Chapter 70 Old Fox

Chapter 70 Old Fox

Chapter 70 Old Fox

The two sides met, exchanged greetings, and said hello to each other.

Then Eris directly asked about the situation of Zhu Shenzui and his group. He had mentioned this to Hatulig before, but not in detail. Since Eris asked, Zhu Shenzui naturally had no reason not to answer.

They immediately told the other party that they were merchants from the Ming Dynasty, and that they were bringing goods to Fengzhou Beach for trade, and would later go to Sanniangzi City and Jining.

Hearing what Zhu Shencui said, Ersi seemed even happier, saying that they were able to reach their tribe soon after entering the grassland, which was completely the guidance of Changshengtian. Then he asked Zhu Shencui what goods they brought and whether they were willing to trade in their tribe first.

A winter had just passed and everything on the grassland was reviving. Erris's tribe was a small tribe and they seldom encountered traveling merchants from the Ming Dynasty. Although small tribes could also go to Fengzhou Beach or Sanniangzi City to trade, they usually had no advantages there. Generally speaking, traveling merchants from the Ming Dynasty liked to trade with large tribes and were rarely willing to trade directly with tribes of their size.

Eris assured Zhu Shenzhui that if he was willing, he, as the leader of the tribe, could ensure fair and equal trade between the two sides. This was the promise of an old man and a leader.

This time, Zhu Shenzhui came to the grassland only to explore the way, otherwise there would not be only six people. Zhu Shenzhui had no reason to object to Ershi's request. In addition, their tribe was the first tribe he met after entering the heart of the grassland and could really trade with. Compared with the subsequent trade, it was not a bad thing for Zhu Shenzhui to start trading with this tribe first.

In this case, Zhu Shencui smiled and agreed, and told the other party about the goods he brought. Hearing that Zhu Shencui's goods included not only salt and tea, but also iron tools such as iron pots and axes, Ersi was even happier.

He turned his head and quickly said something in Mongolian to his son Hatulig. Hatulig nodded excitedly, then called out to everyone loudly. After everyone cheered, they all ran towards their own yurts. After a while, they took out various things from the yurts and surrounded Zhu Shenzhui's carriage, talking in a flurry, no one knew what to say.

Next came trade. The Mongols were very poor and had almost no property except cattle and sheep, even the leaders of small tribes were the same.

In Ming Dynasty, salt, tea, and iron pots were common, but they were rare in Mongolia, especially the latter, which the Mongolians could not make at all, but it was a necessity of life. In order to obtain these things, apart from looting inside the Great Wall, there was only one way, which was to trade with merchants.

Therefore, trade in Mongolia was generally based on barter. Except for the Mongolian nobles who would pay with gold, silver and gems, ordinary Mongolians basically bartered with furs.

The same was true in the E'ersi tribe. The Mongolian herdsmen only took out furs and skins, and what they wanted to exchange for were the salt, tea, iron tools, etc. brought by Zhu Shenzhui, and of course cloth. However, compared with the former, the latter were too expensive and too luxurious to be obtained by ordinary herdsmen.

Zhu Shenzhu had done his homework before coming here, and also understood the exchange ratio between Ming merchants and Mongolians. So the price was set long ago, but even so, when he saw the herdsmen were delighted after hearing the exchange ratio set by Zhu Shenzhu, he came to his senses and realized that his price seemed a little too low.

After all, it was his first time on the grassland, and coupled with the lack of information in this era, the information Zhu Shenzui obtained was somewhat discrepant. In addition, there was a price difference between large-scale exchanges among large tribes and ordinary exchanges, as well as some other factors. Zhu Shenzui did not realize that his seemingly normal pricing was actually much cheaper than the actual pricing.

But even so, Zhu Shenzhui still made a lot of money by trading at this price. You should know that in Pingyang Prefecture, the price of a small iron pot is around 80 wen, and the price of a large iron pot does not exceed 150 wen. Similarly, in Pingyang Prefecture, a high-quality sheepskin is about 120 wen, and a cowhide of the same quality is about 300 wen.

Here, a small iron pot needs six sheepskins or three cowhides in exchange, and a large iron pot needs twelve sheepskins or six cowhides. The profit can be as high as ten times or even more, which is simply huge profits.

This is because Zhu Shenzhui's price is slightly lower. According to the normal price, a small iron pot would cost at least seven or eight sheepskins. No wonder when Zhu Shenzhui announced the price, the herdsmen were all delighted and danced with joy.

Although they suffered a slight loss in pricing, it was precisely because of this that the people of the Ershi tribe, including Ershi himself, became more friendly to Zhu Shencui and his party. As the leader of the tribe, Ershi warmly invited Zhu Shencui to drink in his yurt.

Facing such an invitation, Zhu Shencui could not refuse it. If he rejected the Mongolian enthusiasm, it would be tantamount to not giving them face, especially the invitation from the tribal leader.

