The Xuanyuan Heavy Iron that weighed 5,000 kilograms could only be sold for three times its original value by bartering.
Three times would be 30 million taels of silver. The annual tax revenue of the hundreds of prefectures in Xiangnan Province was only slightly more than this figure. Yan Shuheng's trip was truly profitable.
Su Xin knocked on the table and suddenly asked, "Is there only one piece of Xuanyuan Heavy Iron that weighs 5,000 kilograms, or how many pieces?"
Uncle Liang did not understand why Su Xin asked this, but he still answered instinctively, "It's one piece. It's not divided."
Hearing Uncle Liang's words, a smile immediately appeared on Su Xin's face. "Yan Shuheng has outsmarted himself this time. He can forget about selling this Xuanyuan Heavy Iron. No, I should say that he can forget about selling this Xuanyuan Heavy Iron for the rest of this year."
Everyone wore puzzled expressions as they did not understand what Su Xin meant. However, Nie Fang laughed heartily at this moment and said, "I understand now. This Eldest Young Master's cleverness has led to his own downfall this time. They actually overlooked such a simple matter."
"I say, don't keep us in suspense. What's going on?" Hong Lietao asked anxiously.
Su Xin pointed at Nie Fang. "Let Brother Nie answer this question. After all, he's the expert."
Nie Fang said proudly, "As for the specific reason, we have to look at the characteristics of this Xuanyuan Heavy Iron. After it's extracted from the ore, it can only be refined once. If it's melted down after refinement, the hardness of this Xuanyuan Heavy Iron will be greatly reduced. It might even become the same as ordinary steel."
Hong Lietao asked doubtfully, "What does this have to do with the Xuanyuan Heavy Iron not being able to be sold?"
Nie Fang said, "That's 5,000 kilograms of Xuanyuan Heavy Iron, and it's a whole piece. Therefore, it's impossible to remelt it and divide it into smaller pieces. If they dare to do that, this piece of Xuanyuan Heavy Iron will be completely wasted.
If they don't remelt it, when the merchants from the central plains come, who would be able to spend 30 million taels of silver or even resources of the same value to buy this piece of Xuanyuan Heavy Iron?
We've been in Merchant Mountain City for more than a decade, but we've never seen such a generous merchant. It's rare for merchants to have millions of taels of silver on hand.
Some caravans with the background of the martial arts sects in the Central Plains were rich. Unfortunately, what they needed to buy in Xiangnan was set by the higher-ups. If they wanted to buy such a big piece of Xuanyuan Heavy Iron at the last minute, they had to report back to their sects. This round trip would take a few months even if it was fast. By then, the battle for the successor would have already ended.
I'm guessing that this piece of Profound Essence Heavy Iron was specially refined by the Mingjian Villa. They were preparing to use it to forge over a hundred weapons in one go, which was why they made such a large piece.
There should also be small pieces of Xuanyuan Heavy Iron in Mingjian Villa. After all, the amount of materials needed to forge a weapon alone could not be the same as forging in bulk.
It's just that I don't know if that Eldest Young Master and his subordinates are doing it for convenience or to create a shocking effect. They actually chose the biggest piece. This time, it's self-defeating. "
After listening to Nie Fang's long explanation, everyone came to a sudden realization. So this was what Young Master Meng meant. If that was really the case, then Yan Shuheng had really outsmarted himself this time.
However, at this moment, Tao Qian asked doubtfully, "If it can't be smelted into small pieces, can't it be cut with a weapon?"
Nie Fang chuckled and said, "Old Tao, you're speaking like a layman. This Xuanyuan Heavy Iron is originally a material used to forge graded weapons. Yellow-Grade weapons and even black-grade weapons can be added to it.
If you want to cut it with a weapon, even if you cut a yellow grade weapon into pieces, you might not be able to cut a piece.
"An earth-grade weapon is more or less the same, but look at the major martial arts sects in Xiangnan. How many have earth-grade weapons? Even if they have them, who would bear to use an earth-grade weapon to cut this metal lump? Aren't they afraid of damaging the weapon? If an earth-grade weapon is damaged, it's not that easy to repair. "
Tao Qian was a little unconvinced. "What if Yan Shuheng gets the Mo family of Canglan Valley behind him to buy this Xuanyuan Heavy Iron?"
Before Nie Fang could answer, Yan Qingxue had already answered, "If he does that, Father won't stand by and do nothing."
If Yan Shuheng really got the Mo family of Canglan Valley to take action, then it would not be a competition of their business ability, but a competition of which force behind them was more powerful. If such a situation happened, then what was the meaning of this so-called successor competition?
Thinking of this, everyone immediately relaxed. However, they still secretly admired Young Master Meng's meticulousness.
Nie Fang knew about this characteristic of the Xuanyuan Heavy Iron, so Yan Shuheng's people probably knew about it too. However, they did not react to it. Instead, it was Su Xin, who was a layman, who could see that something was wrong with a glance.
