Although Zhang Rui talked about the logistics work in great detail, Li Si still felt a little disappointed when he left. Fortunately, he was also a member of the bandit suppression team. Li Si was not very optimistic about the logistics work Zhang Rui mentioned. When it comes to cooking, dressing wounds and other tasks, it is understandable.
"Just talking to them about the various tragic stories I saw in various places can be more effective than killing bandits myself? What kind of thing is this?" Li Si recalled what Zhang Rui said to him and shook his head.
"Forget it. Anyway, I can go up and kill the bandits when the time comes."
Li Si was sent by Zhang Rui to do his work amid various doubts. Go to Li's Mansion and pick up about three stones of rice that Zhang Rui has temporarily stored there.
Zhang Rui returned home and took all the hidden banknotes with him, and took out 5 of the 15 and 20 taels of silver ingots from under the urinal and put them into a broken silver bag. At this time, Zhang Rui was carrying 500 taels of silver notes, 100 taels of silver ingots, about 70 taels of broken silver, and three or more copper plates.
When Zhang Rui was about to leave the village, Li Niushi caught up with him excitedly. Li Niushi told Zhang Rui that his family members agreed that he would follow Zhang Rui. It is said that children and grandchildren will have their own blessings, and everything is fate.
So Zhang Rui asked Li Niushi to go to town with him, and there were people to talk and laugh with along the way.
Zhang Rui said he had no idea about this place called Longtou Town. Zhang Liu didn't have much information in his memory. Villagers in this era generally didn't go far, and most of them just traveled between markets.
In the Qing Dynasty, the lowest level was the county. Below the county were villages, which were generally not called towns. This was not a town, but rather a distribution point for several nearby villages and markets. It was neither a village nor a county. According to what they called it, it was a market. Zhang Rui can only call it a town in the modern sense, but still calls it a market when speaking the local language.
There are many more people in the town than in Datong Village. Generally, it takes nearly a thousand people to become a market. A market fair is similar to a village, but much larger than a village. Generally, when setting up street stalls at a market fair, someone from the government will come to collect taxes. This tax is directly divided by the county government and will not be handed over to the court.
Today is not Long Tau Market (market day), so there are not many people visiting.
Zhang Rui and Li Niushi arrived at Longtou Town after walking for about half an hour. If it were not a market day, there would not be many street stalls and the business on the streets in the town would not be very prosperous.
The first thing Zhang Rui did when he arrived in the town was to find the only blacksmith shop in the town - Li's Blacksmith Shop. After all, if you have to fight bandits, you can't do anything without weapons.
When Zhang Rui and Li Niushi walked into the shop, Li Laibao, the owner of Li's Blacksmith Shop, was blacksmithing with three apprentices.
"Brother, what do you want to buy?" Li Laibao greeted Zhang Rui and Li Niushi when he saw them coming in.
"Boss, are these the only things you have here?" Zhang Rui asked, looking at the ironware hanging in the store.
The store only contained some farm equipment, as well as some kitchen knives and woodchopping knives, but no weapons at all.
When Li Laibao heard this, he seemed to understand something. It seemed that there was a business.
"Brother, sit inside." With that, Li Laibao guided Zhang Rui and Li Niushi into the inner room, then turned around and told the three apprentices to continue working.
Zhang Rui took Li Niushi through the bellows and blacksmithing table at the front of the store and entered the inner room. There is an Eight Immortals table in the inner room, with several tea sets on the table. There is enough lighting and the room is relatively spacious and bright.
"Please sit down, little brother, let's drink tea." With that, Li Laibao poured some tea for Zhang Rui and Li Niushi. "I don't know what I want to buy, how much does it cost?"
"Boss, you are a real person. Since you get straight to the point, I won't go around with you. Do you have any long guns? I'm going to buy some." Zhang Rui said looking at the enthusiastic Li Laibao. It seems that he is doing this side business. Quite a few.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, you can tell that his is the only blacksmith shop nearby. But just selling ordinary iron tools and repairing farm equipment, where would he have enough money to support his family and a few apprentices? So taking the wrong path is essential.
