Chapter 58
After half an hour, the Zhang family followed Suoda into the Aso tribe.
Sure enough, with someone to lead the way, their line was unimpeded, and Suoda helped them deal with the questioning that they were bound to encounter.
Guided them to an open space in the tribe, Suoda asked Zhang to wait for a while, turned and got into a big tent in front.
After a while, he walked out behind an elderly middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man is the leader of the Aso tribe, he looked at Zhang with fear, and asked, “I know of the Ale tribe, a small tribe in the south.
“Is there no man in this tribe? Why did you find a woman from the Sheng Dynasty to take charge?”
As soon as he finished speaking, there were bursts of laughter around him.
Mr. Zhang has been to too many places recently, and he is used to this kind of ridicule.
She stretched out her hand to stop the Ala man who was excited to stand up for her, and said to the leader of Aso: “In the end, we’re just here to do business, aren’t we? The Ala man is a man or a woman, so what? relation?”
Her eyes looked at the salt piled on their fleet: “It won’t affect the price of the salt anyway.”
The leader of Aso was startled.
He quickly came back to his senses, coughed lightly, and confirmed: “I heard Soda say, you want to exchange salt for wool?”
Zhang Shi nodded.
The leader of Asuo touched his chin: “One hundred catties of wool for one catty of salt is too little, at least two catties!”
Zhang Shi frowned slightly and shook his head.
She responded: “The salt we brought is of good quality, and the warriors of your tribe have just confirmed that this price is the most reasonable.
“From Ale to Pingjinshan, the price is the same all the way. It can’t be changed. I hope you can understand.”
“How can the wool of other tribes be compared with ours?” Aso’s leader raised his head and said, “Our Asso’s son-in-law raises the best cattle and sheep on the grassland!”
Zhang Shi frowned.
“Since that’s the case…” She turned around, “I can’t talk about this business. I hope next time I have the opportunity to cooperate with the Aso tribe.”
She couldn’t talk for a while, and she didn’t intend to entangle. Originally, the Aso tribe was the last stop of her trip. Without the wool from the Asuo tribe, it would not have any effect on her plan this time.
Seeing that she was going to leave, the leader of Aso widened his eyes.
“Wait!” he shouted.
Soon, a man with Aso blocked behind the convoy, forbidding them to leave.
“You Sheng Dynasty woman is so unreasonable!” The leader of Asuo took a few steps closer. “This is the territory of the Rong family. Do you think you can come when you say it, and you can leave if you want?”
Gu Si, who was next to Zhang’s, couldn’t help it, gritted his teeth and asked, “Boss Aso, do you want to break the trading rules of the grassland?”
Because few caravans are willing to come in the depths of the grasslands, and the things brought by the caravans are necessary materials for all ethnic groups. Each tribe has a customary rule – you can not do business, but you must never do anything to the caravan.
Once a tribe breaks the rules, the caravan will simply abandon them and never patronize.
“You are from the Ale tribe, of course I will not embarrass you.” Patriarch Aso replied: “But this woman is from the Sheng Dynasty, and she is not within this rule.”
“She’s my brother’s woman, the current female steward of our tribe!” Gus shouted.
Zhang Shi motioned him to step back with his eyes, and he stepped forward to continue negotiating with Patriarch Aso: “Asuo is a very vigorous tribe, you are the leader of this tribe, I think you must not be a savage person.
“The price of wool has been set a long time ago. You can send someone to the nearby tribe to inquire. Moreover, we are not doing a one-time sale. If the cooperation is good this time, the Ale team will come four times a year. As far as you are concerned, wool and cashmere are useless.
“I hope to gain the friendship of the Aso tribe, and I hope it can bring benefits to you. I hope you will not be so reckless.”
After hearing what she said, the leader of Aso was silent for a long time.
“You are a wise woman.” Finally, he said.
Looking at the sacks full of wool on the convoy, the leader of Aso let out a sigh of relief: “The Aso people are willing to cooperate with wise people. Just as you said, a hundred catties of wool and a catty of salt.”
