My name is Wei Qing, and I want to fight the Xiongnu.

"Mr. Su, please wait a moment."

After Liu Yangxin finished speaking, he took Wei Qing's wrist, signaling him to bow to Mr. Su and take his leave.

After leaving Mr. Su's residence, Liu Yangxin once again instructed Wei Qing: "Zhongqing, never tell anyone about your noble and unending destiny."

Wei Qing said, "I'm not stupid, why would I flaunt everything? Your Highness, rest assured, I know."

Liu Yangxin nodded and, with Wei Qing in tow, rode in a phoenix-shaped carriage to the West Market.

The so-called West Market looks more like a huge ranch from the outside, but the ranch only has common livestock and poultry such as chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep, and there are no rare or exotic animals to be seen.

Before the phoenix carriage even arrived at the ranch, a middle-aged steward came to greet it.

Liu Yangxin introduced Wei Qing, saying, "This is Manager Xiahou, who is in charge of part of the operation of the West Market."

Wei Qing understood that the Marquis of Ruyin was a descendant of the Marquis of Ruyin.

Upon seeing Liu Yangxin, the steward Xiahou hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Highness, what brings you here today? This must be Young Master Wei, right? I apologize for not being able to greet you properly."

Liu Yangxin quickly replied, "Steward Xiahou, you're too kind. At the last banquet for my grandfather, Steward Xiahou said he had saved me a chicken. I still remember it. Steward Xiahou, you haven't forgotten, have you?"

Steward Xiahou seemed to be very familiar with Liu Yangxin, or more accurately, he was very familiar with the Prince of Dai's faction: "Hahaha, how could I forget my promise to Your Highness? I originally planned to send it to Your Highness some time ago, but I heard that Your Highness went to Pingyang County, so I was unable to send it. When Your Highness returned, I learned that Your Highness was very busy, so it has been delayed until now."

Liu Yangxin said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. However, I'm not here to see Steward Xiahou today just to collect a debt. I want to choose a mount for Zhongqing."

Chapter 57: The Market for Rare and Exotic Beasts

Steward Xiahou smiled and said, "I see. Your Highness and Young Master Wei, rest assured, I will certainly not let you down. I wonder if Young Master Wei plans to buy or hire? If you hire here, the minimum contract is usually five years."

Wei Qing asked curiously, "Is it cheap to hire them?"

Manager Xiahou nodded and smiled, "Hiring is indeed cheaper, but there's a lot more work involved. The mounts that are hired are often very powerful, which naturally makes things more troublesome."

For example, some mythical beasts require that their daily working hours not exceed twelve hours, and that they cannot work continuously for more than four hours.

Their food, clothing, shelter, and transportation must meet certain standards, and there are certain places they won't go. If the owner insists on going their own way, they will simply abandon the owner and return on their own.

Wei Qing was dumbfounded: "Am I the mount, or is it the mount?"

Steward Xiahou laughed and said, "Haha, Young Master Wei can just treat these mounts as powerful guards. Because those powerful mounts even possess extraordinary strength, and they can lend a helping hand if you encounter danger."

In reality, those beasts that truly return on their own after being abandoned by their masters are often those whose masters ignored warnings and stubbornly went to their deaths. We're just in a hiring relationship; we can't expect those sentient beasts to die along with us, can we?

Wei Qing nodded in agreement. If they refused to listen to advice and insisted on courting death, then he couldn't blame his mount for not showing any mercy.

Steward Xiahou whistled, and the ranch gate opened. He gestured for them to enter, saying, "Now that Your Highness and Young Master are here, please take a look around."

After Wei Qing and Liu Yangxin entered the ranch in their phoenix carriage, it was as if they had entered a completely different world.

What I used to see as green grass and flat land has been replaced by mountains, forests, lakes and grasslands, and countless rare and exotic animals, whether they fly in the sky, run on the ground, or swim in the river.

This is... probably a stable small space similar to a phoenix carriage.

The difference is that the phoenix carriage is movable, but the space is much smaller. This small world is fixed, similar to a miniature version of a small world.

Within the human realm lies Chang'an, and within Chang'an lie countless smaller worlds...

It always gives people the feeling of nesting dolls.

As soon as I stepped into this little world, I heard many staff members leading their customers to discuss hiring these rare and exotic creatures.

A strange beast resembling a red leopard, with five tails and a horn, made a sound like striking stones. It complained to the man who was about to become its employer: "996 is our bottom line, okay? And look how weak you are. If you encounter any trouble in the future, won't you need me to help you? Is it too much to charge you 13,000 gold for five years?"

Stop complaining. A couple of days ago, someone offered me a 95-to-5 work schedule. Do you know why I didn't agree? Money. It's not about money at all. Don't be so vulgar, okay? I think you have potential. I believe you'll soar to great heights in the future.

What? You say it's free? You'll take care of my food, clothing, shelter, and transportation? No way, I have a family to support.

There are thirteen people in my group, and we all rely on me to support us by working outside. The others can manage just because one person is fed and the whole family isn't hungry, but we can't do that.

I told you to stop talking nonsense. Either agree or disagree, just give me a straight answer.

A phoenix, resembling a pheasant but with brightly colored feathers, kept promoting itself, saying, "Little sister, look at my feathers, aren't they beautiful? Aren't they cool? When I'm with my girlfriends, standing next to you makes me feel so proud, doesn't it?"

Weak? Hey little sister, what are you saying? With your noble birth, do you really think your family would let you take such risks?

Right? We're girls, fighting and killing isn't good. Look at those playboys out there, how many of them like fighting and killing girls?

Conversely, if you're too capable, someone might not dare to marry you, fearing they'll be laughed at by their friends.

