It wasn’t only Cao Gan and Wei Qun who inadvertently noticed that Xuzhou merchant vessels had once again sailed into Jinling—this also entered many people’s field of vision.
However, among these people, the vast majority shared Wei Qun’s thinking, believing that after the Wuchuan River Valley campaign, Xuzhou had cleared itself of suspicion of colluding with rebel forces and Shu forces, and was beginning to seek closer ties with Great Chu’s heartland.
Information regarding the personnel, types of cargo, and quantities aboard this Xuzhou merchant vessel had been transmitted to Jinling one step ahead after entering Langzhou’s Wuling County territory via the Ruan River.
Those who could know this information in advance were thus clear that when Xuzhou merchant vessels entered Jinling again after a two-year interval, it was primarily for profit—though southwestern provinces didn’t prohibit merchant travel, checkpoints at passes would strengthen inspections.
Though Xuzhou connected with Langzhou, Yuezhou, Tanzhou, Shaozhou, and Hengzhou through the Yuan River and Xuefeng Mountain post roads, and bulk goods like tea, medicine, cloth, and iron could be exported nearby, these prefectures and counties primarily operated on self-sufficient aristocratic manor economies and small-farmer economies, with relatively limited demand for external commodities.
Once Xuzhou’s exports of tea, medicine, cloth, and iron to Langzhou, Yuezhou, Tanzhou, Shaozhou, and Hengzhou exceeded a certain scale, prices would be suppressed, making it difficult to capture greater profits.
Not to mention that medicinal materials, mules and horses, gold and silver vessels, precious stones and jade, and spices from Qianzhong, Nanzhao and other regions couldn’t fetch high prices in Hunan’s prefectures.
The truly substantial commodity consumption market within Great Chu territory remained in Jinling, which concentrated Jiangnan’s prosperity in one place.
Items like Qianyang cloth and Yandang spring wine sold in Langzhou and Yuezhou at prices nearly thirty to forty percent lower than in Jinling.
The price differentials for rare items like gold and silver vessels, precious stones and jade, ivory and spices between the two locations were even more dramatic.
So when Xuzhou merchant vessels appeared in Jinling, in some people’s eyes, this was viewed as the Marquis of Qianyang choosing to submit in the face of practical interests.
As Xuzhou was a tributary state—a vassal state in the ordinary sense—merchant vessels entering its territory needed to register with the local Salt and Iron Bureau Supervisor or the Maritime Trade Office under the Salt Commissioner’s jurisdiction. Only after the Salt and Iron Bureau Supervisor or Maritime Trade Office extracted and purchased a portion of cargo as transit taxes could they be permitted to trade with local merchants.
The Maritime Trade Office established by the Salt Commissioner at Shen Family Wharf was right next to the inn where Cao Gan led the Shu diplomatic mission—Cao Gan’s vessel had been ordered to dock at Shen Family Wharf and was also being treated as a general vassal ship.
Cao Gan had no way to run to the wharf to examine closely whether it was actually a merchant vessel from Xuzhou. Sitting in his room, he continued conversing with Wei Qun, telling him about some of the latest situations within Shu.
After all, Wei Qun remained the principal envoy.
Toward evening, noisy arguments erupted on the stone-paved street in front of the inn. Cao Gan and Wei Qun walked to the street-facing window and saw quite a few people surrounding two Maritime Trade Office officials, arguing about something.
After listening for a moment, they learned that those surrounding the Maritime Trade Office officials were all merchants who had entered Jinling aboard Xuzhou merchant vessels, arguing because they were dissatisfied with the new extraction and purchasing system newly implemented by the Salt Commissioner.
Listening more carefully for a while, they learned that the Salt Commissioner, regarding commercial goods imported from various vassal states into Great Chu’s capital region and regulated prefectures, in addition to the old system of extracting one-tenth of various goods, had newly mandated purchasing forty percent of goods at low prices.
This essentially eliminated nearly half the profit these merchants could obtain.
Cao Gan noticed Wei Qun’s bewildered expression. Having been imprisoned at Duding Post Station these past days without opportunity to contact the outside world, he apparently wasn’t clear about the many detailed changes within Jinling city.
Regardless of whether the Salt Commissioner’s new regulations targeted Xuzhou specifically, after Shu renewed its alliance treaty, any goods it wanted to export to Chu would similarly be subject to these regulations.
Of course, Cao Gan understood in his heart that these merchants’ arguments on the stone-paved street were futile, and his mission this time also couldn’t get entangled with Chu over these minor details.
Cao Gan summoned upstairs several escorts who had previously accompanied him to Xuzhou, having them identify whether there were any familiar faces among those merchants. If so, they might be spies Xuzhou had dispatched to Jinling aboard the merchant vessel.
Unfortunately, his subordinate escorts didn’t recognize any familiar personnel.
……
……
After officials from Great Chu’s Ministry of Rites and Court of State Ceremonial carried the Shu ruler’s state letter into Jinling city, it sank like a stone in the sea without any news emerging.
The merchants who had departed from Xuzhou ultimately accepted the Salt Commissioner’s new regulations reluctantly. After batches of extracted and purchased goods were transported into the Maritime Trade Office’s great warehouses, they then contacted merchants within Jinling city through brokers, selling the remaining goods bundle by bundle.
By the fourth day, Cao Gan still couldn’t discern any clues. Somewhat unable to contain his impatience, the next day he couldn’t help hiring an awning boat, bringing several escorts under the pretext of fishing to drift on the Xiaotang River, taking the opportunity to observe the Xuzhou merchant vessel up close, but still gained nothing.
