Chapter 962
Not Easily Entertaining Customers
Wu Chen said in a low voice, "See you now?"
"I'll see you," Zheng Yi said, "but not here."
Why?
"The goods haven't been opened yet, and the people haven't even entered the real city market. Last night's border registration was already conspicuous enough. If we were to negotiate prices with people right at the entrance of the market now, firstly, it would seem like we were in a hurry; secondly, it would easily make the officials behind us think that we were bypassing them; and thirdly, it would make these people in the industry think that we were naive and only focused on the immediate price."
Wu Chen nodded: "Then let's go to the city?"
"Let's go to the city first and find a suitable place." Zheng Yi paused, "and I'll also show you how real big-city trading is done."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and went into the house, kicking Chiya awake.
Chiya opened his eyes groggily: "Something happened?"
"No, I'm just going out to broaden my horizons."
Chiya jolted awake and immediately got up.
"I'll put on my boots right now!"
Yan Ao paused in his knife-sharpening motion, then sneered, "Look at your pathetic self."
With his waist rope tied, Chi Ya spoke quickly: "You didn't get much sleep last night either."
Yan'ao immediately tried to throw the scabbard at him.
Zheng Yi didn't let them cause trouble; he simply divided the people into groups.
The guards continued as agreed last night. Wu Chen left several old hunters from the Black Rock tribe, while Yan Ao led the Fire Mane tribe and two young men from a smaller tribe to guard the cargo yard, awaiting news of the border inspection. Zheng Yi himself, along with Wu Chen, Chi Ya, and two more composed border residents who could understand some Mandarin and count, went first into Beining City.
When we arrived at the shipping yard, those same groups of people from last night indeed surrounded us.
A middle-aged man with a round face bowed first: "Gentlemen, are you from the north delivering leather and bone goods? I am..."
Zheng Yi didn't wait for him to finish speaking, only returned the greeting with a polite tone, but didn't stop walking.
"The goods are still under official inspection, so we won't discuss buying and selling them today. If you are truly interested, we can talk in detail after we go to the market and inspect them."
The round-faced middle-aged man was taken aback, as if he hadn't expected the other party to be so composed.
Another person nearby quickly chimed in, "Then at least let us see the goods first, right? In Beining City, different goods have different channels, so we can help you get started..."
Zheng Yi smiled faintly.
"Didn't you watch enough last night?"
The man's expression changed slightly.
They did see quite a few things from afar last night, but they didn't manage to touch them.
Zheng Yi continued, "If you are truly in the business, you should know that the better the goods, the less you should rush to set them up at the city gates and market entrances. Once I've figured things out here, I will give you your chance."
After saying that, he didn't linger and led the group straight towards the inner city.
After walking a short distance, Chi Ya asked in a low voice, "They want to steal our goods?"
“It’s not about robbing, it’s about trying to get us under their control first,” Zheng Yi said. “We come from the north, we’re unfamiliar faces, and we were just stopped by the border guards, so they’ll think we’re in a hurry to sell. If someone strikes up a conversation with us first and leads us into their shop, they can easily push the price down later.”
Chiya immediately understood: "So we can't go with them first."
"Correct."
Wu Chen, however, was more concerned about another point.
"You just said 'to understand the path clearly,' what exactly do you mean by 'to look at it first'?"
Zheng Yi looked at the street ahead, which was gradually becoming more lively, and slowly said, "Look at three places. First, the real dealers who buy large quantities of northern goods; second, the rules governing this kind of business in the city; third, which connections in Beining City can truly reach Hongyun City."
As they spoke, the true appearance of Beining City gradually unfolded before their eyes.
If Qingshi Town is like a bustling entrance squeezed out from the side road, then Beining City truly has the skeleton of a "city".
The stone walls were high and wide, the streets crisscrossed, and the houses were no longer pieced together in fragments, but rather lined up in large clusters along the main street. Northern border towns rarely had truly exquisite buildings, but this place was connected to many trade routes, and inns, trading houses, pharmacies, salt shops, cloth shops, blacksmith shops, and restaurants were all readily available. The signs in front of the shops fluttered in the wind, and carts and pack animals traveled back and forth on the streets, pressing the accumulated snow and frozen mud into shiny black ruts.
From the moment Chi Ya entered the city gate, he had never had enough eyes to look at.
"This whole street... is it all selling things?"
“That’s just one of them,” Zheng Yi said.
"Is this just one of them?"
Chiya almost gasped, slowing his pace by a fraction.
A caravan of merchants pulling wooden carts passed by them, their carts loaded with neatly stacked salt bricks and earthenware jars. The lead driver shouted something at his companions, his accent so heavy that Chi Ya couldn't understand a word, yet he was still incredibly intrigued.
