Chapter 104
Chapter 104 – Visiting Ding Yuan
June 15th . Jinyang City .
Ding Yuan was sitting on the throne of the City Governor in the government hall . He was reading two reports from scouts .
On the right report, an army of Dong Zhuo was approaching from the south . However, it carried white flags with them . The scouts also made a contact with the group to inquire about their objectives, and the answer they got was that Zhang Ji and his men were paying Ding Yuan a visit . They wanted to give him gifts to form up a friendly relationship between the two Lords . They were expected to be here tomorrow .
On the left report, it described the details of the incoming visitors from Julu City . The leader of the caravan was Zhang Tong and his aide Zhou Cang . They came with 2,000 escorts . However, there was a special note that these people traveled light without a provision cart or any caravan with gifts behind them .
Currently, they were escorted into the city and were waiting for an audience with Ding Yuan .
After finished reading the left report, Ding Yuan harrumphed in a bad mood .
What irked him was that these people traveled light . There was neither a convoy of provision nor a gift, which was unusual for an ambassador group .
'This little boy is looking down on me . He said that he wished to form an alliance, yet he didn't bring any gift . Does he even know how the world works?'
Although he was annoyed by the news, he was mature enough to differentiate between personal interest and politic . He ordered the guards to allow Tong and Zhou Cang inside .
Two people were led inside . One of them was a bald man with imperial armor suit, while the other one was a young man who was not even in the 20s yet . However, the young man had a majestic aura as if he was a prince . His eyes also showed a depth of a politician .
'That bald man must be the escort . The young man must be Zhang Tong . '
'To have that aura at such age, he has more potential than Fengxian . '
Tong stepped in forward and bowed to Ding Yuan as a courtesy . Zhou Cang also bowed, but he kept his silence .
"Greetings, Lord Ding Yuan . I'm Zhang Tong, son of Zhang Jiao . I've come as an ambassador of Julu City . "
Ding Yuan nodded .
"Please rise . Make yourself at home . You've come a long way . "
'At least he possesses a good manner . I wish Fengxian has half of his . '
Although Tong did not bring any gift with him, Ding Yuan still welcomed him as he did to other guests as he was a practical politician .
Tong raised his head up to look at Ding Yuan, then he bowed his head down again .
"My apologies for the inconsideration . I've brought gifts with me, but I forgot to order my servants to carry them here . I beg you for your forgiveness . "
Ding Yuan raised his eyebrows in surprise . The scouts clearly reported that Tong did not have a gift or any provision with him . Then where could Tong procure the gifts?
Zhou Cang had seen Tong's signal . He bowed and rushed out of the hall . After a minute of waiting, a carriage which carried barrels of beer and whiskey was brought in front of the government building . There were also large wooden boxes that had soap bars in them .
Ding Yuan stared at the carriage in confusion . He turned around and glanced at his scout leaders, who were terrified by the reprimand gesture .
'A bunch of fools! Zhang Tong has been carrying tributes with them . Why did you moron report that he doesn't have any!? I guess I need to discipline my scout teams again . '
…
The gifts were taken by Ding Yuan's servants and a barrel of beer was carried inside the government hall . Tong personally served the beer to Ding Yuan himself as it was the specialty product of his city .
"This is good wine! It's soft and light . What does this call, young master Zhang?"
"It is called 'Beer', Lord Ding . Unlike common rough wine, we won't get drunk easily . "
"Oho? So this is your city specialty that I've heard of . "
"That's correct . There is still another beverage that I've gifted you . However, it was too heavy for a happy occasion like this . I believe you should enjoy it in private . "
"Hoho! Well, indeed . A hard drink is not something to be enjoyed in public . You are very good, young master Zhang . "
Both of them exchange pleasantries as they enjoyed a simple welcome banquet that Ding Yuan held for Tong in exchange for the gifts .
Ding Yung's mood got much better after he thought that his scouts made a mistake about Tong's gifts . As a result, Tong managed to persuade him to form an alliance easily .
Furthermore, Jinyang City surrounded by mountains with stone, coal, and iron mines . Tong did not forget to strike a deal with Ding Yuan .
"500 Gold for a ton of iron ore, and 100 gold for a ton of coal or stone . How is that sound?"
"You are very kind, Lord Ding Yuan . We'll buy you with that price . Also, we would like to make a reservation for the trade right away . How many stones, irons, and coals you have right now?"
"About 100 tons each . Unfortunately, it's in the middle of planting season right now . We don't have many miners at the moment . "
"We'll take all of them . I also have enough gold with me here . We can finish our transaction today . "
"What!?"
Hearing that Tong had enough gold for the 100 tons of each rare resources, Ding Yuan was shocked speechless . If it was true, then Tong had more than 70,000 gold with him!
If the deal was successful, Ding Yuan would acquire this large sum of gold . He would not worry about the taxes or the food problem in this city as he would have plenty of ways out .
Thus, Ding Yuan agreed to form both trade alliance and army protection alliance . The documents and signature were signed by both parties .
Because it was late today, Tong's men were guided to guest houses while Tong himself was treated as VIP .
Meanwhile, Tong had been grinning from ear to ear since he had heard that this city had several mines . Another project aspired in his mind .
'With a steady supply of coal and iron ores, I should build a steel factory soon . '
'Then I'll upgrade our armors and weapons with the steel!'
…
The 70,000 taels of gold from Tong was delivered to the city hall of Jinyang the next day . Tong used the same tactic as yesterday by unloaded his gold into carriage beforehand and had Zhou Cang led the servants to bring them to the city hall .
Ding Yuan was also efficient in his job . All resources were loaded in well-prepared carts and were on standby to be delivered to Julu .
Today, Ding Yuan's adopted son, Lu Bu, was also present . He was summoned back from the front line to guard Tong's gold caravan and the ore caravan .
When Lu Bu heard the summon order, he was frustrated . He was having a good time with his wife in a temporary house on a mountain, which was his personal holiday resort .
Most importantly, his wife had just given birth to his daughter, Lu Lingqi, a few months ago . She needed extra care from her husband and servants . Therefore, Lu Bu was not in the mood to go to work at the moment .
Despite his discontentment with the summon, after he heard that he had to guard a caravan which carried over 70,000 gold, Lu Bu rushed here to see it .
The sight of a massive pile of gold bullion nuggets and gold ingots astonished Lu Bu . He was born in a farmer family and was adopted by Ding Yuan after his father died, so he had never seen such a large amount of gold before in his life .
"Father, this?"
Lu Bu looked at Ding Yuan while he still had a surprised look on this face .
"It's from our new friend . Be sure to treat him with courtesy . "
Ding Yuan gestured Lu Bu in the direction where Tong and his men were . At the direction of his gesture, Tong was giving orders to his subordinates .
Lu Bu turned and looked at the direction, then he found Tong .
"It's that man?"
"Yes, it's him . "
Lu Bu squinted his eyes as he gazed at Tong . He had detected a faint sinister aura coming from Tong . From his perspective, only someone who had been through many battlefields would have it .
Lu Bu thought of this aura as a warrior aura . His subordinates, Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, had it as well because they had been through thick and thin with him on the mountain battlefields for years . However, the aura they had was still not as thick as Tong .
'I've heard he had fought with Guo Dian . But it was just one battlefield . How can he has that aura?'
As Lu Bu was puzzled and unable to come up with any explanation for this event, he walked up to Tong and …
"Hey, brat . Spar with me!"