Twenty years for 30,000 gold coins is definitely a very good deal.

"My sister's brothers' swords and knives are worth ten thousand gold pieces each. My sister has practically sold half her life to her sister; is thirty thousand gold pieces too much?"

Such exchanges are commonplace.

Fortunately, this space is large enough that it doesn't feel crowded, and instead gives people a sense of vitality.

Steward Xiahou explained, "This is a free mount trading market. The backgrounds of any exotic beasts that appear in this place have been thoroughly investigated, and there are guarantors to ensure that no unexpected situations will occur. If Young Master Wei wants to buy a mount directly, you will have to go further inside."

Wei Qing was truly amazed. He never expected that hiring mounts would be so lively, and some of the things said were utterly shocking.

I've learned something new!

This small space was divided into three sections: the left side was a market for rare and exotic beasts; the middle section contained tamed mounts; and the far right section held untamed exotic beasts.

Prices naturally range from high to low, with untamed beasts being the cheapest but also the riskiest.

The sons of noble families usually have a superficial understanding of such mounts, like Lord Ye who loved dragons but was terrified of them. They talk a good game, but when it comes to actually taming one, they all back down.

This strange beast truly eats people.

Moreover, even if something really happens, the West Market won't care.

Wei Qing was quite interested, mainly because it was cheap.

The price difference between domesticated and undomesticated animals can be as much as five times, or even more than ten times.

The more ferocious and difficult to tame a beast is, the greater the price difference.

However, considering the strength of those strange beasts, Liu Yangxin still dissuaded him.

Those who are too powerful are beyond Wei Qing's ability to tame.

If you're too weak, you'll just waste time.

Wei Qing is currently in his growth period. It is still unknown how strong he will be in five years, and even his life or death is uncertain.

Therefore, instead of spending too much money on this, it would be better to focus on improving one's own abilities or gaining a foothold in the Imperial Academy later.

Therefore, considering all factors, it's better to buy a beast of average quality with a gentle temperament.

After looking around, Wei Qing discovered a problem: the tamed rare and exotic beasts were actually very expensive, and their cost-effectiveness was pitifully low.

No wonder Liu Yangxin said that the price of exotic beast mounts was beyond the reach of ordinary wealthy families.

It is indeed expensive, outrageously expensive.

The same adult "Zheng" costs 13,000 gold for five years to hire outside, but the Zheng tamed here is not as strong as the one outside, but it is priced at 89,000 gold!

Wei Qing thought this "Zheng" was some kind of long-lived creature that could serve several generations.

Upon inquiring, it was discovered that the "Zheng" were about the same age as the lower-class humans, living to around sixty or seventy years old. Only members of the royal family could live to two hundred years old, but members of the royal family were not allowed to be captured and sold.

Chapter 58: The Difference Between Humans and Beasts

Then, something even more perplexing to Wei Qing happened: once Zheng turned forty, his strength would be greatly diminished.

Those over fifty years old are practically only good at pulling carts. And those being sold are mostly twenty years old or older, meaning they can only be used for twenty or thirty years at most.

In the past two or three decades, nearly ten years have been a period of decline.

So, if I calculate it that way... hiring him is cheaper than buying him out?

Moreover, the hired monsters are guaranteed to be all adults, and even stronger.

But then I realized that the relationship between the hired beast and the owner is equal, just like a shop hiring a shop assistant.

A shop can fire its employees, but if you beat or kill an employee for no reason, the employee can take you directly to the authorities.

However, these tamed beasts were slaves, and the masters had the power of life and death over the slaves. Furthermore, the children born to the slaves were also the private property of the masters.

Therefore, the price of exotic beasts cannot be simply calculated using multiplication when hiring or directly purchasing them.

As for what those hired beastmen would think when they see their own kind being sold as slaves.

The answer, of course, is no!

It's as if humans don't have slaves.

We're all just trying to make a living, why be so particular?

Furthermore, many of these mythical beasts belong to their own tribes, and conflicts inevitably arise between tribes vying for territory.

To avoid excessive casualties on their side, and because most species do not choose to eat their own kind, wild animals without intelligence mainly rely on driving others away.

But the sentient beasts don't think that way. Like humans, they clearly understand how to make more effective use of the resources at their disposal.

In the past, if you wanted territory or resources, you had to fight with the human race, which often resulted in heavy casualties.

So these strange beasts gradually became smarter. Since they couldn't defeat them, they simply chose to join them.

They simply captured the defeated beasts and sold them to humans to serve as mounts.

Some even chose to cooperate with humans to capture other races' own kind of beasts.

After Wei Qing figured it out, he still felt it was somewhat absurd.

For the strange beast to do this is tantamount to asking a tiger for its skin.

But then I thought, perhaps this is the biggest difference between humans and beasts?

The strange beasts are short-sighted, only concerned with immediate gains, and never consider matters for future generations.

Even though there are many short-sighted people among the human race, countless wise men will eventually emerge to turn the tide at crucial moments in history.

Seeing that Wei Qing was frowning, Steward Xiahou assumed that he couldn't understand why taming exotic beasts was so expensive, so he explained: "Taming usually starts from infancy, and the investment is huge. Also, because of the special taming methods, they are bound to be weaker than those exotic beasts outside when they fight."

If you only want to buy a means of transportation, why not buy a Flying Cloud Steed? This kind of horse is not only intelligent and fast, but it is also cheap. Ordinary Flying Cloud Steeds cost around a thousand gold, while higher-end ones cost only a few thousand gold. Even the price of the Flying Cloud Steed King does not exceed thirty thousand gold.

It's a pity that the Flying Cloud Steed was mainly produced by the Xiongnu barbarians. While we humans also raise them, the quality is always a bit lacking; otherwise, the price could drop even further.