Multicolored flags were the symbol of a beastman tribe. Any beastman tribe, no matter how big or small, would have a multicolored flag.
For beastmen, multicolored flags meant stability, auspiciousness, and good luck. This was because multicolored flags were like rainbows to beastmen, and rainbows would only appear after rain. For beastmen, rain was very important. When it rained, the rivers would become bigger, and they would have more water to use. When it rained, the grass on the prairie would grow more luxuriant, and their magic beasts would grow fatter and stronger. Their magic beasts would grow better, and their wealth would increase. Therefore, all beastman tribes would have multicolored flags.
In the prairie, as long as you see a multicolored flag, you would know that you were near a beastman tribe. This was common knowledge among all the people who came to the prairie. Zhao Hai already knew this from the miscellaneous notes he had read.
Zhao Hai let out a long breath and quickly turned to Laura, who was sitting in the carriage and chatting. "I see a multicolored flag."
Laura certainly understood what Zhao Hai meant. She immediately came out of the carriage and followed Zhao Hai's gaze. Sure enough, a multicolored flag appeared in her line of sight.
Laura exhaled and said, "We finally see a beastman tribe. This is great. Tonight, we might be able to drink milk wine and eat roasted argali."
Zhao Hai chuckled. To be honest, after walking for a day in the endless prairie, seeing a multicolored flag really made one's spirit shake. It was like a person living in darkness suddenly seeing a glimmer of light.
Before long, Zhao Hai saw a tent. These tents were very spread out, and on top of one of the tents, there was a large flag with a picture of a cute little pig.
Zhao Hai blinked to make sure that he wasn't mistaken. The flag really did have a cute little pig. Zhao Hai was puzzled as he turned to Laura and asked, "Laura, what tribe is this?"
Laura also saw the little pig flag on top of the tent. She couldn't help but smile. "Do you see the little pig on the flag? Was the little pig's stomach especially big? These Beastmen are a branch of the Pig Tribe, the Big Bellied Pig Tribe. These Pigs aren't very tall, at most two meters tall. They can be considered small among the Beastmen, but their bellies are very big. Their bellies are exposed all year round, but don't underestimate them. Their bellies are the toughest part of their bodies. This tribe is only one race, so their fighting strength isn't very strong. However, they have a unique skill, which is to drink water and then use their bellies to spray out water arrows. The water they spray out can generally spray up to thirty meters away. Its strength is equivalent to a Human's arrow. It's because of this ability that they didn't become slaves. "
Zhao Hai was very curious. He really felt that the world was big and there were all kinds of strange things. To think that there would be such a race, it was too interesting.
Zhao Hai turned his head to Laura and said, "What do you think of their character? They wouldn't suddenly become bandits, right? "
Laura shook her head and smiled. "They won't. Their character is very gentle. They belong to a branch of the Fragrant Pig Tribe. As long as you don't bully them, they won't rob you. They are also a very hospitable race, and they mainly raise argali for a living."
Zhao Hai knew that argali were level one magic beasts. They were the most commonly raised magic beasts in the Beastmen Prairie. Their skin could be used to make clothes, their hair could be used to make blankets, their meat could be eaten, and their horns could be made into weapons. It could be said that the Beastmen couldn't live without argali.
In the places where the Human race lived, it was very rare to see people raising argali. This was because argali were only suitable for living in the Prairie. If they were brought to the Human race, they would get sick. Therefore, in the Beastmen's view, argali were the Beast God's greatest gift to them.
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "That's good. Let's rest here today. If they need it, we can sell them some food. Right, how do we trade with the Beastmen?"
Laura smiled and said, "This isn't difficult. As long as we bring food to them, they will take the initiative to come and trade with us. However, they will generally use their magic beasts to trade. They won't directly use gold or silver to trade. Only a few large war tribes will directly use gold or silver to trade. Therefore, we still need to turn the magic beasts they trade to us into money."
Zhao Hai said, "How much bamboo rice does it cost to trade for an argali?"
Laura smiled faintly and said, "500 kilograms."
"500 kilograms? You're not joking? "Zhao Hai was surprised. The price that Laura said really surprised him.
The reason why Zhao Hai was so surprised was because of the argali's size. An adult argali could grow up to 1.5 meters and weigh up to 400 kilograms. Even carrying an adult wouldn't be a problem. Moreover, an argali could produce 100 kilograms of wool at a time. If an argali was transported back to the Purcell Duchy, even if it wasn't raised, it would be killed and sold. The price of an argali would be at least 15 gold coins. A thousand kilograms of bamboo rice, to be honest, could be sold for 1 gold coin. Fifteen times the profit, wasn't this too high?
