Karl stood up in anger.
After being declared again by his father that he "must be the only candidate for the next generation of leader and leader of the alliance", people in the center of power can easily lose themselves. Even people like Karl who have not yet controlled the supreme power of the alliance, in recent years he has He couldn't see his own weight more and more clearly.
He felt that he was already a powerful "behemoth".
In the end, the mysterious Ross nobleman suddenly appeared and was so disrespectful to me. It was really unreasonable!
He was always worried about the humiliation and threats he had just encountered, and he bared his teeth and said fiercely: "I don't need the support of a group of idiots who can only bicker. Hey, it's you! A stupid person Young man, you angered me, you have to pay the price!"
Karl stared at Arik with cannibalistic eyes, and the fire in Arik's heart instantly ignited, as thick as his thighs! The right arm full of muscle texture was pulled out directly from the mink coat, and the strong muscles really scared Karl.
Aric was aggressive: "Shut up, you pretentious person. Maybe we should compete and kill each other to prove who is the warrior."
"Then Fight! I won't kill you, I will break your legs, smash your teeth, and blind your eyes to let you know the consequences of disrespecting the noble."
There was a quarrel again, and almost a fight? ! Olegin shouted loudly: "Shut up! I am the leader of the alliance!"
Rurik closed his eyes and listened to the quarrel between the two grown men. To put it bluntly, in another situation, they He has already begun to fight for his life.
Finally, the situation reached a point when Rurik had to speak out. He put on an angry face, and wrinkles appeared on his delicate face. He bowed slightly pretending to be respectful and spoke in a soft voice. Yu said extremely threatening words: "Great leader, I have been patient for a long time. You cannot regard my patience as weakness. You want us to surrender? However, if your son humiliates my brother, then he has humiliated me. . There is no love or hatred for no reason in this world. Since the merchant has told you many things, you should also know that we Russians are not really weak, and we still have the ability to defeat the enemy.
We admit that you are the leader of the alliance. , because our bilateral transactions have always been mutually beneficial, and this is all because of the gift of the leader. However, your eldest son actually despises us so much. Maybe one day he will inherit your power, and maybe the threat of war is waiting for us. "
"A boy who was just weaned yesterday, do you want a war?" Karl shouted arrogantly.
Rurik glanced at the man with contempt, then looked at the leader with a complicated expression: "So, is this his attitude or yours? We are not your slaves, we have to stand Just do business."
Now Olegin really can't stand his son's chattering, as if this guy wants to drive away the tribe's big customers for his own sake, and then finally announces his return. The Russians were expelled. Obviously Karl has offended LiuBrother Rick, he estimated that the brothers would continue to do business pragmatically, and they would not let go of the hatred caused by the slight and humiliation they encountered. Apologize? Karl will not apologize, not even as the leader of the alliance.
Olegin has his own principles of birth.
The alliance leader must use strong power to intimidate other tribes into surrendering. What about Carl? An ordinary person's arrogant character will suffer a lot in daily life. Karl is not an ordinary person, so the entire tribe may suffer. If he fails to become a strong man in the future, will Mellaren's power decline. At least the Ross people must be the second or third strongest tribe in the alliance. They are by no means weak as the kid Rurik described.
Otherwise, how could they get a large amount of silver coins?
In the final analysis, today’s meeting is to finalize the grain trade.
As for the transaction of other goods, Olegin did not want to talk about those trivial issues.
“Now let’s talk about the most important thing, I hope our harmony is still there.” As he said that, Olegin stretched out his right hand and showed five fingers: “Half a million pounds of oats! Gould will tell you this. I can sell you so much wheat, so where is the money?"
He is so happy about the grain trade? Rurik couldn't stand how quickly things changed. He almost quoted his delivery price, but wait.
Rurik pretended to be calm: "I'm sorry, that's a very heavy payment. A large amount of silver is on Gould's island and is closely guarded by our Russian soldiers."
"How much? Is it really fifty thousand pounds? Or more?" Olegin's stretched-out head showed his thirst for money.
Rurik deliberately did not say the specific amount. He did not want to show his trump card. "Let's talk about your price, my leader."
