The term “bottom-fishing” refers to buying goods when their prices are at their lowest, then waiting for the prices to rise in order to make a big profit.
Although Huangfu Song didn’t quite understand what “bottom-fishing” meant, he could tell from Mengde’s expression that the girl had no intention of shipping a massive amount of grain to the Xiongnu and Xianbei purely out of charity.
Instead, while offering aid, she also intended to use the opportunity to weaken them through calculated means.
Just knowing this was enough to ease Huangfu Song’s worries.
What he feared most was the girl sending grain to the Xiongnu and Xianbei without asking for anything in return—feeding their people and livestock through the winter, only for them to fatten up and launch an invasion come spring.
That would be nothing short of aiding the enemy.
Had Huangfu Song heard such nonsense from Mengde just now, he would have sent her straight home without a second thought.
It wouldn’t have mattered if her father was Cao Song, one of the Four Noble Lords of the Partisan Prohibition.
Even if the emperor himself intervened, it would have been non-negotiable.
But as things stood… since the girl didn’t intend to act purely out of goodwill, negotiations could continue.
“You specifically mentioned wanting the Xiongnu and Xianbei to trade their horses for grain. That means you’ve thought this through. Why do you want them to use horses in exchange for food?”
Huangfu Song asked.
Mengde replied, “Because horses are the most important form of military power for nomadic tribes. The reason those tribes have been able to harass the Han borderlands for over a hundred years is that they have horses.”
“Even if they lose in battle, they can flee back to the grasslands quickly, while our Han army can’t catch up and can only watch them escape. But if we use grain to acquire their horses, we’ll not only boost the mobility of our own army, but also cripple theirs. That way, we won’t have to worry about them launching raids in the fall. This is a solution that addresses the root of the problem.”
“I don’t harbor any naive ideas about feeding the Xiongnu and Xianbei and expecting them to stay put. Maybe the lower-class herders, once fed, won’t want to raid. But the tribal nobles aren’t the kind who can be pacified with food. What they truly want are gold, silver, and jewels.”
“Excellent…”
Seeing that the girl possessed a compassionate heart while also maintaining a practical outlook, Huangfu Song couldn’t help but show a look of approval.
Cao Sikong truly has a worthy successor…
Living in the borderlands for so long, Huangfu Song didn’t know the full extent of the Cao family’s inner workings.
He simply believed that the illustrious Cao Song had raised a daughter capable of carrying on his legacy—completely unaware that it was actually this young lady who had been guiding Cao Song all along.
Still, while Huangfu Song admired Mengde inwardly, he appeared to pour cold water on her plan as he raised a challenging question.
“Your idea is good. But getting tribal leaders to trade horses for grain won’t be easy. Since you know horses are their source of power, don’t you think those leaders know it too? Why would they hand over their greatest weapons so easily?”
“I know they won’t agree right away. But I’ll make them agree,” Mengde replied, wearing a sly fox-like grin.
“General Huangfu, if I may be so bold—can I ask you something? Do all the ministers at court serve His Majesty with unwavering loyalty?”
“Don’t speak nonsense. That kind of talk is dangerous and divisive!”
Huangfu Song immediately glared at her and scolded her for it, but he understood her meaning.
“So you plan to incite the smaller tribes beneath the Xiongnu and Xianbei to stir up trouble?”
“Exactly!”
Mengde confirmed his guess without hesitation.
“Those nomadic tribes aren’t as united as they appear. Their survival conditions are harsher than ours, so their competition for resources is fiercer, their internal conflicts more obvious, and their struggles more brutal.”
“Surely, General, you know how things work when these tribes raid the south. It’s always the royal court pushing the major tribes forward, and those big tribes, in turn, push the smaller ones ahead of them—using them as cannon fodder.”
“But once the loot has been plundered and they return to the steppe to divide the spoils, the royal court takes the lion’s share, the big tribes take the rest, and the small tribes? They’re lucky if their young men aren’t all dead from the raids. Usually, they just get annexed afterward.”
“If this continues, do you really think the smaller tribes will remain loyal to the larger ones? That the big tribes will truly serve the royal court? Of course not. The Xiongnu and Xianbei courts have never understood the human heart.”
“They rely solely on brute strength to suppress dissent. So once they show any weakness, their underlings immediately turn on them. That’s why there are always coups and infighting among them.”
“So when I negotiate aid with the Xiongnu and Xianbei, I won’t just talk to their khans. I’ll also make secret contact with the small tribes. These smaller tribes, hoping to avoid losses in any future raids, will likely agree to the exchange.”
“And once their voices rise up, they’ll exert pressure on the royal courts. The khans of the Xiongnu and Xianbei will be forced to comply.”
“Sounds promising,” Huangfu Song nodded.
“But what if the royal court threatens those small tribes and forbids them from making the exchange?”
“Then, General, that’s where you come in.”
Mengde smiled faintly.
And a smile also crept onto Huangfu Song’s face.
It was the kind of smile steeped in blood and cruelty.
