Ang Lee felt that Chen Long's words were very reasonable. As long as the team left the Jiang tribe's control area, the Duan Jianhan would relax his vigilance and impatiently take action. The reason why they did not take any action at this time was probably because they knew that Ang Lee was still nearby. This also seemed to indicate that they were hiding in the dark and knew Ang Lee's movements like the back of their hand. It could not be ruled out that they had the support of the locals, so they could know Ang Lee's movements like the back of their hand.
"You're right. It seems that we have to leave here as soon as possible. But before we leave, we must deal with the matters here. The Jiang tribe and the Lu tribe have been enemies for many years and have suffered great losses. We have to help them mend their relationship and let them cooperate well. This will be very beneficial for both sides."
Ang Lee said.
Chen Long said, "Assistant Minister Li is right. I hope they will live up to Assistant Minister Li's painstaking efforts."
Knowing that Li An was coming back, the patriarchs of the Jiang tribe were all waiting on the main road to welcome him. They were all very polite. After all, Li An had brought them too many benefits. They were so touched that they didn't know how to express their excitement.
In addition, the next trade with the Lu tribe would depend on Ang Lee's mediation. They had seen the great benefits of the Lu tribe's coal and were very eager to cooperate with them. Ang Lee was the key to this. Without Ang Lee's good mediation, this matter would not be easy to handle. Therefore, they still needed Ang Lee very much, so they should be more polite and considerate.
"Assistant Minister Li, you've worked hard …"
The patriarch of the Jiang tribe saluted Ang Lee with a smile on his face.
Li An smiled and asked, "Clan Heads, have you all used the coking coal that this official had sent over last night? How is the quality?"
The second patriarch hurriedly said with a smile, "It's very good. It's a very good fuel, indeed much better than charcoal."
The other clansmen also nodded their heads in approval.
The Grand Patriarch stepped forward and asked, "Assistant Minister Li, what is the opinion of the Lu Tribe? Do they agree to the exchange?"
Although they asked, their eyes were full of confidence because they believed that the Lu Tribe would not refuse to exchange resources with them. After all, although the Lu Tribe's coal was good, they could not use it all up. It would be a waste to leave it there. It would be better to exchange it for pig iron.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "The Lu Tribe is naturally willing to exchange coal for pig iron. Not only is their coal useful, but they also have a lot of it. The extra coal is naturally suitable for the exchange."
"What's the price?"
The second patriarch was most concerned about the issue of price. A reasonable price would naturally satisfy him. As for the other patriarchs, they all revealed expressions of great interest.
Ang Lee smiled and said, "The patriarch of the Lu Tribe said that we should exchange according to the ratio of Central Sichuan. A catty of pig iron in Central Sichuan is worth a few catties of coke. Do you think this price is reasonable?"
Hearing this, the second patriarch pondered for a moment. The other patriarchs did not speak either.
"Assistant Minister Li, the price of pig iron and coal in Central Sichuan is not fixed. It's not easy to determine the price! It's not easy to control whether it's more or less. How about this price? "
The second patriarch used sign language to communicate with Ang Lee.
Ang Lee took a look and felt that the price was not too bad. It was about 60% more expensive than pig iron in Central Sichuan, but it was better than the double price that Ang Lee had proposed to the patriarch of the Lu Tribe. So, the deal was settled.
"If the price is fixed and never changes, I think the Lu Tribe will accept it."
Ang Lee said.
When the second patriarch and the other patriarchs heard this, most of them were satisfied. This price was already very cheap. After they had seen the huge benefits of coal, they had changed their view of the Lu Tribe. As long as the Lu Tribe could give them a more reasonable price, they would completely accept the exchange of goods with the Lu Tribe.
"This price is completely acceptable. Thank you, Assistant Minister Li."
The second patriarch said excitedly.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "In that case, you should send someone to contact the Lu Tribe and prepare for the exchange! By the way, how much pig iron has been smelted? "
The second patriarch said, "There are five furnaces smelting at the same time. Now there's a thousand pounds of pig iron. We won't keep a single piece. We'll take all of it to the Lu Tribe to exchange for coking coal. We'll load it now."
