Chapter 662: Business deals in the grasslands
At the border between the Northern Plains and the Central Plains, a group of refugees were sitting by the Shenmu River with a campfire burning next to them.
This place was located at the northern edge of the Wang Consortium and bordered the grasslands. However, there were barely any signs of human activity here since the Wang Consortium’s troops rarely patrolled the area.
A group of people had gathered around the campfire to keep themselves warm. The clothes they were wearing clearly had a lot of patching, and it did not look like they were frequently washed either. These people were even carrying improvised firearms with them, so it was obvious they were bandits who lived in the wilderness throughout the year.
A rat-faced middle-aged man said, “Boss, do you think they’re gonna appear? The set date has passed.”
“I dunno.” A burly, middle-aged man rubbed his hands together. “Who knows what’s going on in the grasslands? I heard that it’s quite chaotic over there as well. Some of the smaller tribes have been wiped out just like that.”
“Then should we keep waiting? We’ve already been waiting for two days.” The rat-faced middle-aged man cursed and said, “If the goods that they bring here ain’t as good as they claim, we’ll have wasted a trip.”
“Wang Ergou, can you stop mouthing off for a moment? I’ve been listening to your nagging for the past two days. If you don’t wanna wait, you can go back by yourself,” said a man in the group who then spat on the ground.
The leader of the bandits did not say anything further. He had been waiting here for two days, not because of his integrity or anything, but because he would soon be unable to make ends meet.
They lived in the Central Plains along the route leading to the Northwest, but the trade route between the Northwest and the Central Plains had been cut off for an indefinite number of years. The bandits who used to live gloriously were now forced to farm every day, and it felt really degrading to them.
Although they heard the trade route was going to reopen, it still wasn’t open yet, right? They had encountered several merchant groups and wanted to rob them. But the merchant groups that could travel between the Northwest and the Central Plains at the moment were all big-time merchants who were equipped with much better weapons than them.
And he was a smart person. Who were the ones running the trade route? Fortress 178!
Fortress 178 was different from the consortiums. If the bandits continued plundering the merchant groups in the future, those damn fucks from Fortress 178 might just disregard everything and come to exterminate them all.
The leader of these bandits thought that since there were risks in continuing as bandits, maybe he could take advantage of the situation and start a business as well.
But what kind of business could he do? He had no goods on hand.
Therefore, when a nomad riding a horse arrived from the north and said he wanted to do business with them, this bandit leader named Su Lei was immediately tempted.
That nomad rode in on a rugged and muscular horse and said they had a lot of fur hides harvested from the prey they hunted in the grasslands, as well as beef and mutton they could trade.
These items, be it in the Northwest or the Central Plains, were all very scarce!
Fur coats, in particular, were one of the favorite items of the aristocrats in the strongholds. It was the same reason why exotic meat was so in demand. If you could wear a beautiful fur coat that was obtained from the wilderness, you would be the most dazzling presence at a banquet.
Of course, Su Lei only heard about this from others and did not see it with his own eyes.
But in the towns of the Zong Consortium’s strongholds, it was true that the grocery store owners there would often take in fur coats from people selling them.
No, wait! Those strongholds were now under Fortress 178’s control.
The Shenmu River was very shallow, and due to the cold weather, it had frozen over.
There also had to be a reason why nomadic tribes always chose to travel south during the winter, and part of the reason was probably because they could cross rivers.
While the leader of the bandits, Su Lei, was deep in thought, he suddenly heard the faint sound of horses galloping coming from afar. He looked up and was surprised to see a group of people coming towards them on the surface of the frozen river. They were led by a young man at the front.
Su Lei stood up. “I’m Su Lei. You people are late.”
The young man on the horse said with a smile, “Good things always arrive a little late. We’ve brought a lot of fur hides with us. There’s a ton, and they’re all in great condition too! Did y’all bring what we asked for?”
Su Lei thought of something he found very odd. Based on what he knew, the northern nomadic tribes should be trading for items such as salt or weapons. But strangely, the other party had specifically requested tea leaves, cabbage, coriander, onions, ginger, garlic, pepper, and other seasonings instead.
And of course, they also asked for some antibiotics and ironware. However, the ironware they requested were just pots and pans rather than weapons like knives and swords.
Su Lei said, “We’ve kept the goods a few kilometers away from here. We need to be sure of your sincerity before we bring you to retrieve them.”
The few dozen people behind Su Lei quietly sized up the young man and the hundreds of burly men behind him. These people were all riding on tall horses and following close behind the young man.
The young man smiled at Su Lei and responded, “Send your men over to inspect the goods.”
Su Lei looked at the rat-faced middle-aged man and signaled for him to inspect the goods, but the latter shrank back.
Instead, the man who had reprimanded this middle-aged man took the initiative and stepped towards the nomads.
The young man looked at the man and praised, “You’re quite brave. What’s your name?”
Su Lei suddenly felt the young man had an air of confidence like he was superior. The man did not mind and answered normally, “Cui Qiang!”
During the exchange, the man walked up to the nomads. He was surprised to see the people were carrying piles of fur hides on horseback.
Cui Qiang reached out and checked the fur hides. They were in such good condition that even the best hunters in the Central Plains could achieve this quality of fur. There were no bullet holes, and only two small punctures that looked like teeth marks. It was as though they had been bitten to death by wolves.
If the fur hides here were sold to the Northwest or the Central Plains, they would definitely make a fortune. It would be best if they could sell them to the Central Plains where the people were wealthier!
Cui Qiang checked for half an hour before he finally stopped. He turned around and shouted at Su Lei, “There’s no problems.”
Su Lei took a deep breath and said to the young man, “Follow me. I’ll lead you to where the goods are stored. Vegetables, ironware, medicine, we have them all”
The young man smiled happily. “When I saw that you didn’t have any goods with you, I thought that you were planning to take our stuff without giving anything in return. Since you’re sincere about making a deal with our tribe, you’ve made a very wise decision this time.”
While speaking, Su Lei realized the young man did not seem to be afraid of their guns at all. But these nomads were clearly not carrying any firearms, so where did their confidence come from?
After all, no matter how improvised a gun was, a gun was still a gun.
As Su Lei led the way, he wondered, “Why didn’t y’all ask for things like weapons and chose instead to get so much of these daily necessities?”
The young man laughed. “You make it sound like you can get us weapons if we ask for them.”
His reply was full of sarcasm, but Su Lei was really unable to refute him. If he could get his hands on better weapons, they would not have to run around carrying these improvised guns.
The young man looked at Su Lei and said with a smile, “Don’t mind me, I was just stating the facts. After this transaction, you’ll slowly start getting richer. By that time, it won’t be too late for us to trade other goods.”
Su Lei was stunned. He realized this young man was actually looking to cooperate long term with him.
The other party did not ask for guns now because he knew that Su Lei and his men could not get their hands on any either.
But even though he could not get them now, it did not mean he could not get them in the future.
