[Comprehensive] The days when I pretended to be a meow in the Forbidden City

After Lu Xiaofeng and the little milk leopard fought for [-] rounds, he casually threw the cat teasing stick, walked around the tired little milk leopard sticking out his tongue, flipped his robe, and sat down gracefully.

Today is a rare sunny day, and it's noon, so Xia Anran specially took a few small animals at home out to bask in the sun. Logically speaking, this shouldn't be the time for home visits, but Lu Xiaofeng is a person from the rivers and lakes, so naturally he doesn't care about these things .

Since the weather is warm and comfortable, and there are little pets to accompany outside, and the scenery in this courtyard is good, everyone simply does not enter the inner room.

The air outside is good, everyone is a man, and they are martial arts practitioners, so naturally they don't care about these things.

Lu Xiaofeng introduced the people around him to Xia Anran.

But in fact, he can guess without mentioning Xia Anran.

With such a dignified manner, a gentleman on Moshang who is as beautiful as jade, and a friend of Lu Xiaofeng's, there is no doubt that he is full of flowers, and it is indeed the case.

The two sat down together after greeting each other.

Xia Anran has not yet learned how to order tea in the Song Dynasty. As the owner of this place, Bai Jinxi took over this task without hesitation.

Lu Xiaofeng didn't exchange many pleasantries, and explained the purpose of coming straight to the point.

Huamanlou came here to place an order with the Jinhua Bai family on behalf of the Jiangnan Hua family, and what they purchased were the specially made gold ink and cyan blue paper of the Bai family.

It turned out that the paper and ink that Xia Anran gave Lu Xiaofeng was taken directly to Huamanlou by him that day, while Lu Xiaofeng was copying the last words of the script on the paper, he handed the dried paper to Huamanlou for He tried to see if he could tell.

Hua Manlou read almost every word on this paper without making a mistake, and this result surprised Lu Xiaofeng and the Hua family.

Although Hua Manlou is blind and has a gentle and honest personality, he is extremely proud in his bones.

He was young and talented, and he was already famous when he was seven years old. After he lost his sight, he took advantage of that idea and forced himself to read himself as an all-rounder in civil and military affairs.

He always thought that he could take good care of himself, but he found that there are many cousins ​​in the Hua family, and he is the seventh. .Even younger siblings, nephews and nieces have to accommodate him.

Huamanlou couldn't stand the overprotective Hua family, and didn't want to disturb the family too much, so she moved out.

He built a small building, and except for the servants who cooked and washed clothes, he did all the rest of the work by himself.

When his friends learned that he moved out, they sent many flowers to his building in the name of housewarming.

Huamanlou likes flowers, he can hear the sound of flowers blooming and falling, and he can also hear the sound of butterflies and bees attracted by flowers.

Green plants are full of vitality every day. They accept the gift of nature, and donate their pollen and nectar to give back to nature without hesitation.

Huamanlou's surname is Hua. He likes flowers and is good at growing them. Over time, his nameless small building was called Baihualou by outsiders.

This kind of Huamanlou will never hire others to study for him, nor will he ask his friends to study for him, so, just as Xia Anran guessed, since Lu Xiaofeng left, in Huamanlou Lou here has never heard the rest of the novel.

Lu Xiaofeng is a prodigal son who likes to join in the fun and meddle in other people's affairs. Although he regards the flower-filled Baihualou as a stop, he cannot stay here forever.

And compared to Xia Anran, Lu Xiaofeng understands Huamanlou better.

He knew very well that if Huamanlou bought paper from the Bai family in the name of copying books, Huamanlou would definitely not agree.

But if it is in the name of the Hua family, it will be discussed separately.

He quietly reached an agreement with the elder brothers of the Hua family.It is said that the Hua family and the Bai family will unite to jointly develop the trade routes in the south of the Yangtze River. Based on this, they will bring Huamanlou to Jinhua.

Lu Xiaofeng also wanted to take this opportunity to broaden Huamanlou's circle of friends.

