Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 62 The Feast: Guests Start Eating Before the Host Takes His Seat
After the battles and killings that followed the departure from the pass in the second half of 29 years, Wu Fei stayed in Yongji Pass for another six months in order to oversee the departure from the pass after the spring of the first half of the 30th year of the Heavenly Calendar.

Wu Fei continues working tirelessly because the work in southern Xinjiang is undergoing a transformation, and the key tasks are changing.

This year, the military expedition will only require a small number of troops stationed at Yongji Pass and a large number of auxiliary troops to escort these caravans to various tribes for distribution.

The Wu family army's main task has now shifted to supervising agriculture and sericulture, specifically targeting which chieftain tribes on the north bank of the Lingjiang River have not been diligently farming, or have even persecuted the farmers they sent there.

Based on intelligence reported by regional distributors, Wu Fei quickly identified a typical case: farmers from a Clawed People tribe were being kept locked up and living with their livestock.

In response, Wu Fei, feeling frustrated by the tribe's failure to live up to its potential, imitated the example set by Emperor Da Yao three hundred years ago when he deep-fried the Marquis of Qi. He directly ordered his vassal army to take the tribal chief to the altar in Fenxing City and chop him up as a sacrifice to the heavens! This allowed all the tribes to participate in the ritual.

Wu Fei: The people south of Lingjiang were terrified by my ambush last year, so the value of you on the north bank has decreased. You're all just farming now.

Therefore, the tribal leaders who had received the teachings of the Great Yao all expressed that they must not disappoint General Wu's high expectations and must go home and honestly farm.

The decline in the value of united front work is not limited to the tribes on the north bank of the Lingjiang River, but also extends to the wealthy merchants who once made significant contributions.

Under Wu Fei's sun-like radiance, the southern border became increasingly docile, signifying a decrease in trade risks within a 300-kilometer radius south of Yongji Pass. This decrease in risk also reduced the cost of military escorting of trade.

As merchants from within the pass crossed the border, the risk threshold decreased, and Wu Fei believed that sales prices outside the pass should also decrease. Although tax revenue from Yongji Pass would decrease, lower construction investment and procurement prices outside the pass would align with his future strategy.

But getting merchants to lower prices is incredibly difficult, which is why Wu Fei is stationed at Yongji Pass.

The "futures exchange" listed within Yongji Pass has been launched. This exchange is to ensure the price of bulk commodities such as cloth and salt, and of course, it also serves as a reminder to merchants! It is best to sell at this price, otherwise, if they cannot sell their goods within a certain period, the General's Mansion will forcibly buy them up at the lowest market price in the past six months from the "futures exchange".

Wu Fei taught these merchants, who were used to hoarding and speculating, a new term: "forced liquidation."

Wu Fei knew that the merchants were unhappy because the listed prices did not meet expectations from previous years.

Even some large merchants became uneasy after seeing Wu Fei's gaze. They suspected that their secret plot had been leaked, and that's why they were being reprimanded.

Wu Fei was unaware of the secret meeting of the businessmen; he only discovered the bug that needed to be fixed when auditing the Blood Price system.

In a favorable situation, soldiers expend less effort, but the system has a higher share of the spoils; conversely, in an unfavorable situation, more effort is required, but the system has less spoils to offer. This is a key reason why dynasties in history could start with overwhelming force but later become financially strapped.

The campaign in Southern Xinjiang is going too smoothly right now, with investment and returns at near-perfect cost-effectiveness. But what if Wu Fei's war machine is only going to dominate in Southern Xinjiang in the future?
If that's really the case, why is Wu Fei still studying tactics and techniques? The future will still involve tough battles, so we can't allow various interest groups to profit too much in war. If we get used to this "less blood, more reward" model, it will be detrimental to the future.

People within any system find it hard to accept a reduction in their compensation. If it's absolutely necessary to reduce the compensation of some people, Wu Fei will never allow those who wield the knife to suffer this injustice.

Therefore, the bloodletting needles for the merchants had to be inserted in advance.

