Zhang Tietou, Chu Muzui and others were stunned, and after a while they murmured: "Are these horses for us?"
King Qiang smiled and said: "Yes, these three hundred Hequ horses are the gift given to you by this king."
Oh my god, these are three hundred fine Hequ horses. Hequ horses, also known as Nanfan horses, are famous horses produced at the first bend of the Yellow River in the Gannan grassland. They are adapted to the cold and changeable climate. They gain weight quickly in summer and gain weight in winter.
They lose weight slowly in spring and rarely get sick. This kind of horse sells very well in the markets of Lanzhou and even the Central Plains. Each horse can be sold for more than 150 taels of silver. These 300 horses are worth nearly 50,000 taels of silver!
Fifty thousand taels of silver, even if the smuggling of salt is successful, it will take four or five years to earn this amount. Now that they have caught so much silver at once, how can they not be extremely happy? They all excitedly hammered each other's shoulders.
, his eyes were shining brightly, "Wealthy!" everyone said happily.
"Your Majesty, we can't have these horses." Yuan Feng's words shocked everyone. Zhang Tietou said anxiously: "Brother Feng, you are crazy! This is a lot of money. With this money, we can never go back to Baozi again."
Don’t worry about food and clothing.”
King Qiang was quite interested. He touched his beard on his chin and asked, "Yuanfeng, tell me why you don't want these horses. Is it because you think my reward is not rich enough?"
Hermione's face turned red with anxiety, and she wanted to rush forward and kick Yuan Feng. Rejecting other people's gifts was considered a very impolite behavior by the Qiang people, especially when the other person was a noble person. This was simply an offense. Don't look at her father.
The king admired Yuan Feng very much. If he didn't answer well on this matter, he might get into big trouble.
Yuan Feng said seriously: "Your Majesty's reward is so rich, Yuan Feng is grateful. The money obtained from these horses is enough for every family in Shibalibao to live a life without worries about food and clothing, but it is precisely this kind of life that will harm people."
They, when they have more money, they will become lazy and no longer want to work. If this continues, one day they will be left empty handed. Although your Majesty’s intention is good, it will harm us. It is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish. Your Majesty.
If you really want to reward us, let us manage the sales of Hequ horses in Lanzhou."
King Qiang laughed loudly, and Hermione also breathed a sigh of relief. This boy's refusal of the reward was just a gimmick. People were thinking about longer-term interests. If they could get the franchise of Hequ horses, it would be equivalent to picking up a mountain of gold. Not only would they have financial resources
Expanding the country can also expand the power. Compared with the tens of thousands of taels of silver obtained from selling horses, these benefits are simply worlds apart.
Seeing King Qiang's smile, Yuan Feng knew there was a way and continued: "We have no capital for the time being. Let's sell some of the horses on credit first and send them over when the money is available. The profit from the sale of the horses will be divided between our two families. The king has the final say on how to divide it."
, just give us a bite of food, and we can also bring some tea, ironware, etc. to the grassland. In short, whatever the king needs, we will buy it in the Central Plains. Do you think this is good?"
Hermione whispered beside King Qiang: "Okay, okay, father, please agree."
King Qiang said: "I don't see that you are still a businessman. Well, I will promise you that I will still reward you with these three hundred horses, and an additional two hundred horses will be considered the first batch of goods. You have few people, so I will give you a reward."
The king has sent a hundred men to help you escort the horses. As for the dividends, you can discuss it with Min'er later."
Yuan Feng was overjoyed and thanked King Qiang: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward." Hermione also made faces at Yuan Feng happily. Her father asked her to take charge of the horse sale. It was clear that he wanted to win over Yuan Feng. The two parties had a fixed relationship.
Then it is not logical to develop other things in the future.
After the matter was agreed upon, Yuan Feng and others finally embarked on their return journey. A hundred Qiang cavalrymen from herdsmen accompanied them back, first to take care of the untrained horses, and secondly to protect their safety. After all, five hundred horses was a fortune.
If you have a lot of wealth, it is inevitable that someone will be interested in it on the road.
Hermione reluctantly said goodbye to Yuan Feng, and repeatedly told her that her sworn brother would come back early. Yuan Feng didn't feel that it was hard to leave, and kept urging Hermione to go back early and not send him off again. Finally, Hermione was so angry.
He pouted and said: "Let's go, let's go, I know you don't miss me as a sister at all." After saying that, he turned his horse and left. He thought that Yuan Feng would chase after him, but he didn't know that he really left.
While singing the newly learned Qiang pastoral songs, she seemed very happy. Hermione was so angry that she beat the weeds with a horse whip to vent her anger.
The sixteen-year-old Yuan Feng had no concept of love between men and women. Even with his mute aunt, the relationship was vague, somewhere between brother and sister, let alone Hermione who was two years older than him.
Heading all the way north, heading straight to Lanzhou, some thieves were eyeing this group of people along the way. However, seeing that the enemy had strong soldiers and horses, and was obviously protected by Qiang cavalry, they could only give up the idea angrily.
Xiaoxing stayed overnight, and twenty days later came to the cattle and horse market outside Lanzhou Prefecture. This market is very large. It not only undertakes the local mule and horse trade in Gansu, but also has a tea and horse department under the Xunshang Road to manage
Regarding the tea and horse trade, horses are not produced in the Central Plains, and only good horses are imported. The Yunnan horses in Yunnan and Guizhou are short and very durable, but can only be used for transportation. The same is true for the Mongolian horses in the northern grasslands. They are small in size and strong in endurance, but
It is not a good breed either. As for good horses for riding, the Ili horses from the Western Regions are tall and powerful horses and are suitable for use as war horses. Then there are the Hequ horses from the Qiang area and the Yinshan Hetao horses under the control of the Mongols.
