Invincible Iron Army 43, Treacherous Merchant Book Flag

  Wang An said: "Everyone, you know I'm a good person, a person who is happy to help others and sacrifice for others." Du Lin, Wang Xueli, and Qian Xuegui all said in their hearts: "You're a good person? Spit! If you're a good person, then I'm a saint!" But they still kept flattering him with their mouths.

  Wang An continued, "I'm willing to sell the arrows to you, but you should also know that prices are changing every day. Take this pair of shoes as an example, I bought them for 10 cents, and the next day they were already 20 cents. Today, they're worth 100 cents." Du Lin interrupted Wang An, saying, "Wang sir, from what I know, you haven't paid for these shoes yet." Wang An said, "That's not true! You all know I'm a good person who loves to help others and put others before myself. How could I possibly buy something without paying for it?" The persistent man continued shouting at the bottom of the city wall, "Wang sir, please pay for the shoes! If you don't pay, then return my broken shoes!" Du Lin and the others burst out laughing, thinking to themselves, "Let's see how you get out of this one. Your words are going to come back to haunt you!"

  Wang An hastily called over Jiang Cai and said, "Jiang Cai, didn't I already give him the money? Why is he still coming to ask for shoe money?" Jiang Cai replied, "Brother Wang, I saw that your shoes are very good, so I ordered a pair for each of the guards. Today, he came to ask for money, but since you had important matters to discuss with the dignitaries, we didn't let him come up. He was anxious and started shouting loudly." Wang An said, "Give him the money immediately and let him leave." Jiang Cai replied, "But we don't have that much money. He says that prices are changing every day - yesterday this pair of shoes cost 10 cents, today it's 20 cents, and now he wants 100 cents from us." Wang An suddenly became furious: "This is extortion! I hate people like this the most. Just give him the original price." Jiang Cai nodded in agreement and turned to leave.

  Wang An continued to say to Du Lin and others, "You see how much the prices have risen now, so we've adjusted the price of our arrows accordingly. Yesterday it was ten arrows for one or two silver coins, but by the next day..." Du Lin thought to himself that Wang An would definitely raise the price of the arrows by at least double. But then he heard Wang An say, "The price of the arrows has become ten silver coins." Du Lin was taken aback and thought, "I knew Wang An was shameless, but I didn't think he could be this shameless." Liu Jiao said, "Aren't you the one who hates people who raise prices arbitrarily and hoard goods?" Wang An replied, "Of course I do, but what I hate is when people raise prices arbitrarily and hoard goods against me." Liu Jiao, Du Lin, Wang Xueli, and Qian Xuegui all felt a wave of disdain in their hearts, thinking, "What kind of talk is this? You hate it when others raise prices arbitrarily against you, but now you're doing the same thing to others."

  Liu Jiao said: "We are allies, fighting side by side. Wang An, don't be too excessive. How about this? You just double the price and sell ten arrows for 2 taels of silver?" Du Lin, Wang Xueli, and Qian Xuegui thought to themselves that they were not from the same family, nor did they enter the same door. Now, following Wang An together, they are deceiving us, raising prices arbitrarily. It seems that you are all from the same family, and you are equally shameless.

  Dulin said, "Wang brothers, you see we made a mistake, but the price has risen so much in less than a day, it's too ruthless." Liu Jiao immediately said, "But Wang An needs to pay management fees, this also requires cost." Wang An said, "The governor is right." Liu Jiao continued, "Wang An also needs to take care of the soldiers' food and lodging, you just saw him earlier, he also needs to provide military shoes for the soldiers, this also costs money." Wang An was delighted with a free shopping guide and immediately said, "The governor is right." Liu Jiao continued, "Besides, with Wang An's shameless character, narrow-mindedness, and vengeful personality, you've calculated him wrong, he'll skin you alive." Wang An continued, "The governor is right." Dulin and others burst out laughing and said in unison, "The governor is reasonable." Wang An also reacted and thought to himself, "This time I was fooled by Liu Jiao, next time my luck will come back." Wang An looked at Liu Jiao and thought, "This little girl is too arrogant, has she forgotten how we beat her until she was covered in blood? Ah, those were the days." Liu Jiao said to Wang An, "Wang An, I know I'm very beautiful, but you can't always stare at me, otherwise, I'll be embarrassed." Wang An was stunned and thought, "How did the governor change into a different person?" Liu Jiao thought, "If I don't praise myself, no one will. This wolf's eyesight is really bad, always saying I'm not as beautiful as Hu Yinyin, what kind of eyes are these? I have to praise myself, or no one will."

  Wang An immediately said: "Since the governor has already said so, let's sell these arrows to you at a price of 40,000 taels of silver. You are all big customers, and I hope you will take care of my small business. It's really pleasant to do business with you, and I look forward to our next cooperation." Du Lin and others thought to themselves: "You come again? Don't come again! You're always very happy, but we're extremely miserable."

  Dulin continued to say to Wang An, "Wang brother, the number of arrows is still not enough. You promised us 5 million, but now there are only 2 million. The remaining 3 million you need to sell to us as soon as possible." Dulin thought to himself, "The Xiongnu don't know what's going on either. They saw Liu Jiao's big banner and didn't attack. I wonder how you're going to get the other 3 million arrows."

  Wang An said, "Arrows are not a problem, but the price is still worth discussing. You know that prices change every day. Take this pair of shoes I'm wearing as an example. I bought them for 10 cents yesterday, and today they cost 100 cents." Liu Jiao interrupted him, saying, "The price remains the same. From now on, I decree that goods cannot be arbitrarily raised in price."

  Wang An said, "General, this is interfering with economic laws. It will inevitably lead to a backlash from those laws. You can't beat economic laws with a stick." Liu Jiao interrupted him again, saying, "In the army, whoever has the bigger fist has the final say. Who do you think has the bigger fist?" Wang An thought for a moment and said, "But my fist is bigger than yours."

