"Younger Brother, isn't five taels of silver for three jin a little too much?"
Bai Li had already expected this question.
Although there was an estimated established price when selling wild game meat, it was not fixed. Since wild beasts were hunted by risking one's life, the price had to be set according to the seller's terms.
Therefore, Bai Li spoke with a slight smile:
"Brother, judging by your appearance, you must be a merchant. I want to ask you, when was the last time you ate wild boar meat? I am asking specifically about wild boar meat."
The man thought for a moment, and before long, a peculiar expression appeared on his face, and he said:
"I can't recall exactly. Perhaps four or five years ago. Or it might even have been longer than that."
It is easy to deduce the situation. Even a merchant who travels all over the land only gets to eat wild boar meat once after many years. This shows just how rare wild boar meat is here.
In addition to the vast number of dangerous wild beasts in the dense forests and mountains, the weaponry and tools of this era were still underdeveloped. An ordinary person would not want to take on the life-threatening job of a hunter. This is precisely why meat is so rare.
Bai Li said nothing in response to the man's answer, merely looking at him with a slight smile. The man was not foolish either; he understood exactly what Bai Li was implying. Therefore, he burst into laughter and said:
"Alright, it's obvious just by looking at these big wild boars that they weren't easy to kill. I was only making conversation; I won't haggle over the price. Weigh out fifteen taels of silver worth for me."
Fifteen taels of silver was equivalent to nine jin. Bai Li smiled a friendly smile and said:
"Brother, why don't you take twenty taels of silver worth? If you do, I will add an extra jin for free."
Upon hearing this, the man pondered for a moment before agreeing.
"Alright, then it will be twenty taels of silver worth."
He had wanted to buy the wild boars after spotting them while in the city, and he was keen to taste the meat with liquor alongside his merchant group. Merchants were all wealthy people; spending a small amount of money was nothing to them.
It was only then that the crowd listening to the conversation noticed that the wild boars—even before the bristles were cleaned—had already sold thirteen jin of meat verbally. They forgot about haggling and rushed away to fetch their money in a flurry.
The eldest sons of the two households who were boiling the water were dumbfounded, and the mustaches of the two older men were even trembling. They received five taels of silver for three jin of meat so easily??
Moreover, they had no idea that Bai Li was so skilled at trading. Was this really the trashy little boy Bai Li who grew up right under their noses?
However, after a moment, they became extremely delighted. This was because they quickly realized that if three jin of meat were worth five taels of silver, these two large wild boars would bring in over a thousand taels of silver!
According to the analysis derived from his memories, the country where Bai Li now lived was extremely peaceful, and the reigning Emperor was a truly good man, like a real father to the nation. If one wanted to sell in the market daily, they needed to purchase a stall from the authorities, but selling only occasionally was not a problem. The Emperor had openly permitted some leniency in the regulations for ordinary people, and the populace dearly loved the Emperor.
Bai Li was definitely delighted. In this kind of ancient era, if the country were to be unstable, the common populace would be the ones to suffer the most. Now that things were so peaceful, he was extremely happy.
When the water boiled, the wild boars' bristles were removed, and Bai Li himself began to chop up the meat. At first, the eldest sons of the Bai and Jiang households wanted to help, but Bai Li's meat-chopping skill was so excellent that they realized they could not cut the meat as neatly as Bai Li, so they stopped helping. Instead, they assisted with getting the crowd to queue up and collecting the money.
In truth, Bai Li was not an expert at butchering meat. It was simply that because he had gone hunting in his previous life and had also seen some meat-handling videos, his skill in processing the wild beasts was not exceptionally poor.
The long line of people wanting to buy the wild boar meat did not dare to break the rules under Jiang Ting's direction. This was because they had been told that if anyone tried to cut the line or did not queue up, they would not be sold any wild boar meat.
Therefore, the line of people was very eye-catching, and the Magistrate, who had come to inspect the unloading boats, saw the crowd and asked his attendant, Liu Qing:
"Liu Qing, what is going on here?"
Liu Qing, the Magistrate's attendant, had also been at the harbor all day, so he had no idea what was going on. Therefore, he quickly ran over to inquire and returned joyfully, reporting:
"Magistrate, Sir! This long line of people is queuing up to buy wild boar meat! It's said that someone is selling two large wild boars in the city today! Why don't you get some wild boar trotters to make a stew for the Madam? That would be extremely nourishing!"
The Magistrate's wife had just given birth two days ago, and a wild boar trotter stew would indeed be extremely restorative. The Magistrate was quite pleased, so he dismounted from his horse and joined the very back of the line.
Liu Qing wanted to suggest that if the Magistrate were to simply walk to the front, the sellers would surely not refuse him, but remembering the Magistrate's character, he said nothing.
Speaking of this Magistrate, he was a native of this county. Although this county was small and out-of-the-way, officials still fought to be stationed here because it had a harbor. Other officials would claim in their memorials to the Emperor that they sought to serve the nation and develop the county, but in this Magistrate's petition, the reason was simply because this was his hometown.
He merely wanted to be assigned to his native county. This significant difference from the other petitions even made His Majesty the Emperor laugh, and he was subsequently stationed in this county.
Liu Qing shook his head, yet he still followed the Magistrate.
However, as long as you were a good official, the common people would surely love you.
Some people in the queue could not help but speak out when they saw the Magistrate joining the line. The fact that the Magistrate's wife had given birth two days ago was not a secret, after all.
