Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 51 Leopard Rich
Arctic Martial led a group of timid chickens on a leisurely stroll, the area resembling an agricultural trade market.

There were pigs, sheep, cattle, and horses, as well as jars and baskets, and ordinary vendors displaying bags of spices and medicinal herbs.

Almost everyone came with a horse, and many of them were wearing prairie-style fur vests.

Bei Gong Dingbian breathed a sigh of relief. "Clan leader, please don't say things like that all the time. It's easy to offend people."

Beijiwu laughed, "How come you're even more timid than Ai Dake?"

Bei Gong Dingbian felt humiliated and tried to defend himself, saying, "I'm not cowardly, I'm just cautious! Chieftain, you're prone to offending people with your words."

Beijiwu was too lazy to waste words with these people, so he found a Han Chinese merchant who sold iron pots.

How much does an iron wok cost?

Ni Baishan glanced at Bei Jiwu and the people around him.

"Three taels of silver for a pot, no cheating the young or old."

Beijiwu said, "I came here to buy some last month. This time I'm buying ten more pots. If you give me a discount, I'll buy them. It's a good deal."

Ni Baishan hadn't expected him to be such a big customer. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Alright, ten pots will cost you twenty-nine taels of silver."

Beijiwu looked at this person helplessly, his face showing a helpless and speechless expression.

After confronting each other, Mud White Mountain said seriously, "This is a fair price. If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself elsewhere."

Seeing that this person didn't want to do business, Beijiwu led his men away.

Bei Gong Dingbian, a member of a military household, directly reminded him, "Chieftain, ten pots are already too many. If you go to these merchants, they definitely won't dare to sell them to you, fearing you'll melt them down to use as weapons."

"Why don't we go directly to that soldier? They sell for a lower price."

Beijiwu originally thought the merchant was going to haggle, but he didn't expect that the existence of military settlements was also involved.

"Alright, let's just buy from the military households."

Beijiwu responded softly, then asked curiously, "Can farm tools also be bought from the garrison?"

"A large quantity is fine." Bei Gong Dingbian didn't mind the passersby nearby and said frankly, "One or two is easy to do, ten or eight can be exchanged for some wine money, but if it's more than a hundred, I'll have to find the centurion and the chiliarch."

At this point, the merchants behind couldn't sit still any longer and quickly stood up and came over: "Are you Han Chinese or Hu people?"

Before Beijiwu could speak, the quick-witted Ai Dake said directly, "We are soldiers and civilians from villages under the county. We are all inland people and soldiers and civilians who were relocated by the imperial court. The imperial court did not provide many cattle and farm tools, so we have to find our own way."

Upon hearing this, Beijiwu did not say anything about the mountain farmers.

Ni Baishan was relieved to hear this. "Do you know the soldiers here?"

Ai Dake took the initiative to handle the negotiations. "We were just joking around. I don't know the old man, but I do know a few of the younger uncles. They all have family members serving in the army in the county."

This time, Ni Baishan had no more worries and whispered to Beijiwu, "I have iron pots here, but you'll have to find someone else for farm tools. This business is too big for me to handle alone. I can sell you ten pots for a total of twenty-five taels of silver. What do you think?"

Beijiwu said directly, "Twenty taels, or we'll find someone else."

Ni Baishan hesitated for a few seconds, then gritted his teeth and said, "Twenty-three taels! You have to give me something to eat, right?"

Beijiwu bought a pot for only 1,500 coins last time, which is about 1.5 taels, and that was before the discount.

Seeing the merchant rambling on and on, Beijiwu angrily shouted, "Fifteen taels! I'll ask you one last time, are you selling today or not?"

Ni Baishan shook his head. "That's too low. Forget it, I'll take a loss. I'll sell you ten pots for twenty-one taels. That's the lowest price I can offer."

The enraged Arctic Warrior pointed a finger at Mud White Mountain.

"From now on, every time I see you outside, I'll beat you up!"

Ni Baishan smiled and said, "Grandpa, don't be angry. Even if a deal falls through, we can still be on good terms. If everyone did business like you, who would dare to do business here in the future?"

"Fine, I'll do you a favor by selling these ten pots at a loss!"

Seeing the merchant's shameless, insincere smile, Beijiwu sneered, "I'm not going to play games with your words."

"If you dare to force me to buy your iron pot again, I'll show you what bloody methods are!"

Arctic Martial Arts was the first to falsely accuse the other party of forced buying and selling.

Ni Baishan wasn't afraid of the young man at first, but when he saw Beiji Wu standing with ten men, he suddenly panicked.

Arctic Martial gave him a cold look, the look one would give a dead man.

The other ten men also looked at him with expressions as if he were a dead man.

There was schadenfreude and sympathy, but no threatening look. Enraged, Ni Baishan emboldened himself and quickly shouted, "This is outrageous! Let me tell you, I'm a Jinzhou merchant, and this whole area belongs to the Jin merchants!"

