Chapter 275

Wang Yang's expression was deep:

"Although I am from the Langya Wang clan, I cannot speak without caution. Speaking to this point is already the limit, so don't make things difficult for me. Actually, whether it is or not is not important. I just want to remind you that the person who proposed this and the person who will be in charge of the conquest are likely the same person. I collectively call such people 'careerists'—people who ignore everything for their own ambition. Letting such people get their way is not a good thing for either the Han or the barbarians."

Young Master Chang was silent for a long time and said:

"Brother, I can listen to your reasoning, but others may not. Our entire tribe knows that Liu Cheng is worth three thousand brocade robes and three thousand crimson jackets, and we have been waiting for so long. How can we release the person without getting anything? Even if I want to release him, I can't! We barbarians think very simply and don't know how to take detours. It's just that we caught someone, give us the ransom, and then we release the person, and we owe each other nothing. Even if you tell them what will happen if they don't release the person, they won't listen. Once the stubbornness comes up, who cares about these things? Maybe in a fit of anger, they will directly kill Liu Cheng and then roar and want to ya tutu cha with you..."

Cha your head!

Still playing this set with me...

But it's still okay, and quite measured. At least he didn't say what would happen to the envoy in a fit of anger. If he wanted to say that, Wang Yang would have to change to another attitude.

Wang Yang's brows drooped slightly, and a deep sense of understanding flowed in his eyes:

"I know it's difficult for you, brother, and our peace faction also wants to try our best to stop the war faction from being in power, which is why I am here as an envoy and brought you treasure."

Young Master Chang was skeptical: "Is there really treasure?"

"Of course. Did you think I was lying?"

"Where is the treasure?"

Wang Yang smiled contemptuously.

"What are you laughing at!"

Wang Yang shook his head and smiled:

"I am laughing at you for sleeping on a huge treasure without knowing it, and instead kidnapping people to exchange for brocade. This is like guarding a gushing spring while digging a dry well, and sitting on a granary while picking up chaff!"

When Young Master Chang heard this, he became even more itchy, leaned towards Wang Yang, and his voice carried a hint of flattery:

"Brother, tell me, what treasure am I sleeping on?"

"What treasure??? The place where your Wenyang tribe is located, all over the mountains and plains, is treasure!!!"

Wang Yang waved his palms in the air, as if trying his best to show Young Master Chang the direction of the treasure.

Seeing Wang Yang's excited appearance, Young Master Chang was even more confused: "This... where... all over the mountains and plains? You, are you talking about trees?"

"Are trees not treasure! Do you know how much a good cedar wood, one zhang eight feet long and four inches five wide, can sell for?"

"How much money?" When Young Master Chang heard it was trees, his full expectations were suddenly extinguished, but he still asked subconsciously.

"Two thousand five hundred coins."

Young Master Chang had no concept of money in Han territory and asked: "Is that a lot?"

Wang Yang had a speechless expression: "Do you know what the cost price of the brocade robes you want is?"

"How much?"

"Five thousand coins."

Young Master Chang hissed: "In other words—"

"This is still the general market price. If it's the official price, that is, government procurement, it can sell for three or four thousand! If it's even better cedar wood, selling for five thousand or more is not a problem!"

Young Master Chang was shocked: "Is it that valuable?"

"Of course! This timber business is a big deal. Palaces and houses need wood; coffins and burial goods need wood; furniture and utensils need wood; ships, carts, and military equipment need wood! From the imperial family and noble families down to the wealthy and powerful, who doesn't need good materials and good wood? Phoebe, camphor, elm, sandalwood—different woods have different prices. Among the same kind of wood, they are divided into three, six, and nine grades according to quality and length. The difference in price is more than several times! The difference between high and low is as vast as heaven and earth! Good wood of the highest grade is hard to find, more expensive than gold! Do you know why? Because good wood is mostly hidden in deep mountains and old forests, and there are four difficulties in entering the mountains to collect wood:

First, natural dangers. Deep mountains and absolute valleys are hard for people to reach, poisonous insects hide, and jackals and wolves wait for gaps. Those who are not used to entering the forests and valleys cannot travel.

