Chapter Twenty-Five: Inserting a Flag and Selling the Head

  Liu Ze nodded and said, "I just have some ideas now, but I haven't decided what to do specifically. Jian Yun, you stay in the capital to take care of the silk shop's business. Don't rush to sell the remaining Shu brocade, just slowly release it. You can also bring in other goods as long as they can support this facade. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu will follow me north, first return to Zhuo County and then plan accordingly."

  After settling everything in Beijing, Liu Ze brought Zhang Fei and Gan Ning to secretly load ten million taels of gold onto carts and transport them to Zhuo County.

  After chatting with Lukas for a while, Liu Ze had a basic understanding of the next step in business. Doing business with foreigners is much more profitable than doing business domestically, and this was the experience Liu Ze gained from this Shu brocade business. He made up his mind to focus on international trade. Thinking about it, China's ancient exports mainly relied on two things: silk and porcelain. During the Qin and Han dynasties, silk was the main export, while after the Tang and Song dynasties, porcelain became the main export. Anyone can make silk, so the profit margin is not large, while ordinary porcelain does not have much value during the Han dynasty. Only those called "royal tribute" imperial kiln porcelain are truly valuable. Liu Ze made a secret decision that now that he has capital, he would build several kilns to specialize in producing blue and white porcelain and Tang Sancai. As long as he can produce high-quality products, foreigners' money is not a worry.

  Liu Ze's impression of porcelain is entirely modern. A Song dynasty Ru Guanyao 8cm plate was once sold for $15.4 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York, while a Qinghua vase from the Ghost Valley was sold for 235 million yuan in London, a price that is equivalent to two tons of gold. The shock of this small piece of porcelain being worth as much as two tons of gold is self-evident to Liu Ze.

  However, making porcelain is not a simple matter. First of all, you need to have good quality kaolin. Liu Ze first thought of Jingdezhen, which has been the porcelain capital of China since the Ming and Qing dynasties until modern times. But Jingdezhen is in Jiangdong, far away from here, very inconvenient. Liu Ze thought for a moment, aren't there also kilns from the Song dynasty? The Song dynasty had many kiln mouths, the most famous ones being Guan, Ge, Ru, Jun, and Ding. And isn't this Ding referring to Dingzhou? Liu Ze checked and found that the Ding kiln was located in Quyang's Jianci Village, less than 100 miles away from Zhuo County. That's close and convenient, so he went to Quyang to make porcelain.

  With a determined mind, I headed north. After crossing the Yellow River, I entered the territory of Hebei Province. On the official road, there were countless refugees, all wearing tattered clothes and looking pale and thin. Many had one or several adults leading several children, kneeling by the roadside, with grass signs on their heads. Regardless of whether they were adults or children, they all looked miserable, tears streaming down their faces.

  Liu Ze couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, the imperial court was corrupt, the people were struggling to survive, and the commoners had reached the point of selling their children, it could be said that there was almost no way out. The officials forced the people to rebel, and the people had no choice but to rebel. In Chinese history, how many times did peasant uprisings occur? In the end, they were all forced into it. It's better to die fighting than to starve to death. He instructed Zhang Fei to give a few coins to anyone begging or selling their heads along the way. Although it couldn't solve their livelihood, it was better than nothing, at least it could let them eat their fill for a few days.

  As they approached Ye City, the number of refugees increased, and Zhang Fei couldn't help but complain: "Big brother, there are countless refugees in this world, can you really provide for all of them?"

  Liu Ze sighed, "The common people are so miserable, how can I stand by and do nothing? Whatever I see, I give a few coins, it's just to clear my conscience." Zhang Fei was speechless, and handed out money all along the way.

  Just as they were about to proceed, an old man with white hair suddenly knelt down in front of the vehicle, blocking the path of the convoy. He kept kowtowing and muttered: "Good gentlemen, please have mercy."

  Zhang Fei was quite displeased. This old man had just received a few copper coins from him, but instead of being grateful, he blocked the horse carriage and clearly wanted to ask for more money. Zhang Fei scolded: "You old fellow, you have no sense of propriety! I've already given you money, are you saying it's not enough?"

  Liu Ze blocked Zhang Fei, got off the carriage and helped up the old man. It turned out that the old man was only in his fifties, but his hair was already white, his face was pale and haggard, his bones were thin as firewood, and his clothes were tattered.

  He grasped Liu Ze's arm tightly and said in a hoarse voice: "Master, save my son, please."

  Liu Ze only then noticed that beside him was also kneeling a boy of about ten years old, thin and small in stature, weak and frail, with a grass sign on his head. Liu Ze's heart was moved to pity, he took out a Roman gold coin and handed it to the old man, saying: "Old sir, take the child back home."

  The old man did not accept the gold coins, but instead said: "Please buy this child from me."

  "Hey, old man," Zhang Fei said with a curious tone, "How much are you selling this kid for?"

  "I don't dare ask for more, five hundred coins will do."

  Zhang Fei laughed and said, "I suppose you don't recognize this gold coin. This one gold coin is at least one or two taels, equivalent to 1,000 wen. Our young master took pity on you and gave it to you as a reward, so hurry up and take it back home."

  "Pan Mou didn't come for money, he just asked Master to take in the child and give him a way out."

