Chapter 14: Chapter 14 Ju State Market
When Hua Kai came to the big market of Buqi County in Ju State, he saw for the first time what a big market was.
Buqi County is near the sea, and there are many ships here. Ships from the southern coast all dock at the coast of Buqi County, and can reach as far as the south of Nanyue State. Among them, the ships from Zhong State and Chu State are the most.
What Hua Kai couldn't believe was that such a prosperous and lively Buqi market could not see the protection of the city wall.
No one here charges you an entry fee, and there is not even a commercial tax. This is a commodity trading zone agreed by Qi State and several surrounding countries. It is only one month after November every year, and few people come here at other times.
Most of the houses here are simple wooden sheds, and some are directly tented. Entering the Buqi Big Market, there are vendors doing business everywhere. There are all kinds of goods that you can't think of, and there is nothing you can't find here.
"Grandpa, where is the horse market? Should we go to the horse market first now?" Hua Kai asked.
"Let's go to the horse market first to find out the situation. Wei Hong, go to the inn and book two courtyards... Don't be too expensive!" Hua Xing said to Wei Baotou.
"Don't worry! Master!" Wei Hong took 30 silver from Hua Kai and left.
The Hua family had less than 2 gold in total. The tolls along the way cost more than 30 silver. Including accommodation and meals, Hua Kai now has 1 gold and 20 silver. If the horses can't be sold, they may not have enough money to go home.
Hua Kai and his grandfather walked from the west to the south of the market, and encountered countless shops. All kinds of exquisite silk, cotton, linen, and tea that was in short supply in Qi were sold here.
"Grandpa, this salt is sold by stone, and one stone is only 200 bone coins." Hua Kai saw a salt shop and shouted in surprise after seeing the price marked on it.
"Let's go! Brick tea, salt, and animal bones have the highest tolls. We will transport this salt back. The toll for one stone of salt is at least 10 silver coins. By then, one catty of salt will also cost 12 bone coins, which is not much profit." Hua Xing said.
Guangxian salt costs about 20 bone coins per catty, but the salt I usually eat is much better than this. Even if I sell it for 15 bone coins, I guess it won't sell.
After walking a few steps, Hua Kai saw a stall selling salt. This salt is as fine and white as powder, which is many times better than the coarse salt just now. Hua Kai went up to ask the price, but the owner said that one catty costs 10 bone coins. One stone in Qi is about 220 catties, which means that the price of this refined salt is about ten times that of coarse salt.
"This price difference is too big!" Hua Kai said out loud.
"My dear guest, how can that black salt compare with my refined salt? My refined salt is naturally formed in Tianshui Lake. Generally, only the rich families can afford it. My dear guest, buy some and try it at home. It doesn't taste bitter at all." The seller looked at Hua Xing and said to Hua Kai.
"Just buy me one catty." Hua Kai gave the other party 10 bone coins for one catty, and then went to the coarse salt stall to buy a few catties of coarse salt.
"Why do you buy these salts? Most people won't eat coarse salt. It tastes very bitter." Hua Xing said puzzledly.
"Let's do an experiment tonight." Hua Kai returned.
Today, the market in Buqi County, Ju State, has been open for the fourth day, and it is the time when there are the most people.
Hua Kai and his grandfather and other servants came to the horse market and were shocked by the endless horse market in front of them.
Hua Kai found that this horse market did not distinguish between the poor horse, strong horse, and fine horse areas. All the horses were on a large flat ground. The lowest estimate was that the number of horses here exceeded 10,000, which was not comparable to the small Guang County horse market.
After asking several horses, the price was about 20% higher than that in Guang County. There were more than a dozen kinds of horses here, which made Hua Kai dizzy.
He found an open space and tied all the horses to the horse posts. Soon, a customer came forward to ask the price. Hua Kai asked for 24 gold for a fine horse and 5 gold for a strong horse. Unexpectedly, the other party directly offered 220 gold to take it away.
The person who bought Hua Kai's horses was a merchant from Chu State. Seeing that Hua Kai's horses were affordable, he bought all of them at once.
Hua Kai was also shocked by the speed of purchase. He got 220 gold and asked his grandfather to check it carefully. Only after confirming that it was correct did he put his heart at ease.
After going around the horse market, Hua Kai did not find a single poor horse. The average price of a strong horse was more than 6 gold, and the price of a fine horse was as high as more than 30 gold. Hua Kai finally knew why he could sell all the horses so quickly.
Er Zhuang followed behind Hua Kai with a look of regret, but Hua Kai was very satisfied. His horses had just been upgraded and were still inferior to those in the horse market. He originally had 16 gold plus a strong horse, and he had made ten times more in more than ten days. What else could he not be satisfied with?
