"No problem." Teng Qing Shan replied.
Teng Yunlong reminded them, "You should prepare more wild beast furs. When the time comes, use them to wrap up the Bihanci dagger. Hunters going into the city to sell animal hides shouldnt attract the attention of bandits." Teng Yunlong attached great importance to this transaction, after all, it involved a large amount of silver.
Perhaps for a big salt merchant, its just a drop in the bucket, but for Tunjia Village, its almost the entire villages strength.
"Grandfather, rest assured, whoever dares to move against Bi Hans mastermind will be killed by me one by one." Teng Qing Shan said.
"Alright!" Teng Yunlong smiled and patted Teng Qingshan on the shoulder, then he stood up. "Im going to go help your dad with work now, you can head back first. Later, ask your mom to send lunch over to your dad."
"Uh-huh."
Teng Qing Shan glanced at his father who was fully focused on forging a weapon nearby and then turned around to walk out of the weapon shop.
******
The next morning, while it was still dark and most people in Tengjia Village had not yet gotten out of bed, the members of the hunting team, as well as the village elder, the marksmanship master, and some other important members, gathered outside the weapons shop.
"Ten Bihuan knives in one bundle, divided into eighteen bundles, the last bundle with twelve Bihuan knives!" Teng Yongfan directed from the side, "Qingshan, you all use wild beast fur to wrap each bundle of Bihuan knives well, then put them in cloth bags. From the outside, it should not look like there are weapons inside!"
The members of the Hunter Squad are carefully wrapping up.
A large number of furs obtained from hunting wild beasts in the past were all taken out, and in an instant, 182 Bihuan knives were all equipped.
"Yong Fan, Qing Shan." Teng Yunlong walked over, looking at the two of them, "On this journey, you must be careful! But absolutely cannot make any mistakes!"
"Yes, Grandfather." Teng Qing Shan smiled and said.
"Heng Yongfan also said: Master, just wait for us to bring back the silver."
"Green Mountain, lets set off!" Teng Yongfan said. Teng Qingshan immediately gave the order and the hunters team members held sharp long guns, some of them carrying bows and arrows on their backs. The group left. While Teng Yunlong, Teng Yongxiang and others in the clan watched from afar, they could only hope that everything would go smoothly along the way.
……
It took half an hour for the sky to be completely bright.
On the broad road, the hunters of Hengjiazhuang were vigilant and cautious, advancing in big strides.
"Dad, look." Teng Qing Shan pointed ahead, where there were faintly visible corpses beside the distant road. "Everyone be careful." Teng Yong Fan whispered, and a group of people continued to cautiously move forward. As they drew closer, everyone saw clearly that there were twelve corpses, all men.
The dry bloodstains had already turned black, these twelve people had been looted clean.
"They were robbed and killed. Judging from the bodies, it happened last night." Teng Yongfan took a glance, "Alright, lets not look anymore, well continue on our way."
Teng Qing walked along the mountain and asked, "Dad, their bodies, no one has claimed them?"
"Of course, there are people who collect corpses! With so many people dying every day in this world, if no one collected the corpses and burned them, a plague would have broken out long ago." Teng Yongfan had just looked at the corpse, but his expression didnt change. He smiled blandly, "This area belongs to which manor? The people of that manor will collect those corpses when they come out to farm and discover them."
Teng Qing Shan furrowed his brow and said, "With bandits running so rampant, I wonder if well encounter any on our journey?"
"Green Mountain." A middle-aged man next to him laughed and said, "These bandits kill people, but they also look at the object. If the target has few people and a lot of money, they will rob! If there are many people, but with a large amount of gold and silver, they will estimate that they will join forces and take action. And for us poor hunters, one look, not much money. Moreover, if they want to kill us hunters, more people will die. Its not worth it, they wont do it!"
Hong Qingshan nodded silently to himself.
Bandits also weigh whether its worth it. Poor hunters have little gold and silver, but are extremely troublesome, bandits rarely bother to provoke them.
"Hurry up and get into town as soon as possible," said Teng Yongfan.
As we move forward, gradually, people can be seen working in the fields on both sides of the road.
Hengjiazhuang is neither close nor far from Yicheng. If you walk on two legs, it usually takes almost two hours to get there.
Outside the city gate of Yicheng, a group of hunters wearing animal skins appeared. It was Teng Qing Shan and his group. They set out before dawn, and now, with the sky already bright, they finally arrived in Yicheng. Fortunately, they didnt encounter any robbers along the way.
"Were finally here!" A faint smile appeared on Teng Qing Shans face as he entered the city for the first time.
Because the world is too chaotic, the children in the mountain village have no chance of entering the city.
"One or two copper coins." The guard at the city gate said lazily, this entry fee is also collected by looking at people, like these hunters, who are barbaric and poor, they dont bother to haggle, only collecting the minimum amount of entry fee.
After paying sixty-two copper coins, Teng Qing-shan and his group finally entered the city.
"Haha, the city is still bustling." Beside him, Teng Qinghus eyes lit up, "Qingshan, look, how many people are on the streets. The streetsides are all lined with vendors, its a sight to behold! Tsk tsk, in our village, when have we ever seen so many vendors, so many fun things."
Hong Qing Shan also felt the prosperity of this place, the hawkers cries, as well as some inns and wine shops calling out to customers, all bustling with activity.
