Chapter 522 – Four Tribes
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "So it's like that. That explains why you trust Ah Tai so much and also why sister-in-law isn't very polite to you."
Laura smiled and said, "Actually, Uncle Ah Tai isn't suitable for business, he's too honest. But him being in the Prairie is good, the Beastmen like his strength. He's also a very strict person when it comes to status, he only wanted me to call him Ah Tai, I'm not allowed to call him uncle."
Zhao Hai smiled, then he looked at Ah Tai with appreciation. Megan looked at Ah Tai and his wife and said to Laura, "Why do I think that Ah Tai is scared of sister-in-law?"
Laura looked at the couple and smiled, "That's true, Uncle Ah Tai is very honest, and he also liked sister-in-law very much. However, because of his appearance, he chose to not dare confess. Later on, sister-in-law took the initiative and asked uncle to marry her, which made uncle happy. Since then, sister-in-law has always been favored by Uncle Ah Tai, almost to a point where he'll always be following her."
Meg sighed and said, "It's been hard for them being in the Prairie for this long of a time. It seems like their appearances had already adapted to this place."
Laura nodded and sighed, "I initially wanted someone else to head to the Prairie, but I just cannot find an appropriate person. It was the two of them who requested me to allow them to go, I really don't want to let them go but I had to agree in the end because of their constant requests."
At this time, Ah Da and Ah Er came in from outside. When the two entered the tent, Ah Tai immediately scolded them, "You two rascals, you saw the Young Lady and the Young Master earlier but you didn't greet them. Go quickly give them your greetings now."
The two nodded and then arrived to Laura and Zhao Hai before giving their greetings. Laura looked at the two and smiled, "Ah Da, Ah Er, you grow up very quick. You two weren't this tall when I saw you a while ago."
Ah Da laughed foolishly and said, "Yes, Young Lady, we've been having good food recently, so we grew bigger and bigger." Ah Er nodded in support. When Zhao Hai looked at the two, he couldn't help but laugh, they were too adorable.
At this time, Sister-in-law came and said, "Young Lady, Young Master, the meal has been prepared." Laura and Zhao Hai nodded, then they stood up before heading towards the Magic Stove.
This Magic Stove was fabricated according to the customs of the Beastmen. The middle of the furnace was heated up using a magical formation while its rims were made of wide stone that could be made into small tables.
In the middle of the stove, a large flat iron pan was placed. The iron pan seems to be lathered with lard. Around it were plates with meat and vegetables.
Zhao Hai had a feeling of being out of place. He felt like he had returned to Earth and was having barbecue with his friends.
After Ah Tai's wife asked them to sit down, Ah Da immediately gave them glasses before pouring them some wine. At this time, the lard had already melted, so Ah Tai immediately laid the slices of meat over to the pan.
After Zhao Hai and the others finished drinking, Ah Tai had already flipped the meats over, filling the entire tent with a pleasant smell.
Ah Tai held his wine glass up this time and then looked at Zhao Hai's group and said, "Young Master, Young Ladies, since I wasn't able to participate in your wedding ceremony, I can only offer you a toast right now. I wish you all to be happy and to have a completely joyful life."
Zhao Hai and the others also quickly held their glasses up. Zhao Hai smiled to Ah Tai and his wife and said, "Thank you, thank you. I also wish for your family a happy and joyful life." Then the group simultaneously drank from their glasses.
At this time, when Ah Da was about to refill their liquor, Zhao Hai quickly stopped him. He took the bottle and then served Ah Tai and his wife as well as Laura and the others with liquor. Then he lifted his own glass and said, "Ah Tai, Sister-in-law, you've been working hard for all these years. Let me offer you this glass of wine." Ah Tai and his wife didn't dare to dally as they immediately drank their glass of wine.
Then Laura also got up and poured the group another glass of wine before giving her greetings. The group still hadn't eaten, yet they had already drank three glasses of wine.
