightly flushed face, he cleared his throat in an attempt to look dignified.
“You should go now.”
“Yes. After all, making a living comes first.”
Xiao He smiled lightly and nodded as if to send me off, adding briefly.
“You will surely succeed, madam. Both in business and in everything beyond it.”
At that trustworthy voice, I nodded back with strength.