"Damn it! These unscrupulous merchants are extorting and blackmailing me! I can't stand it anymore!!!"

With a shout, Beijiwu grabbed Nibaishan by the collar and threw the old man onto his iron pots.

"Ouch!!" Ni Baishan flew up and landed on a nearby stall, breaking all his bones in the fall.

The local grassland people and soldiers quickly approached the area. People had already noticed the argument, and once Arctic Wu made his move, a group of armed men quickly surrounded them.

"What's going on? Who dares to cause trouble?!"

Several mid-level officers in armor, carrying swords, led more than a dozen soldiers over, looking at the muddy white mountain on the ground, and then at Arctic Martial.

This time, Ai Da Ke dared not speak; he was afraid of the military officer.

Ma Lao Er volunteered, "Sir, we're one of our own. We're from Beitian Village under the county."

The commander, Lü Siming, looked at the dozen or so people, then at the merchant lying on the ground groaning.

"How is this going?"

Ma Lao Er and the others all looked at Bei Ji Wu, and none of them dared to speak.

At this moment, a man at the stall quickly complained, "Lord Commander! My boss conducts business honestly, but these people came over and tried to force me to buy their goods. My boss only managed to say a few words before they beat him up! I beg you, sir, to do justice for my family! My family are merchants from Jincheng, and we have an ironware license issued by the imperial court!"

Beijiwu cursed, "Nonsense! I usually buy pots for a little over one tael of silver. Why would I refuse to buy a good pot and force you to sell me an iron pot for three taels of silver?! You're clearly forcing me to buy ten iron pots and charging me thirty taels of silver!"

Not satisfied with just cursing, Beiji Wuguang stomped on the iron pot in front of him.

The iron pot that was originally lying face down suddenly had a dent punched in it by Arctic Martial!
"You slanderous, unscrupulous merchant! You think you can bully me just because I'm young? How many merchants and thugs do you have? Bring it on! Bring a thousand of you, and I'll kill you all!!"

Lu Siming looked at the merchant lying on the ground, twisted and unable to speak, then at the furious young man, and at the junk iron pot that had been dented by Beijiwu.

"Alright, stop causing trouble. Since you're from the county, do you have anyone working there?"

Lu Siming first inquired about their relationship to confirm whether they were on his side.

Bei Gong Dingbian quickly said, "My father guards the city in the county, and there are three other people from our village who work in the county. This is Bei Jiwu, the village chief of our Beitian Village. Don't underestimate him because of his young age. He is a first-class hero. He can kill a wild boar weighing four or five hundred pounds with one punch and stomp a leopard to death with one foot. Six or seven villains tried to rob the village, but he killed them all by himself!"

Lu Siming and his men stared in astonishment at Bei Gong Dingbian, then at Bei Jiwu, whose expression was grim even though he had calmed down.

Lu Siming then looked at Bei Gong Dingbian and the others, and found that there was no smile or evasion on their faces, only very affirmative expressions.

Is it so fierce?

"In that case, let's focus on doing business and stop causing trouble."

Lu Siming didn't want to cause a big fuss. Such a brave man's family must be no pushovers either.

Moreover, merchants don't have a good reputation here. The one who started the fight wasn't a barbarian, but one of their own. In this kind of situation, both sides should just back down.

“No matter what, hitting someone is definitely wrong, and it’s wrong of him to force you to buy things.” Lu Siming pondered for a few seconds, then said, “How about this, you injured him, give him some money for medical treatment and recovery, and we’ll let it go. We’re against violence here.”

Beijiwu frowned. "How much is appropriate? I need money to buy an iron pot and farming tools for clearing land, and I also need to buy some grain."

Seeing that Beijiwu was willing to listen, Lü Siming smiled and said, "Just give him a few taels of silver."

Beijiwu said directly, "We need to buy ten iron pots and farm tools, as well as some things for the village. We need to sell the leopard's pelt, bones, and penis first."

Arctic Martial produced a leopard skin that is prohibited from being sold privately.

Tigers and leopards are rare animals, almost like protected animals. In this era, you can kill these rare animals, but the spoils must be handed over to the government first.

The rule of law is not so strict in border areas, which gave Lü Siming a glimmer of hope.

"Sure, let's go talk over there."

Lu Siming took Beijiwu to the roadside to talk.

"To be honest, young man, I happen to be short of some New Year's gifts. How about you sell me this leopard?"

Seeing that the middle-aged man Lü Siming was asking for things as soon as he opened his mouth, Bei Jiwu frankly said, "Selling to anyone is selling, but I need ten iron pots and farming tools for clearing land."

Lu Siming pondered for a moment.

A leopard skin is worth 20-50 taels, a leopard whip is worth about 10 taels, bones are worth 20 taels, and teeth are also worth about 20 taels.

"How about this, young man?" Lu Siming said softly, "I'll give you twenty iron pots, two oxen, two oxcarts, two plows, and two sets of cotton-padded clothes, quilts, and boots. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)