Laura knew why Zhao Hai was surprised. She smiled faintly and said, "This sounds very high, but in fact, it's not as high as you think. You should know that transporting things to the Beastmen Prairie is all smuggled. In the process of smuggling, you need to deal with the city defense forces and open up all the joints. This is not a small expense, and when you arrive at the Beastmen Prairie, you might be robbed. Therefore, if you really calculate, the cost of transporting a thousand kilograms of bamboo rice to the Beastmen Prairie is about 3 gold coins. If you really calculate the cost of transporting the argali back to the Beastmen Prairie, then the cost will increase again. When you arrive at the Continent, the cost of an argali will be seven to eight gold coins, and this doesn't include being robbed. You should know that anyone who comes to the Beastmen Prairie to do business, except for those who cooperate with the Great War Clan, will be robbed. If you calculate every ten times, then out of ten times, ordinary merchants will be robbed three to four times.
Zhao Hai nodded. He could understand this point. If the cost was high, then the price would naturally go up. If the cost was too low, then no one would do this business. In the end, the ones who would suffer the biggest loss wouldn't be the humans, but the beastmen. If the beastmen didn't do well, then the beastmen would rebel again.
Zhao Hai turned to look at Laura and said, "What price do you think we should use to trade with them?"
Laura smiled faintly and said, "A thousand kilograms of argali."
Zhao Hai nodded. He didn't have as high a cost as those merchants. The bamboo rice was produced by the space, and the argali could also be stored in the space's warehouse. He didn't need to do anything, and there was almost no extra cost. A thousand kilograms of argali was almost a net profit for him. Moreover, a thousand kilograms of argali wouldn't have too much of an impact on the entire Beastmen Prairie's food prices. This price was still very reasonable.
Nier and Meg stood behind the two people, quietly listening to these words. Meg didn't feel anything. For her, as long as she took care of Zhao Hai, then it was fine. These business matters had always been handled by Zhao Hai, so she didn't feel jealous.
Although in the eyes of outsiders, she and Laura were love rivals, in Meg's eyes, this wasn't the case at all. She didn't want to compete with Laura. She only hoped that she could stay by Zhao Hai's side and be satisfied. In addition, Laura was indeed very talented and strong in business. This was something she couldn't compare to.
Meg had already reserved a place for herself early on, so she wasn't jealous of Laura. On the contrary, the more Laura was capable, the happier she was. This was because the more capable Laura was, the stronger the Buda clan would become. This was what Meg wanted to see.
They chatted as they walked. Before long, they were about to arrive at the tent. The people in the tent had also discovered them. Immediately, more than twenty shadows rushed towards them. These people were accompanied by dogs.
When these people got closer, Zhao Hai discovered that these twenty people were all cavalry. But what made Zhao Hai want to laugh was that their mounts were actually pigs.
Yes, pigs. They were two meters long, weighed more than a thousand pounds, and had two long tusks. The cavalry riding the pigs made Zhao Hai think of a person, Zhu Bajie.
They were too similar. They were like Zhu Bajie wearing prairie clothes. These people wore leather hats on their heads and leather clothes on their bodies. But they had big pig heads on their thick necks. Their white bellies were exposed, and a layer of black hair could be seen on their bellies. As long as they were given a monk's robe and palladium, they would look like Zhu Bajie. They didn't even need to wear makeup.
Zhao Hai wanted to laugh, but he felt that it would be too impolite. Moreover, if he laughed at these Beastmen, it would cause a conflict. Because of this, he restrained himself and calmed himself down.
Beside the pig-headed knights were several dogs. These dogs were very special, each of them was about a meter tall and had long fur. However, they ran very fast and didn't bark randomly. Their two sharp fangs were also exposed outside of their mouths. It was clear that they weren't easy to deal with.
Zhao Hai and the others immediately stopped. They weren't on guard, and they showed a friendly appearance. Sure enough, the pig-headed cavalry also slowed down. At this time, Zhao Hai discovered that these big-bellied pig-headed riders were holding weapons in their hands. Their weapons could only be described as simple and crude. They looked like sheep heads with wooden handles attached to them. Some of them didn't even have wooden handles, but handles made out of beast bones.
However, Zhao Hai didn't dare to look down on these weapons. These sheep heads were very big, and it was clear that they weren't light. If one was hit by these things, then one's bones would definitely be broken.