While the two were discussing these important military matters, the Western merchants outside were arguing heatedly with the army's quartermaster.
They are all for their own interests. Merchants hope to lower the prices, but quartermasters hope that the court's income can be higher. This is also very normal, so Cheng Chuliang did not interfere too much.
These merchants must gain benefits. If there is no benefit, they will not come next time a similar thing happens. However, the interests of the court must also be guaranteed. This is a purely commercial behavior, so Cheng Chuliang and the generals in the Western Regions did not interfere too much. Whatever you hype is what it is. Anyway, as long as you argue, it means that these things are valuable. As long as these things are valuable, then this transaction will be successful.
For the entire night, although the surroundings were filled with the smell of cow dung, the spirits of the quartermasters and merchants did not drop at all. Until dawn, many people's faces were still filled with joy!
Basically, everyone was happy. In one night, about 200,000 sheep and 150,000 cattle were traded. As for the collected military horses, it was impossible to sell them outside. These things were also in demand for the Tang Dynasty army.
"Looking at the expression on your face, you haven't slept all night. You must have made a lot of money, right?"
When Cheng Chuliang came to his own account, Feng Chucai and a group of quartermasters were still here doing the accounts. This matter was mainly handed over to him, mainly because there were many people fighting in the army, but not many people who could do the accounts, and not many people could do business to this level.
If Zhang Jiuli were here, there would be no need for them to come up and join in, but Zhang Jiuli is currently settling the various countries in the Western Regions. Dealing with the kings of those countries and the heads of the tribes is not what they are good at.
Xiao Shougui and Zhang Jiuli split their troops into two groups, which calmed down the countries in the Western Regions.
When the Arab Empire and the Tang Dynasty were at war, many of their countries were flirting with the Arab Empire, but we don’t have the time to deal with them now. We can only settle them down first. After the war between us and the Arab Empire is over, you guys will have a way out.
So since neither of these two people could come to Samar Khan City, the situation here had to be handed over to Feng Chucai. This guy was pretty good, although there was a certain gap between him and the two people just now. However, in the process of doing business, he had only one standard, which was to ensure that the Tang Dynasty court had no financial holes.
"The Marshal is right. I almost dried up my voice this evening, but we sold more than we expected. We've received a total of 6 million yuan so far."
This guy said happily. When Cheng Chuliang heard this, his eyes narrowed into slits. According to the original estimate, it would be good to have 5 million yuan. Unexpectedly, there is now an extra 1 million yuan. This means that the war has already recovered the cost.
We still have a lot of things that we haven't dealt with yet. This has already recovered our capital, and the rest is the harvest from the war. What's more, we have only robbed some areas around the city of Samarkand. If we expand outward, there will be more benefits!
So this war is just like the previous ones, there is nothing to lose.
"About those girls?"
Feng Chucai suddenly thought of another thing. Last night, many Western Region merchants noticed these girls in the military camp. Of course, these people could not go to the battlefield to fight. They must be the spoils of the Tang Dynasty army. If they were bought back, they could be exchanged for a lot of money!
"Those people shouldn't think too much about it. These girls won't fetch much money if sold to them. It's better to transport them to Chang'an City and sell them there for a lot of money. Of course, we can also hold an auction in the army. There are many men without wives in the army. I think those girls are not too old, and they are not bad looking. If they can solve many soldiers' problems, that would be a good thing."
Cheng Chuliang was very aware of the stinginess of the merchants in the Western Regions. If they wanted to buy cattle or sheep, they could pay a lot of money, but if they wanted to buy a woman, they would probably not be willing to spend money. In the eyes of merchants from various countries in the Western Regions, the price of a woman was not as much as that of a cow.
But if you send them to Chang'an City, it will be different. If you send them to Chang'an City, you can at least sell them for the price of 2 to 3 cows. Of course, you couldn't sell them at this price in previous years, mainly because everyone was not rich. But now the areas around Chang'an City are very prosperous. If you send such a person there, they will definitely be willing to pay the price of three cows.
"The Marshal is right. These merchants from the Western Regions have never seen money. Bargaining with them is really too tiring. If it weren't for the financial hole of the court, I wouldn't bother to argue with these people for so long. I could just take out my knife."
Feng Chucai's words made everyone laugh. It was difficult enough to let these soldiers do business, and they also had to guarantee the price, so no one was willing to do this. If Feng Chucai hadn't said that, they would have had to bite the bullet and move forward, but they would have probably taken out their knives long ago.
That's why Feng Chu was able to endure until this point, and was able to give us 6 million yuan. This is already quite an easy thing. Moreover, in the process of looting from various tribes, in addition to these cattle, sheep and women, we also got another part of valuable things. Although they are not the most valuable, they can be sold for one or two million yuan without any problem.
"Then I will write a memorial to His Highness. We should be able to pay 8 million yuan, right?"
Cheng Chuliang still asked about it. His Highness was under a lot of pressure. The court had complaints about the Western Regions. If this hole was not quickly filled, those people would probably cause a lot of trouble.
"Write 8.5 million. We can ship it this afternoon."
Feng Chucai thought for a while and said, we should try our best to reduce the trouble for His Highness, so we have to pay as much money as possible to avoid those civil servants gossiping.