Olegin. Shrugging his shoulders, he secretly murmured to himself that this brat from Ross was quite calculating. In trade since ancient times, whoever puts forward the price first usually suffers the most.
He pinched his chin and made a somewhat embarrassed gesture: "Rurik, maybe you have seen with your own eyes that the weather this year is very bad and the wheat growth is very bad. According to past experience, this year We can’t have a good harvest in Melalen, so the price of food will skyrocket.”
“Huh? What does the bad weather have to do with your food?”
All of a sudden, Olegin was asked.
He stared at the innocent expression of the child in front of him, suddenly covered his face with his big hands, and said in embarrassment: "Are you entertaining me? Don't you know that when the weather gets cold, the wheat harvest will fail? Don't you know that spring will come this year?" "It's very late."
"I know. But what does this have to do with you growing wheat?"
"This is very common sense, but you don't understand it?" Liejin's tone became stronger, "Listen, because the weather is cold, the grain harvest is poor, and prices are rising, you can't buy more grain with money."
"Oh, I understand!" Rick deliberately glanced at the corner of his mouth, "You reallyTell me, you are not willing to do this business? "
"No, I didn't say that. "Olegin responded instantly with a rapid speaking speed.
By now, Rurik had figured out what the other party was thinking. To put it bluntly, Gould had previously negotiated with this person to buy ten pounds for one silver coin. The price of wheat, now Olegin wants to exchange it for a higher one.
How can that be done?
The situation of the Melalen people's farmland, Rurik may pass. The reports from Gould and others, as well as his own on-the-spot investigations, all led to bad conclusions. It was obvious that the agricultural harvest in Melalen was a foregone conclusion, and their farmers would only have a hard time in the coming year, or even suffer. It is reasonable to go together to rob foreigners to tide over the difficulties.
Rurik prides himself on being kind only to his own people. In theory, the Russians and the Melalens are the leaders, but these days, they are guests. Rurik doesn't have a good impression of them. It's his duty to sympathize with those farmers, and it's his duty to ignore them and only do his own business. Now, Rurik no longer cares about their life or death.
Olegin does it again. What do you think of Rurik's opinion? He can't tell whether this kid really lacks common sense or is deliberately pretending to be confused. Anyway, his idea of trying to trick them doesn't seem to be that easy. < /p>
Now that he has guessed the opponent’s mentality, Rurik has an idea about how to play his cards.
“One silver coin buys seventeen pounds of dry oats, which was the market trend last year. I come with money and I want to buy it at this price. "
"No! "Olegin flatly refused.
"Huh? Do you want to start the business?
Olegin chuckled, "Of course we have to do business. You may regret my offer." Eight pounds of oats for one silver coin. Mind you, we don't have time to dry the new wheat. ”
“Twice as expensive! ”
“Yes. The situation this year is not good, Rurik, this is a fact, I hope you understand our difficulties. ”
“But who can measure us? Although my people can make a good living by fishing, they like the taste of wheat porridge. We Russians have pooled together a huge sum of money and found you to do business, just because we don’t want to be exploited by those businessmen midway. Unexpectedly, you actually want to trap us? "
Olegin glared: "Hey! Boy, why should I trap you? If you think the price is not suitable, we can negotiate. "
This is what Rurik wants, "Fourteen pounds. "
"No, I said nine pounds. ”
“It’s still too expensive. "Rurik shook his head vigorously.
Olegin was really anxious. He suppressed his urge to curse. He really didn't want to say that he lost money for every eight pounds of silver coins quoted for wheat.
p>“Nine pounds, Rurik, I hope you won’t lose your child’s innocence and be a good person. "
"Twelve pounds! Rurik gritted his teeth, "It can't go any lower." ”
"You!" Olegin held his breath and said sternly: "The harvest season is now. The situation is bad this year. The price will skyrocket by then. It is beyond my control. One silver coin will not buy seventeen pounds by then. , let alone ten pounds, maybe only five pounds. In the worst case, farmers will not sell their grain at all, and you will hardly be able to buy grain if you leave me."
These words spoke to Rurik’s heart.
