Chapter 6: Council of Elders

The transaction was busy up and down the wall, a cart of grain, wine, fur and dried meat in exchange for salt could fill more than a dozen carts of goods, all kinds of people on the wall were smiling, and a cadre of guards and archers under the wall were busy loading goods on the side of the wall.

The wall was busy all day, but he didn't notice that the sunset had secretly appeared in the western sky.

Shang Wu saw that it was getting late, and everyone on the wall was very happy because of the trade, so it was better to discuss with the old man if he could rest in the village for one night before setting off.

"It's getting late, and it seems that our caravan is going to camp in the wilderness again, can the old man ask you for a place to stay overnight before leaving?" Shang Wu looked up at the old man and said.

The old man had a smile on his face, and he was very happy to hear Shang Wu's words, and he wanted to agree while he was happy, but as soon as his mouth opened, he remembered the matter of slaughtering the tribe that he began to talk to Shang Wu, so it was convenient for everyone around him to discuss, and after a while, he made a decision and said:

"For the sake of you being a businessman, and everyone is happy to have changed so much salt today, seeing that you are really half cheaper than others and give us such white salt, we all taste very pure and salty."

"Then I'll thank you on behalf of the caravan." Shang Wu smiled happily and finished speaking, turned around and asked the archers around him to send a message to Wu Ya and them, asking them to hurry over the rear team and go to this village to sleep comfortably together.

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When all the caravans entered the village, it was already dark, and in the center of the village, the old man lit a bonfire with the main characters in the village, and put on sumptuous wine and food to entertain the caravan.

[In the house arranged for Shang Wu in the village]

"The nobles in this village are going to feast us at night, what are you going to arrange?" Shang Wu asked Wu Ya as he drank tea.

"The people who stay on duty, the others naturally go to drink and eat meat together, right, Lulu girl." Wu Ya said to Lu Lu as she ate the fruit.

"That's it, just taste what is delicious in this village, and tell Xiaoyu when the time comes, let him make it for us to eat." Eating, drinking, and having fun is naturally a joy to be fed by the road, and it is natural to strive to be able to go.

"Since the head of our caravan, Lord Wu Ya, has been arranged, then I don't have to go, I haven't rested well during the day and at night during this time, and I'm tired enough, just take this opportunity so I can have a good rest." Shang Wu said in a mocking tone.

"That's not good, now that the village has decided that you are the master, you can go to entertain them on behalf of the master, just eat and drink well, right" Wu Ya said with a smile.

"Great."

"Yes."

Tian Luo and Lu Lu responded.

"No, you're the master, how can you do this, isn't that a lie to them." Shang Wu looked for a way to shirk from the head.

"Anyway, you are the biggest businessman in the caravan, and you are not a deception, you are talking crookedly like this, so how about I bring you some fierce material at night." The corners of Wu Ya's mouth hooked up with a smile, and her eyes said affectionately.

"Don't, don't, don't, I'll just go, and please raise your noble hand at night, don't play with that, I can't stand playing like this." Shang Wu thought that Wu Ya teased himself from time to time at night, and he was startled with goosebumps.

In a short time, most of the caravans, except for the guards and archers who stayed behind, were seated at the banquet in the stockade.

"Welcome the merchant caravan to our tribe today, and give us so much cheap salt, enough for us to eat for a long time, come to me on behalf of our tribe to respect the caravan everyone." As he spoke, the old man got up and picked up the sea bowl in front of him and saluted everyone.

Everyone at the table also got up one after another, picked up the sea bowl in front of them, and responded to the old man

"Where does the old man say, our caravan is to do business, fair trade is our duty, if it weren't for the old man and the nobles of the village to stay with us, our caravan would only be able to eat and drink and camp outside, I and the caravan together to toast the old man with a glass" said Shang Wu and the old man and the banquet everyone drank the first bowl of wine.

Next, everyone in the banquet was staggered, and the wine and meat were in their stomachs, so they were not happy.

After a round of drinking with the old man, Shang Wu had a general understanding of the tribe in this village:

This tribe is a council of elders, there is no leader, and the highest authority in the tribe is the Great Elder, and the old man is the Great Elder.

Tribal affairs can only take effect after the elders have discussed them, so whether the caravan can enter the village or not is not up to the elders, and the decision is made after the elders deliberate.

There are also people in various positions below the Council of Elders to carry out the decisions of the Council of Elders, and the elders and people in various positions are the nobles in the tribe and enjoy the best things in the tribe, while others who do not have these nobles in their homes are the commoners in the tribe, and they can be disposed of by the nobles at will.

And the material exchanged this time is that the nobles are exploited from the common people, and after a while, they will talk about the salt exchanged with Shang Wu and sell it to the commoners at several times the price to make a huge profit.

These are all the truths of these nobles after drinking, even if someone says that these other nobles have not changed, thinking that it is customary for them to do this in the tribe, and they do not feel that there is anything wrong with it.

Shang Wu didn't think much about it, anyway, he stayed overnight and left tomorrow to leave, and he didn't bother to care about the pickled things here, but this elder council system is a little interesting, some like the clan elders meeting that they hold from time to time, but this clan elder meeting is not very formal, and they make their own decisions about what to do, and the whole meeting is just convincing these clan elders to accept their decisions and arrangements.

But if the merchant wants to go down, the clan elder council may be able to refer to some things from this council of elders, which may have a significant impact on the family.

Shang Wu felt that it was not the time to think about the things in the clan, so he wrote down this matter first, and when he had time to think about it, he dealt with this banquet first, so that he could rest early.

Shang Wu looked at Wu Ya and Lu Lu around him eating very happily, and some people toasted and did not refuse to drink, and there were several empty wine jars around no one, and their cheeks were already rose-colored.

Shang Wu was trying to persuade the two to drink less wine, but before he could open his mouth, he felt something strange around him, so he swept away like everyone on the table, and many nobles on the banquet pulled the people of the caravan to drink the whole wine, some of them were already drunk unconscious, and some nobles who did not get up looked back and forth on Wu Ya and Lu Lu's bodies, and the corners of their mouths were hooked, and they were commenting on something with the people around them from time to time. There are also some nobles who squint slightly and drink slow wine alone, thinking about what to wait for, and what to think about again.

In this situation, Shang Wu felt a little bad, but he couldn't say that there was a problem, and Shang Wu frowned and pondered for a while.