***
The Han Dynasty was nothing like the later Song or Ming Dynasties, where frontier generals were heavily restricted.
These days, frontier governors still had considerable autonomy when it came to military decisions.
It wasn’t a problem at all for them to lead a few hundred troops out onto the grasslands for patrols.
The southern Xiongnu tribes had just suffered a devastating snow disaster and were still in a weakened state.
The major clans certainly didn’t want to get into a conflict with the Han court just because of an order from the royal court.
So when Huangfu Song ordered a few Han soldiers to station themselves in a small southern Xiongnu tribe to act as security, it really wasn’t an issue.
‘If the royal court or the major tribes dared to attack a small tribe, would they still dare if there were Han soldiers stationed there? If even one Han soldier was killed, Huangfu Song would lead his regional troops to make them pay dearly.’
Even though the Han Dynasty had been on the defensive against the Xianbei for a long time, it still spoke with authority when it came to the southern Xiongnu—who had submitted to the Han for hundreds of years, with obedience carved into their bones.
Not to mention, Huangfu Song had served as the governor of Beidi Commandery for over a decade and had built a formidable reputation among the Xiongnu tribes.
If he gave an order, it might not even be necessary to station troops in the small tribes.
The leaders of the Xiongnu royal court and the major clans would fall in line on their own.
And once the Xiongnu were handled, dealing with the Xianbei afterward would be simple.
Once the Xiongnu boarded Lady Mengde’s metaphorical pirate ship, they’d take care of the Xianbei themselves—bringing their own supplies and charging ahead with zeal.
After all, if I’m suffering, why should I let you get off easy?
What’s more, the Xiongnu had lost so many horses in this deal.
If the Xianbei didn’t suffer as well, come autumn, the Xianbei would plunder the Xiongnu, and the Xiongnu would be the ones left powerless and humiliated.
Would the Chanyu of the Xiongnu tolerate such a thing?
Of course not.
If there’s going to be a weakening, then everyone has to be weakened together!
***
After understanding the girl’s intentions, Huangfu Song finally felt confident about the proposed aid plan.
But curiosity got the better of him, and he asked, “By the way, Mengde, you know that the Xiongnu and Xianbei together have more than 1.5 million people. With that many mouths to feed, can the Cao family really gather enough grain to get them through the winter?”
“Not by ourselves. But if we combine forces with a few other families that are on good terms with the Cao family, we should have enough,” Mengde replied after thinking for a moment.
After all, these nomadic people had strong constitutions.
They could survive on grass if they had to.
Providing enough food to get them through a single winter wasn’t actually that hard.
Those 1.5 million people probably consumed about as much grain as 500,000 ordinary Han citizens.
If the Cao family got a few dozen other families to pitch in, it would be doable.
“Good.”
Hearing this, Huangfu Song nodded in relief, though he couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.
‘The Cao family has really grown fast in recent years,’ he thought.
After all, to pull off something of this scale, you didn’t just need connections—you also needed an abundance of wealth.
Getting other families involved in something like this wasn’t about making a profit, but at the very least, they couldn’t be expected to lose money, right? But after last year’s snow disaster, the Xiongnu and Xianbei had already lost massive numbers of cattle, sheep, and horses.
Even if the Cao family managed to take back all the livestock from both tribes, the earnings probably wouldn’t cover the cost of transporting grain.
The grain was essentially being sold at a loss—which was why Mengde had referred to it as “aid.”
If the Cao family wanted other families to help, they would definitely have to compensate them generously for their losses.
Not only that, pulling in so many families to make such a big move was bound to alarm the emperor’s sensitive nerves in the palace.
What ruler could remain calm when their officials were secretly orchestrating something of this magnitude?
To smooth things over with the palace eunuchs and to reassure the uneasy Emperor Liu Hong, the Cao family would also need to spend huge amounts of money.
All in all, the total cost might exceed a billion coins.
That was one-tenth of the imperial treasury’s annual income!
It would be enough to outright buy every Minister and Grand Councilor in the capital’s court!
‘How much money does the Cao family actually have…?’ Huangfu Song thought, completely astounded.
***
While Huangfu Song was still marveling, Mengde continued, “I don’t know much about the situation on the grasslands. I’ll need you, General, to gather intelligence on the Xiongnu and Xianbei tribes and set a fair price for their horses.”
“The goal is to make sure we can exchange our grain for at least half their horses. As for the other livestock—anything goes. Once the tribes lose their horses, they won’t be able to head south again, and we won’t have to worry about them raiding our borders in autumn.”
“Understood. Leave it to me.”
Moved by Mengde’s foresight, Huangfu Song nodded without hesitation.
The girl smiled and added, “That way, the people in the Han frontier regions can finally have a peaceful year. They won’t have to worry about raids from the Xiongnu or Xianbei.”
“High virtue from Minister Cao!”
Huangfu Song respectfully cupped his hands toward the direction of Luoyang as he spoke.
To this day, he still believed that the entire aid plan for the Xiongnu and Xianbei had been devised by the girl’s father, Cao Song.