The market is already very lively, the weather is cold, and merchants have set up many tents to trade inside.
The Ling family's tent was relatively large, and the steward who watched the scene was already inside. When they saw them coming, they gave up their seats.
There are a lot of goods at home, in addition to all kinds of spices and seasonings, there are also tea, silk and other things. Ling Qingyu looked at it, but did not sit down, and said: "I'll go and see other goods."
Most of the merchants on the Dazhou side sell silk, tea and other things, as well as books, embroidered Buddhist scriptures, etc., while the Dangxiang side sells livestock felts, blankets, medicinal materials, jade and other things.
Seeing that there were a lot of scalpers in the circle of a party merchant, Ling Qingyu said to Meng Su: "Go and ask, how to exchange these cattle? Also, we still want more cattle, does he have any?"
At a medicinal herb stall, Ling Qingyu smelled the licorice and other things on his stall, nodded in his heart, it really was a good medicinal herb of the original ecology, and said: "I want all the medicinal ingredients here."
Du Ming responded, and went to Han Bian to get the documents to trade.
Walking in front of a jade stall, Ling Qingyu squatted down, reached out and picked up a rough stone, "Girl, can you exchange this bracelet?" the owner in the tent asked.
Ling Qingyu looked at her wrist. Ever since she was injured, Shi Fang asked her to wear the bracelet made of warm jade. The beads on the bracelet are very small, but there is also a warmth that warms through the veins on the wrist. She, but at this time, besides the warm jade bracelet, she also brought an emerald bracelet. Hearing what the businessman said about the bracelet, she smiled and said, "You mean this emerald? I'm sorry, this is for my own use, so I don't want to change it."
Standing up, Ling Qingyu was about to go out, but an old woman in the corner of the tent said: "I'll exchange all the things here for the bracelet in your hand, do you want to change it?"
Ling Qingyu was taken aback, and couldn't help turning her head. The tent was mostly made of pearls, jade and fur, and the combined value was more than one hundred thousand taels of silver. Of course, these were not worth her bracelet, but I didn't expect that there would be someone who knew the goods.
"Mother-in-law, since you know, you should also know that even if all the things you have here are added together, they are not worth my bracelet." Ling Qingyu smiled, opened the 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 murmured in a low voice, with a ferocious look in his eyes.
After turning around and returning to my tent, the goods in the tent have changed a lot.
"The head of the house." Han Bian pulled Ling Qingyu aside and said in a low voice, "A merchant we traded with last year wanted to exchange six thousand horses and one thousand cattle with us."
"Can't this be done in the court? Do you want to pass General Sun?" Ling Qingyu asked.
"He wants to trade directly with us in the sand, avoiding the armies of the two countries." Han Bian said in a low voice, "The batch of horses traded last year was through General Sun, but now such a large number of horses are being traded through him. I'm afraid he won't agree."
Ling Qingyu nodded. It is understandable that the trade of war horses in the Great Zhou Dynasty was controlled, and the private sector traded at most a hundred horses. If war horses were to be traded, the court would directly enter the military. The 10,000 horses traded last year, General Sun It was indeed a great risk.
"Should we do it or not?" Han Bian 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 happens."
"What do you think?" Ling Qingyu asked Meng Su and Du Ming.
"It would be a good thing for us to have this batch of horses." Meng Su said in a low voice, so that the light armored cavalry could have two horses per person, and the mobility would be much greater.
"If it's the sandy land over there in Yanzhou, we can just take people there to pick it up." Du Ming also whispered.
These two people..., are they planning to get the horse and do it by the way
"Well, that's good, let's do it." Ling Qingyu nodded. There are too many things brought over this time, and it is best to trade at a good price.
"Okay, then I'll make an appointment. By the way, the head of the house, there are a few good jade shops here, do you want to accept them all?" Han Bian said. Xu Shi has just started, and today's prices are very good, and the prices of the medicinal materials that the head of the family fancy are all lower than last year.
"Well, empty out the goods you brought." Ling Qingyu nodded.
After a day of tossing, the goods that were exchanged far exceeded the amount when they came out of 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 the Sun Zi banner.
"It's General Sun." Han Bian said in a low voice.
"Let's wait, let's say hello first." Ling Qingyu nodded slightly.
The first soldier in that team was a very strong old general in his fifties. Although his beard and hair were graying, his waist was still straight and his eyes were piercing.
"I've seen General Sun." Han Bian said with a bow.
"Mr. Han." General Sun jumped off his horse and walked over with a smile. Seeing a tall and tall woman standing beside Han Bian, looking at him with a smile, he couldn't help asking: "This is it?"
"Ling Qingyu has met General Sun." Ling Qingyu saluted very dignifiedly.
"Oh? Master Ling?" General Sun stroked his beard and gave her a good look. Yes, she is very plump, very fertile, and looks refreshing. Although she is not that kind of beauty, she is very pleasing to the eye.
"Are you done with the deal?" General Sun asked with a smile.
"Well, the goods brought over today have been traded, thank you General Sun." Ling Qingyu replied with a smile.