He has always felt that Huamanlou has too few friends, and if he has few friends, he will be lonely easily, so when he meets friends who he thinks will have similar personalities with Huamanlou, he will introduce Huamanlou to them.Xia Anran was one of the accidents.

Xia Anran has too many secrets, Lu Xiaofeng can clearly feel that behind him, there is a vortex full of conspiracy and calculation, this vortex may not come from Xia Anran herself.

But his face is a trouble.

He thinks that he is very accurate in seeing friends.

Lu Xiaofeng is not afraid of trouble, but he is quite afraid of causing trouble to Hua Manlou.

When I first met Xia Anran, it was completely by accident, Lu Xiaofeng really followed the road of seeking medical treatment.

He believed that the same was true for Bai Jintang, but only a few days later, he saw Bai Jintang's brother.

Lu Xiaofeng never dreamed that Bai Jintang would have a younger brother who worked in the government, and it was not an ordinary position, the official position of the Imperial City Secretary, mastering the flow of information in the world, and also in charge of the first army of the Song Dynasty - the Forbidden Army.

What caught him off guard even more was that Bai Jintang's younger brother would come to invite them to help him investigate Xia Anran.

A man who suddenly appeared, didn't remember any past, but looked exactly like the official.

When Lu Xiaofeng heard these messages, as long as he thought about what this meant and what might happen, he wanted to turn around and run away.

Royal secrets, this is not something ordinary people can know, if you are not careful, this Lu Xiaofeng can become Lu Sifeng.

But unfortunately, he couldn't refuse this request, because his friend Sikong Zhaixing had already fallen into it.

In this world, only friends and women can make Lu Xiaofeng compromise.

Traveling all the way to the south, the boat sailed for a full month and a half of day and night, which was enough for Lu Xiaofeng to have a basic understanding of Xia Anran, so when Bai Jinxi asked his opinion, Lu Xiaofeng thought it was a complete accident.

It seemed an accident to grow up with the official, and it was also an accident to appear in Bianjing.

He didn't think Xia Anran was a deep-minded person, Bai Jintang agreed with his judgment, but even so, they couldn't argue for Xia Anran.

Xia Anran's appearance had too many coincidences.

Suddenly appearing in Songjiang, amnesia, talented and learned, although he has amnesia, he has basic common sense of life, has the same face as an official, and is similar in height and age. All kinds of things make people suspicious.

And Lu Xiaofeng is also very clear that some things are not judged or the truth can determine the outcome.

He has been an adult for many years, and he naturally comprehends everything in the world, which cannot be summed up in black and white.

Regardless of whether Xia Anran is innocent or not, he looks exactly like the official family, and this will be a hurdle that cannot be overcome. Even if he himself has no bad intentions, it is inevitable that people with ulterior motives will take advantage of this.

Someday someone will find out about his situation and take advantage of it.

Lu Xiaofeng had no doubts that among the tasks Bai Jinxi received, there was one of killing them.

When he and Xia Anran parted ways in Hangzhou, he wanted to persuade Xia Anran to escape.

But in the end, he couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

He knew very well in his heart that since the Bai family would berth here, they would also allow...even expressly stating that Xia Anran would disembark for three days, a net must have been laid here.

If Xia Anran had a problem, they would not be able to communicate with the outside world after sailing for a month, and they would definitely find a way to connect when they arrived in Hangzhou, this time it was just a trial.

Xia Anran couldn't see it, but Lu Xiaofeng, who lived in Hangzhou for a long time, could feel that there were many government servants mixed in with traders, and there were often prying eyes when they were walking.

With such defenses, he was naturally afraid that Xia Anran would escape.So in the end Lu Xiaofeng swallowed the words.

Moreover, no matter what, although he is in the Jianghu, he is the Lu Xiaofeng of the Jianghu, but he is also the Lu Xiaofeng of the Song Dynasty.

He can't endorse Xia Anran, he must have no intention of doing evil, and he has no ability to endorse like this, he is just a little phoenix, not a real wind.

