Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 362 Trading
Zhao Zhen listened and nodded: "I have a magical creature here, the four-bearded carp, which can strengthen the body."

Zhang Ping nodded quickly: "That's good. There are six people in my family, and although there is only one male, I can't be too partial. I want six of these fish."

Zhao Zhen asked, "How about 1500 strings of cash?"

"It's a bit expensive, how about 1400 strings of cash? Farmers are not as wealthy as officials, but they just want to take this opportunity to taste this magical thing, so that their hard work will not be in vain."

Lu Zhuocheng said: "This spiritual fish has always been sold together with ordinary fish. Brother Zhang, you are really getting a good deal. You have to thank Mr. Zhao very much."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Ping stood up, bowed, and thanked him repeatedly.

"Forget it, let's do as you said, 1400 strings of cash. Do you need the remaining 1100 strings of cash?"

Zhang Ping listened, hesitated for a moment and said, "Do you have any spiritual plants here?"

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen waved his hand and said, "Spiritual plants are not acceptable. They are priceless." Then he placed the key to the misty world on the table.

Zhang Ping said quickly, "How can I expect a real spiritual plant? A different species will do. My family hasn't been able to grow a stable crop of different species over the years, and it's hard to buy them outside, so I asked the landlord. If there's nothing, I won't force it. The rest can be replaced with something else."

"I do have some exotic species here, which I also traded from somewhere else. One is the white jade cucumber and the other is the hard-skinned gourd. The white jade cucumber has a crisp taste and the yield is the same as that of ordinary cucumbers. The shell of the hard-skinned gourd is much harder than that of an ordinary gourd, and the water scoop made from it is sturdy and durable. Both of them can be planted in good fields. With enough water and fertilizer, the yield is not low."

"Brother Zhang, please choose one. On the fifteenth of next month, please come a day in advance. I will get the seeds and you can take them back together."

Zhang Ping hesitated for a moment and said, "Mr. Zhao, I want to choose white jade cucumbers. How much do the seeds cost?"

Zhao Zhen said, "This white jade cucumber is the same as ordinary cucumbers. You can plant it again next year if you leave seeds every year. You can find this white jade cucumber if you look carefully in the market. I don't want much from you. A small bag of seeds is 100 strings of cash."

Zhang Ping was overjoyed and nodded in agreement.

Seeing Zhang Ping agreed, Zhao Zhen continued, "Next door is a shop I opened. What I sell are all the products of my fantasy world. There are some rare things. Brother Zhang, you can go and have a look. If you like anything, we can settle the bill together. I will make up for the shortfall with gold and silver."

As he spoke, Zhao Zhen invited the father and son of the Lu family to go together.

The shopkeeper Tian Xingping saw a few people and came forward to greet them. Zhao Zhen pointed at Zhang Ping. Tian Xingping understood and took Zhang Ping to introduce the goods in the store.

Zhang Ping looked through them carefully and selected a set of enlightenment books written on Yuzhu paper, farm tools cast in fine iron, cool bamboo mats, and four beds made of poplar wood, saying that he would leave one for his son and the remaining three would be given as a dowry for his daughter.

Zhao Zhen took out more gold and silver to make up the remaining shortfall. With the Lu family father and son as witnesses, the contract was written. Zhang Ping left the key to the misty world, took the four-bearded carp and other goods in exchange, and left. He only had to wait until the 15th of next month to take up the position and retrieve the seeds.

After completing the transaction, Lu Zhuocheng said with a smile: "Dad, I have helped you to complete two deals, so you must keep my commission."

Old Man Lu scolded him, "Look at how promising you are. Since yesterday, you have asked for the commission no less than three times. Come with me back to the government office soon and I will pay you the commission first."

After that, he turned around and smiled at Zhao Zhen and said, "My dear nephew, Sanlang is lucky to have a friend like you. Thanks to your help over the past year, he has been able to live comfortably."

"Uncle, we two are helping each other, it's hard to say who is taking care of whom."

