Chapter 231 Buying and Selling
The military market on the west bank of Yingshui River was crowded with people, and there were bargaining and crying everywhere. This is the scene of the Taishan Army trading prisoners with the Yellow Turban Taoist disciples from Runan and Yingchuan.
Unlike the Taishan Army, where all captures were returned to the public, the Yellow Turban Army in Runan and Yingchuan was essentially an alliance of small military leaders. Originally, with Peng Tuo, Bo Cai and other prestigious Qu commanders in charge, all parties could unite their minds a little, but when the two commanders died, although it would not be said that they fell apart, they basically all worked in different places.
Just like this time, one party to the transaction was the Holy Treasurer of the Taishan Army, and the other party was a variety of people. In addition to the commanders from Runan and Yingchuan, even some nearby wilderness hunting groups who hunted single deserters also came.
At the back, it was not just about trading prisoners, but basically, salt, millet, military supplies, horses, everything.
This time, Yan Zhuang, the chief of the Taishan Army, also came. He came to the military market to check and never let the Taishan Army be deceived by others in the military market.
Yan Zhuang was chatting with a young handsome man from Runan, discussing a deal for a family of forty men and women, when the other person asked him for ten pieces of cloth. He dared to ask for it, so Yan Zhuang was bargaining with the man when a Taishan military official came over and whispered something to Yan Zhuang.
Yanzhuang can distinguish the important and the important, and directly buy the price:
"Six pieces of cloth, go and get my bamboo chips to change them. If you don't want to change them, forget it."
A few Runan Yellow Turbans across the street discussed it with each other and knew that they might not be able to sell it, so they agreed.
Yan Zhuang dismissed this group of people, and then led by his men, walked in a twists and turns to a corner of the military market.
At this time, several shabby warriors who smelled dirty and held various weapons were squatting on the ground, whispering this.
Yan Zhuang took one look and knew that these people were a group of hunters nearby.
It is different from many people’s stereotyped understanding of war. I always think that the army is the actor on the battlefield, but in fact, these hunters also play a pivotal role on the battlefield. Every time there is a war, there will always be these hunter groups wandering around the outside of the battlefield. As long as the outcome of the war comes out, they will pursue the losers and take another bite out of them.
The warriors in the army generally have a lot of wealth. As long as these hunting teams hunt for a serious military official, not to mention the armor on his body is very valuable, even his head can be exchanged with the military officials of the victorious side.
But precisely because of this, these people are most hated by the warriors in the army. After all, no one wants to die at the hands of these hyenas.
But Yan Zhuang was different. He was the chief clerk in the army. He used to deal with this kind of bandit gangs. He smiled as soon as he came and said to the hunters:
"You want to sell armor?"
The hunters who were still squatting on the ground knew that he was in charge as soon as they saw the solemn ribbon. They hurriedly stood up and one of them, a swarthy man with rotten yellow teeth, said with a humble smile:
"The nobles are us. This is a good armor. How can untouchables like us be so lucky to enjoy such treasures? We come here to sell them to the nobles."
Yan Zhuang still enjoyed the flattery of others. Hearing that this group of people really wanted to sell their armor, he asked:
"Where is A?"
Dahuangya sighed quickly, and then called his subordinates.
Then, two skinny savages moved a shelf over, and a tall basin collar armor was hung on the wooden shelf.
Yan Zhuang touched a few knife cuts on the basin collar armor and secretly thought that although it was a little broken, it was still a good armor. He nodded with satisfaction. He also praised the big yellow teeth:
"You know how to do business, and you also know how to put on some airs for your armor. Not bad!"
Dahuang Ya bowed and said proudly:
"To be honest, noble man, I have seen the world before in our three hometowns. I know that this armor needs to be hung to be called a rarity."
Yan Zhuang nodded and asked casually:
"How do you plan to sell it?"
Dahuangya struggled for a while, then stretched out a palm and shook it.
Yan Zhuang knew at a glance that this man didn't understand prices, so why did he want to call him? When Yan Zhuang was doing smuggling work for the Gongsun family, the big yellow tooth was lying in the mud somewhere.
Yan Zhuang frowned falsely and whispered:
"Five thousand dollars? That's too expensive."
