The rising sun shines on the border market of Yingwei County. Although it is only early in the morning, the border market of Yingwei County is already bustling with noise.
A huge horse market covering thousands of acres has spontaneously formed on the east and north sides of Bianji. Countless rhino horses are tied on the ground surrounded by simple fences in the horse market, waiting for others to pick them. Early in the morning, the neighing of rhino horses and the shouting of horse dealers begin to rise and fall.
The warm morning breeze blew over from the horse farm, bringing with it the smell of horse urine and horse manure exposed to the sun. The daughters of wealthy families in the city might not be able to stand this smell, but for those people surrounding the horse market, this smell made them feel familiar and relaxed, especially at this time, this smell was the smell of money.
Batches of rhino horses were constantly driven in from the direction of Baishishan Pass and entered the horse market, and the rhino horses that were penned up in the horse market were also constantly taken away, ranging from one or two, three or five, to dozens or even hundreds. At this moment, there was no more lively horse market in the Han Empire. There were five or six tax officials sent by Yingwei County alone in the horse market. They had been busy since early morning, collecting taxes while counting the money with their fully armed soldiers, and then stamping the buttocks of the rhino horses after the transaction.
For every rhino horse traded in Yingwei County, Yingwei County collects a transaction tax of 2 taels of silver. Now, the transaction tax on the horses alone makes Yingwei County rich every day.
Seeing this lively scene, Yan Liqiang was amazed at the huge changes brought about by the Kill the Hu Order.
"People in front, make way, make way, the horse is coming..."
Loud shouts and the roar of horses running were heard behind him. Yan Liqiang looked back and saw four horse dealers riding on rhinoceros horses, waving whips and holding long lassoes. They were driving fifty or sixty rhinoceros horses and rushing towards the horse market.
Yan Liqiang gently kicked Wuyun Gaixue's horse's belly, and Wuyun Gaixue started to run briskly towards Bianji.
The border market was equally bustling, with most of the people coming and going in the market being people dressed as knights-errant, and there were also quite a few gangsters. Because there were so many stalls in the market, many of them were set up under the poplar forest outside the market.
There was also a stable for horses outside Bianji. It was a large area divided into many rows, just like the parking lot of a shopping mall in his previous life. Yan Liqiang got off the Rhino Horse and led it to the entrance of the stable. Immediately, a servant in gray came over to hold the reins. "Sir, it's free to park your horse here. But if you feel that your Rhino Horse is a little tired and want to let it drink some water and eat some grass here, we can take care of it for you for only ten copper coins. Sir, your Wuyun Gaixue is a good horse. If you want Wuyun Gaixue to eat better here and have more physical strength, we also have high-quality fine feed here, added with beans, earth salt and distiller's grains. I guarantee that your Rhino Horse can travel hundreds of miles a day without sweating at all..."
“How much is the concentrate?”
"One silver coin!"
"Well, take good care of my horse!" Yan Liqiang said, handing over a silver coin.
"Don't worry, sir. Just come back in an hour and I'll make sure your Wuyun Gaixue is well fed!" The servant took the silver coin with a smile and handed Yan Liqiang a wooden sign with a number on it. "If you come back later, just hand this sign to our people over there and you can take your horse away. Please keep this sign. The rule here is that you can take the horse away with the sign!"
"Okay, got it!" Yan Liqiang nodded, put away the wooden sign with the number on it, and then walked directly towards the border market.
Yan Liqiang had just taken a few steps when three or four vendors who were shouting outside the market came over and brought a bunch of bottles and jars in their hands towards Yan Liqiang.
"Sir, sir, do you want to buy stoneworm oil? My stoneworm oil only costs three taels of silver per bottle. Just two drops can keep a Shatu or Heijie head from rotting for thirty days. This bottle of stoneroot grass oil can easily preserve thirty or fifty heads..."
"Sir, take a look at mine. The oil from my stoneroot grass is better than his, and I only want three taels of silver..."
"Sir, sir, although the oil of my stone root grass is also worth three taels of silver, the oil of the stone root grass is more refined and can preserve the heads of the Shatu and Heijie people for a longer time. Sir, look, this pig's trotter in my hand is already two months old, and it hasn't rotted even after being dripped with my stone root grass oil..." said the last vendor, and took out a pig's trotter from his body and put it in front of Yan Liqiang.
This stone root grass is a unique plant on the Silver Continent. The leaves of this plant will turn into an oily substance under the action of alcohol when soaked in wine. If a little dolomite is added to it and refined, it can become stone root grass oil. The biggest function of this oil is that it can prevent corpses from rotting in a short period of time.
After Yan Liqiang issued the order to kill the Hu people, more and more people came to exchange human heads for contracts for meritorious fields and grasslands. The sale of stone root grass oil became the hottest business in the border market of Yingwei County. Almost all the rangers who entered the Gulang grassland would come here to buy a bottle of stone root grass oil and carry it with them as necessary equipment when entering the Gulang grassland.
In the end, Yan Liqiang spent three taels of silver to buy the oil of stoneroot grass from the vendor holding the pig's trotter.
After putting the oil in his pocket, Yan Liqiang continued to walk into the market. Before he had taken a few steps, a somewhat rough voice came from behind him, "Little brother, you've been fooled. Those three people are in the same group. If you buy this stone root grass oil at the stall inside, you can buy it for only two taels of silver a bottle..."
Yan Liqiang turned around and saw two big men dressed like knights coming up behind him. One of them had a full beard, wearing a cloak and a short vest, revealing his strong muscles and looking very powerful. He also had a terrifying machete more than one meter long on his back. The one who was talking to him looked to be in his thirties, with a dark and rough face, long eyebrows and a wide mouth, bright eyes, a bow bag on his back, and a pitch-black and inconspicuous long sword with a wooden sheath slung around his waist. At first glance, he was an old veteran among the knights.
Yan Liqiang smiled indifferently, "Oh, really? Thanks for the reminder, but we all go out to make a living. Let him make a little money. As long as we chop off one more Shatu man's head, everything will come back..."
“Hahaha, little brother is quite open-minded, not bad!” The man who was talking to Yan Liqiang laughed and looked at Yan Liqiang seriously again. Yan Liqiang looked simple and honest at the moment, so he nodded slightly and said in a kinder tone, “I see that little brother seems to be alone. Do you want to join us to go to Gulang Grassland so that we can take care of each other!”
"How many people are there among you?" Yan Liqiang asked.
"We already have five of us, two archers, and the other three are still picking things up in the market. I saw that you are carrying a bow and look like a nice person, so I wanted to invite you to join us. I don't have any other intentions. If you have nothing to do, let's go in and take a look and get to know each other. Even if we don't form a team together, we can still chat and make more friends..." The man made a suggestion that Yan Liqiang would not refuse...
(End of this chapter)