Chapter 61: Who Sits At The Table, Who Leaves The Table
After leaving a large number of Barbarian Tribe corpses north of Ling River, the Wu Family Army departed. During their departure, they were leisurely and composed, even recovering the arrowheads from the corpses across the river in full view of the other Southern Border Tribes, and also salvaging some valuable items from the battlefield, such as the horns from Horned People’s heads, clipping off all the claws from selected Clawed People captives, then tying ropes around them and leading them away.
On the Southern Ling River, the Barbarian Tribes lurking in the jungle watched eagerly.
The Wu Family Army’s brutal act of looting corpses after such a victory would, if placed in Da Yao, be deemed unrighteous and jointly attacked by multiple sides. But in the Southern Border where people fear might but not virtue, this was a ruler’s virtue.
Like a tiger elegantly licking its claws after tidying its hunting scene, the Wu Family Army’s war chariots and soldiers regrouped and departed calmly, leaving behind a Jing Guan.
And the tribes on the southern side across the river, though already sensing that terrifying killing intent had truly moved north, still did not dare cross the river surface within ten shichen to scout the opposite situation.
Until the next day, when four clusters of flowing fire flew over Ling River and arrived at the battlefield already swarming with flies and mosquitoes buzzing in flight.
These four clusters of flowing fire were Li Huo Sect Disciples. As cultivators, the spiritual power in their bodies was extremely vulnerable to the clash of killing intent. On the other hand, their arrival at this battlefield site indicated that the Wu Family Army had truly left. Subsequently, the tribes south of Ling River cautiously paddled over on wooden rafts, recovered and piled up the corpses. The Li Huo Sect Disciples took spiritual herbs from their gourds and placed them on top, while a strand of fire talisman on their bodies flickered.
Three hundred li away in the south, the firelight in the mountain cave of Yun Qie Valley blazed brightly, causing the lights across the entire mountain range to flicker as well. This Li Huo ancestor was truly enraged.
However, at Yongji Pass in the north, San Gu sensed something and smiled at the corner of her mouth, murmuring incomprehensibly: “The wick has touched the flame, turning to ash in smoke.” — Beside her, a candle went out, smoke rising from the candle wick, while a point of firelight flickered on the wick.
Normally, when the lamp is lit, the flame around the candle wick only burns to evaporate the candle oil; the wick, though charred black, remains stable. But now, the firelight on the wick flickered dimly and brightly, and the wick had begun to turn to ash amid the flickering.
…Post-war matters…
This rearguard battle appeared very easy, but Wu Fei had drilled it according to the scenario of encountering a strong enemy.
For example, during the retreat, the military supplies were divided into two waves for evacuation. This considered that not all military supplies could be fully returned; preparations must be made to leave some behind for the rearguard troops to ultimately burn. The troops carried the first wave of military supplies and traveled light; along the way there would be various consumption, requiring judgment of whether existing supplies were sufficient, and another wave had to be discarded en route.
Of course, when dealing with Southern Border enemies, there was no need to actually burn the military supplies; instead, the military supplies judged to be burned in the drill were directly discarded at fixed locations, then collected by the pre-arranged directorate’s troops.
As for the vassal armies arranged by Wu Fei along the way to act as attackers in the drill, they cooperated tremblingly. If these vassal armies got chaotic and tried to turn the act into reality, Guiche would swoop overhead, flapping its wings to stir up gales and cool their heads.
The army split into two routes: the first route returned directly inside the pass, while the second route, mainly wooden ox and flowing horse war chariots, carried large amounts of spirit wood and Precious Jade to the newly built Fen Xing City.
Wu Fei learned through the market at Yongji Pass that the big merchants there seemed to have anticipated this final wave of goods, so they had lowered the prices of these wood and Precious Jade in advance.
Wu Xiao Que: Oh ho, wanting to earn my margin?
Thus, Wu Fei had no intention of transporting this final wave of spoils of war back. Instead, he had built warehouses in advance in Fen Xing City.
If the planning went smoothly, in a few years Wu Fei planned to relocate some wood artisans’ workshops and blacksmith workshops to Fen Xing City.
Yongji Pass was limited by geography and could not achieve large-scale grain self-sufficiency; it was of a military fortress nature without large-scale consumption capacity. Hence, if the Wu Family supplied too many raw materials, they would be pinched by the merchants. But if there was a consumption point closer to the raw materials market, market prices could be controlled.
The above were economic considerations, but more importantly military and political ones.
On the North Bank of Ling River, the Barbarian Tribes’ courage had been thoroughly slain once. When Wu Fei looked across the river at the Southern Border Tribes, he keenly determined that the Southern Border’s cohesive force had been shattered by him, forming a considerable power vacuum. If he did not occupy this power vacuum, in a few years the leaders emerging from the Southern Border Tribes’ mutual slaughter would naturally fill the gap. But if he settled just south of Yongji Pass, the tribal forces in a vast area could long-term “bathe in royal transformation.”
February 2nd, Dragon Head Raising, Da Yao’s flags fluttered in the wind.
Wu Fei initiated political activities inside Fen Xing City.