But if one day it proves that Xia Anran is indeed innocent, and that she will suffer harm just because of this face, Lu Xiaofeng will choose to help Xia Anran.

Only now, under all the unknown circumstances, he can't act rashly.

However, during this visit, Lu Xiaofeng was somewhat surprised by the happy atmosphere between Xia Anran and Bai Jinxi.

It can even be said that it is very unexpected.

Bai Jinxi looks very relaxed, totally defenseless against Xia Anran's approach and behavior.

During the month they were separated, what happened to make the relationship between these two people develop so quickly, Lu Xiaofeng was dumbfounded.

His emotions were well hidden, and Xia Anran didn't notice it at all. He picked up the tired little milk leopard and stuffed it into the nest. An Ran fiddled with it, and after it rolled into the soft and warm nest, it stomped on its little paws, squinted and fell asleep with its eyes closed.

The puppy that was put down when Lu Xiaofeng was teasing the cat had already run to Bai Jintang's side, and was so happy that he was hugged by his parents.

Several people were very appreciative of the tea that Bai Jinxi ordered. Huamanlou, who is more proficient in this way, also had a conversation with Bai Jinxi, and the two made an appointment with each other to bring some tea when Huamanlou left. Said that when he returned to Hangzhou, he would post some more.

Xia Anran, who doesn't know how to drink tea, and Lu Xiaofeng, who loves to drink more, couldn't get in the way, so Lu Xiaofeng took out the souvenir he brought.

It was the candied lotus root that Xia Anran wanted to eat in Hangzhou but because the lotus root season hadn't arrived yet.

The best season to eat lotus root is October of the lunar calendar. When Xia Anran passed Hangzhou, the lotus root season just passed. Naturally, he couldn’t eat the famous West Lake candied lotus root, and he didn’t even have lotus root powder. It’s really a pity. The candied lotus root is stored by Huajia.

As a local, there is naturally a way to store lotus root, so that the owner can eat it at any time, and the lotus root can be boiled into sweet lotus root soup in winter, and it can also be fried. Storage needs to be buried in a pre-prepared pit when it comes out of the pond, and then buried with straw, stacked layer by layer, and dug as it is eaten. This mode of operation is to use the characteristics of lotus root as a lotus rhizome to deceive it and let it I thought I was still sleeping in the mud pond, so that when the flowers bloomed in spring, they would germinate again.

If there is a slight mistake, the whole army will be wiped out.

To achieve this, only years of lotus root farmers can grasp the propriety.

Before coming, Lu Xiaofeng thought that Xia Anran regretted not being able to eat lotus root before, so he specially asked the Hua family for some candied lotus root, which is a specialty of the chef of the Hua family. Hurry up, so the two of them went first and arrived in Jinhua within three days when the candied lotus root tastes the best.

Xia Anran was overjoyed to see it, and hurriedly took the paper bag and ran to the stove to warm the lotus root.

Although the candied lotus root can be eaten cold, but Lu Xiaofeng travels along the way, and the candied lotus root will inevitably lose water. Steaming it again can restore [-]% of its taste.

The caring Lu Xiaofeng also brought sweet-scented osmanthus sauce, Huajia's private osmanthus sauce, which is mellow and delicious, and it is marinated with home-grown honey. Just pour a spoonful of it, and the taste will be rich and sweet. Just listen to Lu Xiaofeng's introduction of Xia Anran My saliva is about to flow down.

It's just because we've just had enough and we're not hungry yet, so we treat the candied lotus root as a snack.

The sweet lotus root is sweet, and the tea is slightly bitter, so it's not bad to eat together.

Xia Anran ate the candied lotus root on the plate, and thought of the fresh lotus root that Lu Xiaofeng said was still floating on the river. Now that the lotus root has been picked for two months, no matter how much it is preserved, it will definitely not be as tender as when it was just picked. This kind of lotus root soup is good, and you can also fry lotus root cakes. If the quantity is enough to eat at once, you can also make lotus root powder for preservation!