Dahuang Ya first heard that there were five thousand yuan, and he was happy. Then he heard that Yan Zhuang said it was expensive. He quickly grabbed Yan Zhuang and said hurriedly:
"My lord, look at this armor and this stature. It belongs to a warrior of the Han army. Look at this shoulder armor and skirt armor. A set is worth five thousand coins."
Dahuangya really doesn't understand this. If he asks about the selling price of a small animal, he knows all about it. But he had never heard of this collar armor, a military weapon, let alone seen it.
He also knew that this basin collar armor was too eye-catching for his small group to keep, otherwise he would have found a place to bury it and plan to pass it down to his family.
Seeing that Yan Zhuang was unmoved, Dahuang Ya began to rack his brains again and began to search for words to praise this armor. And his hand continued to pull Yan Zhuang's sleeve, and all he saw was darkness.
Yan Zhuang didn't care, it was just like dealing with these people, but what he was more interested in was the owner of this person. That big yellow tooth was right. The owner of this armor was a great man at first glance. Just hanging there, the armor was half a head taller than Yan Zhuang.
So Yan Zhuang didn't beat around the bush. After all, he was really busy and told Da Huang Ya directly:
"If the owner of this A and this A can give them to me together, I will give you 10,000 yuan directly."
Ten thousand dollars!
Dahuangya and his companions behind him took a breath. They never thought that one day they would have such a large sum of money.
But what is surprising is that Yan Zhuang clearly noticed Da Huang Ya's intention. In the end, he insisted that there was only A and no one else. In the end, he didn't want 5,000 yuan, so he sold the basin collar armor to Yan for 4,000 yuan. village.
Looking at Dahuang Ya and others who took the money and left in a hurry, Yan Zhuang obviously felt that something was wrong with this group of people, but he didn't care. After all, Yan Zhuang was really busy.
Afterwards, Yan Zhuang asked people to put away the basin collar armor and led the people towards the next round of business.
There is no way, he Yan Zhuang is really busy!
Over there, Dahuangya hurried out of the military market with money on his back and five or six companions.
The road was silent except for the muffled sound of bare feet on the mud. They walked west for a while, then circled north, and finally got into a forest and hid there.
After a while, seeing that no one was following, Da Huangya and the others sat on the ground to rest.
At this time, you should speak when you have a companion:
"Kui, I should have promised that noble man just now. How much millet can I buy back with ten thousand dollars? I dare not even think about it."
I’ll be scolded if I have a companion next to me:
"Gouzi, what do you know? Kui has his own ideas, we just listen."
The savage named Gouzi nodded and said nothing.
Dahuangya glanced at the person who had just spoken, not knowing that he was trying to make a fuss. After all, we still have to tell the truth, otherwise these savages might do something for these ten thousand dollars.
This is the real world. Ten thousand dollars can be converted into gold, which is just one gold, which is just the cost of a meal for a powerful family. But for these wandering savages, this is a huge amount of money that they will never see in their lifetime.
Sighing, Dahuangya said half in fear and half in pride:
"We, we were almost blinded by that money just now. We didn't know that we almost got killed."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Dahuang Ya in confusion, wondering why he suddenly said such a thing.
Dahuang Yadao:
"Do you think the military officer we hunted was of low status? We gave that man away for five thousand dollars. When the time comes that man brings people back to kill us and take revenge on us, what will we do?"
The companion named Gouzi said uncertainly:
"Probably not. Isn't it the Yellow Turban Army who is doing business with us? Can you help that Han official? Even if we let people go, they will behead them to repay their merits. I have heard that this wave of people came from Kyoto The Han soldiers were ruthless. They killed thousands of them on the Taiping Road in Yingshui some time ago, and the blood feud was over!”
Dahuangya didn't expect that Gouzi would have this news, but his face still had the admonishing expression of "you are young and ignorant":
"Gouzi, you are really stupid. If you kill me today, we can be brothers tomorrow. This is the usual behavior of people outside. People are willing to pay an extra five thousand dollars to get that person, just to kill him? You've seen that man's appearance. Is he a good man? If this man is sent over, the Taiping Road will definitely accept him. When the time comes, aren't we the ones who will be unlucky?"
Gouzi understood and praised that he was still cool.
But there was still someone on the other side who didn't know what was going on. It was the one who was helping. He pretended to be confused and said:
"Kui, since that person is so dangerous, we might as well kill him. Why leave a scourge behind!"
