[Journey to the West] Wukong purchasing

While the two were on their way, Tang Xuanzang gave Wu Kong a popular science about the Huoluo country they were about to go to.

This Huo Luo country is also called the Little Faro country, which used to belong to the Tocharo country. This ancient country in the Western Regions legend has a vast territory. During its strong and prosperous period, the land stretched over three thousand miles from east to west, and more than a thousand miles from north to south. The well-known Shangbang, later the Tucharo royal family suffered serious internal struggles, and gradually split into several small countries. They are going to one of them, which is close to the Tang Dynasty.

Hearing that there is a huge snow mountain in Huo Luo Kingdom, Wu Kong paused, "Elder, you don't mean to take a shortcut and let me drive you over the big snow mountain, right?"

"Cough~Crossing the Great Snow Mountain is the next step. I mainly want to collect a batch of snow lotus in Huo Luo Kingdom. Women in the Tang Dynasty have multiple looks. Snow lotus is a holy product for beauty. If you bring it back to Chang'an and sell it, it will be priceless..." Tang Xuanzang blushed slightly face said.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Boss Wu's eyes lit up, and he wished he could fly to Huoluo country immediately after a somersault.

"Don't worry, when I came back from Western teachings, I lived in Huoluo country for a few days and met a very important Huluo merchant. Huoluo country is rich in a very light and gorgeous snow silk gauze dress , a whole set of clothes rolled up, but the size of a baby's fist, woven with gold and silver threads, can reflect five colors of brilliance in the sun, and is rich in precious medicines such as snow lotus. Back then, he wanted to go back to Chang'an with me to meet the king of Tang, but at that time I have no intention of doing business, but just to promote Buddhism, I stayed at his house for three days, and then left in a hurry."

Wu Hao stared at him dumbfounded, as if he was looking at a fool who passed by Jinshan without even looking at it.

And, this wealthy and well-stocked Hu businessman is very suitable for his requirements for making friends.

"Two days further east from here, you will reach Qidaduo City near the snow-capped mountains in the Huoluo Kingdom. This season is the season for picking snow lotus. Minaka will definitely sit in town in person. They will never let anyone take away what belongs to them. Even a single leaf of snow lotus is not acceptable. In Huoluo country, only Minaka’s family has the qualification to pick and sell snow lotus.”

Wu Kun was fascinated by it: "This Minaka, can't he be a relative of the emperor of Huoluo Kingdom?" Otherwise, how could he be so awesome?The best snow lotus in the whole country can only be picked by their family?Royal merchants are not so good, are they?

"What are the royal relatives? Minaka's family has been the high priest of the royal family for generations. Minaka's youngest brother will be the next high priest of the Huoluo Kingdom." Tang Xuanzang said with a slight smile.

"Fuck! This place is indeed more powerful than the emperor's relatives and relatives!" After living here for more than a year, Wu Hong also knows that in some countries with religious beliefs, religion sometimes has more power than the king. If so, it's no wonder that Minaka's family can monopolize the snow lotus industry. He is the brother of the next high priest, and the previous high priest is also from their family. His family has monopolized the high-ranking position of the high priest. Isn't it just a matter of one sentence?

"So, we are going to Qidado City, and we must become good friends with Minaka." Tang Xuanzang said with a slight smile.

"A good buddhist friend, right?" Wu Kong couldn't help complaining.

At present, it is impossible for Boss Wu, who has been dazzled by Xuelian and Xuesi Shayi, to walk for two days. After eating at noon that day, Wu Cong summoned a cloud and airlifted Elder Tang to Qidado City.

"Your quick temper is very similar to Wukong." Elder Tang couldn't help complaining when he landed from the clouds.Although it's not the first time to drive the cloud, but he is a mortal after all, it is really too much.

"No way, time is star coins!" Boss Wu rubbed his hands, his eyes gleamed, as if he had already won the exclusive agency right of Datang for Luoguo snow lotus.

Infected by him, Tang Xuanzang couldn't help being a little excited. Although the Huoluo Kingdom is no longer the ancient Tocharian Kingdom in its strong and prosperous period, because its territory happens to be stuck on the only way from the Tang Dynasty to West Asia and India and other countries, almost It can be regarded as a well-known political, cultural, transportation, and trade center in the Western Regions, and its strategic position is also very important. If the Minaka family can be persuaded to make good friends with the Tang Dynasty, it will undoubtedly win the most important victory for the King of Tang in the Western Regions. A strategic partner, the political significance contained in this is much more important than any snow lotus.

