A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

Jia Wanhe invited Zhao Daxuan and the others to sit down at the reception table, and a maid immediately brought tea.

Only then did Jia Wanhe have someone place a large box of jewelry under a table to the side, and then carefully count each piece.

Li Erlong stood to the side, his eyes fixed on the treasures, afraid that Jia Wanhe's eyesight might fail him and he might accidentally drop one of them, which would break his heart.

Seeing this, Zhao Daxuan smiled slightly and did not stop him, letting Li Erlong stare at him.

He picked up his teacup and slowly sipped his tea, tapping his fingers lightly on the table as he pondered how to bargain later.

After a short while, Jia Wanhe removed the last bead from the abacus and finally breathed a sigh of relief, having finished examining each of the jewels in the box.

Jia Wanhe got up and sat down next to Zhao Daxuan. After taking a sip of tea, he slowly spoke.

"Lord Zhao, this box of jewels you possess is quite valuable. May I ask where you obtained it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Daxuan's faint smile vanished, and he said in a deep voice, "Manager Jia, do you at Sihai Money Exchange have to ask this when pawning goods?"

Jia Wanhe chuckled, "Lord Zhao, please don't be offended. Our Sihai Bank can pawn anything, we just need to prove that the goods from which they came are of higher value."

"I acquired this box of jewelry by chance, and I can't prove its origin. Manager Jia, please name your price. However, if your price is not suitable, I will have to move on to the next shop."

Zhao Daxuan's expression softened slightly, but he still shook his head gently. Naturally, he couldn't reveal the origin of the box of jewelry.

Upon hearing this, Jia Wanhe nodded slightly, lowered his head and pondered for a while, then looked at Zhao Daxuan with a regretful expression.

"Lord Zhao, since the origin of this box of jewels cannot be proven, the price needs to be lowered. How about this, my Sihai Bank offers 30,000 taels of silver."

Before Zhao Daxuan could even respond, Li Erlong and the others gasped in shock.

Thirty thousand taels of silver!

This is a number they wouldn't even dare to dream of, but it's readily available to the adults.

They turned to look at Zhao Daxuan excitedly, their hearts urging him on, eager for him to agree.

However, Zhao Daxuan simply put down his teacup and shook his head calmly.

He had already had Li Shishi and her sister estimate the value of these jewels. Although the estimate wasn't precise, it was at least around 40,000 taels of silver.

"Not enough! Manager Jia's offer is too low, isn't it? One price, sixty thousand taels!"

Manager Jia's face stiffened upon hearing this, and he looked at Zhao Daxuan with a wry smile, "Lord Zhao, your price is too outrageous! There's no reason to double it like that!"

Zhao Daxuan chuckled.

"Manager Jia, although these jewels of mine are not unique pieces, they are still rare treasures, and the advantage lies in the quantity. A fixed price of 60,000 taels is not a loss."

Subsequently, Zhao Daxuan and Jia Wanhe began to haggle over the price of the jewelry, and the final transaction price was set at 50,000 taels of silver.

This was a price that both parties were quite satisfied with; Zhao Daxuan paid 10,000 taels more than he had expected.

Jia Wanhe didn't lose money either. If he returned to the capital and resold the goods, he could earn at least five thousand taels of silver. If he sold them slowly, he could even earn a difference of nearly ten thousand taels of silver.

Looking at the satisfied smile on Jia Wanhe's face, Zhao Daxuan knew that his asking price had not yet reached the other party's bottom line.

But I don't have the time to argue over things slowly, nor do I have the time to sell slowly, so this is the only way.

After the two signed the transaction documents, Jia Wanhe asked with a smile, "Lord Zhao, can we pay for this goods with silver notes?"

"Ten thousand taels of silver in cash, and the rest in banknotes. Thank you, Manager Jia!"

Zhao Daxuan still needs to recruit men later. He came all this way for the cash, so naturally he needs some cash.

The rest can be exchanged for silver notes later when needed.

"No problem, I'll arrange it right away."

Jia Wanhe agreed without hesitation and turned to make arrangements. It was quite easy for Sihai Money House to take out tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Before long, Jia Wanhe returned with a group of people carrying six wooden crates, each crate bending the wooden poles that were being pulled by them.

"Lord Zhao, please inspect the goods!"