Dahuangya finally caught this man's mistake and gave him a lecture:
"You know nothing. Look at the few heights among us. Which one is taller than six feet? Now that such an eight-foot tall man has fallen into our hands, we have to give our settlement a new breed. When the time comes, you can take your sister , and my daughter-in-law, all those who can still give birth in the settlement will be sent to the man. When we get back, I will mix the ones who work for the donkeys into his food. This matter is related to the future of our settlement, and it must be done. ! Do you understand? ”
The savages suddenly understood and beamed with joy, each showing their big yellow teeth and admiring their leader endlessly.
It’s better to change the species!
That's right, the Han official Da Huangya and the others hunted was Sima Lang of Wen County, the former Sima Guard of the Hedong Army. In the first wave of charges, he was directly hit in the chest by the Taishan Army's cavalry hammer. In the end, he had to hold him and sit down on his horse to kill him. But because of this, he got lost to the edge of the battlefield. Then his eyesight went dark, and he was beaten by Dahuangya and his gang who were wandering nearby and carried back to the settlement.
The first time he took a look at Sima Lang, Da Huangya thought of his daughter. The second time he looked at him, he saw the two of them together. The third time he looked at him, he saw himself holding his grandson. The last time he looked at him, he saw his grandson become a child. A nine-foot-tall warrior. Okay, he is really a good person, and his big yellow-toothed grandson fell into this person.
Poor the Sima family of Wen County, a family of famous military generals, especially Sima Lang, who was only fourteen years old, had to suffer such tragedy, how pitiful!
——
Yan Zhuang was really busy. After making several deals with several military leaders in Runan, a few more sneakily found Yan Zhuang.
After a while of greetings, Yan Zhuang realized that they were selling a group of Han army's baggage camp officials. Yan Zhuang did not dare to neglect and hurried over.
There is no other reason than the rarity of this group of people.
These days, the Yellow Turbans in Runan and Yingchuan have gradually figured out the taste. It turned out that they hated the Han army officials, especially the Yingchuan comrades, and generally killed the Han prisoners who had surrendered, in order to avenge the comrades who had been killed before. Later, the Taishan Army came and said that these Han army officials could be exchanged for armor and weapons. In this battle, the strength of the Taishan Army was obvious to all, but both sides thought that this was more due to the sharpness of the Taishan Army's armor. So upon hearing this, the Taishan Army was willing to exchange armors and started business.
But there are also smart people on the Taiping Road in Runan and Yingchuan. They gradually realize the importance of these Han military officials. With these people, they can also use Han military methods to organize and train their own troops. Then wouldn’t they also Can he be as good at fighting as the Taishan Army?
Therefore, the Yellow Turban Army in Runan and Yingchuan later no longer sold military officers, but only used some captured young men or apprentices in exchange for some military supplies.
In this battle, because the Taishan Army directly captured the Han Army's camp, there was now more food and money, and there was enough capital to trade between the two parties.
But now, a group of former officials from the Han army's supply camp want to sell, and Yan Zhuang is naturally interested. After being guided all the way, we left the military market. It seems that the people on the other side also feel that there are too many people and want to sell in a low-key manner.
All this raised Yan Zhuang's expectations, but it wasn't until he came to the cage that Yan Zhuang was disappointed.
I saw that this human market outside the military market was full of feces. The officials in the Han army's transport camp were all locked up in shacks. Anyone who cried or made noise would be beaten severely by the yellow turban soldiers who were in charge, just like animals.
What made Yan Zhuang disappointed was not that the Yellow Turban Army treated the Han soldiers like this. He had already known how these Han soldiers had treated Ru Ying's Yellow Turban Army before. It could be said that they were the same raccoons, and now they were being mistreated, and it was not the Yellow Turban Soldier's fault.
He was disappointed that these people didn't look like they were skilled. You must know that the Han army's baggage camps are basically fully equipped. After all, the army is the home of the soldiers, and the baggage camps that take care of the army's logistics are of course equipped with all kinds of equipment.
But looking at these young and old, tell me, do they have skills?
The young commander over there was under the command of Liu Pi in Runan. Yan Zhuang looked unhappy and complained when he went up:
"Old Jia, what you are doing is unreasonable. I, Yan, am also very busy. It is not you who fools these people. To you, do these young and old people look like hundreds of workers?"
