Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

Chapter 1948 1418: The Golden Clan, the Best Trading Partner!

"The Great Chief has ordered! The group identified on the other side is here for trade! Lower the weapons at the front line, and the Vanguard Guard should retreat to rest below the ships!… Also, the Great Chief instructs the Ainu Tribe to back off by half a li, then sit down and rest for a while. Their formation is already in total disarray, and the team leader Samurai needs to instruct them properly! However, it's already much improved from last time...""Kudo Chief Retainer orders! Ryu-Tetsu Horses dismount for rest, Spear Samurai stay where you are and rest!…"

Both armies maintained a safe distance and faced off for a long time, realizing it's unlikely to lead to a fight, they both put down their weapons. The face-off at the front line is very exhausting, and even more so when armored. However, both sides remain cautious, making it impossible for the soldiers to remove their armor. Meanwhile, envoys continue to move back and forth across the river, enhancing communication and mutual trust between the leaders of both sides.

"Hachiman Mahasattva protect us! Those heavy-armored Shandian Warriors have finally retreated! This group of thirty gave me more pressure than three hundred Anton Flag Captains! They are as terrifying as the legendary Ghost Warriors in picture books! Ah! Shandian's Ghost Warriors..."

Kudo Chief Retainer sat on horseback, his back finally able to relax. His vigilant eyes persistently followed the group of heavy-armored archers on the hillside, all the way to the oar-sail ship fleet further back. He was very certain that these were a new team of heavy-armored warriors brought out by the Shandan Chief!

Each of them was as tall as an iron tower, and had not appeared in last year's battles, along with those few tall Jurchen Stallions, each at the level of a family head's mount. The terrifying combat power of these iron-tower warriors could be glimpsed from their fierce, tiger-like aura. He absolutely did not want to experience it personally!...

"Divine Buddha! The power displayed by this Great Shandian Tribe is getting stronger! What else could be hidden behind them? Is this an especially powerful Great Yuan Invasion Tribe, or an alliance of many tribes?..."

Kudo Chief Retainer fell into deep thought. He vaguely sensed the growth of this "Golden Clan's" power and the relationship between this growth and the "Golden Trade." Just like the big armor on those iron-tower warriors always gave him a familiar Japanese style, as if they were modified from traded iron armor. And the Kaozaki family's "Golden Trade" seemed like feeding a young fierce tiger; once it grew up, the balance of power would no longer be equal...

"Hachiman Mahasattva! The Kaozaki family must grow in strength quickly! The main family must quickly annex Matsumae and completely control Japanese Land, as swiftly as possible!"

"Rice house owner! Here's the gift from the Shandan Chief in return for you!…"

"Hmm? This weight? What is this?..."

On the Biancai merchant ship, Mori no Kiyoshi received the exquisite wooden box sent over, and upon opening it, a dazzling golden light met his eyes. Two pieces, each weighing one jin of gold, gallantly pressed upon his kasaya robe, along with a piece of bark paper. The writing on this paper seemed to be written with a rare feather pen, very delicate.

The handwriting curved like a drawing, and looked very special. Most of it was in Chinese, with some radical pictographs formed from simplified strokes, whose meanings could be vaguely guessed. This writing, although based on the framework of Chinese, was unlike the styles of regular script, cursive script, or clerical script he had encountered before; instead, it carried a somewhat more ancient flavor...

"The gift accounts. For what you sent, two gold blocks... Hmm? What is this written?..."

Mori no Kiyoshi examined it carefully for a long time before discovering that this Shandian reply was written horizontally from left to right, with auxiliary punctuation marks used for sentence breaks. The wording in the reply was very colloquial and straightforward, easy to understand.

"Two gold talismans are given to you. Consider them as a return gift..."

"This piece of field pattern silk clothes, I do not want it anymore!..."

"Your letter is messed up, I do not understand. Write properly next time!"

Seeing this, Mori no Kiyoshi rubbed his chin. It seemed this Shandan Chief of the "Golden Clan" had some cultural heritage, but not much? Yet their return gift was genuinely generous and bold, giving two jin of gold right off the bat!

One must know that those two pieces of silk clothes, although top products locally made in Mountain City Country, did not cost him more than 4 liang of gold directly from the workshop as a local wealthy merchant. But this 2-jin, 32-liang return gift was a full eight times that! The profit here is huge indeed! This "Golden Clan" truly lives up to its name! The most they should have is surely...

"Divine blessing... I've seen the goods list. I want it all! Just set it at last time's price!"

"Deal by the river. Hand over goods with one hand and take gold with the other!"

"Hmm? This peculiar character? Is it the bird pattern behind the gold talisman?..."

Mori no Kiyoshi's eyes flashed, first looking at that hummingbird graphic symbol representing the Chief Divine. Although he did not recognize this Mexica new character meaning "Chief Divine," he had seen it many times on the back of those gold talismans. It seemed to be the totem of the Great Shandian Tribe? Could it be the "Divine Eagle" worshipped by the Yuan Invasion?...

Then, his pupils contracted, revealing a surprised look.

"They really want it all?! This entire batch of goods, in total, would amount to dozens, if not hundreds of jin of gold! Can the Shandan people... no, the Golden Clan, really bring that out? This would be problematic if they can't pay on credit... And the selling price of this batch of goods, minus the cost, would yield not twice but three times the profit!"...

