Chapter 91

The three clan leaders led Pang Jun to a very large tent, where they sat down as host and guest. Yike Gu asked Pang Jun, "Excuse me, sir, what is the matter with you coming to Mojiang Village to see the three of us?" Pang Jun stood up and bowed to the three of them, saying, "I am Liu Jun, the newly appointed governor of Songzhou. I am here to discuss two deals with the three clan leaders."

　　"Ah?" As soon as Pang Jun finished speaking, the three of them were shocked. No one could have imagined that the young man in front of them was actually a senior official of the newly appointed governor of Songzhou.

　　"Hahahaha, little kid, don't think that you can talk nonsense just because you saved my nephew and defeated our warriors. You are only fifteen or sixteen years old, and you dare to say that you are the governor of Songzhou. Or, your father is the governor of Songzhou, and you are just his pawn." Ikgu said.

　　"It seems that the three clan leaders have been staying in Mojiang Village for many years. You may not know what the world outside has become. Let me say it again. I, Liu Jun, am the third place winner of the civil examination and the first place winner of the military examination this year. I was personally appointed as the governor of Songzhou by the emperor. If you three do not believe me, you can send people down the mountain to Songzhou City to inquire and see what they say about the new governor."

　　Seeing Pang Jun so calm and confident, Ikegu and the other two were skeptical. Pang Jun was right. This kind of thing could be solved by sending people down the mountain to investigate. It would be much easier than a "special envoy sent by the governor" to investigate. The young man was so confident that this might be true. However, such a young governor was unheard of even if the three clan leaders were ignorant.

　　So Yikegu winked at Yehe, and Yehe walked out of the tent, probably asking someone to hurry up and go to Songzhou City to inquire about the matter. Then he asked Pang Jun: "I believe you for the time being. If you are really the governor of Songzhou, why don't you enjoy the comforts in the city and come to Mojiang Village, a poor and remote place? What's the deal you mentioned?"

　　Pang Jun held up a finger and said, "First, I want to open a special trading place in Songzhou to regulate the trade of goods between merchants and you. I have inquired about it. In the past, your transactions were all individuals going to Songzhou City to find buyers, or merchants came to Dazhai in groups to find people to buy. The prices were extremely unstable, and more often than not, they were suppressed by unscrupulous merchants, right?"

　　Ikegu snorted coldly: "The people of the Central Plains are cunning, and often force us to buy our furs and medicinal herbs at very low prices."

　　Pang Jun said: "That's right. In this trading market I opened, as long as you enter the market, all the goods will be purchased directly by the government. In this way, the money you get will have a stable guarantee."

　　"What guarantees do you have?"

　　"Do you have any better choice? Continue to be exploited by those merchants, or join my trading field?"

　　Wang Khan asked, "What good will this do for you?"

　　"I am a person who likes stability. The chaos in the trade of raw medicinal materials is one of the important reasons why Songzhou is in such a mess. I need a stable Songzhou." Pang Jun had another more important reason, which was that he planned to use the trading field to integrate most of the financial flows in Songzhou and form an interest group led by him, but he would not tell this reason to the patriarchs of the three tribes.

　　"I have inquired about it. A piece of fine mink fur is bought from you by merchants for only thirty taels. Do you know how much this mink fur can be sold for if it is transported to the capital of Dajin?"

　　"How much? One hundred taels?"

　　Pang Jun stretched out two fingers.

　　Ikegu asked, "What? Two hundred taels? How many times has it increased? These profiteers!"

　　Pang Jun smiled and said, "It's three thousand taels." Wang Han and Yik Gu froze on the spot: "Two, two thousand taels... I..."

　　"It is understandable that merchants value profit. Liaodong is far away from the capital and is not very safe. There are many bandits along the way. It is natural to sell at a higher price. However, when it comes to purchasing, the difference is huge. So, if you can agree to hand over all the goods to me, I promise to more than double your income. How about that?

