Chapter 633: Changes

Qiyun Prefecture hadn’t been exactly peaceful for the last third of the ninth lunar month.

The Shatu caravans at the Gulang Plains started giving in since the middle of the ninth lunar month. They had sold their wool to the Qiyun Monopoly Bureau at the price they had set and the incident nearly blew up in the northwestern region.

Right now in the Great Han Empire, whoever had wool would prosper. With how the Monopoly Bureau did things, everyone came to a realization that the Qiyun Protectorate’s Office could pretty much dominate all of the Gulang Plains’ wool trade, generating profits so huge that it would many anyone jealous.

Most people didn’t know about such a thing called trade monopoly, so it was safe to say that the Qiyun Protectorate had taught everyone a valuable lesson.

Those who weren’t supportive of the Qiyun Protectorate’s Office thought Yan Liqiang would never be able to force the Shatu Seven Tribes to submit in such a short amount of time, and even believed the tribes would retaliate against the Qiyun Protectorate’s Office. However, they were in for a surprise. They simply couldn’t believe that the arrogant Shatu Seven Tribes would willingly fork out their wool to the Protectorate’s Office in just less than a month after the establishment of the wool trade monopoly. How could those rebellious Shatu people become so obedient toward Yan Liqiang? Did the extermination of the Tuli Tribe scare them out of their wits? That shouldn’t be the case though. Based on the Shatu Seven Tribes’ style, they’d definitely redouble their efforts in revenge…

The doubt in these people’s hearts was only lifted when they found out that the Shatu Seven Tribes were suffering a defeat in their raging wars against the Dark Ram Tribe at the White Grass Lake. It wasn’t that the Shatu Seven Tribes had become obedient, but the Dark Ram Tribe had stabbed a knife in them. At this point, the Shat Seven Tribes couldn’t afford to worry about their little profit from wool. They had to make a choice between being attacked from both sides or submitting to the Qiyun Protectorate Office who had sovereignty over the Gulang Plains on behalf of the Great Han Empire.

With all the news from Gulang Plains, it was only then everyone found out the main reason behind the defeat of the Shatu Seven Tribes who always insisted that they speak as one entity. It was the Dark Wood Tribe who had gone rogue and lured the Dark Ram Tribe to the Gulang Plains, but the other six tribes had their own ulterior motives in regards to fighting against the Dark Ram Tribe. Due to that, they weren’t able to come up with a unified response strategy.

The Dark Razor Tribe and Coyote Tribe who were currently struggling against the Dark Ram Tribe wished for all the other six Shatu tribes to unite and fight back against the Dark Ram Tribe. However, the tribes that weren’t immediately threatened feared that the Dark Razor Tribe was only using them to do their dirty work by depleting their resources. Hence, they didn’t want to take any initiatives until the Dark Razor and Coyote Tribes were in a desperate situation.

On the other hand, the Dark Razor and Coyote Tribes were concerned about their chances of survival on the Gulang Plains in the aftermath of their war against the Dark Ram Tribe. Even if they managed to drive the Dark Ram Tribe out of the Gulang Plains, they would be extremely weakened. In history, there had been too many cases of small tribes being taken out by larger tribes. There had never been trust among the Shatu people as they lived by the philosophy of the survival of the fittest.

Under such circumstances, the so-called alliance army from the Shatu Seven Tribes was nothing but an organization that lacked cohesion in the face of the Dark Ram Tribe’s wrath. Every party was only thinking of preserving their strength and resources. Not only that, but the tribes’ coordination was also poor on the battlefield. When the situation went slightly awry, the commanders of the respective tribe would immediately order their own troops to withdraw. This was what shaped their defeat at the White Grass Lake.

The border trading post at Yingwei County had a special wool market at the end of the ninth lunar month. The wool they sold here were all from the Qiyun Protectorate Office’s Monopoly Bureau. Many merchants were initially worried that the price of wool would skyrocket, but they soon found out that this wasn’t the case after the wool market opened. The wool that the Monopoly Bureau sold wasn’t only cheaper than the Shatu merchants, but also of guaranteed quality. The Monopoly Bureau was able to greatly reduce the cases of Shatu people mixing manure or water in wool.

The merchants also found out that the Monopoly Bureau would perform grading tests on the wool they acquired from the Shatu people. The collected wool was graded as first-class, second-class, third-class or defective products. First-class wool was the clean and unprocessed wool that could be sold at ten copper coins per jin. Those with impurities like manure, sand, or water were low-grade, so naturally they would be sold at an extremely low price of only five to nine copper coins per kilogram. With that, the cunning Shatu caravans no longer dared to tamper with their wool.

Upon hearing how the Monopoly Bureau managed to bring those cunning Shatu caravans under control, the merchants who had been bullied by the Shatu all along cheered and became extremely supportive of the Monopoly Bureau.

The wool supplied by the Monopoly Bureau was sold at a fixed price depending on the wool quality, so there was no need for any price negotiations. The prices were clearly listed on the bulletin board at the market every day and the wool was bundled for sale after examination. The operations were standardized. Compared to before, the merchants now spent less unnecessary time and expenses when purchasing wool. As there were fewer headaches and troubles now, the cost of trading wool was greatly lowered. Since the opening of the wool market, the prices began to surge and prosper in just half a month. Merchants from all over came pouring in, causing the once quiet Yingwei County to thrive alongside the border trading post.

Wealthy places naturally drew attention. When the Monopoly Bureau caught the attention of everyone in the northwestern region, Qiyun Prefecture also started undergoing a number of other changes by the end of the ninth lunar month.

The Heroes Shrine in every county of Qiyun Prefecture was established one after another. The soldiers who previously died on duty were laid to rest in there with a grand ceremony held by the local magistrates and officials, and they were to be worshipped by the locals.

In Pingxi City, work on the National Heroes Shrine started almost at the same time as the ’embassy’ of the Shatu Seven Tribes, and it became the talk of the city.

Apart from the Heroes Shrine, public academies also started emerging in every village in Qiyun Prefecture under the funding of the Qiyun Protectorate’s Office. All children in the prefecture would receive education and martial arts training when they reached the right age. Not only that, but the manufacturing bureau which had always been at the center of attention also set up a brand new technical academy in Huanglong County.

In addition to the well-established archery academy, Qiyun Prefecture instantly became extremely well-known for learning martial arts.

Wanderers had also started gathering in Pingxi City due to the arrest warrant which offered a bounty of ten thousand taels of silver…

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