sjar Chapter 145: A deal was reached to buy a warhorse
Chapter 145: A deal was reached to buy a warhorse
Lin Dan Khan and Nurhaci were sworn enemies, so naturally they were always paying attention to the situation of the Later Jin Dynasty. Anything that could make the Later Jin Dynasty suffer a setback would be a good thing for Lin Dan Khan.
Lin Danhan had naturally heard about some of Lu Cheng's affairs, which was one of the reasons why Lin Danhan was happy to meet Lu Cheng.
"Of course, I have heard of General Lu's story. General Lu was able to penetrate deep into the enemy camp and cause the Jianzhou Jurchens to suffer a great loss. I admire him very much. I just don't know how this is related to the purpose of General Lu's visit?"
"Great Khan, since Lu was able to go to Hetuala City alone to kill the rebels, he can also go again. Maybe he can save someone?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Danhan immediately sat up straight and said, "General Lu, are you serious? Can you really help me rescue Zaisai?"
Seeing that the other party was anxious, Lu Cheng smiled slightly: "Lin Danhan, I dare not guarantee to save people. If the leader of Zaisai has been killed by Nurhaci, I can't save him."
"General Lu can rest assured that Nurhaci will not kill Zaisai. He wants to use Zaisai to threaten me, or to exchange him for some cattle, sheep and horses. A living Zaisai is more useful to Nurhaci than a dead one.
Moreover, Zaisai was the most powerful leader among the many tribes of Khalkha. If Nurhaci killed Zaisai, he would become the mortal enemy of the entire Khalkha. He would never do that. Moreover, my people also knew that Zaisai was imprisoned there, but they were unable to rescue him.
If General Lu can help us rescue Zaisai, our Mongolian tribes will definitely remember General Lu’s kindness.”
Lu Cheng shook his head and said, "Great Khan, gratitude and favor are all empty words. Although I am confident that I can go to Hetuala City again, it is not easy to rescue people. If you really want me to rescue people, you need the Khan to show some sincerity."
Hearing this, Lin Danhan immediately sat back down and asked, "General Lu, do you want me to pay for it?"
Seeing the other party's reaction, Lu Cheng sneered in his heart. When he heard that he had to pay a price, he wanted to retreat without thinking about his current situation and his prestige.
This Lin Dan Khan was really petty and had no bearing of a leader. No wonder he was chased by Huang Taiji and had to flee.
Of course, Lu Cheng remained calm on the surface: "Great Khan, if we can successfully rescue Zaisai, the Khalkha tribes will definitely support the Khan even more, and the entire northern and southern deserts will belong to the Khan. This deal is very cost-effective."
Seeing that Lin Danhan was still hesitant, Lu Cheng continued, "Great Khan, I don't actually want you to provide me with any money or property. I just want to do a business with you and buy some horses, cattle and sheep at a low price. Moreover, we can also trade with colored glass and soap. How about that?"
"General Lu, are you serious?"
"of course."
"How many horses does General Lu want, and how much are you willing to pay?"
At this point, Lu Cheng has basically taken the initiative.
Whether or not to go ahead and swindle is not the question for now, at least this time the business can bring the price down.
"Three thousand war horses, fifteen taels of silver per horse, how about that?"
Of course, this quantity and price are a bit exaggerated.
If he really bought 3,000 top-quality war horses, Lu Cheng couldn't afford to support them with his current family background. After all, the daily food consumption of a war horse was equivalent to that of three or four adults.
If war horses want to maintain good physical strength and combat effectiveness, they must not only eat grass, but also eat good grains such as soybeans, black beans, wheat, etc.
Moreover, the equipment of a cavalryman is not a small amount of money. Bows and arrows, swords and spears, armor, horse equipment, etc. all cost money.
Moreover, although the horses in Liaodong are cheaper, fifteen taels of silver can only buy some ordinary horses.
A horse that could be used as a war horse would cost at least 25 to 30 taels. As for the better horses, 50 to 60 taels, or even 70 to 80 taels were considered normal.
But when it comes to doing business, you have to ask for a high price and pay the low price.
After hearing what Lu Cheng said, Lin Danhan's expression changed slightly: "General Lu, are you kidding? 3000 war horses is not a small number even for my Chahar tribe. What's more, isn't the price set by General Lu a bit too low?"
