20. Horses and Oxen. A livestock trader bought a certain number of horses at $344 each and a certain number of oxen at $265 each. He found that the total cost of the horses was $33 more than the total cost of the oxen. What is the smallest number of horses and oxen he could have bought under these conditions?
20. The task reduces to solving the indeterminate equation \(344 x=265 y+33\). The methods for solving such equations are well known, so we will not dwell on them. Solving the equation, we find that \(x=252\) and \(y=327\). Thus, if the trader buys 252 horses for 344 dollars each and 327 oxen for 265 dollars each, the horses will cost him 33 dollars more than the oxen.