Hey, hey.

Xia Anran was in the midst of a beautiful imagination, and Bai Jintang and Huamanlou negotiated the terms of cooperation in just a few hours. Hangzhou is prosperous, and the Bai family Yu Jinhua is the richest man, but it is estimated that they can be ranked first in Hangzhou. Twenty, and Hangzhou has beautiful mountains and rivers, there are many literati and poets, and there are many academies, but in such a boundary, the pen, ink, paper and inkstone business is always the most competitive.

The Bai family's study room is a middle-to-lower class business, and its market is aimed at literate martial artists and ordinary literati. In the market, it only sells the word affordable, so naturally it has no plan to go to Hangzhou to compete for business, but now the With the support of the Hua family, it can also open up new markets.

The two signed the deed in triplicate, two copies were kept separately, and one copy was handed over to the government for record. Since then, it has become a consignment relationship on the blue paper and gold ink.

After discussing the business, the young and lively people chatted together quickly, and while talking, Lu Xiaofeng, as the most well-informed gangster, shared a big gossip with them.

Pingnan Palace was stolen again.

Yes.

again.

This summer, the Pingnan Palace was just stolen once by the Embroidery Bandit. At that time, the Pingnan Palace lost a strong general, Jiang Chongwei, and also stole eighteen Dendrobium pearls. This matter was later resolved by Lu Xiaofeng at the end of autumn. The door god's arrest of Jin Jiuling was originally a scandal for the court, but in the end it was a Jianghu affair. After the Jianghu was over, because Mingzhu was found, Nan Wang did not pursue it any further.

Unexpectedly, someone seemed to think Nan Wang was easy to bully, so they attacked Nan Wang's mansion again.

"What did they steal?" Xia Anran blinked, very curious.

Lu Xiaofeng smiled, the corners of his lips were hooked, but there was no smile in his eyes, "They stole things that shouldn't be stolen."

As for what was stolen, Lu Xiaofeng didn't say any more, Xia Anran naturally didn't feel comfortable asking, he was just a little curious about how this world merged.

As we all know, the clan of the Song Dynasty had the lowest treatment among all the royal clans. Everyone had titles but no fiefs, so they could only gather in Bianjing.

The royal family was treated like an ordinary clan, and when the courtiers saw the clan without real power, they were mostly in awe of face, and more often they only respected the clan without fear.

Although such a move ensured that the royal wife of the old Zhao family never threatened the central government, it also directly led to the situation where the Zhao family clan was taken over when the Jin army went south. something happened.

In the Ming Dynasty, where Lu Xiaofeng was based, Zhu Yuanzhang aggressively stated that our son must be good, so he sent his son to the whole country to help manage the country and guard one side.

As the clan, the princes of the Ming Dynasty not only had enfeoffments but also real power, and most of them also had military power. Although this did lead to the fact that Zhu Di was able to ascend to the top later, and united his brothers to fight to Nanjing to overthrow his nephew and become king on his own. As a matter of fact, the system of Lao Zhu's family did maintain local stability in the early days, and also restrained the development of local influence of scholar-bureaucrats and aristocratic families.

There is no right or wrong between the two, it can only be said that they are more suitable for the local situation.

So what's the situation with this Southern King?

Under the background of the Song Dynasty, a king with the same surname who had a self-fiefdom, or a king with a different surname who was named a king by his personal ability?

Xia Anran personally prefers the latter, because the enfeoffment of kings and nobles in the Song Dynasty is basically auspicious words, such as virtue and virtuous, rather than functional words, such as "Pingnan" and "Zhenbei".

This is also because these princes were imprisoned in Kaifeng and never released, let alone commanding soldiers, so naturally they no longer have the title of mighty and domineering.But Xia Anran didn't ask any more questions, because for some reason the topic quickly turned away as soon as it circled around King Pingnan. Although he noticed some subtleties in it, Xia Anran didn't care too much.

With the attitude of listening to stories, he was so interested that he listened to a few words about the world in Lu Xiaofeng's mouth.