"My dear nephew, I have some coarse tea in my hand, do you want it?" asked Old Man Lu. When Zhao Zhen heard it, he knew that this was Old Man Lu's way of thanking him. After all, Gao State did not produce tea, and the Chinese people would drink tea when entertaining guests. Although it was coarse tea, it was also a daily necessity for farmers. After all, a pound of ordinary coarse tea on the market was only 70 coins.

Zhao Zhen said, "Uncle, I am short of tea. I wonder how much tea you have and how much it costs?"

"It's only 50 coins per pound, and there are 300 dan in total. This batch of tea was sent by Fuzhou merchants by sea and sold directly to the government. I happened to take it over. This coarse tea is also a rare good thing. I will keep it in my hands and sell it to my nephew today."

Zhao Zhen hurriedly thanked Old Man Lu, took out the money, and sent someone to accompany the father and son of the Lu family to Guanya to deliver the batch of tea to Bailiu Village.

Looking at the tea leaves being loaded onto the truck for shipment, Lu Zhuocheng said, "Dad, it's still easier to be an official. You've earned quite a bit of commission from this batch of Mongolian horses and the key to the misty world, and you've also got these rare and in-demand goods on the market. You can get more than ten strings of cash from this batch of tea, right?"

"You are short-sighted. You have seen these ten strings of cash. When this batch of tea was delivered, there were two thousand stones. Several officials including me pooled our money to buy it. At that time, it was only 45 coins per catty. Once you got it, you earned nearly 200 strings of cash. Humph, do you know why I wanted you to become an official in the first place?" Old Man Lu scolded.

Lu Zhuocheng was stunned when he heard this: "How can this be possible?"

As for Zhao Zhen, he returned to the house with a smile on his face, holding the horseshoe-shaped scroll of the misty world in his hand.

Ji Qingwan saw it and asked, "Husband, did you gain anything?"

Zhao Zhen told the four people about the previous transaction. Ji Minghan and Ji Mingdan listened and said to Zhao Zhen, "Husband, when are we going to explore this misty world?"

Liu Hui Niang pursed her lips and stared at Zhao Zhen, as if she had something to say.

Zhao Zhen said, "There is no rush. I will go after I return to the Fantasy World to mobilize the troops. Madam, you can also look up the classics at home these days to see if you can find out the details of this misty world."

After listening to Zhao Zhen's words, Ji Qingwan asked, "Uncle thief? I seem to have seen him in some book, Pingyuan Li Deyi?"

Everyone thought hard, but they had never thought of any information about the foggy world of [Uncle Thief]. Ji Qingwan said, "Husband, I will go to the inner city library to search for it in the next few days, so that we can know ourselves and the enemy."

Zhao Zhen nodded. He had read all the books in the county school. He did not remember any news about "The Thief Uncle" and had never heard of the name Li Deyi from Pingyuan.

On the second day, Ji Qingwan called Ji Xuan, Ji Minghan and Ji Mingdan and went to the storage room in the inner city to look through books and search for information about "Uncle Thief".

After three days, Ji Qingwan and the other three returned to the house with the copied information. It was not because Zhao Zhen and Liu Hui Niang were unwilling to help, but because the storage room of Gao State was not open to the public.

Zhao Zhen looked at a page in his hand. It said: Douzi is located on the back of the Dai River. The terrain is deep and difficult. Since the Gao Qi Dynasty, many bandits have taken refuge there. There was a man named Liu Badao who lived next to the place. He had been an official for generations and had a lot of wealth. He liked to travel around and had hundreds of guests. When bandits rose up, many people from far and near came to rely on him. He had a hundred thousand people and was called the "Uncle Army".

In the spring of the ninth year of Daye (1368), the Pingyuan bandit Li Deyi, with tens of thousands of people, called himself "Ajiu Army" and plundered Shandong.

When Zhao Zhen saw this, he knew that the fantasy world of [Ahjiu Zei] was one of the hundreds of roads in the smoke and dust at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

This place is not a good place to go. The rebels from all directions, ranging from thousands to more than 100,000, are not easy to deal with. Although the misty world here uses the name of Liu Badao, I am afraid that Li Deyi has a lot of followers.

(End of this chapter)