Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 108 Using Deception to Defeat Deception
After waiting for a while, someone came out of the fortress.

This has always been the case; if a group of strangers arrives at your door, a wealthy family will not receive them. But if this group all drive top-of-the-line luxury cars and yet call themselves bandits…

Then we definitely have to receive them.

The same applies to good horses.

The horses that Liu Bei and his men are currently riding are all top-of-the-line, having been carefully selected from a wide variety of fine horses.

Moreover, only Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and a few others were standing beside the fortified village, but a large group of people were standing a hundred paces away opposite the fortified village—Liu Bei's personal guards were all there, nearly two hundred men, all riding tall horses, each with two horses, and all wearing armor.

"Forgive my ignorance, but may I ask who you are, Brother Big Ears?"

Qin Yilu glanced at the fine horses behind Liu Bei and his men, then looked at Liu Bei's ears, and asked politely.

Indeed, we have to be polite. These days, the nouveau riche are afraid of thieves who dare to openly reveal their names, especially thieves who are all fully armored... Even the Bingzhou border army doesn't have such good equipment.

This big-eared thief looks richer than his own family, and he doesn't hide his actions at all. He is obviously a big thief with no scruples, and probably has a very powerful background.

"I heard that the Du family sent a large quantity of salt to the Qin family in Yunzhong... I haven't come to the wrong place, have I? Is the salt still there?"

Liu Bei patted his horse's neck: "Who are you, hero? Ha, Brother Qin should know whose business this salt is... If you really don't know, then I'll take my leave now, and don't blame us for not recognizing you either..."

After saying that, he looked Qin Yilu up and down, his eyes filled with a warning.

Zhang Fei led his horse over, stood beside Liu Bei, and took the reins from Liu Bei.

"I, Qin, have been blind and have offended you, esteemed guest... Please come inside and discuss this further, Brother Da'er."

Qin Yilu glanced again at the black horse Zhang Fei was leading and saw the Cao family mark on its rump. He quickly reached out to invite Liu Bei, fearing that Liu Bei might actually turn and leave.

Zhang Fei's horse was the black horse that Liu Bei initially obtained from Cao Cao. It was a first-rate horse, and even a layman could see its extraordinary steed.

This horse is now called Wuzhui, not a special name—any fine, black horse would be called Wuzhui.

Not only Wuzhui, but the horse Liu Bei is riding now also bears the mark of the Cao family; it was given to him by Xiahou Dun.

—It was originally intended for Guan Yu, but Guan Yu was not at home. His personal guards accepted it for Guan Yu first, and then turned around and delivered it to Liu Bei.

Xiahou Dun didn't care. On the contrary, he was more pleased. If Liu Bei accepted a gift that someone else had openly given to Guan Yu, it could sow discord between Guan Yu and Liu Bei!

However... Xiahou Dun probably didn't know that the horses sold to his stables were the ones that Liu Bei and Guan Yu didn't want...

Of course, Liu Bei can now use this horse... with the Cao family's mark.

The stable master of Luji checked the brands on the horses he conscripted, and the marks of the Cao and Yuan families were like trademarks exempt from inspection.

Cao Song was the Grand Minister of Agriculture, and no one involved in the salt and iron industry could afford to offend the Cao family, especially those from salt-producing areas like Yunzhong or Hedong.

To outsiders, most only know that the Cao family is extremely wealthy, but they don't know where their wealth comes from, and they assume that the Cao family got rich through land or tomb raiding.

In fact, the Cao family did not own much land. Their wealth stemmed from their control of the salt and iron industries, starting with the eunuch Cao Teng.

The salt official in Hedong also came from the Cao family.

If we don't count the revenue from the emperor selling official positions, nor the unexpected gains from the annual killing of eunuchs and confiscation of ministers' property... one-third of the court's actual fiscal revenue came from salt taxes.

Salt and iron were monopolies of the imperial court. Although smuggling salt was a common practice and the court was powerless to control it at the time, it was still a target for crackdown.

Regardless of what business the Qin family originally engaged in, once they accepted the salt delivered by the Du family, they were undoubtedly smugglers of salt, and in fact, they were smuggling large quantities of it to the enemy.

