Chapter 338: Vast Profits Sweet as Wine

For people you have a grudge against, it's best not to see them at all. But since he had already welcomed them in, Heifu did not put on airs. He accepted the apologies of Mai Hui and Shi Gong, only politely declining their gifts.

"Since the misunderstanding has been cleared up, you two need say no more. I only hope that in the future, the honey and sugar markets will let my cousin Yan have a share of the profits."

Heifu's noble rank was equal to Mai Hui's, but their actual authority was as different as heaven and earth. Mai Hui and Shi Gong were no fools; they knew they had provoked someone they shouldn't have. They admitted their fault with lightning speed, then mumbled their apologies and took their leave...

After the two men left, Heifu returned inside. Wu Zhiyan, however, did not depart, but remained seated on the mat.

The man was in his early thirties. His clothing was no different from an ordinary Qin person's, but his features were slightly unusual: he had a high-bridged nose, prominent cheekbones, deep-set eyes, a long face, and a thick beard. At a glance, he did not look like a Child of Xia, but rather like a Rong tribesman.

Wu Zhiyan was indeed a Rong. A hundred years ago, the source of the Jing River was still foreign Rong-Di territory. There was a Rong tribe called the "Wu Clan" that submitted to Yiqu. Later, King Huiwen of Qin defeated Yiqu and subjugated the various Rong. In the thirty-sixth year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, Yiqu was destroyed and Beidi Commandery was established. Wu Clan County was also set up at Mount Jitou, and the Wu Clan has been subordinate to Qin ever since.

Around the time the First Emperor took personal rule, a Rong merchant named Wu Zhiluo emerged from Wu Clan County. Relying on generations of raising mules and horses, he transported goods and engaged in transit trade. He first traveled south to Xianyang to buy silk fabrics, then went west to the various Qiang tribes, exchanging silk for the cattle and horses of the Qiang Rong kings, which he brought back to Guanzhong and sold to the Qin government. The round trip yielded enormous profits.

At that time, the First Emperor was about to unify the six directions. Both the wars of unification and domestic farming required vast numbers of cattle and horses. The Emperor therefore ordered the Privy Treasurer to engage Wu Zhiluo, making him an official Qin merchant specializing in foreign trade. For over a decade, he procured vast numbers of horses and cattle for Qin, ensuring the smooth progress of the wars while also meeting the needs of projects like the Mount Li Mausoleum. In view of contributions fully comparable to military merit, the First Emperor granted him the treatment of a feudal lord via the "bi" form, allowing him to attend court with the assembled ministers at the four seasons each year.

This decree was announced together with the honor of Widow Qing being named the Chaste Widow. In terms of wealth, Wu Zhiluo and Widow Qing were on par, both possessing fortunes exceeding a hundred million cash. But in terms of status, Wu Zhiluo was a cut above!

The reason Heifu reconciled with the Mai and Shi clans was mainly to do the Wu clan a favor. Wu Zhiluo was essentially the Foreign Trade Minister of Great Qin; he could not afford to offend him.

At this moment, the younger brother and son of Qin's two richest men sat facing each other, eyeing one another with faint, knowing smiles. It was clear this was not their first meeting.

When Heifu entered, he happened to hear Ba Zhong say, "Lord Wu, your information is truly well-informed, to have found your way here."

Wu Zhiyan replied in somewhat stiff Guanzhong speech, "I wouldn't dare. I simply didn't expect that Lord Ba and the Director of the Gentlemen's Households were old acquaintances. Why did you not introduce me? If you had, this misunderstanding would never have occurred."

"How was I to know that the Mai and Shi clans obey your every word?" Ba Zhong glanced at Heifu, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

Seeing Heifu enter, Wu Zhiyan rose and explained to him: "Director of the Gentlemen's Households, the reason I am acquainted with Mai and Shi is that wild honey from Beidi Commandery is transported to Xianyang and handed to the Shi clan's merchants for consignment sale. And in the lands beyond the frontier, apart from salt and cloth, malt sugar can also fetch a considerable price! Hence my contact with those two families."

