My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 25 Liu Taozhi

Military market.

As the name suggests, it was a market set up next to the military camp.

Merchants accompanying troops have existed since ancient times.

After all, the army had captured various spoils of war on the front lines, such as slaves and rare treasures, which could not be carried with them.

At this point, you can go to the merchants accompanying the army to exchange money and goods that are easy to carry.

Who cares about the dangers of the front lines, as long as I can make money!
A 10% profit margin is enough to tempt people, and a 50% profit margin will make some people willing to take risks...

The land of China has known since ancient times just how crazy merchants can be when it comes to pursuing profit.

According to the regulations of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the spoils of war captured were divided into three parts.

Give enough to the country, leave enough for the collective, and what's left is yours.

For example, if you capture two slaves and cannot divide them into three parts, you can only exchange them for money and goods and then divide them into three parts.

Merchants accompanying the army could do many other things, including acting as the ancient equivalent of 'logistics'.

Two wooden slips unearthed at Shuihudi in Yunmeng County contain letters from Qin Dynasty soldiers Hei Fu and Jing, requesting their families to send them clothes and money, which could only be delivered through merchants accompanying the army.

After Gao Yu and Mulan left the military camp, they mounted their horses and rode westward for about three or four miles before they saw a small camp that was no smaller than the military camp.

The campsite was very lively, with people coming and going.

The two led the horses inside. This was Gao Yu's first time in the military city, and he looked around with great curiosity.

The military market indeed sells all sorts of things.

Armor, bows and arrows, fine horses, ironware, cloth... a wide variety of items.

Of course, there is also human trafficking.

The slaves were either locked in cages or had their hands bound with hemp ropes and tied to a wooden stake.

There were men and women, and some of them had distinctly different features: high noses, deep-set eyes, golden hair, and emerald green eyes. They were clearly foreign women captured from the Western Regions. They were disheveled, poorly clothed, and had dull eyes, completely unrecognizable as human.

Seeing Gao Yu and Mulan pass by, the slaves waiting to be sold stared at them. Some of the slightly smarter Hu women would even make themselves more scantily clad to show off their "selling points" in the hope of being taken away. Although being bought would not make them human, at least they would have enough to eat.

Good-looking Hu women wouldn't be sold in the military market; frankly, they were meant for soldiers with a little money to satisfy their lust.

Gao Yu wasn't interested in them; he just wanted to see if there were any soldiers he wanted!

As Gao Yu passed a stall, a group of very strong men with blond hair and blue eyes caught his attention, and he stopped in his tracks.

These physical characteristics are somewhat similar to those of the ancestors of the Kipchaks. Kublai Khan preferred to select Kipchaks from the Caucasus region for his personal guards. They were tall, strong, and had astonishing fighting power.

Seeing that Gao Yu had taken an interest, the shopkeeper immediately came forward and said with a fawning smile, "Is this young master looking to buy a slave? You can choose any of these! These are all very strong slaves."

Do you want to leave here?

Gao Yu asked in all languages: Tiele, Rouran, Xianbei, and Chinese.

The slaves all looked up at him.

Gao Yu turned around, took a bow from his horse, and immediately strung it.

Mulan, seeing that it was the same old trick again, rolled her eyes. So, all Gao Yu knows is how to use a bow when choosing people?
Gao Yu did not explain anything, and remained in the upper moon.

This was not the two-stone strong bow used in the town market, but a normal six-dou horse bow. Under normal circumstances, these strong slaves would have no problem drawing it, but since they were hungry, it would take some effort.

"Whoever can draw this bow, I will take them away."

As he spoke, Gao Yu gave a demonstration, easily drawing back the bow and arrow in his hand.

Generally speaking, a bow and arrow drawn to its full length has a draw length of about twenty to thirty inches.

"Remember, don't leave it empty. Who wants to give it a try?"

Gao Yu asked.

The slaves looked at each other, and the burly slaves nodded. Gao Yu then asked the shopkeeper to untie the ropes binding their hands.

As expected.

Even when these burly slaves were very weak from hunger, it wasn't too difficult for them to draw the six-pole bow.

Looks like I really hit the jackpot!
Many caravans would keep such burly slaves as guards, or powerful clans would buy these strong fighters as private soldiers to protect themselves.

I never expected to run into him at the military market.

Gao Yu immediately made a decision and told the shopkeeper, "I'll take all of these!"

"Although you are young, you have a good eye. These are all highly sought-after slaves."

Over the years, Gao Yu has accumulated a considerable amount of money and valuables by leading raiding expeditions outside the city. Although the money was a bit expensive, it was enough to buy a few slaves.

Just as Gao Yu was about to turn and leave.

The slaves, all of short stature, looked at the young slave and spoke up.