"Why is the Khan so anxious? Isn't business all about getting your money back on time? Since you can't come up with 3,000 horses, I wonder how many war horses the Khan can come up with? As long as the quality of the horses is good, the price can be negotiated."
"I will sell you at most 500 horses, and the price is 30 taels."
"Five hundred horses are too few. This general has come all the way here. If he were doing this kind of small business, he wouldn't have to come to the Khan. I believe that he can buy enough horses from those herdsmen. Moreover, this thirty taels is the market price. This general is ready to help the Khan rescue Zaisai, but the Khan is so insincere?"
"At most 28 horses, and the price cannot be less than taels."
"One thousand five hundred horses, the price is twenty taels, how about that?"
"Nine hundred pieces, no more. You have to replace them with exquisite colored glaze..."
After bargaining for half an hour, the two finally agreed on the details of the transaction. One thousand top-quality war horses would be sold to Lu Cheng for 24 taels, and Lu Cheng needed to exchange them with goods of equal value.
Two-thirds of it was used to exchange for glass and soap, and the rest was used to exchange for silk, tea, salt and other items.
Lu Cheng pretended to be reluctant and agreed to the deal, which made Lin Danhan very happy.
In fact, colored glass and soap are produced by Lu Cheng himself. The raw material of glass is sand, which is not worth much. Although the raw material of soap is valuable, the price is not low. Especially the flower soap, the profit is dozens of times. In comparison, the cost is not worth much.
Although silk and tea had to be purchased from southern merchants, the prices of these two items were different in Haizhou Wei and on the grassland. Lu Cheng sold them to Ligdan Khan according to the price on the grassland and made a profit from the difference.
As for salt, Lu Cheng quietly built a salt drying field in the coastal area a few months ago. Currently, the salt used in Haizhouwei is all self-produced.
However, the private salt business is also a very profitable one, and in the future it can be sold to tribes on the grassland, or even to the Jiannu.
Fighting a war does not prevent you from making money. You can earn money from the Later Jin, train soldiers to fight the Later Jin, and then rob the Later Jin of its money. This is also a virtuous cycle.
After the horse sale was settled, Lu Cheng talked with Lin Danhan about the cattle, sheep and fur trade.
If Lu Cheng's soap workshop wants to further expand production, sheep oil is also a very good raw material.
After the deal was done, Lin Danhan was very happy and gave Lu Cheng a fine war horse.
I have to say that there are indeed many good horses on this grassland. The war horse given by Lin Danhan is much better than the one that Lu Cheng bought for 150 taels of silver.
After the deal was concluded, Lin Danhan first selected 300 war horses from the Chahar tribe as the first batch of goods for Lu Cheng to take away. Of course, Lu Cheng also took out a batch of soap and glass and gave them to the other party.
As for the subsequent war horses, Lindan Khan needed to draw them from other subordinate tribes.
The two parties agreed to transport the goods they traded to the border between Liaodong and the grassland.
After the discussion, Lu Cheng asked Ding Xiu to immediately take 300 cavalrymen and escort 300 war horses back to Haizhou Wei.
Only after this batch of war horses are all transported to Haizhou Wei, the cavalry under Lu Cheng can be considered as truly standard-configuration cavalry.
In fact, the cavalry under Lu Cheng's command before could only be considered low-end cavalry, and could only rely on the advantage of numbers to fight against the enemy's cavalry.
A truly standard cavalryman usually rides two horses, one horse is used to carry military supplies, and the other horse is used to carry people.
If it is some heavy cavalry, there will be a situation where one person has three horses.
Before Lu Cheng, the cavalry configuration was at most two people and three horses. Only scouts and special operations teams could enjoy the configuration of one person and two horses during combat.
Now with these one thousand war horses, Lu Cheng can basically form a cavalry team of one thousand people, and all of them will have two horses per person.
After letting Ding Xiu return, Lu Cheng had initially achieved the purpose of this trip.
However, Lu Cheng did not return to Liaodong, but continued to head northeast with more than 200 other cavalrymen.
It is obvious that Lin Danhan is unreliable, so Lu Cheng plans to find a few more grassland tribes to discuss business.
Lu Cheng’s next target is the Khalkha tribe.
If the Khalkha tribe is also willing to show enough sincerity, Lu Cheng will definitely be willing to take his special forces team to rescue their Zaisai.