Chapter Twenty-Four: The First Bucket of Gold

  Liu Ze stood up and took the guests to visit the samples of Shu brocade.

  "This is Brocade of Ten Colors... This is Raindrop Brocade... This is Carpet Brocade... This is Square Brocade, and over there are Washing Flower Brocade and Colorful Cloud Brocade."

  Lu Kazi is indeed a silk expert, with just a glance and a touch of his hand, he already knows the authenticity and quality, nodding constantly, saying: "Not bad, not bad, all are top-notch, such good stuff is really hard to come by in the market nowadays. Manager Liu, name a price, I'll take this whole batch."

  Liu Ze said with difficulty: "The small store has limited stock, and today there are only fifty pieces left. If Mr. Lukas wants them all, the store will have no goods to sell as soon as it opens, which seems a bit inappropriate."

  "Liu Zhanggui, we are real people who don't speak lies in front of each other. A mere fifty bolts of Shu brocade is not even worth looking at to me. If I want to buy it, then I will take all the goods from Liu Zhanggui's hands." Rukaizi was indeed wealthy and arrogant, opening his mouth to swallow up all the Shu silk in Liu Ze's hands.

  "Liu has some Shu brocade on hand, but currently the road to Shu is impassable and transportation is cut off. For the time being, Liu cannot estimate a suitable price. Not only you, Mr. Lukas, but also many merchants from your country and local wealthy businessmen have expressed interest in purchasing at a high price yesterday. I did not agree to any of them. If I were to sell to each of these gentlemen, would I still be able to make a profit in Luoyang? Therefore, after careful consideration, Liu has decided to release only 50 pieces of brocade per day for now, and will sell in large quantities after the market price stabilizes. At that time, Liu will welcome Mr. Lukas and other major merchants from your country with due respect."

  Liu Ze was well-versed in military books, and the military book said: "To capture, first release", which means to wait for the price to rise before selling. It's all just a smokescreen. Lukas listened and became visibly anxious. The batch of Shu brocade in Liu Ze's hands is now a rare commodity in Luoyang City. If he hesitates any longer, he might be beaten to it by someone else.

  "Mr. Liu, you're worrying too much. The current price is the current market price, and we'll settle at today's price. Buying and selling is a matter of mutual consent, so even if I buy it at a high price, I won't blame anyone. Mr. Liu, I'm sincere in wanting to buy this batch of goods, just name your price."

  Although he repeatedly asked, Liu Ze never quoted a price. Lukas was anxious and said: "Liu boss, for the past three days, you have been quoting a starting price of seven taels of gold, with a daily increase of 50%, yesterday's closing price was eight taels and one jiao, today's opening price must be eight taels and eight jiao. I am willing to offer ten taels of gold for one bolt of Shu brocade, would you sell all your Shu brocade to me?"

  Buying less at a low price and more at a high price, this business deal made Liu Ze want to laugh, but he restrained himself. He thought that since others had already bid up to ten taels, it was time to close the deal. So, pretending to hesitate, he said: "I understand Mr. Lukas' sincerity, if I continue to haggle, it would be impolite. Let's just consider us friends then."

  Lu Zhong heard that Liu Ze had agreed to sell and did not mention a higher price, so he was overjoyed: "I don't know how many pieces of Shu brocade Master Liu has on hand?"

  "Not too many, just over ten thousand."

  Luka was both delighted and worried. He was delighted that Liu Ze actually had 10,000 bolts of Shu brocade in his hands. If he could really get this batch of Shu brocade to Rome, the profit... He was worried because he had originally thought there would be at most only a few thousand bolts, so he hadn't prepared that much cash, but he didn't know if Liu Ze would agree to give him credit.

  Liu Zei saw that he looked embarrassed, and it was likely that his finances were not so prosperous. He said: "If Mr. Lukas finds it difficult, you can take a little less. It just so happens that several of your country's merchants also intend to make a purchase."

  This obvious opportunity to make money, Lukas was unwilling to let it go to others, and hurriedly said: "No, no, I want all of this batch of goods. Today, I came in a hurry and didn't prepare so much gold. Please, Mr. Liu, can you give me two more days? I will gather the gold and then make the transaction."

  "Business is all about credit, a promise is worth a thousand gold coins. Since I have already promised Mr. Lukas, I will not break my word, let alone two days, even if it's five or ten days, what's the harm?"

  Lu Cai was overjoyed, and with a wave of his hand, the people following him immediately carried in several large boxes. He said: "These 20,000 taels of gold will serve as a deposit. In two days, I will definitely bring the remaining gold to complete the transaction."

  The two shook hands to bid farewell. This Western courtesy, which Lukas had never used since coming to China, left him stunned when Liu Ze stretched out his hand, adding a few more points to his admiration for the young man.

  As expected, on the third day, early in the morning, Lukaz and his group arrived at Fuyuan Brocade House, moving more than a dozen large wooden boxes inside. After checking the gold, they handed over the Shu brocade, which was naturally handled by Jian Yun and Zhang Fei's men. Since the 10,000 bolts of Shu brocade were transported into the city yesterday, Guan Hai didn't need to guard the warehouse anymore.