"My lord! May I give it a try?"

Although the boy was weak, his eyes were bright, unlike the empty and numb eyes of the other slaves.

Mulan looked him over and shook her head. He was so thin and weak that he definitely couldn't pull him apart.

Gao Yu glanced at him, but did not refuse. Instead, he handed the bow to him.

The boy gripped the bow and strung the string, mimicking the movements quite well, but unfortunately, his strength was limited, and he could only barely pull the bowstring. Just when Gao Yu thought the boy was about to give up...

The young man let out an angry shout. He had been holding the bowstring with his right hand, but instead, he forcibly hooked the string with his fingers and pulled it outward with all his might!
"what!!!"

The bowstring was visibly digging into his flesh, his fingers were torn and bleeding, and the bowstring was stained bright red!
The boy still didn't let go, but gritted his teeth and gave it his all.

But helpless.

He was too thin and not well-fed, so even when he pushed himself to his limit, he couldn't manage it and eventually collapsed from exhaustion.

The boy was still unwilling to give up, so he quickly knelt down and kowtowed three times.

Please give me another chance!

"Your fingers are already torn and bleeding. If you try again, you might not be able to save them."

"If I can't leave, I'll die sooner or later anyway, so what's the point of preserving my fingers? I just want to live."

"Fine! I'll give you one more chance!"

Looking into the resolute and determined eyes of the slave boy, Gao Yu agreed.

After a short rest, the boy started to draw the bowstring again. The intense pain made him gasp for breath, but he gritted his teeth and persevered, hooking the bowstring with his injured fingers once more.

He has a ruthless streak.

Gao Yu saw this and spoke up to stop him.

"That's enough. You've passed my test. Come with me."

In the military, being strong and big doesn't necessarily mean being a powerful fighter. On the battlefield, you also need a strong mentality and will to match!
Husband fights with courage.

The boy stood there stunned, and amidst the envious glances of those around him, he knelt down again and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"

The shopkeeper was delighted and immediately waved generously, "Consider this slave a gift to you, my lord. If you achieve success on the battlefield in the future, remember to come and patronize our business."

The shopkeeper had some recollection of this slave boy; he frequently escaped and was very difficult to manage. It would be a pity to kill him, so it would be better to do Gao Yu a favor.

"Then thank you, shopkeeper."

Leave the military city.

Gao Yu looked at the slaves following behind him and asked, "Do they have names?"

The strong, muscular men from the Central Asian tribe all shook their heads, but the young man spoke up.

“Master, I have a nickname. When my mother was still alive, she called me Taozhi. My surname is Liu.”

"From now on, I will call you Liu Taozhi."

"Thank you, Master, for bestowing upon me a name. Thank you, Master."

He still knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.

Gao Yu was actually quite unaccustomed to it, but he also knew that since he had bought him, Liu Taozhi would be his slave in the future, and could only rely on him to survive.

"From now on, there is no need for you to kneel and kowtow, and do not call me master. Call me my lord."

"Understood, my lord..."

He then pointed to the group of strong men and said in the language of the Tiele tribe, "From now on, I will call you Liu Yi, you Liu Er, you Liu San, and he Liu Si, remember that?"

The four slaves also knelt and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Master, for bestowing upon us names."

Gao Yu could only explain it to them again in the language of the Tiele tribe.

"Understood, my lord."

After bringing the group back to town, Gao Yu gave Liu Taozhi some copper coins, instructing him to take Liu Yi and the others to town for a meal, clean up, change clothes, and then go to the military camp to find him.

Gao Yu wasn't afraid at all that Liu Taozhi would escape with her men.

Where could a bunch of slaves go?
Without the verification, they couldn't even enter the city.

As for survival?

In ancient times, people stayed in their birthplace for life, unless they did something as immoral as Cao Cao, who forced people to migrate.

In such a situation, even if only one stray dog ​​has arrived in the village, the villagers will know it clearly.

Running into the mountains?
In ancient times, without modernization, the mountains were full of venomous snakes and wild beasts.

If you want to live, you have no choice but to listen to him.

"Mo Heduo, why have you taken a fancy to Liu Taozhi?"

Mulan couldn't help but be curious.

Gao Yu glanced at him and said, "I saw that this person had a ruthless streak, so I gave him a chance. It's his skill that he was able to seize the opportunity."

Mulan wanted to refute.

But then a thought flashed through my mind: Liu Taozhi's crazy act of gritting her teeth and drawing the bowstring despite her fingers being torn and bleeding.

If it were truly a battle on the battlefield.

Does he have that kind of ruthlessness towards himself?
He seemed to understand why Gao Yu had bought Liu Taozhi.

(End of this chapter)