Volume 1: Kyoto Winds and Clouds Chapter 51: Forcibly Confiscating Two Merchants' Arms

  Liu Zhang had long known that such a great achievement, if the emperor did not summon him to the capital, would be strange. As for overshadowing the ruler, Liu Zhang had not thought about it yet. No matter how great the achievement, it depends on who achieved it. If an outsider achieved such a great achievement, they would likely be killed, but Liu Zhang was a member of the Han imperial family, so even if he were to be made king, it would not be excessive. However, as long as Liu Hong did not die, Liu Zhang would not be destroyed. If Liu Hong died, unless Liu Zhang was willing to give up his power, then he would not want to rebel, and the next ruler would not tolerate him either. But does Liu Hong have an heir? The answer is no!

  To be honest, Liu Yan really didn't like Youzhou. This place was cold and had no benefits, and he also had to worry about foreign invasions. Originally, taking advantage of this great victory, Liu Yan wanted to make some moves and transfer himself to another place, but he encountered strong opposition from Liu Zhang. Because Liu Zhang knew that in a few more years, the biggest chaos at the end of Han would come. At that time, the whole country would be full of Yellow Turbans, except for the relatively safe area around Luoyang, other places would be dangerous, and Youzhou was located on the border, so the chaos would be smaller.

  Moreover, Liu Zhang had his own motives. If he went to Luoyang, how could he still control the elite soldiers and powerful generals? As for places like Jiaozhou that were not affected by the war, with Liu Zhang's temperament, why would he be willing to retreat there? Of course, if Liu Yan could go to Yizhou ahead of time, Liu Zhang wouldn't object. It's just that Liu Zhang won't go because he still wants to establish his own dreams in this chaotic world. And now, Liu Zhang is having a headache over something very important!

  When attacking Wu Huan Mountain, Liu Zhang was very dissatisfied with the weapons in his brothers' hands! Not to mention the legendary Zhang Fei's eight-foot snake spear and Zhao Yun's silver dragon gun, even Zhang Ren's long gun was not an ordinary product. But now, except for Liu Zhang having the Emperor's gift of the Hegemon Spear, all his brothers were holding ordinary soldiers' weapons, with some using ordinary ironwork specially made by blacksmiths, which really annoyed Liu Zhang!

  Liu Zhang could have used money to buy some good equipment, but how can the bought equipment be compared with special equipment? As soon as Liu Zhang returned to Ji County, he immediately turned his attention to Su Shuang and Zhang Shipei, two merchants from Youzhou! In history, didn't these two people give Liu Bei 500 horses and a thousand kilograms of iron? Since Liu Zhang has come, these things naturally cannot fall into Liu Bei's hands again!

  What is the greatest profit of a merchant in Youzhou? Undoubtedly, it is goods such as horses, tea leaves, salt, and ironware. However, these things are all controlled by the imperial court. Once discovered, unless one has connections within the imperial court, they will inevitably suffer official punishment! Su Shuang and Zhang Shipei were the largest smugglers of ironware and horses in Youzhou. Historically, what they gave to Liu Bei was just unsold or leftover goods that couldn't be sold.

  Liu Zhang cannot openly visit Su Shuang and Zhang Shi Ping, nor do they have the qualifications. However, Liu Zhang has a way to make them come to the Youzhou Governor's Mansion on their own initiative! Because Liu Yan is the local emperor of Youzhou, as long as he gives an order, Su Shuang and Zhang Shi Ping will find it difficult to move in Youzhou!

  Those officials who were bribed by Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping did not necessarily listen to Liu Yan's words. However, Liu Zhang's victory over the strong Wuhuan tribe made them fearful. That powerful army that could defeat tens of thousands of Wuhuan people became a nightmare for the aristocratic families in Youzhou, they didn't dare mention it together with the Wuhuan army. Nevertheless, there were still many honest people among the aristocratic families who took Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping's money and told them who was making things difficult for them!

  Actually, Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping had long wanted to visit Liu Yan, but due to various reasons, they never made it. By the time they knew about Liu Yan's and Liu Zhang's strong stance, it was already too late! However, as businessmen, Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping would not dare to offend the authorities. Since Liu Yan was dissatisfied, they naturally wanted to appease his anger.

  Su Shuang and Zhang Shi-ping brought a thick gift to Ji County. When they saw Zhang Fei, their eyes lit up instantly. Because Zhang Fei's father, Zhang Xiong, had a good relationship with Zhang Shi-ping. As the saying goes: one stroke cannot write two Zhang characters. Seeing Zhang Fei, Zhang Shi-ping naturally wanted to take advantage of this relationship. Although Zhang Fei did not understand why Liu Zhang wanted to make things difficult for Su Shuang and Zhang Shi-ping, he had a good point - no matter what Liu Zhang said, right or wrong, even if he asked him to go to his death, he would go. Therefore, under Liu Zhang's orders, Zhang Fei became an accomplice in extorting and blackmailing Zhang Shi-ping and Su Shuang.

  Liu Zhang wanted to recruit Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang for his own use. With tens of thousands of cattle, sheep, and horses in his hands, it would be difficult for him to handle them without someone who could assist him effectively. However, this depends on whether Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping are willing to cooperate or not! If they refuse, Liu Zhang wouldn't mind getting rid of them! Under Zhang Fei's leadership, Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping met with Liu Zhang. As for Liu Yan, after issuing an order restricting Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping, he put the two men out of his mind. No matter how rich a merchant is, in the eyes of the orthodox aristocracy, they are still considered lowly people!