With these 220 gold, the money lost by the Hua family this year can basically be offset. Everything in the family will return to normal. Next year, the family will have the capital to go to Linhu Road again. Everything will return to normal, even better than before.
Thinking of this, Hua Kai silently checked the main task of "Super Family Master System" 1, which has been completed by 98%, and is infinitely close to success.
Although the horse market in Ju State is expensive, there are indeed many horses. There are many horses with 99% physical upgrades, and there are even BMWs for sale here. Hua Kai asked about the price, and the other party directly asked for 300 gold, which is really not something that ordinary people can afford.
After wandering around the horse market for more than an hour, Hua Kai bought 4 strong horses for 26 gold. In addition, he wanted to buy a few horses that were about to break through. After the trial, he would train them into BMWs and earn at least hundreds of gold.
Unfortunately, not to mention the horses that were about to be upgraded, there were few horses with more than 70% experience, and most of them were not very spiritual.
Most of the people who could come here to buy horses were very good at horse selection. Hua Kai did not find any leaks along the way. Instead, he found many horse dealers who sold strong horses as horses. There was no tax for doing business here, but there was no military protection. Everything depended on the tacit understanding of the market for many years. If you were cheated, it was your own ability. No one would seek justice for you.
"Get out of the way! Be careful that the horse is startled..."
At this time, Hua Kai suddenly heard a shout in front of the horse market. A red horse galloped from a distance. The stalls that were hit along the way were all overturned. Many people were knocked down and lay on the ground groaning, unable to get up.
This was the first time Hua Kai saw such a majestic horse. He could not help but use the [Eye of Truth] to explore the attributes of the red horse.
Dayuan Horse: Level 3 99%
Constitution: 36
Speed: 29
Spirituality: 38
Characteristics: Master Recognition, Thousand Miles Alone
It actually had two characteristics. This was the first time Hua Kai saw a horse with characteristics. He saw that some people had picked up weapons and began to block the horse's way, so he loved the horse and asked his grandfather to help save the red Dayuan horse.
Hua Xing flew over the red horse. The red horse seemed to sense the crisis and neighed. Hua Xing's true energy was wrapped around the horse's neck. At this time, the road ahead was blocked by passers-by. The red horse instinctively slowed down. Hua Xing took the opportunity to grab the horse's neck. The horse struggled hard but couldn't get away. Passers-by couldn't help but burst into applause when they saw this.
"Oh, you finally stopped... Thanks to this lord for helping me, otherwise my horse would have gotten into trouble today." The horse owner looked like a horse dealer who specialized in selling horses. Seeing Hua Xing, he kept thanking him.
"No, be careful next time and don't let the horse run around." Hua Xing said as he handed the reins to its owner.
"Thank you... Thank you..." The horse dealer said and wanted to pull the horse away, but the red horse seemed to be suffocating the other party and refused to move. Passers-by gathered around to see the joke, and the horse dealer was a little embarrassed.
"Uncle, I wonder if you want to sell this horse." Hua Kai suddenly asked at this time.
This Dayuan horse was bought by Liu Pingli from the Qiang people. It took nearly a year to get to Ju State. Although this horse is not a BMW, it is very spiritual. Today, he came to Ju State just when the market was open, so he brought the horse team to try it out. Unexpectedly, the horse was frightened and got into trouble.
"I bought this horse from the Qiang tribe from afar. Today, the old man saved it. You give me a price of 60 gold coins and take it away!" Liu Pingli thought for a while and said.
Liu Pingli felt distressed when he said this. The horse was frightened just now. Thanks to the help of the old man on the other side, as the head of the caravan, if he was stingy in the face of so many onlookers, it would have a great impact on the reputation of the caravan here.
Hua Kai's horse looks very majestic. It is not wrong to say that it is worth 60 gold coins, but the other party said that he bought the horse from the Qiang tribe for 60 gold coins. Hua Kai would never believe it. If he could spend 10 gold coins, it would be considered that the other party gave a high price.
"Okay, 60 gold coins is 60 gold coins. It's our fate to have this horse. If it weren't for my grandfather today, it might have died here." Hua Kai was telling the truth. The horse was frightened today. Without the help of a master in the Qi training period, it would definitely not be able to calm it down. The loss of their caravan is a small matter, and the damage caused by destroying the market is enough for him to eat a pot.
"What you said is true, brother. I am Liu Pingli, the head of the Sihai Caravan. It is fate that I can meet you today. Can we go to my company's station to have a chat?" Liu Pingli, as the manager of the Sihai Caravan, likes to make friends wherever he goes. Although Hua Kai looks only ten years old today, his speech, behavior and temperament are not that simple. The people around him are all led by him. As long as nothing unexpected happens, this kind of young man will not be unknown in the future.