Seeing his attitude change, Zhang Shi also breathed a sigh of relief.
Nearly a year of experience has made her lose her original weak appearance, and fully highlighted her inner toughness.
Today, her face is full of traces of wind and rain, and her rough skin cannot hide her bright eyes.
With the cooperation of the Aso tribe, the transaction went very smoothly.
The size of the sheep raised by the Asuo tribe was so large that Mrs Zhang couldn’t eat them all in one go. According to the remaining positions in the convoy, she collected a small portion first, and agreed to collect the rest after three months.
Soda took a bag of salt from her motorcade and split it with her neighbors who had also given wool.
The younger brother Suoren laughed so hard that he couldn’t see his teeth, he trotted home with salt in both hands.
Suoda watched his back silently for a while, suddenly remembered something, and turned to the leader to speak.
After a while, the leader of Aso came over again with Soda.
He asked Mrs. Zhang, “Do you only have salt? Can you bring something else when you come over next time?”
Mr. Zhang said truthfully while staring at everyone putting on wool, “I originally brought some tea leaves and the like, but Asuo was too far away, the tea and sugar couldn’t wait to come here, and they have already been replaced.”
The leader of Asso nodded thoughtfully: “So it is.”
“Do you want to trade something else?” Mr. Zhang asked suddenly.
Chief Aso gave her a deep look and nodded.
In fact, after confirming what Zhang’s brought, they knew that Zhang was more sincere than those caravans that only occasionally passed by.
Not to mention the price of the salt, her salt is uniform in color and not mixed with mud. They are willing to let them buy live cattle and sheep at the price they traded with the caravan before.
At this time, I heard Zhang said that the original team still carried tea and sugar, and the leader of Asso could imagine the quality of those things.
He thought about it and asked, “If you want a lot of wool, how about we send someone to deliver it to you?
“But this time, we don’t want salt, we want sugar, and you have to keep it for us.
“How many pounds of wool can you exchange for a pound of sugar?”
Zhang replied, “This is not yet certain.”
She calculated with distressed expression, and replied, “On the fifteenth of next month, we will go to Changling to exchange salt and sugar with merchants from the Sheng Dynasty.
“I remember that in Changling, two sheep can exchange a bag of candy bars.”
Under the completely disbelieving gazes of Chief Aso and Soda, she shook hands: “Of course, we can’t sell you sugar at the same price. Counting our profit margins, and the transportation along the way. cost……
“Perhaps you can trade eight sheep for candy bars.”
“Eight sheep?! You’re crazy!” Suoda couldn’t speak, so he shouted excitedly: “What you exchanged for two sheep was just sent here, and you want to exchange eight sheep?”
Zhang Shiwan didn’t hear his anger, and asked in a daze: “I remember, isn’t it about the same price on the caravan’s side?”
She put on a generous expression: “You know, the sugar brought by the general caravan is not very good, and many of them are bitter. The sugar I exchanged from Changling does not need to be boiled at all, and children can put it directly in it. It should be more expensive to eat in your mouth.”
“But you only used two sheep…” Suoda was already incoherent.
Patriarch Asuo glared at him, motioned him to step back, and asked himself, “Changling, I remember it’s not far from your Ale tribe’s territory?”
Mr. Zhang nodded: “Our convoy will take several days to go there. If we are riding a horse, we will arrive in a day and a half.”
“Changling…Isn’t it Sheng Chaoren’s territory?” The leader of Asso looked puzzled: “Could it be that the Khan has already taken it down?”
“No.” Zhang replied.
The leader of Asuo suddenly realized: “It’s you, you, relying on your identity as a prosperous man, sneaked in to buy and sell cattle and sheep!”
Zhang Shi shook his head.
She went straight to the topic and explained: “There is an exchange over there in Changling, which starts on June 15 and opens twice a month.
“All the inspected Rong people and Sheng Dynasty people can go in and buy and sell in it.
“The Sheng Dynasty army there will maintain law and order, and then collect some taxes.”
As she spoke, she secretly observed the expressions of the two in front of her.
