Take Taobao with you to another world

Chapter 420 Fairs

The representatives listened to their list of estimates in silence, then asked sincerely, "How much will this buy?"

Apparently when they were wandering around the trading area, the visitors had already learned about their needs through the warehouse manager, so they gave clear figures almost immediately, how many hoes, Shovels, scythes, and other items of interest to them, how much each would cost if they matched them as they wished, also showed them the different prices for bulk sales and retail.

The results they reported were obviously better than what the rebels had expected. When they were overjoyed, the working group asked: "According to everyone's ideas, these are the things that can be purchased. Do you need us to give you some other ideas?"

The young farmer who was the leader of the crowd froze for a moment.

"Anything else? Ideas? . . . Of course, we would very, very much."

Now that he said so, and other people had no intention of objecting, the working group took the small blackboard from the warehouse and hung it on the wall. The warehouse manager also brought related samples, and then the working group began to explain to these representatives.Starting from the analysis of the existing bases and population conditions of the rebel army, and the war situation they are facing, they summarize their most urgent needs at present, and based on these needs, they evaluate the various commodities on the purchase list that they have decided without careful weighing.

Representatives can understand and understand their explanations, knowing that the analysis of the other party is in line with their situation, and also understand the meaning of the working group, which means that what they choose is not the most suitable for them, but this kind reminder made it difficult for the representatives.

Before the uprising, they were all poor peasants who could not see a single silver coin a year. After the uprising, although after defeating the nobles and driving out the church people, they could find many treasures from castles and churches that were too late to be taken away, but in food In a kingdom where food, salt, weapons and livestock are in short supply, the prices of most commodities have risen step by step due to the famine, and there has been no exchange of gold for bread, because there is a new city of Mahi, and various commodities flowing out of this city can effectively Stabilize prices.However, while the nobles and the church strongly criticized the "heretical demons" and implemented various blockades, they secretly hoarded them and obtained high profits through reselling them. of.

If it weren't for the fact that Bishop Selis quickly controlled the situation as soon as he returned to Orson County, and opened the way for the rebel army regardless of the attitude of the surrounding lords, the piles of jewelry, clothing, books and religious instruments in their hands, etc. At best, the exchange for some black bread and broken copper is useless except to make people hate more, so they are very grateful for the kind and generous offer of New Mahy City, and they can’t be more grateful for the things that this offer can buy. Satisfied.

However, if you want to ask them if they want more, better... They really can't tell the lie of "no, this is enough".

How could they not want those glorious armor sets, light and strong longbows, and exquisitely crafted crossbows?With such a weapon, no matter what kind of enemy they are, they are confident of victory!How could they not need food?Although a lot of food was dug out from the cellar, in order to fulfill the promise to the people during the uprising, most of the food was distributed. Relying on this food, many families could survive the next winter, but the leaders and military advisers of the rebel army I have to worry about the bottomless grain bag every day.Their rebel army has a bad reputation of "locusts" and "pot lickers". They hate and cannot refute such nicknames, and they can only pour their anger on their enemies, thus further aggravating their notoriety .

This is the amount of money they have now. I heard that the king has accepted the proposal of the nobles and is preparing to send out a large army of the kingdom to exterminate their particularly restless rebels. They are not foreigners, so I don’t know if they can live in The kingdom's army and mages survived the joint attack. Could it be that Xinmaxi City is optimistic about their future and is willing to give them other assistance?

"So, have you ever thought about leasing?" the working group asked.

"Lease?"

"As we said just now, agricultural tools can also be used as weapons, but they are not real weapons after all, and what you are about to face may not be noble private soldiers and knights fighting independently, but tactics and formations. There is a real army in command, and their soldiers may have been trained with 'Gentiles' as imaginary enemies. Therefore, it may be difficult to deal with them only with courage and "similar" weapons." The other party said, "You There may be a greater need for real weapons, and here they are. Not only are they available here for purchase, but they are also available for lease.”