Obviously, after seeing the benefits of the Lu Tribe's coking coal, the second patriarch was really moved. He felt that the Lu Tribe's coking coal was really useful. He wanted to exchange more of it as soon as possible so that he would not have to burn charcoal anymore.
The coking coal exchanged for a thousand pounds of pig iron could be smelted into tens of thousands of pounds of pig iron. This exchange ratio was dozens of times better for the Jiang Tribe. Only a small part of the pig iron they smelted was given to the Lu Tribe, but they could get a steady supply of coke from the Lu Tribe. This was the best thing for them.
The Lu Tribe also did not feel that it was a loss, because they had too much coke buried in the ground and could not produce any value. There was nothing more cost-effective than exchanging some of it for pig iron from the Jiang Tribe. At this time, they had already learned the heat treatment process. After getting pig iron, they could make all kinds of tools. Not only could they meet their own needs, but they could also sell the surplus iron products to people who needed them. They could even sell them in Central Sichuan. Some of the more dexterous small tools, such as iron scissors, could be sold far away. This was undoubtedly very beneficial for improving the living standards of the local people.
A win-win situation was the basis for the cooperation between the Lu Tribe and the Jiang Tribe. Without a win-win situation, there would be no cooperation between the Lu Tribe and the Jiang Tribe. For the two tribes, the current situation was a win-win situation. Therefore, they had no reason not to cooperate. Cooperation was their only choice, and also the only right choice.
Ang Lee was very happy about the Second Patriarch's eagerness. He immediately sent two subordinates to the Lu Tribe to tell them to prepare twenty thousand pounds of coking coal in exchange for a thousand pounds of pig iron from the Jiang Tribe. According to Ang Lee's estimation, the Lu Tribe could prepare twenty thousand pounds of coking coal before the Jiang Tribe's pig iron arrived. After all, it was an open-air coal mine, which was very convenient to mine. Once the Patriarch gave the order, tens of thousands of pounds of coking coal could be dug out in a very short time. But it was a little troublesome to load the coking coal, which required a lot of vehicles. According to the loading capacity of a vehicle here, twenty carriages were needed to load twenty thousand pounds of coking coal. Fortunately, the Lu Tribe had some resources, so twenty carriages were enough.
After explaining the cooperation between the Lu Tribe and the Jiang Tribe, Ang Lee set off to catch up with his own team. He wanted to make it seem that he had completely left the Jiang Tribe's territory. In fact, Ang Lee had a lot of people lying in ambush in order to lure out Duan Jianhan's team and catch them all in one fell swoop.
Looking at Ang Lee's back, the Patriarchs of the Jiang Tribe were very grateful. They were very grateful to Ang Lee. It was Ang Lee who brought them the advanced iron smelting technology. It was also Ang Lee who helped them mediate the relationship between the two tribes, so that the two tribes could cooperate and achieve a win-win situation.
Without Ang Lee's help, they would not have gained these benefits. It was understandable that they were very grateful to Ang Lee.
"Assistant Minister Li has helped us so much, but we didn't prepare a gift for Assistant Minister Li. Isn't that too rude?"
The Fifth Patriarch said.
The Second Patriarch said, "It's not that we didn't prepare anything. It's just that Assistant Minister Li left in such a hurry that we didn't have the time.
Get ready at xs.biz! "
"It's not that we didn't have time to prepare! It's just that we are too poor here. We don't have anything good to give to Assistant Minister Li. Isn't it shameful enough to give away those worthless things? "
The Third Patriarch said with a smile.
Suddenly, all the Patriarchs laughed. They all felt that the Third Patriarch was right. They were really too poor here. They really didn't have anything good to give to Ang Lee, and those worthless things wouldn't surprise him even if they took them out.
However, there was another deeper meaning in their laughter. That was, from now on, their lives would change a lot. After the iron smelting workshop and the forging workshop were built one after another, they could get a lot of pig iron and iron products, which could be sold for a lot of money. At that time, they would become rich.
They laughed at their own poverty because they were looking forward to their future wealth. Moreover, they had every reason to believe that they would become very rich in the near future. With so much pig iron production, it was impossible for them not to be rich. They would definitely be much richer than they were now.