Long before reaching the Aso tribe, she hit the wall several times. As a last resort, Mr. Zhang came up with this method of retreating.
She normally told these Rong people that she persuaded them to go to Changling, and the first reaction of these people was that she wanted to harm them.
Once, a small tribe even drove them out bluntly out of fear that it was a trap.
After a few times, Mr. Zhang learned to be smart.
She said before that they brought tea and sugar, but she was making arrangements after the transaction was over.
In fact, caravans don’t carry anything like that at all! She mentioned it deliberately, just to lead to the next topic.
After that, she can inadvertently reveal the huge benefits that can be obtained from trading in Changling, arouse the curiosity of the other party, and then explain it to them clearly.
And her position will always remain neutral, so that these Rong people know that she is simply talking about this matter, and has no intention of persuading or bewitching.
Sure enough, the leader of Asuo was stunned for a while, and after recovering, he confirmed: “What you said is true? Those soldiers of the Sheng Dynasty saw us… Wouldn’t they attack us?”
Mr. Zhang turned around and was busy with his own business, and took the time to answer, “No. You can ask Gu Si, he followed me there.”
Gus knew it was time for him to appear.
He nodded with a smile, and took out a purse from his arms.
At first glance, the purse was something that only existed in the Sheng Dynasty. It was woven with fine linen and embroidered with bats and peaches symbolizing happiness and longevity.
The leader of Asso originally thought that this was “evidence”. Unexpectedly, Gus opened his purse again, revealing a small azure-colored porcelain bottle inside.
The leader of Asso couldn’t help but stretched out his hand and wanted to touch the porcelain bottle, but saw that Gu Si opened the porcelain again, revealing the white paste inside.
He put the things in front of Chief Aso: “Look, this is the refreshing ointment I bought in Sheng Dynasty. In the big summer, as long as you apply a little on the forehead and under the nose, you won’t be stunned by the sun.”
Chief Aso and Soda were once again stunned.
Gus wiped a little to himself and wiped it under the noses of the two of them.
The leader of Asuo was agitated by the coolness, and asked in a daze: “Blessed by the **** of light… This, how many horses will it take to exchange it?”
He has consciously changed the price unit from “sheep” to “horse”.
Gus reloaded the things and scratched his head: “Ah… I don’t know? How many horses are the three sheep? Half? Less than half?”
“This, this only needs three sheep?” Chief Aso was stunned.
Gus nodded: “Do you want it? I can sell this bottle to you… This bottle has been used a little, so it can be considered cheaper for you.”
The leader of Asso was so excited that he was about to nod his head when Gusbi pointed out two fingers: “Two horses will do, but one must be male and one female.”
Chief Aso’s head froze.
He felt that he should be angry and scolded the ignorant Ala man in front of him, but the more angry he was, the more he felt that something was blocking his throat.
After a while, he calmed down his excitement and asked Zhang Shi across Gusi: “June 15? Changling? Is that right?”
Zhang was a little surprised.
She asked: “There are many troops in Sheng Dynasty, do you dare to go?”
The leader of Aso swallowed and replied: “Oh, their army is there, and what they want to deal with is the Khan’s army. What’s the use of leading us small tribes to kill?”
The more he said it, the more reasonable he felt: “Liaring us to kill, will only anger the Khan and make the Khan send troops!
“Those people in Sheng Dynasty dare not do this!”
Sometimes, for the same reason, when others tell you, you scoff at it.
But when you analyze it through your own thinking, you will feel that this is the truth of the world.
Through a series of designs, Zhang led Asso’s leader to come to this conclusion, which is the biggest purpose of her trip.
She said helplessly: “So it is, I said why those troops treated us well.”
Immediately, she nodded and affirmed the words of the leader of Asuo: “Yes, on the fifteenth of June, in Changling. If you miss it, you can still catch the first day of July.”
As she spoke, she delivered the last bag of wool to the car.
“Okay, we should go, or it will be too late.”
The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: 10 bottles of turbidity; 3 bottles of evalee;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!