The administrator of the warehouse also brought a set of armor and several weapons from the next door, and put them all on the table. Standing in front of these excellent weapons, the working group said to the representatives of the rebel army: "The rent is a set... One month. The rent is calculated on a monthly basis. As long as it can be returned in its entirety without missing the main part, we can accept a little normal damage. If you can force the opponent to cease fighting, you can also choose to rent it when you need to fight, and return it after the battle is over .All the weapons in the armament warehouse can be rented, only the arrows are not recycled, but if there are materials for feathers and arrow shafts, we can also process them for you.”

The representatives of the rebel army gasped.

Compared with the reasonable price of a suit of steel armor - which no matter how ignorant the deputies, knew it was worth a rich knight's fortune in exchange - the rent quoted by New Mahy City was so low!The main members of the rebel army, including these representatives, are farmers. Even though they have achieved good results, many people still want to end the war as soon as possible so that they can catch up with the spring farming season, so they like multi-purpose farm tools. But before everything, first of all, they can win the battle.

Both armor and weapons can be leased, and the rent required by New Mahy City is only slightly more expensive than buying an iron head for a farm tool alone. As the guarantee of life and the price of victory, what is the difference between this and giving it away for free?

The person who asked the question even stuttered: "I, can we rent it... How much can we rent? Need, what kind of terms and conditions do we need?"

"Of course." The working group said softly, and then told them a heart-pounding number, "Of course, we suggest setting aside another part of the money to buy other necessities, so as to reduce the burden on the rebel army outside of battle. As for the weapons you decide to lease, you can take them from here as long as you pay the first month's rent."

"This, is this really okay?"

"If it is true, on what terms? What should we do?"

"We do have conditions." The working group said, "There are two conditions."

"What is it?"

"First, please leave a deposit." They said, "No, it's not money. We don't really need that much money, so the deposit we ask for is people. Two sets of weapons correspond to one person. As many weapons as are borrowed, half the young men, but not more than 150, must be sent to this city, and they are ordered to stay here as apprentices for at least one year. During this time, we can guarantee that they They are treated no differently here than anyone else, and they are paid what they deserve by our standards."

The moment they heard this condition, some of the delegates thought of some evil rumors about the Gentiles, because this kindness is so great that it has surpassed what most people think they can get.But the shock was only for a moment, because compared with what the Gentiles did for the people in this city and for the people of the whole plain outside the city, the care they gave to their peasant rebel army was nothing more than their invincible good deeds an inconspicuous part of it.What's more, supporting the rebel army is not without benefits for the city. The rebel army's active activities in the middle of the kingdom can also reduce some interference from the king and nobles for the city and Orson County. They these represent.

"The second condition is to accept a three-person team sent by us, who will be responsible for the maintenance of these weapons and supervise their use. Apart from this, we have no other requirements. Is it acceptable?"

The representatives went to the small room next to them to discuss for a while, and after a while, they came out and said that they had unified internal opinions, and they fully accepted these two conditions.

"Okay." The other party said, "This is our preliminary contract. It has been written in duplicate. Please ask a literate representative to confirm... Ah, it doesn't matter, illiteracy is very common, and we have prepared another contract. , you see, it is pictorial, but it is also recognized in this city, please take a look, can you understand? Okay, everyone has seen this contract clearly, if there are no other questions, we It can be considered that it is established, and its content is what we just said, right? Then we can press our fingerprints. Please take this contract well. The formal contract will be with ours when you leave the city. signed by the chief justly and openly."

The leader of the representatives carefully put away the contract drawn on the snow-white paper close to his body, and when he put it away, relieved and overjoyed emotions burst out from these representatives, even their hosts showed Smile.

"This time you can take your pick," he told them.

Representatives of the rebel army smiled broadly at him.

"You choose today, we can pack it tomorrow, and the convoy will set off in the afternoon," the warehouse manager led them to open the door next door, and said to everyone, "This batch of things will be delivered within seven days and nights at most. No need Worrying about the problems on the road, the Cavalry cavalry will guard you all the way, speaking of it...if your young people come fast enough, you may still be able to catch up with the fair."

"A fair?"

"What is a trade fair?"

Not only the representatives of the rebel army asked this question, but also the lord who had no idea that a group of rebels had come to the city.