Being called out by Yan Zhuang to his face, the young handsome man named Jia was also a little embarrassed. Yes, these people were indeed part of the Han army's supply camp, but the ones with real skills among them had long been picked out by Liu Pi, their leader. The rest are just some women and children from the back camp. The guy named Jia here just wanted to fool around and see if he could get a better price.
But since he was called out, Jia did not hesitate to say:
"Old Yan, this is what it is. You know the situation, so just decide what the price of this person is. If I think it's appropriate, you'll drag them all away."
Now that this person said this, Yan Zhuang began to take a serious look at these prisoners.
After walking around for a few times, Yan Zhuang knew that the group was relatively healthy overall. Although they looked hungry, they could still sit down and no one was lying on the ground. What he was most afraid of was bringing diseased ones with him. It would be easy to buy them back at that time without much trouble.
Most of these people lowered their heads and did not dare to look at Yan Zhuang, but there were a few with cool eyes who looked up at Yan Zhuang and then lowered their heads.
Yan Zhuang turned around and came back and said to Lao Jia:
"You can do this business, I'll pick some, and you can take the rest with you."
Unexpectedly, Lao Jia shook his head:
"Old Yan, you really know how to do business. But do you think I, Old Jia, am stupid? You have taken away the good ones. Who wants the rest? And I might as well tell you something. It's clear. These people were originally killed by Liu Kui. I didn't want to do this kind of thing, so I came here to sell them. Do you care about your money? Which of the brothers is not making a lot of money?”
This was a beautiful thing to say, but when Yan Zhuang looked at the old Jia's empty hakama and bare mud feet, he still felt that it was a bit false.
No matter what Yan Zhuang thought, Lao Jia continued:
"If you only buy a little, I will definitely not be able to send the rest back to the camp. At that time, I will have to let these people go to the dirt for a while."
After hearing these words that were half mantras and half threats, Yan Zhuang said nothing. These Runan Yellow Turbans were just like that. Most of them were rough and rough things. There was no need to get angry with them.
Seeing that he couldn't take advantage, Yan Zhuang went up and ordered someone to find out the details. One of these people is one of the few people whose eyes were clear just now. Although he is sloppy, Yan Zhuang's eyes make him feel that this person is extraordinary:
"What's your name? What did you do before and what do you know?"
After asking three times, the man leaned against the fence and ignored Yan Zhuang. Yan Zhuang didn't tolerate him, so he directly clicked on the one next to him and asked these three questions again.
This man was honest and replied:
"The student's surname is Chen Mingqin, and he is a descendant of the Chen family in Xu County. He used to be a secretary in the back camp of the Han Army and can read Braille."
Yan Zhuang was startled and lowered his voice:
"You are actually a descendant of the Chen family in Xu County. I didn't expect you to be a descendant of the Three Lords. I admire you so much."
What Yan Zhuang said made Chen Qin feel embarrassed. He shook his head:
"It's just a side branch that's not valued."
These words directly provoked a proud chuckle from the man next to him:
"You know who you are, so why are you still a thief? Shameful!"
Chen Qin felt dim for a moment after saying this.
That's right, the Chen family started their business from their ancestor Chen Shi. The ancestor was originally just a regular servant in a county government office, and later became Du Tingzuo. Later, he was rewarded by the county magistrate Deng Shao and was able to study at Imperial College. Later, because he repaid his colleagues with kindness and suffered punishment for the eunuch, he gained the reputation of being admired by the world for his virtue. The ancestor became a famous scholar with academics and morality. He and his two uncles Chen Ji and Chen Chen were known as the three monarchs, and then became a wealthy family of scholar-bureaucrats.
Therefore, although he, Chen Qin, was not a direct descendant of the main lineage, after he was captured, he still listened to what the man next to him said, never forgetting his identity, killing with honor, and not losing his family reputation. So when Liu Pi first selected people with skills, Chen Qin pretended that she didn't know anything, so she was abandoned along with the person next to her.
But when Chen Qin and these people were about to be beheaded, memories of the past suddenly came to Chen Qin. He finally remembered how the main family treated these branches in the past.
Once, when the ancestor celebrated his birthday, Chen Qin caught a pheasant in the wild and wanted to give it to the ancestor for his birthday. But not only the main entrance, but also the side entrance, the head of the house didn't let Chen Qin in.