Second, human prohibitions. There is also good wood in the nearby fields and marshes, but there are many noble family manors in those places. Not to mention ordinary merchants, even official wood collection dares not disturb them. And the noble and wealthy are ashamed to be like peddlers, hate hearing the sound of axes, and dislike the complexity of wood affairs, so few operate wood businesses.

Third, harsh politics. Many places in our dynasty have prohibitions on mountains and marshes. Gathering crowds to cut wood is not to mention. Even the firewood gathering of ordinary men and the gathering of ordinary women are within the limits of prohibition. Although there are many who have opened the prohibitions, they often levy heavy taxes. You pay money to enter the mountains, pay taxes to cut wood, and pay taxes to transport. After these layers of paths, ordinary merchants haven't made a profit, and their capital is halved first.

Fourth, transportation difficulties. Transportation is difficult, water and land are dangerous, and the cost of starting and going is several times higher. In addition, there is unpredictable weather, mountain bandits robbing the road, carts overturning and horses dying, boats capsizing and goods sinking. Out of ten pieces of wood, if six or seven can arrive, it is considered a success.

With these four difficulties, although the market price is soaring and seekers are like ducks, goods are often hard to arrive, and good materials are increasingly rare.

But this is a rare business opportunity for you! Although others covet the thick profits, they are trapped by these four difficulties, like weak sheep looking at dangerous cliffs, wanting to climb but lacking the strength! But you are different! These four difficulties are the opposite for you—they become four advantages!

First, natural dangers. What are you afraid of natural dangers? You have always lived in natural dangers! Walking in the mountains and forests is like walking on flat ground! Plus you are familiar with the terrain and have traveled through the depths, where there are ditches and where there are streams, where small paths lead to seclusion, and where rock caves hide springs—don't you know it clearly!

Second, human prohibitions. What human prohibitions do you have! These continuous dense forests are all yours. Who can build a manor here? Let alone building a manor, there is no one who dares to disturb you. You can do whatever you want; don't you decide for yourself?

As for harsh politics, it has even less to do with you! Who can collect taxes from you? You sell as much as you earn; it's simply too refreshing!

Finally, transportation difficulties. You are only responsible for transporting the goods out of Wenyang Gorge, and you don't go out of the border. As for where the goods are finally sent, whether to Jiangling or Jiankang, and how to adjust ships and transfer, you don't have to worry about it at all! Mountain bandits robbing the road is even more ridiculous here; it's good if you don't rob them! Who dares to come and rob you?!

Others have four difficulties and can't do it, but you have four advantages and are begging for food while guarding a gold mountain! How many merchants hate you to death! If they had your conditions, they would have been worry-free for generations! What is kidnapping people to demand a few thousand pieces of brocade? No ambition! Once your business starts, brocade will enter the tent like flowing water! You can have as much as you want! In the future, after eating, you can use satin to wipe your mouth, and throw it away after wiping. Whoever dares to wash it, you get angry with them..."

Young Master Chang couldn't hold it anymore and laughed: "You are fooling me..."

Wang Yang said seriously:

"I am absolutely not speaking falsely. The profit of timber has been huge since ancient times. The Grand Historian said long ago: 'Those who live by the water have a thousand stones of fish, and those who live in the mountains have a thousand chapters of materials; their wealth is equal to that of a thousand-household marquis.' Zhang means square. A side length of one zhang is square. It means that if you have a fish pond that produces a thousand stones of fish a year, or a mountain forest with a thousand square zhang of wood, your wealth is equal to that of a thousand-household marquis. Now, the timber in Wenyang tribe is more than thousands! The high price of wood today is more than several times that of the Grand Historian's time!! If you want to get rich, plant trees first. Haven't you heard this saying? There are so many ready-made old forests in your barbarian territory, and I guess there are big trees that are hundreds of years old. You don't even need to plant them! This is simply God feeding you! God is feeding you, and you don't eat. What do you want? Want to go to heaven!"

The way of rhetoric lies in moving people. It is not only about winning with reason, but also about having enough energy; it is not only about clarifying righteousness, but also about seeking spiritual smoothness.