Zhao Hai and the others had always greeted other Beastmen this way, so they had already formed a habit. At the same time, Ah Tai's group had also dealt with Beastmen before, so this custom wasn't strange for them.
After drinking three glasses of liquor, the group stopped, then Ah Tai quickly said, "Young Lady, Young Master, have a taste of this barbecue. I've just chopped this meat this morning, and they had now finished cooking. They are definitely delicious."
Laura smiled and said, "Alright, I've been hungry for sister-in-law's barbecue. They're very delicious." Then she grabbed a two-pronged fork next to the pan and got herself some few slices of meat. Then she sliced it with her knife before placing a morsel into her mouth.
Zhao Hai and the others followed her example, they forked some meat into their own plates then ate it. Not to mention the fragrance of the barbecue, the pieces of meat were also very large and thick. Even if they were cooked, they weren't fully done. The meat was slightly red but it was very tender and delicious.
When Zhao Hai ate a piece of the meat, he nodded and said, "Delicious, this so delicious. Sister-in-law's cooking is very good. If you open a shop selling these barbecue, it would certainly do very well."
As soon as Ah Tai's wife heard Zhao Hai, a smile blossomed on her mouth as she said, "If Young Master likes it very much, then you should eat more."
The group continued to eat and chat. Before long, they had unconsciously ate until they are full. The only ones left eating were Ah Da and Ah Er. Zhao Hai and the others were now just drinking and chatting.
Ah Tai turned to Zhao Hai and Laura then said, "Young Lady, Young Master, there has been rumors going around Beast God City saying that the Beastmen may declare war with the Humans. They might expel Human Merchants. What do you think about this matter?"
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "We already know about this, rest assured. Even if they do drive the other Merchants away, that doesn't apply to us. We have the Herculean Bulls' King's Flag as well as the Black Bear Tribe's friendship flag."
Ah Tai nodded and said, "Since we have those flags, the Beastmen wouldn't touch us. But Young Master, I've sold the grain that you've given me at normal price. Are you angry?"
Zhao Hai laughed and said, "Of course not, why would I be angry? That's what you decided to do, so it's no problem. Right, I've brought a new type of crop, you'll be selling these later." Then he showed Ah Tai a Bread Fruit.
The food that Zhao Hai gave Ah Tai in the past weren't Bread Fruits, but instead Bamboo Rice. At this time, Zhao Hai took out the Bread Fruits.
When the Bread Fruit was opened and exhibited its pulp, the eyes of Ah Tai and his wife lit up. They dealt with the Beastmen for a long time, so they knew what they needed. This Bread Fruit would definitely be a favorite among the Beastmen.
Zhao Hai gave them the Bread Fruit and then had them taste it, then he said, "Only our Buda Clan has this Bread Fruit. No other people have this in hand. We shall mainly sell these fruits in the future, we have a lot of them. Moreover, we should also sell some daily necessities. The price of the Bread Fruit is half of Bamboo Rice. The price of the necessities shouldn't be very high, maybe a bit higher than its price back on the Human territories."
Ah Tai then said, "Young Master, isn't this too low? This Bread Fruit is much more convenient than Bamboo Rice, it is cost-effective as well. It would still be popular even if we sell it at a high price. Also, those daily necessities, they still needed to be transported to the Prairie, that would cost us. If we do it just like what you said, we would be losing so much money."
Ah Tai was an honest person, but it didn't mean that he was stupid. He knew that when one travels to the Prairie, one would need to go through a lot of checkpoints. Delivering things to the Prairie would generally make the price of the items double. If one doesn't increase the price of the item, they would generally lose out on profits."
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "That's not an issue. I've already calculated the sums, we won't be losing money. Also, if we make a name for ourselves this time, when the Beastmen is done waging war with the Humans, we would become the largest merchant in the Prairie."
When Ah Tai heard Zhao Hai, his eyes couldn’t help but lighten up, then he laughed and said, "Alright. Young Master's words made me feel relieved. I certainly wouldn't disappoint the Young Master."
