The family of herders just now watched Xu Qing express his gratitude in prairie dialect.
Xu Qing looked at him and nodded slightly, then he, Xiao Ye and the rest of the group followed the well-dressed man towards the tent where the tribal leader was.
This leader is no longer the original leader. The native leader died fighting against the Wanyan tribe.
The current leader was sent by the Bones Department.
In the hearts of these herdsmen, where is the leader?
This is clearly a demon that sucks human blood.
No, worse than the devil!
The Chaolu family who were saved were all grateful to the talented people.
Others lamented the good luck of the Chaolu family and secretly rejoiced at the same time.
They left, and they got by on their own in a few days.
At the same time, these people dared to be angry but dared not speak out. Although they were extremely angry with this leader, they were helpless.
Because these people no longer have war horses or even weapons, what can they do even if they are angry?
Even if they rebel, there are only 400 of them. The Bones Tribe will soon send people to suppress them, and they will be suppressed very quickly. The result will be that their small tribe will disappear from now on, and there will be no more troubles on this grassland.
spray.
It was even more impossible to run away. The places where the tribes gathered could still produce food that was insignificant but enough to survive. If they went there, they would probably starve to death on this vast grassland.
Moreover, if a family runs away, the surrounding herdsmen will sit together to supervise each other.
At this time, everyone in this small tribe was already in danger.
As Xu Qing walked, he observed the expressions of these herdsmen. Although they all looked angry but dared not speak, Xu Qing knew that this was enough.
During the Qin Dynasty, the oppressed people first dared to be angry and then rebelled. They were afraid that people would be so numb that they could no longer even be angry.
Xiao Ye followed Xu Qing into the leader's tent and was slightly startled when he saw the tribal leader sitting on the ground in the tent, munching on a leg of lamb.
See you now?
It's still so close now.
The middle-aged man in front of Xiao Ye who was munching on the leg of lamb was naturally Aladan, the leader of this small tribe. Not only was he fat and strong, but he also didn't shave and was too lazy to wash his face.
He is a member of the Bone Counting Tribe, and his elders have quite a status in the Bone Counting Tribe, so he was assigned to be the leader of this tribe.
The grassland man next to Xu Qing said respectfully: "Chief Aladan, they are businessmen from the Central Plains. They have a lot of fine salt and tea leaves, and their salt is very good. They want to discuss business with the leader.
"
Aladan, whose face was greasy after eating in the tent, put down the leg of lamb in his hand after hearing the sound, rubbed his hands on his robe randomly, stood up, looked at Xu Qing and asked: "You are merchants from Zhongyuan
?”
Xu Qing nodded and said, "Yes, I came here just to discuss business with Khan."
Aladan asked: "What business?"
Xu Qing said: "Just like the leader's men said, we have a lot of salt and tea in hand, which can be sold to the leader."
Aladan's eyes suddenly lit up and he said, "Oh? Really?"
Since the war between the grassland and the Central Plains, there have been fewer and fewer rare items like this. Even if there are businessmen who are desperate for money and life, they can no longer transport them in large quantities like before.
I can only sell them a little bit each time, I can't sell more.
But if a large amount of tea and salt were shipped in and the transaction was completed through his hands, that would be a great achievement!
This tribe is too poor, and even if they are drained, they won't be able to get much profit. If he has such great achievements, maybe the Bone Department can send him to other tribes to make money.
That is much more comfortable than living in this small tribe of only 400 people.
Thinking of this, Aladan asked: "You came here empty-handed. Don't you know where the salt and tea you mentioned are?"
Xu Qing said, "Let's rest not far from the tribe. The shopkeeper will send us over first to discuss the price with the leader."
Aladan said: "I wonder how your goods are?"
Xu Qing first signaled Xiao Ye to pass a small bag of salt and a small bag of tea to Aladan, and then said, "At this time, the leader may wish to take a look at the samples."
Aladan opened them and looked at the quality. He nodded slowly and said, "Well, they are indeed high-quality tea and salt. How much do you want?"
Xu Qing said: "One pack of cigarettes and one sheep."
Aladan shook his head and said: "No, no, it's too expensive. It used to take a bag of salt to exchange for a sheep on our grassland. Yours is too expensive."
Xu Qing said: "The leader must also understand that now the Central Plains court has strictly prohibited us merchants from trading with the grasslands. Look at where we can find such fine salt and good tea except for us. These are all from the Central Plains.
We have worked so hard to smuggle the good tea here, but we sell it very cheaply. Go and ask other businessmen who smuggle salt tea, they are much more expensive than us!"
Aladan asked: "Are your tea leaves and salt large enough?"
Xu Qing said: "Does the leader want it or not?"
Aladan said, "If your salt and tea are in large quantities, I, the leader, will definitely want them."
Xu Qing said, "We still have five carriages with this kind of tea and salt, which are parked not far from the tribe. Shouldn't the leader also let us see if the leader has enough cattle and sheep to buy us?"
Where’s the salt and tea?”
Aladan said: "It just so happens that my leader's cattle and sheep are in the pasture now. I will take you to see them."
As he spoke, Aladan secretly made a gesture to the people around him, and then led Xu Qing, Xiaoye, and the ten men dressed as followers to his ranch.
His ranch was not far from the tent, and Xu Qing and his party soon followed Aladan to the ranch.
There are a large number of cattle and sheep collected in the pasture.
Xu Qing asked doubtfully: "Didn't they say that Wanyan's tribe collected cattle and sheep? I see that the herdsmen outside have no cattle and sheep to graze, so why does the leader still have so many?"
Aladan laughed and said: "That's because this leader is extremely loyal to our Khan. When the Khan spoke, I had already collected the cattle and sheep that needed to be handed over to the Khan for the fifth time! Be ready at any time.
Khan’s next order!”
Xu Qing glanced at Xiao Ye, who didn't understand the grassland dialect at all, and laughed and said: "I see, the leader's loyal Khan will definitely praise the leader greatly."
Aladan smiled very helpfully and said: "The loyalty of this leader can be seen from the sun and the moon! By the way, does your caravan have business dealings with the Wanyan Department?"
Xu Qing shook his head and said: "No."
Aladan asked again: "What about Pantu?"
Xu Qing shook his head and said, "No."
Aladan asked again: "Where is the Dalai tribe?"
Xu Qing shook his head and said: "Chief, this is our first time coming to the grassland to do business. We have no business dealings with any tribe. You are our first guest."
After learning that Xu Qing and his party did not have any grassland background, Aladan waved his hands in relief and said, "Come quickly! Catch all the spies who have sneaked into our grassland! Go and check their supplies!"