Chapter 384 "What are you doing! These are my family's goods!"
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Li Shiyue, along with Wang Datou and Heizi, went to Xunshe'er to participate in the hunting activities organized by the new Khan.
The others who remained at the residence were also busy.
Zhou Yiran led his men and the Han official in the Turkic territory toward the tent entrance.
"Inspector Liang, please."
The Han official, Liang Yongkang, looked at Zhou Yiran beside him and said, "Military Advisor Zhou, please."
Although they both said "please" to each other, in the end, they still walked into the tent side by side, neither willing to give way.
Fortunately, this tent was specially made; otherwise, it would have been unlikely that Zhou Yiran and Liang Yongkang could have entered at the same time, and they might have gotten stuck on the tent door.
Once inside the tent, separated by an intricately patterned wool carpet, the two sat down behind their respective tables.
We set up our formations, you for Andong, I for the Turks, and this negotiation began.
Li Qiutian, who did not go with Li Shiyue to participate in the hunting competition, is now staying by Xie Mingyue's side.
Originally, Li Shiyue was going to ask Li Qiutian to go with her, but Xie Mingyue came to her door in person to ask for help.
Since arriving in the Turkic Khaganate, Xie Mingyue has lived with Li Shiyue and the others, but she has no official status. She cannot attend banquets in the Golden Khan's tent, nor can she leave her residence at will.
At this moment, Li Shiyue was not surprised at all that Xie Mingyue had come looking for her. She was still wondering when Xie Mingyue would finally come looking for her.
Ultimately, Xie Mingyue had Liu Tan's handwritten letter, and Li Shiyue still sought out Zhou Yiran for Xie Mingyue's sake, allowing Zhou Yiran to find an opportunity to ask Liang Yongkang about the private business.
So, while Li Shiyue rode her horse across the grassland, Li Qiutian abandoned her horse and rode in a carriage with Xie Mingyue and the others, carrying the token given to them by Liang Yongkang, heading towards the market not far from here.
It turns out that since the Turks and Andong began trading, although it was scheduled to take place in winter, a sizable market would spontaneously form on the grasslands during other seasons.
In addition to Han Chinese merchants, merchants from other small tribes besides the Turks also traded at this market.
However, in order to do business in this market, in addition to paying taxes to the landowners—the Turks—there is also an entrance fee.
To pay this entry fee, you have to register first. After registering, you will receive a sheepskin tag, which is the same tag that Liang Yongkang gave to Xie Mingyue and the others.
Only then can you take this sheepskin tag to the market to pay the entrance fee and rent a stall before you can start doing business.
Every transaction made in the market required paying taxes to the Turks, and these taxes varied depending on the type of goods, ranging from one-thirtieth (approximately 3.3%) to one-tenth (approximately 10%).
However, when it comes to the trade of horses, especially warhorses, the tax can be as high as three-tenths (i.e., a tax rate of 30%).
On the carriage, Xie Mingyue looked at the tax bill in her hand, which detailed the taxes payable on various goods, and said to Li Qiutian beside her, "Li Niangzi, this Inspector Liang is indeed worthy of being a Han official under the Khan. If we collect the commercial taxes according to his regulations, this new Khan will surely be able to accumulate a lot of wealth in a short period of time!"
The market alone could supply the Turks with at least a quarter of the food, cloth, and salt they lacked on the grasslands.
Li Qiutian didn't actually know much about these things, but she was a good listener.
Seeing Xie Mingyue looking at her, Li Qiutian nodded and said to Xie Mingyue, "Since Madam Xie was able to get the General's permission to investigate this market, I believe you will definitely be able to find out useful information!"
Although I don't hold an official position like October, there's nothing I can do to help you, my lady, just let me know!
The horses' hooves clattered on the grass, and it took about half an hour for the carriage to finally stop.
After getting off the bus, following the procedure, Xie Mingyue and the others took the sheepskin token and paid the entrance fee. Then, looking at the market stall map, they carefully selected a stall that had not yet been rented out.
Xie Mingyue did bring goods with her, but not a lot. One cart was full of cloth, but this was no ordinary goods; it was Xie Mingyue's dowry that she brought from Guanzhong!
Yes, Xie Mingyue directly took out her dowry and used it as a means of gathering information.
Therefore, these fabrics are all brightly colored and intricately patterned brocades.
Such high-quality goods attracted the attention of many barbarians in the vicinity as soon as they were displayed.
The other cart was loaded with pure white, high-quality fine salt!
Yes, this top-quality snowflake salt is also part of Xie Mingyue's dowry!
When the salt bag was opened, the pure white, fine snowflake salt was revealed to everyone. Li Qiutian's gaze was glued to the barbarians around her, her eyes fixed on the salt bag without blinking.
Edible salt, especially the finest, finely ground salt, was far more appealing to the barbarians than luxurious brocade.
Before Xie Mingyue and the others could set up their stall, a well-dressed man walked over.
Li Qiutian immediately stepped forward from beside Xie Mingyue and stood in front of her.
Li Qiutian understood perfectly well that today she was Xie Mingyue's personal bodyguard!
The man probably sensed Li Qiutian's wariness, so he looked at Mr. Zhou (Xie's advisor) who was standing to the side.
The tall, burly man's face was now beaming with smiles. He even asked Mr. Zhou in broken Mandarin, somewhat ingratiatingly, "My Han friend from Dalong, how much is this snow-white salt?"
After a friendly exchange, Xie Mingyue and the others figured out the man's background. He was not a Turkic merchant, but a merchant from the Khitan. His name was also quite interesting; he was called Yelü Jiujin.
"My mother weighed me after I was born, and I weighed a full nine pounds!"
Yelü Jiujin patted his chest proudly and said this to Xie Mingyue.
It was a rare encounter with a merchant from the Khitan, who seemed to be a rather wealthy and powerful businessman.
Why do I say that?
Before Mr. Zhou could even specify the price of the snowflake salt they were selling, Yelü Jiujin pointed to the full bag of snowflake salt on the table and said, "I'll take this whole bag!"
So Xie Mingyue invited Yelü Jiujin to sit down in a tent made of felt, and ordered some mutton soup noodles from a stall selling mutton soup noodles at the market.
“Brother Yelü, please don’t stand on ceremony. We’ve arrived in a hurry and haven’t had breakfast yet.”
"Now, let's invite Brother Yelü to eat with us, and we can talk as we eat!"
Mr. Zhou was a good talker, so he pulled Yelü Jiujin down to sit and eat mutton soup noodles with them.
But before Li Qiutian had finished eating the noodles, having only eaten a third of the bowl, loud shouts from Han people suddenly came from outside.
What are you doing!
These are my goods!
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