"It's okay to wait..." Wei Xing didn't seem to be afraid of He Qizhou's threat at all, but he was interrupted by shopkeeper Zhao in the middle of his sentence.
"I think the prices of porcelain and silk are about the same. Let's make a deal first. As for the cloth, we can discuss it when we go back." Shopkeeper Zhao really couldn't stand it anymore. If there is no progress, not only will they not be able to negotiate with the merchants who are following them.
Jiang Shuo couldn't explain it.
"That's okay, let's do some business first." Seeing that shopkeeper Zhao gave in slightly, Guo Wen temporarily suppressed his anger and nodded reluctantly, but he really didn't understand the confidence of Wei Xing, who had been doing business with him in the past years.
He Qizhou secretly observed Wei Xing, and there was no trace of emotion on his lean face. He seemed to agree with Shopkeeper Zhao's decision, because Bailiju's goods were divided into many varieties, and Shuang Ding continued to discuss some details.
As for the details, the Lotus Gang finally replaced 5,000 sheepskins and purchased some silk and fine porcelain.
The Yan Gang finally made some progress, exchanging 10,000 jins of green salt for 60,000 jins of rice.
This time Xinglong remembered that there was one more person who came to negotiate. In addition to shopkeeper Wu and Uncle Gen, the extra person was Jiang Damin. Each had a successful transaction before, and the negotiation between the two parties became much smoother. Since both of them had lowered their prices,
There are some psychological expectations that the price is very close to the final transaction, but they all know that their goods are very scarce in the other country's territory, and still want to make a final effort, and they all talk about the point where every penny has to be compared.
Although it was not successful in the end, both parties agreed that no matter what, the deal must be completed tomorrow. The same situation seemed to be the case for Yanbang and Bailiju, and they decided to discuss it the next day, because the total value of Qi's goods was higher, except for all the goods.
In addition to the green salt they carried, the Salt Gang was also prepared to pay cash to purchase some of the remaining goods.
The negotiation day came to the eighth day. This time, there were four people from the Salt Gang. The second brother, the fifth brother, and a coachman who set off from Tongwan City had an unfamiliar face. He Qizhou always felt that the other party's body movements seemed familiar.
, I just couldn’t remember it for a moment, but I secretly felt something bad in my heart:
Zhenbeiguan of Qi State may not agree with this. After all, the Salt Gang has changed people for talks almost every day some time ago. It is normal to have a new face today, but He Qizhou knew that this person was not in the Salt Gang's team all the way here.
Among them, I don’t know when and where it appeared.
Due to the long negotiations, He Qizhou never found an opportunity to inform Jiang Shuo of the situation, and he never figured out who the person was.
From sunrise to sunset, the negotiations finally came to fruition. Guo Wen purchased another thousand pieces of cotton from Bailiju, and Bailiju finally gave an appropriate discount. The rest of the sheepskins and wool were all replaced by Xinglongji's.
Rice.
Guo Wen did the calculations, excluding the profits distributed to small gangs and merchants; and then deducting the expenses before and after the management. If everything goes well, after this trip, the Lotus Gang is estimated to have a net savings of about 20,000 taels, although it is less than in previous years.
, but the living needs of hundreds of gang brothers for a year, and the pensions of those who died on the road were finally settled, and I was in a good mood, so I spent more than fifty taels to buy a few jars of old wine from the Zhenbeiguan Restaurant.
, preparing to return to Zhennanguan to reward the gang guards, coachman and others who were traveling with him.
The negotiations of the Salt Gang ended half an hour later than that of the Lotus Gang. They were still disappointed, mainly because they were stuck above the price of salt. Bailiju had agreed to trade all goods at last year's price, but only asked the Salt Gang to
The price of salt has dropped from one to two nine cents per catty to one to two eight cents, but the salt gang insists that they are only willing to reduce the price by half, and they are not willing to eat all the goods from Bailiju, so they are going to the warehouse to select them one by one!
Bailiju, on the other hand, seemed to be fighting for a chance, but did not want to make any more concessions. The two parties were stuck on the price of salt, which totaled only two to three thousand taels. They originally wanted to continue the negotiation overnight, but there were still many matters to choose, so they had to wait until tomorrow.
Let’s talk for another day.
Because the Salt Gang wants to continue talking, the Lotus Gang's celebration banquet is not too cheerful, so the matter has been hastily. After handing over the goods tomorrow, we have to wait for the results of the Salt Gang.
After seeing off He Qizhou tomorrow, Guo Wen was really worried about whether these subordinates could cope with the dangers along the way. After the banquet was over, Guo Wen went to find Sikong Lang, and his face was even more ugly when he came back. Guo Wen called He Qizhou over.
In his own room, he said to him:
"Logically, you and Miss Mu can go south tomorrow. Shopkeeper Wu will make arrangements for you. They will also give you the five hundred taels they owe you on the way, but..."
"Sikong Lang still won't let me leave? They're so close to closing the deal, and they're still afraid that I'll reveal the business details? I'll go find him!" He Qizhou was a little furious.
Guo asked: "That's not the case. I had an argument with him just now. He promised that you two can set off with them tomorrow and go to Guancheng in the south. You just need to stay with them until the negotiation is over, no matter what.