With a smile, Jia Wanhe opened the lids of several wooden boxes, revealing neatly arranged silver inside. On the top layer of one of the boxes was a stack of silver notes.

Li Erlong and the others stared wide-eyed, their throats bobbing, unable to resist swallowing hard.

Zhao Daxuan's lips curled up slightly as he stepped forward and casually picked up a silver ingot, which weighed a full ten taels.

He picked up the stack of silver notes, flipped through them casually a few times, and then put them into his pocket.

"No need to go into details. I trust the reputation of Sihai Money Shop. You wouldn't even look at my little bit of money."

After saying that, he looked at Li Erlong and said, "Erlong, call a few brothers over to move the things!"

Then a group of people carried about twenty boxes of weapons and silver out the door and headed towards the south gate.

As he passed a grain shop, Zhao Daxuan paused, thinking about how the Han people in the north had been drinking thin porridge with only a few grains of rice these past few days, so he turned around and went into the grain shop.

"Manager, give me rations for six hundred men for ten days."

Zhao Daxuan spoke casually, without even asking the price.

Based on previous market prices, it would be more than enough to buy a little over a hundred taels of silver.

In the grain shop, a middle-aged man looked up at the young man in plain clothes in front of him. The young man immediately asked for ten days' worth of rations for six hundred people. The young man's eyes lit up.

A big business opportunity has come knocking!

A middle-aged man rubbed his hands together and stepped forward. "Young master, the military situation is tense lately, the city gates are closed, and food is in short supply, so the price..."

"Stop talking nonsense and get someone to move out. I'll pay you!" Zhao Daxuan interrupted, frowning.

"Yes, yes, yes." The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly and then turned to instruct several shop assistants to move the grain.

The middle-aged man then picked up the abacus behind him, fiddled with it for a few moments, and after a brief pause, smiled and spoke.

"The rations for six hundred people for three days will be about one hundred and thirty shi (a unit of dry measure), and one shi costs two and a half liang (another unit of dry measure) of silver, which is a total of three hundred and twenty-five liang of silver. You can give me three hundred liang."

As soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man felt a shadow loom over him.

Looking up, he saw a burly man who looked like a city guard standing in front of him.

The middle-aged man subconsciously took a step back, swallowed hard, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes.

"Sir, what are your orders?"

Li Erlong glared and roared at the middle-aged man.

"Are you robbing me? When did 130 bushels of grain start costing 300 taels of silver?!"

Li Erlong spat out a mouthful of saliva, spraying it all over the middle-aged man's face, and then pointed at Zhao Daxuan and said.

"Do you know who this is? It's Commandant Zhao Daxuan of the City Guard! You dare to cheat him? Are you tired of living?!"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's legs went weak; the name Zhao Daxuan sounded somewhat familiar.

I think I heard about it during the anti-bandit campaign in the Liangshan Mountains a while ago, but what's more important is the title "Captain"!

The captain is an officer who commands a thousand men; a single word from him could crush him.

The middle-aged man looked at Zhao Daxuan with a face full of tears, thinking to himself, "Why didn't you say so sooner, sir?"

Seeing that Zhao Daxuan was dressed in casual clothes and looked like a young man, he thought he was someone who could be easily manipulated.

"Please forgive me, Lord Zhao. I was blind and did not recognize your greatness. I have offended you."

The middle-aged man bowed and spoke in a trembling voice, "Sir, consider this 130 shi of grain as my apology."

Zhao Daxuan's face darkened, and he snorted coldly, "I don't need your little bit of stuff!"

"Yes, yes, yes, you are right, sir." The middle-aged man wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and nodded repeatedly.

"Three hundred taels is robbery! Even with the current tense situation, it doesn't have to be this outrageous!" Zhao Daxuan said calmly.

He then reached into his robes, actually taking out three fifty-tael silver ingots from his spatial storage and placing them on the table.

"One hundred and fifty taels for one hundred and fifty shi of rice. Arrange for someone to come with me out of the city!"

The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir! I'll make the arrangements right away!"

After saying that, the middle-aged man turned and fled towards the granary in the backyard.

Under the middle-aged man's arrangement, several workers pushed six carts piled high with grain, following behind Zhao Daxuan's group out of the city and heading south.