Chixian City.

Wei Mansion Main Residence.

An impromptu meeting is taking place.

There are about a dozen attendees, and they are all influential figures.

Including Lin Li, Dai Chaohong, Shi Zehong, Lin Ziming, Patriarch Wei, and some other experts.

However, compared to the positions of the attendees, the specifications of this meeting are not very high.

After all, this is our home ground, and the barbarians have no means to eavesdrop on the content of the meeting, so being too formal seems somewhat disconnected from reality.

Therefore, many experts didn't return to the command center; instead, they started the meeting directly at the Wei Mansion Main Residence.

The security measures were just a small circle of ordinary lockdown.

At this moment.

At the meeting, the person in charge of resource allocation for Chixian City, Shi Zehong, was expressing his opinion:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to offer a personal viewpoint.

Shouldn't we consider making some concessions on profits this time to exchange for a relatively friendly trade environment?

The road ahead is long, and we shouldn't sacrifice the future for immediate benefits.

If circumstances are special, I believe we can even consider trading at cost price."

"Director Shi, I have an opinion."

As soon as Shi Zehong finished speaking, another female expert raised her hand.

Her name is Ouyang Cai, an economics expert from Zhangshuo University.

She currently works at the Institute of Foreign Trade Behavior Research under the Ministry of Commerce, holding the position of Deputy Division Chief.

Ouyang Cai said:

"Director Shi, I agree with your latter statement, that long-term interests undoubtedly outweigh a little silver and gold in the present.

But the problem is...

How do we ensure long-term benefits?

Or to put it bluntly, how do you know that what the Red Dragon says is all true?"

After she spoke, Ouyang Cai paused and looked around the room.

While tucking a strand of hair behind her head, she continued speaking at Lin Li's nod:

"Currently, all our information about the Yange Tribe comes from the Red Dragon, a situation referred to in economics as a unidirectional source of information.

And a unidirectional source of information.... often contains huge risks.

Indeed, the Red Dragon has been confirmed to be of barbarian identity, but that's where it ends.

I want to ask everyone, who can guarantee that he hasn't exaggerated?

Perhaps he is the strongest in the Yange Tribe, or perhaps the entire tribe is actually a small group of just a few hundred, which is theoretically possible.

If this is true, then their batch of goods could be the accumulation of years or even decades.

We concede a profit, yet they never intended future trades, and we wouldn't know where to even start reasoning.

There's also the issue of the journey; the Celestial Moon Mountain Range border is over 600 kilometers away from us.

For local industrialized civilization, six hundred kilometers is nothing, not even six thousand kilometers is an issue.

But the barbarians rely on pure physical exertion, how do we ensure they are willing to travel such a distance for the next trade?

If we want them to come to Chixian City despite everything, our concession would not be just a little bit — which, in turn, exacerbates the first risk."

Lin Li glanced at her and asked:

"Expert Ouyang, then what is your suggestion..."

"Normal trade, and even raise prices depending on the situation!"

Ouyang Cai's tone was firm:

"I observed the Barbarian Merchant Teams' vehicles, and the amount of Spirit Stones is definitely significant.

If we can acquire these Spirit Stones at a fair price, it doesn't matter if the barbarians don't come again in the future."

Ouyang Cai's perspective is quite pragmatic.

But admittedly, this possibility does exist presently.

Currently, all information on the Yange Tribe for the "rabbits" comes from the Red Dragon's sole account.

The so-called claim of 'Yange Tribe establishing trade relations' lacks much actual verification.

So no one knows if he is using false promises as bait to extract greater benefits from the rabbits.

Examples of this occur frequently locally.

On a civilian level, it's akin to saying, 'Boss, give me a better price, and I'll keep buying from you.'

Everyone has almost said this kind of thing, but how many actually become repeat customers?

On an official level, there are over a hundred instances where investors from Xiangjiang, pretending to seek investment, deceived during investments and attracting enterprises.

Thus, the possibility raised by Ouyang Cai does indeed exist, and if proven true, the amounts involved would be considerable.

The volume of goods handled by the Barbarian Commerce Association is vast, and each has a high unit price.

Therefore, it can be foreseen that the scale of the next transaction is destined not to be small.

Even conceding a little profit turns out to be a significant figure when visualized.

Predictably.

The value of Spirit Stones in this transaction might surpass the profits of the commercial group from before.

This is why the Barbarian Commerce Association traveled a long distance after hearing that Chixian City is attracting refugees — they also need a trade partner capable of handling these goods, which ordinary small towns can't handle.

Chixian City, which is actively gathering refugees and willing to provide food in advance, obviously meets this trading demand.

And a 15% concession that Shi Zehong proposed amounts to nearly twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

That's not a minor figure no matter how you look at it.

Even though Ziqiong City recently earned three hundred thousand Spirit Stones, we can't use that income to transfer risks, right?

Besides, as reputable "Outer Shell Rabbits," if we end up being swindled by a small barbarian tribe...

That would be a real embarrassment.

Once Ouyang Cai finished, Shi Zehong also fell silent.

It wasn't because he was afraid of responsibility.

But aligning with the Yange Tribe in a situation lacking any evidence and interaction is somewhat foolish.

Yet at this moment, the previously silent Dai Chaohong suddenly raised a hand:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I've a thought....

When we discussed Ziyong fox furs before, didn't the Red Dragon mention they had collaborated with a city that was subsequently overrunned by a beast tide?

The Barbarian Commerce Association's direction in Chixian City is southward, implying that city must be in the south as well.

And coincidentally....

I remember that before Chixian City's siege, we once gathered some refugees from the south.

So I'm thinking.....

Among those refugees, could there be someone who used to live in that city and engaged in related trade industries?

It's not necessary to know information about the Yange Tribe; confirming the frequency of Red Dragon's trades is enough.

Our primary concern is that he's trying to pull a fast one without actually having the capability for repeat trading, isn't it?

We can eliminate doubts if we can confirm the Red Dragon's frequent transactions."

Upon hearing this, Lin Li's eyes lit up.

He then quickly turned to Patriarch Wei to verify:

"Patriarch Wei, is what Professor Dai said true?"

Patriarch Wei nodded affirmatively:

"Indeed, there was another beast tide ravaging the south then, destroying many cities.

Among the over eight thousand refugees in the city at that time, half came from the south.

I found them too pitiful, so I opened the city and distributed food to simply relieve them a bit."

Lin Li thanked him and then looked at Zhang Guanghua:

"Xiaozhang, within 300 kilometers south of Chixian City, have any ruins of Central City been discovered?"

...

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