Chapter 61: The Four Tycoons

What Cui Hou brought out genuinely startled Fei Qian.

Although there were only a few thin sheets of paper, they recorded the names, ages, and hobbies of officials ranging from provincial governors down to commandery administrators. Though each entry consisted of only a few brief words, they collectively outlined a comprehensive network of local officialdom.

Cui Hou said, "The information in this booklet was compiled quite a few years ago. Nowadays, the Cui family's business has shrunk slightly, so there are bound to be some discrepancies. I wonder if this might be of any help to you, my brother?"

Surprised, Fei Qian flipped through the pages and asked, "Brother Yongyuan, where did this come from?"

Cui Hou smiled, a somewhat bitter expression crossing his face, and replied, "It is simply out of helplessness. In business dealings, one inevitably encounters tricky situations, and the laws enforced by administrators vary from place to place..."

Cui Hou did not finish his sentence, but his implication was already crystal clear. Ever since Emperor Ling of Han began openly selling offices to rake in money, localities everywhere had eagerly followed suit, devising every possible means to extort wealth, with merchants serving as the absolute prime targets. Consequently, merchants compiled such little booklets to better understand the preferences and temperaments of administrators across various commanderies, just in case they needed to grease the wheels and avoid sending inappropriate gifts...

Even if it stemmed purely from such commercial motives, it was still enough to shock Fei Qian. This thing was practically the ancient equivalent of a protective amulet for navigating officialdom, and such booklets even bore the embryonic form of intelligence gathering. Could the tentacles of Eastern Han dynasty merchants have already stretched to such an extent?

A thought seemed to brush against the edge of Fei Qian's mind, but for a moment, he could not quite grasp what it was, leaving him rather distressed.

Fei Qian asked, "Does every merchant possess one of these?"

Looking somewhat embarrassed, Cui Hou replied, "Not quite. For instance, the four major merchant houses undoubtedly possess versions far more comprehensive than mine. As for ordinary traveling merchants, they probably wouldn't buy this; after all, it is quite expensive."

"Oh? Who is selling such a thing, and actually running this kind of business?"

"Haha, Brother, it's not just one person," Cui Hou chuckled and said, "These are sold privately by various clerks and scribes in the prefectures and counties. Don't let its small size fool you; to compile this, one has to purchase information separately from a dozen or so commanderies..."

Fei Qian experienced a sudden flash of enlightenment. No wonder the handwriting varied slightly from page to page. It turned out to be the exact same source as modern-day vendors selling personal privacy—people living off the public purse while secretly undermining the system from within. He had never expected that as early as the Eastern Han dynasty, people were already pulling off stunts like this. It seemed the fine traditions passed down by our ancestors were truly numerous indeed...

"By the way, Brother Yongyuan, you mentioned the four major merchant houses earlier. Could it be that your Cui family does not count among them?"

"I won't fear being laughed at by you, Brother; the Cui family can at best be considered medium-tier, perhaps stretching slightly towards upper-medium. Compared to those top-tier merchant houses, we still fall quite short..."

When the topic turned to the business world, Cui Hou clearly grew much more enthusiastic, and he proceeded to introduce the landscape in detail to Fei Qian.

Listening attentively, Fei Qian finally managed to match the merchants of this era with the information stored in his own memory—

There were only four entities that could truly be considered top-tier merchant houses:

First was the household of Mi, a name known to all.

If the Mi family modestly claimed to be second, no one else would dare contend for first. The Mi family of Xuzhou and the Zhen family of Hebei essentially stood at the exact same level, too close to call. These two households could be said to be the absolute wealthiest plutocrats in the realm at present.

Generations of the Mi family had been engaged in commerce, making their business ventures thrive like fish in water. By the time of Mi Zhu, the current head, the household already boasted "ten thousand retainers and assets worth hundreds of millions." Although the Chen family also existed within Xuzhou, they were simply not in the same league as the Mi family.

It could be said that at least nearly half of Xuzhou either belonged to the Mi family or maintained close ties with them. From daily necessities to military supplies, there was virtually nothing the Mi family did not sell.

Ranking alongside the Mi family was the Zhen family.