　　"After Pang Jun finished speaking, he took out a bag from his arms, took out something from the pocket and threw it to Yikegu, saying, "This is the deposit." Yikegu took the thing and saw that it was a bright yellow gold leaf!

　　It's not that he had never seen gold before, but the bag in Pang Jun's was full of gold leaves. Having lived in the mountains for a long time, he had never seen so much gold. He swallowed unconsciously, looked at Pang Jun with a twinkling eye and asked, "You gave me this gold as a deposit, aren't you afraid that I will regret it?"

　　Pang Jun laughed and said, "Do you dare? How can you sleep peacefully after you swallowed my money?" Pang Jun's move was naked coercion and inducement. The skills Pang Jun showed at the gate of the village just now were enough to shock them. The Ikgu people knew that the warriors in their tribe were good at hunting and fighting, but it was easy to block an open attack but difficult to guard against an arrow from the dark. If they really did this, they would never have peace.

　　He asked again: "Then, what is the second thing?"

　　Pang Jun replied: "The second deal is to select two hundred young men who are skilled in archery and horse riding from your camp, and bring them to Songzhou City to help me lead the troops and teach my soldiers archery and horse riding! It would be best if they could all understand a little bit of the Central Plains dialect."

　　Ikegu refused categorically: "No, we in Mojiang Village do not fight with the world, and we will never get involved in your fight!"

　　"Chief Yikegu, do you know that two hundred miles away from here, the Japanese have occupied three cities of Chao State. If it weren't for the support of our Great Jin, Chao State would have been destroyed. The Japanese are ambitious for land, and wherever they go, no grass grows. Mojiang Village is rich in resources, and the Japanese will not let you go easily. So, I need your help, not to mention..." He paused and continued, "The salary of the Great Jin border troops is 20 taels of silver a year. I can hire the warriors of your village at the price of 50 taels of silver a year. What do you think?"

　　Before Yik Gu and Wang Khan could respond, Pang Jun continued, "Of course, fifty taels of silver is only the most basic military pay. If you win the battle and get spoils, then all participants will receive additional rewards, and it won't be just a few dozen taels."

　　Yikegu and Wang Han exchanged glances and said to Pang Jun, "This matter is of great importance. We need to discuss it. Sir Liu, please go and have a rest first. We will give you an answer in the evening."

　　"Okay, then I'll wait for your news." After Pang Jun finished speaking, he followed the guide and walked out of the tent.

　　In the evening, people from Mojiang Village came to Pang Jun's tent and invited him to attend their dinner.

　　The venue of the dinner was still the big tent where they received Pang Jun today. In the middle of the tent, there was a firewood burning, and above the firewood, hung a roasted roe deer. Yikegu invited Pang Jun to sit down. At this time, Yehe had returned. It was estimated that he had inquired about Pang Jun's news, so the three of them were very polite to Pang Jun. Although Mojiang Village seldom had contact with the outside world, they also understood that they could not provoke a behemoth like the Dajin government, not to mention that the young man in front of them had martial arts and means that were not commensurate with it, so their way of addressing Pang Jun had changed from "you" to "Lord Liu".

　　Ikegu said to Pang Jun, "Master Liu, we have discussed it and decided to agree to your deal. When will you set off?"

　　Pang Jun responded, "The sooner the better, because I have something important to do and I have to return to Songzhou City early tomorrow morning. I wonder if you three can estimate when the warriors can be gathered at the earliest?"

　　Ikegu gritted his teeth and said, "The day after tomorrow, early in the morning, I will personally lead two hundred warriors to Songzhou. What do you think, Lord Liu?"

　　Pang Jun said: "Okay, that's great. The day after tomorrow morning, I will personally go to the Shili Pavilion outside Songzhou City to welcome the arrival of Chief Yikegu!"

　　"Okay, come on, let's drink, hahaha..." It was a dinner party and both the guests and the hosts had a great time.