Whether it's salt or horses, both are currently within the Cao family's business scope. Salt is a public matter, while horses are a private matter—the Qin family will have to bribe the Cao family both publicly and privately when exchanging salt for horses.

Moreover, those who could engage in the illegal salt trade were naturally connected to the Cao family, and the Du family would most likely also be dealing with the Cao family.

Now that the "Cao family" had come to their door... naturally they had to be treated well. Seeing Qin Yilu's reaction, Liu Bei knew what was going on; this kid wasn't very brave and was rather cowardly.

Then scare him a little, scare him into telling the truth.

"Qin Yilu, I, Da'er, don't like formalities, and I don't want to be an unwelcome guest in your home. Let's go to that pavilion and talk business directly. Your family is involved in salt trade, and you need to give explanations to all parties involved, otherwise your Qin family will have a hard time explaining yourselves..."

Liu Bei did not enter the fortified village, but went to a pavilion outside the village.

This is also the Waiting Pavilion, a small pavilion in the outer courtyard of the fortified village, which is a place to receive guests.

The area is open on all sides and decorated with artificial hills and shrubs.

Zhang Fei and the others stood outside the pavilion, while Qin Yilu's servants stood on the other side, leaving the pavilion inside for the two to talk alone.

"Yes, Qin understands, Qin understands. But I have already given instructions to the prefecture. I wonder if Brother Big Ears has anything else I need to explain?"

Qin Yilu was taken aback by Da Er's directness and quickly expressed his opinion.

Liu Bei raised an eyebrow, looking at Qin Yilu with a forced smile and shaking his head: "Ha... do you think that explaining things to Yunzhong County is enough? Qin Yilu, when has your Qin family ever explained anything about murder and robbery? The explanations required for these kinds of things are very different!"

Qin Yilu's face changed drastically, his eyes darting around uncertainly, and he timidly asked in a low voice, "What...what makes you say that? I come from a good family..."

"What? You don't dare admit it? You think this matter was handled cleanly? Do you know why the Du family has been involved in smuggled salt for so many years without getting caught?"

"Qin Yilu, Yunzhong County has no jurisdiction over criminal matters in Hedong, nor over the salt industry in Hedong... You should know why we have come here."

"I'm already being very polite to you, but if you continue to be secretive and ignorant, then you'd better pray for good luck."

Seeing Qin Yilu's expression, Liu Bei understood the situation, so he continued to threaten him with a few more words and even pretended to get up and leave.

"Brother Big Ears, please wait... I didn't kill the man, nor did I take the goods. I truly did not bribe the Grand Minister of Agriculture. I know I was wrong..."

Qin Yilu looked extremely flustered and bowed to Liu Bei, pleading, "I only want to make money... but how should I deal with the Grand Minister of Agriculture? Please teach me, Brother Big Ear."

"I'm not your father, why should I teach you how to do things?"

Liu Bei turned to Qin Yilu and asked, "Your family seeks wealth... do you think you can do it with just words?"

"Oh, oh... I understand, I understand... Don't worry, Brother Big Ears, whatever you need, I will provide!"

Qin Yilu quickly expressed his opinion, his words and expression flattering.

"Is that so? Alright... I'll teach you a thing or two."

Seeing Qin Yilu's expression, Liu Bei roughly understood what was going on, but he wanted Qin Yilu to tell him himself: "But you have to tell me the whole story first, I need to think about it."

"This……"

Qin Yilu hesitated.

"What's there to be afraid to say? It's just that your family conspired with the military to lure the Du family here, kill and rob them, and then used the Du family's adopted daughter to seize the Du family's property left in Hedong... Is it really necessary to be so hesitant about such a trivial matter?"

"You think you're the only one trying to seize the Du family's assets? If even one side fails to make proper arrangements, forget about seizing their assets; your entire Qin family will lose their heads!"

Liu Bei, his face full of impatience, said, "Hurry up and explain the details. I need to know exactly how many people are involved and which connections I need to ask for help with! Otherwise, how can I help you with the arrangements?"

Qin Yilu stared at Liu Bei with horror in his eyes, speechless for a long time. After swallowing hard, he finally murmured, "This matter... is known to everyone?"

Of course, it wasn't common knowledge; Liu Bei was merely speculating based on the worst-case scenario.

But most things are often this worst-case scenario.

(End of this chapter)