"Your three horses, let's talk about the red horse first. That's a good horse, generally speaking, this kind of horse can't get to our horse market. Didn't you see it, there was a hiss, and the audience was shocked. Don't you hear? That's the dragon's groan. You say how much you can sell, how much is considered high, there is no price. But aren't there many priceless good things in this world that are bought with money? ”

"Yes, that's a good point, old man." Zhang Zhimu stroked his palm and said.

"To have such a horse, it has to be fate. You have a shallow relationship with that horse, and today you have to separate, is your fate over? It's not enough to have fate, and it's not okay if you have shallow blessings. The blessings are shallow, and he will bring you calamity. ”

"Why?" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"Look, great mortal treasure, who in the world does not care, especially those who are dignitaries. The one who is blessed with your little fortune can afford to provoke you, and people take advantage of you, doesn't it bring you disaster? The old man said. Hearing this, Zhang Zhimu nodded straight.

"So when your luck is not good, it is right to let go. If you want to say that you sold this horse at a loss? Nor is it a loss. How to say it. If you say it's a loss, it's a loss if you give you some money; Say it's not a loss, it's not a loss. Because of whose hands this horse is, if you hadn't met Li Mao today, you would never have been able to sell it at this price, and you would have sold it more expensive than those horses on the market. You say, don't you? The old man asked.

"What the old man said is, thank you for the old man's explanation." Zhang Zhimu said sincerely.

"You can sell your two horses, Li Mao has taken a fancy to the jujube red horse, and the price for you is not bad. Now it is good to sell horses with good cultivated land for forty-five taels, and you can buy thirty-five taels for worse. Your two horses are also great mounts. I don't know what Li Mao's eyesight is. If those two horses fall into my hands, they can be sold for the price of the jujube red horse as soon as they are sold. The green horse is 'flying on the grass', and the white horse is 'floating on the snow'. With a light in his eyes, the old man took another sip of wine and said, "Little old man is not blessed!" If the family is undefeated, alas, ......".

I found out later. This Yan Boju's family background is indissoluble with horses. The ancestor was in charge of horses in the Ming army, and the status of horses in the army at that time was very great. Because of his meritorious service in the army and some rewards, he returned to his hometown. In this way, the children and grandchildren will also specialize in the horse business. In Yan Boju's life, the world was not peaceful, and business was not easy to do. However, a batch of horses sold by his family to the south were robbed by Li Zicheng's army. Originally, it was a partnership of several businesses. When the old house in the city is sold, the house will be empty. But the arrogant Yan Boju couldn't lower his head, and the more miserable he became.

"The white horse is indeed good, I am not very good at riding, but the horse is very obedient and very smooth to ride." Zhang Zhimu said.

"What's that, good horse and human nature, you don't have to talk to know what you want, that's the minimum. A good horse should travel eight hundred times a day, knowing the way, and being the Savior. ”

The old man waved his hand and said.

"Eight hundred in a day, I know, know the Savior, how to speak."

"Knowing the way is that the horse is separated from the master thousands of miles away, and he can go home; The Savior knows where danger is, and when there is danger, he can help his master get out of danger. ”

"That's amazing!" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"God? Hum! That jujube red horse can. Those two good **** are about the same. The old man's devotion to the horse moved Zhang Zhimu very much. It seems that horses are already a part of the old man's life.

"That Li Mao Li Gongzi, is he good at the horse business?" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"It's all done by horses, but when he meets a good horse, he dares to make a move, he has good eyesight and a thick family background, and the horses he buys are all sent to the south. Li Mao and Li Gongzi are a character, the soft is not afraid of the hard. Whether it is the government or the people in the green forest, they all give him three points of face. ”

"Since you call the little old man an old man, then I will call you a good nephew." The wine is good, and the two get closer and closer the more they drink.

"Virtuous nephew, Li Gongzi should be optimistic, it's right to be friends with him." The old man came closer and said, "I tell you this, because you are a gentleman. You saw that I was ready to sell to the man for seven thousand, but you gave me eight thousand. A thousand more is not a big deal, but for a man like me is a big number. ”

"Uncle, we have fate, let's not talk about this." Zhang Zhimu said.

