After hearing Longzi say that it was a few merchants who came, not a messenger, Yu Qiuping realized that the origin was not small.

Sure enough, when he and Sena Yoshiyoshi dressed up and went to greet them, the merchants who were already waiting in the hall gathered together, and it was almost a big gathering of wealthy merchants in the region.

"That's Sakai Sohisa, a wealthy businessman from Sakai Town, and next to it is Tsuda Munehisa, these two are the most powerful." Sena seemed to have done his homework a long time ago, and whispered in Yu Qiuping's ear: "The four on the right are Konishi Ryuza, Sueyoshi Sunshiro, Tachibana Mataburo and Hasegawa Munehito, all of whom can be regarded as wealthy businessmen. ”

"What are you doing with so many people coming to the door?" Yu Qiuping couldn't help but muttered a little when he saw such a big battle.

"I guess it's for business." Sena Yoshi, who is also a businessman, naturally understands the lifeblood of these bosses.

After Yu Qiuhei and Sena Yoshiyoshi took their seats, these merchants only made a simple bow. Generally speaking, merchants who were untouchables had to bow down when they saw a samurai. However, the merchants in the Sakai and Ishiyama towns had a tradition of self-government, and they were not subject to jurisdiction except for the high taxes they paid to the surrounding daimyo every year, so they also had a sense of pride in their bones. Yu Qiuping and Sena didn't care about this, and they also returned the favor.

After seeing the attitude of Yu Qiuhei and Sena Shiyi, the merchants exchanged glances with each other, and then Tsuda Zonghe spoke first: "Grass people Tsuda Zongji, I have seen His Highness Momiji. Thanks to His Royal Highness's care for the little nephew for several years, the grass people thank you for the little nephew and his deceased father. ”

"Little nephew?" Yu Qiuping was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized: "That Iron Cannon Sect Leader Tsuda Kazuyoshi is your nephew?" ”

"Exactly." Tsuda Zonghe smiled and nodded, this can be regarded as a relationship between the Yuqiu family and Tsuda Zonghe, and the set is almost ready to talk about business, "So in order to repay His Highness, Caomin specially brought a group of businessmen to discuss business with His Highness." ”

"Oh? What kind of business is it? Before Yu Qiuping could speak, Sena Shiyi hurriedly spoke. This iron rooster is anxious as soon as he hears the word business.

"Come and send charcoal in the snow for Your Highness." Imai Munehisa on the side took over the conversation with a smile, "His Royal Highness Momiji is kind-hearted and willing to help the people of Maple Mountain Castle, which is in ruins. But winter is coming, whether it is food, building materials for winter houses, or medicines to prevent plague, Your Highness is afraid that there is a shortage. And the iron, sulfur, and leather needed by His Highness's strong army are also a little insufficient. ”

"Boss Imai is right." Yu Qiuping nodded. The news of these businessmen seems to be really well-informed, and they accurately inquired that Yu Qiuping is now extremely short of building materials and food. And the medicine mentioned by Sojiu Imai, Yu Qiuping didn't think of it before. The people around Maple Mountain City have been hungry for so long, and their health is not very good, and if they really suffer from the harsh winter, there will definitely be many people who will get sick, and if the medicine reserves are not in place, it will be a big trouble to cause epidemics.

"Coincidentally, Boss Tsuda and several other bosses are here to talk to His Highness about these deals." Imai Munehisa continued to maintain the kind smile of a merchant on that somewhat fat face, "Whatever Your Highness wants to buy, we have everything in Sakai Town, please feel free to speak." ”

"That's great." Yu Qiuping was originally looking for an opportunity to send someone to Sakai Town and Ishiyama Town to contact, but he didn't expect the merchants of Sakai Town and Ishiyama Town to take the initiative to come to the door to discuss business, "This is Sena Shiyoshi who is in charge of finance in the Yuqiu family, you can talk to him in detail." ”

"Is it the Sena boss of the Mitsubishi caravan?" Sueyoshi Sunshiro, who was sitting on the side, lit up when he heard this. He was a well-known speculator in Ishiyama Town and the area, and although he was not very old, he was not small, and he often wandered between the daimyo and sat on a book of profits. He was very envious of people like Sena Shiyi who relied on the Yuqiu family to run the caravan.

"Exactly." Sena nodded, "Since you're all going to do business, I don't know where we can start?" ”

"Wait." Hearing this, Imai Zongjiu frowned and waved his hand, "The matter of talking about business may have to be put aside, we came to Maple Mountain City this time, in fact, there is something we want to ask for help from His Royal Highness Momiji." This matter is a matter of life and death for business, so don't dare to slack off! ”

Yu Qiuping smiled slightly and looked at Imai Munehisa noncommittally. The merchants of Sakai and Ishiyama are famous for their RB, and they have always been known for their profit-seeking, so naturally they will not trade at a loss. Yu Qiuping is now so short of food, medicine, building materials, and raw materials for arms manufacturing, these businessmen are willing to come over to trade with Yu Qiuping, which can be regarded as pinching Yu Qiuping's seven inches. Because if Yu Qiuping couldn't buy these things from them, he wouldn't be able to hold on to Maple Mountain City. Without food, the whole army will starve to death. Without building materials and medicines, the lives of the people of Maple Mountain City would not be guaranteed. Without the raw materials needed for armament, Tokiwabi could only wear cloth clothes and hold bamboo spears to fight the enemy.