How's the discussion going? I'll definitely let you go the day after tomorrow! Brother Deren, forget it, it's not easy to get here, I've been waiting for so many days, don't worry about this one and a half days."
"Thank you, Gang Leader. But I'm still a little worried. I wonder what Sikong Lang is up to. Have you noticed the person who went with them today? He seems familiar."
"Well——, just pretend you don't know anything and leave as soon as you can!" Guo Wen hesitated to speak.
When He Qizhou saw Guo Wen's look, he seemed to know who the stranger was, which meant that he must be someone they had met along the way. Suddenly, a figure suddenly jumped into his mind and exclaimed: "He
Even sleep!"
"Keep your voice down!" Guo Wen said urgently.
"Did you recognize it too?" He Qizhou asked in a low voice.
"Well, I have met him many times. He is almost the second princess's personal bodyguard! But just pretend that this has not happened and leave as soon as you can! I will leave here after handing over the goods tomorrow morning. What happens next
You can only rely on yourself!" Guo Wen said worriedly.
"You won't wait for the Salt Gang to go back with you?"
"Their Lao Wu complained intentionally or unintentionally, meaning that we will take advantage of their salt gang on the return trip. Sikong Lang didn't say anything. Of course I understand what they mean, so I will leave tomorrow morning."
He Qizhou slowly calmed down from the shock, and then recalled the strange things that happened before and after. A clear line of thought seemed to be able to connect all the causes and effects, and he broke out in a cold sweat without realizing it.
"What are you thinking about?" Guo Wen asked in a low voice when he saw that He Qizhou was in a daze. Seeing that He Qizhou was still speechless, he said in a very low voice: "I guess the imperial court is thinking about moving Zhenbeiguan. If you arrive at Zhenbei tomorrow,
Guan, if you find that they are threatening to kill you, don't hesitate and go to the south to seek refuge. It's important to save your life."
He Qizhou came to his senses and suddenly asked a strange question: "Guang Leader Guo, if you were faced with the choice of destroying the gang or destroying the country, which one would you choose?" Guo Wen was stunned for a moment, but still said calmly: "
In fact, for people like us who are the survivors of the Central Plains, we no longer care about the country. Instead, gangs are the foundation. Whoever builds the dragon chair has nothing to do with me. I think those Shengzhou herdsmen thought the same way."
"Then if it's personal destruction or gang destruction, how do you choose?" He Qizhou asked.
Guo asked: "If it were before, maybe I would have hesitated, but now those old brothers are almost gone. Of course, my own life is more important. Why do you ask such a strange question?"
He Qizhou said: "I just want to confirm your thoughts before I can tell you what I think. You are right. The imperial court definitely wants to secretly capture Zhenbeiguan. The Salt Gang has been dragging it like this.
Wait for the opportunity, since they asked you to leave first, maybe the time has come."
"Then I have to leave. On the way back, I have to go to Qingcheng, Kyoto first, where half of the goods will be sold..." Guo asked.
"I guess you won't be able to get to Qingcheng!" He Qizhou said.
"how you said that?"
Qi Zhou asked: "Let me ask you, if the imperial court takes Zhenbeiguan, will our transaction with the south continue?"
"No, it won't be possible for at least four to five years. Whether the gang can survive then is still a question."
"That means your Lotus Gang is no longer of any use to the imperial court! Let me ask you again, if war breaks out, what will the army lack most?"
"food!"
"Then what do you have the most on your hands right now?"
"Rice."
He Qizhou concluded: "Have you ever thought about why the imperial court attacked the Pei family and the Iron Palm Gang? Are you comparing them to who is more important? I guess it would be of no use to the imperial court to destroy a Lotus Gang who was liaising with the enemy.
It’s difficult, of course, everyone knows that you have surrendered to the second princess, so brazenly robbing may make the second princess bear some infamy for treachery, but what if you are robbed by horse bandits on the way?"
"Then why don't they take action here?" Guo Wen asked.
"There are hundreds of officers and soldiers here, and there may be follow-up troops, as well as people from the Salt Gang. With so many mouths, someone will always spread the word. The imperial court will not let others know that it first acquiesced to the business gang's transaction with Qi State, and then
You are going to commit robbery again. If you want to do it, you will have to wait until you are far away from this city, so I doubt whether you can get out of this loess land." Qi Zhou said.
"This is just your guess. Could it be that I will join Nan Qi now?" Guo asked.
"In fact, this is a good move, because if you are robbed again, you will definitely know who is responsible, so the other party will definitely kill you and silence you. At most, a few uninformed coachmen will be left to report the news of being robbed."
Qi Zhoudao.
Guo Wen thought for a while and said:
"What you said is indeed very likely to happen, but the second princess promised to let the Lotus Gang survive. She also needs a gang that can be directly controlled to know every move in the world. Maybe I can be of some use. Besides, those goods are not useful to me.
Words are very important, but they are not of much value to the court. I can't abandon the small gangs behind me just because of a guess. Those merchants who believe in me, many of them have their whole families bet on this shipment.
,So, no matter what, I will still set off to go back tomorrow."