"Ding! Liu Bei's skill 'Benevolence' is activated, Charisma increased by 5 points, current Charisma: 75!"
"The owner's favorability towards Liu Bei is doubled, and the probability of being recruited by Liu Bei is also doubled!"
What the hell?!
Yuan Shu was watching Zhou Yi pick out the White Dragon Colt when he suddenly heard the system notification.
Is Liu Bei insane? He's even trying to recruit horse sellers? Is he that desperate?
Yuan Shu turned his head and saw Liu Bei happily chatting with the two owners, thinking to himself that he had truly learned something new today.
So that's how penniless Liu Bei ended up with so many talented people around him—by shamelessly recruiting anyone he could.
"Brother Gonglu! Brother Gonglu! Are you here?" Just as Yuan Shu was observing Liu Bei, a familiar voice reached his ears.
Without even looking, Yuan Shu could tell it was that rascal, Cao Mengde.
Ever since that guy stole a bride last time and left Yuan Shao fuming, the two had been in a cold war.
Yuan Shu hadn't seen him for days—why did he suddenly show up at Yuma Pavilion today?
Turning around, sure enough, he saw Cao Mengde walking toward him with a sly grin on his face.
"Heh heh, Brother Gonglu. I was patrolling the streets just now when I saw four carriages from Yuan Manor parked at Yuma Pavilion.
Tsk tsk, such a grand display—only Brother Gonglu could pull that off.
Are you here to buy horses, Brother Gonglu?"
Hearing this, Yuan Shu immediately understood.
This guy, Cao Mengde, must have guessed that he was here to buy horses. Like a fly drawn to blood, he had to come and see if there was any advantage to be gained.
But having one more person around wasn't necessarily a bad thing—it meant he could increase his spending limit, which would help him complete his mission.
He had already lost so much money to Cao Mengde; one more time wouldn't make a difference.
Yuan Shu waved his hand helplessly at Cao Cao and said,
"Brother Mengde, I came to buy a few horses for my senior and junior brothers.
Since you happened to be here, why don't you pick one too?"
Cao Cao immediately put on a righteous expression and said,
"How could I let Brother Gonglu spend money on me? That wouldn't be right."
Yuan Shu thought to himself, Oh? Trying to act all noble after getting a good deal? I can't let you off that easily.
So Yuan Shu smiled and said,
"If Brother Mengde doesn't like these horses, then never mind."
The moment Cao Cao heard "never mind," he panicked—how could he let that happen?
He had come all this way for a reason!
He quickly changed his expression to one of shameless flattery and said,
"I originally didn't want one, but since it's a gift from Brother Gonglu, how could I refuse?
The horse isn't important—what matters is our friendship!"
After saying that, he happily went to pick out a horse.
There were only five White Dragon Colts in total, and Yuan Shu's people had already taken four.
Yuan Shu thought, might as well take the last one too.
So he called over the two owners and said,
"You two have some fine horses here. I'll take them all. Give me a price."
Before the chubby owner could speak, the thin owner replied first,
"Each White Dragon Colt is 2 million coins, so five come to a total of 10 million.
However, we will gift Liu Bei's horse to him for free, so the remaining four cost 8 million coins."
Hearing this, Yuan Shu thought, These White Dragon Colts are expensive—2 million coins each, like buying a luxury sports car in modern times.
But considering they were even better than Ferghana horses, the price seemed reasonable. They probably weren't trying to scam him.
And Liu Bei's connections were something else—he had just met these horse traders, and they were already willing to gift him a top-class horse for free.
Before Yuan Shu could even speak, the fat shop owner beside him immediately rebuked the thin shop owner with a look of deep anguish.
"Foolish! These gentlemen are friends of Young Master Liu! How can we charge them money?
Sell to them at cost price!
When we purchased horses in the Western Regions, each one cost a million coins, so we'll sell them at the same price.
We'll also gift Young Master Liu Bei's horse, making the total four million coins."
During the late Han and Three Kingdoms period, the price of horses was as transparent as car prices in later generations.