  Su Shuang and Zhang Shi Ping were also shocked, they never thought that the person who really wanted to see them was this thirteen-year-old young master. However, Su Shuang and Zhang Shi Ping did not dare to underestimate this young master, because they knew that under Wuhuan Mountain, the blood of tens of thousands of Wuman people had not yet dried, and in the eyes of this young master, they were no heavier than an ant!

  In the living room, Liu Zhang sat quietly in the first place for a while. Su Shuang and Zhang Shipei couldn't bear the atmosphere in the house anymore. Su Shuang suddenly stood up and saluted: "I don't know what orders the young master has for us to come here. If it's because of our negligence last time, please forgive us, we are willing..."

  "Are you worthy?" Liu Zhang said coldly: "Kill you, and all your things will be mine! I think no one would want to offend me for the sake of two lowly merchants. And even if you report it to the Emperor, I'll just turn my crime into a merit. With my abilities, merits are easy to come by. You should know that I'm only thirteen years old, and there's still a long way to go! Even if official promotions come slowly, they're beneficial for a long life!"

  "Bang!" Zhang Shipei's teacup fell to the ground, and he thought Liu Zhang was just dissatisfied that they hadn't come to pay their respects in advance. He didn't expect Liu Zhang to have thoughts of killing them. Zhang Shipei ignored the broken teacup on the ground and hastily knelt down: "Young master, we didn't mean to not come, but... as long as you're willing to forgive us, we'll offer up all our family's property, including those things that no one knows about!"

  "You think I'm looking for you, wanting your things?" Liu Zhang smiled: "I'm not one of those useless aristocratic families, what I want is a subordinate, a loyal and dedicated subordinate!"

  "Then..." Zhang Shipei and Su Shuang looked at Liu Zhang hesitantly, after a long while, Su Shuang said helplessly: "Young master, if we surrender to you, can you guarantee the safety of our families?"

  "Oh?" Liu Zhang somewhat understood, generally speaking, big businessmen like Su Shuang and Zhang Shi Ping, if they didn't have some backing, it would be impossible for them to last long. Liu Zhang smiled and asked: "It seems you also have someone to consider, tell me, who is it that you're considering?"

  "Yuan's family!" Zhang Shiping said: "The horses and ironware of the Yuan family are all purchased from us, but they pay too little money and ask for too many things. They also say that if we dare to pass off inferior goods as good ones, they will make it impossible for us to stand in the great Han! If we surrender to you, the Yuan family will definitely be unfavorable to us!"

  Liu Zhang burst out laughing and said, "Indeed, enemies meet on a narrow road! My family and the Yuan family are sworn to be bitter enemies until death. If you surrender to me, your families will become my servants, following my parents. However, let's get the ugly words out of the way first - if you dare to bully the common people relying on my family's power, beware of losing your dog's head!"

  The big families who took in people also had rules, and for someone like Liu Zhang, the family members of Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang could serve as servants, which was already a great kindness. As the saying goes: "The prime minister's family is a seventh-grade official." In Youzhou, Liu Yan and his son were the most powerful, and who knows how many people wanted to enter the Youzhou governor's mansion as a servant? Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping got Liu Zhang's promise, and the two of them excitedly knocked their heads in front of Liu Zhang: "Thank you, sir!"

  "Get up!" Liu Zhang was very satisfied with Su Shuang and Zhang Shi Ping's performance, but still needed to be tested.

  "How is it, sir, that you are so concerned about the two of us merchants?" As they were already subordinates, they naturally had to understand Liu Zhang's intentions. Su Shuang and Zhang Shi Ping knew that if they couldn't show their due value, then they wouldn't have any reason to exist either.

  Liu Zhang knocked on the table and said: "I need a batch of weapons, the best weapons!"

  Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping looked at each other with wry smiles. The Yuan family had also found them for the same reason back then, but the Yuan family was not as overbearing as Liu Zhang. Su Shuang said: "Your Excellency, we have a batch of refined iron weighing nearly 10,000 catties, which will be delivered to Your Excellency soon!"

  Liu Zhang waved his hand and said, "Su Shuang! I'm not one of those idiots from the Yuan family who needs underlings to deliver things for me! Besides, with your family's wealth, you might be considered first or second in Youzhou, but in the Great Han, you're nothing! Since I use you, if I only let you pay out and don't give anything back, sooner or later you'll betray me..."

  "How dare you! How dare you!" Liu Zhang had just said this when Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping quickly knelt down to show their attitude.

  "Don't interrupt me!" Liu Zhang said displeased; "It's not that I trust your loyalty, but loyalty is not something merchants should have. Merchants only have profit in their eyes, so I'm going to tie you up with benefits. From today on, you are my subordinates, under my protection, except for paying normal taxes to the country, I'll take 40% of your annual net profit, and you'll each take 30%. As for the money to bribe officials, after you belong to me, you won't have to give it anymore! Whoever dares to have an opinion, just say it's what I said! If he dares to speak out of turn, I dare to eliminate him!"

  As a businessman, vision is the most important thing. The Yuan family's eating was too ruthless, almost cutting off the lifeline of the Su and Zhang families. But if Liu Zhang really got angry, they would also be unlucky. Because the Yuan family controlled the sales route of the Su and Zhang families, but Liu Zhang controlled the source of the horses. Since both were dead ends, Su Shuang and Zhang Shipei felt that Liu Zhang was worth a try! Looking at the overbearing Liu Zhang, Su Shuang and Zhang Shipei's hearts gradually leaned towards him!