When Chen Qin said that he had given a pheasant as a gift, he even sarcastically said:
"Not just any chicken can break into the owner's house. People need to be responsible and know their place, so they don't have to think about what they have and what they don't have all day long."
And all these estrangements started from a joke made by the ancestor Chen Shi.
At that time, he, Chen Qun and other contemporaries were playing in the old house. The ancestor Chen Shi suddenly pointed to the position of himself and Chen Qun and said:
"This son will definitely establish our sect."
At that time, no one knew who the ancestor was referring to. Of course, because Chen Qun was the main lineage and Chen Qin was just the grandson of Chen Shi's younger brother, everyone present deliberately applied this sentence to Chen Qun.
But the ancestor's joke back then still became a thorn in the side of the host's family. Especially when Chen Qin and Chen Qun entered clan school at the same time, the former showed more intelligence than the latter, which made this thorn in his heart even more painful.
After that, Chen Qin was deliberately suppressed. For a long time, no one outside the family knew that there was such a person in the Chen family. Originally, Chen Qin thought that she could only be a leader within the clan, but the Yellow Turban Uprising broke out and Huangfu Song also came to Yingchuan. Chen Qin wanted to give Huangfu Song a try, so she went to join Huangfu Song.
Originally, Huangfu Song was highly regarded because of his status as a descendant of the Chen family. But later someone from the Chen family said something to Huangfu Song, and he, Chen Qin, was taken from the Huangfu Song shogunate to the supply camp and made a secretary, until he was captured by Liu Pi and others.
The person next to him, who was captured by Liu Pi together with him, was Guo Tu, the aide of Huangfu Song, the general of Zuo Zhonglang. Huangfu Song had previously visited Yangdi and borrowed people from Yin Xiu, the prefect of Yingchuan, to replenish the shogunate. Yin Xiu recommended Zhang Zhong, Zhong Yao, Zhang Li, Du You, Xun You and Guo Tu to Huangfu Song's shogunate.
Originally, Chen Qin was one of them and knew all these people, but later he was demoted to work as a secretary in the supply camp and broke off all relations with these people.
But who knew that the Han army was defeated. He retreated with a heavy baggage battalion. On the way, he met Guo Tu who was running away. As soon as the two sides met, he was captured by Liu Pi just as he was about to break out.
Guo Tu is a descendant of the Guo family in Yangzhai. Starting from their ancestor Guo Gong, the Guo family has been practicing "Xiao Du Lv" for generations. Among the descendants are one duke, seven court officers, three marquises, more than twenty governors, two thousand stones, ministers, and generals, and countless ministers, chiefs, and supervisors. It can be said that the Guo family is the representative of the legal family in the Han Dynasty, and has been involved in it for many generations.
Therefore, as soon as Guo Tu was captured, he had to guard the Han Dynasty and also persuaded Chen Qin to join him, so the last two were selected.
At this moment, Chen Qin heard Guo Tu's sarcasm again, lowered her head and stopped talking.
Yan Zhuang saw all this and smiled. Then he said to the old Jia over there:
"Old Jia, I want these people."
When Lao Jia heard that the deal was done, he drove over with a smile on his face and said uneasy:
"The price hasn't been announced yet."
"Old Jia, we'll take it here at the military officer's price. You'll come back to camp with us later."
When Yan Zhuang said this, he looked around and then said:
"Give me gold. This way you won't be dazzled by it."
Lao Jia smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed, and he kept praising his dignity and his meticulousness in doing things.
But Yan Zhuang suddenly pointed at Guo Tu and said to Lao Jia:
"But take this man away. He is too tough to be used by our Taishan Army."
Lao Jia had already wanted to show off. As soon as he heard this, his thick arms lifted Guo Tu out of the cage. Then he was dragged aside like a chicken.
Lao Jia drew out his knife, smiled and said to Yan Zhuang:
"It's a waste of millet to keep this kind of thing that can't be sold. I'll just paste it on my knife edge."
After saying that, he put the short knife on Guo Tu's neck, and just as he was about to wipe it, a sharp and deformed drake cried out:
"Don't kill me, I'm useful!"
Afterwards, Guo Tu buried himself on the ground in shame.
(End of chapter)