The next day, He Qizhou, who was full of hope, received bad news. Guo Wen told He Qizhou that he and Mu Qingshuang could not return to Southern Qi until the transaction between the two parties was completed.
He Qizhou's expression changed after hearing the news, and he asked: "Gang Leader Guo, who decided this? Is there any danger behind it?"
Guo Wen said with a hint of guilt: "This is what Sikong Lang said, saying that you know the price of Nanmian's goods here, and I'm afraid that you would reveal it and cause them a big loss, so I can only let you accompany me to Nanmian for inspection."
After the transaction is completed, you will go south with the goods. But don’t worry, if everything goes well, the transaction will be completed in two or three days, and the longest will not exceed eight days."
He Qizhou thought to himself that Sikong Lang really couldn't trust him and wanted to use Xiaoxue as a hostage. He could only obey his fate at this time, but suddenly he became suspicious again. Sikong Lang should know the identity of the fourth brother. How could he know the price?
Will he be better than Jiang Li? There must be other reasons why he didn't want to get away so quickly. The price was just an excuse, but what exactly were he trying to guard against? He couldn't figure it out for the moment.
"That's all we can do. Will we spend the night at Zhenbeiguan?" He Qizhou sighed.
"Normally not, but if the conversation lasts just a breath, we might spend the night. Their city is three or four times larger than ours. There are not only inns but also restaurants." Guo asked.
"Okay, I'll talk to Qingshuang so that she won't worry, and I'll go with you later." He Qizhou said calmly.
"Well, despite Sikong's rough appearance, he is actually quite scheming. Please be careful in the last few days." Guo asked.
"Okay!" After seeing off Guo Wen, He Qizhou returned to the house and said to Xiaoxue: "You heard me, you should be careful here alone. If you are really in danger or urgent, just find a way to climb up the road at the bottom of the ditch to the south.
Then run back to the south by yourself."
Xu Muxue said: "Don't worry, it's them who should be worried. I'll act by ear. But I'm thinking that Sikong Lang's move may have something to do with those grain and grass carts. Maybe he suspects that you already know what's in the cart and is worried."
You leaked it to the south, so I want to use me as a hostage to prevent you from saying more."
Qi Zhou said: "It makes sense, but unfortunately I still don't know what is inside. If it is a weapon, how many troops can it be equipped with? I think this place can only be equipped with a battalion at most, so I don't think it is possible.
.”
Xiaoxue said: "Don't think about it now. Go quickly. The most important thing is to send the news we know to Zhenbeiguan back!"
"Well, be careful."
"Mother-in-law, mother-in-law!"
…
There were eight people leaving for Zhenbeiguan. The ones from the Salt Gang were Sikong Lang, Jiang Li plus two guards, and Fifth Brother stayed behind; the Lotus Gang were Guo Wen, He Qizhou and two guards. Xia Tong was a newcomer, so they didn’t take him with them.
past.
The two Guanchengs are three miles apart. There is a path several feet wide. Almost in the middle of this section of the road is an earthen platform half a mile square, which is full of ruts. Guo Wen said that this is the place where buyers and sellers deliver goods, like
I brought so much goods this time, it may take several transactions to clear the goods.
The eight people were walking lightly and without weapons. In just one stick of incense, they arrived outside the gate of the north gate of the town. From a close look, the two stone mountains were as insurmountable as a hundred-foot-high city wall, and the city wall between the two mountains was ten feet high.
It's only seventeen or eighty feet wide.
The opposite city gate is about three feet high and two feet wide. The door is covered with iron sheets. It looks extremely heavy at first glance. The top of the wall is densely covered with arrows, and there are several brackets hanging iron barrels. He Qizhou knows that this is for defense.
The oil drums used for siege, it seems that this Zhenbeiguan is really well-deserved. Attacking from the front is indeed as difficult as climbing to the sky!
There is no moat in front of the city gate, but there are a few deer and firewood lines, but now they have been moved away, leaving a road in the middle for traffic.
Sikong Lang loudly explained his intention to the city guard who was standing on the top of the city looking down. After a while, with a series of "crack" sounds, the door that was five or six inches thick opened inward, and a group of soldiers ran out.
, after searching the eight people, this group of soldiers took them into the city like escorting prisoners.
Guo Wen told He Qizhou that he had sent someone last night to inform him that he would come to discuss business today. As before, he had to blindfold his eyes when entering. Later, he realized that it was meaningless because the two cities were not big.
You can roughly see the situation in the other side's city clearly, so this trouble is saved.
The eight people, "surrounded" by more than 20 soldiers, walked through the several-foot-deep corridor under the city wall, and then walked dozens of steps between the two mountains. Then it suddenly opened up, and the city's scenery came into view. Most of them were
He Qizhou felt inexplicably excited about the brick and tile houses that resembled those from the Central Plains.
There was already a man who looked like a businessman in his fifties waiting at the foot of the mountain. When he saw the eight people approaching, he squeezed in from the middle of the formation of soldiers and said enthusiastically as he walked: "Brother Sikong, why are you here?
!Hey, isn’t this Gang Leader Guo? Why did he personally lead the team this time?”
"Shopkeeper Zhao, why did you come to pick him up in person? You don't dare to take it, you don't dare to take it." The second brother smiled boldly.