Xuan Chong had drafted a list of merchants heading out of Yongji Pass: In future wars against foreign powers, we can't expect those poor folks inside to enthusiastically donate and fund the fighting themselves, can we? Expanding commercial interests through foreign wars ultimately comes down to the interests of internal interest groups. How can we possibly prepare to transfer our assets to neutrality, win the war, and then jump back in to reap the profits? Now, none of them should think of running away; they must obediently tie their interests firmly to the Wu family army's war machine.

Inside Yongji Pass, Wu Fei not only began establishing a "futures trading platform" and personally taking control of the raw material market in southern Xinjiang, but he also prepared to write down terms like "banking" and "commercial insurance" in his notebook. These terms were fashionable, and Wu Fei wouldn't use them indiscriminately, but as long as he was certain that the violent system could control them and that they would help him distribute his spoils, he would boldly try them out.

…The entire southern border was reflected in Wu Fei's pupils…

Yongji Pass and Fenxing City are now like two claws that Wu Xiaoque holds in the southern border.

Yongji Pass, as a defensive point, stands alone like a golden rooster, jutting into the western region with a commanding position. It can radiate outwards along multiple mountain roads, reaching most of western Southern Xinjiang. Fenxing City, on the other hand, serves as the eastern outpost.

Without Yongji Pass in the west, Fenxing City's strategic situation would be similar to Jian'an's, which defended the Yangtze River but not the Huai River, leaving a huge strategic gap. But now that Yongji Pass is in the west, it means that the enemy cannot form a large-scale camp of more than 10,000 people in the west. At this time, Fenxing City can serve as a forward base, gradually tearing apart the southern barbarian groups.

Throughout January and February, merchants like Yu Bai negotiated farming terms in several villages within a hundred li of Yongji Pass. Meanwhile, Wu Fei had already planned where to establish grain requisition stations when his army launched its future offensive.

Wu Fei looked at himself; he was twenty years old this year! There was enough time to stabilize and implement this strategy in the long term.

In this respect, Wu Fei was somewhat smug, thinking that although he was not Li Mu, he had more time to outlast the enemy.

…The dividing line of youth…

At the end of June in the 30th year of the Tianli era, Wu Fei was busy at Yongji Pass when a messenger from his family came to deliver a message.

Wu Fei had no choice but to return to his hometown by oxcart for his coming-of-age ceremony. Although the rites and laws of the Great Court had collapsed in some areas, they were not something the middle ruling class could arbitrarily violate. It was like how Liang Ji, in the mid-to-late Eastern Han Dynasty, was so arrogant that he fed the emperor cakes—that was already quite outrageous. But later, people still couldn't accept that Lü Bu had killed Ding Yuan, whom he had pledged his allegiance to.

Wu Fei's decision not to undergo the coming-of-age ceremony doesn't seem to have much of an impact at the moment, but it makes him appear like a "naughty child." Although Wu Xiaoque doesn't care about her nickname, if she really doesn't go through the ceremony, people can openly call her by that nickname.

Meanwhile, his hometown decided to give Wu Fei a proper welcome and invited prominent local figures to attend the ceremony.

Furthermore, with Wu Fei now officially in charge of military affairs, at the age of twenty, he has already become an important figure in the family, and his marriage is also a concern for the elders of the family. Once married, he can inherit the title of Marquis.

The Wu family had five marquis titles, but the position of General Zhennan held by the imperial court was what truly sustained the family's wealth and status.

This position currently belongs to Wu Hanluan. According to the usual practice of the imperial court, if anything were to happen to Wu Hanluan, the other marquises in the Wu family would be able to inherit the seal of office.

But in reality, everyone in the Wu family knows that if they really want to maintain this wealth, they have to rely on the success of the clan's members.

Within the Wu family clan, several elders sighed and reminisced about the past. Of course, they were mostly moved by Wu Fei's situation, praising their ancestors for blessing the family with many descendants.

Five years ago, Wu Fei was not highly regarded; in terms of archery and horsemanship, he was only at the level of an ordinary soldier.

Even seven years ago, I had a serious illness, which caused a deficiency in my qi and blood.

At that time, some elders in the family felt that Wu Xiaoque would have difficulty maintaining order in the vigorous and masculine ranks of the military. Within the clan, the lineage of Wu Hanluan was favored. During the great plague in the southern border region that year, only his generation of the "Han" generation survived; the rest succumbed to the disease. Wu Hanluan's son, Wu Hengyu, was strong and powerful from a young age, standing nine feet tall, and as a teenager, he could seize and throw a bull by its horns.

