"Yes, yes." Looking at Feng Xun's deliberately ferocious look, Weng Jiu nodded repeatedly. Now he began to regret whether it was a wise move to jump out and take this business.
Weng Jiu came to the side of the cattle and horses at a trot. Weng Jiu, who was walking with his head lowered, didn't even dare to look at anyone in the cattle cart. But his ears were already raised, and he promised to listen as much as possible no matter what the noble man in the cart said. is a little clearer.
"May I have your name?"
"To my noble lord, the little dog's name is Weng Jiu."
The so-called dog names are the names that ordinary people give to their children so that they can have a good childbirth. After all, dogs are easy-to-keep animals. Anyone with a dog name cannot afford to hire a scholar to give him a name. the result of.
"Weng Jiu, right? You don't need to be nervous. This young master is here to ask you, are you familiar with the slave market?" Shen Ao has dealt with all kinds of people and has his own experience. Under his deliberate guidance, Weng Jiu He was not so nervous. The chatter box was opened, and some of the rules here were also explained along the way into the slave market.
Bai Qiutong sat very close to Shen Ao and listened. After seeing that the dignified young master could actually have such a lively conversation with a poor man who couldn't even afford to be a famous official in the Eight Classics. Every now and then, there will be a sparkle in his eyes. Isn't this the man she likes? He will not look down on others because of his status. This kind of confiscation respects others, and at the same time, he is invisibly respected by others.
Shen Ao didn't pay attention to Bai Qiutong's admiring eyes. He was listening to Weng Jiu introduce the situation of the slave market. As he thought before, there were indeed some unknown secrets here. For example, Weng Jiu said that the market Among them, there are serious slave traders, but there are also some swindlers. They often sell "slaves" at low prices. When the customers take people away from the slave market, those slaves will escape privately and make a fortune. A situation where both people and money are lost.
In fact, those are not slaves at all, but just agents, just to deceive customers who want to take advantage of them.
There are also special entrusters who bid on the price. When they find out which customer has taken a fancy to which slave, they start making noises and eventually raise the price, forcing the customer to spend a lot more money and so on.
The Duke of Zhongguo has a high social status, but there is no other income. In addition, Shen Ao is still young. He only needs to serve him well, and there is no need for so many servants. All this time, no one has come to slave. Naturally, the rules here are completely unknown to the market. It is conceivable that if an acquaintance like Weng Jiu had not said this, he might have been deceived, and the loss would be much greater than hiring a broker to help.
Shen Xing, who was beside the carriage, seemed to have thought of this. His face was a little red, with a sense of shame, but he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart. There were two guards, Shi Lei and Feng Xun, beside him. Come and deceive them with your eyes.
"Weng Jiu, what kind of guests do they dare to deceive? If a nobleman comes with a good attitude and brings his servants and guards, will these people dare to deceive?" Shen Ao asked, just a question The question got into Shen Xing's heart.
"Master, let me tell you something you don't want to hear. This is a slave market. People with real status will not come in person even if they have any needs. Look at how unpleasant the smell is around here. I'm afraid Even a true nobleman can't bear it. And even if you can barely bear it, it can't change the reality that this is a slave market. The old man said that strong dragons can't overwhelm local snakes. Although people here usually have competition, but They are still able to stick together when encountering external forces. In their eyes, there is no one they cannot bully."
Weng Jiu said this carefully. Ordinarily, these secrets should not be told casually, but he still said it in order to let Shen Aogao take a look. He really wanted to take this order.
As soon as he said this, Shen Xing, who was listening with all his ears, said nothing more and just walked with his head lowered. But Shen Ao smiled and said, "Okay, Weng Jiu, thank you for telling us so much. Don't worry, today This young master will use you as a broker, and the money is indispensable from you. I only ask for a little bit, and I want good stuff, and I don’t want useless people, do you understand?"
"I don't dare, I don't dare to let you say thank you. Since you can respect me, I will definitely try my best and do my best." Weng Jiu's face turned red. It has been three years since he started working as a broker. He has never met a noble person who said thank you to him. People usually won't even look at you. Shen Ao could say thank you, which made him feel respected, and actually gave birth to a kind of confidant. The feeling of death.
This is naturally a bit exaggerated, but for this respect, Weng Jiu will definitely think about Shen Ao in everything. This is the art of speaking.
People with high emotional intelligence can often attract the favor of strangers in a very short period of time, and whatever they do next will be more effective. Obviously, Shen Ao is proficient in this aspect.
