Chapter 63: The Bad Luck of Recent Times

This work-relief approach completely dispelled the refugees' concerns. Furthermore, Mount Tai's wage standard settled accounts on a daily basis with zero delays, and they could absorb any number of incoming people. Chen Xi had already mastered this mechanism; as long as money continued to circulate within Mount Tai, he could keep the operation running indefinitely.

In the short term, Chen Xi was by no means short of money and grain. The wealth and goods obtained from suppressing bandits and training troops were sold off to Xuzhou in exchange for grain, which was then hauled over. Xuzhou possessed abundant grain reserves, and Tao Qian was willing to support Liu Bei, naturally consenting to lend grain to Chen Xi. Combined with the supplies from bandit suppression and grain purchases, Chen Xi had over a million dan of grain flowing through his hands.

One had to admit that Kong Rong's reputation and Tao Qian's wealth were formidable. Under such robust support, Liu Bei was currently living much better than Cao Cao. At the very least, Mount Tai Commandery was presently a scene of bustling activity everywhere, even presenting an illusion of false prosperity. Looking out, one saw endless carriages and horses in a prosperous spectacle, while Cao Cao was still wandering...

The reason it was called false prosperity was simply because the moment Chen Xi withdrew his grain investment, the entire Mount Tai would plunge into depression and even rapid collapse. However, as long as they persevered for another few months until September, when the millet matured, Chen Xi could withdraw his own grain investments without encountering any problems.

What Chen Xi was waiting for now were these three months. Relying on self-provided seeds and a small number of plow oxen, the summer grain had basically allowed all cultivable land in Mount Tai to be tilled. In any case, summer millet took about a hundred days to mature. Once they survived this period, the subsequent plans would have a solid foundation. Therefore, during this timeframe, Chen Xi was fully prepared—whoever dared to look for trouble would simply meet their end!

In this July of 191, Yuan Shao had just ascended the throne in Jizhou, Cao Cao was about to establish a foothold in Dongjun, Gongsun Zan had not yet completely secured Youzhou, and Liu Yan had just sealed off Yizhou, preparing to claim kingship and hegemony. At this juncture, everyone was laying their foundations; no one would jump out to provoke others, making it the final window for development.

The years 192 and 193 could be considered the ultimate opportunities for growth. Starting from 194, natural disasters would strike incessantly—severe droughts, locust plagues, and epidemics would ravage the land continuously. In contrast, during the unfortunate years of 192 and 193, only Emperor Xian in Chang'an suffered, enduring earthquakes year after year, which led to the constant replacement of the Three Excellencies...

Seizing this final opportunity, Chen Xi was fully prepared to purchase grain everywhere, as such an opportunity would likely never present itself again. Stockpiling enough grain for several years all at once, he would certainly not end up like Ying Shao, the Administrator of Mount Tai in history, who—despite defeating the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans—gained absolutely no benefits in the end due to a lack of grain. Grain was the ultimate king in this era!

Taking advantage of the last two bountiful harvest years to properly accumulate wealth and grain, and then utilizing the subsequent locust and drought disasters to completely swallow up the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans while they were stricken by calamity—this was the most realistic and viable plan. In short, the strategy for these two years was to build high walls and store up abundant grain.

Zang Ba had already surrendered. Seeing that their side lacked top-tier generals and considering Zang Ba to be somewhat passable, Zhang Fei did not voice any further objections. As for Hua Xiong, he calmly accepted Zang Ba as his deputy. Although he had previously defeated Zang Ba through pitched battle, he knew his own limitations; when it came to truly commanding troops, he apparently was no match for Zang Ba.

Zang Ba was very pleased that Hua Xiong was willing to accept him as a deputy. Although he was severely injured, he still gritted his teeth, mounted his horse, patted his chest, and declared that he still retained some prestige in Mount Tai, offering to go and persuade Sun Guan, Wu Dun, and Yi Li to surrender.

Although Hua Xiong was not particularly sharp-witted, judging others by himself, he felt this was worth a try. Thus, amidst Zang Ba's profuse expressions of gratitude, he dispatched a few men to escort him to the mountain stronghold of Sun Guan as he had requested.