But for some reason, after Wu Fei recovered from his serious illness, Wu Hanluan focused on grooming Wu Fei, even giving him the courtesy name "Yuanchang," and sent his own son, Wu Hengyu, to Qingyuan Mountain. Clearly, he intended to pass the position of General Zhennan to his nephew. This puzzled the clan.

Eight years ago, Wu Fei was only twelve years old. When he first joined the army, he cried and begged to go up the mountain to cultivate immortality. Some of the elders in the clan couldn't bear to see him suffer, so they asked Wu Hanluan to leave a lineage for the descendants of his brother who had already died of illness. "Don't let him really die on the battlefield."

Five years ago, Wu Fei officially took control of several battalions. Due to his overly steady demeanor, some battalion leaders who had not made any contributions began to gossip. At that time, the clan doubted whether the frail Wu Fei could keep the army in check.
Thus, Wu Fei spent over ten years in the military struggling and rising through various controversies. Along the way, he couldn't have done without Wu Hanluan's support.

Now that all those ups and downs are over, Wu Fei, courtesy name Yuan Chang, is undoubtedly a pillar of the clan, though some formalities still need to be followed.

In the Wu family ancestral hall, voting began to determine the next generation of leaders for the Wu family.

At the large round table, eight elderly men sat with canes and teapots in hand. The eldest of the Wu family said, “Our Wu family is currently divided into two routes, north and south. The northern route was taken north by Han Luan and has endured three years, receiving continuous rewards from the imperial court. The southern route is near Yongji Pass, where Xiao Que ventures out every six months and has also made some gains. Let’s discuss this.”

The old uncle of the Wu family, who had watched Wu Fei grow up at Yongji Pass, tapped his solid iron cane: "In this world, we need people like Yuan Chang to stabilize the situation."

The elders of the clan nodded in agreement. Every household in Tianchi City had men serving in the military. Those in the Southern Route Army brought silver coins and received benefits like cloth coupons and sugar coupons every year; those in the Northern Route Army also wrote letters annually to report their safety and sent supplies promptly. —The arrangements behind all this were inseparable from Wu Fei.

In the end, everyone unanimously voted to appoint Wu Fei as the head of the Wu family.

…The perspective shifts to this side…

Wu Fei entered the pass and headed north. Outside the oxcart stretched fields of millet. Farmers were working in the fields. Wu Fei changed into homespun clothes, dug his hand into the mud, touched the soil, and then began to talk with the farmers.

Of course, as Wu Fei approached the fields, the farmers could tell he wasn't a farmer. Farmers always have a stooped posture; the shoulders of experienced farmers are dented from carrying hoes and manure. Wu Fei's fingers had dents from holding a pen.

Of course, this didn't stop Wu Fei from chatting with the farmers and exchanging his copper coins for some sweet potatoes to roast and eat.

While waiting by the pit where the sweet potatoes were roasting, Wu Fei overheard the farmers talking about how good life was going on: since the opening of the southern border, no household had experienced a period of food shortage this year, and the grain harvested from the fields was not only enough to eat, but could also be exchanged for some copper coins.

In other words, the exchange rate between taro, sweet potatoes, and millet in the market was always very reasonable. Farmers were shrewd enough to exchange all their food for taro, while keeping the millet in their granaries to sell when grain prices were highest in May.

Farmer: Don't think that we have enough to eat here. People up north still go hungry in April.

The old farmer said this with a smile, clearly proud of his current life. He then explained to Wu Fei that this year he had traded two loads of grain for a pretty child bride for his son.

This child bride isn't from the south; she was brought here by refugees from the north during famine. Wu Fei glanced at her; she looked rather plain.

…fertile water flows through the irrigation ditch…

After getting into the car, Wu Fei picked up a pen and wrote down his thoughts. Wu Fei could understand the joy of the farmer working in the fields; this was the situation after the benefits of opening up to the outside world and drawing capital and wealth had permeated to the lower levels.

Just like in my previous life, when foreign trade had just begun, all the ordinary citizens watched their wages rise, and the old four major household appliances were replaced with new ones. They also gradually became able to afford small and exquisite mobile phones and cars, experiencing happiness in the process of growth.