"Hey, in the city, its not necessary to use force," Teng Yongfan reminded him. "Even if you encounter some scoundrels who want to fight, remember, dont take anyones life! Killing someone outside the city is one thing, but inside the city, once you kill someone and get caught, even if you run slowly, youll end up in prison for life."
Everyone understands that the governments power only manages within the city, as for outside the city, no matter how rampant the bandits and thieves are, those high-ranking city masters are too lazy to manage. There arent even enough people to manage it.
"This time, lets not run around, well sell our goods and take a stroll before heading back, got it?" Teng Yongfan said.
"I know." The tribesmen nodded one by one.
Normally, when I come to Yicheng, I will play well, after all, its rare to enter the city. For example, go to that casino and stroll around, play a few rounds. But this time sending goods, the amount of gold and silver involved is too large, and everyone doesnt dare to take it lightly.
*******
In a quiet and spacious street, there were few people coming and going. Teng Qing Shan and his group walked along this street.
The man beside Qingtian Tiger laughed and said, "Qingshan, dont look at the few people here now, but when night falls, this place becomes the most lively spot in all of Yicheng. Look, that three-story building, do you know what it is? Haha, I bet you cant guess, the women there, their faces are so tender, each and every one of them, if you pinch them, water will drip out!"
"Haha......" The people of the tribe next to him all burst out laughing.
"Green Tiger, you little scamp, did you really pinch those girls?" Teng Yongfan asked with a chuckle.
"Heng Qinghu rubbed his nose: This place is good, but its just too expensive. Just going in for a cup of tea costs one or two silver coins! Ive heard that finding a woman is even more expensive, its scary how much it costs."
"Heng Yongfan chuckled and said, Qinghu, dont you think that the three courtyards around us are the highest-end ones in Yicheng? And theyre built right next to the big merchant guild halls. Whats the point of that? Their guests are those wealthy merchants, not people like us."
"Green Tiger, if you want to taste the flavor of a woman, go to that tofu shop on Front Street. Itll only cost you one dollar." The villagers teased.
"Go, go, go!" Teng Qinghu laughed and scolded, "I havent even married a wife yet."
"All right, dont say any more, were arriving at Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce ahead." Teng Yongfan said.
In his past life, Qing Shan had seen many big cities in modern society. Those cities were so large that it would take one or two hours to drive across them. What could this small town be compared to? Of course, the buildings he saw in his past life were all made of steel and concrete, whereas the various buildings here were full of ancient charm.
"This area has various guild halls of different surnames, among which the Yangzhou Guild Hall occupies the largest area." Teng Yongfan pointed ahead and said, "That is the Yangzhou Guild Hall."
Hong Qingshans eyes swept past, and he couldnt help but take a deep breath.
The gate of the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce is over 10 zhang wide, allowing dozens of people to walk side by side. The two majestic stone lions at the entrance, emitting a golden glow, add to its grandeur. Teng Yongfan exclaimed: "Qingshan, those two stone lions are made of Qingjin stone, each weighing tens of thousands of catties! Just these two stone lions alone are worth several thousand taels of silver!"
The salt merchants of Yangzhou are rich with overflowing wealth, and this is no exaggeration.
"Get out of here!" One of the four burly men guarding the entrance to the Yangzhou Chamber of Commerce shouted at Teng Qing Shan and his group.
"We are here to deliver goods, its Mr. Li from Jiangning County, he ordered them from us!" Teng Yongfan said.
"Mr. Li of Jiangning County?" One of them frowned and said, "You just wait here, Ill go inform him."
Teng Qing-shan and a group of people were quietly waiting at the door, just for a moment, two men in black ran over, glanced outside, saw Teng Yong-fan, one of them loudly said: "Its from Tengjiazhuang, come in!" After that, he turned his head and walked forward, followed by Teng Qing-shan and others.
Outside the Chamber of Commerce, that was just a corner of the luxurious iceberg of this Chamber of Commerce. Entering inside, only then did I know about the life of the giant merchants.
"Good boy." Teng Qinghu stared with wide eyes.
Teng Qing Shan also took a deep breath, the road was paved with huge bluestones, so many neatly arranged bluestones, how much manpower would it take to consume? The various plants and flowers on the side, many of which were not native to Yicheng, must have been transplanted from elsewhere. There were also large ponds and other water systems on the side, even artificial springs flowing with water.
"This is probably the most luxurious villa in later generations." Teng Qingshan thought to himself, "And this is just a commercial building."
Yangzhou salt merchants are the best in the world, only Yu states giant merchants can be compared with them.
The buildings inside the Chamber of Commerce are large mansions.
"Be careful, one by one. If you break anything here, its beyond your means to compensate," said the black-clad man leading the way. "And there are also some residences around us that are inhabited by big shots just like our master. If any of you offend even one of them, none of you will be able to leave alive. Be careful."
"Yes, we understand." Teng Yongfan said with a smile.
But the clan members were obviously more restrained, Yangzhou salt merchants, that is a super-rich group that can be connected with the nine states and eight major sects, killing some people, even if its just the lord of Yicheng City, probably wont care.
"Its just this," one of the men in black said. "This small business, tell the steward and it will be done, dont go through the front door, disturb the master, youll be in trouble. Follow me, come in from the back door." He led them along the alley between the two large mansions to the back gate of this mansion.
There live many servants and guards here.
"Oh, youve arrived." The cavalry leader who had gone to Tuens village to place an order was now sitting in a chair with a big sword by his side. He glanced at Tuen Ching-shan and the others, "Come on in, bring out all the goods and put them on the floor."