However, looking at Wu Kong next to him, Tang Xuanzang smiled. With this guy using business as a pretense, thinking about it, what he is going to do should not be too eye-catching.

Boss Wu is really Datang's lucky star!

Because the way they played was so cool, they were surrounded by the people of the city as soon as they landed. After a while, people from the government came and invited them to the city lord's mansion of Qidaduo City respectfully and with some fear.

Every year when Minaka brings people to Qidado City to pick snow lotus, he will live in the city lord's mansion. The city lord is also his cousin. As soon as he heard that there was an eminent monk from the Tang Dynasty returning from learning scriptures and passing by here, he immediately called his cousin to watch the fun together. , Cough, it is to welcome the eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty.

Although the Tocharian Kingdom used to be a state in the Western Regions, it is not what it used to be today. On the other hand, the Eastern Tang Dynasty on the other side of the snow-capped mountains has become stronger and stronger under the leadership of two generations of Tang Kings. Minaka is a businessman He also has a sharper sense of smell than ordinary people. He has long wanted to find an opportunity to go to Chang'an City in person, but now he heard that an eminent monk from the Tang Dynasty passed by here to learn scriptures, and he descended to the mortal world on a cloud, which is extremely high.

Minaka sat there thinking for a while, ordered someone to take a pen and paper, quickly wrote a letter to his family, and sent it out with the flying eagle he brought.Seeing the flying eagle flapping its wings and disappearing into the vast snow field, Minaka's light blue eyes unconsciously showed a hint of a smile.

If they can make friends with this eminent monk from the Tang Dynasty this time, and thus have a direct dialogue with the Tang royal family through the eminent monk, then Minaka's family will have more say in the Huoluo Kingdom in the future.The friendship from the eastern powers will also bring them new strength to reunify and restore the glory of the ancient Tocharian kingdom.

Standing in front of the city lord's mansion, looking at the golden and red plaque and the mysterious ancient Tocharian characters on it, Tang Xuanzang suddenly felt as if he had passed away.

"Hey? The characters of this ancient Tocharian country are really beautiful. I will find some craftsmen from the local area, get some stones of different sizes, and engrave some ancient characters on them. Wouldn't it be possible to sell them as handicrafts?" Boss Wu looked up. The plaque poked Elder Tang happily. He heard that Elder Tang was proficient in the languages ​​of various countries in the Western Regions. Let him think of some auspicious words for himself first.

Tang Xuanzang: "..."

He should have known earlier that this guy would never forget his great business of making money wherever he went.

Minaka and his cousin Khan Aduo personally stood at the door to welcome the distinguished guests from Tang Dynasty.Tang Xuanzang had dealt with Minaka in his previous life, so he naturally knew what he wanted to hear. The two of them exchanged exchanges, and in less than a meal, Minaka introduced Elder Tang as a confidant, wishing to be with him. He asks for help.

For Elder Tang's proposal to invite his friend to Chang'an City as a guest, Minaka agreed wholeheartedly. However, he was also in business after all, so he couldn't make the trip in vain, so he asked Elder Tang's apprentice to wait for him here for a few days. , After he summoned the caravan and prepared a batch of precious goods to be sold in Chang'an City, he set off again.

Tang Xuanzang naturally agreed, and hinted at Minaka, his beloved disciple Sun Wukong is very interested in merchants, and he plans to open a shop after returning to the Tang Dynasty, hoping to find some stable sources of goods in the Western Regions, please Mi Naka. Naka took care of him on his behalf.

Minaka understood, and felt that this kind of Elder Tang was more down-to-earth than before. He was not afraid that Elder Tang would ask him for anything, but he was afraid that he would have nothing to ask for. Besides, the Huoluo Kingdom is located between several important traffic routes, so people who travel between There are many Hu merchants in the country, and what he holds in his hand is the best source of goods in the entire Huoluo country. With a little loosening of his fingers, Monkey King can make a lot of money. Would you say something nice for them in front of the elders?

