Chapter 625: Your Honey, His Poison

In the sixth month of the thirty-fourth year of the First Emperor, just as the southern expeditionary army, desperate as a sick man grasping at any cure, was about to burn the forests of the Hundred Yue lands to ash, thousands of miles away in Jiaodong, Heifu also planned to light a fire — but it was the fire of desire in men's hearts…

The southwest monsoon blew strong, and Yantai Harbor was busier than ever. With the establishment of the Haidong Trading Company, trade with Haidong was in full swing. The Jiaodong merchants, having tasted the sweet profits from the price difference in sable pelts between the two regions, tirelessly shipped Jiaodong's luxury goods over to satisfy the demands of the Joseon nobility, luring them into oppressing their commoners, forcing the people to hunt sables in the mountains day and night until their grievances filled the air. The fanciful trade war envisioned in the Guanzi was, unexpectedly, being realized here…

The Joseon nobility adored silk, lacquerware, and the like. But the Eastern Ye and the Three Han, who were even more backward and still blind to the beauty of such luxuries, had a fondness for something else entirely…

Having learned the lesson from last year, when the army marched south only to find nothing, Heifu's advice to Fusu was: do not rush to send in the troops.

"The remnants of the Lord of Canghai have entered the region between Mahan and Eastern Ye, constantly evading the Qin army. Our forces are guests on foreign soil in Haidong. If such a powerful armed force barges into the territories of Mahan and Eastern Ye, it will inevitably terrify them and put them on guard. It's quite possible the Lord of Canghai will exploit this, rallying Mahan and Eastern Ye to obstruct the Qin army. Once we engage them in battle and create enmity, our several thousand troops, isolated deep in hostile territory, will be bogged down in a quagmire, while the Lord of Canghai will simply take his band of desperadoes and move elsewhere."

The objective must be clear: the Qin army did not come to conquer, but solely to annihilate the Lord of Canghai and complete the First Emperor's mission.

Unlike the southern expeditionary army's approach of making enemies everywhere, Heifu believed that in foreign campaigns, the most crucial thing was to forge allies and make them work for you. Both Mahan and Eastern Ye could be won over.

Therefore, after the start of spring, aside from building "Han Fortress" as a permanent stronghold, the Qin army's main effort was to widely dispatch envoys and merchants to "make friends" with the various tribes.

Several months have passed, and judging by the reports coming back from Haidong, the results are quite good: under official orders, the merchants under Dao Jian and Guan Tong began exploring the Mahan region. The Mahan people have a total of 54 tribes, spread over several hundred li, the largest numbering in the tens of thousands, the smallest only a few hundred.

Among these tribes, many are named after dogs, like Doglu, Dogsu, Dogxi…

Whether cat or dog, the merchants, who could slip through any crack, guided by the dozens of tower-ship marines who had previously strayed into Mahan after a shipwreck, have basically visited every accessible tribe. To the chieftains of Mahan, they presented gifts from the Qin Prince: silk, lacquerware, iron knives, and brown sugar.

The Mahan chieftains had zero interest in the flimsy silk that offered no warmth, and though the lacquerware was gaudy, its function was no different from their crude clay bowls.

It was the sharp iron knives, and the sweet taste of brown sugar melting in their mouths, that truly made the Mahan people's eyes light up!

The knives are easy to understand — they are essential tools for tribal life. As for sugar, well, as long as one is human, there are very few who do not crave sweetness.

Humanity has long been addicted to sweetness. The principle behind this addiction is a tale of hardship: back when humans were still apes, they suffered a severe lack of calories, and sweet foods are rich in calories — the sweeter, the more energy-dense. Thus, upon seeing sweet food, humans would instinctively gorge themselves to stock up.

This primal memory is written into our genes, becoming an instinct, just like eating, sleeping, and mating.

Heifu's explanation for this was: "The desire for food and sex is the great natural desire of man, and barbarians are no exception."

The area of the brain excited by eating sugar is very similar to that excited by taking drugs, differing only in degree. In his past life, he once heard a movie line:

"Sugar is eight times as addictive as cocaine, and five times as likely to be lethal."