Sure enough, Zang Ba was a man of his word and did not take advantage of the opportunity to raise a new army and fight Hua Xiong again. Instead, driven by Hua Xiong's loyalty and trust, he endured the hardship and successfully persuaded all three major bandit chieftains of Mount Tai to surrender. Shortly thereafter, Sun Guan bound himself and presented himself before Chen Xi.

The grain-seized incident was thus put to rest. As for the deceased members of the Zhen family, Chen Xi could not be bothered to care; anyway, he could no longer find common ground with the Zhen family.

By September, Mount Tai was pacified, and Chen Xi finally had plenty of time to throw his weight around, along with a few capable men at his disposal. Of course, the strategists he had previously envisioned were basically not recruited; none of these fellows looked favorably upon Liu Bei. Figures from aristocratic families like Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, and Gu Yong even hurled sarcastic mockery at Liu Bei's subordinates who came to recruit them.

In the end, Chen Xi extinguished the thought of continuing to recruit scholarly ministers. Accumulating grain on a grand scale was something he could accomplish quite well on his own anyway. Having them would at most mean drinking a few more cups of tea each day, while not having them meant drinking a few fewer cups—it made no significant impact.

As for the Zhen family, which had originally intended to invest in Liu Bei, they quietly reduced their investments in Mount Tai after Yuan Shao entered Jizhou. It was evident that in the eyes of the Zhen clan members, Liu Xuande—an imperial clansman whose identity had been verified by the Clan Court—did not possess as much potential as Yuan Shao, who came from a lineage of three dukes over four generations.

Chen Xi had anticipated this long ago and never took it to heart. Ambition and trimming the sails to the wind were always essential traits of an excellent merchant. He had never imagined that simply because of his arrival and casual arrangements, the Zhen family would give him their all; such a scenario was fundamentally impossible.

Situated in the heart of Jizhou, the Zhen family inevitably had intricate, multi-layered connections with Yuan Shao, who occupied Jizhou and harbored ambitions for hegemony. Coupled with family-style management, they naturally would not stake their entire clan on one person's personal sentiments. On the surface, the Zhen family might seem merely a wealthy mercantile clan, but Chen Xi was well aware of a fascinating detail: could a family whose hereditary official posts carried a stipend of two thousand dan merely be wealthy merchants?

The Yuan family was a lineage of three dukes over four generations. In the Three Kingdoms era, where aristocratic families strictly demanded matching social status in marriage, why would Yuan Shao let his most beloved son marry Lady Zhen simply based on a physiognomist's remark that "this maiden possesses the bearing of a phoenix presiding over the realm"? What a joke! No matter how vast their family fortune might be, the entire Hebei region belonged to the Yuan family, and they were already casting covetous eyes upon the empire. What did wealthy merchants amount to? Were they lacking in wealth? Absurd!

Chen Xi had nothing to say regarding the Zhen family's choice. Now was not the time to settle such scores, and even if Yuan Shao were eventually overthrown, the Zhen family could not simply be wiped out; at most, the head of the family would be replaced. Before possessing absolute strength, provoking the aristocratic class was an unwise move. Of course, if Liu Bei grew utterly infuriated, there would be no helping it.

The Zhen family's withdrawal thoroughly enraged Liu Bei, who was already riding a wave of recent frustrations. After all, his recruitment of famous scholars had failed and resulted in mockery; now, even a wealthy merchant dared to climb over his head. It was only natural for Liu Bei to be angry.

Fortunately, after Chen Xi clarified the pros and cons, Liu Bei did not completely burn bridges with the Zhen family. However, judging by the expression of suppressed fury on Liu Bei's face, once the Zhen family fell into his hands, they would definitely not have an easy time of it. Once his temper flared up, presumably the entire Hebei aristocracy would be in for a spell of bad luck.

Driven by necessity, Chen Xi had no choice but to send word to Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping, extending their business operations into Jizhou as well, and signaling them to quickly squeeze out the Zhen family's salt industry and northern horse trade. They needed to force the Zhen family to apologize to Liu Bei posthaste; otherwise, once this anger brewed for three to five years, and Chen Xi captured Qingzhou and flattened Yuan Shao, the Hebei aristocracy might very well end up dragging the entire Zhen family down with them into the abyss.