"General Sun, I've placed the manifest with the steward." Han Bian added beside him that every time they came, they would leave 30% of the goods for General Sun's subordinates.
"Very good. I heard that Dangxiang has changed king again and is going to hold a grand ceremony. There is a great demand for these goods. You should be able to sell them at a good price." General Sun smiled, and then walked in without further words. .
All the people who were waiting for him went in, and Ling Qingyu and Han Bian also walked out of the market town.
Yan San pulled Ling Qingyu onto the back of his own horse, and this kind of large group of people walked together, without galloping the horse, it was safer to sit on his side.
Du Ming's cottage was closer to the trading place, so Meng Su asked his men to go back with Han Bian to deliver the goods, and he followed Ling Qingyu and the others to Du Ming's cottage.
Du Ming's stockade here is somewhat similar to Meng Su's. They are all in the corners of the Loess Plateau, surrounded by deserted people, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
There was a small village on the way from the official road to the stockade, and a small river flowed by the side of the village. Meng Su turned sideways from his horse and whispered to Ling Qingyu, "That's the river."
Ling Qingyu was taken aback for a moment, then understood, and smiled unconsciously. Girls on the Loess Plateau are tougher, and they chase men tougher too.
Compared with Meng Su's village, Du Ming's village is more closely planned, more suitable for street fighting, and the men are more rough.
After arriving in the main courtyard, Ling Qingyu first went to take a shower in the room assigned to him, the wind and sand along the way was really unbearable.
Meng Su pulled Du Ming to sit alone in the room.
On the way, Meng Su had already briefed Du Ming on the rewards and punishments mentioned by Ling Qingyu. At this time, the two of them just compared the matters that Meng Su had proposed.
"I'm afraid I still have to show it to General Yang." After pondering for a moment, Du Ming said.
"Of course, it's just that if we want to attack Yanzhou this time, there must be a plan first." Meng Su said.
"The master agrees?" Du Ming's eyes lit up.
"Well, sort of." Meng Su said with a faint smile.
"So? What do you mean?" Du Ming was a little puzzled.
"She said that she doesn't want us to exchange our lives for resources, so any action should be made to ensure safety first," Meng Su said.
"Hehe, that's what she really said." Du Ming chuckled lightly, and said, "But the people in Yanzhou are not so easy to mess with. If there are no casualties, I'm afraid it will be difficult."
"Du Ming, have you ever thought that let's take down the party?" Meng Su asked, propping up his chin with one hand.
"We don't have enough troops, and we don't have enough equipment now. You have enough heavy cavalry over there, and I have only half of the light armor here." Du Ming said.
"Not necessarily now, what about in the future? Do you have any ideas?" Meng Su laughed.
"General Yang asked us to come, so that's what he meant, right?" Du Ming glanced at him and said.
"I mean, let's fight in the name of the Ling family." Meng Su said with a smile on his face.
Du Ming's expression became serious, and he said, "This is not a trivial matter."
"This time when the head of the family came, it was Brother Li who came to inform me first. She was attacked overseas by the Xie family this time, and she was shot in the chest with an arrow. She was almost dead at the time. Later, she was rescued by the Wang family in Bianjing by jumping into the lake. People, their injuries were not healed and they got a cold. If Shi Fang hadn’t arrived just in time, I’m afraid they wouldn’t be able to make it through. When they left Bianjing, they were chased and killed again.” Taking a deep breath, Meng Su said: “Yang The general is restricted by the imperial court and can't move, but we can." Du Ming was silent for a while, took a sip 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 sacrifice our lives to the emperor. If it is possible for us to train first, we can increase the source of troops." Meng Su said.
"That's why we can't act rashly now, Meng Su, we don't have enough troops. Once we unleash the Ling family's flag, there will be no turning back and we must succeed. Otherwise, you are not helping her, but harming her!" Du Ming fell down again. Handing him the glass of water, he asked, "Usually you are the calmest, why are you in such a mess now?"
Meng Su didn't speak, just took the glass and drank up the water in one gulp, then poured himself another glass.
"Meng Su, General Yang's heart aches more than anyone else. He can hold back, and we can hold back even more." Sighing, Du Ming said.
"If you want to fight the party, you have to make a long-term plan. Not only increase the source of troops, but also how to fight? When? If we can snatch Yanzhou this time, it will be a step towards them and stand firm here. Now, we will plan step by step in the future, if we have 50,000 cavalry, we can try it." Du Ming said.
"Oh, have you thought about it long ago?" Meng Su looked at him and asked.
"Do you remember what the head of the family 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 the country is not a good general." Du Ming laughed.
"Du Ming, will you marry a wife?" Meng Su asked after laughing twice.
"Yes, but it's not that Hu Cuifeng!" Du Ming gave him a sideways look, and then sighed: "My family is an only child, and it is necessary to carry on the family line." Surrender to reality, there is no need to persist in hopeless feelings, just be a loyal subordinate.
Meng Su smiled clearly and said, "You are indeed the most sensible."
"I'll go and see dinner first." Du Ming got up and opened the door to go out.