Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

under the moonlight.

Liu Bei and Geng Yong, these two best friends, chatted until late at night, until they were completely satisfied, before returning to their thatched hut, lying down on their beds, and falling asleep immediately.

The two slept side by side, soon snoring loudly.

In his previous life, Liu Bei also shared a bed with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun. It seems that Zhuge Liang also slept in the same bed with Liu Bei.

"How can I allow someone else to snore beside my bed?"

Liu Bei sharing a bed with someone was merely to express their close and deep friendship, and it was by no means the kind of "best buddy" relationship that modern people might imagine.

Although several emperors of the Western Han Dynasty had homosexual tendencies, Liu Bei, a rugged and generous northern man, had absolutely no such inclinations.

The two of them slept soundly through the night.

the next day.

The first light of dawn was just appearing in the east.

Liu Bei was then awakened by the sound of a rooster crowing.

He slept very well last night. As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt all his fatigue disappear and he felt very relaxed, so he got up immediately.

Geng Yong was still fast asleep.

Liu Bei did not disturb him.

After putting on his clothes, the bird quietly left the west wing of the thatched hut.

We arrived in the courtyard.

Mother Wu had gotten up sometime earlier and was efficiently chopping firewood and steaming wheat porridge.

Liu Bei scooped up a handful of water from a stone trough and washed his face to quickly wake himself up.

"Mother, I have to go to Shiwulipu again today. Don't keep weaving straw sandals at home. Take a break every half hour."

"I understand. Be careful when you're out and about, and don't get into arguments with anyone."

"Yes, Mother."

Despite his advice, his mother, Wu, never listened.

The family was in dire straits and burdened by heavy taxes. The mother, Wu, was always busy, either working in the fields or weaving straw sandals at home.

In ancient times, a person could already support themselves by the age of fifteen.

Having only been in this world for a few days, Liu Bei wanted to first secure financial security so that his elderly mother and younger sister, Liu Azi, wouldn't be worn out by poverty.

The few dozen acres of barren land they owned could only provide them with enough to eat and wear for the time being. —Due to limitations in technology and other factors, land utilization was not very high at that time. One acre could yield about one and a half shi (石) of grain. One shi was equivalent to 120 jin (斤) in the Han Dynasty, which is about 60 jin (斤) in modern society.

If you want to earn extra money, you can only rely on other industries.

All Liu Bei could think of at the time was making straw sandals, straw mats, and straw hats.

He had read Shi Nai'an's "Water Margin" and knew that the heroes in it liked to wear "Fanyang felt hats," and that his hometown of Zhuoxian County had been under the jurisdiction of Fanyang since the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

Clearly, during the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Fanyang felt hat was already a popular and well-known product. It was even issued to the army, and countless people among the common people wore it.

At the same time, this also shows that from the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period to the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, and even to the Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, the weaving techniques of straw sandals, straw mats and straw hats in the Zhuoxian area have never been interrupted and have been passed down smoothly.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, after Zhuo County was incorporated into Fanyang Prefecture, its straw hats became known as "Fanyang felt hats" and became famous throughout the world.

Liu Bei believed that this was primarily due to the superior quality of the products, which were widely recognized, and secondly due to the brand effect, which led to a shortage of Fanyang felt hats throughout the Song Dynasty.

Today, he and his mother, Wu, work day and night weaving straw sandals and mats, enduring hardship and earning only small amounts of money. If they want to make big money, they need to build the reputation of "Zhuoxian Straw Sandals" and make it a famous brand in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so that it will become popular throughout the world.

If it had the endorsement of the Eastern Han emperor and nobles, it would have been even more powerful.

In fact, emperors of the Han Dynasty did wear straw sandals. For example, Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng, often wore straw sandals to court to demonstrate frugality to his subjects.

But Liu Bei also knew that after four hundred years from the Western Han to the Eastern Han, the emperors and nobles of the Han Dynasty had long been accustomed to a life of luxury and would never wear straw sandals.

—Unless these straw sandals are exceptionally well-made, particularly fashionable, and extremely comfortable to wear.

Therefore, if Liu Bei wanted to establish the "Zhuoxian Straw Sandals" brand, he first needed to focus on improving product quality.

He thought about the trendy styles of shoes he wore in modern society, and so he often pondered how to design simple straw sandals to be more fashionable and comfortable.