They had already formally met with the young leaders of the city, and this time they behaved much more calmly, so it was barely a mediocre and smooth interview. The angelic figure told the lords that their request The city has already known about it, but this matter is quite involved and requires careful consideration by the lord. Before they make a final decision, it is better to stay in the city temporarily to understand how the real Gentiles are different from their imagination. leave.But the other party's polite and cold attitude not only failed to extinguish the fanaticism of the lords, but made them more determined in their faith.

Even if they offer wealth and land with both hands, they may not be able to win the favor of the other party, because everything in the world is taken for them, and naturally they will not be shaken by petty gains. This is the real strength from strength to soul.False teachings are as dirty as sand in comparison!

But they can't insist on asking the highness to accept their loyalty immediately after the highness made such a statement, because this will inevitably make the other party think that they don't listen to the teachings at all, and thus doubt their beliefs.In addition, it is actually what they want to stay in this city for a while to observe how the true believers can do what they can. The completion and maintenance of the new Mahi city is a shocking miracle. , They cannot but be curious about the management and operation of the city.What's more, the residence here is comfortable (although you have to do trivial things such as making the bed, cleaning and fetching water yourself), there is no shortage of daily necessities, the food is clean and abundant, and you can eat with true believers (those who are in the cafeteria but do not wear uniforms) people are ignored), take a hot shower once every three days, and they can move freely in most parts of the city as long as they carry their ID cards, which is (in their eyes) an unquestionable privilege.So they had already sent the accompanying attendants back to the territory, leaving only one or two people by their side, and let the rest bring back the news of their safety and satisfaction.

What they saw and heard every day in this city challenged everything they were accustomed to. Before they could sort out the clues, the completely unfamiliar word "trade fair" came to them again.

"Is there a trade fair?" To the few lords who came over to set up a table at lunch, the pioneer who was asked didn't mind their interruption and was very patient. "It literally means that we will hold a display and sell products No, of course it is different from our trade zone. We will display more products this time, excluding but not limited to those familiar products in commercial stores, and some weapons that have not been sold publicly Food, medicine, seeds and various living utensils will also appear at this conference. What kind of seeds are they? I don’t know much about this, but they must all be valuable commodities.”

The good-natured pioneer listened to their questions, and when he had finished, he smiled and said, "Who can buy these things? Of course they meet the requirements, and we don't like it very much when someone buys weapons from here." of course, what kind of requirements should be met is still undecided, and it should be announced after the start of the conference. Before that, it needs to be discussed? Although there may be restrictions on some commodities, this transaction Will still be open to all, yes, to all, whether permanent or temporary residents of the city, or who come from other lands, or from the kingdom, so long as they do not carry arms with them, Anyone can participate in this conference."

"I think it's going to be a great event."

Even if the "true believer" in uniform and armband had not said so, the lords would never doubt that this was a grand event.The fanaticism of conversion will not make them deaf and blind, so they can hear the siren on the river. Whenever this sound sounds, it means that another white ship full of goods has entered the port, and one day they can hear this. Eight times—not the most, but the river port here can only hold so many ships, so there are only eight times.They were woken up by the bell in the morning, and when they went out to observe the city after breakfast, they could see the flow of people flooding the streets like a tide. Then the magnificent tide receded, and the sparkling horses and chariots converged on the road to form a stream.

It is extremely difficult for hundreds of thousands of people to have a place to live and food to eat, but to enable them to survive, they must basically be given a living job. Anyone should know that this It is much more difficult than conjuring food and houses, but these believers of the true god still did it.They didn't even use the remuneration sent to these people through food recycling, so that they can live comfortably as long as they work, and don't need to care about price changes in the market, so these extremely lucky people still have a little savings.

Of course, the little "work points" in their hands can't be taken out of this city and exchanged for anything else, but they don't need to go to other places in the first place. There is another place in this world that is better than this city More plentiful, cheaper, more accessible goods?

Of course, there must be a place called "Alliance", but what's the difference?

This "sales fair" is completely open to them, and in terms of the number of resettled disaster victims and their desire to buy, it can even be considered that it is mainly held for them.But this does not mean that this trading conference is not attractive to the outside world. The white boats lined up in the river port outside the city of New Marsh seem to be loading and unloading at all times to attract everyone's attention. When his entourage rushed on the road with letters, the news from the news hall also took advantage of the wind and spread to the entire plain.

