Three Kingdoms: Cao Cao and Liu Bei help me to ascend the throne

Chapter 71 A Rich Man, It's Hard for a Man Without Money!
A caravan of mules was slowly driving on the official road leading to Zhuojun from Zhongshan State. The hoofs of the mules stepped over and swept away the nearby dust, undulating among the uneven mountains.

The end of the official road is Zhuojun, the seat of Youzhou.

At this moment, at the gate of Zhuojun County, a tall man with huge earlobes and unusually long arms was squatting behind the booth. His clothes were not luxurious, but they were extremely clean. He yelled loudly.

——"Straw sandals, straw sandals... fifty dollars a pair!"

——"Straw mats, straw mats...a hundred dollars a piece!"

——"The workmanship is fine and sturdy, let's take a look, guest officer... come and buy a pair?"

The voice is not loud, but it seems to have experienced the vicissitudes of life.

However, there is still a bit of restraint on the weather-beaten cheeks, as if rebellious and unwilling to fate.

His name is Liu Bei, and his style name is Xuande...

It's a family member of the Han family who has fallen from a family that is "average and unremarkable" in Zhuo County!

It is different from many doubts about Liu Bei's identity in later generations.

In Zhuojun, no one would not recognize his identity!

You must know that there is a "Zongzheng" in the Jiuqing of the Great Han Dynasty, which is in charge of the affairs of the royal family, but all the clan members of the Han Dynasty need to be recorded by Zongzheng, and each place must be reported, replaced, and proofread on time every year.

To put it bluntly, these clansmen of the Han Dynasty can decline, but... it must be recorded by Zongzheng, and it cannot be faked at all!
of course!

Clan relatives of the Han Dynasty... This identity is almost common in Zhuo County!

On this piece of land, King Jing of Zhongshan could sell straw sandals and straw mats;
You can also butcher pigs and dogs...

Even the housekeeper, the thieves, the drunk and murderers can all be the Queen of Zhongshan King Jing!

You know, among the so-called clansmen of the Han Dynasty, the family fortune has fallen a lot.

Liu Bei is just one of many inconspicuous ones!
Of course, Liu Bei has a dream. He pointed to the big mulberry tree in front of his house since he was a child, and said that I will definitely ride in such a "Yubao Covered Car" in the future!
It should be known that the Yubao covered chariot is the emperor's guard of honor.

His words almost scared his uncle Liu Yuanqi to death!
Another interesting thing is that four years ago, Liu Bei's mother went to beg Liu Bei's uncle, Liu Yuanqi of the same clan, for the sake of his son's success...

Externally, Liu Yuanqi often supported Liu Bei, and even treated Liu Bei and his son Liu Deran equally.

This is very strange, because Liu Bei didn't like reading when he was a child. He liked dogs, horses, music, and beautiful clothes.

Moreover, Liu Yuanqi's "care" for Liu Bei's mother and son also caused his wife's dissatisfaction!

In short, Liu Bei went smoothly with Liu Deran to go to Goushi Mountain to worship fellow Lu Zhi as a teacher, and met Gongsun Zan and other brothers.

only…

Just as "graduation" in later generations is equivalent to "unemployment", Liu Bei who returned from his studies...his life has not changed in any way, and he still makes a living by weaving mats and selling shoes.

Of course, because the straw sandals and straw mats woven by his mother are of excellent quality and are well-known in the local area, Liu Bei does not have to worry about food and clothing.

Now...the mule team is entering the city.

After driving for a long time, taking advantage of the shade under the city gate, the mule team stopped.

The two men sat on the ground, chatting while resting, but they were right next to Liu Bei's booth.

All of their conversations were passed into Liu Bei's ears.

——"It's better to have money. If you have money, you can call it a 'manly man'. If you don't have money, you can call it a 'difficult man'!"

The merchant who spoke was named Zhang Shiping, and the person next to him was named Su Shuang. They were originally horse dealers, and they transported horses from Zhongshan to Zhuojun, where the profits were quite lucrative.

It's just... there is an unforeseen situation, the imperial court has a decree, and all the horses are brought back to the country, so there is nothing to play...

Naturally, their "horse dealers" could only be forced to change their careers.

Now in the business of making mules...

Zhang Shiping sighed with emotion, and Su Shuang on the side nodded repeatedly, and added: "It's a bit strange in the business field this year. Just after our brother sold the horse on the front foot, the price of the horse on the back foot has soared. We can't sell it." Mule, the price of this mule is going down all the time, hey... It seems that money has an enmity with our brothers! We brothers can't be 'manly', and it will be 'difficult to be a man' in the future!"