Though he didn't know if that statistic was utter nonsense or solid fact, the Mahan people, especially the wives, daughters, and sons of the chieftains, were indeed extremely fond of this sweet sugar. After finishing the small free sample, their appetite was whetted, and when the merchants returned the next month, they expressed a desire for more.

This time, it wouldn't be free. The merchants deliberately described the brown sugar as a rare and exotic treasure, an extremely precious commodity, which the Mahan people had to trade for with sable and leopard-cat pelts.

And so, trade relations between the Haidong Trading Company and the various Mahan tribes were established. Unfortunately, sable and leopard-cat pelts were also rare in Mahan. After two or three trading sessions, their stockpiles from the past decade or more were exhausted. In the region south of the Han River, these animals were relatively scarce, and they couldn't be caught in large numbers in a short time. As for the other goods in the tribes, the Jiaodong merchants had no interest…

Just as the Mahan chieftains were at their wits' end, the merchants made a tempting suggestion:

Mahan is poor, and there aren't many sables or leopard-cats to hunt locally. No problem!

"You can trade the heads of the Lord of Canghai's followers for it!"

The Lord of Canghai had already left the area of what would later be Hanseong, moving to the upper reaches of the Dai River (the Han River). After establishing a foothold there, he frequently made contact with Mahan and Eastern Ye, portraying the Qin people as bloodthirsty invaders who would enslave the Three Han and Eastern Ye.

The Mahan people were originally skeptical, but after Fusu established Han Fortress, he did not rashly deploy troops. Instead, he sent merchants on friendly visits, offering gifts and trading, which dispelled the tribes' misgivings.

But now, having grown familiar with both sides, Mahan had to choose between Qin and Canghai.

The choice could not have been easier!

"The Qin people can bring the tribes useful iron knives and delicious sweet sugar. What can the Lord of Canghai give us?"

Consequently, starting from the fifth month, the followers the Lord of Canghai sent to liaise with the various tribes began to be ambushed and killed en route. Their heads were promptly delivered to the merchants in exchange for a few jin of brown sugar, a few iron knives…

The heads of the Lord of Canghai's men had seemingly become the sole designated currency of the southern peninsula. Looking back at this long-plotted trade scheme, it was truly a case of "your honey, his poison"!

"At this rate, it will only cost ten thousand jin of brown sugar to wipe out the Lord of Canghai's followers!"

Hearing Chen Ping report that this sweet yet sinister plan was working, Heifu was very satisfied. Not every Mahan tribe was willing to engage in this trade of blood for sugar, but as soon as one tribe did, it would inevitably invite retaliation from the Lord of Canghai. Once they clashed and men died, the situation would become far more complicated. Sending merchant-envoys to fan the flames and bind the Mahan tribes to the Qin war chariot for a joint attack on the Lord of Canghai was only a matter of time.

"When the day comes to march, it will no longer be the Qin army facing enemies on all sides, but the Lord of Canghai. To be surrounded on his own turf — that feeling must be truly terrible."

Isn't the Lord of Canghai good at running? But when he discovers that all across the peninsula, there are tribes eager to trade his men's heads for rewards, where can he run?

In the end, despite his protests, Heifu had once again given Fusu a helping hand, and taught this inexperienced commander one thing:

"War can be won not only on the battlefield, but also in the court, and in commerce…"

As long as it's for victory, any means are justified!

According to Chen Ping, Fusu indeed greatly appreciated Heifu's plan, and even commented:

"To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence! The Army Supervisor truly is a master of warfare!"

…

Across the sea, the Haidong merchants were receiving a steady stream of heads, so Jiaodong also had to send several boatloads of brown sugar every month to sustain this exchange.

It is worth noting that this batch of brown sugar was no longer produced in Nan Commandery or Yuzhang, but came from Donghai Commandery. Due to differences in processing, it had been boiled too long, resulting in a dark, blackish color and a taste with a faint, scorched bitterness, hence it was called "black sugar."

