Arms Deal
After repeatedly reminding Gaodier of the situation regarding Twilight's Hammer, making him take the matter to heart, Zul'ra sent him and Hamuul Runetotem away. Not long after, his Rigan, came to report that Mardi, the tycoon of the Steamwheedle Cartel, requested an audience. ♡👽 🍬🍬
Mardi was also an "old friend." Although he had saved him before and Amani and Mardi Company had done many transactions, he had only met him a handful of times over the years. That guy never showed up unless he had a reason, and he Goblins what the goblin wanted.
Soon, Rigan, having obtained permission, invited Mardi over. The Goblins tycoon, still portly, launched into an exaggerated display of intimacy upon meeting Zul'ra. With Zul'ra readily obliging, the Goblins tyrant revealed his purpose: to buy guns.
With the help of advanced steelmaking and forging equipment, Zul'ra cast a batch of breech-loading muskets and deployed them to various places to Horde the tribal people and help them fight against the Harpies that came from the sky and the Centaur bandits that came and went like the wind. These advanced muskets attracted the attention of the Goblins tycoons.
Goblins are also experts in firearms, but most of their firearms are copied from dwarves, making them very crude and with inconsistent power. This time, they originally wanted to copy breech-loading muskets, but because Zul'ra strictly controlled the muskets distributed to the people, they could not obtain them from the common people. Considering that the Horde, they could only try to buy a batch of muskets from Orgrimmar.
After figuring out Mardi's purpose, Zul'ra was overjoyed. He was short of money and someone had come to him to buy weapons. He was so happy that he wouldn't refuse.
Although she was secretly pleased and interested, she couldn't easily reveal her true feelings when negotiating with Goblins. Zul'ra immediately hesitated, then feigned concern and asked Mardi who she planned to use the musket against.
When faced with Zul'ra's question after a moment of contemplation, Mardi naturally wouldn't answer, saying that the Goblins bought the muskets to research and replicate them, just like they replicated the Dwarves ' muskets. He pretended to ponder for a while, then first asked Zul'ra not to mind, and then said that he bought the muskets because the Desert Trolls of Tanaris had been restless lately and they wanted to deal with Zul'Farrak.
Dealing with Zul'Farrak is perfect. Zul'ra isn't related to the Desert Trolls, and while the sandpipers and Jungle Trolls are related, they have nothing to do with him, this Amani Trolls.
Although they were not directly involved, Zul'ra still kindly inquired about Mardi's situation, asking if the Horde needed to intervene. Fighting was never a good thing, and this move left Mardi somewhat at a loss. He could only stammer and ask Zul'ra to sell him some weapons, saying that they, the Steamwheedle Cartel, could resolve the issue themselves as long as the Horde didn't interfere.
The Horde would love for you to fight Zul'Farrak, because only when there is war can weapons sell well. This was Zul'ra's first thought, but he certainly couldn't say it out loud. He pretended to be deep in thought. Mardi hurriedly offered a high price, asking for a hundred muskets.
"I can get three hundred muskets," Zul'ra replied casually to Mardi's question. Mardi immediately responded that he could take them all: fifty Arathor Gold Coin per musket, plus the corresponding number of bullets, which could also be paid for with gold and silver coins.
What is our relationship? Can our relationship be measured by money? Zul'ra, facing Mardi who gritted his teeth and bought a gun with gold, sensed that the other party's goal in buying the gun might not be simple. He gave a calm reply, and then waved his hand, saying that the Horde could do without gold, only iron ore and oil. In addition, he would give each gun ten bullets for you to play with.
In the eyes of Goblins, money is the measure of all value. Gold and silver are the most precious money, iron ore is very cheap, and oil may be more expensive, but none of them can compare with gold and silver. Faced with Zul'ra, who accepted payment for iron ore and oil and even gave away bullets for free, Mardi was originally prepared to suffer a huge loss, felt like he had instantly gone from hell to heaven.
Having experienced the sensation of going from hell to heaven in an instant, Mardi was stunned for a moment before excitedly shouting that Zul'ra Jin was indeed a good friend, laughing like a child. Well, if you ignored his graying beard and his potbelly, he really did look like a child.
After receiving three hundred muskets and three thousand rounds of ammunition, Mardi immediately promised to transport forty thousand tons of pig iron to him within half a month. He didn't use ore to deceive him, but paid directly with iron.
Zul'ra was not surprised that Mardi only needed three hundred muskets and three thousand rounds of ammunition, because most people in this world used muzzle-loading muskets. Due to the problems of reloading and rate of fire, they could not become mainstream weapons, and they were also extremely expensive. Hunters who were skilled with muskets were unwilling and unable to fire too many shots, so they chose to carry hand axes as auxiliary weapons.
Muskets have their drawbacks, but the key point is that they're not entirely useless. They're incredibly powerful at close range, capable of threatening even dragons, so their market price remains very high. As seafaring becomes smoother, many items, including ships and honey, are decreasing in price, but muskets remain firmly in demand. It's because of this that Mardi is prepared to splurge on a gun.
Mardi was prepared to spend money to buy a gun, but to his surprise, Zul'ra didn't make him spend any money. Instead, she gave him a huge amount of bullets. How could he not be happy? He never imagined that those three thousand bullets would be used up by him in no time at all.
After Zul'ra and Mardi finalized the deal and sent him away, they immediately ordered the factory to keep 300 of the 600 muskets issued in the second batch, along with 3,000 cased bullets, to await Mardi.
While waiting for Mardi, Zul'ra didn't sit idle. She summoned Vol'jin in Orgrimmar and asked him to send someone to Tanaris to warn the Desert Trolls that the Goblins had bought a batch of firearms from him in preparation for an attack on Zul'Farrak.
Vol'jin was somewhat bewildered by the sudden news. He wasn't on good terms with those Shar-Pants, so why would he do something so thankless? Zul'ra retorted, saying that they were distant relatives after all, and he would feel guilty if he didn't remind them. Besides, he still had some weapons waiting to be sold to Zul'Farrak!
Speaking of which, does Zul'Farrak have any money? Thinking of this, Zul'ra couldn't help but consult Vol'jin about it. Vol'jin was so shocked by her shameless idea that he was speechless, but ultimately still sent someone to Tanaris to remind the Desert Trolls that Zul'Farrak was once the jewel of the Tanaris Desert, with gold mines there.