As a city of heresy and a city of miracles, everything about this city strongly attracts the attention of the surroundings, not to mention that this is indeed a big event.No one asked why the Gentiles were so laborious and wasteful just after the flood, drought and locust plague, just like no one asked how much wealth the Gentiles had. Disasters were opportunities for them to grow. It’s just in time—the autumn harvest is over, and everyone from the lord to the serf knows what kind of winter they will face next. But thinking about the "good bread" that is still hidden in some people's cellars, people can't help pinning their hopes on these heretics, hoping that they can show them A path of survival.

Gentiles don't take the initiative to proclaim their teachings, they just work hard.There is endless meaning behind every one of their behaviors that confuses outsiders, and almost everything they do benefits everyone (except nobles and churches), so one cannot but think that this trade So will it be.

Therefore, the rumor that "Gentiles will sell the seeds of high-yielding crops at a low price at the fair" has become a firmly established fact in a very short period of time even without any evidence.From towns to villages, from castles to mud huts and huts, many people believe without reason that Gentile food currency is made from these crops, otherwise they could not have given so much for such a worthless exchange. ——Someone on the white boat saw the specialized merchants of the Gentiles pouring the worm eggs they worked so hard into the middle of the river without any regrets. Perhaps the reason for the fantastic yield of these crops is that the Gentiles performed some kind of magic, But there must be something different about them themselves—they were brought by foreigners.

As a result, not only the lords, knights, churchgoers, and upper-middle-class people in some towns were moved by this fair, but even the poor in the villages searched out their last copper coins from empty jars and gathered them in the hands of the most prestigious elders , Let the strongest young people escort them on the road, go to that city to find those legendary seeds.It was an all-or-nothing venture, no doubt, but—

"It turned out to be true."

Gould, a specialized peddler in New Marci City, stared at the product catalog sent to him, and murmured as if he was afraid of disturbing something.He and dozens of other specialized traders were in a meeting room near the wharf warehouse area. Some of them were dusty and had just returned from outside the city.When the Gentiles handed out this directory, everyone was immediately attracted by it. In the huge office, there were only pages turning and people's surprised voices.

This directory, like other printed materials circulated in this city, shows a very high level of craftsmanship, but the binding is extremely simple, there is not even a bark cover for protection, and the front page is just a piece of thick parchment.The thickness of the entire directory is considerable. On its smooth light yellow paper, the products with clear illustrations are displayed by numbers. The categories, names, specifications and prices of the products are marked in two languages ​​below the illustrations, which is very clear at a glance. .And what is printed on both sides of the page he opened now is the most attractive product of this trade fair, the high-yield crops from "over there", they occupy a complete category, with seven or eight pages.On this paper larger than a human face, unlike other categories that can display four or five products on one page, only two crops are depicted on one page in this category, because the illustrations about them do not only show them The appearance of the seeds as a commodity also draws four scenes of them planting, growing, growing, and harvesting. The pictures displayed by the slender black lines can overcome language barriers and let people understand the nature of these things.

As a merchant who has obtained the franchise qualification of New Mahid City, Gold can also increase his pick-up ratio by distributing this directory outside the city for Gentiles this time.During the months of receiving training in the city's business practices and entrusted by it to do business outside, Gold thought he was used to the ways of the Gentiles that violated common sense, but just like the time they told him how to go to various places Like promoting that kind of food called "Nutritional Bricks", this time he still doesn't know what is going on in the minds of these Gentiles.

Gold, who was born in a merchant family in a commercial city in the lower reaches of the river, did not believe that there would be a truly altruistic belief in this world. He could point out how many invisible benefits the Gentiles have gained through their charity. It is all for the sake of a broader rule in the future, but at the same time he has to admit that if the Gentiles just want land and population, they don’t have to choose such a laborious and slow approach. Once they sacrifice their weapons of war, several Can the lord raise the heart of resistance under such power?

Apparently Gentiles knew what to expect when they decided to hold a fair, as if no matter how high expectations were expected of them, they would not disappoint.

There is really an organization in the world that can do this, and even the elves are impressed by it. Thinking of the franchisee businessman who died tragically, Gold couldn't help but shudder.

There was a light knock on the door, and the specialized traders looked up and saw three young men in gray uniforms walking in from the door.