What drew the most attention about the Hebei Zhen family was not their family fortune, but rather Zhen Mi, who would later be deified by posterity as the Goddess of the Luo River. The Zhen family had also engaged in commerce for generations, but unfortunately, by this generation, Zhen Mi's father died prematurely, leaving the family under the stewardship of Zhen Mi's mother, Lady Zhang.

These two families indisputably belonged to the absolute apex.

However, the remaining two of the four major merchant houses were somewhat controversial. First was the Wu family of Shu. The commerce of the Wu family basically encompassed every single aspect of Shu. Furthermore, Shu brocade, a specialty of Shu, was the favorite commodity of the upper-class gentry. With a single bolt of Shu brocade valued at a thousand pieces of gold, the Wu family had accumulated a staggering amount of wealth—so immense that describing it as "rivaling a state" was not much of an exaggeration. The only point that left some people unconvinced was that, compared to other families, the Wu family had basically never stepped outside that circle within Shu. Consequently, some felt their vision and scope were too limited for them to be counted among the four major houses.

Then there was the Wei family of Chenliu.

Beginning from the era of Wei Qing, the Chenliu Wei family had continuously accumulated wealth and influence. By the present day within the Chenliu region, they had reached a point where they were "not court officials, yet wielded greater power than court officials." Back when Cai Yong was selecting a husband for his daughter Cai Yan, he meticulously vetted the Wei family through thousands of choices. However, because the Wei family maintained overly close ties with the imperial court, some argued they could not be considered pure merchants and ought to be excluded from the four major merchant houses.

Nevertheless, strictly in terms of sheer wealth, these four were unquestionably the wealthiest.

Stepping down a tier, those approaching the level of the four major merchant houses included the Ma family of Jingzhou—the very family known as the Five Changs of the Ma family; and the Lu family of Jiangdong—the family that would later produce the man who burned Liu Bei so miserably with a single fire...

Going down further, there was also the Lu family of Jiangdong—the family of the honest man Lu Su from the Romance, and the Yang family of Hongnong—Grand Commandant Yang Biao was a member of the Yang family...

As for the Cui family, Cui Yi had regretfully indicated that before Cui Lie fell from power, they could still barely manage to hold onto a reputable name, but now things were vastly inferior to the past.

Seeing the undisguised envy flowing from Cui Hou during his introduction, Fei Qian comforted him by saying that the Cui family would surely return to the top tier in the future.

Though Cui Hou claimed with his lips that he dared not harbor such extravagant hopes, Fei Qian could tell that he very much wished to realize that ambition.

Fei Qian pondered the matter. After all, Cui Hou was the first person he had truly gotten to know upon arriving in the Eastern Han. Although Cui Hou's father had initially harbored schemes against Fei Qian, those plans had never materialized due to various reasons. Up to the present, Cui Hou had shown him utmost courtesy and respect precisely because of the formula for colored glaze—though, of course, the transformation of his own identity also played a part in this.

Taking all factors into consideration, Fei Qian felt that Cui Hou was a passable friend. While he could not yet be treated as someone to confide absolute secrets in, as long as their social standings did not diverge too drastically, maintaining a relatively sound, long-term relationship was entirely feasible.

Therefore, Fei Qian deliberately offered Cui Hou more advice regarding the finer details of crafting colored glaze artifacts. This delighted Cui Hou endlessly, and he praised Fei Qian repeatedly while pulling out brush and paper to record the notes meticulously. After all, having witnessed countless styles and designs from a millennium into the future, whatever Fei Qian casually mentioned was considered the most cutting-edge fashion in this Eastern Han era...

After sitting a while longer, Fei Qian took his leave and departed the Cui estate. Although Cui Hou sincerely invited him to stay for a meal, Fei Qian felt that with an elderly member of the Cui family falling ill, it would hardly be appropriate for him to remain behind for a lavish feast. Thus, he insisted on returning to the city, and a helpless Cui Hou ultimately agreed.

Cui Hou personally accompanied Fei Qian almost all the way to the gates of Luoyang city before bidding a reluctant farewell. Once Cui Hou returned to the estate and reported the encounter to his father, Cui Yi, though his speech was already somewhat slurred, remained clear-headed. With great difficulty, he uttered: "This young man... in days to come... will surely accomplish great things... You... must be cautious... and treat him well..."