"Magistrate, sir! If you want to buy the wild boar trotters, why don't you just go straight to the front? There are still so many people in the line that the trotters might run out!"
A wild boar only has four trotters, and two boars only have eight in total, while there are so many people here. There were certainly other people who wanted to buy the trotters as well.
Magistrate Yi Jian shook his head with a steady composure.
"Didn't they say they wouldn't sell to those who don't queue? It's alright even if I don't get the trotters; it's fine as long as I get some meat."
Thus, the people did not dare to speak up further, but the news—that the Magistrate was queuing at the back because he wanted to buy trotters—reached the people at the front through word-of-mouth. When Bai Li heard these words, he instructed the village elder to go and invite the Magistrate over.
Are you kidding me? How could we possibly not show favor to the Magistrate?
Although Village Chief Jiang Ran was of a different rank, it could be said that he was also a servant of the government, so sending him to invite the Magistrate was the better choice. Jiang Ran forcibly invited the Magistrate to the front, and since everyone in the queue also encouraged him to do so, the Magistrate finally gave up and had to proceed to the front.
Bai Li greeted Magistrate Yi Jian with a smile and said:
"Magistrate, I am not trying to flatter you. I heard that the Madam recently gave birth. If you buy it early, won't you be able to cook it for dinner tonight? That is why I am inviting you to the front. If there is anyone else in the crowd today who needs trotters for their new mother, I would prioritize them too. So, please proceed and buy with a clear conscience. Do you want the trotters? How many jin should I weigh out for you? I am charging five taels of silver for three jin."
It was clear that this Magistrate was not an authoritarian who liked to flaunt his power, since he was willing to queue up with the crowd, and he was not the type of person who could be flattered. Therefore, Bai Li offered his explanation and stated the current price directly, without giving the meat away for free or offering a discount.
Only after hearing these words was Yi Jian able to ease his mind. In truth, he was also worried that the trotters would run out, and he really wanted to feed them to his wife tonight. Since the people around him were also urging him, he finally agreed and said:
"In that case, weigh out two trotters for me."
The two trotters weighed nearly eight jin, and Bai Li charged thirteen taels of silver. After receiving the trotters, the Magistrate returned home with a smile, and the turn of the people in the queue came back around.
Although most people bought only three jin, restaurants bought anywhere from ten to thirty jin. Subsequently, one boar quickly sold out, and when they started cutting the second one, the people at the back became worried and started shouting:
"Young man selling the meat! Is there still meat left for us? We've been waiting for a very long time! If you foresee that the meat won't be enough, you should limit the purchase quantity!"
How could the people at the front of the line possibly accept that?
"If you came late and can't get any, then just don't buy any! We are going to buy as much as we need!"
Fearing that an argument would break out, Bai Li quickly intervened and said:
"Please don't fight! This boar is a bigger one! Please relax; everyone will be able to get some!"
In truth, the queue was already more than half gone. Just as Bai Li had said, everyone got some, but the people near the end of the line had to share the bones and remaining meat. Although they were upset that they did not get as much as they wanted, it was better than getting nothing at all.
Bai Li had originally wanted to keep the bones to make bone broth for the little Ge'ers at home to help them grow, but he never expected that these people would take not just the bones but even the heads! Ordinary people generally do not eat the heads, but since this meat was so rare, there were many who were willing to eat the heads as well, especially since the price was slightly cheaper than the meat.
The only thing people absolutely did not want to buy was the offal. People in this era regarded offal as disgusting and refused to eat it. Although a few were willing to eat the heads, they completely avoided the offal. It had reached the point where no one would take it even if it were given away for free.
Bai Li sighed and looked at the basket containing the offal. He was certainly not foolish enough to throw these things away.
The people from the Bai and Jiang families wanted to throw the offal away, but Bai Li strictly forbade it, which made them look at him in confusion. However, they simply allowed Bai Li to do as he pleased.
The experiences of this day had left them utterly numb, and they were no longer capable of thinking much about such matters.
The revenue from today's wild boar sales exceeded one thousand taels of silver, totaling exactly one thousand three hundred and fifty-four taels of silver. This amount made their eyes widen, and the sheer ease of earning such a huge sum truly made their vision blurry dizzy.
After everything was packed up, they rented two rooms at the cheapest small inn and by the time they reached the inn, Bai Li estimated it to be past eight or nine o'clock in the evening.
He told the others to go to sleep, then requested water from the inn to clean the wild boar offal and boiled it to preserve it until the next day. The others tried to stop Bai Li from doing this, but since Bai Li was being stubborn, they finally gave up and said no more.
In their minds, they were wondering if Bai Li had become extremely stingy after he changed, and if he still wanted to eat the offal, despite earning over a thousand taels of silver.
Following their emotional turmoil and physical exhaustion, they soon fell into a deep sleep. It was no fault of theirs that they fell asleep so easily. People in the villages usually go to bed early to conserve oil since there is no work to be done at night, and this hour could even be considered past their usual bedtime.
After Bai Li finished boiling the offal, he quietly checked on the two rooms and made sure everyone was asleep before secretly slipping out of the inn. His footsteps were headed toward the biggest brothel in the harbor town.
In truth, Bai Li did not want to come to the harbor town just to sell meat. There was another reason, which was to retrieve the deeds of sale for Xiaofu and Xiaowu, whom the original Bai Li had previously sold to the brothel.