"Alright, let's put this matter to an end. Don't let Yan Shuheng and the rest know," Su Xin exhorted.
If Yan Shuheng knew about this matter now, it was hard to guarantee that he would not borrow the Mo family's connections to secretly contact some major sects in the Central Plains and have them bring silver or materials of equivalent value over in time to buy this piece of Xuanyuan Heavy Iron.
For now, just let him continue to be kept in the dark.
In the following month, Yan Zhongheng and the rest also returned one after another. Their caravans also rushed back from the 13 trade routes, even the farthest few trade routes that led to the Western Regions, before the end of the year.
At the city gates, Yan Zhongheng led several hundred carriages and horses into the city and just happened to see Yan Zhongheng returning with people.
Compared to Yan Zhongheng, Yan Zhongheng's caravan only had several dozen carriages and horses, barely one-tenth of Yan Zhongheng's.
No matter how precious the things that Yan Zhongheng brought back were, there was absolutely no way to win.
Seeing Yan Zhongheng ride over, Yan Zhongheng chuckled with cupped hands and said, "Second Brother, I wonder what you brought back on this trip?"
Yan Zhongheng said lazily, "Since Ninth Brother wants to see, then take a good look."
As he said that, Yan Zhongheng waved his hand, and his subordinates directly lifted the dust-proof cloth on the caravan, revealing the goods inside.
Yan Zhongheng's action immediately stunned Yan Zhongheng. He was just asking casually, and he did not expect Yan Zhongheng to tell him what the caravan brought back this time.
But since Yan Zhongheng let him see, then it would be a waste not to see. He glanced at those carriages and was instantly stunned.
The things that Yan Zhongheng brought back weren't very precious, but rather too ordinary.
The trade route that he chose this time was the most prosperous in the Central Plains, Jiangnan. The things that he brought back were some of the most common herbs and minerals in Jiangnan.
Usually, it wouldn't be a problem for Yan Zhongheng to bring back these things, but now that he brought back these ordinary things, it was simply no different from giving up on the competition.
Jiangnan itself was the most prosperous road in the Central Plains. Every year, the number of caravans that came to Merchant Mountain City was also the highest. These things were brought along when they came to Merchant Mountain City. There was a lot of them, and they were not worth much in Xiangnan.
And it was even more impossible for the merchants that came to Merchant Mountain City from other roads to buy these things. Every year, the merchants from Jiangnan would also make a trip to Merchant Mountain City, and these things were not lacking in other roads.
Probably only the merchants from the remote Xiangxi Road would come to buy these things, but the price was also very cheap.
It could be said that Yan Zhongheng did not make any money on this trip. Was he going to give up?
Seeing that Yan Zhongheng did not speak, Yan Zhongheng laughed coldly and turned to enter the city with his men. However, Yan Zhongheng's eyes revealed a look of contemplation.
Previously, Yan Shuheng had told him that the qualifications to be the successor didn't mean anything. All of this was just the beginning. Even if you obtained the qualifications to be the successor, it was possible that you would be pulled down by others.
Now that Yan Zhongheng looked like he had given up, it was obvious that he was not going to fight for the qualifications to be the successor, but would he give up fighting for the position of the City Lord?
Yan Chengheng's heart raised a sense of vigilance, and at this moment, a servant in his residence suddenly ran over and whispered, "Young Master, you are finally back. Things are bad! Old Sabre Hongheng and the others were all defeated by Yan Qingxue! "
Yan Chengheng's expression suddenly changed. He directly slapped the servant's face and scolded in a low voice, "Are you an idiot? Why are you making a fuss here? We'll talk when we get back! "
This was the city gate, and there were many eyes. If people heard that he colluded with the bandits in Xiangnan's jungle to kill his sister, then his reputation would be ruined.
The servant also knew that he had done a stupid thing, so he quickly shut up. When Yan Chengheng returned to his residence with his men, he let the servant tell him everything.
After listening, Yan Chengheng's expression became gloomy, "I underestimated that Meng Qingze. Are the experts on the Ranking List really so strong?"
However, he was also somewhat glad that Old Sabre Hongheng and the others were all dead, so there was no evidence for this news.
However, he did not know that this news was not only forced out by Su Xin, but even Yan Huangjiu had already found out through other channels.
Yan Zhongheng and his brothers had all returned to Merchant Mountain City, and the large number of caravans that had come from the Central Plains had also arrived. Now, they were waiting for them to sell everything in their hands, and then the outcome would be decided.
Among the four of them, Yan Zhongheng had already completely given up, but the others took this opportunity to sell the goods they had purchased to those merchants.
Although they themselves did not know what goods were highly profitable, their subordinates all had people who understood the situation and were in charge of everything. A million taels of silver, after going through their hands, could be sold for several times or even ten times the original price without a problem.
Yan Shuheng looked at Yan Zhongheng and Yan Jiheng who had sold his goods for nearly ten times the original price, but he sneered in his heart. Was ten times the original price really that amazing? The goods he brought were more than ten times the original price!
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