Toward evening, Cao Gan returned by boat to Shen Family Wharf. As he was about to return to the inn after disembarking, he passed a plainly dressed traveler who quietly said to him: “Miss Chunhong at Welcoming Spring Pavilion plays the zither exquisitely. My master wishes to invite Master Cao over tonight to listen to music together.”
Before Cao Gan could see the person’s face clearly, the man had already walked straight past, without looking back, melding into the rather dense crowd at Shen Family Wharf’s evening market.
As the most important town and wharf west of Jinling city, Shen Family Wharf had teahouses, wine shops, inns, and brothels—everything one could want.
Jinling city had suffered relatively severe damage in previous battles. At the same time, to restrict enemy spies from infiltrating the city, bulk commodity trading had all been designated and restricted to several relatively intact town wharfs outside the city that hadn’t been much affected by warfare and had convenient transportation.
This also made Shen Family Wharf much livelier and more prosperous than an ordinary county seat.
Seeing the sky darkening, Cao Gan didn’t return to the inn but walked directly toward Welcoming Spring Pavilion at the south end of the street. After inquiring with a server, he went straight upstairs and sat in a small chamber.
Welcoming Spring Pavilion was a wooden building with a square courtyard structure. The second floor contained numerous small chambers and elegant rooms. Opening the window to look inward, across the courtyard well, opposite was a small hall open on four sides.
Court musicians and singing girls played zithers and sang songs in the small hall. Guests drinking wine in the small chambers and elegant rooms could take in the view completely—quite refined and elegant.
Not until the seventh hour of the night did Cao Gan hear someone being led by a Welcoming Spring Pavilion server into the neighboring small chamber.
Cao Gan waited a while, confirming the Welcoming Spring Pavilion server had departed before walking to the window facing the courtyard hall. He poked his head toward the neighboring chamber and saw Feng Liao already standing at the window there, smiling over at him:
“Master Cao, it’s been quite a while since we’ve met!”
“When Xuzhou merchant vessels reentered Jinling, I anticipated that the Marquis of Qianyang would dispatch an important figure to make this trip first. However, I didn’t expect it would be someone as important as Master Feng coming,” Cao Gan said with a smile. “The other day I heard Xuzhou merchants arguing with Maritime Trade Office officials, apparently dissatisfied with the Salt Commissioner’s new purchasing regulations. Did Master Feng go lodge a complaint with the Salt Commissioner?”
“Great Chu’s internal and external troubles remain unresolved. Supporting armies, conducting campaigns, and officials’ salaries—none of these don’t consume enormous sums. Collecting additional commercial taxes to supplement the insufficient national treasury is also a measure of necessity. How could Xuzhou fail to understand the overall situation and trouble the authorities with such trifling matters?” Feng Liao said with a smile.
With the Salt Commissioner’s new regulations already established, not only Jinling city and the capital region, but all of Great Chu’s regulated prefectures would implement them. This meant that Xuzhou’s commercial goods exported nearby to Langzhou, Yuezhou, Tanzhou, Shaozhou, and Hengzhou would also, beyond the one-tenth transit tax, have forty percent purchased at low prices.
If this was all a trifling matter, Cao Gan thought privately, then Feng Liao’s rush to Jinling on behalf of Xuzhou this time truly had other objectives.
Of course, Cao Gan also understood that Feng Liao meeting with him at this moment wasn’t to reminisce or purely show off that Xuzhou merchant vessels reentering Jinling had ulterior motives. He didn’t play word games with Feng Liao but asked directly: “What does Master Feng wish to tell me by arranging to meet at Welcoming Spring Pavilion?”
“My lord anticipated this trip would involve Marquis Changxiang’s people being dispatched to Jinling as envoys—since it’s Master Cao, that’s even better—he specifically instructed me to deliver this list into Master Cao’s hands.” Feng Liao extended his hand to pass over a page of lists, then withdrew back into the neighboring small elegant chamber.
Cao Gan returned to his seat and spread out the list. What was written on it were matters the Marquis of Qianyang hoped would be addressed in the Shu-Chu peace negotiations regarding the two kingdoms’ border along the Qianjiang.
Clearly, Marquis Qianyang Han Qian was concerned that dispatching someone to Yuzhou to meet with Marquis Changxiang for negotiations, then having Marquis Changxiang dispatch someone to chase after him to Jinling, might very likely miss the timing of this round of peace negotiations. He simply had Feng Liao come directly to Jinling to intercept him.
However, the more Cao Gan examined this list, the more puzzled he became. It was difficult to understand why the Marquis of Qianyang would actually demand that Yuzhou substantially raise prices for well salt exported via the Qianjiang to Chenzhou, Xuzhou, Sizhou, and the various tributary states in Qianzhong, while simultaneously conducting comprehensive low-price requisitioning of Xuzhou products entering Yuzhou—Qianyang cloth, armor and other refined iron implements, ship canvas, and so forth.
Cao Gan could understand that the Marquis of Qianyang wanted to use this to further distance himself from involvement with Yuzhou, but if they truly followed this list, Xuzhou would have no profit to gain!
Could the Marquis of Qianyang’s wariness of the Chu Emperor truly run this deep?
Cao Gan lightly tapped the chamber wall, then walked to the window again and asked: “Is Master Feng certain nothing was written incorrectly on this list?”
“Nothing is written incorrectly. Master Cao just needs to help with this favor. Yuzhou shouldn’t suffer any losses from it either,” Feng Liao said.
According to this list, not only would Yuzhou not suffer losses, it could gain great advantages. Having confirmed there were no errors, Cao Gan certainly wouldn’t refuse to help with this favor.