  Liu Zele enjoyed the leisure, ordered someone to brew a pot of good tea, and chatted with Lukas. Listening to Lukas talk about the customs and culture of Persia and the Roman Empire, he couldn't help but feel some nostalgia. He heard that the nobles of Rome were fond of Eastern culture and were very interested in silk, paper, porcelain, and jade from the East, which is why they went to great lengths to transport silk, especially high-quality Shu brocade, which had always been a sought-after object among the nobility and noblewomen.

  Liu Zerong asked with interest: "Since paper, porcelain and jade are all things that the Western world does not have, why do you only transport silk fabrics and not other things?"

  "Sometimes we also bring other things, for example when the caravan has spare vehicles, but porcelain and jade are fragile and difficult to preserve. The quality of porcelain is uneven, and it's hard to find good ones. Paper is heavy and the profit is much lower than silk, so silk is our main business. This is also why your country calls this road the 'Silk Road'."

  Up until nearly noon, Jian Yong came forward to report: "Master, the actual amount of gold received is 80,000 taels, plus the deposit of 20,000 taels, for a total of 100,000 taels of gold received. Payment has been made in full for 10,000 bolts of Shu brocade."

  On the other side, Lukacz's followers were also reporting to Lukacz in his ear, but he couldn't understand a word of what they were saying, and it was definitely in Persian.

  Upon hearing the news of the goods being received, Lukas's face was filled with smiles. This time he took the initiative to shake hands with Liu Ze and bid farewell.

  Zhang Fei looked at the pile of gold on the ground and smiled at Guan Yu, saying: "Guan younger brother, when you were a bandit, have you ever seen so much gold?" He no longer called Guan Yu "Black Face Bandit", but instead liked to act superior, although Guan Yu was actually older than him, he still called him "younger brother".

  He didn't seem to mind Guan Hai's reversal, and he too seemed to be dazzled by the dazzling brilliance of gold.

  "The young master is really a godlike person. He made so much money in one trip to Yizhou, even if I robbed for my whole life, I wouldn't see this much gold."

  Liu Ze said to Jian Yong: "Jian Yong, calculate how much we made in total this time?"

  "We initially had 10,000 taels of capital when we first entered Luoyang. We spent 8,000 taels on purchasing iron tools, and 1,800 taels on transportation costs. In Yizhou, we sold the iron tools for 32,000 taels of gold, and bought 10,900 bolts of Shu brocade, spending 26,200 taels. We spent another 1,500 taels on transportation costs, and purchased a shop for 3,000 taels. After selling 10,300 bolts of Shu brocade, we earned 102,500 taels of gold. Adding the original remaining balance of 1,500 taels and the value of the remaining 600 bolts of Shu brocade, which is worth 6,000 taels, our total earnings are 111,000 taels of gold. After deducting costs, we made a profit of exactly 100,000 taels."

  Liu Zei slightly nodded, Jian Yong's calculation results were roughly the same as his estimate, while Zhang Fei and Guan Yu were shocked, 100,000 taels, one hundred million copper coins! They had earned ten times the cost of money, just by making a trip to Yizhou, using up only two months' time.

  "Wow! You're really made a fortune, big brother. You were born to do business and you've earned ten times the money in just two months. If we make five or six trips to Yi State in a year, won't that be an even bigger fortune?"

  Liu Ze shook his head and said: "This is the time, this is fate. People can't always be lucky, I don't plan to do business with Shu brocade anymore."

  Everyone was stunned, such a lucrative deal Liu Ze was willing to let go of, it was truly too strange.

  "Why?" Zhang Xing's wife was always the first to ask, her voice urgent.

  "This trip we gained so much profit, all because of the Sichuan road being cut off. Now that we can transport Shu brocade, others can too. Within three months, the price of Shu brocade will naturally plummet, and profits will be meager. Adding to the hardship of the journey, this business is no longer our first choice." Liu Ze gazed far ahead, and everyone else nodded in agreement, thinking his words made sense.

  "It's all because of you, brother. If you had given the navigation chart of the Qutang Gorge to Old White, we would have monopolized the shipping industry in the gorge and controlled the Shu brocade business. Why worry about having no business now?" Zhang Fei couldn't help but feel a bit disheartened, thinking that they had missed such a great opportunity to make money, which was unbearable for anyone.

  Liu Ze said solemnly, "The navigation of the Xiangjiang River is a matter of livelihood for the people of Yizhou. The people's lives are withering and production is backward, all because of the difficulties in transportation and the unsmooth flow of goods. How can I, for my own small gain, allow the people of Yizhou to fall into distress? Such an unjust thing, I absolutely cannot do."

  Jian Yong praised: "Brother Liu worries about the world and often has a heart to save the world. This kind of temperament, we can't compare with him. I'm sure Brother Liu already had an idea, what business will we do next?"