Chapter 1551: Bargaining Techniques

"Xuanyuan, do you know the name of that water ahead?"

Xuanyuan shook his head: "I am not sure. For this, I am afraid we must ask the people of the Shennong Clan."

"Then let us speed up a bit and see if we can reach it by tomorrow. If we can, we will rest there for two days, catch more fish, and replenish our food. How about that?"

Xuanyuan did not disagree with Baifeng's plan; when encountering a river, it is certainly better to replenish as much as possible.

Ever since crossing the border from last year, this place here could not yet be considered the territory of the Xuanyuan Tribe, but rather a place jointly owned by both sides, so Huaxia was qualified to freely utilize everything produced upon it.

Thus, after setting up camp, Baifeng used grain as bait to have the logistics personnel of the Xuanyuan Tribe, who had already been running for a day, dig various Grass for him. Among them, Rehmannia was naturally the main one; although it was not the right season, it still had medicinal efficacy now, and since it was wild, authentic medicinal material, there was not much of a problem even if the season was slightly off.

In places where the forest was sparse, Rehmannia was very common, and even where there were trees, Rehmannia could grow under the shade. Rehmannia was simply the most primary Grass on this land; if Baifeng did not care about it, it was just weeds, but if one valued it, it was a treasure.

The quality of Huaxia's Rehmannia was poor, and that of the Xuanyuan Tribe was no better, so they could only make do. Now that he saw truly good medicinal materials, Baifeng could not help but be tempted.

There were also other things, some that Huaxia had and some it did not, all of which were collected. When they returned, they would bring them back to the Xuanyuan Tribe together, and in the end, there would naturally be people from the Huaxia Embassy in Xuanyuan Tribe to negotiate and trade with them.

As for their compensation, Baifeng had originally thought of letting them make wooden plaques themselves, then having Baifeng's people write on them, grouping them into teams of several people, and then giving them a fixed amount of grain for them to divide among themselves.

But in the end, Xuanyuan made the decision for them; the grain would still be given by Baifeng to Xuanyuan, and finally, Xuanyuan would distribute it to them. As for whether it would all be distributed, Baifeng did not know. In this way, it changed from Baifeng hiring these people from the Xuanyuan Tribe with grain to Huaxia buying medicinal materials from the Xuanyuan Tribe.

However, because Huaxia also owned a portion of these medicinal materials, the final price was certainly very low.

And it was precisely because of this that Xuanyuan seized a loophole, ultimately exchanging the price of 7,800 people for the right to trade low-priced medicinal materials on this land in the future, and the validity of this trade would last until the day Xuanyuan died.

Unless Huaxia and the Xuanyuan Tribe went to war, because at that time, it would mean that one side had completely torn up all the agreements drafted now and in the past, and all trades would not count; it would have to be the kind where war must be waged.

For Baifeng, this trade was also basically cost-effective, because he had made clear stipulations with Xuanyuan regarding the price and quantity of the trade. They were all wild medicinal materials common to this land, which were easy to collect, unlike Tea Leaves which had a very low yield.

The price was simply the current price at which Baifeng hired the labor of the Xuanyuan Tribe; the price for every type of medicinal material was exactly the same, merely calculating the grain for hiring labor into the average price for purchasing medicinal materials.

For Xuanyuan, this was also a good thing. If Baifeng did not purchase these medicinal materials on his future territory, then they would forever be wild Grass with no use at all; only by trading them to Huaxia could he obtain profit.

Although the price was low, after deducting labor and transportation costs, they could still make a profit. It was not cost-effective now because the roads had not yet been opened, and there were no cities or transit points.

Once his own plans in the Shennong Clan were all constructed one by one, then the quantity of this trade with Baifeng would naturally be higher, and the profit he obtained would also be higher; the main strategy was small profits but quick turnover.

Not to mention, he could also trade with Baifeng for 7,800 people. These 7,800 people would be of great use for his future development of the entire Shennong Clan, and he could completely build a city in the future.

Originally, his demand was 15,000, but trading with Baifeng was just not that easy. With bit-by-bit bargaining and negotiating conditions, the two of them were on the road, one riding an ox and one riding a horse, talking incessantly the whole way, talking until their mouths were dry, before this number was finally determined.

Although the process was a bit tedious, the result was still good. He also learned how to negotiate a trade with Baifeng: that is, first set a bottom price to hedge his own interests, then ask for an exorbitant price, and slowly bargain down with Baifeng.

If the negotiation went smoothly, then lower the price slowly; if it did not go smoothly, then lower it a bit more, watching for when it hit the bottom. Once the price hit the bottom, then hold the line firmly; no matter what, one could not make any more concessions.

This was the ability to demand a price that he learned from Baifeng. He already had it, but his ability to bargain was still far behind Baifeng's. Baifeng could always find many angles to bargain down the price, yet what he said was also very reasonable.

Although his price was bargained down, his path forward had also become much brighter. When Baifeng was bargaining, he also pointed out how he should proceed. For example, regarding this matter of medicinal materials, the first few years would certainly be a loss because there was no transit and the roads were difficult to travel; the cost of just transporting these medicinal materials to the Xuanyuan Tribe was already basically equal to the price Baifeng could offer.

But if they had to make a round trip, they would lose even more. However, as long as the roads could be opened and transit cities built, there would be no need to specifically transport these medicinal materials; instead, when cities communicated with each other, they could concentrate those small, scattered medicinal materials at a city on the border.

Transporting medicinal materials would just be a convenient task while they were moving. After all the medicinal materials were concentrated, they would then be loaded onto large carts and ox carts, using the least amount of human labor to concentrate all these medicinal materials to Qingqiu City. Once they reached Qingqiu City, it would be Huaxia's business.

This was what Baifeng said in order to bargain; it was to tell Xuanyuan that he would lose money for a few years now, but he would still earn money in the future. Losing money now was for the sake of those several thousand people, but he did not mention at all that if the price were not lowered, he could have earned even more.

Although Baifeng stated a business model, it also made Xuanyuan understand how his future Xuanyuan Tribe, or perhaps a country, should be planned and constructed; cities in different locations should have different functions.