[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

The lapis lazuli merchant Rahal was furious when he first arrived. Last night, he heard his son relay what happened at the "Holy Wedding Ceremony".

His silly boy is easy to deceive, but he is not so easy to deceive.

So he came to this small inn to see Yinan with the attitude of provoking a teacher, and he naturally recognized this beautiful girl who was ruining his "good deed" in Tibil.

One after another, Rahal made up his mind to get back all the sacrifices he had spent on the "Holy Marriage".

Unexpectedly, Yi Nan said with a smile: "...you can gain a lot of benefits."

Rahal: ...!

He was, after all, a businessman.

It's just that this man never trusts others easily. Rahal stared at Yi Nan for a long time before asking cautiously: "The business you're talking about..."

Yi Nan stretched out his hand and handed two stones to Rahal.

"Do you know these two ores?"

"This is……"

Rahal took the stone over and held it in his hand to observe—when the business scripture was mentioned, Rahal's anger disappeared and he focused on identifying it.

"This one is an indigo stone, and this one is a crimson stone."

Inan nodded: she actually found these two stones in the corner of the "Holy Maiden" lounge in the Inanna Temple, and they came out casually.

The kind recognized by Rahal as "indigo stone" is called "malachite" in later generations.But the Mesopotamia did not produce peacocks, and the communication between this area and ancient India has not yet formed.If Inan only said "malachite", Rahal would definitely not know what it was.

Yi Nan: Fortunately, I have the real thing in hand.

Malachite is generally the associated stone of copper ore. As for the "red red stone", it is hematite-these two kinds of ores are completely absent in the alluvial plains of the Mesopotamia.It must be imported if needed.

The lapis lazuli that Rahal Jin presented to the priest before was produced near Afghanistan.Lahal's caravan can get such precious gemstones from such a far place, and indigo stone and crimson stone should be no problem for him.

Rahal frowned: "You won't be lying to me, are you?"

He raised the malachite in his hand: "Compared with lapis lazuli, this kind of gemstone is not as hard as lapis lazuli, and it can't be ground to make dyes. At most, it can only be ground into beads. A lapis lazuli can be exchanged for many sheep, and this A piece..." Rahal threw the stone in his hand in disgust, and said, "This is the big business you said, don't lie to me."

Yi Nan smiled: Now she knows that the businessman in front of her is very knowledgeable about ores, and she has found the right person.Because of its limited hardness, malachite can only be used as a small piece of decoration, beading, or a brooch even in the jewelry craft industry of later generations.

"I'm sorry, what I want is actually not the indigo stone itself." Yinan corrected Rahal's concept with a smile.

Rahal: ...Huh?

"I need a kind of ore that is associated with indigo stone. The surface of this ore is covered with turquoise-like spots, but when these spots are scraped off, you can see the shining stone inside. But this shining stone, After a long time, those turquoise dots will still grow."

"What I need is actually that kind of stone."

Rahal opened his mouth wide in surprise: "I've seen the kind you mentioned, but..."

"But that thing is heavy and worthless—you want to say that, don't you?" Yinan replied with a smile, "My respected businessman, the value of ore is determined by those who need it, right?"

By this time, Rahal had completely forgotten his original intention of coming here to denounce. Instead, he stretched out his hand to scratch the small tuft of goatee on his chin, and fixed his eyes on Yi Nan, as if he wanted to see from her face the young girl's heart. What are you thinking.

What Yinan said is that what is associated with malachite is actually natural copper, and those tundra-like spots on the surface are copper rust.In addition to the patina that follows everywhere and is extremely difficult to remove, the hardness of natural copper is also quite low, which cannot meet people's requirements for making stone tools.

Therefore, the naturally occurring copper ore is still in a state of being ignored.

"Do you think that kind of stone is worth more than lapis lazuli?" Harald asked, "Lapis lapis is small, expensive and easy to carry."

The caravan travels thousands of miles to transport and sell goods. The goods that can be carried are limited. If he wants to bring, he will only bring the most valuable goods.

"But what if the cargo you can carry can be increased by hundreds or even thousands of times in the future?" Inan looked at Rahal slyly.

"What, you mean..."

Rahal froze.

Little Rahal went home last night and excitedly told the story of dancing with the goddess. He did mention that a "sacred chariot" pulled by a "sacred bull" appeared in the ceremony to offer sacrifices to the goddess.

Rahal was not able to visit the temple in person last night, and he still feels regretful until now.Who would have thought that the woman in front of her, who was revered as the "Holy Maiden" and was said to be the "Goddess", actually proposed this item herself.