Further ahead, there was a very large fabric shop.
Several bolts of sample cloth hung by the door. Although they were just common thick linen, fine cloth, and coarse cotton, they looked incredibly extravagant to Chi Ya. He couldn't help but glance at them a few more times and whispered, "Those bolts we exchanged last time are just considered ordinary here?"
Zheng Yi nodded: "It can't even be considered ordinary; it can only be considered durable goods."
Chiya opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word for a long time.
Unlike him, Wu Chen wasn't distracted by the bustling street scene; instead, he walked along observing the people around him.
He looked at the shop assistants standing at the entrances of the shops, at the scales, measures, and rulers displayed on the street corners, and at the clothes and boots worn by the people passing by. As he looked, he finally understood why Zheng Yi had said that although the fur robes of the North were thick, they were not necessarily as good as a well-fitting cotton coat.
Because people here dress in "layers".
With a lining of cloth, an outer layer of cotton, and then a layer of windproof leather or a thick coat, walking is far more convenient than simply wearing a thick leather coat. More importantly, it fits well. A good fit means it doesn't let in the wind, nor does it hinder your movements.
Wu Chen said in a low voice, "It is indeed better for children to wear this than to wear adults' old robes."
Zheng Yi heard this and hummed in response.
"So this path is not as simple as just changing the fabric. Once things are really stable, someone will need to learn how to cut, how to sew, and how to combine different materials."
Red Fang immediately chimed in, "That Bone Woman will definitely scold us for being clumsy again."
"Let's focus on selling the goods first," Zheng Yi said.
After walking through the two main streets, the group didn't rush to the large leather goods stores with big signs. Instead, they found a teahouse on the street and sat down.
The teahouse wasn't high-end, but it was bustling with people and lots of news.
The second-floor window seat offered a view of half the street. Downstairs, most of the people coming and going were shop assistants, small merchants from the border town, cargo handlers, and errand runners. Zheng Yi ordered a pot of the most ordinary hot tea and two plates of snacks that kept well. While letting Chi Ya eat something to warm his stomach, he listened attentively to the conversations of the people downstairs and at the next table.
Chiya held the teacup, taking small sips, his tongue twitching from the heat, yet he still couldn't bear to put it down.
"Why does the water taste bad?"
"Tea," Zheng Yi said.
"Not medicine?"
"No."
Chi Ya took another sip, his expression strange, as if he wasn't used to it, yet also found it novel. Wu Chen didn't seem to care about the tea, only asking in a low voice, "Who are you waiting for sitting here?"
"Let the news come to us on its own, and let me first get a feel for the situation in Beining City."
How do I touch it?
Zheng Yi raised his chin, gesturing for him to look downstairs.
"Let's see who's talking about us."
Wu Chen watched for a while and soon began to understand the meaning.
Sure enough, in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, two tables downstairs were already discussing, "The Northern Brigade arrived at the Outer Goods Yard this morning," "Bianwu Zhou personally oversaw their arrival," and "It seems they're using Hongyun City's name."
One table seemed to belong to employees of a medicinal herb shop, while the other table resembled small business owners specializing in leather and bone products. Their conversation subtly inquired about the quantity, quality, and connections of the group.
Wu Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So fast?"
Zheng Yi smiled and said, "That's how it is in the border town. If you raise your voice at the entrance of the freight yard, half the street will know about it at night."
"Wouldn't that be too conspicuous?"
“Being noticed isn’t all bad,” Zheng Yi said. “For people like us, the worst thing is to remain silent before anyone knows us. Being silent means anyone can take advantage of you. Now that we’ve entered the city and are carrying official seals and the words ‘Hongyun City vouches for us,’ we might as well let more people know about us so that the truly influential people will come to us first.”
Sure enough, after another two cups of tea, a waiter came up from downstairs, bent down and whispered, "There's a customer downstairs who wants to know if the people upstairs are from the north who come to do business in skin, bone and medicinal herbs?"
Zheng Yi looked up: "Who is it?"
"They said he was an inexperienced steward at Changping Wharf, surnamed He."
Upon hearing the word "outsider," Zheng Yi's eyes flickered slightly.
It's not "outsider merchants" or "outsiders," but rather a trade term used in Beining City to refer to those who handle goods from other regions. These "outsiders" don't actually sell the goods in shops; instead, they act as intermediaries for large trading companies, caravans, and even government warehouses, contacting long-distance cargo owners, inspecting the goods, determining the route, establishing connections, and profiting from the middlemen's profits.
Such a person may not have the cleanest hands, nor the most upright heart.
But they are quick to get information, have various connections, and are often the first to know which major banks are currently short of what goods, and which official warehouses are preparing to purchase what.