Therefore, Yuakihei had no choice but to let the merchants of Sakai and Ishiyama put forward conditions.

"His Royal Highness Momiji," Imai Munehisa continued, after seeing that Yu Qiuping had no objection, "The trade routes of our Sakai Town, Ishiyama Town, and the area east of Kyoto have always passed through Iimoriyama Castle. A few days ago, due to the Battle of Kyoto and the attack on Iimoriyama Castle by the Matsunaga family, we did not dare to continue this route for fear of being sacked by the rebels. However, the other trade route had to pass through the mountainous areas of Yamato, and the roads were difficult to navigate, making it difficult for the caravan to move, so we stockpiled a lot of goods that were supposed to be shipped to the eastern country. ”

"Now that His Royal Highness Momiji has shown his might and stabilized the area around Maple Mountain Castle, we want to restart this trade route, and hope that His Highness Momiji can ensure the safety of the trade route. As for the customs duties, Your Highness please rest assured that there will be no loss of His Highness's share. Tsuda Sokazu took over the conversation and put a high hat on Yu Qiuping very respectfully.

"That's nature." Yu Qiuping has no reason to refuse such a proposal, "Please rest assured, bosses." ”

·

After ensuring that there was no need to worry about the business affairs, the burden on the shoulders of these Sakai and Ishiyama merchants was suddenly lifted, and they began to negotiate business with Sena with peace of mind. As soon as they entered this stage, the harmony that the merchants had just dealt with Yu Qiuping immediately disappeared, and all the mouths and swords were swords, and the Sena clan fought for the sake of interests. Yu Qiuping sat on the side and smiled at the masters of Sena and these masters, while he silently sipped the tea.

"This is too expensive, where is the price of pig iron so high?"

"The purity of the iron we have here is high, whether it is made enough or the chamber of the gun, it is not comparable to the defective products that Boss Sena bought in Tsushima before!"

"The same is true for medicinal materials, where can there be such a high price?"

"Now that it's winter, Shikoku has just had an epidemic, and there is a shortage of medicinal materials, so the price is naturally not low."

"Why are these building materials so expensive? Is stone and wood so exaggerated? ”

"Boss Sena, you don't know, building materials are at this price!"

"Then it's a big deal for me to let the people dig stones and cut down trees by themselves, your price is too exaggerated!"

"Don't brag about Boss Sena, there are plains near Maple Mountain Castle, how can there be so many stones and wood? If you want to dig yourself, you can only go to Mt. Kongo, but the road is far away, and those hungry people can't eat enough, so where do you have the strength to go so far to cut down trees and move stones back. Besides, it's such a toss, winter is coming soon, is it too late? Our building materials are all shipped directly to Maple Mountain City! ”

·

After a long negotiation, the price was finally set, and Sena was so tired that his voice was hoarse. Because the Yuqiu family was in a difficult situation, and the merchants of Sakai and Ishiyama had a seller's market and had a dominant position in the negotiations, Sena Yoshishi couldn't bring down the price much with all his efforts, so he had to reluctantly sign those contracts. The contract stipulates that the Yuqiu family pays a 10% deposit first, and then the merchant begins to ship the goods, and pays as much as Yuqiuping comes, until the last batch of goods arrives.

However, Sena knew in his heart that if he really wanted to operate like this, the Mitsubishi caravan would use up all the working capital, and everything would have to start all over again. After signing the contract, he made a suggestion to these bosses: "I don't know if the bosses have enough money." The Mitsubishi caravan has just arrived, and it needs a lot of money to break into the market, can it borrow some capital turnover? "If we can borrow money from these bosses to pay for these high costs of grain, building materials, and raw materials, the Mitsubishi caravan will have the opportunity to free up funds to enter the market and start to expand its scale and profits.

"Haha, Boss Sena laughed." Xiao Nishilongzuo chuckled a few times when he heard this, "Is it the People's Bank that Yuqiu's family set up?" The grass people just said that those banks just let the people save money into it. As merchants, the means of rolling money are much higher than the interest rate. ”

These businessmen are like mirrors in their hearts, and they naturally don't want the Mitsubishi caravan with the official background of the Yuqiu family to enter and rob the market with them, and lend money to the People's Bank of China, they don't even think about it, let alone do it.

"I wonder if you've ever heard of strange goods?" Seeing this, Yu Qiuping also interjected, "The Mitsubishi caravan is not a simple caravan, but has the background of the Yuqiu family. ”

Yu Qiuping's explicit words have actually violated the default rules of negotiation between businessmen. The merchants exchanged glances with each other, and finally Tsuda Zonghe said with some embarrassment: "Your Highness, don't blame, the grass people will say it directly." Our Sakai town is called self-government, but it also has to pay a lot of taxes to the Miyoshi family every year, so it has something to do with the Miyoshi family. His Royal Highness Miyoshi Minoru has the reputation of being a 'money bag' because he has a good relationship with our Sakai Town. After all, Sakai Town is now in the hands of the Miyoshi family, and if we get too close to the Yuqiu family, His Royal Highness Shixiu will not sit idly by, and then we will be in big trouble. ”