Of course, Zhu Shenzhui also remembered Ma Shizhou's reminder. After thinking about it, he told Eris apologetically that since he had few staff and was busy with transactions, and the weather was good now, it would be better for him to host the event and make a pot of good tea for Eris.

Zhu Shenzhui's invitation to take the place of the host made Ersi laugh. He said cheerfully that he would not be polite in that case. He immediately asked someone to bring the low table out of the yurt, spread a blanket on the grass, and happily invited Zhu Shenzhui to sit down.

Zhu Shenzhui invited Ershi to drink tea with the tea set he brought. Ershi had seen the world, so he took a sip of tea, and the wrinkles on his face instantly relaxed. "I haven't had tea like this for a long time. I remember the last time I had tea like this was many years ago..." Ershi put down the tea bowl and couldn't help but sigh.

This immediately aroused Zhu Shenzui's curiosity, and he asked why he said that.

Ersi laughed and told Zhu Shenzhu that he had been to the Ming Dynasty when he was young, when Buyan Chechen Khan was in power. At that time, he served as a centurion under the Khan, followed the Khan into the Great Wall, and enjoyed many good things of the Han people.

Speaking of this, Eris's expression was full of emotion. At the same time, he comforted Zhu Shenzhui, saying that fighting was the business of the nobles above, and he was just a small centurion. Over the years, Mongolia and the Ming Dynasty had fought each other for so many years, and there were countless such wars.

Maybe the battle had just ended one moment, and everyone became good friends the next moment, just like the current Ligdan Khan. When he inherited the throne of the Khan, he also fought many wars with the Ming Dynasty, but didn’t he shake hands and make peace with the Ming Dynasty in recent years?
Besides, he was old now, unable to ride a horse or draw a bow, and was no longer the same person he was when he was young. Zhu Shenzhui and his men were not enemies. Anyone who came to Mongolia as a merchant was a friend. This was the rule set by successive Khans. He had been a centurion, so he naturally understood this rule.

Listening to Ershi's words, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but feel a little emotional. Although Ershi, the old Mongolian Tartar, seemed rude, he was able to be the leader of a small tribe, and he was also a soldier of the Khan when he was young. He was a clear-headed and sensible person.

Zhu Shenzhui refused to rest in the yurt before, but instead asked Ershi to have tea with him. Ershi should have guessed the reason. In order to reassure Zhu Shenzhui, Ershi took the opportunity of drinking tea to say these words, just to get closer to him and put his mind at ease.

The transaction was still going on. Seeing the transaction proceeding in an orderly manner, Zhu Shenzhu felt a lot more relaxed.

"Elder, is the grassland okay this year?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a smile while drinking tea.

"Dear brother, what do you mean?" Erzhi asked with a smile, with a meaningful look in his small eyes.

"It could be anything else, of course it's life." Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile, "In recent years, winter has come earlier and earlier inside the Great Wall, and the weather has become colder and colder. I think it's the same on the grasslands, and winter is not easy."

Zhu Shenzhui's words aroused Eris's emotion. He nodded and said, "Yes, there were several consecutive heavy snowfalls last year. If our tribe had not been lucky and blessed by Changshengtian, I don't know how many people would have survived such a heavy snowfall."

"Praise the Eternal Heaven!" Zhu Shenzhui said, stroking his chest.

Eris also made the same gesture and said this with emotion. After putting down his hand, Eris asked about Zhu Shenzhui's situation in a roundabout way. While Zhu Shenzhui was answering, he was also asking about the situation in Mongolia.

The two chatted enthusiastically and seemed to be in good terms with each other, but both sides knew in their hearts that many of their words were meaningless and were nothing more than testing each other and being on guard against each other.

Who said that Mongolians are straightforward? If someone said this in the past, Zhu Shencui might believe it, but if someone said this now, Zhu Shencui would pour the tea in the cup directly onto the other person's head.

Ershi, the old man, was a very cunning man. He talked about the generosity and enthusiasm of the Mongolians every three sentences, but there were subtle thoughts of probing in his words. He was trying to find out Zhu Shenzhui's true colors in his words. If Zhu Shenzhui was an ordinary young man, he might have been fooled by him with just a few words and revealed all his true colors.

But how could Zhu Shenzhui be easily fooled by Ershi? After testing each other, they both found that the other was not someone who could be easily fooled. As time went by, they seemed to be more intimate with each other, but in fact, no one knew how much of this intimacy was true and how much was false.

The tea in front of me has been brewed once, and now it is the second brew.

Zhu Shenzui enthusiastically picked up the teapot and filled the cup in front of Eris. Eris smiled and stroked his beard. When he was about to pick up the teacup to speak, he was slightly stunned and subconsciously tilted his head, as if listening to something. Then his face suddenly changed, and the whole person stood up suddenly without warning.

(End of this chapter)