"I recently heard that a novel item called brown sugar had appeared in the Southern Market. I was just about to come take a look when I learned that a lawsuit had arisen. I sent someone to inquire and only then discovered that the one selling brown sugar was the cousin of the Director of the Gentlemen's Households. There is a saying in the Central Plains: in mercantile affairs, harmony benefits both, conflict harms both. So I took it upon myself to step in and resolve this misunderstanding. I hope the Director of the Gentlemen's Households will not take offense."

It turned out that besides the transit trade in silk and livestock, Wu Zhiluo also transported Central Plains goods needed beyond the frontier, such as salt, cloth, and sugar.

Heifu's interest was piqued. "The Qiang people also eat malt sugar?"

"It is the Yuezhi people who are fond of malt sugar."

Wu Zhiyan had his own agenda and did not hide it. He said, "Travel six hundred li west from Wu Clan County to the source of the Great River. After crossing the river, you reach the land of the Yuezhi in Hexi. The clothing, food, drink, and language of the Yuezhi are somewhat similar to the Qiang. However, unlike the Qiang who burn fields to farm, the Yuezhi have no walled cities or permanent dwellings for tilling. They migrate following water and pasture, moving with their herds. Mutton and fermented mare's milk are their food and drink."

"Fermented mare's milk is only palatable with added salt brine or malt sugar. Therefore, the Yuezhi Rong kings trade several hundred head of cattle and horses each year for several thousand jin of Guanzhong malt sugar."

Heifu was already listening with rapt attention. He had heard of the Yuezhi, but he had not imagined that the Yuezhi were currently entrenched in the Hexi region, so close to Qin, and with so little friction between them.

And this trade route pioneered by the Wu brothers—could it be considered the earliest Silk Road?

At this point, Wu Zhiyan frankly stated his purpose.

"My visit today, aside from hoping that Mai and Shi could apologize to the Director of the Gentlemen's Households and clear up the misunderstanding, is also to express my hope that the Director of the Gentlemen's Households will, from now on, resell brown sugar to the Wu clan! And we, in turn, will sell it to the various Qiang and Yuezhi!"

Wu Zhiyan oversaw Xianyang for his elder brother, purchasing goods needed in the Di and Qiang lands. His eye for business was sharp.

After obtaining the brown sugar, he was astonished to discover that, compared to semi-dry malt syrup that is difficult to preserve for long, those horseshoe-shaped brown sugar lumps had been dehydrated and were extremely dry. Not only were they easy to carry and store, but their sweetness far surpassed malt syrup.

Even better, judging by the fact that the Nan Commandery merchants had brought out two thousand jin to sell in one go, this product was not like honey, which was difficult to mass-produce!

"If this item can be sold to the Qiang and Di lands, it will surely delight the Rong kings! My elder brother can trade for even more cattle and horses!"

While Wu Zhiyan was calculating the profits in his mind, Heifu was also making his own calculations.

"This is business delivered right to my door!"

And what's more, it was a foreign trade order delivered by the Wu clan, the number one official merchant of Great Qin.

The Qin dynasty suppressed small and medium merchants, strictly forbidding them from leaving the borders. Only the Wu clan, acting on behalf of the government, controlled Qin's trade with the various Qiang and the Yuezhi—the very beginning of the Silk Road.

To have his own family's product join this immensely profitable trade route, directly wholesaled and distributed by the Wu clan, was far more efficient than having his cousin, a stranger to these parts, sell loose brown sugar everywhere.

That was the immediate benefit. Looking long-term, if brown sugar traveled farther and farther on camelback, sold to the Western Regions, even to the Greek states and Rome, perhaps this route would no longer be called the Silk Road, but renamed the Sugar Road!