"You are lucky today, not only did you meet Li Mao. You haven't met the government today, so you have saved your taxes and troubles. ”

"Still have to pay taxes? Still in trouble? ”

"Usually a good one, one or two taels per horse, and a bad one looks good, so you have to give ten taels. Otherwise, if you don't know where you came from, you will confiscate it, and you will put people in prison, and you will shed your skin if you don't die. Horses that enter here are taxed. Mounts are generally bolted to the outside. Early in the morning, you brought in the horse and said that it would not be sold, isn't it ridiculous? The old man said with a smile. Zhang Zhimu smiled, "It's really ugly, I don't know yet!" ”

"The horses that come in here have a stamp on their buttocks after paying taxes. Don't you see that my cattle are all stamped? As long as you don't drop it, it counts when you come. The rain washed it away, sorry, re-taxed. ”

"Then why didn't Li Mao kill Hukou and buy horses, and go directly to the south, isn't it more profitable?"

"That's a long story."

"Drink." Zhang Zhimu and the old man both picked up and took a sip.

"Look at you like a scholar, now there are many thieves everywhere, the big ones are Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, and the small ones are seventy-two. The Ming Dynasty is getting worse and worse, and this tea and horse business allows private trade, and it can't be controlled. In the early years, it was not possible, even the emperor's relatives and relatives were killed by selling tea and horses. Now the big ones are still government-run, and there are thirteen government-run horse markets in Hukou in the Tea and Horse Division. Outside the mouth, Tartar eats meat and drinks milk, and it can't do without tea. Our Ming official family is in charge of tea, and how much money is how much it is. A high-quality horse in the official market can only be exchanged for 120 catties of tea, a medium-class horse is 70 catties, and a low-class horse is 30 or 40 catties. A good horse and silver are only a dozen cars, and they are sold to the people for trade. Our Ming Dynasty, as soon as this tea horse is one, the silver will be earned in the sea. The Ming army was full of high-quality horses, but it was not good to fight. Ha ha! The old man shook his head and took another sip of wine.

"But in this way, this horse is not for anyone to sell, there must be an official horse to guide it. This horse lead is big, not if you have money, you can have a horse lead, you must have talents. ”

"A family of officials and businessmen?" Zhang Zhimu.

"Clever, boy." After drinking this wine, the virtuous nephew has become a brat.

"From killing the tiger's mouth to Xiurong, the exclusive person does it. To be a person in this life, there must be someone in the official family, and there must be someone in the green forest. Otherwise, no goods will dare to be shipped. ”

"There are so many thieves, don't the officials and soldiers suppress them?" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"Suppress, when the official army comes, the thieves will leave. The officers and soldiers are gone, and the thieves are coming again. It's just going around in circles. The court was in a hurry, so they arrested a few people and cut off their heads to receive rewards. ”

Zhang Zhimu's throat was a little blocked and he didn't speak.

"So, if a businessman can do a good business, he is a capable person. Also, there is no reason why there is a person who earns the silver in the world. The world's buying and selling belongs to the people of the world. ”

"Gao Jian, listening to the old man's words, it's really insightful." Zhang Zhimu complimented.

"You, it's a good time to sell horses." Listening to Zhang Zhimu's compliment, the old man was very happy.

"Why?"

"Why, you see, now that the grass is green, and the cattle are well fed, the animals will start working. It's all when you buy livestock. Livestock are cheap in autumn, because in winter, livestock spend a winter, need a lot of fodder, and there is no work to do, so those who buy horses generally wait until the beginning of spring to buy. Horse sellers are not willing to keep their horses in their hands in winter. You say feed with good feed, how much does it cost, don't feed with good feed, the horse loses fat, how to sell it in spring? An animal costs a lot of money, but it is better to hold the silver in your hands. ”

"How much difference can the price of horses be in the spring and autumn?"

"A horse, five to ten taels; A cow can be as bad as two or two. Others, as long as they eat grass, they are worse. Listening to the old man's words, he thought to himself, "I have another business to do." ”

Zhang Zhimu, who drank a meal, was very happy, he had some understanding of the society at that time, and he got to know Yan Boju, a cute little old man. Intuitively, Zhang Zhimu felt that he would definitely be used in the future.

When they parted in front of the tavern, Yan Boju took Zhang Zhimu's hand and said, "I, I've been looking at you for a long time, and I've been complimenting Xiao Lao'er, asking questions and asking questions, I think you are definitely not an ordinary person." In the future, before entering the horse market, you will inform the little old man first, and you will never suffer. As long as I don't die and can move, I can be found here in the horse market. ”

"Uncle, look at your spiritual head, you will definitely be able to live a long life. The mountain is high and the road is long, we will come to the long time, you take care! Zhang Zhimu said.

Bidding farewell to "Cybernaut" Yan Boju, Zhang Zhimu drove the ox cart into the city. There are two hundred taels of silver at the bottom, and my heart is much more steady.