Ever since the brown sugar industry emerged in Anlu ten years ago, Heifu knew that this business would sooner or later be confiscated by the authorities. Therefore, he did not restrict the outflow of sugarcane, even giving it away for free to the Widow Qing of Ba, allowing the trade to gradually spread everywhere: eight years ago to Yuzhang, seven years ago to Ba and Shu, six years ago to Jianghuai and Changsha, five years ago to Kuaiji…

Thanks to unification, information and trade flowed without hindrance. Seeing the profits to be made in sugar, those who established vast plantations and opened workshops across the regions were mostly the old nobility of Chu who possessed large tracts of land.

A year and a half ago, the Privy Treasury could finally restrain itself no longer and purchased all brown sugar workshops as state-owned enterprises, making it a government monopoly. Only then did this situation of bamboo shoots sprouting everywhere come to an end, with local magnates retaining only their vast sugarcane fields.

And now, the family with the most sugarcane fields in Donghai Commandery was none other than Heifu's old acquaintances, the Xiang clan. After all, even after the fall of Chu, the Xiang clan remained the largest landowners in Donghai Commandery. Besides their clan stronghold in Xiaxiang County, they also held considerable fiefs in places like Guangling and Tangyi in Huainan. According to the First Emperor's policy of "letting the common people register their own land," these lands were not confiscated by the government. With the Xiang clan's wealth, supporting several thousand troops was well within their means.

However, ever since the rebellion of the various Tian clans in Qi, the central government of Qin had changed its policy. After relocating the remaining powerful Tian families of Qi en masse, it was likely the Chu region's turn next…

It was only because the First Emperor had launched the southern campaign that the relocation edict had not been immediately issued — forcibly conscripting laborers while simultaneously uprooting the powerful nobles would offend both the elite and the commoners. If that happened, the Chu region would probably revolt as well.

That day, after finishing his inspection of the harbor, Heifu returned to his residence with Xiao He to discuss this year's treasury revenues and expenditures. Just then, Chen Ping arrived in haste, followed by a travel-worn man. After entering the hall and bowing to Heifu, he hesitated, as if wanting to speak but holding back…

Xiao He was a clever man and understood immediately. He promptly slapped his forehead, claiming he had left a ledger in his office and needed to fetch it for Heifu to review, then took his leave.

After stepping out of the hall, Xiao He looked back at the slowly closing doors, lost in thought.

Though Old Xiao, relying on his own abilities, had been valued by Heifu and promoted to Granary Section Chief, beginning to exercise his expertise and hold real authority,

he was well aware that Heifu's most trusted confidant was still Chen Ping.

The more he learned, the more Xiao He realized that Heifu's network of hometown associates and retainers spread across the land was mostly managed by Chen Ping, who reported to Heifu through him. These matters were completely unknown to "right-hand men" like himself and Cao Can.

It was precisely because of these informants planted everywhere that Heifu could, upon entering Pei County, directly find and recruit the "Three Heroes," wasn't it? Strangely, though, while Xiao He and Cao Can were given considerable responsibility, Liu Ji alone fared poorly, either serving as a pawn or a standard-bearer, kept confined for years without being allowed home.

A few days ago, Heifu seemed to change his mind again. As Jiaodong was sending a thousand commandery troops to support Fusu, he promoted Liu Ji to Centurion and dispatched him to the front lines in Haidong to serve, claiming it was giving him a chance to earn merit. By now, Old Liu had probably already reached Han Fortress.

In short, like everything else Heifu did, it was baffling.

Xiao He recalled again this time last year, Chen Ping's veiled probing, and became even more convinced that this was done at Heifu's behest!

"This Commandery Governor Wei is truly a man who blends orthodox and unorthodox methods — his ambitions are far from small..."

Xiao He shook his head. Though some unease stirred in his heart, he had been on the ship too long now and could hardly disembark.

"If the world falls into chaos, this great ship moored by the sea might well serve as a fine refuge."

And in the study, now emptied of all servants, Chen Ping listened as the retainer — the one Heifu had placed in Xiaxiang County, Donghai Commandery, specifically to keep watch over the Xiang clan — reported the sudden development to him.

"My Lord Commandery, a major incident has occurred in Xiaxiang County!"

PS: Chapter 2 will be in the evening.

(End of chapter)