“Why are we not allowed to enter the pass? Did we violate any laws? We’ve been using this road for a few decades…!”

“Why should our goods be checked? Why can’t we pass through here with the wool?”

“A jin of high-grade wool for ten copper coins! That’s less than one-tenth of the price offered at Yingwei County. This is robbery…!”

“The Writ of Grace! We are favored by the Writ of Grace! How can you treat us like this! We will go to the Imperial Capital and complain about you…!”

The leaders of the ten caravans were outraged. They gathered at the White Stone Pass gate and clamored loudly. Behind the leaders were the caravans that were waiting to enter the pass. The carriages and carts pulled by their rhinodrake steeds, camels, and oxen were filled with sacks of wool. The seven or eight hundred meter-long caravans had been waiting around since sunrise and it was nearly noon now. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the Shatu people became more agitated…

The Shatu caravans grew restless and impatient.

Soldiers stood solemnly on top of the lofty White Stone Pass in the distance as usual while overlooking the area below them coldly. Only the eagle-eyed people among the Shatu caravans noticed there were more archers than usual among the soldiers. The atmosphere here was slightly different than before.

Today was the first day of the ninth lunar month. When the White Stone Pass opened early in the morning, the Shatu caravans were going to pass through it like they usually did. However, things were different at the pass today. A bulletin stamped by the Qiyun Protectorate’s Office was posted up outside the gate. The summary of the bulletin’s content was as follows — From now on, Qiyun Prefecture has the exclusive rights to the wool trade. Wool from the Gulang Plains shall be purchased by the Qiyun Prefecture’s Monopoly Bureau at a set price. Shatu caravans are prohibited from peddling wool.

To these Shatu caravans, the so-called Monopoly Bureau was like a bolt from the blue. The Shatu people from the Gulang Plains had been selling wool happily before. Despite the raging war between them and the Dark Ram Tribe, their wool business stayed unaffected.

In their eyes, all these were thanks to the spinning and weaving of woolen fabric invented by the Han Chinese. Without their inventions, their livestock had no use other than being eaten for food. It was this discovery that suddenly doubled the value of sheep they reared, hence causing them to be a high-demand resource on the plains.

Wool was an inexhaustible resource. They would grow again after being sheared. All the wool from the Gulang Plains could be exchanged for a lot of money when they took them to the other side of the pass. Where else could they find a good business like this? The Han Chinese invented a method to weave wool into woolen fabric but the Shatu people would never be grateful to them. They only saw this as another good opportunity to put the Han Chinese traders at their mercy and have them beg. As long as they had wool, the Han Chinese would definitely bow to them.

As the saying goes, ‘Good thing doesn’t last forever.’ Just when the Shatu people thought they could exchange the wool mixed with sheep manure and sand that they had for a big sum of money with the Han Chinese, they were hit on the head by the Qiyun Protectorate’s Office’s bulletin posted at the White Stone Pass today. The blow was so hard that the people from the Shatu caravans were seeing stars. At first, many of them couldn’t read the Han Chinese characters on the bulletin and they didn’t understand what a Monopoly Bureau was either. After hearing the explanation from someone who could read the bulletin, all of them immediately erupted.

“The contents of the bulletin were clearly written and stamped with the Protectorate’s Office seal before it was sent to us. None of your words matter!” White Stone Pass’ Administrative Supervisor Xiao Yuman picked his ear with a happy smile on his face.

Then with an indifferent expression, he looked at the agitated leaders of the Shatu caravans. “You can continue making a fuss here, even until next year. Feel free to go to the Imperial Capital and tell on us to the Grand Chancellor or the Emperor. Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you… White Stone Pass is now under the control of the Qiyun Protectorate’s Office. You should know what a Protectorate’s Office is. If you don’t, you should go ask around. Not even the imperial court and Grand Chancellor have much control over this place…”

“Sir General, our caravans have been passing through this pass for the past few decades. We abide by the laws every time we enter and exit this place. We have never gone overboard either. Why are we getting such harsh treatment without any leeway today?” One of the Shatu caravans’ leaders with a wrinkled face dressed in silk clothes squeezed his way through the crowd, then spoke loudly to Xiao Yuman.