What's more, when Minaka's thoughts diverged for a while, he thought, maybe the business in the hands of Sun Wukong also has the shares of Master Tang, but after all, Elder Tang is an eminent monk respected by the royal family, so it is not convenient for him to do it in public. It's just a business, it's just right for the apprentice to come forward. In this way, if he and Monkey King are doing business together, isn't he giving money to Elder Tang in disguise?

If sending some money can make them Huoluo country get the friendship of Dongtu Datang, then this deal will be a big profit! ! !

Thinking of this, Minaka showed a warm smile to Wu Kong, and kindly invited him to harvest the new season of snow lotus with him tomorrow.

Minaka was so kind, Wu Kuan also reciprocated, and bought a set of glass goblets from Xingwang as a meeting gift for Minaka.Minaka looked at the pure and transparent goblet, and immediately opened his mouth slightly. He has been in a high position for many years, and it is rare for him to lose his composure like this.

I can't blame him for being rude, it's because Wu Hong's gift-giving is too generous!A few years ago, Minaka once received a pair of glazed cups from a Hu merchant. The color was not as transparent as this, and it cost him a full six thousand gold coins!

Such a whole set of twelve glass cups as pure as ice sculptures, quietly placed in a box lined with wine-red velvet cloth, is worth at least [-] to [-] gold coins when taken out, right?

Minaka finally believed the words of those Hu merchants, Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty is very likely to be full of gold...

In fact, Boss Wu bought this whole set of glass goblets on Xingwang.com, and only spent 89 star coins. He also bought the special price very carefully. The imitation wood box is hundreds of dollars cheaper than the real wood box. What about a dollar~

Minaka didn't know that he had received a discounted gift, he only knew that not only was the glazed cup very precious, but even the wooden box containing the glazed cup could hear a metallic sound when he buckled it up with his fingers ( It was originally a high-density alloy), and I don’t know what material it is. It can hold such an expensive glazed cup. This wood must be some rare species. He has never seen it before. It must be a special product of the Tang Dynasty!

At this moment, Minaka became more and more determined to go to Chang'an City in person!Just as Boss Wu thought, at this moment, Minaka firmly believes that as long as he has a good relationship with Elder Tang, he will definitely become the most important partner of Tang merchants in the Western Regions!

Minaka's cousin looked at the incomparably luxurious glazed cup eagerly. He believed that even in the palace of King Huoluo, there would not be such a unique treasure. Hint him: I am the city lord here!Come and bribe me!

Wu Kong has always been considerate in doing things, and Minaka's cousin is actually the leader here, so how could Wu Kong let go of such a good opportunity to give gifts when they met for the first time?

However, what Boss Wu gave to the city lord's cousin was even more brutal: a half-length full-length mirror.

The kind of fine detail, standing in front of the mirror, you can even count the number of eyelashes.

Minaka was so jealous that his eyeballs almost burst.

Just a second ago, he was proud of the fact that he had received a set of Datang glazed cups that could be used as family heirlooms. At this moment, Boss Wu taught him a lesson with practical actions: in Datang, the preciousness of gifts is based on official positions judged by size.

He will definitely keep this truth firmly in mind!Moreover, why didn't he ask Father to find him an official?

The city lord's cousin was already tightly holding onto the full-length mirror and refused to let go.

Worried that his servants would damage his heirloom with rough hands and feet, the city lord personally called several confidant generals, first wrapped the mirror with soft cloth, and then wrapped it with a soft quilt, and then carefully carried it to the In his warehouse, he ordered people to guard him day and night, and he was not allowed to leave his sight for a moment.

"You..." Tang Xuanzang was a little speechless looking at Minaka and the city lord's cousin who were so enthusiastic about Wu Kong in an instant, but he also knew that at this time, Wu Kong's method was the most direct and effective.

At the very least, such a generous gift that can be used as a family heirloom... the generous gift came down, and Wu Hong also acted very casually, as if he didn't feel how precious the gift he gave. In short, to Minaka The feeling with the city lord is that for the people of the Tang Dynasty, these incomparably precious gifts seem to be ordinary daily necessities in life, and they can even be used as a small meeting gift between friends when they meet for the first time.

After this time, I believe their next cooperation will go much smoother.

Minaka and the city lord did not take Wu Kong's meeting gift for nothing. They even thought it was a custom of the Tang Dynasty, and they followed suit. There are snow silk gauze clothes, and a box of processed premium snow lotus.

