My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 15 Value

The Han Dynasty prohibited private individuals from carrying armor and crossbows.

People say that one armor can withstand three crossbows, and three armors can enter the underworld.

In the Han Dynasty, privately possessing armor and powerful crossbows was a serious crime. If reported, the offender would be beheaded in public at the very least, or the entire clan would be exterminated at the worst.

Therefore, Lu Yi did not consider preparing such a heavy weapon for the time being.

However, swords, bows and arrows are not included in the ban.

Bingzhou is located on the frontier and was often invaded and plundered by the Xiongnu and Xianbei people. Therefore, in order to protect themselves, almost everyone practiced martial arts and wielded a bow and arrow.

Even in the horsemanship that the Hu people are most proud of, most of the men in Bingzhou can ride it quite well, and a few elites are even as good at riding and shooting as the Hu people.

You have to know that double stirrups and horseshoes had not yet been invented at that time. If you want to ride on a horse without being thrown off by a galloping horse, you must use your legs to firmly clamp the horse's back. This skill alone is something that ordinary people cannot master without years of hard work.

And if you want to go a step further and bend the bow and shoot the arrow while keeping your body steady on a galloping horse, it will require years of practice.

Most Han people do not have horses at home, and they have no time to practice every day because they have to make a living and manage agriculture. Naturally, they cannot compare with the Hu people who grew up on horseback.

Although the total population of the Hu people was less than one-tenth of that of the Han people, all of them, including women and children, were soldiers. They could easily command hundreds of thousands of troops and their combat power was extremely strong.

Therefore, even if Lu Yi could not be equipped with iron armor and powerful crossbows, he had to find a way to equip his men who were protecting the caravan with swords, bows and crossbows.

Otherwise, after leaving the border, any tribe with a population of several hundred would see that Lu Yi's caravan was unarmed and thought that they were weak and could be bullied. They would immediately change from singing and dancing grassland people to professional horse bandits, and all the men, women, and children of the tribe would rush forward to massacre Lu Yi's caravan and rob all the goods that were delivered to their doorstep.

Therefore, Lu Yi had no choice but to take it seriously.

He first pulled out an iron sword to check its sharpness, and then swung it heavily twice to feel the weight and center of gravity of the iron sword.

After some inspection, the experience left by his predecessor told him that the iron sword in his hand was a good military iron sword.

While Lu Yi was checking, Gao Shun and Lu Bu behind him were also busy.

Gao Shun also picked up an iron knife and started waving it, while Lu Bu, who was good at archery, picked up a bow and started playing with it.

"Good sword!" After waving it for a while, Gao Shun discovered that the iron sword in his hand was not only made of pure iron, but also had an excellent length, center of gravity and feel. It was a top-notch military sword.

But the bow that fell into Lu Bu's hands was casually pulled to its full length by Lu Bu, and then slowly and lightly returned to its original shape. He repeated this cycle several times. In his hands, the bow weighing one and a half stones was like a child's toy, completely without any dignity.

"It can be considered barely usable." Lu Bu curled his lips and threw away the bow in his hand, with a look of disgust on his face.

This was not Lu Bu's fault. He even thought the two-stone cavalry bow he used on horseback was too light and he couldn't exert his full strength. Naturally, he looked down on the infantry bow in front of him which was not even as heavy as the cavalry bow.

Lu Bu's words made Zhang Xun, who had just looked smug, a little surprised. Seeing this, Lu Yi quickly laughed it off.

"Second brother, you are born with supernatural power. You can shoot arrows without missing a target within 130 steps. It is normal that you don't like this military bow. However, if it were an ordinary person, he would be called a hero just for being able to draw this bow."

Zhang Xun's face lightened a little after hearing that, and he clasped his fists towards Lu Yi.

"Brother Lu, now that the grains, goods, and swords and weapons have been checked, the caravan will be handed over to you!"

"Okay!" Lu Yi nodded. From that moment on, he officially became the head manager of this caravan.

"This is the current account book of the caravan. You can check it carefully!" Zhang Jia, who was standing by, also bowed to Lu Yi with a thick account book in his hands. "Yes." Lu Yi nodded, took the account book and began to check it.

He had just checked the quantity of supplies and now had an idea of ​​it.

However, he didn't know the specific price of the goods, so he checked them carefully.

"The price of corn, wheat and millet is 220 coins per dan, a total of 330 dan is worth 72600 coins."

"A set of ready-made clothes costs 3400 coins, including a turban, a cloth garment, a single garment, a short jacket, a cloth robe, a pair of trousers, two pairs of linen shoes, and four pairs of linen socks. A total of sixty sets are worth 204000 coins."

"60 high-quality swords, priced at 800 coins each, 600 one-stone half-step bows, and eight-dou cavalry bows, priced at 2400 coins each, and 10 arrows, priced at 108000 coins each, totaling coins."

"30 horses cost 15000 coins each, a total of 450000 coins."

"30 chariots (a single-horse-drawn carriage) cost 10000 coins each, for a total of 300000 coins."

When Lu Yi saw this, he couldn't help but be shocked.

He had known that forming a caravan was expensive, but he had not expected it to be so expensive.

These supplies were only the most basic supplies for the caravan. A rough calculation of these alone was more than 110 million coins, and the salaries of the caravan crew also had to be included.

Lu Yi planned to set the coachman's salary at the level of a clerk, and the ten accountants' salary at the level of a foreman. As for Zhang Jia's special status, his salary would be paid to him as a consul at the same level as Lu Bu and Gao Shun.

Not counting Lu Yi's own team of 107 people, the monthly salary is at least yuan.

All in all, the cost of forming a caravan alone exceeded 120 million coins, and that doesn't even include the remaining 10 carts of goods!

Lu Yi continued to look down.

“金器万钱每斤、银器3000钱每斤、丝帛每匹600钱、缣每匹1000钱、素每匹1400钱、练每匹2800钱、盐800钱每石……”

There were many kinds of goods. Lu Yi took a rough look and estimated that the price was not less than the value of the fleet, which was more than one million.

But these prices are only in the Han area. Once you cross the Great Wall and leave the country, the prices will at least double.

Once the horses were bought back from the Xiongnu tribe, their value could double.

The value is at least four times the original amount.

Even with a conservative estimate, Lu Yi could make at least 300 million yuan in profit from this trip.

The huge profit of up to 300%. If some of the peoples who had been engaged in business for generations in Lu Yi's previous life heard about it, they would probably be willing to sell even the noose to hang themselves.

With such a huge profit, according to the distribution ratio agreed upon by Lu Yishi and Zhang, as long as he successfully conducts business once, he will immediately make a fortune, and there will be a full million dollars left after deducting all expenses. If he wants to lie down and relax, he can immediately buy hundreds of acres of fertile land, build several large tiled houses, marry several beautiful concubines, and live a wealthy life as a small landlord.

However, Lu Yi is a man who has lived his life again. He will not be tempted by this little comfort and continues to think divergently.

If you go out of the border two or three times a year, you can spread the costs and expand the caravan with more trips.

Lu Yi made a rough estimate and found that making four or five million yuan a year would be more than enough.

There are still five years before Zhang Jiao starts his rebellion. If I have 20 or 30 million in my hands by then, I can do great things!
(End of this chapter)