Old Nie spread out his hands.
"There is definitely no written contract, so don't dream about it.
I estimate that 80% of the time you will make an alliance with the Chanyu by swearing to heaven or blood.
Then, the covenant between you will be spread word of mouth among the Huns, and reach the ears of every household and person in the headquarters, left and right tribes. "
"Ah?" Liu Jing was completely dumbfounded and stunned.
"Then how do you usually do business? Do you have any account books between you and the Dalan family?
Is it possible that it all depends on memory? "
"There are no account books, and even if they were there, the Huns couldn't remember them clearly. They couldn't count anything above 'ten thousand'.
So I never give them credit, I always pay them in cash.
Whenever a loan is made on credit, it will be forgotten within two months. "
Lao Nie chuckled, his little eyes shining with a shrewd and cunning light.
"Then...then what if Maodun disappears one day and the prince refuses to recognize the contract between the two countries?"
"You don't have to worry about this. Mao Dun is full of energy. No matter how big or small, he does everything personally and stays up all night every day to deal with the affairs. He is in good health.
Prince Ji Zhou, on the other hand, was gentle, cowardly, taciturn, and his personality was more like that of his mother, Dalan. "
Okay, at worst, I'll come here a few more times and make everyone familiar with the Huns, so that they can cope with all changes by staying the same, Liu Jing thought to himself.
Even if the two countries fight in the future, there will always be a truce. Since he went deep into the grassland, he discovered how unrealistic the idea of the court's idea of wiping out the Huns was.
The vast grassland is almost as vast as the Han Dynasty. From the moment we stepped out of Yanmen Pass, our eyes were filled with the same green color.
If a stranger breaks in rashly, in this vast blue and green, it will be impossible to distinguish the east, west, north, and south, and there will be no way out.
If it were as Fan Kuai thought, and he was allowed to lead a hundred thousand troops who had never set foot in the north to fight over, he would probably be wiped out in the wilderness if they couldn't survive even two days.
***
Liu Jing hurried to see Shan Yu, stuffed a few mouthfuls of milk tofu and dried mutton, then hurriedly took out a carefully selected thank you gift and said goodbye to the big family.
Rao and his wife were from the Lan family of the three major surnames and were one of the twenty-four chiefs. However, they had never set foot in the real Middle-earth area, so they were immediately deeply shocked by the treasures from the Qin Palace that he presented.
Mrs. Danghu held up two short goose-footed lanterns, one on the left and one on the right, and placed them squarely on both sides of the wolfskin rug where Dangdang usually sat. She was so happy that she couldn't put it down.
"Okay, it seems that the palace items I brought this time are enough even if they are given to Shanyu."
Liu Jing smiled at her reaction and finally relaxed a little.
Ainen flicked the blade of the golden dagger with his middle finger, only to hear a rustling sound, and then swung it a few times out of the air. The lingering sound of the metal vibration was mixed with the sound of rustling through the air.
"Okay! It is indeed a rare dagger!
Unexpectedly, the Han people could also make good weapons. "
He praised it in Hun language, then asked his wife to find a small piece of sheepskin, wrapped the dagger tightly with great care, and tied it tightly to his belt.
"Not only are the Han people good at making weapons, but the men from the Central Plains can also scare people when they play with swords."
Liu Jing added carefully. Ainen raised her eyebrows and glanced at him while tying her belt.
"Then let's meet Shan Yu in the royal court."
After the group got on their horses, Old Nie bowed his head and said to Ainen.
Ainen grinned, showing his white teeth, and murmured a few words, then jumped on his horse, led a group of equally strong young attendants, and disappeared into the distant horizon on horseback.
"what did he say?"
"Ainen said, this batch of goods is better than any before.
When we meet the Dalan family, we are asked to raise the price. His mother has plenty of money and can afford it, hahaha. "
Liu Jing couldn't help but smile. He once again deeply agreed with the queen's words. The Huns also had flesh and blood, love and hate. They were not beasts, they were also people with weaknesses.
"There is no need for the lion to open his mouth. It would be a great thing if he could change his horse and go back."
Liu Jing said to Lao Nie, grabbed the horse's belly and jumped out.
***
He urged Lao Nie, braved the sudden cold after the strong wind, and continued northward day and night. He walked for another two or three days, but he saw more and more felt tents along the way, and the decorations outside the tents became more and more luxurious.
It was probably almost time to reach the Huns' royal court. Liu Jing turned around and half-jokingly asked Lao Nie,
"Should we all be blindfolded? What if we remember the way?"
Old Nie was so happy,
"I asked you to draw a map immediately, but you couldn't draw it.
There's no need to make things up and down, Dalan is also a sensible person. "
Yes, this is another kind of confident arrogance. To put it bluntly, they believe that they are the invincible masters on this prairie.
Old Nie pointed forward with his riding crop.
"Did you see that big mountain in front of you? That's Langjuxu Mountain.
The Shanyu Royal Court and all the Yan clans are currently at the foot of Langjuxu Mountain, which is where the summer pasture of the Xiongnu headquarters is located.
***
It's midsummer, but Handan is still much cooler than Luoyang City, and the cool breeze blows in the evening, which is refreshing.
Lu Shizhi, who was married to the State of Zhao, had nothing to do and concentrated on recuperating. Apart from visiting Lu Yuan who lived in the palace city, and then going to the Prime Minister's Mansion to see Zhang Cang who was distressed by the scheme, he wandered around the city all day long.
Handan City is large and densely populated. The northern half is the palace city, government offices and the residential area of the nobles, while the southern half is dotted with commercial areas, residential areas and handicraft workshops.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, permanent merchants operating stalls in commercial districts, that is, official markets, were usually called "Jia" and needed to be registered as "city residents", while other itinerant vendors and speculators were called "Shang".
In addition, talented border merchants like Nie San usually call themselves merchants.
The city registration is Jia's household registration, and the special status and mobility of Jia people are destined to be different from other people who have registered households.
During the Warring States Period and the Qin Dynasty, various business suppression systems based on the city registration system were introduced, which completely separated the Jia people's city registration from ordinary household registration. The status of those with city registration continued to decline, and they were even included in the low-level registration.
However, there are policies from above and countermeasures from below.
Although everyone engaged in business activities in the city must register as a city citizen, it is obvious that very few of the wealthy businessmen in Zhao are city residents.
Moreover, Lu Shizhi also noticed that although the court stipulated that "Jia people are not allowed to wear silk clothes to ride in cars", the big traders walking in the Handan market were no less dressed than the princes and nobles, and they were all covered in silk and satin.
"Is your current market rent still two out of a hundred?"
Lu Shizhi asked casually.
Registration, tax also. Having city registration means that merchants need to pay city rent to the government.
It was rare that the Queen's brother Jianchou actually liked to stroll in the market. The chief of the Handan Pavilion and the mayor who managed the market followed closely to accompany him shopping.
Seeing him asking questions, he nodded hastily in agreement.
"That's right, the market rent is still 120."
Zhao's traditional culture is profit-oriented and business-oriented, coupled with the government's consistent policy attitude of liberalizing business and not suppressing business, the market is packed with people, shoulder to shoulder.
Lu Shizhi looked at the peaceful scene of busy traffic, as if the ten years of war and turmoil in the late Qin Dynasty had not affected this place, and secretly made a plan in his heart.
"We need to find Zhang Cang in two days to figure out how much it will benefit the people if we reduce the city rent to one hundred and one across the country."