The subordinates sent by Ang Lee soon arrived at the main city of the Lu Tribe. They told the Patriarch of the Lu Tribe that the Jiang Tribe was transporting 500 kilograms of pig iron. He asked the Patriarch of the Lu Tribe to prepare 20,000 kilograms of coking coal in exchange for the 500 kilograms of pig iron.
Hearing such a price, the patriarch of the Lu Tribe suddenly became happy. Although this price was still unfair to him, it was still slightly cheaper than the double price that Li An had mentioned. This made his heart feel a little better, and he didn't feel so uncomfortable anymore.
"Hurry up and send more people to dig coal. Prepare 20,000 kilograms of coal. The pig iron of the Jiang Tribe is already on the way. We can't let the Jiang Tribe look down on us. We have to show them that we, the Lu Tribe, are trustworthy. We won't give them less than one kilogram of coal."
The Patriarch of the Lu Tribe explained the task. He seemed to be particularly heroic.
Soon, the Lu Tribe gathered 200 strong men to dig coking coal. 20,000 kilograms of coking coal was distributed to 200 people. On average, each man was given 100 kilograms of coal. For these men, 100 kilograms of coal was just a drizzle. They could finish it quickly. Each of them prepared a sack that was enough to hold 100 kilograms of coal. They put the coal in the sack and put it on the cart. A cart could hold a sack. At the bottom, four sacks were laid from front to back. Three sacks were placed on top, two on top, and one sack was placed on top. In this way, the stability of the cart could be guaranteed and the sacks wouldn't fall off when the cart was moving.
Twenty transport vehicles were quickly prepared. These were the vehicles used to transport goods. During the busy farming season, they would also be used to transport grains and straws. Of course, they could also be used to transport fertilizers. In short, the local vehicles were similar. Almost all the vehicles were the same size.
The two hundred people of the Lu Tribe worked very fast. After they had finished the task of digging out fifty kilograms of coke, they put the coke they had dug into the gunny sacks. Then, they put the gunny sacks on the prepared transport cart. In this way, the task was completed.
Before long, the 500 kilograms of pig iron of the Jiang Tribe arrived near the main city of the Lu Tribe. The 20 carts of the Lu Tribe filled with coal were also in place. The exchange could take place at any time.
"Is this the pig iron you smelt?"
The Patriarch of the Lu Tribe looked at the iron ingots on the cart and asked.
These iron ingots were of the same size. Each iron ingot weighed about 20 kilograms. 500 kilograms of pig iron meant 50 iron ingots, which didn't seem to be a lot. However, if these iron ingots were used to make iron hammers, they could make hundreds of iron hammers. If they were used to make iron scissors, they could make thousands of iron scissors. For the blacksmiths of the Lu Tribe, 500 kilograms of iron ingots was a big fortune.
"Yes, a total of 500 kilograms of good quality pig iron. We weighed them before we came. How about we measure them again?"
The Jiang Tribe sent the son of the Third Patriarch. He was young, only 30 years old, but he was quite steady.
The Patriarch of the Lu Tribe glanced at him and waved his hand. "No need. I believe you won't cheat us. Our 20,000 kilograms of coal have been loaded. Do you want to measure them?"
The Third Patriarch's son said, "Since you believe us, then we should believe you too. No need to weigh them. Just take them away."
The Patriarch of the Lu Tribe saw that the Jiang Tribe sent too few people. There were only seven or eight of them, but there were 20 carts full of 20,000 kilograms of coal. It was obviously impossible for seven or eight of them to take back so much coal. Moreover, these carts belonged to them. They couldn't just hand them over to others. Some of the carts were pulled by livestock, so they couldn't hand them over to others.
"You have too few people. I think we should take the coal directly to your Iron Smelting Workshop!"
The Patriarch of the Lu Tribe said.
"Okay! Thank you very much. "
The Third Patriarch's son said. He wasn't worried about leaking the secret. Instead, he wanted to show off and let the Lu Tribe have a good look at his Iron Smelting Workshop.
The Patriarch of the Lu Tribe didn't mean it out of kindness. He was very interested in the Iron Smelting Workshop of the Jiang Tribe, so he wanted to see it with his own eyes to satisfy his curiosity. That was all. He would be satisfied with just one look. He also wanted to know how stone turned into pig iron. He was really curious about this point.
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