Thinking of this, Mori no Kiyoshi's heart surged as he gazed across at the Shandan Chief on the oar-sail ship, as if he saw the "Divine Buddha" in a golden glow. "Divine Buddha" Zuwaro smiled at him and nodded, pointing to the Long River while saying a brief phrase in Nava. Although Mori no Kiyoshi couldn't hear the words nor understand the mouth shape, he instantly grasped the meaning!

"The Divine Buddha has arrived, and gold is plentiful!..."

"Zou Jirou!..."

"House owner?..."

"Begin the trade! Start with trading two ships of cattle and horses! Then trade the ship of craftsmen! Then the ship of rice, finally trade the ship filled with tea, wine, salt, iron pots, weapons, armor!..."

"Yes! House owner!..."

Soon, beside the winding river, the cries of large herds of cattle and horses sounded, along with the shouts of warriors from both sides. Each time a warrior of the Kingdom led over two bulls, or three horses, they would hand Zou Jirou a Gold Talisman! And with the overwhelming numbers, after trading four male water buffaloes, twenty female water buffaloes, thirty female horses, there were twenty-two Gold Talismans, weighing twenty-two jin of gold!

With the two ships of cattle and horses traded, the warriors of the Kingdom grinned from ear to ear. Especially those petite female horses, which made the warriors extra careful. Because, with each additional female horse, each year could bring a new foal. And as long as the herd grew strong, every warrior could become Mounted Infantry, or even Cavalry!

"Divine... Buddha! Twenty-two jin, eight taels of gold? At the rate of 1 jin of gold equaling 90 copper coins, that's two thousand and twenty-five coins?! Two thousand coins of big money, just...on my back?!"...

At this moment, the twenty-two jin of gold directly burdened Zou Jirou's back. He trembled all over, and his speech stuttered. To be safe, he cautiously watched across the river, hastily returning to the ship to place the backpack filled with gold at the feet of Mori no Kiyoshi, the house owner!

"House owner! Two ships of cattle and horses, twenty-four cattle, thirty horses, have sold for 22 jin, 8 taels of gold! These Shandan people's Gold Talismans are quite hefty in weight, some even more so... They're truly the most generous trading partners, significantly more lavish than the trading groups at Sakai Port!..."

"Hmm! I've seen it all!... Does Ando Chief Retainer know this weight?"

"He only knows it's twenty-two jin."

"Then let's count on twenty-two jin! What's our cost?"...

"Ah... each Omi ox cost 12 coins at purchase, each Mutsu mare cost 10 coins. Counting the cattle and horses given to the Kaozaki Family, this purchase was large, so the price was rather low... Total cost is 588 coins, approximately 6 jin, 5 taels of gold, pure profit over cost, this is about 30 percent!..."

"Hmm... Zou Jirou, calculate according to Mutsu market rates. We are to give the Kaozaki Family 'half' share bonus, as agreed at market rates."

"Ah yes! House owner, I understand!..."

Zou Jirou quickly bowed, once again demonstrating his skill in mental calculation. As an East Asian merchant, if one couldn't do mental calculations swiftly, then a lifetime would only see one as a low-level apprentice or Shou Dai. As for Central American merchants weighing gold by jin and packing spices by bags, Zou Jirou found it unimaginable!...

"At market rates, each Omi cow is 15 coins, each Mutsu mare is also 15 coins... that's 810 coins, converted to 9 jin of gold! With a profit of 22 jin of gold, 13 jin of pure profit, giving half to the Kaozaki Family... is 6 jin 8 taels!..."

"Hmm, income 22 jin 8 taels, cost 6 jin 5 taels, bonus 6 jin 8 taels, pure income 9 jin 11 taels... The portion given to the Kaozaki Family is still slightly too much! But it doesn't matter, the majority of this bonus will be converted to brought-in goods and handed over to the Kaozaki Family, with another round of 30 percent profit!"...

As the rice house owner, Mori no Kiyoshi's mental arithmetic naturally surpassed Zou Jirou's. Just in a few breaths, he calculated the profit from this trade that belongs purely to the rice house. Then, with shining eyes, he gazed at the box full of Gold Talismans, as if enveloped in endless gold glow in an instant!

"Ah, the gold glow of the Divine Buddha! Calculating like this, trading gold with the Shandan, even without reckoning the additional power of gold in my hand, even just considering the intrinsic value of gold!... It's a pure profit of 20 percent!"...

"And if adding the leverage effect of gold, the credit effect, the gift effect, the market expansion effect, the potential returns this 'Shandan Trade' can bring in the future... should at least double, up to a total of 60 percent return!"

After calculating all this, Mori no Kiyoshi abruptly raised his head, bowing deeply towards Zuwaro's direction for a full ten seconds. And only after successfully catching Zuwaro's attention did he adjust his attire, confidently smiling and gesturing towards the trading riverside.

"Zou Jirou! Take two monk soldiers and accompany me off the ship!... I want to personally introduce the third ship of Kinki craftsmen to the esteemed Golden Clan, to my best trading partner, the Mongolian Chief from the North!"