Therefore, those who are good at speaking must make the listeners move, make the listeners shake, as if they are on the scene, and feel their hearts as if they are touched. This is the so-called infectious power.

Good infectious power requires language, expression, eyes, voice (mainly tone and rhythm), and actions to match, none of which can be missing.

Wang Yang has a talent for this. When he was in high school, he went on stage to talk about Sinology and poetry, and even gave a lecture on international politics. From his own class to other classes and then to the parent meeting, he was simply a show-off! It wasn't until he went straight to his doctorate that his personality began to settle down and his actions became low-key, but he always performed well on stage. He has two characteristics when he speaks. One is no manuscript. If he must use a ppt, there are only a few big headings on the ppt, which is very unfriendly to students who love to take notes. So every time he goes on stage, there must be a few more recording pens in front of him (but once he failed to talk about the commentary of a certain Song person, which made him take it as a warning, and he must list the outline in the future); the other characteristic is divergence. Once a main line goes down, it often expands and spreads, pulling out many threads, but never pulling far, and hooking back to the main line in a few sentences. A classmate of his once joked that if he were reborn in a certain beer hall, he would definitely be awesome, because listening to him talk is very refreshing and very sensational. The so-called "refreshing" and "sensational" actually refer to infectious power.

Although Wang Yang's infectious power is strong, he also needs to pay attention to different "ways of infection" according to different objects and topics. For example, you can't be exaggerated when talking about knowledge. Certain is certain, and uncertain is uncertain. The language must be rigorous, and there must be few saliva words. If there are too many, there will be no nutrition. But facing Young Master Chang, Wang Yang's style has always been a mix of solemn and humorous, elegant and vulgar. When discussing, he has reasons and evidence, and analyzes them strip by strip, but at the end of each, he inserts a few exaggerated and humorous words, which not only drives the atmosphere but also narrows the distance. This kind of intimacy, relaxation, and pleasure created unconsciously is, for negotiation, seemingly an embellishment, but in fact, it has immeasurable effects.

Young Master Chang was moved by Wang Yang's words. On the surface, he was indifferent, but in fact, he was so excited that he was sweating! He stabilized his posture and asked: "Is the demand for good timber in Han territory really that big?"

"Of course! Han territory is not short of rich people. When rich people buy things, they want quality, not price! In noble families, a tiny piece of wood can cost a thousand gold; a tiny piece of tile can tilt ten thousand strings! As for ordinary rich people, they compete for rarity. Once your good wood comes out, it will definitely be in short supply! Not to mention Wenyang Commandery, not to mention Jingzhou, as long as your wood is strange and good enough, it is not strange for people from other provinces to buy it from thousands of miles away and compete for it! You control the quality well, select carefully, and in the future, the four words 'Wenyang Barbarian Wood' will be a gold-lettered signboard! In the future, when someone builds a house, others will ask, and if they hear that they didn't use Wenyang Barbarian Wood, they will sigh: 'Alas, his family is really declining, they can't use Wenyang Barbarian Wood...'"

Although Young Master Chang knew that this was Wang Yang's exaggerated rendering, he was also encouraged by the "beautiful prospects," and because Wang Yang's tone was really interesting, and he was a bit "embarrassed" after being flattered, he waved his hands repeatedly and laughed from ear to ear. Wang Yang laughed himself when he finished speaking, and the two of them talked while laughing.

Young Master Chang laughed for a while and suddenly remembered something, and asked urgently:

"But your Great Qi blocks the barbarian roads! Prohibits merchants! Who do we sell the wood to after we cut it?!!"

Wang Yang smiled: "Isn't this easy to handle?"

"How to handle?"

Wang Yang smiled and said: "Let me see Liu Cheng."

Young Master Chang was stunned, as if he hadn't reacted to what Wang Yang meant.

Wang Yang smiled:

"I have already pointed out the location of the treasure to you. Although I haven't told you exactly how to take it, my sincerity has already been given. Next, it's time to see your sincerity."

——————

Note: Until the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Jingzhou area was a place where the imperial court collected high-quality large wood. When the Ming and Qing dynasties wanted to repair palaces and temples, they generally collected wood from Huguang, Sichuan, and Yunnan-Guizhou.