"I will present you with an ox cart." Yi Nan said calmly, "And allow your caravan to imitate it, provided that you are willing to help Uruk obtain the two ores I mentioned from other places."

"When the ore arrives in Uruk, we will pay you a very fair and reasonable price considering the cost and labor you have paid."

Rahal had already made a quick calculation in his mind: he bought the lapis lazuli from the caravans in the remote northern mountainous area, and the two kinds of ores that Inan wanted were available in the upper and middle reaches of the Euphrates River, which was relatively close. , and most of them are on the surface, so mining is not difficult.

If he can own the bullock cart used to bring sacrifices to the goddess and can copy it, it means that he can get a lot of commodities that Uruk needs without traveling thousands of miles through the harsh mountainous environment.This distance is only about half of the original.

Not only that, he can also transport a large amount of produce near Uruk, such as grain, flour, honey, cheese...all to the middle and upper reaches of the Euphrates River.

The goatee on Rahal's chin was raised rhythmically, and there was an expression of ecstasy on his whole face.

Yi Nan felt that there were only two big words written on this man's face: "Fa Cai—" There was no such thing as provoking a teacher to ask a crime.

"In addition, let me remind you that in the future, Uruk's demand for lapis lazuli may not be so strong. Instead, it will be replaced by the two ores I mentioned to you-one is called natural copper ore, and the other is natural copper mine. It's called hematite."

Yinan told Rahal very confidently: in Uruk in the future, lapis lazuli, which can only be used to dye priests' robes, will no longer be important. What Uruk really needs is a new material that can usher in a new era.

Yi Nan sent Rahal out of the small hotel, and soon there was another father and son, and the son was one of the "groom candidates" yesterday.Together, the two cautiously came to see Yinan.

They had already found out from other sources that the lapis lazuli merchant Lahal's bid was much higher than theirs, so the father and son came to see Yinan without the slightest confidence to "invoke the teacher to inquire about the crime", they just came to listen to the "saint" lecturing.

Unexpectedly, when Yi Nan saw them, he asked them to sit down, and smiled and pushed a group of beautifully made pottery models over.

This is a pottery mold that she and the veterans of Tibila Village developed together. Before arriving in Uruk, Yinan put one on the bullock cart.

"It's a model for building irrigation and drainage canals on the banks of the Euphrates to stop the salinization of fields."

"Just by doing this, you can improve fields that are already salinized."

Both father and son gasped in surprise.

The saint gave them this? ! ——Won't the barren land on the banks of the Euphrates be fertile soon?

The father gave his son a look, and the son quickly took Tao Mo and hugged him carefully.

"I heard that you are from a family of pottery makers? You even own a pottery kiln in Uruk?" Yinan had already asked Guda about the ins and outs of these people, and she saw the expressions of both father and son.

The father nods.

Yinan smiled immediately, her smile was like a flower blooming, and the whole room was like a spring breeze.

"I want to ask you to help me to copy this pottery model, can you?"

The father looked at his son with hesitant eyes.

The father and son were obviously very worried: Yesterday they contributed a large amount of "sacrifice", so today the saint is asking them to work hard again?

But in the face of such a beautiful "saint", it seems that she really can't say no.

"With more pottery molds, the method of irrigation and drainage can be spread to all parts of the Euphrates. There, the land will be revived, the villagers will get more produce, and their life will become better and better. Naturally, more and more patrons will come to your kilns."

Inan explained with a smile.

The pottery father and son listened, and the son nodded in admiration: "What you said is... our family's business is really not good in a disaster year. But as you said, most of the villages near Uruk will have a good harvest. Come to our house to order some large pottery."

But the father seemed to be a little doubtful, scratching the back of his head, not knowing how to explain it to Yi Nan.

Yi Nan hurriedly added another sentence: "Don't worry—when you have copied this pottery model, I will ask everyone who comes to you to pick up the pottery model to pay you one'sila' of wheat. What do you think is the price? May I?"

Now the pottery father and son were a little embarrassed, and the father scratched the back of his head vigorously, with a shame on his face: "You...you are doing it for the good of everyone, how can we still ask for a reward? I...I was just worried about rushing to work Too late..."

Speaking of this, the experienced pottery craftsman suddenly let out a sigh of relief and said, "What else can we father and son push back on what the goddess told us. Naturally, we will start working immediately."

"Please accept the remuneration. After all, I said yesterday that I hope that everyone can see a fair and reasonable remuneration for their hard work."

After finishing her conditions, Yinan lowered her head and saluted the father and son: "Please be sure to make an accurate copy of the entire pottery model, because this is related to the livelihood of the farmers on the Euphrates River and the well-being of the entire Uruk region."

