King Chuangui was eating, but his mind was not on the food at all. When he saw Zhang Xiaobao helping his brothers and sisters cut the meat and the little ones looking for a place to eat, he moved closer to Zhang Xiaobao.
"Xiaobao, how many more days are you going to stay here?"
"About five days. Five days is enough to wait for Zhenla's reaction. You can use this time to check the dam and the artificial river. When we leave, we will leave behind two hundred people to help you manage the place, as well as the corresponding weapons and ammunition.
Don't provoke the Meng tribe and lure them to attack, so that you can use our hands to kill them. The people we leave behind will take the initiative to contact them. If you send people to help translate their words and try to sow discord, you know the consequences. "
Zhang Xiaobao gave a rough time and warned King Chuangui.
King Chuangui agreed repeatedly, in a good mood. He knew that even if they made contact, the Meng tribe would not be as cooperative as his side. It would take time.
During this time, he could speed up the development of the Chuanshi tribe. By the time the Meng tribe truly cooperated, his side would have already developed. He did not need to attack them. He just needed to see how their lives were not as good as his.
King Chuangui even came up with a plan. The Meng tribe had many cows, sheep, and horses. He would first sell the grains to them at a low price in exchange for their livestock. Then, he would work hard to reproduce. After a few years, the Meng tribe would no longer have any advantage.
Learning from Xiao Bao, he would use economic means to attack. This would also vent his anger.
As he thought about it, King Chuangui could not help but laugh.
Zhang Xiaobao glanced at him and did not ask what he was thinking. Anyway, it was fine as long as he did not make trouble for him.
The bonfire party ended when the sun set. It was so late that it could be considered a party.
Zhang Xiaobao and the others left with a lot of smoked meat. Many of the locals were drunk. The wine was too strong and they were too relaxed. Many of the women were helped back to the village.
The bonfire was extinguished, but the tribesmen's hearts were filled with hope. They sang and danced, unwilling to stop.
*****
Five days passed quickly.
News came from the border between Zhen and Laos that the people had arrived, and there weren't too many guards following them.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan left 200 people behind and told them the general idea of how to do things in the future. They also pointed out the location of the salt mine. After that, they packed up and set off to the west.
The locals escorted them for more than twenty li before they reluctantly watched the large group of people disappear into the distance. They then turned around and returned to the stronghold.
Over the past few days, they had learned a lot of practical knowledge from the teams of the Zhang Family and Wang Family. They had personally seen the people of the Zhang Family and Wang Family use the local bamboo, grass, and leather to make various tools that were more convenient to use. After learning them, they would participate in the production process so that they could use them in the future.
Therefore, they trusted the Zhang Family and the Wang Family very much. They were absolutely sure that the other party was a good person.
Cuan Mo 'a complained to Fan Fan, saying that when the caravan came, they should have a lot of tools, but they didn't teach him.
Fan Fan admitted that they had an agreement with the other caravans that they couldn't help the tribesmen too much. They didn't want others to learn from them and they would lose their means of making money.
While apologizing to Cuan Mo 'a, he also explained the fundamental reason, which was that the Zhang Family and Wang Family were generous enough. Moreover, the more skills they had, the more they would know how difficult the path of skills was. At the same time, they would be more generous to those who didn't understand skills.
Fan Fan apologized, but he didn't regret it. He told Cuan Mo 'a, "When we came, you didn't belong to the Tang Empire, so why should we teach you skills?" Xiao Bao and Cuckoo taught you skills, but they wouldn't teach Hinduism and Duoshi. The Tang Empire was very strict about blocking skills. If one day Xiao Bao and Cuckoo taught the enemy skills before they surrendered, it would definitely be a trap.
"So, don't think that they are kind and amiable. It depends on who they are with. When Xiao Bao left, he promised me to develop here. He even gave me a loan. We should be closer. "
Fan Fan talked about cooperation again. He planned to raise fish and ornamental fish. He wanted to buy them at a high price and transport them to Dianchi Lake. He wanted to see if the fish would mutate in a special environment and get more beautiful fish.
But he couldn't always keep an eye on them. He needed the help of trusted locals.
"How do we split the money?" Cuan Mo 'a could understand why Fan Fan and the other caravans blocked their skills in the past, but now they were talking about the problem of money. Before Xiao Bao left, he told him that human resources were precious. Even if the people who worked couldn't give anything in exchange, as long as they did things, they would get a lot of money.
"It's scary when people change their minds. Ten to nine. In the future, when the money is sold, I get nine, and you get one. I have to transport the ornamental fish here first. Those fish are very precious, and I can guarantee that some of them will die. Although the interest of the loan is not good, I still have to hold down the funds. My savings bank has to generate profits.
Then I have to bear the losses of the fish that die in accidents while I'm raising them here. If the mutated fish are uglier, I will continue to lose. Even if it succeeds, I will have to transport them back and let some of them die. There will be advertising costs.
Anyway, I'm spending a lot of money, and you're just helping to look after them. A ten to nine ratio is not low. If I do business with you normally, I'll get nine times the profit. "
Fan Fan gestured a 'one' and then a 'nine' as he spoke to Cuan Mo 'a.
When Cuan Mo 'a heard the ten to nine ratio, he wanted to raise the price, but after listening to Fan Fan's analysis, he felt that what he said made sense. He could only agree. "Okay, ten to nine."