If, given time, sugar became China's leading export, who knows? Two thousand years from now, the English (assuming there still was an England) might not call China "China," but "Sweets!"

Though inwardly impatient, Heifu's expression remained perfectly composed.

"This matter, Lord Wu, you should ask my cousin about."

Heifu spread his hands, still feigning detachment. "I am a court official; how dare I violate state law and rashly engage in trade? However, I did hear from Yan that Nan Commandery's brown sugar yield this year was not large, and only two thousand jin were transported to Guanzhong, most of which has already been sold..."

"Too little, far too little!"

Wu Zhiyan looked slightly disappointed. Unexpectedly, Heifu continued, "But by next year, the brown sugar shipped to Xianyang might double. If Lord Wu likes it, you are welcome to buy half."

Half was not bad at all, enough to trade for several hundred head of cattle and horses. Wu Zhiyan broke into a smile. "It's a deal!"

"I am merely proposing this on my cousin's behalf. Once Yan is sober, I will have him pay you a visit to discuss this matter in detail..."

Heifu said, "You two might even settle the contract first."

Wu Zhiyan happily clapped hands with Heifu to seal the oath. Ba Zhong, hearing this from the side, was filled with immense regret.

"Detestable! It's all my fault for hesitating too long, letting that brat get ahead of me!"

The Ba clan was also involved in trade. Besides cinnabar as their main business, they also dealt in well salt and Bo bondsman trade, wielding considerable influence in Ba-Shu and the Five Streams region of Dongting.

As a merchant, Ba Zhong had long since noticed the trade value of brown sugar's dryness and portability. Although Ba-Shu's palate favored pungent flavors like ginger and Sichuan pepper, whose family's children didn't love eating sugar?

So after Wu Zhiyan took his leave, Ba Zhong no longer hesitated, nor did he fantasize about making Heifu owe him a favor first. He immediately bowed to Heifu and said, "Director of the Gentlemen's Households, I also have an uninvited request!"

"Brother Ba and I—why stand on ceremony?"

Heifu smiled. "Could it be that, like Wu Zhiyan, you wish to buy brown sugar from my cousin to sell in Ba-Shu?"

"Ba Zhong is greedier than that!"

He raised his head, his eyes burning with intensity. "I won't hide it from the Director of the Gentlemen's Households. As early as the first month, when someone sold brown sugar in Ba Commandery, my mother sent people to Nan Commandery to inquire. Though they didn't learn the exact production method, they already knew brown sugar was made from sugarcane. They saw thick smoke billowing from the workshop and people constantly hauling firewood inside; it must be obtained by pressing the juice and boiling it."

Heifu's smile faded. He knew the method for making brown sugar was too simple to keep completely secret, but he hadn't expected the Ba clan's information to be this well-informed.

Ba Zhong said, "I have no other intentions. Although my mother covets the profit of brown sugar, she is unwilling to secretly steal it. So she sent me personally to Xianyang to seek an audience with the Director of the Gentlemen's Households."

"Ask me what?"

Heifu picked up another jug of wine and filled cups for himself and Ba Zhong. He could scare off people like Mai Hui and Shi Gong, but if the Widow Qing of Ba wanted to seize his business, he would be helpless.

Ba Zhong bowed again and said, "Could you send craftsmen to open a workshop in Shu? The Neijiang area of Shu Commandery is low-lying and hot, and also has plenty of wild sugarcane. My family can send Bo bondsmen to burn the wilds and plant it. The annual yield would far surpass Anlu's. We could then use horse teams to sell brown sugar throughout Ba-Shu and the Five Streams region. The profit would be more than a million! My Ba clan is willing to split the vast wealth and profit with the Director of the Gentlemen's Households. What do you say?"

Another one coming to give him money? Heifu was stunned by these words. This profit was no less than the Wu clan's wholesale of brown sugar for sale in the west. It was like sweet wine, attracting greedy flies and gnats...

(End of chapter)