Zheng Yi nodded: "Please invite him up."
Before long, a man in his forties was led upstairs.
This person was not dressed extravagantly, nor was his face particularly fair; he was rather thin, but his eyes were exceptionally bright. He entered with a smile, his clasped hands in a standard gesture, neither too humble nor too disrespectful.
"Gentlemen, my name is He Liang, a humble servant from Changping who is unfamiliar with the area. I heard that you have come from afar in the north, so I apologize for disturbing you."
Zheng Yi stood up and returned the greeting: "Please sit down."
After He Liang sat down, he didn't rush to cut the goods. Instead, he looked at the group of people, especially Wu Chen and Chi Ya.
They probably didn't expect that, although most of the people in the group were dressed in northern tribal attire, the one sitting in the main seat who spoke and seemed to be the one who could make the decisions was a young man with a more southern appearance.
"Young Master Zheng?"
"You're quick to find out."
He Liang laughed and said, "If you can't keep your ears open when you're making a living, you'll starve. Besides, half of the foreign goods market knows that the new northern goods team that arrived today is led by a young master Zheng."
"So, Steward He, what business do you want to do with me?"
Upon hearing this, a hint of a smile flashed in He Liang's eyes.
This young man is straightforward and doesn't try to be subtle, which saves him trouble.
"Let's not rush into business." He Liang picked up his teacup and moistened his lips. "I'm here to save you some trouble. The leather shops, medicine and bone shops, and outbound markets in Beining City each have their own rules. If no one guides you, even if your goods are good, you're likely to suffer losses in the first round."
Zheng Yi said calmly, "For example?"
“For example, if you bring your own goods into the leather market, you will most likely be pressured to sell them as loose goods. If you don’t know the market, whole hides will be sold as second-hand hides, sets of scraps will be sold piecemeal, and even the cheapest hides will be sold off by 30% with the excuse that they are ‘unusual and hard to sell.’” He Liang paused here, then laughed, “Of course, if you have someone like me, an outsider, to guide you, many things will be different.”
Wu Chen sat silently to the side, having already grasped the general idea of what was going on.
This person is here to act as a middleman.
He Liang continued, "Behind the Changping outlaws are three major firms: one deals in leather, one in bone medicine, and one in border goods transported south. If you're willing, I can take you to see the most suitable person first, saving you a lot of trouble."
Zheng Yi didn't answer immediately, but instead asked, "How many did you see outside the freight yard last night?"
He Liang was taken aback, then chuckled: "Young Master Zheng, that's a very direct question."
"When doing business, being straightforward saves time."
He Liang didn't hide anything: "I saw three whole top-grade wolf pelts; at least six ice-horn sheepskins; and several bear bones, cold bones, tendons, and horn teeth. As for the finer details, I didn't touch them, so I dare not say anything."
Zheng Yi nodded.
"Good eye."
He Liang's smile deepened.
This can be seen as an acknowledgment that he has good taste.
But the next sentence made Zheng Yi's heart jump again.
"But you're too late."
"Oh?"
“I came out today not just to find a way to travel,” Zheng Yi said, looking at him. “I also want to find someone who can speak with Hongyun City.”
He Liang's expression finally changed slightly.
"Hongyun City?"
"Correct."
He Liang narrowed his eyes. In that instant, he understood why the border officials had allowed this group to enter first for inspection. If it were just ordinary goods from the northern tribes, someone like Zhou Li wouldn't have needed to take the responsibility of opening half the gate. But if it really involved Hongyun City, the implications were completely different.
He pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "Young Master Zheng is looking for someone who can speak with Hongyun City. There are people in Beining City who can. It's just that... such people are rarely seen by ordinary merchants."
“That’s why I need to find someone who knows the way first.” Zheng Yi put down his teacup. “If you only want to profit from this shipment, then we might not be able to reach an agreement. If you’re willing to follow along and see the rest of the way, then we can talk.”
This completely disrupted He Liang's plan to "just take a bite of the northern goods first".
But he was also a veteran in the industry, and after a moment's thought, he understood the situation even faster.
This young man's heart wasn't in Beining City, but on the main road further south.
And this is precisely the greater benefit.
He Liang remained silent for a few moments before finally lowering his stance by half an inch.
"In that case, I will not try to fool Young Master Zheng with the words of ordinary people. In Beining City, the two people who can really get in touch with the Hongyun City line are Wanping Wharf General Store in the south of the city and Shenghe Grand Company in the east of the city. The former uses both water and land routes, handles a large volume of goods, and has a mixed background; the latter is more stable and more disciplined, but he is picky and does not easily accept unfamiliar customers."
"Which side are you more familiar with?" (End of Chapter)