"Shopkeeper Zhao, something happened before, which kept you waiting for a long time. Let's sit down and talk about it later." Guo Wen responded with a grimace.
"That's it, that's it. It's so cold today that even the horses don't want to move. Let's go to the restaurant and chat while drinking!" Shopkeeper Zhao said.
Although Zhenbeiguan is almost three times larger than Zhennanguan, it is still only about the size of a palm. Within a few steps, the group arrived at the only restaurant and inn in the city. The front yard is a restaurant and the back yard is an inn.
It was a bungalow with only one floor. However, the group of soldiers did not leave, but were standing guard outside the door of the restaurant.
An old man in his 60s or 70s in the restaurant, wearing a brocade robe, greeted each other: "Second Brother Sikong, Gang Leader Guo, Fourth Brother Jiang, my body really can't stand the wind and cold outside, so I'm waiting for you in this building.
, please bear with me."
"Hey, shopkeeper Wu is here in person too? We're too late. There's no reason for you to always come out to greet us. I'll punish myself with three cups of wine later." Sikong Lang hurriedly clasped his fists and said.
"Let's talk in the house. As per the old rules, let's talk about our business. How about letting the brothers see the goods first?" said shopkeeper Zhao who had come out to greet him earlier.
"This is the best." Both Sikong Lang and Guo Wen agreed. Then Guo Wen asked two guards brought from Tongwan City and two guards from the Salt Gang to inspect the goods in the inn's warehouse, while he went with
He Qizhou, his second brother, and his fourth brother chatted with the two old men.
He Qizhou knew very little about the business between them, and after listening to their ramblings for half an hour, he roughly understood what was going on.
Shopkeeper Zhao is the second shopkeeper of Bailiju, and shopkeeper Wu is the top shopkeeper of Xinglongji. His status is equivalent to that of the head of the Salt Gang, so it is impossible to greet him in person. As for the boss Guo Wen, if it had been twenty years ago,
Maybe he will still be looked upon highly, but now he is not as good as a sworn brother of the Salt Gang.
Two merchants from Qi State have also sent four people to Zhennanguan to inspect the goods. The really important price negotiation will start in the afternoon after checking the quality of the goods, so it was just a casual chat in the morning, but He Qizhou has already heard a lot of foreshadowing.
Two merchants from Qi State said they had shipped three batches of goods. They had been waiting in vain for three months in this small town. The money they paid to the defenders in the city was worth one-third of the price of the goods. This meant that they had to wait for three months.
The Yan Gang and the Lotus Gang will give some compensation.
The Yan Gang and the Lotus Gang said that because of the Pei family's accident, the roads were blocked, and they had lost an astonishing amount of people and goods. They hoped that Qi Shang could give some concessions and help to tide over the difficulties.
Both sides lamented each other's losses and experiences, and exchanged greetings with each other with enthusiasm. They felt closer than brothers and more in love than husband and wife. At the lunch banquet, they frequently encouraged each other to drink, and they wanted to get drunk before resting.
There were a lot of people at the table, and it seemed that no matter how much he drank, he couldn't get drunk. He Qizhou finally had a long-lost meal of Qi's delicacies. Although he was greedy, he didn't dare to eat more, lest he lose the face of the dignified leader of the Lotus Gang.
, As for wine, Guo Wen introduced that the leader of his hall was a shepherd from the Pangu tribe and did not like drinking very much, so the two old men were reasonable and did not try to persuade him. He Qizhou also understood in his heart that the other party just did not look down on him.
So I can only watch others drink heavily, but I can only taste it briefly.
Because of the price negotiation in the afternoon, the two families would discuss their own issues, so after the banquet, the Salt Gang and the Lotus Gang were arranged to rest in a room respectively. Just after noon, the person who inspected the goods quickly came back to report the inspection situation. It didn't take long.
Shopkeeper Zhao of Bailiju brought a capable and tall man to Guo Wen's room. After a few polite words, he got straight to the point.
Guo Wen sells cowhide, sheepskin and wool, and needs to purchase rice, tea, cloth and other items. Shopkeeper Zhao sells cloth, silk, and porcelain. He will buy some of Guo Wen's goods. You two can come here.
I went to talk for more than half an hour, but the difference between the bid and the asking price was still very different. The two of them were not in a hurry and decided to discuss it tomorrow.
In the other room, Yan Gang and Xinglongji were in the same situation. Both parties wanted to make up for some losses, but they couldn't reach an agreement at the moment.
An hour later, Shopkeeper Wu arrived at Guo Wen's room. In previous years, the Lotus Gang mainly traded with Xinglongji, so He Qizhou clearly felt that Guo Wen had become serious. His attitude was both humble and pragmatic. The price quoted was obviously much lower than before, and the old Shopkeeper Wu
Apparently he was also close to Guo Wen, always referring to him as his eldest nephew. It turned out that shopkeeper Wu had already made deals with Guo Wen's father before Guo Wen took over.
Although the quotations of the two companies were much more accurate, they were still far apart. Guo Wen's sheepskin price dropped from one to two five cents to one to two cents, but shopkeeper Wu was only willing to pay nine cents; while shopkeeper Wu's price for rice was
Three cents per catty is twice as much as in previous years, and tea is almost twice as much. Since both the north and the south are facing disasters, the purchase price of goods is high, so no matter how much we talk, we can't reduce it to half a cent or a penny.