I first went to buy four zhang small orchid cloth, two catties of stove sugar, and one gourd and four catties of soju.

I first bought four large noodle pockets and three large baskets. I came to the rice shop again, bought three buckets of rice bran, three buckets of sorghum bran, and three buckets of cornmeal in flour bags, and put two buckets of budding rice grains, two buckets of soybeans, and two buckets of sorghum in baskets, and bought fifty catties of bean cakes. The value of the rice shop owner's happiness was turned, and he nodded again and again, there are few such big deals in these years. After putting the things flat and tied up on the cart, Zhang Zhimu led the ox cart to walk slowly around the market to see how the market in the Ming Dynasty was different from the previous life. In fact, except that people's clothes are more torn and people are more realistic, there is not much difference. Are they all selling things?

When I came to a chicken seller, I saw that there were twelve hens and three large roosters. 500 Wen.

Zhang Zhimu gave 450 wen and bought it together with the bamboo cage for the chickens. Let the chicken seller help tie it to the car, the chicken seller was so happy that his hands trembled, but he didn't expect that they had all been sold, and they were sold at such a high price. Seeing the chicken seller next to him, when Zhang Zhimu went over to look, the chicken seller was nervous and speechless, because she saw that he had wrapped all those big chickens, and she didn't know if good luck could come to her. The chick in the cage is not much bigger than a fist, has hard wings, and can just see the male and female. And when they were counted, they said, "Thou hast thirty-five females and five males." How much does it cost to buy it all. ”

"All-inclusive, nine hundred dollars." The woman gritted her teeth and said.

"Okay, even the cage will be carried up and tied up by me." Zhang Zhimu thought about whether Huang Yukun was also buying eggs here, and he didn't make a counteroffer.

"Ahh Good. The woman was so happy that she almost didn't jump.

I haven't moved the place yet. A man came over with a big cage in his hand and said, "Childe, look at it, these little pigs are so energetic, you can take them if they are not expensive, just give 160 yuan." ”

Zhang Zhimu looked at the little pig and was very energetic, and there was nothing wrong with it. But he looked at the car and said, "No, there's no place in the car, I can't put it down." ”

"You can put it down." Saying that, I forced out the place in the car, and the pig cage was tied. Zhang Zhimu smiled and gave him one hundred and twenty yuan, and the man bowed and ran away happily. Zhang Zhimu looked at it, and left quickly. When he had just turned around with the ox in his hand, a man led the sheep and stopped the way, saying, "Childe, stay." Look at my sheep, just give some money, the family needs it urgently. ”

"Look, it's ...... in this car," Zhang Zhimu pointed to the car.

"No, this sheep can go with the car, and you don't need to get into the car." So saying, he tied the four sheep to the back of the ox cart.

Zhang Zhimu smiled bitterly. He said, "You haven't said how much this sheep is, why is it tied up?" ”

"I think Childe is a gentleman, and he will definitely help me. Of the four sheep, one male, two large ewes, and one young ewe. You give 500 wen. ”

"Hehe, if I don't buy your sheep, I'm not a gentleman?" Zhang Zhimu said with a smile.

"No, no, don't blame Childe. My family is really in dire need of money. Childe is complete. You can give as much money as you want. Saying that, the man in his thirties sweated down, and tears rolled in his eyes. Zhang Zhimu knew that it was not easy to sell the sheep soon. I saw that the ram with horns was very tall and strong, with black and white flowers, distributed all over the body, and the three ewes were all snow-white. Rams and ewes are not in the same litter, and there is no obvious difference between inbreeding. And said, "Okay! Look at your urgency, people have times when they are in trouble. I will fulfill you. As he spoke, he handed over five hundred dollars.

Zhang Zhimu didn't dare to stay any longer, and led the cow straight to the city gate, but he didn't forget to buy four catties of meat buns on the way. I was happy, let's make some emotional investment first, and when I met the old man, I handed over more than 20 yuan: "Drink a bowl of hot noodles!" The walnut-like face of the old gate army bloomed happily: "Son, let's go." ”

When he went out of the city gate, he saw that the sheep were tied very strongly, and then he got into the cart, drove the oxen, and walked north.

Because the road is not very good, this wooden wheel is bumpy. I thought that it must be improved, to spring shock absorption, and to have a suspension system, and to change to a four-wheeled vehicle, the four-wheeled vehicle livestock do not have to bear the pressure, just forward traction. The cart no longer fluctuates with the stride of the animals, and the sitting is much smoother.