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "I'll tell you the truth, since the Buda Clan and the Markey Family have been combined, there aren't a lot of people who would dare offend us. However, Ah Tai, you shouldn't presumably think that we can monopolize the business of the Prairie. It's impossible for that to happen."
Ah Tai smiled and said, "Young Master can rest assured, I fully understand."
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "Since the Markey Family has been here for quite some time, we should have some tribes that we directly supply, right? Do we have a deep relationship with them?"
Ah Tai nodded and said, "Before the takeover, the Markey Family supplies four large tribes with food and daily necessities. The four tribes are the Fire Fox tribe, Black Panther tribe, Gibbon tribe, and the Gold-ringed Eagle tribe. These four tribes are all branches of Warring Races. Each year, their food and necessities consumption are quite large. However, the Markey Family's business only accounts for 20 percent of their food supply and 10% of their daily necessity supply."
When he heard Ah Tai, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but frown and said, "What's the problem? Why is it like that?"
Ah Tai sighed and said, "This isn't really a mystery. Even if the goods of the Markey Family are of high quality, their prices were also significantly higher than the other merchants. If not for the fear of having their supply monopolized, those four tribes wouldn't be buying from the Markey Family. This year, even if the Prairie was having a food shortage, those four tribes didn't buy any food from the family. The amount of daily necessities that they bought didn't increase either."
Zhao Hai couldn't help but sigh, he really cannot understand why the Markey Family acted this way. Not only did they offend everyone on the continent, they were also quite overbearing in doing their business. They really think that they were soaring in the heavens and thus became conceited. If Zhao Hai didn't deal with the family, other people would attack them sooner or later.
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "Alright, I understand. Do you know the addresses of these tribes? I plan on visiting them when I have time."
Ah Tai nodded and said, "I know, these four tribes are quite famous in the Prairie. It's very easy to look for them. The Fire Foxes are well-known prophets among the Beastmen. Their abilities are also special. It was said that their spirit technique can summon fire attributed beasts and their attacking abilities are very strong. The Black Panther tribe are one of the very few assassin tribes among the Beastmen. Their stealth techniques are very formidable. The Black Panthers were the people who clashed with Human assassins during wars. The Gibbon Tribe are one of the main forces of the Beastmen. They dual wield scimitars, and their movements are very flexible. They are the ones who generally attack the walls of Human cities. The Gold-ringed Eagle tribe are also one of the main battle force of the Beastman Race. Their bodies aren’t' very huge, but they are very skilled in archery. And because of their unique mount, they were also one of the most famous aerial scouts in the Prairie."
Zhao Hai nodded, "That's good. It seems like now is not the right time to visit them. The war between the Beastmen and Humans are inevitable. It would be impossible to sell food at this time since the Beastmen are going to pillage them from the humans. You don't need to get busy at this time, just stay here in Beast God City. I don’t think that this war would go on for too long. As soon as the war is over, we should try to be the first to establish new connections to the Beastmen. It'll be the opportune time to form partnerships with the tribes."
Ah Tai nodded and said, "Young Master can rest assured, I know what to do. I originally have a cooperation with the Pig-headed Race. But they are just too far and is only a commoner race. Recently, I've been planning on getting in touch with the Tiger-headed race. If we can get a partnership with them, we won't be worrying about where to sell our goods later."
Zhao Hai nodded, the Tiger-headed Race and the Lion-headed Race are considered to be the Royal Races of the Beastmen. These two races have innumerable amounts of subordinate and slave races under them. Because of how much excess manpower they have, they can fully devote themselves into improving their fighting strength. Because of this, they have become leagues stronger than the other Beastman races. Adding on to the fact that these two races were very rich, Zhao Hai wouldn’t worry about not selling his goods anymore.
