Sogdians never make losing deals. Back then, she spent the caravan's entire savings to build the Pearl Boat, h…
Sogdians never make losing deals. Back then, she spent the caravan's entire savings to build the Pearl Boat, having secured channels with the Bodchen, Utuk, and others. All she needed was the protection of the Tang garrison. She heard that army was dirt poor. If a deal could be struck, profits would multiply a hundredfold.
Yet the Tang people actually doubted Sogdians' business acumen.
"How can you not believe me?" Kang Zhenzhu blocked Guo Xin at the pass. "Your meager pay is useless! Give me your silver and your army's seal, and I'll trade jade to the Utuk. Tenfold returns, I promise!"
"Kang, you can't win forever in this world."
"General Guo, you lead troops to victory every day. Why doubt I can turn a sure profit?"
"Battles can be lost too... When they are, we defend with our lives."
"..."
Kang Zhenzhu swallowed her anger, reminding herself: This man is her pass on the Silk Road. She needed to please the Bodchen, grease palms in Utuk, and never offend the Tang...
She forced a smile. "General, rest assured, not a coin of tax will go unpaid! I only want to make us both rich..."
"Even if we lose money, I'll sell everything to make it right!"
"Pay your taxes. But no investments, no seal."
Guo Xin's expression didn't flicker.
That night, Kang Zhenzhu hauled a jug of wine up the city wall. Moonlight stretched the general's shadow long. Cups clinked as they drank, round after round, calling each other "friend" with every toast...
Yet still, the deal fell through.
Instead, half-drunk and hazy, she signed a new contract: she, a rootless Sogdian merchant, would fund well-digging for the Tang! The wells were for her fellow traders, sure, and the watered oasis would become a Sogdian hub. But that Han general's talk of moons and homelands felt like flatbread forever out of reach. Who knew if she'd profit or lose?
Was Sogdian business prowess truly to fail this time?
Drunk, Kang Zhenzhu leaned against her camel. Through the haze, she seemed to see poplar shadows dancing in the moonlight. And suddenly... she felt certain this deal would pay off after all.