One of the most important things is that the two well-known sword masters in the world are finally going to compete.

Next year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Ximen Chuuxue and Ye Guhong will have a showdown at the top of Zijin.

At this time, the top of Zijin refers to Zijin Mountain in Nanjing.

The Northern Song Dynasty did not have another purple "forbidden" peak. As far as the current investigation is concerned, the imperial city of the Northern Song Dynasty is the one with the smallest base in the past dynasties. It is very small. Although it has been expanded several times, it is wronged and stuck on the edge of the house because the neighbors are unwilling to move.

Moreover, there are small high-rises around the imperial city of the Northern Song Dynasty, and there are no residential buildings around the Forbidden City, let alone small high-rises.

Although these small high-ranking officials are not able to spy on the situation in the palace, they should still be able to see if it is a martial arts master moving between the courts.

Think about it, two determined masters are competing in the imperial city, and a few kilometers away, a group of melon-eating passers-by lie on the top of the small executive and squint their eyes to watch, maybe they still dislike the white clothes that these two people are wearing, so they can't tell who is who at once , this scene is too bad.

If the two masters had better ears, they might still be able to hear the girls screaming...

What's more, this is the Song Dynasty where the scholar-bureaucrats and kings ruled the world together. Back then, Lu Xiaofeng was able to complete this peak battle because the emperor agreed. In the highly centralized Ming Dynasty, the emperor's orders were absolute, but not in the Song Dynasty.

And if it is really a decisive battle in the Great Inner City, it will be under the jurisdiction of Lord Bao, the prefect of Kaifeng. According to Lord Bao's character... I am afraid that no matter who wins, he will be served by a guillotine. It is impossible to catch such a top expert. But the arrest warrant should not be able to escape, and Zhan Zhao should enter the Kaifeng Mansion next year...

Well, if the three swordsmen Zhan Zhao, Ye Gucheng, and Ximen Chuuxue match up... the picture is too scary, Xia Anran dare not think about it.

He can run horses in his mind, but he still tries to distract himself from the conversation of these people. At this time, the topic of several people has turned to the wild sumac tree that Jinhua has tried to plant this year.

The lacquer tree is the collection tree of natural lacquer in ancient times, and it can be regarded as a commercial crop. Its resin can be said to be an allergen to everyone, but it is a good natural lacquer after treatment.

When we were in the Forbidden City, the lacquerware group often needed to dry the lacquer. Every time they did this, the cats in the courtyard would escape immediately. Not only the cats, but even the birds would not want to go there for a long time.

Because, it really stinks!Xia Anran had the misfortune to smell it once, and that time he wanted to take off his nose and put it back on after he left.

Lacquer ware, as an important part of Chinese civilization, naturally developed steadily in the era of beauty pursuit in the Song Dynasty, and the lacquer ware of the Song Dynasty inherited the past and ushered in the future, and because the literati's pursuit of nothing was more elegant, the lacquer ware of the Song and Jin Dynasties had unique characteristics. beauty.

As insiders, the people of Song Dynasty naturally didn't know their own evaluation in later generations. What everyone knew was that the demand for lacquer was gradually increasing.

Jinhua is mountainous, with medium to high altitude and plenty of sunshine.

Such terrain is conducive to the growth of lacquer trees, and the peak of lacquer production is from April to August. At that time, it is the middle period between rice planting and rapeseed planting, and it is also a relatively slack time. People are hired to make lacquer and then sell it at this time. Even as an extra income.

This matter itself was brought about by the Bai family. The lacquer tree saplings were purchased by Bai Jintang's father from other places. His purpose was also to make more income for the people in his hometown. Moreover, the lacquer tree itself has few diseases and insect pests, and it is not very big to grow there as a wild crop. No problem, as long as you don't deliberately touch it to cause allergies.

Even if it is an allergy, the allergy to the lacquer tree is not fatal, at most it is a little uncomfortable, as long as it has nothing to do with life and death, everyone can bear it.

