Reborn as Murong Fu: This time I am the protagonist

Chapter 438 Horse Trading
A great war ended in such a peculiar way.

Wu Qimai questioned his eldest and second brothers: "Are we just going to let these small men go? What if they report us to the Liao Kingdom? Wouldn't the Wanyan tribe be in danger?"

Wu Yashu sighed and said, "Wu Qimai, you worry too much. The Jurchens have been fighting each other for a long time. If a false accusation could lead to a conquest by the Liao army, the Jurchens would have been killed long ago."

Aguda said angrily: "The Emperor of Liao is concerned with nothing but hunting all the time. The exploitation of us Jurchens is getting heavier day by day. I really don't understand why our Jurchen warriors, who are so brave, have to endure the exploitation of Khitans like those silver-medal envoys."

Wu Yashu said: "You have to eat one bite at a time, and you have to do things step by step. Compared with the Liao Kingdom, we are like a wolf cub that has just grown teeth and a fat adult cow. No matter what, we can't eat it in one bite. But no matter what, we will eat it sooner or later."

There was a cold light flashing in Wu Yashu's eyes.

The battle was over. Although this battle involved several thousand people, in fact, only a few people died. Although the Jurchens fought each other, they were still very measured and would not kill easily. This was mainly because there were too few Jurchens, and one less person was one less. Moreover, in the Jurchens' concept, prisoners were slaves. Men could work, and women could make up for the shortage of women in the tribe and breed offspring. They were all valuable assets. At worst, they could ask the captives to pay ransom to redeem themselves, which was another huge income. In any case, it was much better than a cold corpse.

Therefore, after this battle, in addition to the supplies seized by Aguda, the Wanyan tribe also captured more than 2,000 prisoners, including men, women, old and young. In the following days, the families and friends of these prisoners paid ransom one after another. Men paid three taels of gold, and women, the elderly and children paid half. If there was no gold, horses, food, salt and other supplies could be exchanged. With this, the Wanyan tribe made a lot of money.

Aguda looked at the piles of food, salt and other items, but his face was not very smiling. "Alas, if the Wanyan tribe had not limited supplies and could not afford so many slaves, how could I let all these people redeem themselves? Among these thousands of captives, there are three or four hundred strong men. If they were all armed, they would be a new force."

Murong Fu said: "Brother Aguda, things can only be done step by step, and there is no rush. Although the chiefs of those tribes still dare not make up their minds to rebel against Liao, the seeds have been planted in their hearts after all. All that is needed next is an opportunity."

Aguda knew in his heart that what Murong Fu said made sense, but having witnessed the Liao's oppression of the Jurchens since childhood, how could the desire for revenge that had been buried in his heart for decades be suppressed so easily?

At this time, Wuqimai came over with a horse and said to Aguda, "Second brother, this time we have eight or nine hundred more good horses, including the horses seized and the horses paid for ransom. What should we do?"

Aguda's face lit up when he heard this, but then it darkened again: "What can we do? We can't afford to raise so many horses. We can only wait for the spring to come in a few days and see if we can find a way to transport these horses to Song State and sell them in batches."

Contrary to what many people imagine, a good horse cannot be fed only with grass, as it will not only lose weight, but may even die. War horses are even more serious. A qualified war horse needs the rations of six adults every day. Although the Wanyan tribe is not small, it cannot afford to consume so many rations at once, so it is more cost-effective to sell them. Of course, there is also a most convenient way, which is to kill them and eat the meat, but this is obviously unacceptable to the Jurchens who regard horses as companions.

Wu Qimai was not very happy when he heard this: "But if we sell it to those Song people, they will only find ways to lower your price. Last time, we only exchanged fifty good horses for a thousand pieces of cloth. After all the hard work of traveling across mountains and rivers, the profit was very small."

Even a piece of good cloth was only worth one guan of money. In the Song Dynasty, even a poor horse used to pull a cart would be sold for more than thirty guan of money, and a good horse that could be used as a war horse would be worth twice as much. It seems that these unscrupulous merchants are indeed bullying the honest people.

Murong Fu looked at the hundreds of fine horses with shiny black fur in front of him, and his eyes lit up: these fine horses from the White Mountains and Black Waters looked much better than the Xixia horses at the foot of the Qilian Mountains. Any of them would be a rare and precious mount in the Central Plains, and only some generals in the Song army would be equipped with them. Mountains and hills have always been the breeding ground for horses, and compared to the Xixia, the horses at the foot of Changbai Mountain are of higher quality because of the severe cold.

Aguda gritted his teeth and said, "Are we going to sell them to the Khitans? What's the difference between the price those bastards give and robbery?" Wuqimai was silent. The fact was just as Aguda said. The so-called market of the Khitans was actually almost the same as robbery. What was even more unacceptable was selling precious horses to the enemy who oppressed him. That was more painful than slapping him in the face.

Murong Fu said, "How about this. After a while, I will write a letter to my family and ask them to send a few large ships to transport the horses to Song territory. Sell all these good horses to me. I will charge you fifty taels of silver and fifty pieces of silk for each horse. How about that? Just consider it a favor for me. I really need these horses."

Aguda laughed and said, "If you want, Murong, you can pick a dozen or so to take back. You will have a share of these things anyway. Why are you joking?"

Murong Fu was stunned: "What? You don't want to sell it?"

Aguda laughed and said, "You must be joking. According to the price you offered, Murong, there are nearly a thousand horses here, which is about 50,000 taels of silver plus 50,000 pieces of silk. Even the Emperor of Liao would not have been able to come up with so much money at once. I know you lived a rich life in the Central Plains, but you didn't spend money like this."

Obviously, in the eyes of the simple Aguda, such a sum of money was already an incomprehensible astronomical figure, so he didn't think Murong Fu was serious at all.

Murong Fu sighed softly in his heart: Young man, you know nothing about true power.

Murong Fu's expression became serious: "Who said I was joking with you? I just want to ask, can you sell it at the price I mentioned?"

Realizing that Murong Fu was not joking, Aguda was shocked, but also gained a new understanding of what "wealth and power" means.

Aguda said: "What do you want so many good horses for?"

Murong Fu asked in return: "Why did you collect so much iron?"

Aguda understood what he meant.

"Well, in that case, Murong, we are all friends, and you should have a share of these horses. Let's calculate it based on fifty taels of silver per horse. Forget the silk."

Murong Fu waved his hand and said, "No need! These things can also be regarded as my aid to you. From now on, I will buy the ginseng, furs, horses and other things of the Wanyan tribe at twice the market price. However, if one day in the future you can really destroy the Liao Kingdom, I have a request."

A sly smile appeared on Murong Fu's face.

Aguda was amused: "Murong, don't even talk about whether we can destroy Liao. A wealthy man like you, what can we do for you?"