　　After the dinner, Pang Jun was about to leave when Yikegu and the other two stopped him and asked, "Sir Liu, you are a rare guest. If there is anything you need our help with, please let us know."

　　Pang Jun thought for a moment, and suddenly remembered the "Mrs. Bai" that Brother Lie mentioned. Curiosity arose, so he asked casually, "Three clan leaders, I heard Brother Lie say that there is a 'Mrs. Bai' in the village, and many people in the village are taught the Central Plains dialect by her. If it is convenient, I would like to meet this extraordinary woman who educates the people."

　　"Strange woman?" Hearing Pang Jun's words, Yikegu and the other two showed strange expressions on their faces. Then Yikegu smiled again and said to Pang Jun: "Hahaha, Lord Liu wants to see Madam Bai, right? Sure, sure."

　　"However, it's getting late now, and I have to rush back to Songzhou City tomorrow morning, so I won't be able to see you."

　　"It's okay, it's okay. I'll just let her come to see you."

　　"Ah, this is not good. After all, Mrs. Bai has a family, and there is a difference between men and women..." Pang Jun felt a little strange.

　　"It's okay, it's okay. Lord Liu, please go back to the tent first. I'll ask her to visit you." As he said that, Ikegu called a servant and whispered a few words in his ear. The servant then took the order and left. Pang Jun, on the other hand, returned to his tent with confusion.

　　Not long after, a female voice sounded from outside the tent: "I heard you want to see me?"

　　The female voice was speaking in Central Plains dialect, but to Pang Jun, it always sounded awkward, as if she wasn't from the Central Plains. Pang Jun didn't think too much about it and responded, "Excuse me, are you Mrs. Bai? Please come in." As soon as the voice fell, a woman lifted the curtain of the tent and walked in.

　　When Pang Jun looked up, he was stunned. No matter how hard he thought, he had never expected that the woman in front of him would surprise him so much: the woman who came in had long golden hair, a pair of lake blue eyes, and snow-white skin. What surprised Pang Jun the most was that this woman was nearly eight feet (nearly 2 meters) tall, half a head taller than the tall Fei Qingyu, with a pair of huge breasts on her chest, even bigger than Nan Xiangwu's. She walked in with her back bent, like a female giant, standing in front of Pang Jun.

　　Seeing Pang Jun's surprised look, the woman seemed to have a complicated look in her eyes. She didn't say anything polite. She sat directly in front of Pang Jun, looked at Pang Jun and asked, "Did you want to see me?"

　　Pang Jun came back to his senses at this time. Looking at the blonde woman wrapped in animal skins, he smiled and said, "I heard from Brother Lie that you taught the people of Mojiang Village the Central Plains dialect. I thought you were from the Central Plains. I was curious about what kind of Central Plains person could make the secluded Mojiang Village accept you. I didn't expect that you were a Rakshasa woman."

　　"Accept? Humph!" The Rakshasa woman snorted coldly, "Accept? It's better to say that I'm a sex slave. In their eyes, I'm just a sex slave who gives birth to their children. You asked to see me, so they sent me here directly to let me spend the night with you."

　　"Then I am even more curious. Why, as a Rakshasa from the far north, you speak the Central Plains dialect so well? I know that ordinary Rakshasa people don't even have the qualifications to receive education. Who are you?" Pang Jun asked.

　　The woman glanced at him and said slowly, "It's okay to tell you. My name is Lyudmila. I used to be the Grand Duchess of Baikal in the Rakshasa Kingdom. Because of some things more than ten years ago, I was stranded near Baishan Mountain and was rescued by the people of Mojiang Village. As a result, I have been a sex slave of Ikgu and the other three, and I have survived until now." As she spoke, she stretched out her feet, and they were actually shackled.

　　Pang Jun stood up at this time, walked to Lyudmila, reached out his hand and touched her face and said, "Do you want to leave here?"

　　Lyudmila raised her head sharply: "What?!"