In Jiaodong County, Beihai Commandery of Qingzhou, Guan Hai was gnawing on an unknown piece of meat, chewing and swallowing it with a sense of dissatisfaction.
"Boss, this isn't going to work! Qingzhou's spring comes early, and it seems like they're busy with other things over in Mount Tai—no more road construction. Our brothers are running out of food," said a subordinate named Jiang Qian.
During the winter, many Yellow Turbans had disguised themselves as refugees to work on construction projects in Mount Tai, earning food and money. Even Guan Hai, a leader among the Yellow Turbans and a skilled fighter, had joined in the work. This allowed them to have some spare change for food during the difficult early spring months when there was no work and no grain.
"What's going on with Liu Xuande? Why did he stop attacking after reaching Beihai last year? Now we're stuck in a tough spot," Guan Hai scratched his head, feeling frustrated. He was eager to surrender to Liu Bei, but he couldn't even find him to do so.
"I have no idea," his subordinates all shook their heads. "It's a good thing that during the winter, we got grain and silver from working in Mount Tai. Otherwise, many of our brothers wouldn't have survived. But who knows when they'll start construction again in western Qingzhou this year."
"We should find a way to make them take us in. Right now, we're basically surviving on public works projects in Qingzhou, but we don't have household registrations. We need to ask for household registrations!" Guan Hai said, feeling even more desperate.
No matter how much he thought about it, Guan Hai couldn't understand Liu Bei's strategy. Although the Yellow Turbans had been infiltrating the refugee camps and working on public projects, Liu Bei had turned a blind eye to it. However, he rarely granted them household registrations.
Without a household registration, they had no land and no homes. They were forced to continue living as refugees. Seeing those Yellow Turbans who had ventured out of Qingzhou and been granted basic household registrations by Liu Bei last year, Guan Hai couldn't help but come up with a rather foolish idea.
"Boss, we'll follow whatever you say," his subordinates replied. They were just as frustrated as Guan Hai. For these Yellow Turbans, who had nothing but their physical strength, the prospect of a stable life in Qingzhou, with food, drink, housing, and farmland, was a dream come true.
Of course, this was after a year of observing Qingzhou's policies. It seemed that Qingzhou was genuinely lenient toward the Yellow Turbans, as long as they turned over a new leaf. They could obtain initial household registrations, and even medium-level registrations, with the potential for high-level ones.
From the information Guan Hai had gathered from Zhou Cang, Liao Hua, and others, it seemed that those who had settled down could even send their children to school for free. This news left Guan Hai envious, wishing he could trade places with them. After all, they had all started as commoners, yet those who had joined Liu Bei early now had opportunities for their children to become scholars and officials.
"Let's go attack Kong Rong. We'll surround Beihai with our 1.2 million Yellow Turbans. I refuse to believe that Liu Xuande won't send troops then. Once he does, we'll surrender. I can't believe he wouldn't accept us after that," Guan Hai shared his plan with his subordinates, who all gave him a thumbs-up in approval.
"Boss, we should make this as grand as possible. While we still have some spare change, let's buy up grain, then rally all the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou to surround Beihai. That way, our show of force will be even stronger. And if necessary, with so many people, we could even borrow grain from Kong Rong," one of his subordinates suggested, his eyes gleaming with cunning.
"Good idea! Let's do it. Everyone, use your winter earnings to buy grain, then notify all the other leaders about our plan. Tell them to bring their own grain and join us in the siege of Beihai. Anyone who's late will be left behind," Guan Hai decided. He had been waiting anxiously for Liu Bei to take him in, and his patience was running thin.
"Recently, grain has been selling quickly," Lu Su noted as he reviewed the reports from Mi Zhu. "Is someone stockpiling?"
"I don't know. Their methods are strange, and I haven't been able to catch any leads. As for hoarding grain, we've had two years of good harvests, so it doesn't seem necessary. Grain prices have been falling steadily. In fact, Zichuan has been buying grain to prevent prices from falling too low and hurting the farmers," Mi Zhu said, frustrated by the situation. Despite the high volume of sales, there hadn't been any large transactions to track.
"Lady Zhang, is the same happening with your family?" Lu Su asked Zhang, who sat listlessly in her chair.
"Our family hasn't noticed anything unusual either, but grain is indeed selling quickly. I think if someone's buying, we might as well sell and see what happens. With the amount of grain stored in Mount Tai, there's nothing to worry about," Zhang responded nonchalantly.
With the commercial network of the Zhen family fully established across Jizhou, Zhang no longer felt the pressures of survival. She had become less cautious and more indifferent to financial matters. The Zhen family had entered a golden age.
"Absolutely not! That grain is reserved for our campaign against the remaining Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou. We plan to wipe them out completely, leaving no hidden dangers," Lu Su insisted. He couldn't allow Zhang to act recklessly.
"In that case, I'll try selling a little on my own. Consider it a charitable act. Even if we sell at cost, the Zhen family won't suffer any loss," Zhang replied dismissively, ignoring storage and labor costs.
"I'll give it a try as well," Mi Zhu sighed. He could clearly see the growing financial power of the Zhen family, even without doing the math.
Neither Mi Zhu nor Zhang realized that the grain was being purchased by the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou for stockpiling. The lack of large-scale purchases had kept them from considering this possibility. As a result, the Yellow Turbans quietly bought enough grain to sustain themselves for ten days, preparing to launch their grand siege on Beihai.
After Zhang left, Mi Zhu hesitated for a moment before returning.
"Do you have something else to discuss, Zizhong?" Lu Su asked curiously.
"It's about my younger brother. He's not skilled in either literature or martial arts, but he has a wild streak. I want to send him to the army for some discipline. Can you recommend which general I should approach?" Mi Zhu asked, feeling slightly embarrassed. He was a man of noble character and didn't like asking for favors, but his brother Mi Fang's behavior had left him with no choice.
"Mi Zifang? Don't worry, Zichuan already made arrangements before he left. He said that Zifang has a noble spirit and values loyalty, so he'll achieve great things. Zichuan was very confident about it," Lu Su said. He, too, recalled Mi Fang's carefree nature, but Chen Xi's sharp eye was well-known, so he refrained from criticizing Mi Fang.
Mi Zhu smiled awkwardly, thinking that Lu Su was just being polite. After all, he knew his brother's true nature all too well.