Chapter 632: The Merchant as a Go-between (Part 2)

Li Qing’an shook his head. “Twenty thousand guan—that would require at least three hundred carriages to transport. Won’t An Lushan interfere?”
Yang Huahua smiled mysteriously. She waved at her female bodyguard. “Give me the gold medal from the plate!”
The female bodyguard took out a gold medal from the plate and placed it on the table. Yang Huahua pushed it toward Li Qing’an. “Take a look yourself!”
Li Qing’an picked up the medal and saw the characters “An Lushan” engraved on the front, with four more characters on the back: “As if the emperor were here himself.” The serial number next to it was No. 2.
Yang Huahua said proudly, “This is An Lushan’s own gold medal. He only gave it to three people. With this medal, I can move freely in Hebei Province.”
“Is that so? Why would he give it to you? Did you sleep with him?” Li Qing’an asked with a smirk.
“Tch!”
Yang Huahua spat and blushed. “That idiot! Would I sleep with him? Do you think I’m that easy?”
Li Qing’an smiled, not fully believing Yang Huahua’s explanation. Since she wasn’t transporting supplies or trading pig iron, why would An Lushan trust her?
Yang Huahua hesitated for a moment. “I knew you might get angry, but I had no ill intentions. I promised to help him find his fourth sister.”
“Yuhuan?” Li Qing’an was stunned.
“Yes, the former Yang Guifei. An Lushan has never stopped thinking about her; he’s even obsessed with her. I told him that his fourth sister isn’t in your hands but is hiding somewhere alone. That’s why he trusts me so much. I also lied to him, saying she’s in Taiyuan. I heard he’s planning to attack Hedong.”
“He’s not just planning to attack—it’s already started. His army has reached Hengzhou. Never mind! I won’t tell you any more.”
Li Qing’an waved his hand. “Didn’t you say you’d give me a gift? What gift?”
“I’ve brought someone for you. I think you’ll be interested.”
Yang Huahua stood up, stepped over the table, and whispered something in Li Qing’an’s ear. Sure enough, Li Qing’an’s eyes lit up, and he asked eagerly, “Where is he?”
“I originally wanted to treat you to a meal, so I asked him to wait in an inn first. But now it’s you who’s treating me, so he has to come over again. I think he’s already here. He’ll go find the innkeeper.”
Li Qing’an immediately ordered one of his guards, “Go find the innkeeper. If he’s here, bring him in right away.”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone reported from outside, “General, the innkeeper has brought a person here, saying he’s here as arranged with Lady Yang.”
Since the person had arrived, Li Qing’an ordered, “Bring him in!”

After a moment, the bodyguard brought in a man in his forties, with a thick beard, wearing a coarse cloth shirt. He dressed very simply, looking like a servant at first glance, but his eyes were bright and piercing, revealing his uniqueness. This man was no ordinary person—he was Da Qinmao, the leader of the Sumo Mohe people in the northeast. Appointed as the King of Bohai by Li Longji, he later established the Bohai Kingdom, a renowned frontier power during the Tang Dynasty. Normally, such a vassal state’s ruler visiting the capital should be a grand and formal occasion, but today he came secretly to see Li Qingan like a thief. He had no choice—Bohai was located east of the Khitans and the Lulong Circuit, within An Lushan’s sphere of influence. After An Lushan’s rebellion, he forced Bohai to provide troops and grain. Da Qinmao had no alternative but to send 200,000 bushels of grain and 5,000 troops, with his son held as a hostage in Youzhou. Yet Da Qinmao did not wish to join An Lushan in rebellion, knowing full well that it could lead to the destruction of his nation and people. Therefore, he preferred to sacrifice his son in Youzhou rather than personally go to Chang’an to express his loyalty to the court. But he was afraid that An Lushan would learn of his arrival in Chang’an. Coincidentally, Yang Huahua’s merchant caravan was traveling to Bohai for business, so Da Qinmao took advantage of their unimpeded access to Bohai to follow them to Chang’an. Through Yang Huahua’s connections, he was able to meet Li Qingan. Da Qinmao immediately knelt down, holding the imperial decree given to him by Li Longji in the 26th year of the Kaiyuan era, and bowed to Li Qingan, saying, “Da Qinmao, ruler of this remote barbarian state, pays his respects to His Highness the Prince of Zhao. May His Highness live for thousands of years!” Li Qingan quickly stepped forward to help him up, saying, “Please rise, Your Highness!” Li Qingan was aware of Bohai—a highly Sinicized ethnic minority regime that fully adopted Tang Dynasty political and cultural systems. It had five capitals, fifteen prefectures, sixty-two states, and over 130 counties. At its peak, its population reached over 5 million, making it a powerful ethnic minority regime in Chinese history. It was a sworn enemy of Silla and was eventually destroyed by the rising Khitan ruler Yelü Abaoji, disappearing into the long history. Li Qingan had always wanted to establish relations with the King of Bohai but never had the chance. Unexpectedly, King Da Qinmao had come to Chang’an in person. Li Qingan quickly invited him to sit down and ordered food and utensils to be brought for him. “I thought Your Highness would come by sea, but I didn’t expect you to take the route through Hebei,” Li Qingan said with a smile as he poured him a cup of wine. “Drink some wine to calm yourself first; we can discuss serious matters later.”