First stage: rewarding based on the series of merits established by the vassal armies during this expedition. First were the troops mainly foreign races that lured the enemy across the river in the Battle of Ling River. Wu Fei personally verified the names of the seven Southern Border hunters who died in action. — Troops were directly dispatched to deliver pensions to their tribal homes, then the closest blood relatives were selected for training.
And grace was given to all hunter tribes, namely iron vouchers of five to twenty taels of silver. They were informed that, besides the rewards given, their tribes could this year use these vouchers to freely enter inside the pass to rent vehicles for goods exchange. — One voucher per vehicle.
These hunters, while following the human army, had heard of Da Yao merchant caravan models and were very envious of these vehicles.
Wu Fei’s calculation: in the army’s future advances, local vehicles needed to be requisitioned, needing drivers, and relying on locals.
Wu Fei even planned to build a carriage business in Fen Xing City. Hadn’t they transported large amounts of wood and Precious Jade? Just build vehicles locally to consume them.
Second stage: Wu Fei warmly met with the local “Da Yao expatriates,” namely the northern displaced farmers from Da Yao sold to—ah no, introduced to (emphasized)—these tribes by Yu Bai and those traveling merchants.
During their teaching of farming in the Southern Tribes, how well they lived was something Wu Fei cared about greatly! In the “caring” process, he looked meaningfully at these tribes that he had high hopes for, ones that could be “Tusi-ized.”
With the Wu Family Army war chariots crushing a field of meat paste on the north of Ling River, the south likely wouldn’t dare interact or provoke for at least several years. A knife not used would rust, so who would be the next to refuse royal transformation?
Wu Fei made cordial condolences to these expatriates and instructed: Da Yao people must adapt to life south of Yongji Pass and strive to acclimate to the water and soil.
Even so, many Yao People had already fallen ill. Habits like drinking raw water and eating leftover rice in the afternoon (spoiled due to high heat) would cause inexplicable deaths among the immigrants.
On February 5th, though the smell of corpses wrapped in straw mats was very bad, Wu Fei endured the disgust and inspected every laborer for external injury scars.
After determining the number of deaths from illness was not negligible, Wu Fei decided to distribute the compiled “life manual,” which included habits for diet, labor, etc., requiring these farmers to undergo recitation and training in Fen Xing City before assignment to various Tusi. After training, these farmers were no longer mere farmers; some even carried knives, and there was conspiring among multiple tribes.
From the city tower, Wu Fei gazed at these terrified Southern tribal leaders who wished they could kneel and kiss his toes; grace and might had already been silently sown.
…Thunder and rain are not evenly distributed…
At Yongji Pass, many merchants watched Wu Fei’s return like husband-gazing stones, but upon hearing he had convened a new merchant group in the city built outside the pass, it was like a bolt from the blue. They hurriedly wrote letters to their northern main families.
Six days later, in a manor near Yongji Pass, several Southern Merchants’ chief stewards gathered to discuss next year’s cooperation. These merchants, dressed in silk and wearing jade—clearly exceeding regulations—began discussing things they felt “fit their status.” They started with this year’s new slave laborers from the south and plantation business, then enthusiastically discussed the reservoirs upstream in Lingnan that could ensure artificial canals were full in April to June, saving northbound transport costs.
In the brightly lit mansion, the atmosphere was optimistic. But someone raised a topic: this year, a batch of “traveling merchants” had become guests at the general’s table.
As soon as this topic emerged, the host interrupted it, but after the meeting adjourned, the host kept a few people behind, closed the doors, and discussed the “donkey-leg merchants.”
“Donkey-leg merchants” were the peddlers caught last year during inspections of the mountain paths blocking the border. After Wu Fei cleared up the misunderstanding, he compensated them with their cargo donkeys and gave money to hire hands for reopening routes. — Everyone praised it, saying the Young General was benevolent and cared for businesspeople away from home.
Merchant A pretended magnanimity: “Actually, I’m not opposed to the Great General supporting those small merchants; we’re all earning a living outside and should help each other.”
Merchant B: “But this year, these donkey-leggers were exceptionally favored by the general, given large funds to take goods directly from the iron factory and sell directly to those tribes.”
The aroma of tea in the merchants’ meeting suddenly seemed bland. One merchant scolded: “This tea has cooled; why haven’t you servants refilled it in time?” A servant nearby hurriedly brought the teapot with small steps.
The discussion in the merchant group continued, with Merchant C complaining like a resentful wife: “The Great General favors the new and tires of the old!”
Merchant D: “Yes, it seems the general is determined to exclude us from the salt and iron trade.”
Merchant A: “Can’t we persuade the general?”
Merchant D: “Don’t say it; the general is clearly avoiding us by staying south.”
At this point, the merchants began sighing, though while sighing, they observed each other to confirm unity.
These merchants prided themselves on having established “sweat-and-horse merits” for the army’s expeditions and were previously very confident that Wu Fei, now opening salt and iron, would share some profit with them. Yet the usually amenable Wu Fei did not yield.