  Liu Ze secretly sized up the old man, although his clothes were tattered, but he was wearing a high crown and a wide belt. Ordinary rural farmers wore straight jackets and short coats, this outfit must be from a scholar's family, and his language was also different from that of ordinary farmers. So he asked: "May I ask where you are from, sir, why have you fallen to such a state?"

  The old man couldn't help but shed tears, saying: "My surname is Pan, my name is Yue, and I am from Hejian State in Jizhou. My family lives in Dongpo Village, Gaoyang County. Originally, we had over ten mu of thin land, and I could read a little, teaching at a private school. Although we were not rich, we could still warm our bellies. But because that eunuch Zhang Rang occupied the land in Gaoyang, all our property was seized. I reported it to the county government, but the county magistrate accused me of false accusation and beat my legs with a stick. Our house was also confiscated, and my whole family became refugees. We had to beg along the way to survive. This year's drought is severe, not a grain can be harvested. Forget about food, even tree bark and grass roots are hard to find. Many refugees have starved to death on the road. My wife and daughter have already died of starvation, leaving only one son. I hope you, sir, will take pity on me and accept us as slaves. We don't ask for anything else, just a bowl of rice to eat is enough."

  The little boy cried out: "Daddy, don't sell me, even if we have to die together."

  "Son, don't blame your father for being heartless. It's just that the world is cruel. If you follow me, there will only be a dead end." Old Man Pan then said to Liu Ze: "Please, sir, have mercy and spare my child's life!" He knelt on the ground and started kowtowing loudly, knocking his head against the ground until blood flowed from his forehead.

  Liu Ze hastily helped him up and said, "Alright, I'll take this child in for now. Please don't worry, old man. As long as Liu is alive, he will never let your son go hungry."

  Pan Lao Han was overjoyed and hastily told the child: "Don't you quickly thank the benefactor?"

  That child was very well-behaved and kowtowed, saying: "Pan Feng thanks you, sir."

  Liu Ze was taken aback and said: "You are Pan... Feng?"

  Pan Feng nodded and said: "Yes, Pan of the whirlpool Pan, with the phoenix coming ceremony's phoenix."

  Old Man Pan said: "The young one is twelve years old this year and has learned a few characters from Mr. Pan, please forgive him for being laughable."

  “Pan Feng……” Liu Ze thought to himself, could it be that Pan Feng, the general of Hebei province governor Han Fu who was beheaded by Hua Xiong at the Battle of Boma? However, there are many people in the world with the same name and surname, this Pan Feng may not necessarily be that Pan Feng. Moreover, Pan Feng's death occurred eleven years later, and by then this child would have been twenty-three years old, and was also under the command of Hebei province governor, it is likely to be the same person. If it were really him, naturally, a great advantage could be gained. Liu Ze saw that although Pan Feng was still young and slender in build, his eyebrows were full of vigor, and he had a liking for him in his heart.

  Although Old Man Pan insisted on not accepting more, Liu Ze still forcibly stuffed 10,000 yuan into his hands. As he gradually disappeared from view, Pan Feng in the car had already become teary-eyed, but he gritted his teeth and bit his lip tightly, not making a sound.

  Buying back Pan Feng made Liu Ze fall into deep thought. At the age of eleven or twelve, a young boy is at the best time to be nurtured. Whether it's knowledge or martial arts, as long as he cultivates with his heart, in ten years' time when competing for hegemony in the world, he can become the greatest capital. The key is that at the age of eleven or twelve, it is easiest to instill loyal thoughts, and as long as the method is right, it is enough to make them serve for a lifetime.

  Liu Ze ordered Zhang Fei and Guan Yu that as long as they saw people selling their sons or daughters, they would buy them back with money. It didn't matter if they were a bit thin, but those who were deaf, mute, disabled, or foolish were not allowed. The age limit was above 10 years old and below 15 years old. In addition, the proportion of girls was only one-tenth that of boys. When selecting girls, they had to be more careful, and apart from the above conditions, they also had to have a slightly better appearance.

  Zhang Fei's eyes widened in surprise, staring straight at Liu Ze and asked: "Big brother, are you telling the truth? Are you not joking?"

  Liu Ze smiled and said: "When did I ever joke with you?"

  "It doesn't matter if you buy one or two, just consider it as buying a small servant. It also doesn't matter if you rescue refugees, anyway, it won't cost much money. But if you bring back so many kids, once you bring them back, you have to raise them. They'll eat and drink for free, but can't work. Even if you own a mountain of gold, they'll still devour everything."

  "I have a plan for this, I'll tell you later. You and Ziqian go and take care of it immediately." Ziqian is Guan Yu's courtesy name.

  Zhang Fei had no choice but to follow Liu Ze's words and act accordingly.

  All along the way, there were many signs of selling boys and girls. Whatever met Liu Ze's requirements on the way, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu would buy them all. As soon as they entered Julu County, they had already bought back 700 or 800 young people. Due to insufficient vehicles, hundreds of children followed behind the team, bustling and noisy, chaotic.

  Liu Ze sat in a teahouse in the town, sipping tea and thinking about how to settle these young people. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu were busy outside arranging for the young people to have breakfast.