After some time of deliberation, Liu Bei designed more than a dozen styles of straw sandals, including men's shoes, women's shoes, and children's shoes. There were square-toed straw sandals, round-toed straw sandals, pointed-toed straw sandals, straw sandals with both square and round toes, and straw sandals with both pointed and round toes. There were flat-heeled straw sandals, high-heeled straw sandals, wedge-heeled straw sandals, high-top straw sandals, low-top straw sandals, flip-flops, and so on.

The Liu clan members living near Lousang Village were very curious to see Liu Bei spending his days figuring out how to weave all sorts of straw sandals.

Liu Bei encouraged them to try it on and see how it felt.

Those members of the Liu clan who tried on the new straw sandals woven by Liu Bei all felt that they were not only comfortable and breathable, but also "high-end, classy, ​​and sophisticated." They praised them repeatedly.

This greatly encouraged Liu Bei.

He believes that this is another big step forward in bringing the famous brand "Zhuoxian Straw Sandals" to a successful "listing".

To further test people's acceptance of his "Zhuoxian straw sandals" design, Liu Bei decided to subject these products to market scrutiny.

The best place to test this was Shiwulipu, a street about fifteen li away from Zhuoxian County.

The bustling Shiwulipu area, with its dense crowds of people coming and going from both the north and south, further enhances the reputation of Zhuoxian straw sandals.

The thought of his newly designed straw sandals being sold at the market in Shiwulipu filled Liu Bei with excitement.

He was unsure whether people in the late Eastern Han Dynasty would have liked his trendy straw sandal designs.

So he carried the straw sandals he designed himself in a large basket to the market to sell.

Although the local villagers dared not try it, the visiting merchants loved it.

At first, Liu Bei's straw sandals were sold for five or six coins a pair, just like usual. Later, as demand exceeded supply, he raised the price to ten coins, and eventually even to twenty coins.

Anyway, the merchants who come and go are all very wealthy and don't care much about this small amount of money.

The brand "Zhuoxian Straw Sandals" gradually gained popularity and became well-known in the two prefectures of You and Ji.

In this way, Liu Bei quickly made a lot of money by innovating the business of weaving mats and selling shoes. Although he was not extremely rich, he did change his family's impoverished life to a certain extent.

However, since the straw sandals were selling well, his mother, Wu, had to weave them non-stop, which made her even more exhausted. He was at a loss for what to do.

Liu Bei had considered hiring people, but he found it too troublesome and not a long-term solution. He had many important things to do, and for the time being, it was enough to ensure that his family had enough to eat and wear.

His purpose in embarking on this journey was not to become a wealthy merchant, but to seize control of the entire world and realize his greater ambitions. Furthermore, he was not particularly skilled in business.

Yesterday, he assisted the Commandant's Office in suppressing the bandits of Baishi Mountain. His subordinate, Gong Liangwu, has already expressed his intention to reward him handsomely. It is believed that the reward will be delivered to Liu Bei's home in Dashulou Sangli with great fanfare within a few days.

According to his understanding, someone like him, who had performed a heroic act and made great contributions by assisting the government troops, would at least receive a reward of 10,000 coins, 100 bolts of silk, 300 bushels of millet, as well as meat and wine.

These rewards alone would have been enough to allow their family to live comfortably for a year or two.

But Wu, the mother who was used to working hard, couldn't stop no matter what.

Liu Bei knew that his mother was terrified of poverty, so he could only let her have her way for the time being. At the same time, he secretly encouraged himself: he must rise to power quickly!

"Xuande! Xuande..."

From outside the fence gate came the shouts of a member of the Liu clan.

"Fifth Brother, what is it?"

Liu Bei asked.

The clansman said:

"A Wuhuan man has come to the inner gate, claiming to be your friend. The village headman wouldn't let him in. A disagreement ensued, and the Wuhuan man beat the village headman. Some of the clansmen recognized this Wuhuan man; a few years ago, during a clan feud over the Laishui mudflats, he severely injured several young men of the Liu clan. Therefore, the clansmen are all attacking this Wuhuan man with sticks. I don't know what your relationship is with this Wuhuan man. Anyway, you should go and see him."

Liu Bei was greatly alarmed upon hearing this.

……

"Bujie" refers to straw sandals, which are cheap and easily obtained, so everyone has their own and they are not borrowed. Emperor Wen of Han wore "Bujie" sandals to attend court.

—Ma Gao, *Annotations on Ancient and Modern China*