Chen Mo was not as greedy as John Jacob Astor, who lowered the price of the furs to such a low level.
After all, compared to the huge profits that the furs could bring, the value of the daily necessities that were traded with the Native Americans was negligible.
On this day, the three of them walked through the forest for a long time. Chen Mo did not find any members of the American Fur Company, but he did find a Native American tribe. Therefore, Chen Mo brought Viktor and James and rushed over.
The tribe was located on a hill. The terrain was flat and open. After passing through the forest, conical tents made of straight tree trunks and bison hides were scattered in the open space of the forest. Many Native American men and women were wearing coarse leather clothes and pants. They were wearing traditional Native American decorations and were busy in the tribe.
The appearance of Chen Mo and the other two made these Native Americans very cautious. Nearly ten burly and valiant Native American warriors quickly rushed over and surrounded Chen Mo and the other two with weapons in their hands.
In this wild forest, unfamiliar outsiders usually meant danger. Usually, the ones who came the most were the armed purchasing teams of the American fur company. Those people were fully armed and arrogant. Rather than calling them businessmen, it would be better to call them bandits.
However, when they saw the appearance of the people who came, they could not help but relax a lot.
Among the three unfamiliar intruders, only one adult seemed to have some combat power. However, his appearance and skin color were not white. Instead, he was more similar to them. This made the Native Americans feel a lot more comfortable.
Although the other two people behind this person were white, they were two children in their teens. They did not seem to be a threat.
Moreover, the three of them were bare-handed. Other than the three big backpacks on their backs, they did not carry any weapons.
Therefore, although a few Native American warriors surrounded the three of them, they did not launch an attack. They just watched the three of them.
Soon, the chief of the tribe received the news and rushed over.
"Outsiders, why have you come to our tribe?"
The burly middle-aged chief, who wore a gorgeous black and white feather crown on his head, walked through the crowd and came before the three of them. He looked at the tall and burly Chen Mo with a sharp gaze and asked in a deep voice.
Chen Mo and the other two had long gotten used to this kind of situation. Even after being surrounded by a group of valiant Native American warriors, they did not panic at all. When the chief appeared and asked him a question, Chen Mo replied slowly in a very standard Native American language that he had just learned not long ago.
"Buying furs!"
Hearing Chen Mo's standard Indian language, the middle-aged chief's eyes lit up, and he had a good impression of him. However, when he heard that Chen Mo was here to purchase furs, the chief couldn't help but glance at the two little guys standing behind Chen Mo. Then, he looked at Chen Mo with a complicated gaze.
"Young man, you'd better leave the forest as soon as possible. If you are discovered by those armed acquisition teams, they will not let you go."
The middle-aged chief saw that Chen Mo was young and had two half-grown children with him. He thought that Chen Mo didn't know the situation here and didn't know about the existence of the American Fur Company, so he kindly advised him.
In the face of the chief's kindness, Chen Mo smiled slightly.
"We have already encountered several acquisition teams."
"Then you guys …"
The middle-aged chief couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this. He stopped talking when he was about to speak.
What did it mean to be able to stand here intact after encountering several acquisition teams?
The middle-aged chief didn't know if Chen Mo was bragging or not, but it was clear that the other party didn't intend to give up on the deal as he said.
He had already said what he needed to say, so the chief didn't say anything more. He turned to look at the three people's huge backpacks.
"Let me see your goods."
Hearing this, Chen Mo nodded slightly, took off the backpack directly, and took out the things inside.
Sharp knives, strong and durable metal utensils, highly concentrated liquor exuding bursts of wine aroma, and many things they had never seen before.
At first, when the middle-aged chief saw the things in front of him, his expression was still normal. The previous acquisition teams also had these things, but the quality didn't seem to be as good as these things. But as Chen Mo and the two children continued to take out things from the backpack, the chief found that there were many things he had never seen before. This made his eyes light up, and the surrounding tribal warriors couldn't help but show joy on their faces.
Ever since the American Fur Company monopolized the fur trade in the entire Missouri region, they began to greatly reduce the purchase price of furs, and the things they exchanged with them were the same. In addition to some daily necessities, they mainly looked at consumables such as liquor in exchange for furs from them.
Because they had a complete monopoly here, no other fur merchants dared to come in and trade with them, so they were forced to accept this price and exchange.
Anyway, these furs were just a byproduct of hunting for them. They didn't have much use for them, especially the furs of small animals such as beavers. If they didn't trade them, they would eventually throw them away, so it was better to exchange them for something useful.
However, this tribe was different from other tribes. Their chief found that liquor didn't elevate their spirits like other tribes thought. Instead, it paralyzed their nerves and bodies, and damaged their combat effectiveness, so they never drank. Over the years, the trade had allowed them to exchange enough daily necessities. As for the trade with the American Fur Company, they actually didn't need it.
At this time, Chen Mo and the other two brought a lot of new things, which made their eyes light up.
"What is this?"
The middle-aged chieftain pointed at a head-sized object with a sturdy metal frame on the outside and a sturdy prototype base at the bottom. There was an arc-shaped handle made of thick iron wire on the top. In the middle was a transparent glass sphere that was fixed firmly in the middle by the upper and lower frames.
"This is a kerosene lamp."
Chen Mo said and gestured to Viktor. Viktor understood, picked up a box from the side, lit the kerosene lamp, and handed it to the middle-aged chief.
The chief first looked curiously at the match in Viktor's hand, then took the kerosene lamp and looked at it.
"This kind of lamp uses kerosene as fuel, so it can be used for a long time. The flame is protected by a glass cover, so it's not afraid of wind, rain, or other bad weather."
The middle-aged chief's eyes lit up when he heard this. He carefully looked at the kerosene lamp in his hand and blew at the flame a few times. He was even more delighted when he found that the flame couldn't be extinguished.
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.