The pottery father and son were very moved, and they assured Yi Nan that they would treat the pottery model well. Then they bid farewell to Yi Nan, and the son held the pottery model in both hands like a treasure, and went away cautiously.

After the father and son, Yinan met other "groom candidates", and they all left happily without any resentment when they came.Even the hotel owner was amazed.

After calming down the emotions of the "bridegrooms", Yi Nan actually began to receive young men and women from all over the country to watch the ceremony in the small hotel one by one.

The news spread like wildfire, and a long queue formed outside the hotel.

The innkeeper, grinning from ear to ear, set up a table outside the inn and served tea and bread dripping with olive oil to the waiting crowd for a third of a sherah's worth of wheat—even on credit. It doesn't matter, as long as everyone helps promote it together, this is the designated residence and meeting hotel for the "Holy Maiden".

The guests who attended the ceremony that Yinan had met soon went to a family of pottery makers on the outskirts of the city under Yinan's guidance, and waited for the pottery molds of this family to be fired successfully.

"Soon, at most one and a half days, this pottery mold can be out of the kiln." The Taoist father and son told the waiting crowd, "At that time, you can take this pottery mold and return to your hometown."

When these young people from all over the country return to their hometowns, the irrigation and drainage canals will be passed on to the villages along the Euphrates River along with the spread of pottery molds.

Yinan had already given them a detailed enough explanation, presumably these young people would take this pottery model back home, explain it to the villagers, and then discuss it with the neighboring villages, and the problem would be solved.

Yi Nan is busy meeting people here, and the witches and priests of Uruk are all in a hurry——

They never expected that Yi Nan would start to fulfill her "promise" so quickly.

Wu originally wanted to see Yinan's jokes.

Unexpectedly, Yi Nan opened a "land improvement" lecture hall in the most ordinary small hotel. Isn't this a slap in the face of the temple?

In the end, Gu Da was ordered to go to invite him when he was in danger, and after a lot of talking, Yi Nan nodded and agreed to move the "teaching" place to the temple.

Although the innkeeper was very reluctant, but his arms couldn't hold his thighs, he could only watch Yi Nan being escorted by a neat line of high-ranking priests to the temple.

Dumuzi and Little Hamti are still temporarily staying in this hotel - the hotel owner generously let Dumuzi and the others live for free because of the abundant income these days, and they can stay as long as they want without charging rent.

Now, the long queue waiting in line to see the "Holy Maiden" finally moved to the front of the temple.

With a look of miscalculation on his face, Wu said angrily: "I knew she had this ability, I knew she could really keep her promise..."

Gu Da and his immediate boss, the high-ranking priests, all lowered their heads, not daring to touch the witch's head—in fact, they had mentioned Yi Nan's ability to Wu many times before, and this girl was by no means simple.Wu himself knew all about it, but he always felt that this girl was being pointed out by someone behind her back, or that she bumped into her by mistake.

Now, Wu had no choice but to lift a brick and shoot himself in the foot.

Gradually, the long dragon in front of the temple shortened, and young people who came to watch the ceremony from all over the country returned home with pottery models of the canal and knowledge of improving the land.

The shaman and the priests thought, Yi Nan should calm down.

Who knew that after Yi Nan met the guests from all over the place, he began to meet the temple's "apprentice priests" one by one.

She gently asked everyone about their hometown and origin, what kind of work they held in the temple, whether the work was hard, whether they missed their homeland, and wanted to go home.

As long as the trainee priest proposed to return home, Yi Nan would nod his head in agreement, and suggested that the other party take a few "sheila" wheat from the temple's warehouse as travel expenses.

However, there are not many trainee priests who are willing to go home. Most of them are indeed used to life in Uruk, and many of them, like Kuxin or Gashti, do not remember where their homeland is. Where, what do their relatives look like... Even if they still have a home, it is difficult to go back.

Besides, they don't want to go back.

In front of Yinan, Kuxin said with tears in his eyes: "After listening to what you said on New Year's Day, Kuxin is willing to serve you all his life and record the wheat inventory for your temple."

After hearing these sincere words from the heart, Yinan felt a little troubled.

Before she came to this era, the temple system existed and supported many people.If she overthrows the system rashly, it will inevitably cause new problems.

So she invited the high priests and witches and asked them about the operation of the temple.

Unexpectedly, Yi Nan invited the high-ranking priest, but failed to invite the witch.

Wu Yue is hiding behind the scenes, wanting to see Yinan's jokes.