There are a lot of bandit dens nearby. Don't the bandits have to come to him to buy any weapons they lack? This is the way to make money quickly. As long as the people in the yamen are well managed, there will be no problem let alone selling some knives to bandits or even selling armor openly.
"Yes, yes, I wonder how many do you want?" Li Laibao said even more enthusiastically after hearing what Zhang Rui wanted to buy.
"How many? Are there no more?" This is far different from the number in Zhang Rui's mind. Anyone who travels through time knows that the spear array is a powerful weapon against ordinary bandits, so a few spears are far from enough.
After hearing Zhang Rui's words, Li Laibao felt happy. You must know that bandits all like steel knives. People without some martial arts skills will not buy this spear, so sales have not been very good. There are still a backlog of about ten pieces in the warehouse. A few days ago, Li Laibao was considering whether to melt them and make them into knives. It seems that they will be marketable this time.
"There are about sixteen more. I don't know how many I want. If I want more, I'll have to make more."
"At least thirty or more!" Zhang Rui thought for a while and said.
"So, we have to build it again. When is the latest time to get the goods?" Li Laibao asked Zhang Rui
"As soon as possible, it's best to arrive before dark tomorrow."
"It's a bit difficult to get out more than ten pieces in one day." Li Laibao said with some embarrassment: "Brother, do you want a steel knife? This one is definitely easy to use, and it is much easier to carry."
"What's the price of a steel knife? What's the price of a spear?" Zhang Rui said looking at Li Laibao who stood up again to pour tea for Zhang Rui. Li Niushi looked at Zhang Rui who was chatting with Li Laibao and couldn't help but admire him. I estimate that even with a few more years of experience, I might not be so bold.
"If you buy steel knives individually, they cost 3 liang a piece. If you buy three or more, you can get a discount. 2 liang a piece will be given to you. As for the long gun, it costs 2 liang a piece, but I think I bought a lot. Give it to you two or two!" Li Laibao told Zhang Rui the price one by one.
"I wonder if I want any other weapons? I can also customize some special weapons here. Even the price will be relatively expensive."
"Then do you have a bow here?" Zhang Rui asked as if something suddenly occurred to him.
Bow, this is a key prohibited weapon, as well as crossbows and armor.
"There are two bows and arrows, but you also know that bows are difficult to make. But the imperial court prohibits them. So the price will be much higher."
"How powerful is your bow?"
"It's easy to say, it's a seven-double bow commonly used in the army!" Li Laibao knew as soon as he heard that he was not someone who could be easily deceived, so he answered honestly.
"How much silver does the bow cost? Is it worthy of the arrows?"
"Bows are eleven taels a piece, and arrows are difficult to make, so each arrow costs three taels of silver. I have about thirty arrows here. If you finish them, I will give you eight taels and five cents." Listening to Zhang. Rui asked eagerly, and Li Laibao answered excitedly. He is indeed a big customer, although I don't understand why he is still wearing such tattered clothes.
"Do you have any other weapons?" Zhang Rui continued to ask
"There's nothing special, just some shields left. Do you need them, brother?" Li Laibao thought for a moment and said.
"Approximately how old is it?"
"It's about the same size as an ordinary water tank mouth. It's made of wood and made of special leather. It's definitely resistant to cuts and arrows."
"How much do you have and what's the price?"
"Well, it depends on how many things I want to buy. There are still twelve in the warehouse. If you buy more, I will give you a discount price, one or two yuan each."
After listening to Li Laibao's introduction one by one, Zhang Rui said to him: "Boss, get ready to count them one by one."
"I want ten steel knives, all the shields, all the bows and arrows, all the spears. You have all these ready, I want them now. And you can give me at least fourteen more in the next two days. Here comes the spear, I will come and get it when the time comes.”
"Count the money!"
"Okay, okay." Li Laibao agreed from ear to ear.