Da Qinmao was overjoyed by the favor and quickly said, “Your Highness is too kind. I really had no choice but to disturb you.”
“It’s not a disturbance at all. I actually wanted to meet the Prince very much. Your arrival is just in time. Come! Let’s drink first.”
Li Qing’an raised his glass and clinked it with hers. At that moment, Yang Huahua said with a coy smile, “Your Highness! Is the gift I gave you okay?”
“Mm! You’ve done well today. Come! Have a drink too.”
Praised by Li Qing’an, Yang Huahua was extremely excited. She gazed at him with sparkling eyes. Of course, she was smart enough to know that Li Qing’an didn’t think highly of her, so she didn’t dare to try to revive their old relationship. She just wanted to keep a backdoor open—so that once An Lushan was defeated, she could withdraw unscathed and avoid being implicated. In a way, she was a double agent, able to enjoy favor with An Lushan while also turning against him to become Li Qing’an’s favorite guest. After all, she was a merchant who only cared about business interests.
After all, Da Qinmao was a prince of a kingdom. He found that Li Qing’an wasn’t as cold and tough as he had imagined; on the contrary, he was very kind and humorous, easy to get along with. He gradually relaxed. With Yang Huahua by his side, if they didn’t discuss serious matters, he would introduce the situation of Bohai Kingdom to Li Qing’an. The two got along well, often bursting into laughter.
The lunch lasted a full hour before it gradually came to an end. Li Qing’an ordered his guards to send Da Qinmao off to rest first, with further discussions scheduled for the next day.
Li Qing’an was also quite drunk. He was in high spirits today. Da Qinmao’s arrival suddenly clarified a long-standing idea in his mind. It could be said that Yang Huahua had made a great contribution this time.
His gaze toward Yang Huahua also became friendlier. He liked intelligent women like her and admired her courage. While others rushed to flee Hebei, she did the opposite—she went in and used a false claim about a concubine to lure An Lushan. As for whether she actually slept with An Lushan, he wasn’t interested. Just as he had never cared about how many lovers Yang Huahua had in the past, he had no interest in her personally.
As long as Yang Huahua didn’t get involved in such matters, he would treat her kindly. After all, she was Yang Yuhuan’s only relative.
“Madam, from what I know about you, you wouldn’t have given me this gift for no reason today!”

Yang Huahua also drank a few more cups. The alcohol made her face glow like clouds, and her eyes became so charming it seemed they might shed tears. Yet, her mind remained exceptionally clear. She introduced Daqin Mao to Li Qingan partly to secure her own backdoor exit and partly to gain some trading rights for the Tang army in Hedong. When Li Qingan brought up this matter, she laughed sweetly and said, “This humble woman has a small request. I wonder if Prince Zhao can agree to it?”
“Go ahead and tell me!”
“It’s this: I’ve heard that the Tang army in Hedong transports large amounts of silver coins from Chang’an every month. Could you entrust this task to my Huaji Bank? I’ll handle the transportation for you. I own three banks in Taiyuan, so if the Hedong army needs them, they can directly withdraw from my banks there. Your Highness, does that sound acceptable?”
Yang Huahua’s proposal piqued Li Qingan’s interest. This was the rudimentary form of interbank transactions—withdrawals and deposits in different locations. Wang Baoji’s Bank had also made similar requests. Allowing banks to handle such operations wasn’t entirely unacceptable, but Li Qingan didn’t want to give it to Yang Huahua. He knew her real goal was to obtain silver coins to exchange them for copper coins at a lower price. Although he didn’t prohibit such speculative trading, he also wouldn’t encourage it by using soldiers’ pay for her speculation.
Instead of refusing outright, he changed the subject and asked, “Why don’t you engage in legitimate trade?”
Yang Huahua was extremely clever. Seeing that Li Qingan wasn’t mentioning silver coins, she realized he wouldn’t give it to her and felt slightly disappointed. But she wasn’t willing to give up easily. Since Li Qingan had brought up trade, she seized the opportunity.
“Oh! How could I not think about trade? Trade is my main business. It’s just that there aren’t many business opportunities these days, making it hard to make money! Could Your Highness please treat me to a bowl of rice?”
When trade came up, Li Qingan pondered for a moment before saying, “How about this? I’ll tell you an insider tip. If you seize this opportunity, you’ll make a fortune.”
Yang Huahua was overjoyed and urged, “Please, Your Highness, tell me!”
“The court has decided to expand overseas trade and plans to develop Mingzhou Port to boost trade with Silla and Japan, as well as with the Arabs and Persians. I suggest you stop focusing solely on domestic trade and look further afield—engage in overseas trade. I believe that with your abilities and determination, you’ll surely be able to build your own business empire.”

Li Qing’an’s words deeply moved Yang Huahua. In fact, she had also been thinking about her own future path, but she couldn’t see it clearly at the time. Li Qing’an’s words were like clearing the clouds to reveal the sun, suddenly illuminating her path. Overseas trade—she seemed to see the vast wealth coming from the seas. At that moment, she felt Li Qing’an’s sincerity and concern for her, and she was extremely moved. The grudges and conflicts between her and Li Qing’an over the past ten years vanished from her mind. She stood up, bowed deeply to Li Qing’an, and said with utmost sincerity, “If Huahua achieves anything in the future, it will all be thanks to Your Highness!”
Li Qing’an never expected that his lunch today would completely change Yang Huahua’s fate. Many years later, Yang Huahua became the foremost merchant in the Tang Empire’s trade with Japan, and her Huaji Trading Company almost monopolized civilian trade between the Tang Empire and Japan.
Her son later entered government service and was appointed as a junior official in the Honglu Temple, in charge of foreign affairs with Japan and Silla.
But that’s another story. When Li Qing’an returned to his residence, he received urgent news from Hedong: An Lushan had divided his forces and launched a massive attack on Hedong.
……