However, Wu Fei, who is currently "learning from history," knows that the benefits the farmers are reaping at this time are only a drop in the ocean compared to the current war profits. The old farmer's ability to find a child bride for his son is merely a result of the wealthy families finding a loophole. During this war, those wealthy families who invested wisely were definitely amassing a large number of slaves.

It is a bad thing if a power obtains huge benefits from the outside but fails to properly handle the internal distribution.

First, we must define what wealth is. Wealth consists of the labor power we possess (servants in ancient times, cattle and horses in modern times) and the means of production we own (land estates in ancient times, jobs in modern industrial production chains, key technologies, and sales channels). These constitute primary wealth. Strictly speaking, gold, bonds, and various securities are not primary wealth, but rather tools used to divide it.

Xuan Chong: Historically, Spain and the Netherlands acquired a large amount of precious metals through trade, but after the precious metals flowed into their countries, the greatest wealth was concentrated in the hands of noble missionaries.

Currently, the benefits gained from the switch are enormous, but due to the current relaxed strategy, the soldiers have not experienced bloody battles. However, strictly speaking, a large amount of the primary wealth has not entered the hands of the soldiers or the farmers who supply them. Wu Fei's best efforts to ensure that the soldiers and farmers only get a tiny bit of the benefits. Even so, the farmers and soldiers who feel greatly relieved are all grateful to Wu Fei.

In reality, it was the merchants and their own generals' mansions that massively expanded the wealth of the first class. These two groups acquired a large number of slaves and workshops. Although Wu Fei invested the labor force and means of production he acquired into reproduction, such as expanding southward to Yongji Pass, investing in mining, and investing in agriculture in the occupied areas to support the Tusi system.

By ancient standards, these already possessed a rather modern and innovative appearance, but the meticulous Wu Fei still felt that something was amiss.

Currently, there are problems with the distribution of the vast majority of primary wealth. Merchants, affiliated with clans, have amassed far too much land through slavery and other illicit activities. Furthermore, these clans and families are not sufficiently grateful to Wu Fei!

Wu Fei tossed the sweet potato peels on the ground, and the large yellow country dog ​​beside him immediately wagged its tail and came running. Wu Fei thought: "It eats my food and drinks my water, yet it's not even as well-behaved as a dog. Even a dog knows to wait patiently on the side!"

In the areas currently benefiting from the war, everyone wants to live in mansions, buy land, hire more maids, and have meat at every meal. However, merchants are already buying land, hiring slaves, and hosting banquets.

Wu Fei knew very well that his soldiers, who were paid with blood and knives, would feel resentful when they returned to their hometowns at the end of the year and saw these high-ranking officials holding banquets. They would need a couple of ounces of wine to calm their anger.

Whether in his past life or in the present, Xuan Chong was taught from a young age that when eating at a banquet, no one else could touch their chopsticks until the important people arrived and the host raised their glass to begin the meal! The host was the one who organized the banquet.

Wu Fei surveyed the grand feast of war within the pass. He himself had orchestrated this banquet, with the army setting the fires and the various ethnic groups of southern Xinjiang joining the meal. But the merchant class was already digging in the food, eager to seize the first source of wealth and make themselves "rich first."

Wu Fei: That's quite impolite.

Getting up and taking some soil from the countryside, Wu Fei said, "The trade quota for the opening of the border cannot be used by merchants for the distribution of the first wealth within the border. We need to open a bank and a bond exchange so that they can deposit all their money there. As for the BRICS side, let's put it on hold for now and deal with it slowly later."

Wu Fei made a note in his notebook: to start the banking business, the money that the donkey leg merchants earned this year will be deposited in the bank. Next year, they can use the bank's money to pay for goods such as "iron plows" and have priority in receiving the goods. The deposit will earn an annual interest rate of three percent.

Wu Fei decided to offer a pie in the sky to the businesses that were trying to get closer to him.

In the middle of the year, Wu Fei, who was coming of age, also made a promise to the elders in the clan: "At present, there is chaos in the country, but my family is thriving. In the past, the great families of the Central Plains looked down on us warriors. In a few years, when they are in dire straits, I will definitely marry a noble lady."

(End of this chapter)