Chapter 523 – The State of the Human Merchants
Zhao Hai was very satisfied with Ah Tai's work ethic. This may be because of his personality. It explains why he was able to thrive here in the Prairie. He also heard from Ah Tai that he was able to make many friends among the Beastmen.
But Zhao Hai kept calm, he knew that since the Beastmen were getting ready to fight the Humans, the chances of Ah Tai's plan with the Tiger Race succeeding wouldn't be big.
However, Zhao Hai didn't say anything since he didn't want to dampen Ah Tai's enthusiasm. It wouldn't be good for Ah Tai, if he doesn't have a spirited attitude, he wouldn't have a lot of Beastman Friends.
After eating their meal, Zhao Hai and the others didn’t leave. They entered one of the tents that Ah Tai arranged and rested. At the same time, Ah Tai's wife also offered them some milk tea.
Although ordinary tea was available, milk tea was instead served. This was because since they had eaten meat, milk tea would be better for them. Another reason was because they were in the Prairie, ordinary tea was rare, Beastmen weren't used to drinking it.
Zhao Hai had interacted with the Beastmen for quite a long time, so they were already used to drinking milk tea. Zhao Hai took a sip and sighed, "I didn't have the opportunity to get a tea tree all this time. I really want to plant one in the Space."
Laura smiled and said, "What's wrong, Brother Hai? Do you really like to drink milk tea?"
Zhao Hai smiled faintly, and didn't respond. He cannot tell Laura that he didn't really like drinking milk tea. What he wanted was classic green tea.
Megan didn't care about any of these, so she turned to Zhao Hai and asked, "Big Brother Hai, what do we do now? Now that Ah Tai told us that the war between the Humans and the Beastmen is about to start, do we stay here or do we return to the continent?"
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Don't worry, at this point the continent should be very chaotic. Father-In-law has already arranged to inform all of the people in the continent about the Radiant Church's hand in the Prairie's food shortage. And because of their move, the Beastmen are now planning its big attack on the Aksu Empire. All of Aksu Empire's residents know that if the Beastmen wage war against humans, the Aksu Empire would be the first to suffer. The Radiant Church should have fallen in favor right now, but not to a point where they can't control it. We can wait for a moment until we confirm that the Beastmen would indeed attack the Humans, then we can return back to the continent."
Megan became confused, "Why would we return to the continent at that time?"
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Only when the situation starts would the continent go into turmoil. If we there at that time, there would a possibility for us to get some people. Don't forget, we are friends with the Purcell Family and the Iksa Family. Their territories are bordering the Beastman Prairie. At that time, we can go to them and recruit some talented people into our territory."
Laura smiled and said, "I've heard that the Purcell Family hasn't been doing too well these times. When you helped them in the past, the Aksu Empire came to know about your relationship. Because of that, the Empire went and fully suppressed them. At the same time, your relationship with the Iksa Family has been revealed as well, which led to them also being suppressed. The two families have had it hard these past few months."
Zhao Hai's expression turned cold, then he snorted and said, "If the Aksu Empire didn't do this, I might have helped them in this crisis, I might even prevent the Beastmen from attacking. But now, it seems like they needed to be taught a lesson."
Laura and the others understood what Zhao Hai meant. Since he had a lot of Bread Trees as well as the Farming Ground, Zhao Hai can definitely provide food for the entire Beastman Race. If the Beastmen have food, then they would naturally stop their plan of pillaging the Human territories. Even if the Beastmen are hot blooded, they also know that wars bring death. They know that war wasn't a good choice.
But Zhao Hai didn't want to give the Beastmen a lot of food. He wanted this war to happen. Not only would the upcoming conflict deal a heavy blow to the Aksu Empire, it would also bring bigger trouble to the Radiant Church.
In the following days, Zhao Hai and the others stayed inside the store. He brought out some Bamboo Rice as well as some Bread Fruits and daily necessities. He stocked the store full of goods.