They bought nearly Vanke saplings back then, and [-]% of them are still alive today.

The best harvesting period for lacquer trees is a big tree that is more than eight years old, but you can still wait for ten years to mature, and these lacquer trees will be ten years old next year.

Bai Jintang said at this time that he wanted to ask Huamanlou Hangzhou if there is such a demand. Lacquer trees can be planted in most parts of the country, but they grow better in mountainous areas with a certain altitude, and Hangzhou can be said to be very expensive. Except for a few lacquer trees that grew unexpectedly, there are naturally no forest trees. Huamanlou is very interested in this business.

On the face of it, the Hua family is mainly engaged in real estate business, mainly land sales and leasing, but of course anyone who is engaged in real estate will also do some wood business, and if they want to do wood business, they will also do some furniture business. For the furniture business , It is a great good to have a source of paint and oil supply with stable quality.

But Hua Manlou didn't say anything to death, he said that he had just taken over some of the family affairs, but he didn't know anything about Yu Qi's matter, but he was willing to connect Bai Jintang and the person in charge of the Hua family.

This ending was also expected by Bai Jintang. He had just said so. The Baihua family is now in tentative contact. They don't know each other's character, business prospects, or future.

The two said casually, but Xia Anran was stunned for a long time.

Suddenly he interjected in a low voice, "Jinling...has sumac trees planted?"

The other three looked at him one after another, and saw Xia Anran trembling his lips, with a look of [I have something to say but I don't know if I should say it]. Seeing him like this, Lu Xiaofeng said, "Brother Xia has some doubts." ?”

Have.

You planted lacquer trees in Jinling.

Why are oil lamps still used?

Here I want to talk about a misunderstanding of ancient times by later generations, and that is about candles.

In ancient times, not everyone could afford to light candles, and not even everyone had the money to light lamps.

Moreover, although the two words lamp and candle refer to lighting tools, they are not actually the same.

Lamps are lighting tools made of animal and vegetable oils, which were used most of the time in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The oil was absorbed by threads as fuel, and the light was very small. The light of Yingying Yidou refers to oil lamps.

The oil lamps that can still be seen in modern times are the oil lamps in temples and the butter lamps in Tibet.

In ancient times, candles were originally made of whale fat—this was mostly expensive imported goods, or beeswax—which was very expensive and rare. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, ordinary people could only use it on extremely critical occasions, such as when they got married.

In the Tang Dynasty, some people began to discover the existence of white wax worms, and also found that the cultivation of white wax was cheaper than beeswax, and the main component of candles gradually changed from expensive beeswax to the secretion of white wax worms.

The ash worms and ash trees that were cultivated from the Tang Dynasty until the Ming and Qing Dynasties made candles a daily necessities rather than luxury goods.

The candles used in modern times are products of petrochemicals, made of paraffin wax, which are much simpler in terms of cost and manufacturing process.

Of course, in the Northern Song Dynasty, candles were still considered a light luxury item, and because of the large number of literati in the Northern Song Dynasty, the demand for candles was also very large due to the need to read at night by lighting the lamp.

The breeding of ash worms and ash trees obviously cannot keep up with the needs of the Northern Song Dynasty. The Bai family is already considered a small rich family, but they mainly use oil lamps. Of course, Xia Anran's room is still equipped with candles, but he needs to light them himself. .

But the reason why he reacted so much is that the fruit peel of the sumac tree is very high in wax content.

Therefore, although Jinhua, which has planted a lot of lacquer trees, does not have ash trees and ash worms, it can still use lacquer trees to extract wax!

But this matter was held back by him.

Between Hua Manlou and Bai Jinxi, he undoubtedly prefers the latter.

The reason for not mentioning it is simple. Now that the Bai family is trying to sell lacquer to the Hua family, if the Hua family knows that lacquer trees can produce wax as well as lacquer, they will definitely lower the price.

After all, the cost of planting lacquer trees is so little, and the cost of only one product that can be sold is naturally different from the cost of having several products.