Wu Cong once saw snow lotus in a documentary. It was really a very holy flower, but it has long been extinct in the Star Alliance. I heard that the Academy of Sciences kept the original species of snow lotus from the ancient earth. The natural environment has been sealed up, and now we can finally see the real snow lotus!

Boss Wu rubbed his hands happily, and carefully opened the wooden box containing the snow lotus...

"Just, just this thing? Is this snow lotus?" Looking at the thing that looked like a withered leaf in the box, Boss Wu collapsed for a moment. This, this is not the same mother as the snow lotus in the documentary!

"This should be a processed snow lotus. The city lord has a heart. After the snow lotus is picked, if it is not processed in time, it will rot and turn into water within three days, and there is no trace of medicinal properties. Most of the snow lotus used by the traditional Chinese medicine shop in Chang'an City comes from Hu merchants. I bought it in my hands, and there are very few pharmacists who concoct it by themselves. Those people can't enter the snow-capped mountains, and they can't pick the newly opened snow lotus. Before he went west to learn scriptures, he was also a famous monk in Chang'an City, and he had seen such high-quality medicinal herbs as snow lotus.

"That's it..." Wu Hao put the lid on embarrassingly, Yan Cong had terminal cancer, there was nothing he could do.

Qidaduo City is close to the snow-capped mountains, the temperature is very low, and there is nothing delicious, but because they are the guests of the city lord, in addition to barbecue and tea soup, there are also noodles made of wheat noodles that are said to be brought back from the Tang Dynasty. The noodles were as thick as an adult's little finger, almost choking Tang Xuanzang to death.

Originally, Elder Tang planned to take Minaka back to Chang'an with him. Aristocrats like Minaka would definitely bring a cook with them when they went out. So rounding it up, it means that he and Wu Kong have a cook.

Now it seems that this cook is also a little unreliable?

Tang Xuanzang managed to finish a small bowl of noodles, and then couldn’t eat any more, not to mention him, even Wu Kong couldn’t finish it. The noodles were as thick as fingers, and the outside was rotten, but the inside was still raw. Yes, the noodle soup is still stewed with a whole piece of mutton, probably the mutton fat has not been removed, the noodle soup is very greasy, after eating a small bowl, Wu Hao felt that his whole body was filled with the smell of mutton fat.

"Elder! We can't go on like this!" Back in the guest room, Boss Wu rose up, brushed out a cookbook from Xingwang, and solemnly put it in front of Tang Xuanzang, "As the saying goes, relying on others is worse than relying on ourselves. I think we should learn from it. Learn how to cook."

When Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie were together, Wu Cong thought it was easy to cook, but now he realizes that it is easy to cook but difficult to light a fire!This crap doesn't have a cooking station that can adjust the temperature at will. The only thing Wu Hong can do is to stew: throw all the ingredients into a pot, add water, cook on high heat, and it's done!

As for whether it tastes good or not, Boss Wu thinks it's better not to have too many illusions about this kind of thing.

Tang Xuanzang nodded. He also felt that it was unreliable to expect a cook from the Western Regions who could cook the taste of Tang Dynasty. Although Wu Kong could still buy some instant vegetable buns from Xingwang, they couldn’t do it like this. Just rely on instant vegetable soup and noodle pancakes to fool you along the way?

Elder Tang, who was resurrected for the first time, said that he struggled for thousands of years to regain the qualification to eat, and he must not wrong himself like this!

Just do what you said, seeing that it was still early, Wu Kong asked the people of the City Lord's Mansion to take them to the small kitchen in the yard, saying that he wanted to use the small kitchen to make some snacks from the Tang Dynasty.

The cook of the City Lord's Mansion doesn't know how to do this thing, so he can only stand aside and wait for orders, and steal the teacher by the way.

It was the first time for both of them to learn to cook seriously (not the kind that Boss Wu is lazy to process with semi-finished products). After looking through the recipes, they decided to make the simplest one first: vegetable soup gnocchi.

First take two bowls of wheat noodles, break in three eggs, add a little salt and water, and stir to form a batter.Then take out a pack of instant vegetable buns, pour them into the pot, and then pour half of the pot of water. After boiling, use chopsticks to drive the batter into the vegetable soup little by little. The vegetable buns contain freeze-dried cabbage, tomato, and celery. , chives, carrots, seaweed, etc., mixed together, it is also very beautiful to look at the colorful ones.