Rurik prides himself on having high insights into the manufacturing of machinery. However, because his brain is crammed with a lot of knowledge, his elementary economics knowledge is incompetent in today’s era. It also has huge advantages.
Olegin's pessimistic prediction is likely to come true.
The people of Mälaren, who have been farming for a long time, when the harvest fails, do they go crazy and sell the food on the market? I'm afraid that not only do they have no extra grain, but they also don't have much left after deducting the grain for planting! In the next year, a family will either borrow money to survive, or try every means to fish, even catch marmots and insects to satisfy their hunger, or even become a robber to plunder.
If farmers don’t sell grain, the market will naturally slump.
Do the Russians want to force farmers to trade with a sword in their right hand and a money bag in their left hand?
It is inappropriate and impossible for the Russians to do this. The only one who could possibly do this was Olegin.
They are in trouble, Rurik is just pretending to be confused and refuses to accept this trick. His bottom line was the price that Gould had negotiated with Olegin before, ten pounds of wheat for one silver coin. If he achieved results through bargaining, it would be worth the effort now.
Rurik countered: "Could it be that we came with a large amount of food and could only buy a negligible amount of food? Instead of this, we Russians would rather fish and hunt day after day. We save Wouldn’t it be nice to pay some silver coins and wait until you have a good harvest to buy grain? Leather and other trades are all good, but it’s just about grain. If you have this attitude, leave!”
Stay! Rick stood up suddenly, taking Aric with him. He deliberately pretended that the negotiations had broken down, but as soon as he turned around, he was stopped by Olegin.
"Wait a minute!"
For a moment, Rurik felt happy. He turned around again and saw Olegin's gloomy face. It was really hard to see. pole.
Olegin looked solemn: "Ten pounds! Just like the price of an ordinary year, ten pounds!"
Rurik sat down again, although this had already reached his own price. The bottom line is, since Olegin is very desperate for business, can he do it without extortion?
"It still doesn't work! It's too expensive."
"You!" Olegin stretched out his fist, as if a father wanted to repair his son.
"What? You're going to hit me."
"What the hell..." Olegin's clenched fist was about to crush his own hand bones. Thinking back to the speculation just now, He can tell that this kid is really a tough kid, the so-called fiveRegardless of the valley, they are all disguises.
"Eleven pounds. This is my final price! Great leader, we don’t have to discuss this matter anymore. I will not add even one more copper coin. If you don’t agree, this year’s grain The trade will no longer be done."
The child in front of him looked indifferent. Olegin never imagined that he would behave very passively in front of a child.
Rurik, who was "blessed by Odin", had to sigh with emotion. Putting aside those strange titles, this kid really had something in his mind. At least, he can be called a "young and weak wise man".
Seeing the distressed look of the leader, Rurik continued: "I really brought a lot of silver coins, which is enough to sink a solid cargo ship (deliberate exaggeration). We Russians are also very worried. There were pirates looting, so they built a fortress on Gould Island and deployed heavy troops. Great leader, this money is what we use to buy food. My father Otto planned the whole operation. He sued me. , Only the leader of the alliance has the courage to take out a large amount of food at once."
This sounds like flattery to himself, and it also proves Otto's recognition of his status. Olegin still feels uncomfortable after hearing this. taste. There was a clear hint in Rurik's words that the island controlled by the merchant Gould was not under the direct jurisdiction of Melalen. The Ross warriors were ready to fight against any pirates.
If you want to use some extreme means to get those silver coins, you really need a head-on war.
Exchanging grain for silver coins made Olegin really feel pain in his body, but now, he had no choice.
When Olegin was in a dilemma, in order to promote his compromise, Rurik decided to make a little more "concession". Of course, there is no real concession here, just a verbal promise.
"Leader, I am willing to use 45,454 silver coins. Bah! I will give you a profit and buy you 500,000 pounds of wheat for 45,500 silver coins (455 pounds). I will continue to do this. Let's make a profit."
"It's just a small change, what's there to say?" Ao Yiyi said helplessly.
"It's someone you will be interested in. In the iron trade, I can give you a preferential price."
