Chapter 52

"鳌拜, enough... You shut up!"

Just as Ao Bai was being provoked by Yueyang's words, Dai Shan spoke up from the side.

Dai Shan was not like the hot-tempered Ao Bai. As the second son of Nurhaci, he was much more composed than Ao Bai. Moreover, it was he who had instructed Ao Bai to provoke the other party. Now, seeing Ao Bai fuming with anger, he naturally could not sit idly by.

Dai Shan looked at Yueyang with a playful gaze and said, "Young man, to insult us in front of the Later Jin warriors, you have quite some nerve!"

Yueyang stared back at Dai Shan and retorted without backing down, "A man must first disgrace himself before others will disgrace him. If Ao Bai hadn't insulted us first, would I have acted like this?"

"Enough, this is not the time to talk about this! You should quickly order your people to stop, or this Prince will issue an order to turn your mere thousand-strong caravan into ashes!" Dai Shan looked at the thousand soldiers led by Hu Lao San, who were steadily advancing, with disdain.

Dai Shan's tone was arrogant, but Yueyang surprisingly did not argue. After all, although Dai Shan's words were arrogant, he had a reason to be so. After all, Yueyang's troops were purely infantry, while the other side was entirely cavalry. As long as they were willing, they could easily play with Yueyang on the vast grassland. The reason Yueyang had taken a combative stance earlier was because he was provoked by Ao Bai. Yueyang had never been insulted so badly in his life, and if he didn't respond, he would probably have a psychological shadow for the rest of his life.

Yueyang took out a whistle and blew it. Soon after the whistle sounded, the thousand guards who were advancing toward Yueyang quickly stopped.

At this moment, Yueyang looked at Dai Shan for a long time and then clasped his hands and said, "Sir, I am just a merchant, here to do business with the科尔沁部落. When traveling, I only seek profit. If this general hadn't pushed me too far, I wouldn't have resorted to force. If I offended you in any way, I hope you can forgive me."

While saying this, Yueyang sighed in his heart. In recent days, he had entered the space many times and conducted many experiments. However, he discovered a very strange issue: this spatial gate was very peculiar. Apart from himself, it could not transport living things. Once a living thing was transported through this spatial gate, it would be sent to an unknown place. Yueyang had tried this multiple times with the same result.

What was even more frustrating was that the spatial gate could not transport objects larger than itself. This limitation sometimes troubled Yueyang greatly. For example, once Yueyang tried to transport a truck, but it was blocked during the process. This discovery also made Yueyang's plan to form a transport fleet in the Ming Dynasty fall through. If not for these restrictions, Yueyang wouldn't have to run out to the frontier to buy horses.

Seeing Yueyang order his troops to stop advancing, Dai Shan asked again, "Young man, since you are here to do business, this Prince would like to ask what you have brought to sell to the科尔沁部落?"

Yueyang smiled faintly and pointed to the caravan behind him, "This time, I have brought a lot of goods, such as salt, tea bricks, and clothing. I hope to exchange these for some things from the科尔沁部落."

"Oh!"

As soon as Yueyang finished speaking, Zaisan, who had been silently watching the confrontation from his horse, suddenly brightened his eyes. It was almost winter, and those who had not been to the grasslands did not know how harsh the winter could be. If not handled properly, many people would die. Salt, tea bricks, clothing, and even iron pots for cooking were all things they desperately needed. The goods this caravan had brought were exactly what the科尔沁部落needed.

"Boy, have you really brought a large amount of salt and tea bricks?" Zaisan asked.

"Indeed!" Yueyang nodded.

"Then what do you want to exchange for? Fur or cattle and sheep?" Zaisan asked again.

Yueyang looked at Zaisan with some hesitation and asked, "You are..."

At this moment, Li Yuan's urgent voice came to his ear, "This is Zaisan, the leader of the科尔沁部落."

"Oh, you are the leader of the科尔沁部落!" Yueyang was quite surprised. He didn't expect this thin and frail old man to be the leader of a tribe with tens of thousands of people. After hesitating for a moment, Yueyang said, "This... Leader Zaisan, perhaps we should discuss this in more detail."

"Oh... Yes... Yes..." Zaisan looked around and realized that the three groups were still hostile to each other, which was not a good place to talk. He scratched his head and laughed, "Right, right, right. If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have noticed. This is indeed not a good place to talk. Young man, quickly bring your caravan in. Once you are settled, we can discuss in detail. Wudamu, take care of the guests and make sure they are comfortable! Lord Dai Shan, you are a noble eagle with a broad heart. I'm sure you won't mind a small misunderstanding, right?"

What could Dai Shan say? He couldn't say he minded, so he could only force a smile and say, "Of course not, do as you please!"

After receiving the leader's instructions, Wudamu acknowledged Zaisan and then rode up to Yueyang, giving him a strange look before saying, "Lucky boy, follow me!"

Since the matter had been resolved, the three groups slowly dispersed under the orders of their respective officers. Before leaving, Ao Bai glared at Yueyang with a fierce look, as if to say, "Boy, you wait and see!"

Yueyang ignored it. If looks could kill, humans would have been extinct long ago.

Under Wudamu's lead, Yueyang's caravan quickly set up camp. After they settled in, Li Yuan found Yueyang, looked at him for a while, and then shook his head helplessly, "After we return, I will never go out to do business with you again. What you did today was not doing business; it was just asking for trouble. If it weren't for Leader Zaisan, we would all have lost our heads. Why are you so hot-headed? I've told you so many times, and you still insult people to their face. Do you want to die that badly?"

Yueyang knew he had been too rash today. If things had gone wrong, his entire caravan would have been in trouble. He smiled bitterly and apologized, "Master Li, I'm really sorry about today. I was too hasty, but we are citizens of the Ming Dynasty. If they call us dogs and we remain silent, we would be ashamed to face our ancestors!"

"Ah..." Hearing Yueyang's words, Li Yuan fell silent. After a while, he said gloomily, "Alright, after we finish our transactions tomorrow, we will return immediately!"

"Alright!" Yueyang had no objections. He now realized that his trip to the frontier to buy horses had been somewhat rash. After all, this was the territory of the Mongols and the Later Jin, and at any moment, they could be wiped out.

"Ah... After we return this time, I must quickly develop firearms!" Thinking about today's events, Yueyang made a firm decision in his heart.

Time passed slowly, and the sky gradually darkened. After Yueyang and Li Yuan had dinner, Wudamu came to their camp and told them that Zaisan had invited them to visit.

Hearing Wudamu's words, Yueyang and Li Yuan exchanged glances, both showing curiosity. It was so late, what was Zaisan up to? Despite their confusion, they followed Wudamu.

Soon, the two were brought to Zaisan's tent. Zaisan welcomed them with a smile and gave each of them a hug. For others, being hugged by the tribal leader was a great honor, but for Yueyang, it was a torment. When he hugged Zaisan, a mix of sheep odor and sweat smell hit his nose, almost making him fall over. He barely managed to keep from vomiting.

Fortunately, after hugging them, Zaisan let them sit down. Soon, someone served them horse milk wine. Yueyang took a few sips and found the horse milk wine to be sour and sweet with a strange taste. After a couple of sips, he put down the cup and said to Zaisan, "Leader Zaisan, we owe you a lot today. Otherwise, we would have been in big trouble!"

"Ha ha ha..." Zaisan laughed, "It's nothing. Ao Bai was indeed too arrogant. It's good for him to get a lesson. Besides, it was just a small effort for me."

After the formalities, Zaisan's expression became more serious. He looked at Yueyang with a solemn expression and said the following words...

PS: Request for recommendations, and three-river recommendations!

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