These good horses are extremely difficult to obtain. The Turks strictly prohibited the export of Ili horses. The Qiang people have not traded with the Han people for a long time. There are only some smuggling imports in Sichuan. Qiang horses have been extinct in Lanzhou for many years. The only one that maintains imports is the Li family of Ningxia.
The smuggled Hetao horses were interrupted last month due to a conflict with the Li family in Lanzhou. It is now hard to find a horse in the Lanzhou horse market.
When Yuan Feng and others appeared on the horizon driving 500 Hequ horses, the Lanzhou Horse Market was already in a sensation. Everyone was eagerly waiting to witness this rare scene. All the businessmen had their money ready.
, planning to eat this batch of goods in one fell swoop, even Mr. Tisi of the Tea Horse Company was alarmed. He climbed up and looked at the smoke and dust billowing in the distance, people yelling, stroking his beard and saying three good words.
.
Five hundred Qiang horses entered the gate of the horse market. A group of businessmen immediately swarmed over and waved their banknotes to express their intention to buy them all. At first, they were a little clever and said that each horse was a hundred taels, but they were immediately booed.
When you go out, you can only buy local horses for 100 taels. Such high-quality Hequ horses cost at least 150 taels. If the quantity is large, it may not be cheap. If you are willing to buy it, others are not willing to sell it. Even if you sell it at retail, it will only cost you a day.
If you can throw it out, you can easily sell it for one hundred and seventy taels per horse.
The crowd was excited, but Yuan Feng sat firmly on the Diaoyutai and remained calm. After a while, Zhang Tietou emerged from the crowd and whispered a few words into Yuan Feng's ear. Yuan Feng nodded repeatedly and said:
"Everyone, please stop making noise and listen to what I have to say."
The scene fell silent, and the businessmen listened to the young horse dealer.
"These horses will be sold to the Tea Horse Company first. We will sell them as much as the Tea Horse Company charges."
Everyone was in an uproar. They all thought that this young man might have been kicked in the head by a donkey. The Tea Horse Company was in front of the yamen. There was no profit in doing business with the yamen. Good horses were sold to them at a much lower price than on the market.
, sometimes they don’t even give money, they just give tea and horse coupons, which is just a thing equivalent to a quota, and is of no use at all. This young man is holding a gold mountain in his hand, but he wants to exchange it for waste paper. His brain is definitely broken.
.
"Okay!" There was a cheer from the crowd, and an official in a green robe stood up. Everyone recognized him as Lord Teamaster Sifan, a small seventh-grade official. On weekdays, representatives of these wealthy families would not be able to do anything at all.
Don't take it seriously.
"This young master deserves praise for his eagerness to serve the country. Come here, I will have a detailed discussion with you," Fanti said.
Yuan Feng bowed his hands to everyone and said, "Excuse me." Then he followed Mr. Fan to the Yamen. Everyone went back angrily, but Zhang Tietou grabbed him halfway and said quietly: "I have ten Qiang horses there.
do you want?"
The person who was pulled over brightened up his eyes and said, "What's the price?"
"Let's see the goods first. I will never treat you badly."
…
In the Tisi Yamen, Mr. Yuan Feng and Mr. Fan sat across from each other across the shabby official case. Logically speaking, this Tea Horse Office should be a fat and fat yamen, but in fact it was not the case, because Mr. Fan was an upright official and did not want to interact with those from the patrol yamen.
People collaborated with others, so they were suppressed by their colleagues, ignored by the wealthy families who controlled the tea and horse business, and even their yamen servants were unwilling to do their jobs well. The entire yamen and even Tisi himself were ignored, which is why we ended up in such a shabby situation.
The Tea and Horse Department is a unit that purchases horses for the imperial court. However, the officialdom is dark. After the money is appropriated from the capital and has been cut down, there is not much left. The money is small, the task is heavy, and the Yamen has no authority. The task of purchasing horses has basically been completed.
No, this made Fan Tisi very anxious, but he was helpless. The Ministry of Revenue was about to conduct performance appraisals. Even if he didn't mention his political achievements, he was afraid that he would have to wear this seventh-grade black gauze all the time.
The appearance of Yuan Feng and these Qiang horses ignited the fire of hope in Fan Tisi. With so many good horses imported, he could collect a few no matter what, which would at least make his political achievements less ugly. But the young horse seller
He actually said that he would only sell it to tea horses, which made Fan Tisi so excited that his heart almost jumped out of his chest. But he was a member of the government after all. No matter how excited he was inside, he had to keep a calm appearance on the outside.
.
First he served tea and talked about some innocuous things, such as the weather and the year. After talking about irrelevant things, he slowly mentioned this transaction. Fantisi coughed dryly and said: "Mr. Yuan, what do you mean?
I intend to purchase three hundred horses at a price of one hundred taels each, what do you think?"
When he said this, Fantisi felt that his face was getting hot. The market price was one hundred and seventy taels, but he cut it down to one hundred taels. It was like snatching money from other people's pockets. If the other party walked away at this moment,
Come on, there really is nothing he can do.
"One hundred taels..." Yuan Bao was embarrassed. After thinking for a while, he reluctantly agreed.
Fan Tisi swallowed and said with difficulty: "Actually... I can't afford the thirty thousand taels, so I can only use tea and horse coupons to pay for it."