Slashing the price of such famous horses in half was akin to walking into a dealership intending to buy a Ferrari worth four million, only for the owner to immediately cut the price down to two million.
So, the fat shop owner's claim of a one-million-coin cost price was likely true.
Yuan Shu felt as if his entire worldview was being turned upside down.
Is Liu Bei your biological father or something?
You just met him for the first time, yet you're not only refusing to make a profit but also gifting him an extra horse?
No way, I have to figure out what's going on with these two idiots.
Initially, Yuan Shu hadn't paid much attention to the two horse merchants, but now he had to assess their nature.
Yuan Shu mentally commanded his system, "System, check out what's up with these two rich fools."
"Ding! System received the command! Now analyzing the attributes of these two fools."
Hearing the system's cold voice, Yuan Shu thought to himself, The system has gotten pretty humorous—if I call them fools, it just accepts it.
"Analysis complete! Fool names: Zhang Shiping, Su Shuang."
"Fool Zhang Shiping's attributes:
Martial Strength: 31 Leadership: 46 Intelligence: 47 Politics: 35 Charisma: 41 Luck: 60
Special Attribute – Business Acumen: 85
Zhang Shiping's Skills:
Horse Trading (Awakened): Increases Business Acumen by 5 points when selling horses, and reduces the likelihood of bandit attacks along the way by 90%. Wealth Dispersion (Awakened): When encountering a true sovereign in his heart, he is willing to give everything to support them."
"Fool Su Shuang's attributes:
Martial Strength: 51 Leadership: 42 Intelligence: 50 Politics: 21 Charisma: 47 Luck: 62
Special Attribute – Business Acumen: 87
Su Shuang's Skills:
Horse Trading (Awakened): Increases Business Acumen by 5 points when selling horses, and reduces the likelihood of bandit attacks along the way by 90%. Abandoning Wealth (Awakened): For the sake of his ideals, Su Shuang is willing to sacrifice all his wealth to support his friends."
Seeing this, Yuan Shu thought, Just as I expected—these two idiots.
In historical records, when Liu Bei was just starting out, these two merchants gave him everything they had. After that, they disappeared from history.
Either they died in the chaos of war, or Liu Bei ignored them after he became successful. Either way, their investment in Liu Bei was a complete loss.
To Yuan Shu, Liu Bei was the biggest financial black hole of the Three Kingdoms. Almost everyone who associated with him ended up in ruin.
Whoever he sought refuge with was doomed to fall, and whoever funded him went bankrupt.
Aside from Cao Cao and Sun Quan, who were lucky enough to survive his misfortune, others like Yuan Shao, Tao Qian, Liu Biao, and Liu Zhang all suffered terribly because of him.
Even the wealthy Mi family went bankrupt after investing in Liu Bei—what business do small-time merchants like you have investing in him?
Of course, Yuan Shu couldn't say this out loud. Judging by how these two fools were acting now, they were probably going to repeat history.
Yuan Shu straightforwardly paid four million coins and secured five White Dragon Horses.
Thanks to Liu Bei, this was probably the most cost-effective deal Yuan Shu had ever made in his extravagant life.
Leading the extra horse, Yuan Shu turned to Shi Ah and said:
"Shi Ah, you've been protecting me by my side every day. You need a good horse as well. This White Dragon Horse is yours."
[Author's Note]:Note 1 – Records of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 32, Shu Book 2, Biography of the First Lord:
"The great merchant Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, possessing vast wealth, traded horses in Zhuo Commandery. Upon meeting Liu Bei, they recognized his potential and gave him a great sum of gold and money. Through this, Liu Bei was able to gather his followers."
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang went even further, depleting their entire fortunes to support Liu Bei. When Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei took their oath in the Peach Garden, they gifted him 50 fine horses, 500 taels of silver, and 1,000 catties of refined iron.
Liu Bei's Twin Swords, Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade, and Zhang Fei's Serpent Spear were all forged using this high-quality iron.