Black Tower knew that the Xing army had lost two checkpoints in a row, but knowing that wouldn't change anything! If it had been Huangmo Pass that was lost, the Dirong tribe would have been able to rise up and join forces with other tribes to seize the people of Huangmo Pass, enslaving them to farm for their tribe and enjoying the women who came to rule.
But now the Xing family army has used Huangmo Pass as a stronghold, strictly controlling the amount of salt and tea, forcing the nearby tribes to retract their fangs and claws.
There was no other way. Since they couldn't win the fight, they could only give in. If a real fight broke out, the Xing family army would firmly control the sales of salt and tea. These two were necessities for the nomadic tribes on the grasslands, just as natural as eating and drinking water for the people in the Central Plains. If they were deprived of food and water for one day, wouldn't they starve to death or die of thirst?
Fortunately, the trade fair run by the Xing family army could supply a small amount of salt and tea, keeping them in a state where they would neither starve to death nor get rich.
Heita was still thinking to himself until he saw two people standing in front of his stall.
He spat out the straw he was biting, and squeezed out a ferocious smile from his fleshy face: "You two, would you like to see our cattle and sheep? The meat is tender and fresh, and it was once presented as tribute to the emperor..."
Lin Rui interrupted Heita's quotations to inflate Niu's wealth and said simply and rudely: "Can you plow the land?"
Heita replied readily, "Of course. In our tribe, these cattle can even plow frozen soil."
"What's the price and how do I exchange it?" Lin Rui took a look around and found that these foreign tribes really had no attitude of doing business honestly. The cattle and sheep brought over for trade were either thin or sick, and it seemed like they would die as soon as they were taken home.
Who would dare to eat sick cows and sheep? Who knows what disease they have and whether it can be transmitted to humans?
Only the two cows behind this dark-skinned, tall tribal man looked strong and capable, otherwise Lin Rui would have been prepared to make a trip with Sanliangkong.
Heita looked Lin Rui up and down, and saw the servants behind him and the ox cart underneath him. Although his clothes were poorly dressed, he guessed that he had some basic living conditions.
After all, he had seen enough of the shabby people in this area. Under the control of the Xing family army, even merchants rarely came to this market. Heita had to suppress his anger and do business with these poor guys.
Now that Lin Rui had arrived, Heita licked his lips, thinking of making a killing from him: "One thousand kilograms of grain for a cow!"
"A thousand pounds!" Lin Rui was shocked by the way Heita opened his mouth like a lion: "Why don't you just go and rob him!"
The chaos in the court was the court's business. He had bought his two large blue oxen just before the chaos, spending several dozen taels of silver, a premium of about four or five times. In other words, he had paid four or five times more than in peaceful times. However, he had just asked around at the market, and the cattle from the foreign tribes could only be exchanged for two or four hundred kilograms of rice at most. No one would get more than five hundred kilograms.
Although the two cows this man brought looked stronger than those from other tribes, a thousand kilograms was an exorbitant price.
It’s really interesting. They dare to bully others and dominate the market while they are still in Linchao’s territory!
Heita glanced at Lin Rui with disdain: "Looks like another poor idiot who can't afford to pay. Buy if you want, buy if you don't want, get lost!"
Lin Rui suppressed his anger and laughed: "Exchange, why not? It's just a thousand kilograms of food, right?"
Heita looked at him suspiciously: "Do you have it?"
"No!" Lin Rui shrugged, spread his hands, and looked helpless.
Heita thought Lin Rui was teasing him, so he stepped forward and grabbed his collar to give him a good beating. However, before his hands even touched Lin Rui, they were blocked by another pair of hands as hard as iron. His calloused hands were actually hurt by the impact.
At first glance, he saw that the servant behind the young man was staring at him with murderous intent, as if he would be killed if he dared to attack him.
Heita was a little cautious, realizing that this was still Lin Chao's territory, and the servant was a martial artist. He was the only one guarding the place, so it would be better not to cause trouble easily.
He took his hand back and looked at Lin Rui: "You're kidding me!"
Lin Rui still had a smile on his face. He would certainly not exchange the food. The more food he left for his family, the better. Even if much of it got moldy, he would not give it to the foreigners with evil intentions.
Perhaps in a thousand years these tribes will merge with the Han people and become one nation. But at this stage they are mortal enemies, just like the Jin people will become Dragon people in a few hundred years. Does that mean that Yue Fei's deeds of resisting the Jin people and becoming a national hero hundreds of years ago will no longer exist?
In his own country, Lin Rui doesn't care about the lives of others; in the confrontation between countries, he doesn't care about the lives of foreigners.
The other party is like a jackal, who will take your life when you are sick. If you make friends with such people, are you afraid that you will live a long life or that you will not die quickly enough?
"I don't have food, but I have other good things to exchange for it," said Lin Rui.
Heita squinted his eyes and looked at him. "What good stuff? To be honest, your master, Hei, has been doing business in this market for a long time. I have seen all kinds of good stuff. Don't hit me with some low-quality stuff, or I will not be polite with my fists."
"Of course not." Lin Rui was still smiling so that Heita couldn't see through him. Then he turned around and went to his ox cart. He had asked Sanliang to nail the camphorwood box on the bottom and the ox cart with nails. He used it as a transit station for him to get things from the house. Sometimes he would throw in any good things he bought. It was mixed with real and fake things, making it impossible to tell how much stuff he had in there.
For nomadic people, salt and tea are indispensable items. Lin Rui doesn't have tea. After all, in the fast-paced modern life, he uses coffee to stay alive and stay awake. But he has salt. He carried a box of it in the house, thinking that it would not expire, and now it comes in handy.
The salt particles in ancient times were large, bitter, and their color was between gray and dark red, yet they remained an indispensable treasure for every household.
How would you respond if he were to produce modern refined iodized salt?
So when Lin Rui secretly took out a bowl of something in a cloth bag from his arms, Heita didn't even glance at him. Who knows what kind of junk was inside.
Little guy, even this can't take you down! Lin Rui looked at the black tower without any curiosity. How could this be possible? He had to make the black tower beg him.
"Brother, are you really not curious about what's in here?" Lin Rui asked.
Heita showed his disdain to the fullest: "What good things can you have!"
Lin Rui still said harshly with a smile: "This is a good thing of mine, don't cry and beg me to trade it later!"
"Just you?"
There was no point in saying more, so Lin Rui waved at Heita, signaling him to come closer. Seeing how serious Heita was, he took two steps uncontrollably.
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