The Riskier the Trade, the Greater the Profit

That night.

"I will repay those who attended Father's funeral, and then I will meet Yuan Shao."

"So in the end you mean to meet Yuan ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Shao and negotiate?"

"Yes. I will tell him I am leaving his territory to plant a base of business on the Central Plains."

"You truly mean to leave?"

Su Shuang's eyes flew wide, then drew narrow by degrees.

"Good. Then name the place you have in mind. I will judge it, and move at once."

"What would you say to Xuzhou?"

"...Are you in earnest? That province is being trampled into a wasteland even now by the army Cao Cao of Yanzhou has raised!"

"Exactly. We save that dangerous Xuzhou, restore what has been laid to ruin, and make a new beginning on the Central Plains."

"I can accept a dying wish that we put distance between ourselves and Yuan Shao. But Xuzhou, in the middle of a war that dangerous?"

"Don't they say a dangerous trade is the one that leaves the greatest profit? And if we save the people there, we may win the hearts of Xuzhou as well."

"Great profit in a dangerous place is a tale told only by those who live through the danger. If we go to that battlefield they call Xuzhou, have you thought about whether we survive?"

I had thrown the proposal out. From here, I would convince Su Shuang past any doubt.

"Brother-in-law, I have thought this through at length. We take in the refugees from the lands already ruined by the war, gather them, and make our stand on the condition that we hold Cao Cao back."

"If a merchant walks onto a battlefield and starts spending coin, doesn't he become prey for every man there? It is more dangerous than Bingzhou, that den of bandits!"

"We will not be going down with nothing but money. We mean to gather the men already fighting to defend Xuzhou, and men willing to fight alongside Zilong, who will travel with us, and go south together."

Su Shuang flinched. Then he began ticking off on his fingers, one by one, the names of those inside Xuzhou who were holding against Cao Cao's invasion, running the sums as he went.

"Brother-in-law, I came to Jizhou partly to confirm the estate I am to inherit from Father, but also to take the measure of Yuan Shao's power one last time. Then a man named Xu You appeared and held out his hand, and that settled it for me. If we remain, we will be fattened like cattle and chickens inside the fence called Yuan Shao, and eaten down to the bone."

"That may be so, and yet..."

"If we must seek out a warlord who can settle this age of chaos and sponsor him, I would rather find a man we can choose of our own will."

"So when you say you are going to Xuzhou, you do not mean Yuan Shao. You mean Liu Bei, Chancellor of Pingyuan — the man fighting in Xuzhou in the Governor's stead."

"There is no other choice. You cannot mean I should go sponsor Cao Cao, who is butchering Xuzhou even now. I would win infamy as a man who endorsed the massacre. I cannot go to Gongsun Zan of Youzhou, whom Father absolutely forbade us to deal with, and I am hardly fool enough to offer our wealth to the Black Mountain bandits of Bingzhou, am I?"

"Hmm. Aiding the army of Liu Bei, Chancellor of Pingyuan, who went south to save Xuzhou... Baijin, you have never even met Liu Bei, have you?"

"But I know what kind of man he is. I know it from watching you, Brother-in-law, and from Zilong."

Zhao Yun had served under Gongsun Zan, and yet he had slipped free of that embrace, come to us saying he would follow Liu Bei, helped with the affairs of our house, and then declared that he would go down to Xuzhou alone to aid him. I also remembered being told that, before Father died, Liu Bei had come and spoken of saving Xuzhou. I had not been there myself. It had probably gone like this.

Father would have caught the meaning and given them a modest support, telling them to add it to the army's grain. He had not left it as a last testament, but he had spoken with particular weight of the three brothers of Liu Bei, who had received a sponsorship of five hundred horses. That made it certain.

Liu Bei. I had never met him, and yet I knew very well what kind of man he was.

"At the very least, Liu Xuande is a man one can talk to. Watching you and Zilong convinced me."

Sit still and be slowly sucked dry by Yuan Shao — or take the money I had, find another warlord, invest, and preserve both that power and our house. There were plenty of stories about Liu Bei, but as I looked upon this age of the Three Kingdoms, a thought had come to me. What if Liu Bei had held Xuzhou? What if he had removed enemies such as Lu Bu and Yuan Shu and kept a foothold on the Central Plains? What if he had never been forced to flee? Could he have held the balance of the heartland and stretched his power south?

I decided to place my bet on a Liu Bei who had seized a base.

"Reckless talk. At the very least we cannot go with supplies alone. However we manage it, we must take strength with us."

"I will settle the family's assets in Jizhou and negotiate face to face with Yuan Shao. I will borrow troops from him and form them into a relief force."

"Baijin, Yuan Shao's relations with Tao Qian, Governor of Xuzhou, are anything but good."

"That is precisely why I will strike a bargain with Yuan Shao."

Su Shuang was silent for a moment. Then he clenched his fist tight.

"...Very well. If you can truly secure our safety, then from that moment I will follow your word as head of the house."

For the sake of this gamble, I decided to go to Yuan Shao myself and settle it in person.