Besides, as a master of Qi training, it is very important for their entire company to make more friends with such masters.
Hua Kai is also very curious about the company. The company is the product of the caravan's development to a certain extent. They will establish their own bases in important places for business in various places, and uniformly calculate the price difference between different bases every year, so as to maximize the profit of each business trip.
"Then I am sorry to bother you. I have admired the Sihai Company for a long time. It is also a great honor to have the opportunity to visit it today." Hua Kai thought about it and agreed.
It is not so easy for ordinary families to get involved with Sihai Merchants. Since the other party invited Hua Kai, how could he not go? Moreover, he just secretly put all the money into the space, and he couldn't take out 60 gold from his pocket at once. How could others not be suspicious when seeing this? If he went to Sihai Merchants to find an opportunity to take out the money, the other party would not be suspicious.
Er Zhuang and two Kaiyuan Realm masters of Huajiabao went to lead the Dayuan horse together, but the horse seemed to have not recovered from the shock. When it saw people coming, it either kicked or bit, and several people couldn't do anything about it.
So Hua Xing had to go out in person. When Hua Xing came to the horse, before he could get close, the red horse calmed down by itself. Hua Xing stood beside it and it actually touched the other party with its head, showing an intimate gesture.
Everyone was surprised. They didn't expect there was such a spiritual horse. It was obvious that it had recognized its master. The legendary divine horses were born to recognize their masters. I didn't expect to meet one here today.
Liu Pingli had already said that he would sell the horse for 60 gold. It was too late to regret it now, so he decided to make friends with Hua Kai sincerely and establish a good relationship.
Hua Kai followed Liu Pingli to the east of the market. Not long after, he saw a row of tents. There were all kinds of large packages around the tents. These were large packages for commercial use. The tents were also full of packages of all sizes.
"These are all new goods that our Sihai Trading Company has just shipped from Wei, Song, Zheng, Cai and other places. Basically, they have been booked with others. Brother Hua, if you need any goods, tell me in advance and I can get them for you." Liu Pingli said confidently.
"Whose goods are these, Uncle Liu? How much are they worth!" Hua Kai said, pointing to the large packages in the distance.
"Mainly the goods of the Qi family and the Tian family. Your Guangxian Han family also has some. These are silk, cotton cloth, brick tea, spices and other goods. Those are all food. These are only more than 40,000 gold!" Liu Pingli said, pointing to the tent in the distance.
Hua Kai had also heard about the Qi family's caravan. It was said that they would go to the vicinity of the Kingdom of Dashi at one time. Every year, countless animal bones were transported back from the depths of the grassland. No one knew how much they made.
"Si Hai Trading Company is really powerful. They can even do business with the Qi family. They will definitely make a lot of gold on this trip." Hua Kai replied.
"This... can't make much money. These things can only be regarded as bringing goods to the noble families! Our company really can't make much money from these things. The cost of 40,000 gold goods is at least more than 10,000 gold. Excluding travel expenses and depreciation, the profit is at most 20,000 gold..."
Hua Kai opened his eyes wide and couldn't answer. 20,000 profits didn't make much. It was really poverty that limited his imagination.
At this time, Liu Pingli took him to the herd of horses nearby. The horses here were all raised in the horse pen. It seemed that most of them were good horses above the steed.
"If we have good relations with the noble families in various countries, we can pass through the northern countries smoothly. Look at these horses. We transported them back from Xiqiang. There are more than 2,000 horses in total, and five of them are rare BMWs." Hua Kai said proudly while looking at the herd of horses in the distance.
Hua Kai roughly estimated the value of these horses, which should be at least 50,000 gold.
"These horses are transported to the southern countries, and the value is at least 60,000 gold. The money earned by our company is just a drizzle. In fact, the big share is still in the hands of the noble families. They have regular cooperation with the major tribes on the grassland."
As the two talked, Liu Pingli asked Hua Kai to look at their goods. Hua Kai picked some silk products, high-quality tea and white sugar. The quantity was not large, but he spent more than 10 gold. This was the minimum price given by Liu Pingli. These luxury goods were indeed very expensive, and Liu Pingli could only give them to Hua Kai a little bit within his authority.
"Uncle Liu, in fact, our family also goes to nearby places such as Donghu, Daiguo, and Linhu to trade every year. In the past, we sold some grain, weapons, cattle, sheep, and horses. What kind of business do you think can make higher profits?" Hua Kai asked.
"Grain, low-quality weapons, low-quality livestock, and furs are the easiest businesses to make. If there is no cooperation from large tribes, without considering the taxes collected by various countries, brick tea and refined salt will have the highest profits. If you are not a noble family, the taxes are too high, then weapons, armor, and sweets should be the most popular on the grassland."