  Liu Jiao was taken aback and thought to himself, "We're both officials, how can we be comparing fists?" Wang An said, "Now that we're militia, we can't talk about official logic. Let's just compare our fists to see who wins. You know I love fighting weak opponents." Liu Jiao looked at Wang An with a mixture of anger and surprise, thinking, "This scoundrel really has no shame. Back then on the beacon tower, he showed no mercy when hitting me with a wooden stick."

  Wang An continued, "I'm not afraid of you. In fact, I love fighting girls." Liu Jiao thought to himself, "Does this guy have any gentlemanly qualities at all?"

  Wang An said, "Stop messing around, let's talk seriously. I'll hand over the other arrows to you as soon as possible." Du Lin was skeptical in his heart. Qian Xuegui thought to himself that Wang An's method would no longer work and wondered how he would get out of this situation. Wang Xueli was full of doubts and thought, "Why wouldn't Wang An's method work?"

  The Xiongnu Khan was also furious. At the moment when Wang An raised his great banner, the Khan suddenly became hot-headed and ordered his soldiers to shoot arrows at it repeatedly. However, many arrows were shot but the great banner continued to move forward. The Khan then ordered his soldiers to stop this futile action. After returning, the Khan reflected on the situation and wondered if the people of Great Jin were deceiving him. He then issued an order to his troops in other directions not to attack the flag of the Great Jin Jiedushi without authorization. Just as he issued the order, troops from various directions asked for instructions on whether to attack the great banner of the Great Jin Jiedushi. Even if the Xiongnu Khan was not very intelligent, he realized that something was amiss. The first wise man under the Xiongnu Khan had a flash of inspiration and said to him: "Khan, I think the Great Jin army is deceiving us, we must not fall for it." The Khan coldly laughed and said: "I won't shoot arrows again, let's see how the Great Jin army will deceive me with their arrows."

  Wang An was also busy, preparing to borrow arrows again. Jiang Cai said to Wang An: "Wang brother, after the last time, the Xiongnu Khan learned his lesson and won't be fooled again. Let's think of another way." Wang An said: "What other way? The city is lacking everything now. If we can get arrows through normal means, Du Lin and others will come to me obediently and let me kill them. I'm telling you, it's still better to borrow from our old friend again. You know, this is a no-risk business, no investment, but the output is huge." Jiang Cai said: "But will the Xiongnu Khan be fooled?" Wang An said: "That depends on who fools him. If it were Du Lin and others with an IQ of around 250, the Xiongnu Khan wouldn't be fooled. But if it's me, the Xiongnu Khan can't help but be fooled. You know who I am? I'm Wang An, the one who defeated the Xiongnu Righteous King in battle and hit the Jiedushi with a club." Just then, Liu Jiao walked in from outside and said: "Apart from bullying old people and women, what else can you do?" Wang An was startled and thought to himself that the Jiedushi was always appearing out of nowhere. He smiled apologetically at Liu Jiao and said: "Jiao, we're friends who have been through thick and thin together. We have deep feelings for each other. Let's just forget about the unhappy things." Liu Jiao pouted and said: "Don't think you can get away with it. Unless you let me hit you with a club a few times." Wang An said: "Let's talk about borrowing arrows again. Jiang Cai, go prepare the war drums, military uniforms, and straw men. I have big plans for tonight." Liu Jiao rolled her beautiful eyes and stared at Wang An, thinking to herself: "This guy always changes the subject at critical moments. He's really despicable."

  Note: The story of borrowing arrows here refers to the real war example of Bi Zaiyu, but I am continuing from "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" in classical Chinese. The following is quoted from "Chinese Wisdom Stories" (author: Tang Qi) to give readers a true understanding.

  In the year 1206 (the second year of the Kaixi era of Emperor Ningzong of Southern Song), General Bi Zaiyu of Southern Song stood on the city wall of Ma'anshan (now in Anhui Province) and gazed out at the Khitan army's camp, dense and endless. His heart was churning like boiling water: "I have been stationed here with my troops for five days now, surrounded by the Khitan general He Shi'erzi Ren. The enemy attacks the city every day, and our arrows are almost all used up. If they attack again tomorrow, it will be hard to hold out!"

  Bei Zaiyu was deep in thought. The green canopy above his head had long been raised, shading the scorching sun. The soldiers on both sides could identify the location of their commander by looking at the canopy.

  At this time, Bi Zai was deep in thought when he suddenly looked up and saw the slightly moving umbrella cover. His eyes suddenly lit up: "Why not come up with a clever idea, use the umbrella to borrow an arrow, and let the Golden Army outside the city 'send' arrows to our door!"

  Bi Zaiyu smiled slightly, and ordered the Ministry of War to summon 50 strong and brave warriors, saying: "You hold up this green umbrella high, open it after that, and walk back and forth on the city wall. When you're tired, take turns replacing each other!"

  At noon, the sun was like fire. On the city wall of Ma'anshan, that huge green umbrella appeared and slowly moved back and forth. The Jin soldiers outside the city saw it clearly and shouted to each other: "The main general of the Song army, Bi Zaiyu, has come out to patrol the city! Kill him! Get the first merit!"

  The golden soldiers came pouring in, holding bows and arrows, rushing to the city below, competing with each other, shooting randomly at the blue canopy above. The blue canopy moved back and forth on both sides, while the golden soldiers below also shot arrows wildly.

  As dusk approached, many arrows were placed on the city wall, resembling a hedgehog's quills.

  In an instant, Bi Zaiyu smoothly "borrowed" over 200,000 arrows from Jin Bing's camp. The soldiers of the Jin army were still in the dark about it.

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