A few days later, I went in person to the government office in Yecheng of Jizhou, where Yuan Shao sat.

"Leave Jizhou? Hah. Whatever put such a thought in your head?"

"That General Yuan has protected our house all this while is a kindness beyond any thanks. But it was my father's dying wish. He charged me to go out into the Central Plains and seek a greater market."

Yuan Shao clicked his tongue. Our leaving seemed to sit ill with him.

"A young fellow who does not know how dangerous the world outside can be. Have you not heard the tale from only a little while ago — the tycoon worth a thousand gold, who loaded a hundred wagons with treasure and was killed by bandits on the road?"

He meant Cao Cao's father, Cao Song. And if he was willing to bring that up, he meant to keep me here by whatever means he had. My mind was already made up.

"Men call the Central Plains dangerous, but a merchant's work is to ply the trade that leaves a profit in dangerous places."

"Ha! Hahaha! Is that so?"

Tian Feng, Xu You, and the others at Yuan Shao's side were watching me with eyes that were anything but ordinary. I set the documents I had brought down before him.

"To begin with, I mean to try Xuzhou."

"What? Xuzhou? Do you even know the state of that place, saying such a thing?"

"I do. That is why I will take what little wealth I have and go help the army of Xuzhou against Cao Cao's attack."

"Hah?"

"I will go first, help stem the war, and look the ground over. Then the house will move. Of course, given our long ties with the Governor of Jizhou, I wish to offer this."

Xu You darted in, skimmed the papers I had held out, and his eyes went wide.

"My lord, this is—!"

He hurried to Yuan Shao and whispered in his ear. The face that had been full of ease wavered, just slightly.

"General Yuan, as we settle the estate we cannot dig up the lands we hold in Hebei and carry them off, so I offer them for Your Lordship's great undertaking. A horse ranch through the Zhongshan region, raising several thousand warhorses; fields in Bohai that harvest barley and wheat; and the luxuries we must dispose of — coral trees, bolts of cinnabar cloth, jade ornaments — all of it is being put in order."

"Hrrrm. Hm!"

"Let General Yuan take all of it. And as you yourself just said, even if I go to save Xuzhou the road may be dangerous, so I would borrow Your Lordship's troops, though the number be small."

"Just now — did you say an army?"

"The number does not matter. It need only be enough to make known that this is the army of General Yuan, come to mediate the great calamity of Xuzhou."

In that instant the air grew heavy, and sweat gathered in my palms.

Yuan Shao looked at me for a long while. Then he let out a short laugh.

"Very well. If you go to Xuzhou bearing so great a purpose, I shall gladly help you."

"You have my thanks, General Yuan!"

"Lord Zhang raised one fine son."

Putting the house's wealth in order and handing it to Yuan Shao was as good as buying an army. I closed the deal, withdrew, and went home to prepare everything I would need on the road to Xuzhou.

Meanwhile, after Zhang Qian had gone, Tian Feng turned a worried face to Yuan Shao.

"My lord, will this be all right? That fellow means for a mere band of merchants to march off with your army. And against Cao Cao of Yanzhou, no less."

"I understand. But wasn't the way he put it rather fine? And if you think it through, his going to Xuzhou is not a bad thing."

Since the campaign to chastise ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao had planted his base in Hebei. To stretch that power into the Central Plains he was backing Cao Cao of Yanzhou, and with him checking his half-brother Yuan Shu — a man he liked less than a total stranger. He had clashed with Tao Qian of Xuzhou more than once and did not think well of him either. But Cao Cao of Yanzhou and Tao Qian of Xuzhou had collided, and one side was collapsing outright. Here was the chance to extend a quiet hand and draw both provinces inside his own sphere. While he unified Hebei, Yanzhou and Xuzhou — those two provinces of the Central Plains — would be a pair of stout, dependable honey jars.

"In any case, Xuzhou must not be ruined past saving. I had already meant to mediate and tell Cao Aman to finish it at a suitable point. This works out nicely."

"Just so, my lord. Once Cao Cao has vented his spleen to a certain degree, that Tao Qian of Xuzhou will be chilled to the marrow and have no choice but to cling to a lord stronger than Cao Cao."

Xu You was quick to chime in and echo him, and Yuan Shao smiled with satisfaction. But Tian Feng spoke of something else.

"As I hear it, the man who set out first to save Xuzhou is Liu Bei, Chancellor of Pingyuan, once under Gongsun Zan. What if this merchant joins hands with him, and then they join hands with Yuan Shu, south of Xuzhou?"

"Then I give Cao Cao more than twice the troops and supplies, and tell him to smash Xuzhou even more thoroughly than he is smashing it now. Do not worry. I intend to send only about a thousand. As for the commander... well, it will do to send some suitable officer from among Han Fu's old followers. Someone of lower standing than Zhu Ling."

Two years had already passed since he absorbed Han Fu's faction, and still there were plenty of men who would not straighten out, left to idle in minor posts. Yuan Shao meant to attach one remnant of Han Fu — a fellow from whom he could not get proper loyalty no matter how long he kept him — to that merchant's son who was going to Xuzhou.

