Chapter 196 Private Talk
The market was already very lively. The weather was cold, and merchants had set up many tents to trade inside.
The Ling family's tent was relatively large, and the steward was already inside. When he saw them coming, he gave up his seat.
There are a lot of goods at home. In addition to various spices and seasonings, there are also tea, silk and other items. Ling Qingyu looked at it, but before sitting down, he said, "I'm going to check out other stores' goods."
Most of the merchants on Dazhou's side sell silk tea and other items, as well as books, embroidery, Buddhist scriptures, etc., while on Dangxiang's side they sell livestock, carpets, medicinal materials, jade and other items.
Seeing that there were many scalpers in the circle of a Dangxiang merchant, Ling Qingyu said to Meng Su: "Go and ask, how can I exchange these cattle? Also, we want more cattle. Does he still have them?"
At a medicinal material stall, Ling Qingyu smelled the licorice and other materials on his stall, nodded in his heart, it was indeed a good original medicinal material, and said: "I want all the medicinal materials here."
Du Ming agreed and went to Han Xi to get documents to trade.
Walking to a jade stall, Ling Qingyu knelt down and reached out to pick up a rough stone.
"Girl, can this bracelet on your hand be exchanged?" the owner of the tent asked.
Ling Qingyu looked at her wrist. Since the injury, Shi Fang asked her to wear a bracelet made of warm jade. The beads on the bracelet were very small, but there was also a warmth that warmed the pulse points on her wrist. She, but at this time, in addition to the warm jade bracelet, she also brought an jade bracelet. When the merchant heard about the bracelet, she smiled and said, "You mean this jade? I'm sorry, this is for my own use and I won't change it."
After standing up, Ling Qingyu was about to walk out, but an old woman in the corner of the tent said: "I will exchange for the bracelet on your hand with everything here, do you want to exchange it?"
Ling Qingyu was stunned and couldn't help but turn around. The tent was mostly filled with gems and furs, and the total value was over a hundred thousand taels of silver. Of course, these were not worth her bracelet, but she didn't expect that there would be someone who knew the stuff.
"Mother-in-law, since you know this, you should also know that even all the things you have here together are not worth my bracelet." Ling Qingyu smiled, opened the door curtain and walked out.
"Mother-in-law?" The merchant turned around and asked in confusion.
"That's warm jade, a priceless treasure." The old woman closed her eyes again and said.
"Priceless treasure?" The merchant muttered in a low voice, with a ferocious look in his eyes.
After walking around and returning to my tent, the goods in the tent had changed a lot.
"The boss." Han Zong pulled Ling Qingyu aside and whispered: "A merchant we did business with last year wanted to exchange 6,000 horses and 1,000 cattle with us."
"Can't we do this in the market? Do we have to go through General Sun?" Ling Qingyu asked.
"He wants to trade directly with us in the Saudi Arabia to avoid the armies of the two countries." Han Zong whispered: "The batch of horses traded last year was through General Sun, but now such a large number of horses are traded through him. I’m afraid he won’t agree.”
Ling Qingyu nodded. It is understandable that the war horse trade in the Great Zhou Dynasty is controlled. The maximum transaction volume among the private sector is a hundred horses. If the war horses are to be traded, the imperial court will directly come forward to enter the military. The 10,000 horses traded last year, General Sun It was indeed a big risk.
"Should we do it or not?" Han Ye asked: "The price this time is very cheap, but the Saudi side is the border between the two countries, and the place they mentioned is already within the control of the party. If something goes wrong."
"What do you think?" Ling Qingyu asked Meng Su and Du Ming.
"It would be a good thing for us to have these horses." Meng Su whispered, so that the light armored cavalry can have two horses per person, and their mobility will be much greater.
"If it's the sandy land over there in Yanzhou, we can just take someone there to pick it up." Du Ming also whispered.
These two people...are they planning to get the horse and do it right away?
"Well, okay, let's do it." Ling Qingyu nodded. I brought too many things this time, so it would be best if I could trade them at a good price.
"Okay, then I'm going to make an appointment. By the way, boss, there are some good jades here. Do you want to take them all?" Han Ye said. Xu has just opened, and today’s prices are very good. The prices of the medicinal materials that the owner is interested in are lower than last year.
"Well, empty the goods you brought." Ling Qingyu nodded.
After a day of hard work, the goods that were exchanged far exceeded the amount they came in and left the market.
The horse team waiting for the goods left the gate of the market town. Ling Qingyu and the others were about to leave when they saw a group of soldiers running up the official road, holding high a banner with the Chinese character Sun.
"It's General Sun." Han Zong whispered.
"Let's wait and say hello first." Ling Qingyu nodded slightly.
The leader of the group of soldiers was a very strong old general in his fifties. Although his beard and hair were gray, he still had a straight waist and bright eyes.
"I've met General Sun." Han Ju said with a bow.
"Mr. Han." General Sun jumped off his horse and walked over with a smile. When he saw a tall woman standing next to Han Ye, looking at him with a smile, he couldn't help but ask: "What is this?"
"Ling Qingyu has met General Sun." Ling Qingyu gave a dignified salute.
"Oh? From Mr. Ling's family?" General Sun stroked his beard and took a good look at her. Yes, she has a plump figure, good fertility, and looks fresh and refreshing. Although she is not a great beauty, she is very pleasing to the eye.