"There's another plan. Put the sea fish in fresh water. You know the Yangtze River, right? Many fish from the sea swim here, and some from the Yangtze River swim to the sea. I'll transport a boat from there. If they survive, we'll circle a place in the pond and see if we can raise them. Still ten to nine."
Fan Fan suggested another idea.
Cuan Mo 'a still agreed, but he couldn't think of a better idea. Suddenly, he thought of a problem and asked, "How would I know how much you're selling them for? Also, I'm not sure how much you're spending. If you say ten to nine, just name a number when the time comes. What should I do? "
"Brother Mo 'a, don't you trust me?" Fan Fan looked at Cuan Mo' a sadly.
Cuan Mo 'a smiled embarrassedly. "I trust you. I'll do as you say. When the time comes, I'll send someone to find Xiao Bao. Didn't he say that any of their businesses can be used as a contact point? I'll get Xiao Bao to give you another guarantee. "
Fan Fan was stunned. He blinked his eyes and nodded. "Alright, go ahead. Wait for other merchants to come over. When you talk about various kinds of cooperation with them, remember to tell them at the end that you are looking for Xiaobao. I can't be the only one who suffers losses."
Cuan Mo 'a smiled slyly. Indeed, the mention of finding Xiao Bao was very useful.
*****
When Cuan Mo 'a and Fan Fan mentioned the places where there were fish, many fishermen were puzzled.
They came out of Fuzhou and then went fishing around a few small islands nearby. There were lighthouses on the islands. Their boats were not big, so they didn't dare to go too far. If they had a big boat, they could go to the distant sea to catch rare fish near the coast and sell them for more money.
They could even go to Liuqiao Island and bring goods to trade with the locals. The locals also fished. If they went there with empty boats, they could bring back some goods that didn't exist on the island. When they came back, they could fill the boat with fish.
If they were lucky, they might even be able to obtain leather from other islands.
Moreover, they didn't have to worry about being robbed by the people on the island. A large number of merchants had already negotiated with the tribes on the island. First, they would let the Tang Empire's gunboats show their power. Then, they would give them benefits.
There were even merchants from the Tang Empire who arranged for people to be stationed on the island to act as a communication bridge. There were also rich people who specially chose a good place to build houses on the island. When they were bored, they would stay there for ten days to half a month.
The people on the island liked silk, vegetable oil, canned food, smoked chicken, roast duck, and so on. If they cooked a pot of wontons for the people on the island, they might be able to get fish and iron ore as a gift.
More interestingly, there were merchants who brought seeds to the island and asked the people on the island to help them plant them. After the harvest, the people on the island could choose a part of the seeds as a reward. They could also exchange other things.
The people on the small fishing boat didn't have a good idea. If they risked it, they could get there, but it was not worth it.
In the past few days, what made them puzzled was that the Tang Empire's ships had obviously increased. Usually, there was an armed boat three times the size of their fishing boat in a fishing area. There were usually a dozen people on the boat, and they all had spears.
But since two days ago, there were two ships in each area. They could clearly see that there were machine guns on the ships. At the same time, they could see a patrol boat cruising by from time to time.
The most puzzling thing was that there were hot air balloons flying in the sky. The people on the balloons were using binoculars to scan the sea. Occasionally, due to the height, they would find that the water in a certain area was different from other areas. They would also throw some oil paper with pencil writing on it.
There were fishing boats that picked up the large schools of fish in the sea. The fishermen could follow the instructions and go fishing. It was very convenient.
However, the fishermen definitely didn't think that the hot air balloons in the sky were specially sent to help them find fish. That was too extravagant. Furthermore, they could always see the people on the hot air balloons throwing floating objects into the water and then shooting them with their guns. It was obvious that they were training.
The fishermen were a little nervous, but they weren't afraid. As long as the imperial court didn't stop them from fishing, it meant that the imperial court had a way to protect them. If something big really happened, they would not let them go out to sea and hide first.
Today, a group of fishing boats from Fuzhou was once again guided by the people on the hot air balloons. About ten li to the southeast, the light reflected by the water was abnormal. They could try to go and check it out.
The fishermen immediately became excited. Every time they said that, there would be schools of fish. Hence, the fleet changed direction and headed in that direction. The hot air balloons also followed in the sky.
Sure enough, when they reached the place, the fishermen found that there were really a lot of fish. They just casually cast their nets.
Just as they were happily catching fish, a fisherman looked up at the hot air balloon and suddenly found that the balloon was becoming smaller and smaller. He hurriedly shouted, "Don't worry about the fish. It's coming down. Is there a leak? Save people. "
The group of fishing boats changed direction and estimated the landing point of the hot air balloon. They paddled over with all their might.
When they were still more than a hundred meters away, the hot air balloon finally entered the sea. After a while, four people's heads popped out and swam towards the fishing boats. Two patrol boats also approached.
"Brother, what's wrong?" After pulling the four people up, the people on the boat asked with concern.
"I don't know where it leaked and fell down. Bad luck! Everything fell into the sea. When we go back, tell them to design the hoists properly. We'll be fine. "
A person explained helplessly.
"Brother, you came here to find fish for us?" Another person asked.
"What fish, that's just on the way. We're looking for the boats of many people. We didn't find them anywhere else, but we suspect that they're in the Liuqiu area. That's why we have to strengthen the patrols in Quanzhou and here. Let's not talk about it anymore. Transfer us to the guard boat. You guys continue fishing. "
The person on the hot air balloon wiped the seawater on his face and said gloomily.
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