"Really?!" Listen, Ole The dark clouds on Jin's face were calm and gentle.
In the final analysis, Olegin's core purpose of exchanging grain for silver coins was to exchange silver coins for iron tools, and finally expand his own armaments to deal with the increasing threat of war from the Danes.
Rurik continued: "You plan to buy hard swords and hard spears. I know your price. I can give you a 10% discount on this. If I am in a good mood, I can give it to you. A better price."
"Oh? Are you in a good mood now?" Olegin's eager eyes said everything. This guy wants weapons more than silver coins.
Is it worth it to make the Malaren people martial? Will they attack you one day? With Russian weaponsWhen attacking the Rus, Rurik could not guarantee that such a backstab would not exist. In today's negotiation, the guy named Karl has already stood in the position of "Prince" of Melalen, showing his fangs of military threat.
But business still has to be done, otherwise, why would they order the Covin people in the northernmost Elon-Olawa Fort to work so hard to smelt chromium and make weapons? Of course, the best human version of the weapon is for the Russians, and the monkey version is for them.
Being able to gain some comfort from the arms trade, Olegin felt he had no choice and accepted the price proposed by Rurik.
At this point, all trade agreements have reached a verbal conclusion.
Just verbally...
Of course this is not possible!
Rurik immediately proposed to engrave the transaction between the two parties on a wooden board in writing and make the contract in duplicate, thus urging both parties to the trade not to violate the contract.
Olegin was afraid that the Russians would change his mind. Why didn’t Rurik think so?
Soon, Rurik and the other three entered the inner court of the leader's house. In a more private room, under the witness of several priestesses of the Melalen tribe, the contract on the wooden board was Start chiseling quickly.
What surprised Olegin a little was that Rurik already knew the rune alphabet system very well at a young age and could read words proficiently. After all this, is he still a simple child?
What happened today was too miraculous. Olegin rarely signed written agreements with others, and daily contracts were mostly verbal. Unexpectedly, today he encountered a tough problem that would not make a deal without signing a written contract.
It seems that all Russians are like this? Pay attention to written contracts?
Olegin couldn't help but admire him a little. Since the contract was proved in writing, the Russians would not be the first to do the previous verbal denial and betrayal, right?
This contract clearly states that after the grain harvest, the Malaren people need to provide the Russians with 500,000 pounds of wheat, and the Russians will deliver 455 pounds of silver coins (measured by weight) as soon as possible. , to avoid the fineness and incomplete loss of silver coins).
The second is the trade of leather, ironware and other goods. Only in the traditional goods of leather and the cutting-edge trade of high-quality ironware, the Rus chief family represented by Rurik and Mei The Laren leader family enjoys a 10% discount on direct trade.
The contract also confirms that the number of goods sold to the leader of Melalen is decided by the family of the leader of Ross. In fact, it is Rurik who has the final say.
If profits are made for a long time, won’t the Russians continue to suffer losses in market trade? No! The benefit is for greater profits in the future!
Therefore, the duration of this contract depends on how long Olegin can serve as leader.
Rurik did not publicly oppose Karl's succession as leader of the alliance, but the contract had clearly revealed the Russians' malicious intent. The so-called Olegin really died or suddenly resigned as leader of the alliance, all the terms of this contract are completely invalid.If it is scrapped, any trade agreement will have to be renegotiated.
After all, it is not a trade agreement between two tribes, it only represents two powerful families. At the most minor level, it is private trade, but this trade will definitely affect the fate of the two tribes. .
With no choice but to get a lot of silver, a lot of leather and a lot of iron, Olegin estimated that he was still suffering a loss. However, the only one who could provide these three important supplies in large quantities at the same time was the Ross tribe. .
Rurik was also interesting at the last moment. He pulled his reluctant cousin Arik and Carlotta, whose name was confirmed by the leader of the alliance, and the three of them kneeled down on one knee as a tactical salute to the leader of the alliance. , the so-called let the alliance leader get some satisfaction in terms of face.
They walked out of Olegin's mansion under the soft afterglow of the setting sun, carrying the contract wooden board engraved with text, ending the deal and returning to Gould Island.
But the real deal is about to begin.