However, after the batter was put into the pot, the vegetable soup, which was originally as beautiful as a painting, suddenly seemed to be splashed with a large pot of yellow mud soup. One looks like a "pimple", and the others are all the size of a grain of wheat. Finally, a pot of vegetable soup has been turned into a batter...

"Cough~ It's the first time I'm doing it, but I can't control the heat, it will be fine next time." Boss Wu forcibly held back his respect.

"It will be fine next time." Elder Tang learned from the parrot.

The cook who failed to steal the teacher walked out silently, feeling that his feelings had been cheated.

However, although this pot of batter looks bad, it actually tastes pretty good, especially since they are not used to the barbecue here at night, they are not full at all, and now they are holding a big bowl by themselves, and they are eating it with a sigh Half of the pot of batter was dropped, and his stomach was warm. This gave Elder Tang an illusion: he felt that if he worked harder and mastered his cooking skills, he and Boss Wu might really be able to cook good dishes. .

This point, the next morning, when the master and apprentice were trying to cook a pot of porridge for themselves, it was once again proved that it was only Elder Tang's illusion.

The rice for cooking porridge is the last small bag of rice that Sha Wujing hid in his luggage. It was brought by Tang Xuanzang from the Tang Dynasty. He originally wanted to wait until the Western Paradise and dedicate it to the Buddha as a special product brought from the East. However, they have given up learning scriptures now, so the rice can't be sent out, which happens to be cheaper for themselves.

Tang Xuanzang didn't know how to cook, but he often cooked porridge to do good deeds in temples. This...although every time he waited until the little novice monks had cooked the porridge almost, he would stir it with a spoon a few times symbolically to show his porridge. The pot of porridge is cooked by eminent monks, but that’s how porridge should be, right?Put the rice in, add water, and keep stirring, isn't it done?

Elder Tang confidently poured half a bag of rice down, and then, the master and apprentice quarreled about how much water should be added to make the porridge.

"Is this too little? I remember that the ratio of rice to water is one to two, right?" Boss Wu seems to remember that in the movie.The Star Alliance seldom cooks rice by themselves. The rice they buy is usually semi-finished products made of rice mixed with different ingredients. They can be eaten after being disassembled and heated in a cooking machine. How does he know how much to put in for cooking? rice?

"It's for the disaster victims. We eat it ourselves. Naturally, we have to cook it thicker. Half a pot of rice and half a pot of water is enough!" Elder Tang insisted, and he put the lid on the pot very authoritatively.

"Okay!" Wu Hao decided to compromise. Anyway, if there is less water, the worst thing is to cook it into rice. Although it is a bit strange to eat rice early in the morning, it will not be wasted.

Both master and apprentice felt that their plan was perfect, but they forgot that in addition to the ratio of water to cooking, the heat is also very important.

The fire-burning boy in the city lord's mansion had never cooked rice, and he was as fierce as a tiger after a meal. He set up the firewood and started to burn. Hearing the aroma of rice being boiled in the air, Tang Xuanzang and Wu Hao couldn't help showing their faces. A smile: After a while, they will be able to eat delicious rice porridge.

Wu Hao even bought more than a dozen salted duck eggs from Xingwang. The salted duck eggs are served with rice porridge, which is very beautiful...

Smelling the enticing aroma of rice in the air, the fire-burning boy swallowed, and couldn't help speeding up the speed of stuffing firewood.

After a stick of incense, the master and apprentice lifted the lid of the pot, and were sprayed in the face by the black smoke inside.

A good pot of rice porridge, more than half of the bottom has turned into black coke, and a small piece of surviving top is also dry and still maintains the ridiculous shape of rice...

"Ahem...Actually, after finally coming out, what rice from my hometown can I eat? In my opinion, it's better to try the local specialties for breakfast." After a moment of sluggishness, Wu Kong once again tried hard to win respect.

"That's right, when we return to Chang'an this time, we don't know if we can come to the Western Regions again in this life. It's a rare opportunity, so let's try more local delicacies." Elder Tang put the lid on the pot with embarrassment.

Many people think that with regard to modern culinary skills, wouldn't it be possible to become a chef in minutes in ancient times?In fact, it’s really not... I can cook myself, but the big stove in the country is not good enough, I can’t control the heat, the cooking is okay, the headache is when cooking rice, alas!I envy those who can use firewood stoves.