He also felt pity for these people from the bottom of his heart, thinking that in future generations, although the gap between the rich and the poor still exists, there are still very few people who can't afford clothes or food. Often when such things really happen, as soon as they are reported Once it comes out, it will attract a group of kind-hearted people to provide funding. Not to mention completely solving the problem, at least it can help a lot. Unlike now, rich people have long been accustomed to the existing social hierarchy. This is a tragedy in feudal society.
No matter how slow the bullock cart was, it was still moving. Finally, we walked into the slave market. Although the weather outside was already a bit cold, the sound of people was still coming to our ears. The shouts and cries of sellers were heard, as if it were here. What is sold is not people, but goods.
When they got here, Shen Ao naturally wanted to get out of the car. He stretched out his hand to help Bai Qiutong, who was blushing, get out of the car. "The situation here is quite chaotic. I will follow you soon."
"Yeah." Bai Qiutong responded in a whisper as quiet as a mosquito, and quickly lowered her head, secretly hating herself for not living up to expectations. Why did the young master care about her? Her heartbeat kept accelerating.
Weng Jiu took the opportunity to see Shen Ao's appearance clearly. The first thing he felt was that he was young. He only looked fifteen or sixteen years old, younger than himself. The second thing was that he was so good-looking and handsome, both in appearance and in appearance. That calm face and the aura that didn't seem to take anything seriously were all different from those noble people I had seen.
Thinking about the noble people I have received in the past, which one did not cover his nose after getting off the car, with a look of disgust on his face, as if he hated this place very much. Who else would be like Shen Ao, who seemed to be unable to feel the surroundings How about taking the unpleasant smell indifferently?
"Okay, Weng Jiu, I will trouble you to introduce me next. As I said before, I only want high-quality slaves." In front of Weng Jiu, Shen Ao did not call himself my father-in-law, just because he didn't want to scare him. , but the title of young master is very common and is nothing.
"No." Weng Jiu agreed quickly, and then led Shen Ao, Shen Xing, Shi Lei, Bai Qiutong and Linghou towards the depths of the slave market. Feng Xun was left behind to guard the silver on the carriage. .
A group of five people and one monkey were still walking in the slave market. Everywhere they looked, they could see simple wooden platforms filled with slaves of different looks, heights, and clothes. There were both men and women among them. , and most of them are between the ages of eleven or twelve to thirty years old. If they are older, they usually won’t appear here. They are already worthless slaves, and no customer will choose them.
"Come and take a look, the price is on sale. Each person only costs twenty taels of silver!" It seemed that he saw Shen Ao and his party walking over. On a wooden platform beside him, a slave seller shouted loudly. Shouting, just to attract the attention of Shen Ao and others.
"Look here, these slaves are all very strong. If you buy them back home, you only need to take care of the food. They can do the work that half a cow can do. You are guaranteed to make some money!" On the wooden platform on the other side, the seller The slaves are all men between the ages of eighteen and twenty. All of them have dull eyes and are skinny. Apart from being of the right age, they really don’t have any signs of strength.
Weng Jiu led the way and kept talking, introducing the situation of the slave market.
"The slaves here rarely have enough to eat. The merchants only need to ensure that they don't starve to death, so the slaves here are on the thin side."
"The price of slaves here is generally around 20 taels a piece, and there are some that cost 10 taels a piece, but they are usually either too young to be able to do anything, or they have physical problems and are afraid they won't live too long, so they are sold on. of."
"If you want something with better quality, there are ones that are a hundred taels, and there are also higher ones. Of course, you get what you pay for per tung board. The higher the price, the better the slave's physical condition will be..."
Weng Jiu introduced, and Shen Ao kept nodding. Because Shen Ao had already said before that he wanted to see the best slave first, Weng Jiu led him forward with purpose, until after walking for less than half an hour, he saw in front of him Only then did a larger wooden platform appear. There were two wooden stakes on the wooden platform, and people were tied to them. Although their faces were obscured by their long hair because they hadn't arranged their hair for a long time, just looking at their figures, eight Standing over a foot tall, his appearance alone is far beyond comparison with ordinary slaves.
"Your Excellency, these two are the most expensive slaves in the slave market." Weng Jiu introduced, pointing to the two people whose faces were invisible on the wooden platform.
"How much silver?" Butler Shen Xing was obviously more interested in the price.
Weng Jiu then extended a finger.
"One thousand taels?" Shen Xing also knew that even the most expensive one hundred taels would definitely not work, so he quoted a thousand taels.
"Yes, one thousand taels per person." Weng Jiuzhong nodded.