"Who says it's not!" Zhang Shiping snarled, "The world is chaotic, and the business world is even more chaotic. There are people hoarding horses, and now some people follow suit and hoard donkeys. The price of horses is almost skyrocketing. Mules are not as good, hehe... we brothers should be thankful, at least we didn't follow suit and hoard donkeys, otherwise... we would only lose more!"

Businessmen are keen.

In a short period of time... the price of a horse has risen from 2 yuan to [-] million yuan!
This made Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang jealous. They suddenly regretted that the last batch of horses was sold too early, and they felt like they had missed a few million dollars!
As for selling donkeys...

Purely following the trend, it is better to sell mules. In the end... it must be paid as much as the seller, and it is a bad year!
Looking back at Liu Bei, his eyeballs rolled, and he was suddenly curious... What happened in the Central Plains that made Zhang and Su, two well-known merchants in Zhuo County, who were originally very rich, complain like this.

Immediately, Liu Bei's ears perked up, and he continued to listen!
But when he heard that a horse can be sold for a high price of 2 million in the market today, his eyes almost popped out!
2 million... How many pairs of straw sandals do you need?
"Alas..." Zhang Shiping was still complaining at this time. "The world is in chaos, this business can't be done!"

Su Shuang echoed: "Who says it's not? It's really strange to talk about the big merchants nowadays. For example, Wuji Zhen's family in Zhongshan hoarded their horses before the price rose. This is great, and they made a lot of money! It’s more profitable than we have been selling horses for so many years! I don’t understand, I don’t understand!”

"You're right if you don't understand!" Zhang Shiping waved his hand. "Let's not talk about this group of big merchants, even the current officials, which one is not strange? Fish and meat don't eat wild vegetables, luxury houses don't live in the wild, with the next generation in their arms, and they are still chanting what is late love... All in all, we brothers are getting more and more uncertain about the market!"

Speaking of which...

Zhang Shiping suddenly realized that someone was listening to them, and turned his head quickly... Only then did he realize that it was Liu Bei who sold straw mats and straw sandals at the gate of the city!

They knew each other. To be precise, Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang often bought shoes from Liu Bei!
Of course, because of the good relationship, they always tease each other.

"Brother Su..."

Zhang Shiping turned to Liu Bei with envious eyes. "Look at Xuande, who weaves mats and sells shoes, and earns money from handicrafts. If you sell a pair and earn a pair, you will never lose money. You don't need to look at the market at all. It's not like us. The wind direction is uncertain. In the end All the compensation!"

Su Shuang also looked at Liu Bei. "Yeah, selling horses for so many years is not as good as someone hoarding horses for a year, and selling horses for so many years...it's not as good as... An Sheng who got money from selling straw sandals."

Speaking of here…

Su Shuang took out a bag of five baht coins. "Xuande, as usual, here are two pairs of straw sandals!"

Liu Bei took the money and took out two pairs of straw sandals... Zhang Shiping put the straw sandals on the ground and tried them on...

Liu Bei reminded immediately. "Brother Zhang, it's not allowed to try on shoes this morning. You have to buy a size up. As the saying goes...the feet are small in the morning and big in the evening!"

Do one line and love one line...

Not to mention, Liu Bei is still very professional in selling straw sandals.

"Haha..." Zhang Shiping laughed. "Xuande, I thought you were going to tell me about "Zheng Ren Buys Shoes" in "Han Feizi"? But you said, feet are big in the morning and small in the evening, is that true or not?"

Without waiting for Liu Bei to answer...

"Da da da…"

"Da da da..." The sound of horse hooves came from the end of the official road.

Obviously, this is not the sound of a horse's hooves, there are several horses...

As soon as the horseshoe came out, it attracted countless people near the city gate of Zhuojun. Now...the market is different, and the price of horses has skyrocketed. These days...whoever can lead a few horses must be a big family in Zhuojun. !
"Hey..." Zhang Shiping was startled, and stood on tiptoe to look at the official road. "Who is it? Such a heavy sound of hooves."

Su Shuang scratched his head, he was short, found a stone step and stood up, and was extremely curious.

But Liu Bei...

He has extraordinary eyesight and is tall... As the face of the visitor became more and more clear, he suddenly realized that this...isn't this...isn't it his wealthy "good cousin"——Liu Deran?
Hey…

When did he have so many horses?
hiss…

Liu Bei subconsciously took a breath.

don't say...

Although Liu Deran doesn't look very good-looking, it can be said that his appearance is plain and a little rusty, but riding a horse and leading eight horses, all of a sudden... his image looks so handsome and stalwart!
Liu Bei's eyes are shining...

In the past, only when he saw the beautiful clothes he liked, his eyes... would light up!
...

...

(End of this chapter)