But restocking a shop wasn't generally this fast. Not only the Magic Lily Shop, all other Human shops were also like this. Their shipments this time had gotten quite scarce, this made them very anxious.
When these Human merchants came to the Prairie, they didn't know about the Beastmen's food shortage. They also didn't know that the Beastmen were going to attack the Humans. Because of this, they followed their usual practice and brought the same amount of goods to the Prairie once spring came. This was because they knew that this was the time where business with the Beastmen yielded great profits. It was the time when the Beastmen would crazily purchase goods to stock up because they had eaten their stores during the winter. If one brings some goods to sell at this time, they wouldn't be worried of not making a profit.
But this year's situation was different. When the Merchants came, business was doing great as usual. However, when information came that the Radiant Church was behind this time's food shortage and that the Beastmen were going to send troops towards the Human territory, the sales volume of these Human Merchants dropped in a single day. Right now, they weren't able to make the same amount of transactions as they did in the past. With how low their profits came, these Human Merchants wished that they could just die.
These merchants knew that if the Beastmen attack Human lands, their goods would be left unsold. This was because as long as Beastmen pillaged the Human territories, they would have enough food in their hands to merit not buying anymore.
And these Human Merchants have brought a lot of things to the Prairie this time. But now, the goods would have to rot here because they knew that they would probably be driven out once the war starts. It would be impossible for them to bring those goods back to the Human lands, they don't have any choice than to just leave them here.
But even if the Beastmen didn't touch the things that they left behind because of their principle, once they leave, nobody would take care of their goods. Before long, those things would slowly get damage, this was equal to losing everything.
Zhao Hai had also seen the situation during these past few days. He knew that the merchants had been bleeding money at this time. He was also certain that these people didn't have any relationship with the Radiant Church, they might even have an enmity with the organization. Otherwise, the Church should've already informed them, making them avoid jumping into this fiery pit.
Upon thinking about it, Zhao Hai understood another aspect of the Radiant Church's plan. If the Radiant Church succeeds and has all the blame shifted to the Rosen Empire, these merchants would detest the Empire. And when the Church emerged and the Merchants discovered that those affiliated to the organization didn't suffer any losses, they would be joining the Radiant Church. When that happens, the Church would then control the Merchants in the Prairie. They would then have a bargaining piece against the Beastmen. The Church's plan was truly brilliant.
If not for Zhao Hai foiling the church's plan, then both the Rosen Empire and the Beastmen wouldn't have any good days.
But now that Zhao Hai was aware of the Church's plan, he naturally wouldn't let them succeed. Zhao Hai observed these merchants for several days. The Merchants have reached a point where they were just left grasping on straws. They cannot bring their goods back, but they couldn't sell it as well. The only reason why they haven't left Beast God City yet was because they can still make one or two transactions each day. They hoped to sell as much as possible to minimize their losses. They only planned to leave once the Beastmen started to drive them out.
This gave Zhao Hai see an opportunity. He can buy the goods of these Merchants since they're going to be abandoned anyway. If he buy these things, he would be solving the Merchants' greatest problem. He can also form a good relationship with these Merchants. They would then be grateful to him and they might even affect the Radiant Church's relationships with other merchants, preventing the food shortage from happening again.
After thinking of this, Zhao Hai immediately told his plan to Laura. Regarding business matters, Zhao Hai always wanted to hear Laura's opinion. Laura's gift of commerce was something that no normal person had.
After Laura heard Zhao Hai's idea, she immediately gave her approval, she also thought that this was a good plan. Upon arriving at their decision, they quickly had Ah Tai go out and see those Merchants as well as see their bottom line.
Ah Tai's nickname was Silly Ah Tai. Because of this, the other merchants' vigilance towards him was very low. Adding Ah Tai's careless appearance to the formula made the merchants even less on guard. It didn't take a long time before Ah Tai managed to get their bottom line.
The requests of the Merchants weren't high. In their opinion, they already lost out. If they can just recover a little bit of their capital, then they would be happy.