Xiao Yuman narrowed his eyes at the Shatu caravan leader who proclaimed himself as a law-abiding citizen. He then subtly swept his gaze over the web of the Shatu man’s right hand. People who wielded swords for a long time would develop very specific calluses on the web of their hand. This was also true for archers on their right thumb and the web of their hand. The Shatu caravan leader seemed to have realized something and quickly hid his hands in his sleeves as he secretly evaded Xiao Yuman’s gaze.

“Are you really not aware of what your Shatu Seven Tribes have done?” Xiao Yuman pretended like he didn’t notice the unusual calluses on the web of the Shatu man’s hand as his facial expression remained unchanged. “If it wasn’t for your people assaulting and killing so many Han Chinese at the Wind Border Stockade, the Protectorate General wouldn’t have been this furious and announced such a policy…”

“The ones who assaulted the Wind Border Stockade are from the Tuli Tribe of the Coyote Tribe! We have nothing to do with them! We are from the Earthen Desert Tribe…!”

“That’s right! The Coyote Tribe did that! We have nothing to do with that…!” a few Shatu caravan leaders immediately shouted.

“How does that have nothing to do with you?” Xiao Yuman pointed to the Shatu men around him. “Don’t you Shatu Seven Tribes always honor your own community? Haven’t you all been sharing the same voice and always saying something about ‘us the Shatu Seven Tribes’ at the drop of a hat? Now that something has happened, you are suddenly not part of the Coyote Tribe and telling people where you are from. How do I know if you’re telling the truth? Even if you are from the Coyote Tribe, you wouldn’t write that on your foreheads, would you?! Besides, the Tuli Tribe killed people and burned down the Wind Border Stockade because they were jealous that the Wind Border Stockade was also doing wool business and they wanted to monopolize the trade. The Protectorate was furious after finding that out so he announced the exclusive trade of wool. If you have any complaints, then take it to the Tuli Tribe. These are the rules of White Stone Pass now!”

Find the Tuli Tribe to reason with them? Weren’t you the ones who wiped them out? You all even cut off their people’s heads and hung them on the White Stone Pass. How are we going to find them? The Shatu merchants raised their head and speechlessly looked at the disintegrating heads that were beyond recognition in the wooden cage next to the nearby gate. Half a month ago, news about the extermination of the Tuli Tribe had spread like wildfire across the Gulang Plains, greatly shocking the Shatu people. When the severed heads from the Tuli Tribe were hanging off from the top of White Stone Pass, some Shatu people didn’t even dare to raise their heads when they were going in and out of the pass.

“If you all insist on being such tyrants over this whole exclusive trade, then I won’t be selling my caravans’ wool!” a Shatu man shouted at Xiao Yuman.

“That’s completely up to you. Our Protectorate General has always been a reasonable person — he won’t force you to sell your things or snatch them. Otherwise, he’d be a bandit. If you are not selling them, then bring them back for your own use, hoho…!”

“For this price, I’d rather set them on fire than sell them!”

“Well if you want to burn them, then go ahead. However, open burning is prohibited within a radius of thirty li from White Stone Pass to avoid being mistaken for a fire beacon. So if you are going to do it, please do it thirty li away from here. Otherwise, we will take serious action against you so don’t blame me for not warning you beforehand!” Xiao Yuman’s tone remained neutral as he maintained the smile on his face.

“Oh yes, let me remind everyone again. Only the first one who goes to the Monopoly Bureau will be given ten copper coins for a jin of fine quality wool. The second or third will be offered a lower price even if their wool is of the same quality. That’s all I want to say. Feel free to do anything you want!”

After announcing all these, Xiao Yuman promptly turned around and left, leaving behind the noisy Shatu caravans. The Shatu caravan leaders looked at the expressionless Han Chinese soldiers who were guarding the gates, and they were all dumbstruck. They were only given two options ⁠— to sell their wool at ten copper coins a jin, or keep the wool to themselves and let them go to waste…