When the high-ranking priest saw Yi Nan, he didn't dare to neglect, and told Yi Nan about the temple's financial situation——

According to them, the temple now relies on the sacrifices sent from all over the year, which is "just enough" to feed everyone, including priests and priests.

Among them, the trainee priests were indeed, as Yi Nan pointed out, their labor was not paid, and the temple only provided them with board and lodging.Most of the trainee priests will work in the temple until they are old and weak-this is the so-called "serving the goddess for a lifetime".

On the contrary, from low-level priests to middle-level priests to high-level priests, priests can start a family and start a business in Uruk, and they can directly withdraw a certain amount of materials from the temple property every month as a means of living. need.

After the high priest finished speaking, Yi Nan smiled at them.

She knew that the temple's income was definitely not just "just enough" to meet all kinds of expenses, otherwise, where would the small garden behind the temple and the shaman's extravagant life come from.

The high-ranking priests were blushed by Yinan's laughter, and they knew something was wrong, so they all had to blame Wu for this: "This is what Wu said. What Wu said is... the will of the gods."

What kind of God's will is this? This is just a labor order in prehistoric generations. People are automatically divided into ordinary laborers and managers. Laborers are required to provide excess labor.

The witches and priests actually provided only a small amount of intellectual achievements, such as astronomy and calendar.

"Do you think it's feasible to increase the treatment of apprentice priests to be comparable to that of low-level priests?" Yinan asked the opinions of high-level priests directly.

The high-ranking priests looked at each other and nodded hesitantly—with the financial resources of the temple, if the number of sacrifices sent from all over the year does not decrease, this is barely achievable.

"But this has created a new injustice." Yi Nan spread his hands and shook his head. "The labor of the low-level priests is obviously not as much as that of the apprentice priests, but they get the same reward."

She still remembered the brutal priest who beat Kuxin for no reason.

The high-level priests lowered their heads, and no one dared to speak, but they all understood that the "Holy Maiden" was not satisfied with the low-level priests.Several high-ranking priests were secretly planning in their hearts, and hurriedly sent the useless low-ranking priests back to their hometowns.

Yinan thought for a long time, but couldn't come up with a particularly good solution, so he could only wave his hand and ask the high-ranking priests to invite them back.

The high-ranking priest came out from Yinan, turned around and went to Wu's place.

Hearing Yi Nan's original words recounted by them, Wu said angrily, "This girl's hands are really long, and she really treats herself like a dish!"

"Let her struggle first, and see how she will deal with it when Eridu's matter breaks out."

"If you can't handle it, throw her out and sacrifice her to the Lord God Enki."

A group of high-ranking priests looked at the witch with strange expressions, and all of them were thinking in their hearts: This...is really the witch who serves the goddess Inanna?

"The weather after the new year is so sweltering and hot, it really gives me a headache, Gashti, send me back."

Wu turned her head to look at the apprentice priestess who had been serving her all the time—Gashti was probably the only apprentice priestess that Inan had never "interviewed".

Gashti rushed forward and held Wu's hand.

Wu was very satisfied with the girl's attitude, and said to Gashti with a smile: "I haven't found a suitable heir until today, follow me, maybe you will become the most powerful person in Uruk in the future."

Gashti bent his waist even lower, held Wu's hand, and left in front of the high-ranking priests.

The high-ranking priests were in disarray at the same time—they all tried their best to curry favor with Wu, but they didn't expect Wu to pass on his position to a trainee priest.

Women... what are they thinking!

Yi Nan had seen the high-ranking priest, came back from the temple, and went directly to Dumuzi.

At this time, the shepherd had just returned from the sheep pen, and his body had a strong smell from the sheep pen.Yi Nan didn't care about it. 21 Radumuzi entered the room of the small hotel.

Dumuzi blushed and squirmed immediately, not knowing where to put his hands and feet: "Would you allow me...to take a bath first?"

Yinan pulled him to sit down, explained the questions of the trainee priests in a few words, and then asked Dumuzi directly: "How can I change this situation?"

Dumuzi's face turned red to the base of his neck: he might have thought something wrong just now.

But the young man just shook his head and put all those messy thoughts behind him.He thought about Yinan's question carefully, took out another earthenware chip, and drew several horizontal and vertical lines on the ground in front of him.

He looked up, and he figured it out.

The young shepherd looked up at Yi Nan with bright eyes, and said to Yi Nan, "Do you remember what we said the first time we met?"

Yi Nan raised his head, facing his bright amber eyes.

The night we met for the first time... It seems that this young man has a pretty good memory. He clearly remembers everything he said and everything he did with Yi Nan since he met Yi Nan.