…Perspective shifts to Fen Xing City…
Wu Fei held a meeting with Yu Bai and other merchants, and also brought in some local vassal army officers.
Wu Fei tapped the table: “All ironware sales have monopoly zones, managed by exclusive operators. Slots have already been allocated; no second shop per zone. Each of you is responsible for your zone. Division of distribution zones can only be determined by the direct sales adjudication departments in Fen Xing City and Yongji Pass.”
This referenced the later near-modern tobacco monopoly system. Tobacco is a tax; the monopoly system divides zones to collect the “tax.”
Without zoning, under production conditions then, Yun-Dian region’s tobacco was the best quality and would expand to all provinces, but with profits concentrated in one group, it would be hard to audit! Take another item “liquor” as example: those famous distilleries like Maotai and Wuliangye accumulated massive capital after listing; external audits couldn’t penetrate.
Wu Fei not only divided distribution zones for the traveling merchants but also set zone-based profit sharing for the participating mercenary officers, to crack down on smuggling between zones.
Monopoly zone persons in charge, if spotting ironware from other monopoly zones in their area, could report it. Thus, zone commissioners would mutually monitor ironware circulation across zones.
The reason Wu Fei wouldn’t let northern big merchant groups into this business: once those merchants controlled all ironware monopolies, everything would operate on short-term profits. Big merchant groups could arbitrarily allocate ironware amounts to tribes, and for profit, naturally highest bidder wins. — Would those tribes buying large reclamation ironware at high prices really eat the loss? Their way to recoup would be turning that ironware into weapons for plunder.
Xuan Chong from the modern era knew merchants very well: if there’s 100% profit, they won’t hesitate to instigate war. Because turning the same iron into a “plow” wasn’t profitable enough.
So ironware sales, before Reforming Native Administration was fully complete, definitely couldn’t be released to big merchants. — Involving the strategy of promoting reclamation and “swords into plows,” Wu Fei didn’t trust those who hadn’t submitted sufficient pledges of allegiance.
These “donkey-leg merchant” small individual operators became tools Wu Fei highly approved; he gave them exclusive operation licenses, assessed every five years, and zone dealer rights weren’t hereditary. Their sons or sons-in-law had to pass exams at the Wu Family Army’s specially opened school to qualify for inheritance.
In this ironware trade, Wu Fei’s core strategy was to encourage tribes to transform into Tusi, shifting from primitive gathering plunder economy to serf-based plantation economy, ensuring ruling radiation over the “Fen Xing City” region.
…Time turns once more…
On March 3rd, Wu Fei returned inside Yongji Pass but did not convene a merchant group as the big merchants expected.
This was like a man who fooled around outside returning home acting innocent. Unable to eat the huge profits from “iron trade,” it caused anxiety among these big merchants who had been Wu Fei’s “little sweeties” in prior years.
Still in Yongji Pass, but in the underground black market, fewer than ten merchant leaders began conspiring. Under oil lamp light, ten shadows swayed on the wall as they whispered.
A merchant with purple light flickering in his pupils spoke in a fearful voice: “Today they took ironware; will they take cloth and salt next year? The year after, will they completely kick us out?”
As merchants who had already gained great wealth, they especially feared being abandoned. They imagined scenarios of a favored concubine in the palace mansion ousting the principal wife. The delicacies on the plates and fine wine in the cups lost their flavor.
In reality, he overthought it. Unlike “high value-added” goods like ironware, bulk commodities like cloth, salt, and wood had transport costs that favored higher integration. Big merchants could hire more caravans for bulk transport at lower cost and couldn’t possibly be toppled by individuals. Wu Fei, well-versed in commercial cost principles, wouldn’t do something so brainless.
But Wu Fei was too dominant, his actions too inscrutable, and salt-iron profits too huge, so these merchant leaders speculated irrationally. Their souls were gripped by a “instigating” voice.
Thus in the dark room, this group of “big merchants” resolved to fight Wu Fei’s chosen “donkey-leg merchant groups.” As for the mode of fighting?
Under the lamplight, a merchant group leader who once received Wu Fei’s “gold brick” suddenly blurted: “Now that the Southern Border is stable, with the army going south once a year causing no damage. Perhaps the Young General no longer needs to—” (He dared not finish the sentence.)
At these words, others paled. Even the speaker regretted it after blurting it out, inwardly cursing his own wild thoughts.
He hurriedly clarified: “I mean, the Young General has labored with great merit and should advance further in the Imperial Court. We should help him rise higher!”
Another merchant who received a gold brick immediately refuted: “Nonsense!” Then lowering his voice: “The Young General gave us wealth and honor in the Southern Border. Though young, he acts steadily. If we loyally assist, we’ll lack for nothing for decades. You want to change him and get bloody storms? Foolish!”
The previous merchant began patching his words, but it sounded like sophistry: “I, I, I meant promotion; how is that harming the Young General?”
Then, rounders-up came to mediate: “Speak no more of this.” The meeting dispersed unhappily.
Though “corrosion” failed, this tiny seed of conspiracy was planted in the participants’ hearts. And in the future, it would sprout temptation at some moment.