"You borrowed troops? Zhang Qian, you truly are something. You made what we offered into money Yuan Shao had no choice but to swallow!"

"Yes. The danger to our lives that you feared has been eased. Now let us prepare."

I came into the house and went through, one by one, the things we would need to secure before leaving for Xuzhou.

"Draw up the gold and silver ingots that can be exchanged at once. As for the furnishings of this residence, Brother-in-law, take them to market and turn every coin of them into grain, timber, and iron."

"Understood."

"There is also a matter I arranged in Bohai. It is food. Have them bring all of it when we go to Xuzhou."

I would sweep up every soybean and every strand of seaweed from Manchuria that I had told Akga in Bohai to gather, and haul them to Xuzhou. Those alone would come to tens of tons at the least.

"Brother-in-law, Xuzhou is famous for iron and salt, isn't it?"

"It is. But the war will have scorched the supplies of that whole region to ash."

I asked about Xuzhou as I gathered the countless books in the house.

"Wuzi's Art of War? This is the one that raises Intelligence..."

"Ah, Baijin. That is the military classic said to have been compiled by Wu Qi of the Spring and Autumn era."

It was not only Wuzi. The Zuo Zhuan, Sun Bin's Art of War, the Mozi, the Six Secret Teachings, the Three Strategies, Sunzi's Art of War, the Analects, the Discourses on Salt and Iron, the Records of the Grand Historian, the Han Feizi, the Annals of Master Yan, the Zhuangzi, the Classic of Poetry, the Classic of Changes — the house was packed with truly staggering texts.

"Brother-in-law, did we have the Lüshi Chunqiu in the house as well? The Spring and Autumn Annals of Master Lü?"

"Ah, that one! Read it without fail, even on the road to Xuzhou."

The Lüshi Chunqiu. An ancient work in twenty-six volumes, said to have been made by Lü Buwei — called the greatest magnate of the Central States from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States on through this very age, the great merchant who bought the world — after he gathered three thousand retainers. It was the work of Lü Buwei, the merchant-chancellor whom traders revered as a god. I would certainly need it.

The glittering pieces set out for show, the baubles meant only to be looked at — those could go to Yuan Shao. With books like these alone, mixing with scholars of any real name would be laughably easy.

We were loading every wagon the house possessed, giving pride of place to books, gold, silver, and grain, when a company of soldiers came toward our gate.

I had thought Yuan Shao would give two or three thousand. Only a thousand? Stingier than he looks, after all...

"Which of you is Lord Zhang Baijin?"

"That would be me."

The commander of the thousand bowed to me with exact courtesy. He looked to be in his late twenties, a warrior with a strikingly handsome mustache.

"I offer my greeting. This one is Zhang He, Major of Jizhou. Courtesy name, Junyi."

Zhang... who? Zhang He?

"The Governor of Jizhou ordered me to escort Lord Zhang Baijin on his way to Xuzhou. I am a man assigned to your house."

Good God. Zhang He! Yuan Shao sent a single major, and that major was Zhang ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He? Yuan Shao — thank you. Thank you to the point of madness!

At that same hour, men said the lands of Han had been exhausted everywhere after the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the rampage of the tyrant Dong Zhuo — and yet of all those places, Xuzhou was the field of the greatest tragedy. And there, an army was fighting with everything it had.

Guan Yu, a giant of nine chi with a long beard, had come south from Hebei at no small hardship into a Xuzhou where he had not a single tie. He held out a meal he had barely managed to find toward Liu Bei — his elder brother, and the commander fighting in place of Tao Qian, Governor of Xuzhou.

"Brother. You ought to eat."

"Yunchang. How fare the others?"

"They have all had a meal. Only you still need to eat, Brother."

The army grain was already nearly gone. All that remained was a thin cake of what little barley flour they had, ground together with acorns and mugwort, and a rank soup of horse meat — only the parts not yet rotten, barely carved off dead warhorses and boiled. Liu Bei paid it no mind. He ate, and nodded.

"So long as Brother Mengde's army keeps its garrison at Tancheng, we must hold until our strength is spent."

"Yide is inspecting the men, but the situation is poor. If we do not receive supplies at once we are finished, and there were even fellows staring at the graves of the common people we buried. I had them caned."

Driven to the last extreme, they had come to talk of devouring one another — of enduring, if they must, on human flesh. Liu Bei quietly closed his eyes.

"Brother, will we truly be all right like this?"

Even at the worry laden in Guan Yu's voice, Liu Bei silently drank down the horse-meat soup. It reeked of blood.

"The men and I can fight as many times as need be. But the refugees are collapsing and starving to death by the dozens and the hundreds, every single day."

He had led his few soldiers from Pingyuan to save a Xuzhou being smashed by Cao Cao's invasion, and not one warlord had come to help. Still Liu Bei endured in silence, saving even one more of the people massacred beneath Cao Cao's blades, gathering them inside his own fence, and holding on.

And Liu Bei's sincerity was already, slowly, being answered from hundreds of li away.