Xia Anran fooled this topic by saying that she had never seen a lacquer tree before. On that day, Xia Anran, who was a little wary of her friends, cooked in person and invited two friends who came from afar to try their Jinling specialty ham.

It's real specialty ham, he didn't notice Lu Xiaofeng and Hua Manlou's instantly stiff but unstoppable expressions, they were so excited that they entered the dining room and started to drink broth in the afternoon.

The author has something to say: Let’s go through the main plot today

Bai Sanshao will appear tomorrow.

The amount of information today is a bit overwhelming. The author covers his mouth and dare not speak for fear of spoilers!

Lu Xiaofeng is really a good friend!

==============

Everyone knows that wax is a bug!For China, wax is what worms produce.

Earlier there was beeswax, and later there was wax of white wax insects.

Beeswax is yellow, and white wax worms are white. It is difficult to obtain beeswax, but white wax worms can be cultivated... To be honest, white wax worms should have been pests at first. I don’t know who discovered that its secretions can be burned to make wax, and then Started farming.

The price of candles in the Song Dynasty was almost a day's wages, because they were generally used for emergencies, unlike ours for aromatherapy. (This will be discussed later) It must be destroyed when the emergency is used up. Only scholars can afford it, and ordinary people generally think it is a bit expensive and unnecessary.

The current saying about breeding is that it started in the Tang Dynasty, Song Yuan was the peak, and then candles became a slightly expensive but acceptable thing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties... probably like the non-radiation table lamps of our current children.

That is, I have a substitute, but I can bite the bullet and use it.

By the way, candles are divided into western candles and oriental candles in modern times. Our neighbor Japan is restricted by the geographical environment (white wax worms can only grow in low latitudes and cannot cross the Jiangsu-Zhejiang line), so Japan uses sumac. The wax squeezed out of the fruit, the candles made are called Japanese candles, which are long and tapered and yellow in color.The ones in China are basically pure white, because it is pure white as the base, so it can be changed into various colors by adding pigments (covering the face), so it sells better.

Western candles are candles made of paraffin wax.Paraffin is an additional product of petrochemical industry, similar to Vaseline...

Therefore, Western candles will have some problems such as dizziness if they are lit for a long time, but Eastern candles do not feel much.

By the way, many scented candles now use coconut oil, beeswax, soybean oil, palm oil and other oils in proportion. These are all vegetable oils.

As for animal oil... If you want to experience the feeling of ancient people... try a butter lamp and you will know. When the author traveled to Tibet, he was almost smoked out when he entered the Potala Palace.

In fact, it doesn't have much taste, but it has a large amount, and I have a high reaction, wow...you can obviously feel the fishy smell.It is said that some temples also use butter lamps now...

Of course, ancient people also knew the disadvantages of lamps, so they came up with a very clever way to solve the problem of smoke and smell of lamps, refer to lamps such as Changxin palace lamps.

Ah, by the way, modern white wax worms are still bred, but the white wax is used for cosmetics and medicine.

White wax is a very very very good moisturizer.

... No responsibility to guess, why the cherry blossom country next door made lacquer wax but the Chinese seem to have no records. I guess one is because it is also yellow, which is not as good as the white or even colored high-end market.

Another possibility is... was eaten.

Because the fruit of the sumac tree...is a kind of oil crop, the kind that can be eaten and used.

Then it is a bit troublesome to extract the oil so most people squeeze the fruit and skin together, which means they eat an oil that will solidify (but this is also normal! The difference between clumped oil and wax is still there. I really can’t tell) It is said that cooking with this oil is very, very delicious.

So...you get the idea.

Although I can't find any information, Mizhi thinks my opposite is very possible.

PS: I don’t know if there is a lacquer forest nest in Jinhua, I made it up, but this environment can indeed be planted with lacquer trees.I didn’t see any lacquer trees on the official website of the local government. I touched my chin. Maybe it was cut off because someone was allergic?The lacquer tree is called a biting tree in the folks, and the elders may know it.