Chen Shu’an leads a tea caravan along the Tea Horse Road from Ya’an back to Luzhou. He learns that his business partner, Zhou Chaweng, has been arrested for “illegally selling government salt.” In truth, Liu Jinbiao, a Zigong salt merchant, has conspired with the county authorities to seize Zhou Chaweng’s tea route and salt wells in Yibin. This is the story of how a loyal member of a sworn brotherhood transforms, amid turbulent times, into a committed revolutionary.