"Have you finished the transaction?" General Sun asked with a smile.
"Well, the goods brought here today have been traded. Thank you, General Sun." Ling Qingyu replied with a smile.
"General Sun, I have left the cargo list with the steward." Han Zong added next to it. Every time they come, they will leave 30% of the goods for General Sun's men.
"Very good. I heard that the party has changed its king again and is preparing to hold a grand ceremony. There is a huge demand for these goods. You should be able to sell them at a good price." General Sun smiled and walked in directly without saying anything more. .
After all his people walked in, Ling Qingyu and Han Zong also walked out of the market town.
Yan San pulled Ling Qingyu onto his horse. With such a large group of people walking together, there was no need to ride horses, so it was safer to sit here with him.
Du Ming's cottage was relatively close to the trading location, so Meng Su asked his men to go back with Han Ye to deliver the goods and then followed Ling Qingyu and the others to Du Ming's cottage.
The location for Du Ming's village was somewhat similar to that of Meng Su's. They were both located in the cracks of the Loess Plateau, surrounded by deserted areas, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
There was a small village on the way from the official road to the village. A small river flowed by the village. Meng Su turned sideways from his horse and whispered to Ling Qingyu, "That's the river."
Ling Qingyu was stunned for a moment, then understood and smiled unconsciously. Girls from the Loess Plateau are relatively tough, and they are also tough when chasing men.
Compared with Meng Su's village, Du Ming's village is more closely planned and more suitable for street fighting. Moreover, the men are more rough and arrogant.
When they arrived in the main courtyard, Ling Qingyu first went to the room assigned to him to take a shower. The wind and sand along the way were really unbearable.
Meng Su took Du Ming to sit alone in the room.
On the way, Meng Su had already briefly explained to Du Ming the rewards and punishments mentioned by Ling Qingyu. At this time, the two of them just went over the matters drawn up by Meng Su.
"I'm afraid I have to show it to General Yang." Du Ming said after thinking for a moment.
"Of course, if we want to attack Yanzhou this time, we must first come up with a plan." Meng Su said.
"The master agrees?" Du Ming's eyes lit up.
"Well, that's right." Meng Su said with a faint smile.
"Really? What do you mean?" Du Ming was a little confused.
"She said she didn't want us to trade our lives for resources, so any action should be taken to ensure safety first," Meng Su said.
"Haha, that's exactly what she said." Du Ming chuckled and said, "But the people in Yanzhou are not so easy to mess with. It's hard to avoid casualties."
"Du Ming, have you ever thought about taking down Dangxiang?" Meng Su asked, raising his chin with one hand.
"We don't have enough troops, and we don't have enough equipment now. The heavy cavalry you have over there is enough, but the light armor I have here is only half the amount." Du Ming said.
"It doesn't have to be now, but in the future? Do you have any ideas?" Meng Su said with a smile.
"General Yang wants us to come over. Is that somewhat the intention?" Du Ming glanced at him and said.
"I mean, let's fight in the name of the Ling family." Meng Su said, his smile gone.
Du Ming's expression became serious and he said, "This is no small matter."
"Brother Li came to inform me that the head of the house came here first. She was attacked by the Xie family overseas and was hit by an arrow in the chest. She was almost dead at the time. Later, she was killed by the Wang family in Bianjing and jumped into a lake to save her. People, their injuries were not healed and they suffered from cold. If Shi Fang hadn't arrived at the right time, they might not have been able to survive. They were hunted down again when they left Bianjing." Taking a deep breath, Meng Su said: "Yang The general is restricted by the imperial court and cannot move, but we can."
Du Ming didn't say anything for a long time. He took a few sips of the cold tea on the table and said, "What did Brother Li say?"
"He said that General Yang has decided to learn from the Zhao family's army. We will no longer risk our lives for the emperor. They want us to train troops first and increase the number of troops if possible." Meng Su said.
"That means we can't act rashly now, Meng Su. We don't have enough troops. Once the Ling family's flag is raised, there will be no turning back. We must succeed. Otherwise, you are not helping her, but harming her!" Du Ming fell down again! She handed him a glass of water and asked, "You are usually the calmest, why are you so messed up now?"
Meng Su didn't say anything, just took the cup and drank the water in one gulp, then poured another cup himself.
"Meng Su, General Yang is more heartbroken than anyone else. He can bear it, but we can bear it even more." Du Ming said with a sigh.
"If we want to fight against the party, we need to make a long-term plan. Not only to increase the number of troops, but also how to fight? When to fight? If we can capture Yanzhou this time, we will take a step closer to them and stand firm in this area. Okay, we will plan step by step later, if we have 50,000 cavalry, we can give it a try." Du Ming said.
"Oh, you've thought about it before, right?" Meng Su looked at him and asked.
"Do you remember what the master said? A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier, and a general who doesn't want to take back his country is not a good general." Du Ming said with a smile.
"Du Ming, do you know how to marry?" Meng Su asked after laughing twice.
"Yes, but it's not that Hu Cuifeng!" Du Ming glanced at him, and then sighed: "I am an only son, and it is necessary to carry on the family line." There will always be someone in my heart when I was a boy, but people also have to Surrender to reality, there is no need to persist in hopeless feelings, just be a loyal subordinate.
Meng Su smiled knowingly and said, "You are indeed the most sensible one."
"I'll go check out the dinner first." Du Ming stood up and pushed the door open.